be the perfection
of life. But it palls, Karl; in a day or two it palls! The wants and
sufferings of the poor are so much alike; they want variety, they are so
deficient in shade, they are such poor art!" and the Prince sighed
wearily.

"That is natural for the Serene Highness," said Karl, with a
sympathising pity which was amusing; "that is natural to the Serene
Highness, who does not see below the surface, and to whom all speak with
bated breath. There is plenty of light and shade in the lives of the
poor, if you go deep enough."

"Ah!" said the Prince with interest, "is it so? Doubtless now, within a
few yards of us, there are art-scenes enacted, tragedies and comedies
going on, of which you know the different _roles_--one of which, maybe,
you fill yourself. Eh, Karl?"

"It is a great city, Highness," said Karl. "They are all alike, good and
ill, love and hatred, the knave and the fool. All the world over, it is
much the same."

At this moment, the hair-powdering being over, the Prince rose.

"Well," he said, "to-night the Signorina sings at the Imperial Theatre.
She and the Maestro sup with me afterwards. The Princess sups at the
Palace."

V.

IT is difficult at the present day to realise such scenes as that
presented by the Imperial Theatre during the performance that evening.
The comparative smallness of the interior and dimness of the lights,
combined with the incomparable splendour and richness in the appearance
of the audience which filled every portion of the theatre, even to the
gallery of the servants, with undiminished brilliancy, produced an
effect of subdued splendour and of a mystic glow of colour which we
should look for in vain in any theatre in Europe now.

The Empress-Queen and her husband occupied a central box, and the Court,
graduated according to rank, and radiating from this centre, filled
boxes, pit, and gallery. The Prince's box was on the royal tier, not far
from the Empress. He was accompanied by the Princess and his sister.

"I am delighted with Isoline," the Princess said; "that poor child's
death has worked wonders upon her in a way no one would have expected.
She seems to have thrown off her singular fancies, and behaves as other
people do."

"Isoline never was very easy to understand," said the Prince.

Whether or not she were inspired by the presence of the Prince, the
Signorina had never sung so wonderfully as she did that night. The
frigid silence of Imperial e