shall defend my right."

"August fiddlestick!" cried Peggy. "All of those elective crowns, like
that of your father, the King of Poland, are nothing but prey for the
strongest highwaymen, and you are not as strong as you think. I
predict you will be running back like a drenched hen from Courland
before the year is out. However, I will say this of you, Maurice of
Saxe, that you are about as good as any of the crown snatchers, or the
august Diet, either--and if you would but stop running after the
petticoats, you would be a considerable man!"

Count Maurice of Saxe running back from Courland like a drenched hen!
And would be a _considerable man_! Maurice of Saxe!

It must be acknowledged, however, that in spite of Scotch Peg being
Scotch Peg, the best company in Paris attended her saloons; she had a
natural aptitude for affairs which always provided her with more money
than those who laughed at her, and she was never known to desert a
friend in distress. She was the aunt and guardian of Mademoiselle
Francezka Capello.

Francezka's father, a handsome, penniless Scotchman, went to Spain
with the Duke of Berwick's army. There, the only daughter of the
Marquis Capello fell in love with the Scotch captain. The old marquis
fought hard against the marriage, but the Duke of Berwick carried it
through. One stipulation was made by the Capellos: that Captain
Kirkpatrick should take the name of Capello instead of Kirkpatrick.
This he did, much to Scotch Peg's indignation, but he was rewarded
with a splendid fortune. With true Scotch thrift, he increased this
fortune, and when his only child, Francezka, was doubly orphaned in
her first years, she became one of the greatest heiresses in France
and the Low Countries--in both of which she had large possessions.

Her father's will, making her sole heiress, gave her complete
control of her estates when she was eighteen, and likewise counseled
her not to marry until she was at least two years beyond her
majority. These facts were well known in Paris, and although, in
1726, Mademoiselle Francezka Capello was only in her fourteenth
year, the fortune-hunters were already congregating about her. But
her aunt, Madame Riano, was as fierce as a dragon when her niece's
marriage was mentioned--although it will be seen, hereafter, that by
no means kept she a dragon watch over the young lady.

All these things being of common repute, they naturally came to my
mind as I stood, watching the shado