so charming to
be obliged to tremble before the man one loves; it is so sweet to cling
to him and think: 'I am nothing of myself, but all through thee! I
am the ivy and thou the oak; thou wilt hold and sustain me, and if a
storm-wind comes, thou wilt not waver, but stand firm and great in thy
heroic strength, and protect me, and impart courage and confidence even
to me!'"

She loved him, and clung to him with boundless confidence, but she was
yet so full of tender maiden timidity that she could confess to him
nothing of this love; and since that kiss she shyly avoided him, and
constantly left his often-renewed love-questions unanswered.

At this Alexis secretly laughed. "She will come round," said he; "she
will finally be compelled to it by her own feelings. I will give her
time and leisure to come to a knowledge of herself!"

And for some days he kept away from the villa, pretending pressing
business, and left the poor isolated princess to her languishing
love-dreams.

It was precisely in these days that, on one forenoon, a carriage of
indifferent appearance, adorned with no heraldic arms, stopped before
the villa; a man closely enveloped in a mantle, his hat pressed deeply
down over his forehead, issued from the carriage and rang the bell.

Of the servant who answered the bell he hastily inquired if the
princess was at home and alone; these questions being answered in the
affirmative, and the servant having asked his name in order to announce
him, the stranger said, almost in a commanding tone: "The princess knows
my name, and will gladly welcome me; therefore lead me directly to her!"

"The princess receives no one," said the servant, placing himself in a
position to prevent the stranger's entrance.

"She will receive me," said the unknown, dropping some gold-pieces into
the servant's hand.

"I will conduct you to her," said the suddenly mollified servant, "but I
do it on your own responsibility."

Princess Natalie was in her boudoir. She was alone, and thinking, in a
languishing reverie, of her friend, who had now been two days absent. On
hearing a light knock at the door, she sprang up from her seat.

"It is he!" she murmured, and with glowing cheeks she hastened to the
door.

But on finding there a strange and closely-enveloped form, Natalie
timidly drew back.

The stranger entered, closing the door behind him, threw back his mantle
and took off the hat that shaded his face.

"Cardinal Bernis!" c