courteously. "Ah! it is but too true, Princess;" and he sighed
what might mean regret over the fact, or devotion to herself,--perhaps
both. At all events, his submission served as a treaty of peace, and she
resumed.

"And now, _revenons a nos moutons_," said she, "or at least to our
lambs. This Wahnsdorf is quite capable of contracting a marriage without
any permission, if they appear inclined to thwart him; and the question
is, What can be done? The Duke would send these people away out of his
territory, only that, if they be English, as their passports imply, he
knows that there will be no end of trouble with your amiable Government,
which is never paternal till some one corrects one of her children.
If Wahnsdorf be sent away, where are they to send him? Besides, in all
these cases the creature carries his malady with him, and is sure
to marry the first who sympathizes with him. In a word, there were
difficulties on all sides, and the Duchess sent me over, in observation,
as they say, rather than with any direct plan of extrication."

"And you went?"

"Yes; I passed twenty-four hours. I couldn't stay longer, for I promised
the Cardinal Caraffa to be in Rome on the 18th, about those Polish
nunneries. As to Massa, I gathered little more than I had heard
beforehand. I saw their villa; I even penetrated as far as the orangery
in my capacity of traveller,--the whole a perfect Paradise. I 'm not
sure I did not get a peep at Eve herself,--at a distance, however. I
made great efforts to obtain an interview, but all unsuccessfully. The
police authorities managed to summon two of the servants to the Podesta,
on pretence of some irregularity in their papers, but we obtained
nothing out of them; and, what is more, I saw clearly that nothing could
be effected by a _coup de main_. The place requires a long siege, and I
had not time for that."

"Did you see Wahnsdorf?"

"Yes; I had him to dinner with me alone at the hotel, for, to avoid all
observation, I only went to the Palace after nightfall. He confessed all
his sins to me, and, like every other scapegrace, thought marriage was
a grand absolution for past wickedness. He told me, too, how he made the
acquaintance of these strangers. They were crossing the Magra with their
carriage on a raft, when the cable snapped, and they were all carried
down the torrent. He happened to be a passenger at the time, and did
something very heroic, I 've no doubt, but I cannot exactly rememb