monseigneur, inform the prince that I equally regret his
absence, for I am always delighted to know any of my father's
friends."

I had not until then heard the princess's voice, and I was
struck with its intense sweetness.

"I hope, my dear Henry, you will stay some time with your aunt,"
said the grand duke. "Come and see us often about three o'clock
_en famille_; and if we ride out you must accompany us. You know
how great an affection I have always felt for you, for your
noble qualities."

"I cannot express my gratitude for your royal highness's
kindness."

"Well, to prove it," said the grand duke, smiling, "engage your
cousin for the second quadrille; the first belongs to the
archduke."

"Will your royal highness do me the honour?" said I to my
cousin.

"Oh, call each other cousin, as in the good old times," replied
the duke, laughing. "There should be no ceremony between
relations."

"Will you dance with me, cousin?"

"Yes, cousin," replied the princess.

I cannot tell how much I felt the touching kindness of the grand
duke, and how bitterly I reproached myself for yielding to an
affection the prince would never authorise.

I vowed inwardly that nothing should induce me to acquaint my
cousin with my affection, but I feared my emotion would betray
me.

I had leisure for these reflections whilst my cousin danced the
first quadrille with the Archduke Stanislaus. Nothing was more
suited to display the graces of the princess's person than the
slow movements of the dance. I anxiously awaited my turn; and I
succeeded in concealing my emotion when I led her to the
quadrille.

"Does your royal highness sanction my calling you cousin?" said
I.

"Oh, yes, cousin, I am always delighted to obey my father."

"I rejoice in this familiarity, since I have learnt from my aunt
to know you."

"My father has often spoken of you, cousin; and what may,
perhaps, astonish you," added she, timidly, "I also knew you by
sight; for one day the Abbess of Ste. Hermangeld, your aunt, for
whom I have the greatest respect, showed me your picture."

"As a page of the sixteenth century?"

"Yes, cousin; and my father was malicious enough to tell me that
it was an ancestor of ours, and spoke so highly of his courage
and his other qualities that