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Rh Mancini's expectations—unbounded, she could well suppose. Generally speaking, we are incredulous of the good fortune of our friends, and, even though loving them, undervalue their qualities; the success of our greatest intimates takes us by surprise. But this was a singular instance; the change in her former companions' position had burst so suddenly upon Francesca, that she was more inclined to exaggerate than to diminish its extent. The very difference she felt between herself and them—she a stranger, friendless but for their kindness, in a foreign land—made the contrast more forcible; and she at last fell asleep, with the vision before her eyes of the Cardinal's triumphant niece—a crowned queen!