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14 was, of course, the centre of all; but Francesca could not but perceive, that while others addressed their flatteries to him, his were addressed exclusively to her.

The attention of which she was now the object would have amused if it had not embarrassed her. It was as if some spell had changed both herself and her situation. Every one seemed suddenly to have discovered some merit in the once neglected stranger. Homage came from every quarter, and adulation from every lip. No one was more ready to caress and bring her forward than the Comtesse de Soissons, who appeared to think every party incomplete without her early friend; and Louis passed almost every evening at her house, where restraint and ceremony were equally banished.

Madame de Mercœur's health now scarcely allowed her to stir from home; and Francesca would never willingly have left her. But this her good-natured friend would not hear of: "No, no; Marie has come to her senses. She is as fond of you as I am, and very much gayer; so go about with her. When will you ever enjoy yourself, if you do not now?"

It was useless contesting the point; and Francesca secretly longed for the period of the