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196 offend your loyalty, a pretty face, so well set (diamonds themselves require to be mounted in gold), might have its weight with your monarch, if report speak truth; but every one of the Mancinis have a will of their own, and la belle Hortense will not belie her race. Every age has its extravagances, and love belongs to her time of life. A certain Count de Meilleraye has already obtained a hint of our destination; he left Paris before us, and, profiting by his acquaintance with the Duke of Buckingham, will accompany him—and at sixteen l'amant vaut bien le Roi."

"Good Heavens!" exclaimed Francesca, "How many cross purposes there are in this intricate game of human life! We only mock ourselves by laying down plans for the future—at least if those plans embrace others."

"Whence I draw the conclusion," replied De Joinville, "that we ought to lay none, saving for ourselves. It is an old error, but one fruitful in human disappointment, that we will offer our services to Providence, and arrange the destinies of all our relations and half our acquaintances."

"Still, no one can deny that the Cardinal has been a kind and affectionate relative. His nieces, at least, have cause to be grateful."

"And of course, as they ought to be, they are