I might have been as that poor man, my cousin, a creature whose life is all pomp and no real dignity, all merry-making and no real mirth--loveless, isolated and vain." "But," cried the amazed Fanfulla, "assuredly there are compensations ?" "You see that bustle.

You know what it portends.

What compensation can there be for that ?" "It is a question you should be the last to ask, my lord.

You have seen the niece of Guidobaldo, and having seen her, can you still ask what compensation does this marriage offer Gian Maria ?" "Do you, then, not understand ?" returned Aquila, with a wan smile.

"Do you not see the tragedy of it?
Is it nothing that two States, having found that this marriage would be mutually advantageous, have determined that it shall take place?
That meanwhile the chief actors--the victims, I might almost call them--have no opportunity of selecting for themselves.