Gentle and modest as she seemed, she was also very shrewd, endowed with genuine qualities, Piedmontese patience and strength of resistance, orderly habits and thriftiness.

And thus it was she who re-established the equilibrium in household affairs which her husband by his exuberance so often disturbed.
He was indeed greatly indebted to her, though nobody suspected it.

At the same time, however, she had so far failed in her attempts to establish a white _salon_ which should take the lead in influencing opinion.

Only the people of her own set visited her, not a single prince ever came, and her Monday dances were the same as in a score of other middle-class homes, having no brilliancy and no importance.

In fact, the real white _salon_, which should guide men and things and sway all Rome was still in dreamland.
"Just notice her keen smile as she examines everything here," resumed Narcisse.