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while their wives had cogitations of this sort, Frank and Oliver were trying to catch glimpses of some things said, some looks, furtive glances, and smiles which they could not interpret, and which made them say aloud so much as this, the next day at breakfast, "Those are very charming sisters!"

Nor were they alone in recalling the impressions of the previous evening. The Prince Cardinal and the Prince Bishop both came to Mrs. May's to make inquiries concerning those attractive ladies they had met the evening before. Mrs. May told all she knew of our pilgrims, in the way most likely to increase the sentiments of admiration expressed by these nephews of the late pious Gregory XVI.*

They both expressed the highest admiration of our ladies. The Prince Bishop, who was about thirty years of age, said, "Dear Mrs. May, I do not know what it is which invests these friends of yours like an atmosphere of light, and I have sought in vain to make the discovery of their power. Beauty is not uncommon among us; wit is not rare; grace is a common property among well-bred women, though possessed in very different degrees, but common to all we meet with in society."

The Prince Cardinal spoke: "Agostino and I were trying to define our several impressions as we rode here together. You, madam, are too well acquainted with all these matters not to be able to aid us to a solution of our questionings. I confess to

* NEPOTISM is common enough in Rome. public acts, created two boys, of fourteen and

dinals. History of Jesuits, by Steinmetz. p. 129.

Paul III., among his first sixteen years of age, carLondon edition, vol. I.,

you, that the presence of beautiful women, who discard all agacerie, in which other women hide the mysteries of art, wit, fashion, beauty, fills me with admiring wonder. I am weary of all which is, with most men, attractive. I am too old now" (the Prince Cardinal was only forty), "and have seen so much of artifice, that I have rarely found society worth the sacrifices I must make to obtain it."

"Your eminence talks like one of the patristic saints," said Mrs. May; "and, though I regard you almost a saint, I should be sorry to see your name on the calendar. But we are forgetting one very grave matter. What is it I am to tell

you?”

The cardinal bowed with a pleased air, and continued: “Reveal to us what makes these friends of yours fascinating? In what does it consist? Where does it hide itself? —so silent, unobtrusive, and yet so constantly felt!"

The bishop spoke: "It is not in their fair skins; for we have beauties from every clime here, who come to be bronzed beneath our glorious skies. But what is it? and how is it? Tell us, dear Mrs. May!"

"Ah, my Lord Bishop, you have yourself given the clue to the mystery. I see it at a glance; and will you it is so. say Ladies, lovely ladies, of every land, come here, after having spent their winters in Paris, their summers in Aix-la-Chapelle, and other places of fashionable resort, bronzed under the baleful glare of midnight suns. It is the purity of my sweet friends, their innocency, combined with all the feminine graces of beauty, and wit, and goodness, which make them glorious as the evening star. And, now, let me urge you to worship these stars in their

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orbits, content to be gladdened by their radiance shining far off in their appropriate spheres."

"Your compliments are equally proper and graceful," said the Prince Cardinal; "and I pledge you my honor and fealty to truth and virtue, that while I shall seek the society of your friends, it shall be to confer happiness, as well as to receive it."

CHAPTER XXV.

BLANCO, THE YOUNG MONK.

FATHER GERIOT brought Blanco to dine with them. He was a most striking contrast to the father, whose corpulent, burly look, bald head, and flushed face, all told it was high carnival with him all the year round; while Blanco wore an air of penitence, looked dejected, ate little, and said nothing but in reply to questions addressed him. Nothing could be more proper for a young priest, and they could not but wish Father Geriot would follow his pupil's example. This father, evidently a man of great address and attainments, sought, by his jesting of things regarded as sacred in this Holy City, to draw out our pilgrims; but he was disappointed in this- they had nothing to conceal. They did not come here to pretend a reverence they did not feel, nor to be guilty of the vulgarity of offending in any way the sentiments of reverence felt or professed by others. They rose

from the table as the sun was setting, and Annie invited Father Geriot to seats upon the balcony.

"Come, Father Geriot," she said, "and tell me which is a Capuchin and which is a Franciscan; for they look very much alike in their brown cloaks and corded waists: and I want you to tell me all you know of these people who swarm around the square."

When they were gone out, Blanco whispered to Gertrude:

"Send your valet out of the room on some errand. This is a very fine picture," pointing to a large picture of St. Louis, and speaking aloud. "I think this is seen best in this light," placing Gertrude with her back to the valet, who busied himself about the room. "The drapery is exceedingly well cast, and its tone

is

pure, and the handling, as a whole, is excellent."

Gertrude told Diego to go to her room for her watch; and while he was gone, Blanco spoke in a whisper, full of earnestness; "O, lady, see my sister; tell her to die, but never to take the veil ! She is destined to be sacrificed to a base man. Speak this, in a whisper, to your husband. There is no place safe here. Your Diego and Ursula are camériere segréti,* and all around you are spies. Ask your husbands to come and see me; I have much to say to them. Silence is your safety and mine." The door now opened, and Blanco went on, saying, "The sword is very fine charmingly painted."

*It is hard to make Protestants believe they are objects of interest tc be supervised; but it is a great honor to be a spy for the Holy Office. In September, 1850, the Abbe Talbot, a son of Lord Talbot, and lately a priest of St. George's, Westminster Bridge Road, London, was designated from Rome to the office of camériere segreto, a secret servant.

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Diego presented his mistress her watch, which she looked at, as if anxious to ascertain the hour, and then placed it in her girdle. The father reäppeared with Annie and the gentlemen. Blanco and Gertrude went on talking about the pictures, until Alandresso announced Prince Cardinal Carita, Prince Bishop Cajetan, Marchese de Correa, Countess d'Asti, and Oliver and Frank went down to accompany these eminent personages to their rooms. Father Geriot at once lost all his brusque air, and, with a demeanor as servile as Blanco's was humble, stood near the door when this party entered, and then retired without taking leave, for at the instant Gertrude and Annie were busy in welcoming their visitors.

They sat an hour, and during the visit, while the cardinal and bishop were enlisting Gertrude and Annie to hear a new mass to be sung at a certain church, the ladies had secured the presence of the gentlemen to visit their galleries of paintings; and when it came to be understood that these engagements conflicted as to time and place, there was a little contention carried on among the ladies as to who should have the husbands; and, with a politeness and grace alike irresistible, the wishes of the marchese and countess became decrees. And it was so ordained that the wives should go with the princes, and their husbands with these noble ladies.

If it should seem strange to any one of our readers that pilgrims, who had so recently been at Vanity Fair, should have been so easily entangled again, let them consider how arbitrary are the conventionalisms of fashion, and the address of women whose whole lives are devoted to intrigue. There is only one safe rule in all times, and in all places, and it is this: "Go not