The Duchess was lodged in the Borromini wing of the palace, and thitherOdo was conducted that evening.

　　To eyes accustomed to such ceremonial there was no great novelty in thetroop of powdered servants, the major-domo in his short cloak and chain,and the florid splendour of the long suite of rooms, decorated in astyle that already appeared over-charged to the more fastidious taste ofthe day. Odo's curiosity centred chiefly in the persons peopling thisscene, whose conflicting interests and passions formed, as it were, theframework of the social structure of Pianura, so that there was not alabourer in the mulberry-orchards or a weaver in the silk-looms butdepended for his crust of black bread and the leaking roof over his headon the private whim of some member of that brilliant company.

　　The Duchess, who soon entered, received Odo with the flighty good-natureof a roving mind; but as her deep-blue gaze met his her colour rose, hereyes lingered on his face, and she invited him to a seat at her side.

　　Maria Clementina was of Austrian descent, and something in her free andnoble port and the smiling arrogance of her manner recalled the aspectof her distant kinswoman, the young Queen of France. She plied Odo witha hundred questions, interrupting his answers with a playful abruptness,and to all appearances more engaged by his person than his discourse.

　　"Have you seen my son?" she asked. "I remember you a little boy scarcebigger than Ferrante, whom your mother brought to kiss my hand in thevery year of my marriage. Yes--and you pinched my toy spaniel, sir, andI was so angry with you that I got up and turned my back on thecompany--do you remember? But how should you, being such a child at thetime? Ah, cousin how old you make me feel! I would to God my son lookedas you did then; but the Duke is killing him with his nostrums. Thechild was healthy enough when he was born; but what with novenas andtouching of relics and animal magnetism and electrical treatment,there's not a bone in his little body but the saints and the surgeonsare fighting over its possession. Have you read 'Emile,' cousin, by thenew French author--I forget his name? Well, I would have the childbrought up like 'Emile,' allowed to run wild in the country and grow upsturdy and hard as a little peasant. But what heresies am I talking! Thebook is on the Index, I believe, and if my director knew I had it in mylibrary I should be set up in the stocks in the market-place and all mycourt-gowns burnt at the Church door as a warning against the danger ofimporting the new fashions from France!--I hope you hunt, cousin?" shecried suddenly. "'Tis my chief diversion and one I would have my friendsenjoy with me. His Highness has lately seen fit to cut down my stables,so that I have scarce forty saddle-horses to my name, and the greaterpart but sorry nags at that; yet I can still find a mount for any friendthat will ride with me and I hope to see you among the number if theDuke can spare you now and then from mass and benediction. His Highnesscomplains that I am always surrounded by the same company; but is it myfault if there are not twenty persons at court that can survive a day inthe saddle and a night at cards? Have you seen the Belverde, my mistressof the robes? She follows the hunt in a litter, cousin, and tells herbeads at the death! I hope you like cards too, cousin, for I would haveall my weaknesses shared by my friends, that they may be the lessdisposed to criticise them."The impression produced on the Duchess by the cavaliere Valsecca wasclosely observed by several members of the group surrounding herHighness. One of these was Count Trescorre, who moved among thecourtiers with an air of ease that seemed to establish withoutproclaiming the tie between himself and the Duchess. When MariaClementina sat down at play, Trescorre joined Odo and with his usualfriendliness pointed out the most conspicuous figures in the circle. TheDuchess's society, as the Duke had implied, was composed of the liveliermembers of the court, chief among whom was the same Don Serafino who hadfigured so vividly in the reminiscences of Mirandolina and Cantapresto.

　　This gentleman, a notorious loose-liver and gamester, with some remainsof good looks and a gay boisterous manner, played the leader of revelsto her Highness's following; and at his heels came the flock of prettywomen and dashing spendthrifts who compose the train of a young andpleasure-loving princess. On such occasions as the present, however, allthe members of the court were obliged to pay their duty to her Highness;and conspicuous among these less frequent visitors was the Duke'sdirector, the suave and handsome Dominican whom Odo had seen leaving hisHighness's closet that afternoon. This ecclesiastic was engaged inconversation with the Prime Minister, Count Pievepelago, a small feeblemannikin covered with gold lace and orders. The deference with which thelatter followed the Dominican's discourse excited Odo's attention; butit was soon diverted by the approach of a lady who joined herself to thegroup with an air of discreet familiarity. Though no longer young, shewas still slender and graceful, and her languid eye and vapourish mannerseemed to Odo to veil an uncommon alertness of perception. The richsobriety of her dress, the jewelled rosary about her wrist, and most ofall, perhaps, the murderous sweetness of the smile with which theDuchess addressed her, told him that here was the Countess Belverde; aninference which Trescorre confirmed.

　　"The Countess," said he, "or I should rather say the Marchioness ofBoscofolto, since the Duke has just bestowed on her the fief of thatname, is impatient to make your acquaintance; and since you doubtlessremember the saying of the Marquis de Montesquieu, that to know a rulerone must know his confessor and his mistress, you will perhaps be gladto seize both opportunities in one."The Countess greeted Odo with a flattering deference and at once drewhim into conversation with Pievepelago and the Dominican.

　　"We are discussing," said she, "the details of Prince Ferrante'sapproaching visit to the shrine of our Lady of the Mountain. This shrinelies about half an hour's ride beyond my villa of Boscofolto, where Ihope to have the honour of receiving their Highnesses on their returnfrom the pilgrimage. The Madonna del Monte, as you doubtless know, hasoften preserved the ducal house in seasons of peril, notably during thegreat plague of 1630 and during the famine in the Duchess Polixena'stime, when her Highness, of blessed memory, met our Lady in the streetsdistributing bread, in the dress of a peasant-woman from the hills, butwith a necklace made of blood-drops instead of garnets. Father Ignaziohas lately counselled the little prince's visiting in state theprotectress of his line, and his Highness's physician, CountHeiligenstern, does not disapprove the plan. In fact," she added, "Iunderstand that he thinks all special acts of piety beneficial, assymbolising the inward act by which the soul incessantly strives toreunite itself to the One."The Dominican glanced at Odo with a smile. "The Count's dialectics,"said he, "might be dangerous were they a little clearer; but we musthope he distinguishes more accurately between his drugs than hisdogmas.""But I am told," the Prime Minister here interposed in a creaking rustyvoice, "that her Highness is set against the pilgrimage and will putevery obstacle in the way of its being performed."The Countess sighed and cast down her eyes, the Dominican remainedsilent, and Trescorre said quietly to Odo, "Her Highness would bepleased to have you join her in a game at basset." As they crossed theroom he added in a low tone: "The Duchess, in spite of her remarkablestrength of character, is still of an age to be readily open to newinfluences. I observed she was much taken by your conversation, and youwould be doing her a service by engaging her not to oppose thispilgrimage to Boscofolto. We have Heiligenstern's word that it cannotharm the prince, it will produce a good impression on the people, and itis of vital importance to her Highness not to side against the Duke insuch matters." And he withdrew with a smile as Odo approached thecard-table.

　　Odo left the Duchess's circle with an increased desire to penetrate moredeeply into the organisation of the little world about him, to trace theoperation of its various parts, and to put his hand on the mainspringabout which they revolved; and he wondered whether Gamba, whoseconnection with the ducal library must give him some insight into theaffairs of the court, might not prove as instructive a guide throughthis labyrinth as through the mazes of the ducal garden.

　　The Duke's library filled a series of rooms designed in the classicalstyle of the cinque-cento. On the very threshold Odo was conscious ofleaving behind the trivial activities of the palace, with the fantasticarchitecture which seemed their natural setting. Here all was based on anoble permanence of taste, a convergence of accumulated effort toward achosen end; and the door was fittingly surmounted by Seneca's definitionof the wise man's state: "Omnia illi secula ut deo serviunt."Odo would gladly have lingered among the books which filled the roomswith an incense-like aroma of old leather. His imagination caressed inpassing the yellowish vellum backs, the worn tooling of Aldine folios,the heavy silver clasps of ancient chronicles and psalters; but hisfirst object was to find Gamba and renew the conversation of theprevious day. In this he was disappointed. The only occupant of thelibrary was the hunchback's friend and protector, the abate Crescenti, atall white-haired priest with the roseate gravity and benevolent air ofa donator in some Flemish triptych. The abate, courteously welcomingOdo, explained that he had despatched his assistant to the Benedictinemonastery to copy certain ancient records of transactions between thatorder and the Lords of Valsecca, and added that Gamba, on his return,should at once be apprised of the cavaliere's wish to see him.

　　The abate himself had been engaged, when his visitor entered, incollating manuscripts, but on Odo's begging him to return to his work,he said with a smile: "I do not suffer from an excess of interruptions,for the library is the least visited portion of the palace, and I amglad to welcome any who are disposed to inspect its treasures. I knownot, cavaliere," he added, "if the report of my humble labours has everreached you;" and on Odo's affirmative gesture he went on, with theeagerness of a shy man who gathers assurance from the intelligence ofhis listener: "Such researches into the rude and uncivilised past seemto me as essential to the comprehension of the present as the masteringof the major premiss to the understanding of a syllogism; and to thosewho reproach me for wasting my life over the chronicles of barbarianinvasions and the records of monkish litigations, instead ofcontemplating the illustrious deeds of Greek sages and Roman heroes, Iconfidently reply that it is more useful to a man to know his ownfather's character than that of a remote ancestor. Even in this quietretreat," he went on, "I hear much talk of abuses and of the need forreform; and I often think that if they who rail so loudly againstexisting institutions would take the trouble to trace them to theirsource, and would, for instance, compare this state as it is today withits condition five hundred or a thousand years ago, instead of measuringit by the standard of some imaginary Platonic republic, they would find,if not less subject for complaint, yet fuller means of understanding andremedying the abuses they discover."This view of history was one so new in the abate Crescenti's day that itsurprised Odo with the revelation o............