f noble feeling. The past receded farther and farther from
her view, the present arose more and more vividly before the eye. Joy
gradually returned to that bosom from which it had so long been a
stranger. The flowers bloomed beautifully before her eyes, the birds
sung melodiously in her ears. The fair face of creation, with mountain,
vale, and river, beguiled her thoughts, and introduced images of peace
and beauty to dispel the hideous phantoms of dungeons and misery. The
morning drive around the beautiful metropolis; the evening serenade; the
moonlight sail; and, above all, the voice of _love_, reanimated her
heart, and roused her affections from the tomb in which they so long had
slumbered. The smile of youth, though still pensive and melancholy,
began to illumine her saddened features. Hope of future joy rose to
cheer her. The Duc d'Angouleme, son of Charles X., sought her as his
bride, and she was led in tranquil happiness to the altar, feeling as
few can feel the luxury of being tenderly beloved.

Upon the fall of Napoleon she returned to France with the Bourbon
family, and again moved, with smiles of sadness, among the brilliant
throng crowding the palaces of her ancestors. The Revolution of 1830,
which drove the Bourbons again from the throne of France, drove Maria
Theresa, now Duchesse d'Angouleme, again into exile. She resided for a
time with her husband in the Castle of Holyrood, in Scotland, under the
name of the Count and Countess of Main; but the climate being too severe
for her constitution, she left that region for Vienna. There she was
received with every possible demonstration of respect and affection. She
now resides in the imperial castle of Prague, a venerated widow, having
passed through three-score years and ten of a more varied life than is
often experienced by mortals. Even to the present hour, her furrowed
cheeks retain the traces, in their pensive expression, of the sorrow
which darkened her early years.

* * * * * *

Transcriber's note:

1. Minor changes have been made to correct typesetters' errors and to
ensure consistent spelling and punctuation in this e-text; otherwise,
every effort has been made to remain true to the original book.

2. The chapter summaries in this text were originally published as
banners in the page headers, and have been moved to beginning of the
chapter for the reader's convenience.

3. The page reference in the Tabl