to him black ingratitude, and with his customary
frankness he finally confessed the whole truth to the princess. He gave
her to understand what he had endured before their engagement, and how
nearly he had succumbed to his mental anguish, and he pointed out that
this surfeit of social gaiety and amusement was the exact opposite of
that which he needed. His endurance was strained to its limits; he
could bear no more.

Theresa was touched to the quick by his words. In a whirl of
self-accusation she proposed the remedy: Rest for him, travel for
herself. She would take a trip to Rome and to Hungary to make her
arrangements for the wedding, whilst he might go to a small mountain
fortress in the South, where he could exchange for a couple of months
with an officer who would be glad of the chance of staying at Ancona.
With her usual impetuous energy she managed to get all the preparations
completed in hot haste, and in two days both of them had left the city.
They parted with an emotion which on her side was affecting, and on
his, too, was genuinely sincere, for her passionate devotion touched
his feelings deeply.

And yet no sooner was he left to himself, first on the journey and then
in his new garrison, than he relapsed into a state of apathy. Almost
the sole impression of Theresa that remained on his brain was one of
tumultuous agitation. He could not even muster courage to open the
letters which came from her; the thought of their possible vehemence
shook his nerves. Once a day she telegraphed or wrote to him, and the
task of replying to all these missives weighed so heavily on his
spirits that it drove him from his quarters, where so many unfulfilled
obligations lay in wait for him. As soon as he was released from his
military duties, he would hurry out into the woods and hills that
overhung the little town, which was situated amidst scenery
exceptionally wild and beautiful.

Pondering over his engagement in these country rambles, it began to
look illusory and disappointing. True, his promised bride could call
herself Princess, but in Italy that lofty title has not quite the charm
that attaches to it in other countries. Princes and princesses are too
common, and the position of a good many of them is a little doubtful.
Nor was he greatly attracted by the wealth Theresa had inherited from
her father, since her mother had gained her share in it by deserting
the national cause during the period of Italy's abasement. No d