een married young and is early deprived of her
husband, has great experience, great knowledge of the world. Many feel
that they have no right to waste the goods given them in a life of
solitary mourning. Wealth is given to be used, and perhaps many a rich
young widow thinks she can use it more wisely in the company of a husband
young as herself. It may be; I cannot tell. These are days when power of
any sort should be used, and perhaps no one should even for a moment
think of withdrawing from the scene where such great battles are being
fought. But one may choose wisely a way of using power, or one may choose
unwisely. There is much to be done."

"How?" asked Corona, catching at his expression of an idea which pursued
her. "Here am I, rich, alone, idle--above all, very unhappy. What can I
do? I wish I knew, for I would try and do it."

"Ah! I was not speaking of you, Duchessa," answered the statesman. "You
are too noble a woman to be easily consoled. And yet, though you may not
find relief from your great sorrow, there are many things within your
reach which you might do, and feel that in your mourning you have done
honour to your departed husband as well as to yourself. You have great
estates--you can improve them, and especially you can improve the
condition of your peasants, and strengthen their loyalty to you and to
the State. You can find many a village on your lands where a school
might be established, an asylum built, a road opened--anything which
shall give employment to the poor, and which, when finished, shall
benefit their condition. Especially about Astrardente they are very poor;
I know the country well. In six months you might change many things; and
then you might return to Rome next winter. If it pleases you, you can do
anything with society. You can make your house a centre for a new
party--the oldest of all parties it is, but it would now be thought new
here. We have no centre. There is no _salon_ in the good old sense of the
word--no house where all that is intelligent, all that is powerful, all
that is influential, is irresistibly drawn. To make a centre of that kind
would be a worthy object, it seems to me. You would surround yourself
with men of genius; you would bring those together who cannot meet
elsewhere; you would give a vigorous tone to a society which is fast
falling to decay from inanition; you could become a power, a real power,
not only in Rome, but in Europe; you could make your house f