egree
betrayed the secret motive of his wounded self-love; but the excessive
extravagance of his wife, and the enormous expenses in which she
involved him afforded ample pretext for his complaints: such was the
ground, therefore, upon which he fell back. The Princess unhappily
comprehended all this, and went to greater lengths than ever: hence
untoward misunderstandings ere long arose between them.

Nevertheless, through the effect of her irresistible attractions, the
Duchess di Bracciano became the centre of a cosmopolitan society which,
in the midst of the noisiest diversions, debated daily in the capital of
the papal dominions the weightiest problems of contemporary politics.
Whilst externally her palace on the Piazza Navone blazed broadly with
illuminated devices and coloured fires, and made all the echoes of Rome
resound in pealing harmonies with the name of Louis the Great, in the
interior of her magnificent saloons the vicissitudes of the long
struggle waged between that monarch and the Holy Father were watched
with inquietude, whether as concerning regal claims or the question of
religious freedom--a portentous strife which seemed to increase in
energy at each fresh act of violence on the part of Louis XIV. against
his Protestant subjects. To the arduous questions in which theology ran
so closely parallel with State interests, to the burning rivalries of
doctrines and persons which then set by the ears the most illustrious
among Christian prelates, were added the daily accidents of a policy to
which fell the burden of maintaining in all corners of the universe a
constant equilibrium between the Houses of France and Austria--a
permanent problem which soon helped to complicate the perspective opened
by the next succession to the Crown of Spain.

In such a school--borne along the brimming tide of pleasure by the soft
breeze of homage--did Madame di Bracciano's political intelligence
rapidly ripen: and if by a glittering gaiety, ease of manner, and a
species of decorous gallantry, her life appeared to continue the
traditions of Anne of Austria's time, the restrained firmness of her
opinions, her reverence for absolute authority, her settled resolve to
owe nothing to any one save to her own Great King, combined to link her
fast to the new school of power and respect founded by Louis XIV. in the
plenitude of his sway. Thus the passion for politics and power was not
slow to obtain the mastery over the mind of a woman