oni, here consoled herself for the quiet
of her retirement from the stage. Margaret had the pleasure of an
outside view of the _fete_ given by the royal Duchess in commemoration
of her son's birthday. The aged Duchesse d'Angouleme came from Vienna to
be present on the occasion.

"'Twas a scene of fairy-land, the palace full of light, so that from
the canal could be seen even the pictures on the walls. Landing from the
gondolas, the elegantly dressed ladies and gentlemen seemed to rise from
the water. We also saw them glide up the great stair, rustling their
plumes, and in the reception-room make and receive the customary
grimaces." A fine band of music completed the attractions of the scene.
Margaret, listening and looking hard by, "thought of the Stuarts,
Bourbons, and Bonapartes in Italy, and offered up a prayer that other
names might be added to the list, and other princes, more rich in blood
than in brain, might come to enjoy a perpetual _villeggiatura_ in
Italy."

From Venice Margaret journeyed on to Milan, stopping on the way at
Vicenza, Verona, Mantua, Lago di Garda, and Brescia. These ten days of
travel opened to her long vistas of historic study, delightful to
contemplate, even if hopeless to explore fully. No ten days of her
previous life, she is sure, ever brought her so far in this direction.
In approaching Milan her thoughts reverted to the "Promessi Sposi."
Nearly asleep for a moment, she heard the sound of waters, and started
up to ask, "Is that the Adda?" She had guessed rightly. The authorship
of this classic work seemed to her to secure to its writer, Manzoni, the
right of eminent domain in and around Milan. Writing to Mr. Emerson from
this city, she says:--

"To-day, for the first time, I have seen Manzoni. Manzoni has spiritual
efficacy in his looks; his eyes still glow with delicate tenderness. His
manners are very engaging, frank, expansive; every word betokens the
habitual elevation of his thoughts, and (what _you_ care for so much) he
says distinct, good things. He lives in the house of his fathers, in the
simplest manner."

Manzoni had, at the time, somewhat displeased his neighbors by a second
marriage, scarcely considered suitable for him. Margaret, however, liked
the new wife very well, "and saw why he married her."

She found less to see in Milan than in other Italian cities, and was
glad to have there some days of quiet after the fatigues of her journey,
which had been augmented at Br