Y.--THE ROMAN REPUBLIC.--ATTITUDE OF FRANCE.--THE
SIEGE OF ROME.--MAZZINI.--PRINCESS BELGIOJOSO.--MARGARET'S CARE OF THE
HOSPITALS.

The story of this summer in the mountains Margaret never told, and her
letters of the previous winter gave no account of matters most personal
to herself. In continuing the narrative of her life, we are therefore
obliged to break through the reserves of the moment, and to speak of
events which, though occurring at this time, were not made known to her
most intimate friends until a much later period.

Margaret had been privately married for some months when she left Rome
for Aquila. Her husband was a young Italian nobleman, Ossoli by name,
whose exterior is thus described by one of her most valued friends[D]:--

"He appeared to be of a reserved and gentle nature, with quiet,
gentlemanlike manners; and there was something melancholy in the
expression of his face which made one desire to know more of him. In
figure he was tall, and of slender frame, with dark hair and eyes. We
judged that he was about thirty years of age, possibly younger."

Margaret had made the acquaintance of this gentleman during her first
visit to Rome, in the spring of the year 1847, and under the following
circumstances: She had gone with some friends to attend the vesper
service at St. Peter's, and, wandering from one point of interest to
another in the vast church, had lost sight of her party. All efforts to
rejoin them proved useless, and Margaret was in some perplexity, when a
young man of gentlemanly address accosted her, and asked leave to assist
her in finding her friends. These had already left the church, and by
the time that this became evident to Margaret and her unknown companion,
the hour was late, and the carriages, which can usually be found in
front of the church after service, had all disappeared. Margaret was
therefore obliged to walk from the Vatican to her lodgings on the
Corso, accompanied by her new friend, with whom she was able at the
time to exchange very little conversation. Familiar as she was with
Italian literature, the sound of the language was new to her, and its
use difficult.

The result of this chance meeting seems to have been love at first sight
on the part of the Marchese Ossoli. Before Margaret left Rome he had
offered her his hand, and had been refused.

Margaret returned to Rome, as we have seen, in the autumn of the same
year. Her acquaintance with the Marchese was now r