his side, rode through the town disguised with a wig, an
enormous ruff round his neck, and horseman's boots, the sound of which
delighted him beyond measure.

The cardinal lived, therefore, in the enjoyment of the greatest
consideration, for, at certain elevated positions in life, human
fortunes are absorbing in their nature, and, as if they were composed of
nothing else but of adhesive particles, oblige all other fortunes to
attend on and follow them like satellites; and on that account,
therefore, the recent and marvelous successes of his brother Anne
reflected on him all the brilliancy of those achievements. Moreover, as
he had scrupulously followed the precept of concealing his mode of life,
and of dispensing and diffusing his mental wealth, he was only known by
the better sides of his character, and in his own family was accounted a
very great man, a happiness which many sovereigns, laden with glory and
crowned with the acclamations of a whole nation, have not enjoyed.

It was to this prelate that the Comte du Bouchage betook himself after
his explanation with his brother, and after his conversation with the
king of France; but, as we have already observed, he allowed a few days
to elapse in token of obedience to the injunction which had been imposed
on him by his elder brother, as well as by the king.

Francois resided in a beautiful mansion in that part of Paris called La
Cite. The immense courtyard was never quite free from cavaliers and
litters; but the prelate, whose garden was immediately contiguous to the
bank of the river, allowed his courtyards and his antechambers to
become crowded with courtiers; and as he had a mode of egress toward the
river-bank, and a boat close thereto, which conveyed him without any
disturbance as far and as quietly as he chose, it not unfrequently
happened that the courtiers uselessly waited to see the prelate, who
availed himself of the pretext of a serious indisposition, or a rigid
penance, to postpone his reception for the day. For him it was a
realization of Italy in the bosom of the capital of the king of France,
it was Venice embraced by the two arms of the Seine.

Francois was proud, but by no means vain; he loved his friends as
brothers, and his brothers nearly as much as his friends. Five years
older than Du Bouchage, he withheld from him neither good nor evil
counsel, neither his purse nor his smile.

But as he wore his cardinal's costume with wonderful effect, Du B