she ceased to
speak, with a meaning absolutely mental. Her language was animated and
intelligent; sometimes in a tone of gentle and touching confidence,
which made the hearer almost think that he was looking at her soul
through her vivid countenance. Before a few minutes had elapsed, I could
fully comprehend her title to the renown of the most captivating
conversationist of Paris.

As I at length relinquished this enviable and envied position, to give
way to the crowd who brought their tribute to the _fateuil_, or rather
the shrine, of this dazzling woman--"You have still," said my companion,
"to see another of our sovereigns; for, as we have a triumvirate in the
Tuileries, the world of taste is ruled by three rivals; and they are
curiously characteristic of the classes from which they have sprung. The
lady of the mansion, you must have perceived to be republican in every
sense of the word--clever undoubtedly, but as undoubtedly bourgeoise;
intelligent in no slight degree, but too much in earnest for elegance;
perpetually taking the lead on those desperate subjects, in which women
can only be, and ought to be, smatterers; and all this to the infinite
amusement of her hearers, and the unbounded terror of her meek and very
helpless husband."

I remarked, "that she had, at least, the important merit of giving very
splendid entertainments."

"Yes, and of also possessing as honest a heart as she possesses a rash
brain. She is kind, generous, and even rational, where she has not a
revolution to make or to ruin. But, suffer her to touch on politics, and
you might as well bring a lunatic into the full moon."

"But that singular being, to whom we have just been listening, and whose
song I shall hear to-night in my dreams--can she be a politician, a
republican? I have never seen a countenance more likely to be
contemptuous of the _canaille_!"

"You are perfectly in the right. She has a sphere of her own, which has
no more to do with our world than if she lived in the evening-star. She
exists simply to enjoy homage, and to reward it, as you have seen, by a
song or a smile; yet she has been on the verge of the scaffold. Some of
our most powerful political characters are contending for her influence,
her fortune, or her hand; and whether the contest will end in raising M.
Tallien to the head of the Republic, or extinguishing him within the
week, is a question which chance alone can decide.--She may yet be a
queen."

"She se