lared that all
the furniture and decorations-were to be sold.

The Countess had left Florence, none knew whither.

"I must really have those large Sevres jars," said one.

"And I, the small park phaeton," cried another.

"I hope she has not taken Horace with her; he was the best cook in
Italy. Splendid hock she had,--I wonder is there much of it left?"

"I wish we were certain of another bad reputation to replace her,"
grunted out Scaresby; "they are the only kind of people who give good
dinners, and never ask for returns."

And thus these dear friends--guests of a hundred brilliant
fetes--discussed the fall of her they once had worshipped.

It may seem small-minded and narrow to stigmatize such conduct as this.
Some may say that for the ordinary courtesies of society no pledges of
friendship are required, no real gratitude incurred. Be it so. Still,
the revulsion, from habits of deference and respect, to disparagement,
and even sarcasm, is a sorry evidence of human kindness; and the
threshold, over which for years we had only passed as guests, might well
suggest sadder thoughts as we tread it to behold desolation.

The fair Countess had been the celebrity of that city for many a day.
The stranger of distinction sought her, as much as a matter of course
as he sought presentation to the sovereign. Her _salons_ had the double
eminence of brilliancy in rank and brilliancy in wit; her entertainments
were cited as models of elegance and refinement; and now she was gone!
The extreme of regret that followed her was the sorrow of those who were
to dine there no more; the grief of him who thought he should never have
a house like it.

The respectable vagabonds of society are a large family, much larger
than is usually supposed. They are often well born, almost always well
mannered, invariably well dressed. They do not, at first blush, appear
to discharge any very great or necessary function in life; but we must
by no means, from that, infer their inutility. Naturalists tell us
that several varieties of insect existence we rashly set down as mere
annoyances, have their peculiar spheres of usefulness and good; and,
doubtless, these same loungers contribute in some mysterious manner to
the welfare of that state which they only seem to burden. We are told
that but for flies, for instance, we should be infested with myriads of
winged tormentors, insinuating themselves into our meat and drink, and
rendering life miserable. I