suits and kept
there by the rivalries of the other three; but he is in his dotage and
the courtiers are already laying wagers as to his successor. Many think
Father Ignazio will replace him, but I stake my faith on Trescorre. The
Duke dislikes him, but he is popular with the middle class, who, since
they have shaken off the yoke of the Jesuits, would not willingly see an
ecclesiastic at the head of the state. The duchess's influence is also
against the Dominican, for her Highness, being, as you know, connected
with the Austrian court, is by tradition unfavourable to the Church
party. The Duchess's preferences would weigh little with the Duke were
it not that she is sole heiress to the old Duke of Monte Alloro, and
that any attempt to bring that principality under the control of the
Holy See might provoke the interference of Austria.

"In so ticklish a situation I see none but Trescorre to maintain the
political balance. He has been adroit enough to make himself necessary
to the Duchess without alienating the Duke; he has introduced one or two
trifling reforms that have given him a name for liberality in spite of
the heavy taxes with which he has loaded the peasantry; and has in short
so played his cards as to profit by the foibles of both parties. Her
Highness," he continued, in reply to a question of Odo's, "was much
taken by him when she first came to Pianura; and before her feeling had
cooled he had contrived to make himself indispensable to her. The
Duchess is always in debt; and Trescorre, as Comptroller of Finance,
holds her by her besetting weakness. Before his appointment her
extravagance was the scandal of the town. She borrowed from her ladies,
her pages, her very lacqueys; when she went on a visit to her uncle of
Monte Alloro she pocketed the money he bestowed on her servants; nay,
she was even accused of robbing the Marchioness of Pievepelago, who,
having worn one evening a diamond necklace which excited her Highness's
admiration, was waylaid on the way home and the jewels torn from her
neck by a crowd of masked ruffians among whom she is said to have
recognised one of the ducal servants. These are doubtless idle reports;
but it is certain that Trescorre's appointment engaged him still more to
the Duchess by enabling him to protect her from such calumnies; while by
increasing the land taxes he has discharged the worst of her debts and
thus made himself popular with the tradesmen she had ruined. Your
excellen