ely given consent of my daughter.' The matter
was referred to the Princess, who answered: 'It is the wish of my
father; therefore this marriage will be useful to my family and my
country, and I accept.' An answer worthy of one who, twelve years
later, when the members of the Imperial House were flying, remained
quietly in Paris, saying: 'Savoy and fear are not acquainted.'

The marriage was celebrated at Turin in January. The King made a
present to Cavour, as a souvenir of the event, of a ring representing
two heartseases. In thanking him, the minister said: 'Your Majesty
knows that I shall never marry.' 'I know,' replied the King; 'your
bride is the country.'

Though warlike rumours circulated off and on, the secret of the
understanding arrived at in the Plombieres interview was well
preserved, and the words spoken by Napoleon to the Austrian Ambassador
at the New Year's Day reception fell on Europe with the effect of a
bombshell. Turning to Baron Hubner, he said: 'Je regrette que les
relations entre nous soient si mauvaises; dites cependant a votre
souverain que mes sentiments pour lui ne sont pas changes.'

Even Cavour was startled. Probably till that moment he had never felt
sure that Napoleon would not after all throw the Italian cause to the
winds. The Emperor's invariable method in dealing with men was to
mystify them. He was pleased to pose as a faithful ally, but human
intellect was insufficient to fathom what he meant. On this system,
skilfully pursued, was reared the whole fabric of Louis Napoleon's
reputation for being a profound politician. Bearing the fact in mind,
we can easily see why that reputation crumbled away almost entirely
when the present became the past. There are few cases in which there
is more disagreement between the judgment of contemporaries and that
of immediate posterity than the case of the French Emperor.

The least surprised, and, among Italians, the most dissatisfied at the
New Year's Day pronouncement was Mazzini, who when he read it in the
_Times_ next morning felt that the Napoleonic war closed the heroic
period of Italian Liberation. To men like Mazzini failure is apt to
seem more heroic than success, and the war of 1859 did close the
period of failure. The justification for calling in foreign arms could
only be in necessity, and Mazzini denied the necessity. Charles Albert
denied it in 1848 with no less confident a voice. Then, indeed, there
did appear a chance of Italy maki