I allude to Mazarin; this Cardinal who is
not a priest; this minister of France who is not a Frenchman; this
belittler of nobles who is not a gentleman."
"Mort Dieu, Monsieur--"
"One moment, M. de Luynes. This adventurer, not content with the millions
which his avaricious talons have dragged from the people for his own
benefit, seeks, by means of illustrious alliances, to enrich a pack of
beggarly nieces and nephews that he has rescued from the squalor of their
Sicilian homes to bring hither. His nieces, the Mancinis and Martinozzis,
he is marrying to Dukes and Princes. 'T is not nice to witness, but 't is
the affair of the men who wed them. In seeking, however, to marry his
nephew Andrea to one of the greatest heiresses in France, he goes too far.
Yvonne de Canaples is for some noble countryman of her own--there are many
suitors to her hand--and for no nephew of Giulio Mazarini. Her brother
Eug?ne, himself, thinks thus, and therein, M. de Luynes, you have the real
motive of the quarrel which he provoked with Andrea, and which, had you not
interfered, could have had but one ending.
Pages:
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82