'Her body is completely enclosed in a transparent coffin of the purest Venetian crystal, and therein she lies, robed in white, looking lovely in her virgin purity, for in death her features resumed all the bloom of youth. Her tresses are of the brightest gold; her features are soft and placid; the long lashes of her eyes are closed, imparting a charming expression of modesty and repose to her sleeping face, and a virgin crown encircles her brows. Her hands, small and delicate, are crossed upon her breast; one retains a golden chalice, the other her crucifix; and when prayers of more than ordinary purity are raised to heaven at her shrine, her lips have been seen to smile, and a shining brightness to spread over her face and robes--a light that filled the beholders with extasy and awe. Moreover, through the pores of that crystal coffin there cometh at times a fragrance--a delightful perfume, like that emitted of old by the body of Polycarp, the early martyr.' 'And she was a daughter of Macbeth! By my soul, I would give a louis to see all this.' The priest shook his head. 'And her body is quite undecayed, you say.' 'Less so than yours or mine,' retorted the priest. 'And yet she died--' 'More than five hundred years ago.' 'Excuse me, Father Colville, but really--' 'You think this strange; but does not Volterranus tell us of the body of a young girl--fair, delicate, and beautiful--being found in a Roman sepulchre during the pontificate of Alexander VI.?' 'Very likely; but I do not believe in Volterranus.' 'He says, that she was enclosed in a marble chest: her loveliness dazzled all; her hair, which was long and flaxen, was gathered upon her head by a tiara of shining gold. At her feet stood a burning lamp, the light of which was extinguished by the atmosphere on the vault being opened. And, by an inscription on her tomb, this fair young girl proved to be "Tulliola, the best-beloved daughter of Cicero;" but because she was an unbaptized pagan, Pope Alexander ordered her body, so wonderfully preserved, to be cast into the Tiber, which was done accordingly. But to return: our shrine of St. Lucy was visited, in 1609, by the Duchess of Lorraine--a lady of the house of Mantua.' 'The mother of the present Prince of Vaudemont.' 'No; the mother of his half-sister, the famous Mademoiselle Marie Louise, who is now in Paris. It was also visited with great solemnity by his present majesty Louis XIII., when he was besieging St. Michel four years ago; and on that occasion his favourite, Madame d'Amboise, laid all her rings and bracelets on the shrine. It is to be visited by Mademoiselle of Lorraine, after her marriage with Count Pappenheim--an event to which I look forward with a somewhat selfish interest.' 'Why?' 'Because the wedding-dress of the bride is to be my gift, as keeper of the reliques.'