E-text prepared by Juliet Sutherland and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net) Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this file which includes the original illustrations. See 37953-h.htm or 37953-h.zip: (https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/37953/pg37953-images.html) or (https://www.gutenberg.org/files/37953/37953-h.zip) Transcriber's note: Text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_). Small capitals have been replaced by all capitals. In Part II (page 303) "I^{er}" represents "I" followed by superscripted "er". ITALIAN LETTERS OF A DIPLOMAT'S WIFE * * * * * 7th EDITION LETTERS OF A DIPLOMAT'S WIFE By MARY KING WADDINGTON "A most interesting book of gossip, which, considered from the point of view of the general public, contains not a dull line from the first to the last. The letters have all the freshness of the best class of feminine correspondence." --_London Athenæum_. Illustrated. 8vo. $2.50 Net CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS * * * * * [Illustration: Elena, Queen of Italy.] ITALIAN LETTERS OF A DIPLOMAT'S WIFE January-May, 1880 February-April, 1904 by MARY KING WADDINGTON Illustrated from Drawings and Photographs Charles Scribner's Sons New York :: :: :: :: :: :: 1905 Copyright, 1905, by Charles Scribner's Sons Published, March, 1905 Trow Directory Printing and Bookbinding Company New York NOTE In December, 1879, M. William Henry Waddington resigned the Premiership of France, and the following month, accompanied by his wife, left Paris for a winter of rest and recreation in Italy, chiefly in Rome. The letters from Madame Waddington to her mother and sister, which constitute "Part I" of this volume, describe this journey and residence. Those forming "Part II" relate the incidents of a similar Roman sojourn some twenty years later, M. Waddington having died in the meantime. The two series together compose a picture of life and society in the Italian capital with a wide range of contrast and comparison, corresponding with those of London and Moscow in the well-known "Letters of a Diplomat's Wife" by the same writer. ILLUSTRATIONS ELENA, QUEEN OF ITALY _Frontispiece_ FACING PAGE MRS. CHARLES KING 12 PRESIDENT CHARLES KING OF COLUMBIA COLLEGE, NEW YORK CITY 30 THE SPANISH STEPS 52 _In the Piazza di Spagna, Rome._ POPE LEO XIII. 60 KING HUMBERT OF ITALY 66 QUEEN MARGHERITA OF ITALY 76