[Illustration: _The stay of proceedings._] PICCIOLA THE PRISONER OF FENESTRELLA OR, CAPTIVITY CAPTIVE BY X. B. SAINTINE _ILLUSTRATED BY J. F. GUELDRY_ [Illustration] NEW YORK D. APPLETON AND COMPANY 1893 COPYRIGHT, 1893, BY D. APPLETON AND COMPANY. ELECTROTYPED AND PRINTED AT THE APPLETON PRESS, U.S.A. LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. FACING PAGE The stay of proceedings _Frontispiece_ The priest at Charney’s bedside 40 A reverie 61 Napoleon reviewing the troops 96 Teresa before the Empress 116 The farewell 212 WITH HEAD AND TAIL PIECES FOR EACH CHAPTER AND NUMEROUS VIGNETTES. [Illustration] INTRODUCTORY EPISTLE TO MADAME VIRGINIE ANCELOT. I have reread my book, and I tremble in offering it to you; yet who can appreciate it better? You like neither romances nor dramas; my work is neither a romance nor a drama. The tale which I have related, madam, is simple; so simple, indeed, that perhaps never has pen laboured on a subject more utterly restricted. My heroine is so unimportant! Not that I wish beforehand to throw the fault of failure on her; for if the action of my little history is thus meagre, its principle is lofty, its aim is elevated; and if I fail in attaining my purpose, it will be that my strength is insufficient. Yet I am not careless as to the fate of my labour, for in it are the deepest of my convictions; and believe me that, more from benevolence than vanity, I hope, though the crowd of ordinary readers may pass over my work with carelessness, that still for some it may possess a charm, for others, utility. Do you find interest in the truth of a story? If so, I offer that to you to compensate for what you may not find in the story itself.