THE MASTERPIECES OF GEORGE SAND AMANDINE LUCILLE AURORE DUPIN, BARONESS DUDEVANT VOLUME VIII THE PICCININO THE LAST OF THE ALDINIS The Masterpieces of George Sand Amandine Lucille Aurore Dupin, Baroness Dudevant, _NOW FOR THE FIRST TIME COMPLETELY TRANSLATED INTO ENGLISH THE PICCININO, AND THE LAST OF THE ALDINIS BY G. BURNHAM IVES_ _WITH TWELVE PHOTOGRAVURES AFTER PAINTINGS BY ORESTE CORTAZZO._ _VOLUME II_ _PRINTED ONLY FOR SUBSCRIBERS BY GEORGE BARRIE & SON PHILADELPHIA_ [Illustration: _SIGNORA ALDINI AND HER GONDOLIER._ _I saw the blood come and go in the signora's cheeks as I took the oar and eagerly pushed against the marble steps which seemed to flee behind us._] CONTENTS THE PICCININO CHAPTER XXXVI. THE FAMILY PORTRAITS XXXVII. BIANCA XXXVIII. A COUP DE MAIN XXXIX. AN IDYLL XL. DECEPTION XLI. JEALOUSY AND GRATITUDE XLII. AN EMBARRASSING CONJUNCTURE XLIII. A CRISIS XLIV. REVELATIONS XLV. MEMORIES XLVI. GLADNESS OF HEART XLVII. THE VULTURE XLVIII. THE MARQUIS XLIX. DANGER L. A NOCTURNAL JOURNEY LI. CATASTROPHE LII. CONCLUSION THE LAST OF THE ALDINIS INTRODUCTION FIRST PART SECOND PART LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS THE PICCININO THE LAST OF THE ALDINIS VOLUME II SIGNORA ALDINI AND HER GONDOLIER THE PICCININO RECEIVES MILA AGATHA PROTECTS MICHELANGELO NELLO ENTERS THE ALDINI PALACE THE STRANGE LUNCHEON ALEZIA VISITS CHECCHINA THE PICCININO (_Continued_) XXXVI THE FAMILY PORTRAITS "Well," replied Michel, emboldened by his host's dignified arguments and sincere kindliness, "I will tell you my whole thought; and I trust that Master Barbagallo will permit me to speak before him, even though what I have to say may be offensive to his beliefs. If the study of heraldic science were a useful and moral study, Master Barbagallo, the favored nursling of that science, would regard all men as equal before God, and would recognize no distinction except between narrow-minded or wicked and intelligent or virtuous men. He would appreciate fully the vanity of titles and the very doubtful value of genealogical trees. He would have broader views concerning the history of the human race, as we were saying just now; and he would view that wonderful history with a glance no less firm than impartial. Whereas, if I am not mistaken, he views it with a certain narrowness of vision which I cannot accept. He esteems nobility an excellent thing because it is privileged; he despises the common people because they have no history and no memories. I will wager that he despises himself by dint of admiring the grandeur of others, unless he has discovered amid the dust of some library some document which affords him the honor of deeming himself related in the fourteenth degree to some illustrious family."