X. THE MAGICIAN XI. M. DE RICHELIEU XII. THE DIAMOND RING XIII. THREE LETTERS PART II THE QUEST SORROWFUL I. PARIS II. A WALLED GARDEN III. A PAVILION AT VERSAILLES IV. DESPAIR V. THE PAINTER VI. IN THE GARDEN VII. A PICTURE VIII. VOLTAIRE IX. REFLECTIONS X. IN THE LOUVRE XI. THE FÊTE XII. AFTERWARDS XIII. CLÉMENCE XIV. IN THE CONVENT PART III THE QUEST TRIUMPHANT I. THE FATHER II. RETURN TO LIFE! III. THE BETROTHED IV. THE CONFLICT V. THE DEPARTURE FROM AIX VI. THE GARRET VII. THE ROSES OF M. MARMONTEL VIII. THE END OF THE QUEST EPILOGUE THE QUEST OF GLORY PART I THE QUEST JOYFUL “Tout est très abject dans les hommes, la vertu, la gloire, la vie; mais les choses les plus petites ont des proportions reconnues. Le chêne est un grand arbre près du cerisier; ainsi les hommes à l’égard les uns des autres.”--LE MARQUIS DE VAUVENARGUES. CHAPTER I PRAGUE, 1742 The Austrian guns had ceased with the early sunset, and the desolate city of Prague was silent, encompassed by the enemy and the hard, continuous cold of a Bohemian December: in the hall of Vladislav in the Hradcany, that ancient palace of ancient kings that rose above the town, several French officers wrapped in heavy cloaks were walking up and down, as they had done night after night since the dragging siege began. In the vast spaces of the huge pillarless hall with the high arched Gothic roof, bare walls and floor, imperfectly lit by a few low-placed lamps, their figures looked slight to insignificance, and the sound of their lowered voices was a mere murmur in the great frozen stillness. At one end of the hall rose a tall carved wooden throne and rows of benches divided from the main hall by a light railing; these, which had once been the seats of the King and nobility of Bohemia, were now decayed and broken, and behind the empty chair of state was thrust a Bourbon flag tied with the blue and white colours that the French carried in compliment to the Elector of Bavaria, whom they, for many intricate reasons,--some wise, and some foolish, and none just,--were seeking to place on the Austrian throne as Charles II.