filled the wishes of his people, by giving them an heir to the Marquisate. All went on prosperously, the child increased in strength and beauty of form; it was the delight of its parents, and the pride of its future subjects; all seemed satisfied—all happy. All seemed, but all were not happy; for at the age of two years, when the nurse's duty had ceased, and that this tender seedling had begun to shoot its little roots deeply, and more and more firmly every day to twine about the heart of its mother, the demon of temptation and mistrust again possessed the mind of that wilful and unrelenting husband. How hardly can men restrain the wantonness of power when a patient creature is subjected to its control!
'Griselda!' said he, 'I have already made known to you that the people look with an evil eye upon our marriage; and since the birth of my son this discontent has increased. The constant talk now is,—'When the reigning Marquis dies, we shall have the blood of the pauper Janicola to be our Lord, and to rule over us.' These murmurs, as you may suppose, cut me to the heart: I cannot but see
