his heart. After his death, the widow passed the intervals of her grief
in besieging persons of influence to obtain a restitution of the
estate. Unfortunately, she had no son to fight the battle with the Czar,
but two daughters were growing up with such a superabundance of charm
that they promised to be no mean allies in the enterprise. But fortune
did not altogether favor the widow; it is true that she interested a
Russian of great wealth and political sway, but when the time came for
his co-operation to be active, he played her a wicked trick. He
attracted her elder daughter to him and married her. Not liking to have
a mother-in-law in his mansion, he pensioned her off, with the proviso
that her presence should never clash immediately with his own in any
country. It is regrettable to add that Wanda, Madame Godaloff, agreed to
this arrangement, and, indeed, having attained woman's goal, troubled
herself not once about her parent who had schemed and plotted tirelessly
for this end. The countess had brought her deer to a pretty market; but,
unhappily, she gained little by the bargain compared with what she had
dreamed.

She had a brother-in-law who had acted very differently from her
husband. Instead of playing the patriot--and the fool--he had submitted
to the tyrant and won a lucrative post at St. Petersburg. He was afraid
to injure himself by giving countenance to his brother's relict, who was
always seeking an audience of the Emperor. It was strongly suspected
that she intended, since Wanda was out of the lists, to throw the next
daughter, Iza, at the head of a Grand-duke with whom the two girls had
played when all three were children at Warsaw.

The countess seemed to have educated the girl, as soon as her elder was
out of the way, for a royal match. Like most Poles, Iza spoke several
languages fluently, sang and played the harp and piano. She was growing