d'Aigrigny and other dignitaries of the Church, had already held at the
princely house a sort of council on a small scale. A young bride who
gives her first ball, an emancipated minor who gives his first bachelor's
dinner, a woman of talent who reads aloud for the first time her first
unpublished work, are not more joyous and proud, and, at the same time,
more attentive to their guests, than was this lady with her prelates. To
behold great interests discussed in her house, and in her presence, to
hear men of acknowledged ability ask her advice upon certain practical
matters relating to the influence of female congregations, filled the
princess with pride, as her claims to consideration were thus sanctioned
by Lordships and Eminences, and she took the position, as it were, of a
mother of the Church. Therefore, to win these prelates, whether native or
foreign, she had recourse to no end of saintly flatteries and sanctified
coaxing. Nor could anything be more logical than these successive
transfigurations of this heartless woman, who only loved sincerely and
passionately the pursuit of intrigue and domination. With the progress of
age, she passed naturally from the intrigues of love to those of
politics, and from the latter to those of religion.

At the moment she finished inspecting her preparations, the sound of
coaches was heard in the courtyard, apprising her of the arrival of the
persons she had been expecting. Doubtless, these persons were of the
highest rank, for contrary to all custom, she went to receive them at the
door of her outer saloon. It was, indeed, Cardinal Malipieri, who was
always cold, with the Belgian Bishop of Halfagen, who was always hot.
They were accompanied by Father d'Aigrigny. The Roman cardinal was a tall
man, rather bony than thin, with a yellowish puffy countenance, haughty
and full of craft; he squinted a good deal, and his black eyes were
surrounded by a deep brown circle. The Belgian Bishop was short, thick,
and fat, with a prominent abdomen, an apoplectic complexion, a slow,