M. de Tourville left the miniature in the hands of the ladies to be
admired, and, addressing himself to Mr. Percy, began to tell with much
mystery the story of Euphrosyne. She was an actress of whom the prince,
heir apparent at the _German court_ where he resided, had become violently
enamoured. One of the prince's young confidants had assisted his royal
highness in carrying on a secret correspondence with Euphrosyne, which
she managed so artfully that the prince was on the point of giving her
a written promise of marriage, when the intrigue was discovered, and
prevented from proceeding farther, by a certain Count Albert Altenberg,
a young nobleman who had till that moment been one of the prince's
favourites, but who by thus opposing his passion lost entirely his prince's
favour. The story was a common story of an intrigue, such as happens every
day in every country where there is a young prince; but there was something
uncommon in the conduct of Count Altenberg. Mr. Percy expressed his
admiration of it; but M. de Tourville, though he acknowledged, as in
morality bound, that the count's conduct had been admirable, just what it
ought to be upon this occasion, yet spoke of him altogether as _une tete
exaltee_, a young man of a romantic Quixotic enthusiasm, to which he had
sacrificed the interests of his family, and his own hopes of advancement
at court. In support of this opinion, M. de Tourville related several
anecdotes, and on each of these anecdotes Mr. Percy and M. de Tourville
differed in opinion. All that was produced to prove that the young
count had no judgment or discretion appeared to Mr. Percy proofs of his
independence of character and greatness of soul. Mr. Percy repeated the
anecdotes to Mrs. Percy and his daughters; and M. de Tourville, as soon
as he saw that the ladies, and especially Caroline, differed from him,
immediately endeavoured to slide round to their opinion, and assured
Caroline, with many asseverations, and with his hand upon his heart, that
he had merely been speaking of the light in which these things appeared to