Both were Elisabeths. The daughter of Peter (of Russia) was absolute yet spared a competitor and a rival ; and thought the person of an empress had suffisient allurements for as many of her subjects as she chose to honour with the communication. Elisabeth of England could neither forgive the claim of Mary Stuart nor her charms, but ungenerously emprisoned her (as George IV did Napoléon), when imploring protection and, without the sanction of either despotism or law, sacrificed many to her great and little jealousy. Yet this Elisabeth, piqued herself on chastity and while she practised every ridiculous art of coquetery to be admired at an unseemly age, kept off lovers whom she encouraged, and neither gratified her own desires nor their ambition. Who can help prefering the honest, open-hearted barbarian empress ? (Lord Oxford’s Memoirs.)
L’extrême familiarité peut détruire la cristallisation. Une charmante jeune fille de seize ans devenait amoureuse d’un beau jeune homme du même âge qui ne manquait pas chaque soir, à la tombée de la nuit[1],
- ↑ À l’Ave Maria.
