"Of whom are you talking, my dear aunt?"
"The grand duke's daughter? Lord Dudley spoke of her at Vienna with warmth we suspected of exaggeration."
"At my age and in my position," replied my aunt, "people do not exaggerate, so you can trust to my judgment, and I assure you I never knew any one more enchanting than the Princess Amelie. I would speak of her beauty were it not for an indefinable charm she possesses, superior even to her beauty. From the first day that the grand duke presented me to her, I felt myself irresistibly drawn towards her; and I am not the only person. The Archduchess Sophia is at Gerolstein, and is the most proud and haughty princess I know."
"Very true, aunt; her irony is terrible, very few persons escape from her sarcasms; at Vienna every one dreaded her. Can the Princess Amelie have found favour in her eyes?"
"The other day she came here after visiting the asylum placed under the princess's direction. 'Do you know,' said this redoubtable archduchess to me, 'that if I resided long with the grand duke's daughter I should become quite harmless, so contagious is her goodness!'"
"Why, my cousin must be an enchantress!" said I, laughing, to my aunt.
"Her most powerful charm, at least in my eyes," replied my aunt, "is the mixture of sweetness, modesty, and dignity that I have told you of, and which gives a most touching expression to her face."
"Indeed, aunt, modesty is a rare quality in a princess so young, so beautiful, and so happy."
"Reflect that the princess is still more deserving of praise for her modesty, as her elevation is so very recent."