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Updated: June 28, 2025
Once or twice her eyes lingered on her mother's portrait; and then profound sighs escaped her bosom. Presently the beautiful Flora Francatelli entered the apartment; but Nisida made her a sign of dismissal. The maiden withdrew; and we must now follow her to her own chamber. On reaching her bedroom, Flora did not immediately retire to rest.
"I was about to inform your lordship," continued the valet, "that Venturo, of whom I have spoken, happened the next day to overhear the marquis inform the countess that he should be compelled to stay for that purpose in Florence; whereupon Flora Francatelli offered her ladyship a home at her aunt's residence, whither she herself should return on her liberation from the stronghold.
It was somewhat late in the evening when I called at the cottage of the Signora Francatelli, your highness' worthy aunt; for I previously passed a few hours in instituting by indirect means as many inquiries concerning her circumstances and welfare as could be prudently made.
As the old order yielded place to the new, this enormous profusion of rich food became by degrees less fashionable, though its terrible traditions endured, through the days of Soyer and Francatelli, almost to our own time. But gradually refinement began to supersede profusion. Simultaneously all forms of luxury spread from the aristocracy to the plutocracy; while the middle and lower classes attained a degree of solid comfort which would a few years before have been impossible. Under Pitt's administration wealth increased rapidly. Great fortunes were amassed through the improvement of agricultural methods and the application of machinery to manufacture. The Indian Nabobs, as they were called, became a recognized and powerful element in society, and their habits of "Asiatic luxury" are represented by Chatham, Burke, Voltaire, and Home Tooke as producing a marked effect upon the social life of the time. Lord Robert Seymour notes in his diary for 1788 that a fashionable lady gave £100 a year to the cook who superintended her suppers; that at a sale of bric-
"Flora dearest Flora," cried Dame Francatelli, the tears trickling fast down her countenance, "I do not wish to leave you I do not seek to be set free I will stay in this dreadful place so long as you remain a prisoner also; for though we are separated "
He was hastening to quit the room, when Nisida held him back, and intimated to him that his anxiety in this respect would create suspicions injurious alike to his reputation and that of Flora Francatelli the more so, as she was but a menial in the household.
Duras, tore open the billet, and read the contents as follows: "My brother Angelo came to me very late last night and informed me that a sense of imperious duty compelled him to change his mind relative to the two women Francatelli. He accordingly appeared on their behalf, and obtained a delay of eight days.
"I should be unworthy of the kind interest you take in my behalf, great pasha, were I to neglect this request," answered Francisco. "Oh! may the good angels grant that I may yet recover my beloved sister Nisida, and that sweetest of maidens Flora Francatelli!"
But who can describe the wonder and amazement which overwhelmed Flora and her aunt, when, in the person of the grand vizier, was revealed to them the long absent brother and nephew, Alessandro Francatelli! It is needless to give in detail the events which were narrated in their conversation.
The agonies endured before and during those entertainments are renewed, and smart again. What a failure that special grand dinner was! How those dreadful occasional waiters did break the old china! What a dismal hash poor Mary, the cook, made of the French dish which she WOULD try out of Francatelli! How angry Mrs. Pope was at not going down to dinner before Mrs. Bishop!
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