Duchess de la Torre, 383 



NotAvithstanding her mode of life, the Queen was very 

 popular with the loyal Spaniards, who used to say, whatever 

 she may do at home, t,when she puts on her gloves, she is 

 every inch a queen. Serrano was hated, tor he treated the 

 Queen, to whom he owed everything, shamefully. The 

 measure was full at last ; he fell into disgrace. The Queen 

 said to him : ' I have made you a general ; I have made you 

 a marquis ; I have made you a duke, — but I never could make 

 you a gentleman.' 



That he certainly was not, and never will be, whatever may 

 be his titles or his politics. He now became hostile to the 

 Queen, causing infamous newspaper articles to be written, and 

 declaring himself in some public degree, that she was a queen 

 oi whom wives and daughters of Spaniards must be ashamed. 

 But who made her what she was? 



After Prim's death Serrano turned radical. He offended 

 the Queen of Amadeus in the most insulting manner by for- 

 bidding his wife to be godmother to one ot her children. We 

 have not yet seen the end of Serrano. May he meet his 

 deserts ! 



Being a woman, I must not defend Queen Isabella ; though 

 I may venture to say that she deserves more compassion than 

 the contempt and ridicule with which she has been t^-eated. 

 Kings like her, even if not better princes, a^e judged very 

 leniently, but queens with morbid passions are forgiven only 

 if great as sovereigns. 



I also saw frequently King Victor Amadeus, either on horse- 

 back or in his carriage, driving himself He is a thin, insig- 

 nificant-looking man, much too simple in his habits to win the 

 love of the Spaniards, who have no sympathy with citizen 

 kings. He was almost always seen together with his queen, 

 who is a very virtuous woman and good wife, and who was 

 more popular than Victor Amadeus. 



The King was, however, a man of pluck, and showed it ar 

 the great attempt against him. The history of this attempt is 

 still a mystery. I saw the narrow street in which it took place, 

 and it is difficult to understand how the bullets could have 

 missed him. Still more difficult is it to explain why the police 

 did not take any measures to prevent such a crime, as it was 

 prepared without much secrecy and evidently expected by the 

 police, for the governor of the city followed the carriage of the 



