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Preparations were made for the event, congratulatory visits were

received, and all wore a smiling appearance. I shut up, as well

as I could, in my own heart the anxiety that preyed there and

entered with seeming earnestness into the plans of my father,

although they might only serve as the decorations of my tragedy.

Through my father's exertions a part of the inheritance of

Elizabeth had been restored to her by the Austrian government. A

small possession on the shores of Como belonged to her. It was

agreed that, immediately after our union, we should proceed to

Villa Lavenza and spend our first days of happiness beside the

beautiful lake near which it stood.