The stay of proceedings.
PICCIOLA
THE PRISONER OF FENESTRELLA
OR, CAPTIVITY CAPTIVE
BY
X. B. SAINTINE
ILLUSTRATED BY J. F. GUELDRY
NEW YORK
D. APPLETON AND COMPANY
1893
Copyright, 1893,
By D. APPLETON AND COMPANY.
Electrotyped and Printed
at the Appleton Press, U.S.A.
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
| FACING PAGE | |
| The stay of proceedings | Frontispiece |
| The priest at Charney’s bedside | 40 |
| A reverie | 61 |
| Napoleon reviewing the troops | 96 |
| Teresa before the Empress | 116 |
| The farewell | 212 |
WITH HEAD AND TAIL PIECES FOR EACH CHAPTER AND NUMEROUS VIGNETTES.
I have reread my book, and I tremble in offering it toyou; yet who can appreciate it better? You like neitherromances nor dramas; my work is neither a romance nor adrama.
The tale which I have related, madam, is simple; so simple,indeed, that perhaps never has pen laboured on a subjectmore utterly restricted. My heroine is so unimportant!Not that I wish beforehand to throw the fault of failure onher; for if the action of my little history is thus meagre, itsprinciple is lofty, its aim is elevated; and if I fail in attainingmy purpose, it will be that my strength is insufficient.Yet I am not careless as to the fate of my labour, for in it arethe deepest of my convictions; and believe me that, morefrom benevolence than vanity, I hope, though the crowd ofordinary readers may pass over my work with carelessness,that still for some it may possess a char