VOL. IL H

made him very melancholy. A few days after, he met at a railway station a Neapolitan gentleman who was a favourite with him.

‘ Dear Tommasi, I am glad to see you,’ he said. ‘In a short time you will hear news of a great event.’ ‘ What event, sire ? ’ asked the doctor. The king did not answer, but continued with émotion, ‘ I hâve decided ; when the interest of Italy is involved, I do not wish to hâve any remorse. It grieves me to the depth of my soûl, but I will consent’ ‘Your majesty, I do not understand.’ But Victor Emmanuel, with a wave of his hand, stepped into the carriage without answering.

La Marmora was called into the cabinet, and after much discussion by letter and a visit to Paris declined to approve of the proposai of the French govemment — for the reason that he did not like the Italians, after the évacuation of the French, to be bound to protect the papal frontier from ail aggression. The Marquis Pepoli, who was intimate with the emperor, had just returned from Paris, and the king asked him if he thought it possible to remain in Turin without renouncing the advantages of the connection with France. When he replied in the négative Victor Emmanuel burst into tears. ‘ Since the cession of Savoy and Nice,’ he said, ‘no public event has cost me such bitter regret. If I were not persuaded that this sacrifice is necessary to the unity of Italy I would refuse.'

The king accepted the conditions, which provided that the French were to evacuate Rome in two years.