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The excerpt represents the core issue or deciding factor on which you must meditate, and is drawn from Catherine de Medici by Honore de Balzac: satisfaction of the jeweller, who was not fond of either political
troubles or audacity of thought.
III
THE CHATEAU DE BLOIS
The banks of the Loire, from Blois to Angers, were the favorite resort
of the last two branches of the royal race which occupied the throne
before the house of Bourbon. That beautiful valley plain so well
deserves the honor bestowed upon it by kings that we must here repeat
what was said of it by one of our most eloquent writers:--
"There is one province in France which is never sufficiently
admired. Fragrant as Italy, flowery as the banks of the
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