Massimilla Doni by Honoré de Balzac

With a few rare exceptions this brilliant nobility has fallen into utter ruin. Among the gondoliers who serve the English to whom history here reads the lesson of their future fate there are descendants of long dead Doges whose names are older than those of sovereigns. On some bridge, as you glide past it, if you are ever in Venice, you may admire some lovely girl in rags, a poor child belonging, perhaps, to one of the most famous patrician families. When a nation of kings has fallen so low, naturally some curious characters will be met with. It is not surprising that sparks should flash out among the ashes.