This book is a collection of narratives about historical events. Included are: "The Absolution;" "The False Demetrius;" "The Hermosa Fembra;" "The Pastry-Cook of Madrigal;" "The End of the Very Galant;" "The Barren Wooing;" "Sir Judas;" "His Insolence of Buckingham;" "The Path of Exile;" "The Tragedy of Herrenhausen;" "The Tyrannicide;" "The Honor of Varano;" "The Lust of Conquest;" and "The Pasquinade." From the author"s preface: "As in the case of the narratives that made up the first volume, I set out again with the same ambitious aim of adhering scrupulously in every instance to actual, recorded facts; and once again I find it desirable at the outset to reveal how far the achievement may have fallen short of the admitted aim . . ."