proper to introduce it. The ball being ended, we went to hear
vespers at the church of the Canonesses, an order of nuns of
which we have none in France. These are young ladies who are
entered in these communities at a tender age, in order to improve
their fortunes till they are of an age to be married. They do not
all sleep under the same roof, but in detached houses within an
enclosure. In each of these houses are three, four, or perhaps six
young girls, under the care of an old woman. These governesses,
together with the abbess, are of the number of such as have never
been married. These girls never wear the habit of the order but
in church; and the service there ended, they dress like others,
pay visits, frequent balls, and go where they please. They were
constant visitors at the Count's entertainments, and danced at
his balls.

The Countess thought the time long until the night, when she
had an opportunity of relating to the Count the conversation she
had with me, and the opening of the business. The next morning
she came to me, and brought her husband with her. He entered
into a detail of the grievances the country laboured under, and
the just reasons he had for ridding it of the tyranny of Spain.
In doing this, he said, he should not consider himself as acting
against his natural sovereign, because he well knew he ought to
look for him in the person of the King of France. He explained to
me the means whereby my brother might establish himself in Flanders,
having possession of Hainault, which extended as far as Brussels.
He said the difficulty lay in securing the Cambrésis. which is
situated betwixt Hainault and Flanders. It would, therefore,
be necessary to engage M. d'Ainsi in the business. To this I
replied that, as he was his neighbour and friend, it might be