transposition of Manon Lescaut into the romantic style. A young girl
named Juliette has been seduced by a young seigneur, and then discovers
that this man is an abominable swindler. If we try to imagine all the
infamous things of which an _apache_ would be capable, who at the same
time is devoted to the women of the pavement, we then have Leone Leoni.
Juliette, who is naturally honest and straightforward, has a horror of
all the atrocities and shameful things she sees. And yet, in spite of
all, she comes back to Leone Leoni, and cannot love any one else. Her
love is stronger than she is, and her passion sweeps away all scruples
and triumphs over all scruples. The difference between the novel of the
eighteenth century, which was so true to life, and this lyrical fantasy
of the nineteenth century is very evident. Manon and Des Grieux always
remained united to each other, for they were of equal value. Everything
took place in the lower depths of society, and in the mire, as it were,
of the heart. You have only to make a good man of Des Grieux, or a
virtuous girl of Manon, and it is all over. The transposing of Leone
Leoni is just this, and the romanticism of it delighted Liszt.

He had just given a fine example of applying romanticism to life. Marie
d'Agoult, _nee_ de Flavigny, had decided, one fine day, to leave her
husband and daughter for the sake of the passion that was everything to
her. She accordingly started for Geneva, and Liszt joined her there.

Between these two women a friendship sprang up, which was due rather
to a wish to like each other than to a real attraction or real
fellow-feeling. The Comtesse d'Agoult, with her blue eyes, her
slender figure, and somewhat ethereal style, was a veritable Diana, an
aristocrat and a society woman. George Sand was her exact opposite. But
the Comtesse d'Agoult had just "sacrificed all the vanities of the world
for the sake of an artist," so that she deserved consideration. The