Sophie-Victoire took her daughter to spend two or three days with some
friends of hers, and then left her there. They lived in the country at
Plessis-Picard, near Melun. Aurore was delighted to find a vast park
with thickets in which there were roebucks bounding about. She loved
the deep glades and the water with the green reflections of old willow
trees. Monsieur James Duplessis and his wife, Angele, were excellent
people, and they adopted Aurore for the time being. They already had
five daughters, so that one more did not make much difference. They
frequented a few families in the neighbourhood, and there was plenty of
gaiety among the young people. The Duplessis took Aurore sometimes to
Paris and to the theatre.

"One evening," we are told in the _Histoire de ma vie_, "we were having
some ices at Tortoni's after the theatre, when suddenly my mother Angele
said to her husband, 'Why, there's Casimir!' A young man, slender and
rather elegant, with a gay expression and a military look, came and
shook hands, and answered all the questions he was asked about his
father, Colonel Dudevant, who was evidently very much respected and
loved by the family."

This was the first meeting, the first appearance of Casimir in the
story, and this was how he entered into the life of Aurore.

He was invited to Plessis, he joined the young people good-humouredly in
their games, was friendly with Aurore, and, without posing as a suitor,
asked for her hand in marriage. There was no reason for her to refuse
him. He was twenty-seven years of age, had served two years in the army,
and had studied law in Paris. He was a natural son, of course, but he
had been recognized by his father, Colonel Dudevant. The Dudevant family
was greatly respected. They had a _chateau_ at Guillery in Gascony.