had also taken to other bad habits, away from home at first, and
later on under the conjugal roof. He was particularly partial to
the maid-servants, and, the day following the birth of her daughter,
Solange, Aurore had an unpleasant surprise with regard to her husband.
From that day forth, what had hitherto been only a vague wish on her
part became a fixed idea with her, and she began to form plans. A
certain incident served as a pretext. When putting some papers in order,
Aurore came upon her husband's will. It was a mere diatribe, in which
the future "deceased" gave utterance to all his past grievances against
his _idiotic_ wife. Her mind was made up irrevocably from this moment.
She would have her freedom again; she would go to Paris and spend three
months out of six there. She had a young tutor from the south of France,
named Boucoiran, educating her children. This Boucoiran needed to be
taken to task constantly, and Baronne Dudevant did not spare him.(5)

(5) An instance of her disposition for lecturing will be
seen in the following curious letter sent by George Sand to
her friend and neighbour, Adolphe Duplomb. This letter has
never been published before, and we owe our thanks for it to
Monsieur Charles Duplomb.

_Nohant, July_ 23,1830.

"Are you so very much afraid of me, my poor Hydrogene? You
expect a good lecture and you will not expect in vain. Have
patience, though. Before giving you the dressing you
deserve, I want to tell you that I have not forgotten you,
and that I was very vexed on returning from Paris, to find
my great simpleton of a son gone. I am so used to seeing
your solemn face that I quite miss it. You have a great many