"Yes, I am really going, and I am counting the days until it is time to
sail. But, mademoiselle, I am forgetting to show you M. Bois-le-Duc's
letter. I have it with me; shall I leave it here?"

"No, M. Lacroix. I am very lazy this afternoon, and if you would read it
to me while I just sit in this comfortable arm-chair and do nothing but
listen, I should enjoy that above all things."

"Certainly, mademoiselle; nothing would please me better. I imagine your
days of laziness, as you call it, are few and far between. Now, I will
begin. The letter is dated Father Point, April 20th, 1887:--

"My Dear Eugène,

"I was very pleased to receive your last letter, and more than pleased
to hear of your success; but the news that delighted me most of all
was to hear that you were coming here this summer.

"What you tell me about my brother is very satisfactory; I knew he
would be kind to you. I like to think of you as you describe yourself
sitting in the great hall of the Hôtel Bois-le-Duc, in Paris, where I
spent so many happy days. I knew you and the marquise would have many
subjects in common, and, as you say, she is one of the ladies of the
old school, now alas! past, yet she can sympathize with Bohemianism,
provided that talent is allied with it. She is a woman good as
she is charming, and highly cultivated. True, I have not seen my
sister-in-law for years, but her letters to me are as clever and
interesting as those of Madame de Stael, and I know from them how
her mind, instead of being dimmed with advancing years, has developed
with every day.