went toward the door. I ran after him; I remembered all, and with the
remembrance came a crowd of feelings, at once sweet and bitter. This
bouquet was the same I had given Matthias on Barbara's wedding day....

I took a rich diamond pin from my dress, and fastened it at the
buttonhole of Matthias's coat. Neither he nor I spoke a single word, but
I am sure that while each wondered inwardly at the strange fulfilment of
the prophecy, each was still more surprised that it had realized none of
our hopes.

Just as I was writing these lines, my mother entered my room. Her
kindness is incomparable; she brought me such a quantity of stuffs, of
jewels and blondes, that she could scarcely carry them. She laid them on
my bed, and said:

'I give you a portion of the trousseau destined to my daughters; I
should have added many other articles, but I was afraid they were not
handsome enough, and yet I have given you the best I had. I have spoken
to my husband, and he has determined to sell two villages to make a
trousseau worthy of so illustrious a union. That will come when the
secret is unveiled.'

I burst into tears, and would have thrown myself at her feet, but she
prevented me, and asked me a thousand pardons for presenting me with
things of so little value.

Oh, yes! I must certainly leave here day after to-morrow. I suffer
beyond expression. My younger sisters, madame, the courtiers, and even
the old servants exclaim over the change which has come upon me, and ask
one another why I am not yet married, and why no one seems to think of