that she was as disagreeable to Graslin as Graslin was repulsive to
her. This secret divorce made her both sad and joyful. She had always
looked to motherhood for an interest in life; but up to this time
(1828) the couple had had no prospect of a family.



IV

THE HISTORY OF MANY MARRIED WOMEN IN THE PROVINCES

So now, in her magnificent house and envied for her wealth by all the
town, Madame Graslin recovered the solitude of her early years in her
father's house, less the glow of hope and the youthful joys of
ignorance. She lived among the ruins of her castles in the air,
enlightened by sad experience, sustained by religious faith, occupied
by the care of the poor, whom she loaded with benefits. She made
clothes for the babies, gave mattresses and sheets to those who slept
on straw; she went among the poor herself, followed by her maid, a
girl from Auvergne whom her mother procured for her, and who attached
herself body and soul to her mistress. Veronique made an honorable spy
of her, sending her to discover the places where suffering could be
stilled, poverty softened.

This active benevolence, carried on with strict attention to religious
duties, was hidden in the deepest secrecy and directed by the various
rectors in the town, with whom Veronique had a full understanding in
all her charitable deeds, so as not to suffer the money so needed for
unmerited misfortunes to fall into the hands of vice. It was during
this period of her life that she won a friendship quite as strong and