could see me--and there he was. I don't know what he may be as a
politician, but for love he has a genius.

Behold, my fair Renee, where our business now stands,

as the great Corneille has said.



XIII

MME. DE L'ESTORADE TO MLLE. DE CHAULIEU
LA CRAMPADE, February.

My dear Louise,--I was bound to wait some time before writing to you;
but now I know, or rather I have learned, many things which, for the
sake of your future happiness, I must tell you. The difference between
a girl and a married woman is so vast, that the girl can no more
comprehend it than the married woman can go back to girlhood again.

I chose to marry Louis de l'Estorade rather than return to the
convent; that at least is plain. So soon as I realized that the
convent was the only alternative to marrying Louis, I had, as girls
say, to "submit," and my submission once made, the next thing was to
examine the situation and try to make the best of it.

The serious nature of what I was undertaking filled me at first with
terror. Marriage is a matter concerning the whole of life, whilst love
aims only at pleasure. On the other hand, marriage will remain when
pleasures have vanished, and it is the source of interests far more