"This impression was so strong, that, as we left the house, I could not
keep from mentioning it to my uncle. He only laughed, and said that
I was a fool, and that, if my existence should ever be troubled by a
woman, it would certainly not be by the Countess Claudieuse.

"He was apparently right. It was hard to imagine that any thing should
ever again bring me in contact with the countess. M. de Besson's attempt
at reconciliation had utterly failed; the countess lived at Valpinson;
and I went back to Paris.

"Still I was unable to shake off the impression; and the memory of the
dinner at M. de Besson's house was still in my mind, when a month
later, at a party at my mother's brother's, M. de Chalusse, I thought
I recognized the Countess Claudieuse. It was she. I bowed, and, seeing
that she recognized me, I went up to her, trembling, and she allowed me
to sit down by her.

"She told me then that she had come up to Paris for a month, as she did
every year, and that she was staying at her father's, the Marquis de
Tassar. She had come to this party much against her inclination, as she
disliked going out. She did not dance; and thus I talked to her till the
moment when she left.

"I was madly in love when we parted; and still I made no effort to see
her again. It was mere chance again which brought us together.

"One day I had business at Melun, and, reaching the station rather late,
I had but just time to jump into the nearest car. In the compartment
was the countess. She told me--and that is all I ever recollected of the