Do not laugh at my violence, it is sincere; no one will ever love you like me.  Raymond cannot—­a sentimental Don Quixote, in search of adventures and chivalrous deeds.  In order to love a woman, he must have fished her out of the spray of Niagara; or dislocated his shoulder in stopping her carriage on the brink of a precipice; or snatched her out of the hands of picturesque bandits, costumed like Fra Diavolo; he is only fit for the hero of a ten-volume English novel, with a long-tailed coat, tight gray pantaloons and top-boots.  You are too sensible to admire the philanthropic freaks of this modern paladin, who would be ridiculous were he not brave, rich and handsome; this moral Don Juan, who seduces by his virtue, cannot suit you.

When shall I see you?  Our moments of happiness in this life are so short; I have lost three days of Paradise by your persistence in concealing yourself.  What god can ever restore them to me?

Louise, I have only loved, till now, marble shadows, phantoms of beauty; but what is this love of sculpture and painting compared with the passion that consumes me?  Ah! how bittersweet it is to be deprived at once of will, strength and reason, and trembling, kneeling, vanquished, to surrender the key of one’s heart into the hands of the beautiful victor!  Do not, like Elfrida, throw it into the torrent!

EDGAR DE MEILHAN.

XXV.

RAYMOND DE VILLIERS to MME. LA VICOMTESSE BE BRAIMES,
Hotel of the Prefecture, Grenoble (Isere).

ROUEN, July 12th 18—­

MADAME:—­If you should find in these hastily written lines expressions of severity that might wound you in one of your tenderest affections, I beg you to ascribe them to the serious interest with which you have inspired me for a person whom I do do not know.  Madame, the case is serious, and the comedy, performed for the gratification of childish vanity, might, if prolonged, end in a tragedy.  Let Mademoiselle de Chateaudun know immediately that her peace of mind, her whole future is at stake.  You have not a day, not an hour, not an instant to lose in exerting your influence.  I answer for nothing; haste, O haste!  Your position, your high intelligence, your good sense give you, necessarily, the authority of an elder sister or a mother over Mademoiselle de Chateaudun; exercise it if you would save that reckless girl.  If she acts from caprice, nothing can justify it; if she is playing a game it is a cruel one, with ruin in the end; if she is subjecting M. de Monbert to a trial, it has lasted long enough.

I accompanied M. de Monbert to Rouen; I lived in daily, hourly intercourse with him, and had ample opportunities for studying his character; he is a wounded lion.  Never having had the honor of meeting Mademoiselle de Chateaudun, I cannot tell whether the Prince is the man to suit her; Mademoiselle de Chateaudun alone can decide so delicate a question.  But I do assert that M. de Monbert is not the man to be trifled with, and whatever decision Mademoiselle de Chateaudun may come to, it is her duty and due to her dignity to put an end to his suspense.