第45章

bybestowinganimaginarykissonthatlovelyface，

whichmustsatisfymetillIhavethefelicityof

seeingyouagain。

“Andnow，mydearfriendandfairestcountess，Iwill

endmylengthenedepistlebyprayingGodtohaveyou

everinHisholycareandkeeping。“

Thereceiptofthisletteraffordedmetheliveliestpleasure，and

Iwrotetothekingregularlyeverynightandmorning。

Imight

hereintroduceaspecimenofmyownepistolarystyle，butIwill

not；foraltho’thewhimsicalandextravagantthingsmypengave

utterancetowereexactlytotheking’staste，theymightsurprise

you；butmyroyalcorrespondentlovedthewildandbizarreturn

ofmyexpressions，andIfulfilledhiswishes；perhapsitwasnot

theonlyinstanceinwhichIgratifiedhisinclination。

My，thechancellorofFrance，hadremainedtokeepme

companyinsteadofjoiningthepartyatChantilly。

，

sayyou，andbywhatrightortitlecouldM。deMaupeoubecome

such？

Iwilltellyou。

Firstofallheonlyaspiredtothehonor

ofrelationship，butafterwards，turningoverthearchivesofhis

family，hefoundthemostincontestableproofsofhisbelonging

totheancientfamiliesoftheduBarry；andfullofjoy，he

hurriedtome，unrollingatmyfeethisgenealogicaltree，tothe

greatamusementofcomteJeanandmysisters-in-law，who，after

alongexamination，declaredthathewasjustlyentitledtothe

appellationoffirstcousin；fromthatperiodhealwaysaddressed

me，whichIflatteredhimbyreturningwheneverIwas

inthehumor。

AboutthisperiodIwasthehappyinstrumentinsavingfromdeath

ayounggirlwhosejudges(aswillbeseen)wereabouttosentence

hertobehangedwithoutfullyunderstandingwhethershewere

innocentorguilty。

Thisunfortunatecreaturewasayoungand

prettycountrygirl，whoseworthypastor，thecuredeLiancourt，

hadavailedhimselfoftheinfluencehepossessed，andofthe

advantagesofhisauthorityoverthepoorcreature’smind，to

seduceherfromthepathsofvirtue。

Unfortunately，justatthe

timewhensheexpectedtoproducealivingwitnessoftheiramour，

andwhenshetrustedtothecaresofthecuretoprocureforher

thosecomfortsherunfortunatesituationrequired，theauthorof

hershamewassuddenlycarriedoffbyaviolentdeath，andthe

wretchedgirl，eitherthro’ignoranceortheshameofhaving

listenedtotheillicitpassionofapriest，neglectedtomakeany

ofthoseformaldeclarationsrequiredbythelaw，andgavebirth

toadeadinfant。

Thejusticeofthevillage，informedofher

fault，causedhertobearrested，andrecordedagainsthersentence

ofdeath，adecisionwhichwasafterwardsapprovedbyparliament。

Thepoorgirlwasinthisextremitywhen，happilyforher，M。de

Mandeville，aworthymanfromeitherNormandyorPicardy，who

hadservedintheblackmusketeers，resolveduponattempting

therevocationoftheseveresentencewhichhadbeenpassedupon

her，byaddressingthekingthro’mymediation；heaccordingly

followedmetoMarly，whereIthenwas，andlostnotimein

forwardingtomethefollowingbillet:——

“MADAME，——Beautyhaseverbeenfoundthe

inseparablecompanionofgoodness；toyoursI

wouldappealtoobtainthefavorofanimmediate

audience。

Myreasonsforrequestingitareno