第62章

volumeonthemantel-piece，andthemarechale，glancinghereye

uponthebookIhadjustputdown，smilinglybeggedmypardon

for

disturbingmygravestudies，andtakingitinherhand，exclaimed，

“Ah！

Iseeyouhavebeenperusing’’；I

havejustbeenhavingmorethananhour’sconversationrespecting

itsauthor。“

“Whatwereyousayingofhim？“

askedI。

“Why，mydear，Ihappenedtobeatthehouseofmadamede

Luxembourg，whereImetwiththecomtesse

deBoufflers。“

“Yes，Iremember，“saidI，“theformeroftheseladieswasthe

particularfriendofJeanJacquesRousseau。“

“Andthesecondalso，“answeredshe；“andIcanpromiseyou，that

neithertheoneortheotherspoketoowellofhim。“

“Isitpossible？“

exclaimedI，withawarmthIcould

notrepress。

“Theduchess，“resumedmadamedeMirepoix，“saysheisanill-bred

andungratefulman，andthecountessinsistsuponitheisa

downrightpedant。“

’Shameful，indeed，“criedI；“butcanyou，mydearfriend，

accountfortheill-naturewithwhichtheseladiesspeakof

poorRousseau？“

“Oh！

Yes，“repliedthemarechale，“theirmotivesare

easilyexplained，andIwilltellyoualittlesecret，for

thetruthofwhichIcanvouch。

MadamedeLuxembourghadat

onetimeconceivedthemostlivelypassionforJeanJacques。“

“Indeed！“

criedI；“andhe——“

“Didnotreturnit。

AsformadamedeBouffiers，thecasewas

exactlyreversed；andRousseauhasexcitedherresentmentby

daringlongtonurseahopelessflame，ofwhichshewasthe

object:thispresumptiononthepartofthepoetourdignified

countesscouldneverpardon。

However，Ientreatofyounotto

repeatthis；remember，Itellyouinstrictestsecrecy。“

“Oh，beassuredofmydiscretion，“saidI；“Ipromiseyounotto

publishyoursecret“(which，bytheway，Iwasverycertainwas

notcommunicatedforthefirsttimewhentoldtome)。

Thisconfidenceonthepartofthemarechalehad，insome

unaccountable

manner，onlyincreasedtheardentdesireIfelt

toseetheauthor

ofthe““；andIobserved

tomadamedeMirepoix，thatIhadagreatcuriositytobe

introducedtoRousseau。

“Ifear，“saidshe，“youwillneverbeabletopersuadehimto

visitatthechateau。“

“HowthencanIaccomplishmydesireofseeingthiscelebratedman？“

“Byonesimplemethod；ifhewillnotcometoyou，youmustgo

tohim。

Iwouldwillinglyaccompanyyou，butheknowsme，and

mypresencewouldspoilall。

Thebestthingyoucandoisto

dressyourselfquiteplainly，asaladyfromthecountry，taking

withyouoneofyourfemaleattendants。

Youmaytakeasa

pretextforyourvisitsomemusicyouwouldwishtohavecopied。

BesuretotreatM。deRousseauasamerecopyist，andappear

nevertohaveheardofhissuperiormerit:dothis，andyouwill

receivethebestpossiblereception。“

Igreatlyapprovedofthemarechale’sadvice，whichIassured

herIwoulddelaynolongerthantillthefollowingdaytoput

intopractice；and，aftersomefurtherconversationupon

Rousseau，weparted。

EarlythenextdayIsetoutforParisaccompaniedbyHenriette；

there，inpursuanceofthesuggestionofmadamedeMirepoix，I

dressedmyselfasapersonrecentlyarrivedfromthecountry，and

Henriette，whowastoaccompanyme，disguisedherselfasavillager。

Iassureyou，ourpersonalattractionslostnothingbythechange

ofourattire。

FromtheruedelaJussiennetotheruePlatriere

isonlyafewsteps；nevertheless，inthefearofbeingrecognised，

Itookahiredcarriage。

Havingreachedourplaceofdestination，

weentered，byashabbydoor，th