"Yet I would not complain.Have I not known in turn two men,each the very pattern of nobility--one in mind,the other in outward form?In Felipe,the soul dominated and transformed the body;in Gaston,one could not say which was supreme--heart,mind,or grace of form.I die adored--what more could I wish for?Time,perhaps,in which to draw near the God of whom I may have too little thought.My spirit will take its flight towards Him,full of love,and with the prayer that some day,in the world above,He will unite me once more to the two who made a heaven of my life below.Without them,paradise would be a desert to me.
"To others,my example would be fatal,for mine was no common lot.To meet a Felipe or a Gaston is more than mortals can expect,and therefore the doctrine of society in regard to marriage accords with the natural law.Woman is weak,and in marrying she ought to make an entire sacrifice of her will to the man who,in return,should lay his selfishness at her feet.The stir which women of late years have created by their whining and insubordination is ridiculous,and only shows how well we deserve the epithet of children,bestowed by philosophers on our sex."She continued talking thus in the gentle voice you know so well,uttering the gravest truths in the prettiest manner,until Gaston entered,bringing with him his sister-in-law,the two children,and the English nurse,whom,at Louise's request,he had been to fetch from Paris.
"Here are the pretty instruments of my torture,"she said,as her nephews approached."Was not the mistake excusable?What a wonderful likeness to their uncle!"She was most friendly to Mme.Gaston the elder and begged that she would look upon the chalet as her home;in short,she played the hostess to her in her best de Chaulieu manner,in which no one can rival her.
I wrote at once to the Duc and Duchesse de Chaulieu,the Duc de Rhetore,and the Duc de Lenoncourt-Givry,as well as to Madeleine.It was time.Next day,Louise,worn out with so much exertion,was unable to go out;indeed,she only got up for dinner.In the course of the evening,Madeleine de Lenoncourt,her two brothers,and her mother arrived.The coolness which Louise's second marriage had caused between herself and her family disappeared.Every day since that evening,Louise's father and both her brothers have ridden over in the morning,and the two duchesses spend all their evenings at the chalet.