nd points of view she would enjoy with all
a painter's zest. And this poor count, with all his riches, could not
derive in a whole lifetime the enjoyment that a few brief hours
would yield to us! So is it almost ever in this world: to one man the
appliances, to another the faculties for enjoyment.

'I am so glad monsieur has consented,' said the valet joyously.

'Did I say so? I don't know that I said anything.'

'The count will be so gratified,' added he, and hurried away to convey
the tidings.

Well, be it so. Heaven knows my business in Paris will scarcely suffer
by my absence, my chief occupation there being to cheat away the hours
till meal-time. It is an occupation I can easily resume a few days
hence. I took a book, and strolled out into the garden; but I could not
read. There is a gush of pleasure felt at times from the most familiar
objects, which the most complicated machinery of enjoyment often fails
to equal; and now the odour of moss-roses and geraniums, the rich
perfume of orange-flowers, the plash of fountains and the hum of the
summer insects, steeped my mind in delight; and I lay there in a dream
of bliss that was like enchantment. I suppose I must have fallen asleep,
for my thoughts took every form of wildness and incoherency. Ireland;
the campaign; the Bay of Genoa; the rugged height of Kuff-stein,
all passed before my mind, peopled with images foreign to all their
incidents. It was late in the afternoon that I aroused myself, and
remembered where I was. The shadows of the dark forest were stretching
over the plain, and I determined on a ride beneath their mellow shade.
As if in anticipation of my wishes, the horses were already saddled, and
a groom stood awaiting my orders. Oh, what a glorious thing it is to be
rich! thought I, as I mounted; from what an eminence does the wealthy
man view life! No petty cares nor calculations mar the conceptions of
his fancy. His will, like his imagination, wanders free and unfettered.
And so thinking, I dashed spurs into my horse, and plunged into the
dense wood. Perhaps I was better mounted than the groom, or perhaps the
man was scarcely accustomed to such impetuosity. Whatever the reason, I
was soon out of sight of him. The trackless grass of the alley, and its
noiseless turf, made pursuit difficult in a spot where the paths crossed
and recrossed in a hundred different directions; and so I rode on for
miles and miles without seeing more of my follower.

Fores