r. I made
great progress in my music, and we rehearsed a great many little plays
for our amusement. Much applause was bestowed upon my performances,
except by Mademoiselle de Mars, who generally only praised me for what
belonged to my heart or character. I led a charming life: in the
morning I played on the harpsichord; afterwards I studied my parts;
then I took my lesson in dancing and fencing, and then read till
dinner. After dinner, we read pious books, and afterwards spent our
time in amusements and walking.

"I will here give the history of what a woman never forgets--the first
passion she inspires. I was but a child of eleven years and nine
months, and very small of my age; besides, I had a face and features
so delicate, that those who saw me for the first time never supposed
me older than eight or nine, at furthest; yet a young man of eighteen
became desperately in love with me--the son of Dr. Pinot, one of the
first physicians at the baths of Bourbon-Lancey. He had performed
parts in our plays for two years.

"None of us suspected his folly, and certainly I had not the slightest
idea of it; when, one morning, after a rehearsal, the young man came
up to me, and, seizing the moment when I was standing separate from
the other actors in the side scene, and with an air of wildness in
his looks, gave me a note, begging me, in a low tone, to read it, and
let no one see it. I took the note, though much surprised, and he left
me. Mademoiselle de Mars soon after joined me. I put the note in my
pocket, and we went up stairs to our room. I hesitated about showing
her my note, as I had been charged so strongly to show it to no one;
but to keep a secret with the friend I loved so dearly weighed heavily
upon my conscience; at the same time, my curiosity was extreme.

"At last, Mademoiselle de Mars left me. I ran into my cabinet, locked
the door, and read the note, which contained a serious declaration of
love. My first movement was to be excessively shocked that the son of
a physician--a person of no rank--should presume to talk of love to
me. I went immediately and showed the note to my friend, who desired
me to carry it to my mother, which I did. The young man was
reprimanded by his father, as he deserved to be; and he felt so much
chagrin on the occasion, that he enlisted in the army, and left the
place. I afterwards heard of him as having obtained his discharge, and
that he was married and happy, and an excellent young