. 'It is extraordinary, I admit,' he added, gayly; 'but it
is nevertheless true. M. de Fondege and the Marquis de Valorsay will
dine here this evening. So, my dear Marguerite, look your prettiest
in honor of our old friend.' At six o'clock the two gentlemen arrived
together. I was well acquainted with M. de Fondege--the general, as he
was commonly called. He was the count's only intimate friend, and often
visited us. But I had never before seen the Marquis de Valorsay, nor had
I ever heard his name until M. de Chalusse mentioned it that morning. I
don't pretend to judge him. I will only say that as soon as I saw him,
the dislike I felt for him bordered on aversion. My false position
rendered his close scrutiny actually painful to me, and his attentions
and compliments pleased me no better. At dinner he addressed his
conversation exclusively to me, and I particularly remember a certain
picture he drew of a model household, which positively disgusted me. In
his opinion, a husband ought to content himself with being his wife's
prime minister--the slave of her slightest caprice. He intended, if
he married, to allow the Marquise de Valorsay perfect freedom, with
an unlimited amount of money, the handsomest carriages, and the most
magnificent diamonds in Paris--everything, indeed, that could gratify
her vanity, and render her existence a fairylike dream. 'With such ideas
on her husband's part the marchioness will be very difficult to please
if she is not contented with her lot,' he added, glancing covertly at
me. This exasperated me beyond endurance, and I dryly replied: 'The mere
thought of such a husband would drive me to the shelter of a convent.'
He seemed considerably disconcerted; and I noticed that the general, I
mean M. de Fondege, gave him a mischievous look.

"However, when the gentlemen had gone, M. de Chalusse scolded me
severely. He said that my sentimental philosophy was quite out of place
in a drawing-room, and that my ideas of life, marriage, and duty could
only have been gained in a foundling asylum. As I attempted to reply, he
interrupted me to sound the praises of the Marquis de Valorsay, who
not only came of an ancient family, and possessed immense, unencumbered
estates, but was a talented, handsome man into the bargain; in short,
one of those favored mortals whom all young girls sigh for. The scales
fell from my eyes. I instantly understood that M. de Chalusse had
selected the Marquis de Valorsay to be my