that he expected and intended; the sentiment
I cherished secretly for you was only increased and strengthened by its
persuasive eloquence, and I resolved to reward you for all that you had
suffered for my sake. Knowing my husband to be perfectly absorbed in his
most recent conquest, and so oblivious of me that there was no danger
of his becoming aware of my absence from the Chateau de Bruyeres, I have
ventured to come to Poitiers; for I have heard you express fictitious
love so admirably, that I long to know whether you can be as eloquent
and convincing when you speak for yourself."

"Mme. la Marquise," said Leander, in his sweetest tones, sinking
gracefully on his knees, upon a cushion at the feet of the lady, who had
let herself fall languidly into a low easy-chair, as if exhausted by the
extreme effort that her confession had been to her modesty. "Madame,
or rather most lovely queen and deity, what can mere empty words,
counterfeit passion, imaginary raptures, conceived and written in cold
blood by the poets, and make-believe sighs, breathed out at the feet of
an odious actress, all powdered and painted, whose eyes are wandering
absently around the theatre--what can these be beside the living words
that gush out from the soul, the fire that burns in the veins and
arteries, the hyperboles of an exalted passion, to which the whole
universe cannot furnish images brilliant and lofty enough to apply to
its idol, and the aspirations of a wildly loving heart, that would fain
break forth from the breast that contains it, to serve as a footstool
for the dear object of its adoration? You deign to say, celestial
marquise, that I express with some feeling the fictitious love in the
pieces I play. Shall I tell you why it is so? Because I never look at,
or even think of, the actress whom I seem to address--my thoughts soar
far above and beyond her--and I speak to my own perfect ideal; to a
being, noble, beautiful, spirituelle as yourself, Mme. la Marquise!
It is you, in fine, YOU that I see and love under the name of Silvie,
Doralice, Isabelle, or whatever it may chance to be; they are only your
phantoms for me."

With these words Leander, who was too good an actor to neglect the
pantomime that should accompany such a declaration, bent down over the
hand that the marquise had allowed him to take, and covered it with
burning kisses; which delicate attention was amiably received, and his
real love-making seemed to be as pleasing to