n this, Leopold; there are days when I feel
a heady languor; deep disgust surges up from the depths of my
soul, especially when, abandoned to long day-dreams, I have lost
myself in anticipation of the joys of blissful love! May it not be
that our desire has only a certain modicum of power, and that it
perishes, perhaps, of a too lavish effusion of its essence? For,
after all, at this present, my life is fair, illuminated by faith,
work, and love.

"Farewell, my friend; I send love to your children, and beg you to
remember me to your excellent wife.--Yours,

"ALBERT."

Rosalie read this letter twice through, and its general purport was
stamped on her heart. She suddenly saw the whole of Albert's previous
existence, for her quick intelligence threw light on all the details,
and enabled her to take it all in. By adding this information to the
little novel published in the _Review_, she now fully understood Albert.
Of course, she exaggerated the greatness, remarkable as it was, of this
lofty soul and potent will, and her love for Albert thenceforth became
a passion, its violence enhanced by all the strength of her youth, the
weariness of her solitude, and the unspent energy of her character. Love
is in a young girl the effect of a natural law; but when her craving
for affection is centered in an exceptional man, it is mingled with the
enthusiasm which overflows in a youthful heart. Thus Mademoiselle de
Watteville had in a few days reached a morbid and very dangerous
stage of enamored infatuation. The Baroness was much pleased with her
daughter, who, being under the spell of her absorbing thoughts, never
resisted her will, seemed to be devoted to feminine occupations, and
realized her mother's ideal of a docile daughter.

The lawyer was now engaged in Court two or three times a week. Though he
was overwhelmed with business, he found time to attend the trials, call
on the litigious merchants, and conduct the _Review_; keeping up his
personal mystery, from the conviction that the more covert and hidden
was his influence, the more real it would be. But he neglected no means
of success, reading up the list of electors of Besancon, and finding
out their interests, their characters, their various friendships and
antipathies. Did ever a Cardinal hoping to be made Pope give himself
more trouble?

One evening Mariette, on coming to dress Rosalie for an evening party,