that sweet emotion,
which arises from the consciousness of possessing the approbation of
the good; for to the Count's worth she had been inclined to yield her
confidence almost from the first moment, in which she had seen him.

Before she could finish her acknowledgments for the hospitality she had
received, and mention of her design of going immediately to the convent,
she was interrupted by an invitation to lengthen her stay at the
chateau, which was pressed by the Count and the Countess, with an
appearance of such friendly sincerity, that, though she much wished to
see her old friends at the monastery, and to sigh, once more, over her
father's grave, she consented to remain a few days at the chateau.

To the abbess, however, she immediately wrote, mentioning her arrival
in Languedoc and her wish to be received into the convent, as a boarder;
she also sent letters to Monsieur Quesnel and to Valancourt, whom she
merely informed of her arrival in France; and, as she knew not where the
latter might be stationed, she directed her letter to his brother's seat
in Gascony.

In the evening, Lady Blanche and Mons. Du Pont walked with Emily to
the cottage of La Voisin, which she had now a melancholy pleasure in
approaching, for time had softened her grief for the loss of St. Aubert,
though it could not annihilate it, and she felt a soothing sadness in
indulging the recollections, which this scene recalled. La Voisin was
still living, and seemed to enjoy, as much as formerly, the tranquil
evening of a blameless life. He was sitting at the door of his cottage,
watching some of his grandchildren, playing on the grass before him,
and, now and then, with a laugh, or a commendation, encouraging their
sports. He immediately recollected Emily, whom he was much pleased to
see, and she was as rejoiced to hear, that he had not lost one of his
family, since her departure.

'Yes, ma'amselle,' said the old man, 'we all live merrily together
still, thank God! and I believe there is not a happier family to be
found in Languedoc, than ours.'

Emily did not trust herself in the chamber, where St. Aubert died; and,
after half an hour's conversation with La Voisin and his family, she
left the cottage.

During these the first days of her stay at Chateau-le-Blanc, she was
often affected, by observing the deep, but silent melancholy, which, at
times, stole over Du Pont; and Emily, pitying the self-delusion, which
disarmed him of the will to d