suitable for him. As he had reaped advantage from the Chevalier's
talents in the first projects they had formed, he resolved to follow his
instructions in love, as he had done his advice in play.

Mademoiselle de Saint-Germain was in the bloom of youth; her eyes were
small, but very bright and sparkling, and, like her hair, were black;
her complexion was lively and clear, though not fair: she, had an
agreeable mouth, two fine rows of teeth, a neck as handsome as one could
wish, and a most delightful shape; she had a particular elegance in her
elbows, which, however, she did not show to advantage; her hands were
rather large and not very white; her feet, though not of the smallest,
were well shaped; she trusted to Providence, and used no art to set off
those graces which she had received from nature; but, notwithstanding
her negligence in the embellishment of her charms, there was something
so lively in her person, that the Chevalier de Grammont was caught at
first sight; her wit and humour corresponded with her other qualities,
being quite easy and perfectly charming; she was all mirth, all life,
all complaisance and politeness, and all was natural, and always the
same without any variation.

The Marchioness de Senantes was esteemed fair, and she might have
enjoyed, if she had pleased, the reputation of having red hair, had she
not rather chosen to conform to the taste of the age in which she lived
than to follow that of the ancients: she had all the advantages of red
hair without any of the inconveniences; a constant attention to her
person served as a corrective to the natural defects of her complexion.
After all, what does it signify, whether cleanliness be owing to nature
or to art? it argues an invidious temper to be very inquisitive about
it. She had a great deal of wit, a good memory, more reading, and a
still greater inclination towards tenderness.

She had a husband whom it would have been criminal even in chastity
to spare. He piqued himself upon being a Stoic, and gloried in being
slovenly and disgusting in honour of his profession. In this he
succeeded to admiration; for he was very fat, so that he perspired
almost as much in winter as in summer. Erudition and brutality seemed to
be the most conspicuous features of his character, and were displayed in
his conversation, sometimes together, sometimes alternately, but always
disagreeably: he was not jealous, and yet he was troublesome; he was
very well pleas