umph. I
felt firmly convinced that she loved him; and I resolved to crush out
my own love. I was promising more than I could perform; but these first
manifestations of wounded pride gave me confidence in myself. I also
wrote to my uncle to tell him I should not hold myself worthy of the
boundless affection he had bestowed on me until I had won my spurs as a
knight. I confided to him my hopes of a soldier's fame and fortune with
all the candour of conceit; and since I felt sure that Edmee would
read this letter I feigned unclouded delight and an ardour that knew no
regrets; I did not know whether my uncle was aware of the real cause of
my departure; but my pride could not bring itself to confess. It was the
same with the abbe, to whom I likewise wrote a letter full of gratitude
and affection. I ended by begging my uncle to put himself to no expense
on my account over the gloomy keep at Roche-Mauprat, assuring him that I
could never bring myself to live there. I urged him to consider the fief
as his daughter's property, and only asked that he would be good enough
to advance me my share of the income for two or three years, so that I
might pay the expenses of my own outfit, and thus prevent my devotion to
the American cause from being a burden to the noble Lafayette.

My conduct and my letters apparently gave satisfaction. Soon after I
reached the coast of Spain I received from my uncle a letter full of
kindly exhortations, and of mild censure for my abrupt departure. He
gave me a father's blessing, and declared on his honour that the fief
of Roche-Mauprat would never be accepted by Edmee, and sent me a
considerable sum of money exclusive of the income due me in the future.
The abbe expressed the same mild censure, together with still warmer
exhortations. It was easy to see that he preferred Edmee's tranquility
to my happiness, and that he was full of genuine joy at my departure.
Nevertheless he had a liking for me, and his friendship showed itself
touchingly through the cruel satisfaction that was mingled with it. He
expressed envy of my lot; proclaimed his enthusiasm for the cause of
independence; and declared that he himself had more than once felt
tempted to throw off the cassock and take up the musket. All this,
however, was mere boyish affectation; his timid, gentle nature always
kept him the priest under the mask of the philosopher.

Between these two letters I found a little note without any address,
which seemed