n precluded her from singing in the opera! Not Malibran or Grisi
ever had triumphs that would equal hers." Eminent painters wished to
make a study of her face. Authors who had received the prizes of the
Academy for grave historical works sent her adulatory verses. "May
I--flirtation--wid you--loavely meess?" asked one of "the immortal
forty," displaying his English.

It grew rather annoying. I was importuned with questions, such as "Will
you receive proposals of marriage for Miss St. Clair?" "What is her
dowry?" "Are you entrusted to find a husband for her abroad?" I was
tired of answering, "Miss St. Clair will probably marry in her own
country." "Her parents would be very reluctant to consent to any foreign
marriage." "I cannot tell what Mr. St. Clair will give his daughter. It
is not the custom to give dowries with us, as with you."

One evening we saw at Madame Le Fort's reception a young man so
distinguished in appearance that he was known as "le beau Vergniaud." He
was six feet in height and well made, with abundant chestnut hair, dark
hazel eyes, clearly-cut, regular features, and a complexion needlessly
fine for a man. From that time he was invariably present, not only at
Madame Le Fort's, but wherever we went.

One day Helen said to me, "I made a silly speech last evening. I was
dancing with M. Vergniaud, and we were talking of that charming Madame
de Launay. I said, 'I should think she might be happy, having an elegant
house in Paris, a chateau in the country, and such a handsome husband so
devoted to her.' And he rejoined instantly, very low, 'My dear Miss St.
Clair, can I not give you all this?' It was not fair to take advantage
of me in that way."

"What did you say?"

"Oh, I laughed it off. I did not think he was in earnest, but he spoke
to me again before he went away."

That afternoon Madame Le Fort came into my room with the look of one who
has something important to communicate. "I have been wishing to see
you," she said. "M. Vergniaud has taken me into his confidence. He has
formed a serious attachment to Miss St. Clair, and wishes to make her
his wife. It is a splendid alliance," she continued, warming with her
theme: "if he had asked for my daughter I would give her to him
blindfold. He belongs to one of our old families. You should see his
house on the Avenue de Montaigne. Have you never seen him driving with
his superb horses in the Bois de Boulogne? He has an estate with a fine
old chateau