The diplomatic admiral extracted a solemn promise from his
niece that she would for the future be gentler, less noisy, and less
wilful, that she would spend less, and, above all, tell him
everything. The treaty being concluded, and signed by a kiss impressed
on Emilie's white brow, he led her into a corner of the room, drew her
on to his knee, held the card under the thumbs so as to hide it, and
then uncovered the letters one by one, spelling the name of
Longueville; but he firmly refused to show her anything more.
This incident added to the intensity of Mademoiselle de Fontaine's
secret sentiment, and during chief part of the night she evolved the
most brilliant pictures from the dreams with which she had fed her
hopes. At last, thanks to chance, to which she had so often appealed,
Emilie could now see something very unlike a chimera at the
fountain-head of the imaginary wealth with which she gilded her married
life. Ignorant, as all young girls are, of the perils of love and
marriage, she was passionately captivated by the externals of marriage
and love. Is not this as much as to say that her feeling had birth like
all the feelings of extreme youth--sweet but cruel mistakes, which exert
a fatal influence on the lives of young girls so inexperienced as to
trust their own judgment to take care of their future happiness?
Next morning, before Emilie was awake, her uncle had hastened to
Chevreuse.
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