the world were unknown, whom study had
wrapped in its protecting veils, was the dupe of her tones and words. He
was under the spell of those exquisite manners; he admired that perfect
beauty, ripened by misfortune, placid in retirement; he adored the union
of so rare a mind and so noble a soul; and he longed to become, himself,
the heir of Michel Chrestien.

The beginning of this passion was, as in the case of almost all deep
thinkers, an idea. Looking at the princess, studying the shape of her
head, the arrangement of those sweet features, her figure, her hand,
so finely modelled, closer than when he accompanied his friend in
their wild rush through the streets, he was struck by the surprising
phenomenon of the moral second-sight which a man exalted by love
invariably finds within him. With what lucidity had Michel Chrestien
read into that soul, that heart, illumined by the fires of love! Thus
the princess acquired, in d'Arthez's eyes, another charm; a halo of
poesy surrounded her.

As the dinner proceeded, Daniel called to mind the various confidences
of his friend, his despair, his hopes, the noble poems of a true
sentiment sung to his ear alone, in honor of this woman. It is rare that
a man passes without remorse from the position of confidant to that of
rival, and d'Arthez was free to do so without dishonor. He had suddenly,
in a moment, perceived the enormous differences existing between a
well-bred woman, that flower of the great world, and common women,
though of the latter he did not know beyond one specimen. He was thus
captured on the most accessible and sensitive sides of his soul and of
his genius. Impelled by his simplicity, and by the impetuosity of his
ideas, to lay immediate claim to this woman, he found himself restrained
by society, also by the barrier which the manners and, let us say the
word, the majesty of the princess placed between them. The conversation,
which remained upon the topic of Michel Chrestien until the dessert, was
an excellent pretext for both to speak in a low voice: love, sympathy,
comprehension! she could pose as a maligned and misunderstood woman; he
could slip his feet into the shoes of the dead republican. Perhaps his
candid mind detected itself in regretting his dead friend less. The
princess, at the moment when the dessert appeared upon the table, and
the guests were separated by a brilliant hedge of fruits and sweetmeats,
thought best to put an end to this flow of confiden