tercourse between them continued, before he disclosed to her the
sentiments of love which had been making a slow, but deeply-rooted,
growth in his heart. His proposal of marriage was not distasteful to
her; but she was proud, and did not like to encounter the opposition
which the match with a girl of humble birth would meet with from his
family. Roland persisted in his addresses, and she at length referred
him to her father. Philipon did not like the terms of his letter, and
returned a rude answer, rejecting the proffered alliance.

The result, though anticipated by Manon, was a great disappointment to
her, and the manner in which her father had conducted, shocked her
feelings. She had a great cause for anxiety in his general management;
his affairs were fast approaching utter ruin; extreme poverty was
before her; she resolved to secure her own independence, and purchased
an annuity of about one hundred and twenty dollars. With this she
hired a room in a convent, and lived upon the simplest food, which she
prepared for herself: her wants were strictly limited by her means.

Six months elapsed, and M. Roland once more presented himself to her
at the convent. He renewed his offer, and it was accepted. "I
reflected deeply," says Madame Roland, "on what I ought to do. I could
not conceal from myself that a younger man would not have delayed, for
several months, entreating me to change my resolution, and I confess
this circumstance had deprived my feelings of every illusion. I
considered, on the other hand, that this deliberation was an assurance
that I was appreciated; and that, if he had overcome his pride, which
shrunk from the disagreeable circumstances that accompanied his
marrying me, I was the more secure of an esteem I could not fail to
preserve. In short, if marriage was, as I thought, an austere union,
an association in which the woman usually burdens herself with the
happiness of two individuals, it were better that I should exert my
abilities and my courage in so honorable a task, than in the solitude
in which I lived."

Such were the feelings with which she married. She was then twenty-six
years old. She discharged with fidelity the duties she assumed. She
was her husband's friend and companion, and soon became absolutely
necessary to him. With him she visited England and Switzerland, and
finally they took up their abode at the family mansion near Lyons. She
had one child, a daughter; and to educate her, and m