t of many degrading
and servile customs, to which woman is condemned; yes, now I
understand the noble pride with which you contemplate the mob of vain,
self-sufficient, ridiculous men, who look upon woman as a creature
destined for their service, according to the laws made after their own
not very handsome image. In the eyes of these hedge-tyrants, woman, a
kind of inferior being to whom a council of cardinals deigned to grant a
soul by a majority of two voices, ought to think herself supremely happy
in being the servant of these petty pachas, old at thirty, worn-out,
used up, weary with excesses, wishing only for repose, and seeking, as
they say, to make an end of it, which they set about by marrying some
poor girl, who is on her side desirous to make a beginning."

Mdlle. de Cardoville would certainly have smiled at these satirical
remarks, if she had not been greatly struck by hearing Rodin express in
such appropriate terms her own ideas, though it was the first time in
her life that she saw this dangerous man. Adrienne forgot, or
rather, she was not aware, that she had to deal with a Jesuit of rare
intelligence, uniting the information and the mysterious resources of
the police-spy with the profound sagacity of the confessor; one of those
diabolic priests, who, by the help of a few hints, avowals, letters,
reconstruct a character, as Cuvier could reconstruct a body from
zoological fragments. Far from interrupting Rodin, Adrienne listened
to him with growing curiosity. Sure of the effect he produced, he
continued, in a tone of indignation: "And your aunt and the Abbe
d'Aigrigny treated you as mad, because you revolted against the yoke of
such tyrants! because, hating the shameful vices of slavery, you chose
to be independent with the suitable qualities of independence, free with
the proud virtues of liberty!"

"But, sir," said Adrienne, more and more surprised, "how can my thoughts
be so familiar to you?"

"First, I know you perfectly, thanks to your interview with the Princess
de Saint-Dizier: and next, if it should happen that we both pursue the
same end, though by different means," resumed Rodin, artfully, as he
looked at Mdlle. de Cardoville with an air of intelligence, "why should
not our convictions be the same?"

"I do not understand you, sir. Of what end do you speak?"

"The end pursued incessantly by all lofty, generous, independent
spirits--some acting, like you, my dear young lady, from passion, from