, that my petition has been
granted. Your father-in-law is now Comte de l'Estorade. I would not
leave Paris till I had obtained the gratification of your wishes, and I
am writing in the presence of the Keeper of the Seals, who has come to
tell me that the patent is signed.

Good-bye for a short time!

XXXV. THE SAME TO THE SAME MARSEILLES, July.

I am ashamed to think how my sudden flight will have taken you by
surprise. But since I am above all honest, and since I love you not one
bit the less, I shall tell you the truth in four words: I am horribly
jealous!

Felipe's eyes were too often on you. You used to have little talks
together at the foot of your rock, which were a torture to me; and I
was fast becoming irritable and unlike myself. Your truly Spanish beauty
could not fail to recall to him his native land, and along with it Marie
Heredia, and I can be jealous of the past too. Your magnificent black
hair, your lovely dark eyes, your brow, where the peaceful joy of
motherhood stands out radiant against the shadows which tell of past
suffering, the freshness of your southern skin, far fairer than that
of a blonde like me, the splendid lines of your figure, the breasts,
on which my godson hangs, peeping through the lace like some luscious
fruit,--all this stabbed me in the eyes and in the heart. In vain did
I stick cornflowers in my curls, in vain set off with cherry-colored
ribbons the tameness of my pale locks, everything looked washed out when
Renee appeared--a Renee so unlike the one I expected to find in your
oasis.

Then Felipe made too much of the child, whom I found myself beginning to
hate. Yes, I confess it, that exuberance of life which fills your house,
making it gay with shouts and laughter--I wanted it for myself. I read a
regret in Macumer's eyes, and, unknown to him, I cried over it two whole
nights. I was miserable in your house. You are too beautiful as a woman,
too triumphant as a mother, for me to endure your company.

Ah! you complained of your lot. Hypocrite! What would you have?
L'Estorade is most presentable; he talks well; he has fine eyes; and his
black hair, dashed with white, is very becoming; his southern manners,
too, have something attractive about them. As far as I can make out, he
will, sooner or later, be elected deputy for the Bouches-du-Rhone; in
the Chamber he is sure to come to the front, for you can always count on
me to promote your interests. The sufferings of his