asking him whether, in case his election
failed, I could then renew the proposal, but on the whole I contented
myself with expressing regret and saying that I would inform you of the
result of my mission. It is useless to add that I shall know in a few
days the upshot of this sudden parliamentary ambition which has, so
inopportunely, started up in your way.

I think myself that this candidacy may be only a blind. Had you not
better write yourself to Monsieur Dorlange? for his whole manner, though
perfectly polite and proper, seemed to show a keen remembrance of the
wrong you did him in renouncing his friendship, with that of your other
friends, at the time of your marriage. I know it may cost you some pain
to explain the really exceptional circumstances of your marriage; but
after what I have seen in the mind of your old friend, I think, if
you really wish for the assistance of his great talent, you should
personally take some steps to obtain it.

But if you feel that any such action is more than you have strength for,
I suggest another means. In all matters in which my wife has taken part
I have found her a most able negotiator; and in this particular case
I should feel the utmost confidence in her intervention. She herself
suffered from the exclusiveness of Madame Marie-Gaston's love for you.
No one can explain to him better than she the absorbing conjugal life
which drew its folds so closely around you. And it seems to me that the
magnanimity and comprehension which she always showed to her "dear lost
treasure," as she calls her, might be conveyed by her to your friend.

You have plenty of time to think over this suggestion, for Madame de
l'Estorade is, just now, still suffering from a serious illness, brought
on by maternal terror. A week ago our little Nais came near being
crushed to death before her eyes; and without the courageous assistance
of a stranger who sprang to the horses' heads and stopped them short,
God knows what dreadful misfortune would have overtaken us. This cruel
emotion produced in Madame de l'Estorade a nervous condition which
seriously alarmed us for a time. Though she is now much better, it
will be several days before she could see Monsieur Dorlange in case her
feminine mediation may seem to you desirable.

But once more, in closing, my dear Monsieur Gaston, would it not be
better to abandon your idea? A vast expense, a painful quarrel with the
Chaulieus, and, for you, a renewal of your b