low, and in any case what was
lacking on the side of birth, in these instances, was compensated by
fortune. Without that balance they would not have had the baseness and
imprudence to marry thus." Poor Eleonore had no compensating balance of
that kind in her favour. She was only beautiful, charming and
sweet-natured. Therefore, "tut-tut, my son!"

In the course of the next few months Laperouse covered himself with
glory by his services on the AMAZON, the ASTREE, and the SCEPTRE, and
he hoped that these exploits would incline his father to accede to his
ardent wish. But no; the old gentleman was as hard as a rock. He
"tut-tutted" with as much vigour as ever. The lovers had to wait.

Then his mother, full of love for her son and of pride in his
achievements, took a hand, and tried to arrange a more suitable match
for him. An old friend of the family, Madame de Vesian had a
marriageable daughter. She was rich and beautiful, and her lineage was
noble. She had never seen Laperouse, and he had never seen her,
but that was an insignificant detail in France under the old Regime. If
the parents on each side thought the marriage suitable, that was
enough. The wishes of the younger people concerned were, it is true,
consulted before the betrothal, but it was often a consultation merely
in form, and under pressure. We should think that way of making
marriages most unsatisfactory; but then, a French family of position in
the old days would have thought our freer system very shocking and
loose. It is largely a matter of usage; and that the old plan, which
seems so faulty to us, produced very many happy and lasting unions,
there is much delightful French family history to prove.

Laperouse had now been many months away from Ile-de-France and the
bright eyes of Eleonore. He was extremely fond of his mother, and
anxious to meet her wishes. Moreover, he held Madame de Vesian in high
esteem, and wrote that he "had always admired her, and felt sure that
her daughter resembled her." These influences swayed him, and he gave
way; but, being frank and honest by disposition, insisted that no
secret should be made of his affair of the heart with the lady across
the sea. He wrote to Madame de Vesian a candid letter, in which he
said:--

"Being extremely sensitive, I should be the most unfortunate of men if
I were not beloved by my wife, if I had not her complete confidence, if
her life amongst her friends and children did not render her
perf