se of
against Monsieur de Nemours, she found she had no cause to repent, or
to believe she had ventured too far; she passed the whole night full of
doubts, anxiety and fear; but at last her spirits grew calm again; she
even felt a pleasure arise in her mind, from a sense of having given
such a proof of fidelity to a husband who deserved it so well, who had
so great a friendship and esteem for her, and had so lately manifested
it by the manner in which he received the confession she had made him.

In the meantime Monsieur de Nemours was gone away from the place, in
which he had overheard a conversation which so sensibly affected him,
and was got deep into the forest; what Madam de Cleves said of her
picture had revived him, since it was certain from thence that he was
the person she had an inclination for; at first he gave a leap of joy,
but his raptures were at an end as soon as he began to reflect, that
the same thing that convinced him he had touched the heart of Madam de
Cleves, ought to convince him also that he should never receive any
marks of it, and that it would be impossible to engage a lady who had
recourse to so extraordinary a remedy; and yet he could not but be
sensibly pleased to have reduced her to that extremity; he thought it
glorious for him to have gained the affections of a woman so different
from the rest of her sex; in a word, he thought himself very happy and
very unhappy at the same time. He was benighted in the forest, and was
very much put to it to find his way again to his sister's the Duchess
of Mercoeur; he arrived there at break of day, and was extremely at a
loss what account to give of his absence, but he made out the matter as
well as he could, and returned that very day to Paris with the Viscount.

The Duke was so taken up with his passion, and so surprised at the
conversation he had heard, that he fell into an indiscretion very
common, which is, to speak one's own particular sentiments in general
terms, and to relate one's proper adventures under borrowed names. As
they were travelling he began to talk of love, and exaggerated the
pleasure of being in love with a person that deserved it; he spoke of
the fantastical effects of this passion, and at last not being able to
contain within himself the admiration he was in at the action of Madam
de Cleves, he related it to the Viscount without naming the person, or
owning he had any share in it; but he told it with so much warmth and
surp