e him to say in his behalf? What an infinite
number of reasons did he furnish him with, to persuade her to conquer
her scruples? In short, great part of the night was spent before he
thought of going away.

As for Madam de Cleves, she was in no condition to rest; it was a thing
so new to her to have broke loose from the restraints she had laid on
herself, to have endured the first declarations of love that ever were
made to her, and to have confessed that she herself was in love with
him that made them, all this was so new to her, that she seemed quite
another person; she was surprised at what she had done; she repented of
it; she was glad of it; all her thoughts were full of anxiety and
passion; she examined again the reasons of her duty, which obstructed
her happiness; she was grieved to find them so strong, and was sorry
that she had made them out so clear to Monsieur de Nemours: though she
had entertained thoughts of marrying him, as soon as she beheld him in
the garden of the suburbs, yet her late conversation with him made a
much greater impression on her mind; at some moments she could not
comprehend how she could be unhappy by marrying him, and she was ready
to say in her heart, that her scruples as to what was past, and her
fears for the future, were equally groundless: at other times, reason
and her duty prevailed in her thoughts, and violently hurried her into
a resolution not to marry again, and never to see Monsieur de Nemours;
but this was a resolution hard to be established in a heart so softened
as hers, and so lately abandoned to the charms of love. At last, to
give herself a little ease, she concluded that it was not yet necessary
to do herself the violence of coming to any resolution, and decency
allowed her a considerable time to determine what to do: however she
resolved to continue firm in having no commerce with Monsieur de
Nemours. The Viscount came to see her, and pleaded his friend's cause
with all the wit and application imaginable, but could not make her
alter her conduct, or recall the severe orders she had given to
Monsieur de Nemours; she told him her design was not to change her
condition; that she knew how difficult it was to stand to that design,
but that she hoped she should be able to do it; she made him so
sensible how far she was affected with the opinion that Monsieur de
Nemours was the cause of her husband's death, and how much she was
convinced that it would be contrary to he