f his affections, Clara
Mulhausen, or, as she first calls herself, "de Millefleurs," was an
adventuress; but she did not at first allow him to find this out; and
when he did so, her hold upon him had become too strong to be affected
by the discovery. A succession of circumstances, which Mr. Browning
describes, first cemented the bond, then destroyed its secrecy; and
since Clara had a husband, and the position could not be legalized,
Leonce Miranda had no choice but to accept the social interdict, and
with her retire from Paris. He placed a substitute in the business,
which had devolved on him through his father's death; and the pair took
up their abode at Clairvaux, an ancient priory, which the father had
bought. Here Miranda built and improved; indulged his amateur
propensities for painting and music; remained devoted to his love, and
was rewarded by her devotion. For five years they were very happy.

The first interruption to their happiness was a summons to Miranda, from
his mother in Paris, to come and answer for his excessive expenditure.
The immorality of his life she had condoned (a curious proof of this is
given), for she hoped it would be its own cure. But "his architectural
freaks, above all, a Belvedere which he had constructed in his grounds,
were a reckless waste of substance which she could not witness without
displeasure." She had immense influence with her son; and he took her
rebuke so much to heart, that he only left her to fling himself into the
Seine. He was brought out alive; but lay for a month at death's door,
and made no progress towards recovery till he had been restored to
Clara's care; and Clara was painfully winning him back to health, when
the telegraphic wires flashed a second summons upon him. His presence
was again demanded in the maternal home. "The business was urgent. Its
nature he would learn on arrival."

He hastened to his mother's house, to find her a corpse--laid out with
all the ghastly ceremonial which Catholic fancy could devise--and to be
told that his misconduct had killed her. The tribe of cousins, who had
planned the _coup de theatre_, were there to enjoy its result. This did
not fail them. Miranda fainted away. As soon as consciousness returned,
he made his act of atonement. He foreswore the illegal bond. He willed
away his fortune to his kinsfolk; and would retain of it, from that
moment, only a pittance for himself, and the means of honourable
subsistence for Clara. The