sensation; of course she
would have preferred that it should have been her daughter, but her
daughter's friend was next best. As we went away, I heard Madame
Rupprecht and Monsieur de la Tourelle reciprocating civil speeches with
might and main, from which I found out that the French gentleman was
coming to call on us the next day. I do not know whether I was more
glad or frightened, for I had been kept upon stilts of good manners all
the evening. But still I was flattered when Madame Rupprecht spoke as
if she had invited him, because he had shown pleasure in my society,
and even more gratified by Sophie's ungrudging delight at the evident
interest I had excited in so fine and agreeable a gentleman. Yet, with
all this, they had hard work to keep me from running out of the salon
the next day, when we heard his voice inquiring at the gate on the
stairs for Madame Rupprecht. They had made me put on my Sunday gown,
and they themselves were dressed as for a reception.

When he was gone away, Madame Rupprecht congratulated me on the
conquest I had made; for, indeed, he had scarcely spoken to anyone
else, beyond what mere civility required, and had almost invited
himself to come in the evening to bring some new song, which was all
the fashion in Paris, he said. Madame Rupprecht had been out all
morning, as she told me, to glean information about Monsieur de la
Tourelle. He was a proprietaire, had a small chateau on the Vosges
mountains; he owned land there, but had a large income from some
sources quite independent of this property. Altogether, he was a good
match, as she emphatically observed. She never seemed to think that I
could refuse him after this account of his wealth, nor do I believe she
would have allowed Sophie a choice, even had he been as old and ugly as
he was young and handsome. I do not quite know--so many events have
come to pass since then, and blurred the clearness of my
recollections--if I loved him or not. He was very much devoted to me;
he almost frightened me by the excess of his demonstrations of love.
And he was very charming to everybody around me, who all spoke of him
as the most fascinating of men, and of me as the most fortunate of
girls. And yet I never felt quite at my ease with him. I was always
relieved when his visits were over, although I missed his presence when
he did not come. He prolonged his visit to the friend with whom he was
staying at Carlsruhe, on purpose to woo me. He loaded me w