FKENCH AUTHORESSES. 289 



circumstances related ; she felt as if she had been Demise Lazare, but 

 her scruples are dissipated by her confessor, and she is ordered to 

 prepare to take the veil. This was the crisis for Lawrence : he was 

 passionate, but he was calculating 1 . Rose pronounced him unworthy 

 of Blanche, and forced him to withdraw. As for Rose, the perpetual 

 agitation of her ardent spirit was fast wearing out its frail tenement. 

 She was consumed by an internal malady, and at length a fever re- 

 duces her to the point of death. At this juncture the Convent is 

 thrown into the utmost confusion by the appearance of her mother 

 Primrose, who forces her way to the bed-side of her dying child. 



ef 'Mademoiselle Cazales said she has no right over my child. I 

 yielded mine to her brother ; but it was on condition that he should 

 make her happy ; and she is dying, and he abandons her. Come, 

 Rose come, my child, as long as I live you shall not be without 

 bread or a roof to cover you. I was poor. I came to implore your 

 charity. You are more wretched than myself. Come, then, I offer 

 you my riches ; you know what they are. The fields where you 

 sported, the country you loved, the halts beneath the large trees all 

 these delighted you they are yours. Come, you shall be virtuous if 

 you please. I shall never torment you again. But, come, let me see 

 you once more healthy and beautiful, running with gaiety from town 

 to town." ' 



" Rose made no reply. A sudden alteration had taken place in her 

 symptoms, and the doctor declared she was saved if she outlived the 

 day. Great was the scandal in the holy place, and pity very soon 

 disappeared when it was proved that there was no such person as 

 Mademoiselle de Beaumont. Blanche alone remained with Madame, 

 kneeling beside the comedian. 



"Three years after this occurrence, Horace Cazales, on his return 

 from his travels, seeks an introduction to an actress, named La Co- 

 ronari, who is quite the rage at Bordeaux. He is invited to ride put 

 to meet some of her particular friends, when the following scene takes 

 place : 



(t The young man waited for some time on the skirt of a vast plain, 

 and seemed to expect, with impatience, the arrival of a new compa- 

 nion. At length, a horseman appeared in the distance, and they all 

 exclaimed : 



" ' lit is he he is coming ! ' 



" e Who is coming ?' said Horace to the lawyer. 



" ' A young brother of mine/ replied the latter, smiling. ' A youth 

 just broke loose from school wild, reckless. A great frequenter of 

 theatres, and destroyer of horses. Only observe how he tasks the 

 energies of mine. That's a dashing pace, Tony/ said he to the new 

 comer ; ' but, if you ride at that rate, you must send me clients to 

 give me the wherewith to furnish you with a fresh horse every day/ 



" ' Ha, Grumbler !' said Tony, whipping his brother's horse, ' you 

 would amass a fortune to lay at the feet of La Coronari. It won't do. 

 Ill help you to spend it at such a rate, that she must be deucedly dis- 

 interested if she marrias you. How do you do, Amedie ? How are 

 you, you extravagant fellow, Miroil ? Health to you. noble Francis ! 

 How are your dogs ?' 



M.iM. No. 99. 2 P 



