I am writing at once to tell you that Louis has been promoted.  He can now wear the ribbon of an officer of the Legion.  You are a lucky woman, Renee, and you will probably have a little girl, since that used to be your wish!

The marriage of my brother with Mlle. de Mortsauf was celebrated on our return.  Our gracious King, who really is extraordinarily kind, has given my brother the reversion of the post of first gentleman of the chamber, which his father-in-law now fills, on the one condition that the scutcheon of the Mortsaufs should be placed side by side with that of the Lenoncourts.

“The office ought to go with the title,” he said to the Duc de Lenoncourt-Givry.

My father is justified a hundred-fold.  Without the help of my fortune nothing of all this could have taken place.  My father and mother came from Madrid for the wedding, and return there, after the reception which I give to-morrow for the bride and bridegroom.

The carnival will be a very gay one.  The Duc and Duchesse de Soria are in Paris, and their presence makes me a little uneasy.  Marie Heredia is certainly one of the most beautiful women in Europe, and I don’t like the way Felipe looks at her.  Therefore I am doubly lavish of sweetness and caresses.  Every look and gesture speak the words which I am careful my lips should not utter, “She could not love like this!” Heaven knows how lovely and fascinating I am!  Yesterday Mme. de Maufrigneuse said to me: 

“Dear child, who can compete with you?”

Then I keep Felipe so well amused, that his sister-in-law must seem as lively as a Spanish cow in comparison.  I am the less sorry that a little Abencerrage is not on his way, because the Duchess will no doubt stay in Paris over her confinement, and she won’t be a beauty any longer.  If the baby is a boy, it will be called Felipe, in honor of the exile.  An unkind chance has decreed that I shall, a second time, serve as godmother.

Good-bye, dear, I shall go to Chantepleurs early this year, for our Italian tour was shockingly expensive.  I shall leave about the end of March, and retire to economize in Nivenais.  Besides, I am tired of Paris.  Felipe sighs, as I do, after the beautiful quiet of the park, our cool meadows, and our Loire, with its sparkling sands, peerless among rivers.  Chantepleurs will seem delightful to me after the pomps and vanities of Italy; for, after all, splendor becomes wearisome, and a lover’s glance has more beauty than a capo d’opera or a bel quadro!

We shall expect you there.  Don’t be afraid that I shall be jealous again.  You are free to take what soundings you please in Macumer’s heart, and fish up all the interjections and doubts you can.  I am supremely indifferent.  Since that day at Rome Felipe’s love for me has grown.  He told me yesterday (he is looking over my shoulder now) that his sister-in-law, the Princess Heredia,