far from wishing to render her miserable, and that
he was commissioned to provide her with a sum sufficient
to enable her to return into Spain, or to live where
she liked. Her noble sentiments, and genuine
tenderness, he said, inspired him with the greatest
interest for her, and would induce him to go to the
utmost limits of his powers, in the sum he was to
give her; that he, therefore, promised her ten thousand
florins, that is to say, about twelve hundred Louis,
which would be given her the moment she surrendered
the promise of marriage she had received, and the
Count of Moncade took up his abode in the Ambassador’s
house, and promised to return to Spain. The
young woman seemed perfectly indifferent to the sum
proposed, and wholly absorbed in her lover, and in
the grief of leaving him. She seemed insensible
to everything but the cruel sacrifice which her reason,
and her love itself, demanded. At length, drawing
from a little portfolio the promise of marriage, signed
by the Count, ‘I know his heart too well,’
said she, ‘to need it.’ Then she
kissed it again and again, with a sort of transport,
and delivered it to the Ambassador, who stood by,
astonished at the grandeur of soul he witnessed.
He promised her that he would never cease to take
the liveliest interest in her fate, and assured the
Count of his father’s forgiveness. ‘He
will receive with open arms,’ said he, ’the
prodigal son, returning to the bosom of his distressed
family; the heart of a father is an exhaustless mine
of tenderness. How great will be the felicity
of my friend on the receipt of these tidings, after
his long anxiety and affliction; how happy do I esteem
myself, at being the instrument of that felicity?’
Such was, in part, the language of the Ambassador,
which appeared to produce a strong impression on the
young man. But, fearing lest, during the night,
love should regain all his power, and should triumph
over the generous resolution of the lady, the Marquis
pressed the young Count to accompany him to his hotel.
The tears, the cries of anguish, which marked this
cruel separation, cannot be described; they deeply
touched the heart of the Ambassador, who promised
to watch over the young lady. The Count’s
little baggage was not difficult to remove, and, that
very evening, he was installed in the finest apartment
of the Ambassador’s house. The Marquis
was overjoyed at having restored to the illustrious
house of Moncade the heir of its greatness, and of
its magnificent domains. On the following morning,
as soon as the young Count was up, he found tailors,
dealers in cloth, lace, stuffs, etc., out of
which he had only to choose. Two valets de chambre,
and three laquais, chosen by the Ambassador for their
intelligence and good conduct, were in waiting in
his antechamber, and presented themselves, to receive
his orders. The Ambassador shewed the young Count
the letter he had just written to his father, in which
he congratulated him on possessing a son whose noble