He felt his vanity injured, that he had not had the best part of this affair.  Besides, he felt obliged to stifle from this moment the secret passion with which the beautiful and singular girl had inspired him.  Wife or widow of the General, it was clear that Mademoiselle d’Estrelles had forever escaped him.  To seduce the wife of this good old man from whom he accepted such favors, or even to marry her, widowed and rich, after refusing her when poor, were equal unworthiness and baseness that honor forbade in the same degree and with the same rigor as if this honor, which he made the only law of his life, were not a mockery and an empty word.

Camors, however, did not fail to comprehend the position in this light, and he resigned himself to it.

During the four or five days he remained at Campvallon his conduct was perfect.  The delicate and reserved attentions with which he surrounded Mademoiselle d’Estrelles were tinged with a melancholy that showed her at the same time his gratitude, his respect, and his regrets.

M. de Campvallon had not less reason to congratulate himself on the conduct of the young Count.  He entered into the folly of his host with affectionate grace.  He spoke to him little of the beauty of his fiancee:  much of her high moral qualities; and let him see his most flattering confidence in the future of this union.

On the eve of his departure Camors was summoned into the General’s study.  Handing his young relative a check for three hundred thousand francs, the General said: 

“My dear young friend, I ought to tell you, for the peace of your conscience, that I have informed Mademoiselle d’Estrelles of this little service I render you.  She has a great deal of love and affection for you, my dear young friend; be sure of that.

“She therefore received my communication with sincere pleasure.  I also informed her that I did not intend taking any receipt for this sum, and that no reclamation of it should be made at any time, on any account.

“Now, my dear Camors, do me one favor.  To tell you my inmost thought, I shall be most happy to see you carry into execution your project of laudable ambition.  My own new position, my age, my tastes, and those I perceive in the Marquise, claim all my leisure—­all my liberty of action.  Consequently, I desire as soon as possible to present you to my generous and faithful constituents, as well for the Corps Legislatif as for the General Council.  You had better make your preliminary arrangements as soon as possible.  Why should you defer it?  You are very well cultivated—­very capable.  Well, let us go ahead—­let us begin at once.  What do you say?”

“I should prefer, General, to be more mature; but it would be both folly and ingratitude in me not to accede to your kind wish.  What shall I do first?”

“Well, my young friend, instead of leaving tomorrow for Paris, you must go to your estate at Reuilly:  go there and conquer Des Rameures.”