THECOMTESSEDEL’ESTORADETOMME。MARIEGASTON
Whathascometoyou，mydear？Afterasilenceoftwoyears，surelyReneehasarighttofeelanxiousaboutLouise。Sothisislove!Itbrushesasideandscatterstothewindsafriendshipsuchasours!Youmustadmitthat，devotedasIamtomychildren——moreevenperhapsthanyoutoyourGaston——amother’slovehassomethingexpansiveaboutitwhichdoesnotallowittostealfromotheraffections，orinterferewiththeclaimsoffriendship。Imissyourletters，Ilongforasightofyourdear，sweetface。Oh!Louise，myhearthasonlyconjecturetofeedupon!
Asregardsourselves，Iwilltryandtellyoueverythingasbrieflyaspossible。
Onreadingyourlastletterbutone，Ifindsomestingingcommentsonourpoliticalsituation。YoumockedatusforkeepingthepostintheAuditDepartment，which，aswellasthetitleofCount，LouisowedtothefavorofCharlesX。ButIshouldliketoknow，please，howitwouldbepossibleoutofanincomeoffortythousandlivres，thirtythousandofwhichgowiththeentail，togiveasuitablestartinlifetoAthenaisandmypoorlittlebeggarRene。Wasitnotadutytoliveonoursalaryandprudentlyallowtheincomeoftheestatetoaccumulate？Inthiswayweshall，intwentyyears，haveputtogetheraboutsixhundredthousandfrancs，whichwillprovideportionsformydaughterandforRene，whomIdestineforthenavy。Thepoorlittlechapwillhaveanincomeoftenthousandlivres，andperhapswemaycontrivetoleavehimincashenoughtobringhisportionuptotheamountofhissister’s。
WhenheisCaptain，mybeggarwillbeabletomakeawealthymarriage，andtakeapositioninsocietyasgoodashiselderbrother’s。