All this will serve to explain to you how it is that my aunt, as an

heiress of great wealth, possesses in her own right a very large

independent fortune in the Crimea.

We have now been living together for a fortnight, and during this time

Férouzat has been completely transformed. My aunt Eudoxia is certainly

very meublante, as my uncle calls it, and she has brought into the

house quite an attractive element of brightness. She has naturally

introduced into our circle a certain amount of etiquette, which does

not, however, encroach upon the liberties of country life, or disturb

that easy-going elegance which forms one of the charms of existence

among well-bred people. The Countess of Monteclaro, as might well have

been foreseen, having already been intimately acquainted with Doctor

Morand, begins to take a most friendly interest in Mademoiselle

Geneviève. As a consequence, Geneviève and the children spend almost all

their time at the château. In the evenings we have gatherings to which

all the young people of the neighbourhood are invited; my aunt, who is

an excellent musician, organises concerts, and we generally finish up

with a dance.

These worldly recreations afford me a clearer insight into the

analytical details of my oriental life, which is now more than ever

enveloped in the profoundest mystery. I have invented a story of

important botanical studies upon the flora of Provence, in order to

justify certain daily excursions which naturally terminate in El-Nouzha.

It is well-known, moreover, that I sometimes visit His Excellency

Mohammed-Azis, but with the discretion which respect for a great

misfortune naturally entails. The exiled minister is no longer even

discussed among us; everybody knows that "he shuts himself up like a

bear in his den," and there is an end of it.

My aunt is the perfection of a woman. Nothing can be more delightful

than our conversations. Her manner partakes both of the indulgence of a

mother and of the unrestrained intimacy of a friend. She still remembers

the child she used to dance upon her knees; and, although I had for a

long while forgotten her very existence, my present affection for her is

none the less sincere because it is of such recent growth. I must

confess that, after my confined existence at school and college, I am

delighted with these pleasures of home life, to which I was until lately

quite a stranger.

My aunt, as you may guess, is acquainted with my uncle's famous plan for

the future, and knows Anna Campbell, the Pasha's god-daughter. You

should hear her chaff him anent this god-fathership, on the strength of

which she claims that the captain has returned to the bosom of the

Church without knowing it. She tells me that Anna is a charming girl.

Thus petted and entertained, I live in other respects very much as I

like, and sometimes pass the whole day in the library. I should add that

my aunt, who is as sharp as a weasel, makes her own comments upon my

frequent absences from the château.




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