A short time after his arrival at his brother's house, he was summoned

to join his brother officers, and he accompanied a battalion to Paris;

where a scene of novelty and gaiety opened upon him, such as, till then,

he had only a faint idea of. But gaiety disgusted, and company fatigued,

his sick mind; and he became an object of unceasing raillery to his

companions, from whom, whenever he could steal an opportunity, he

escaped, to think of Emily. The scenes around him, however, and the

company with whom he was obliged to mingle, engaged his attention,

though they failed to amuse his fancy, and thus gradually weakened the

habit of yielding to lamentation, till it appeared less a duty to his

love to indulge it.

Among his brother-officers were many, who added

to the ordinary character of a French soldier's gaiety some of those

fascinating qualities, which too frequently throw a veil over folly, and

sometimes even soften the features of vice into smiles. To these men

the reserved and thoughtful manners of Valancourt were a kind of tacit

censure on their own, for which they rallied him when present, and

plotted against him when absent; they gloried in the thought of reducing

him to their own level, and, considering it to be a spirited frolic,

determined to accomplish it.

Valancourt was a stranger to the gradual progress of scheme and

intrigue, against which he could not be on his guard. He had not been

accustomed to receive ridicule, and he could ill endure its sting; he

resented it, and this only drew upon him a louder laugh. To escape from

such scenes, he fled into solitude, and there the image of Emily met

him, and revived the pangs of love and despair. He then sought to renew

those tasteful studies, which had been the delight of his early years;

but his mind had lost the tranquillity, which is necessary for their

enjoyment. To forget himself and the grief and anxiety, which the idea

of her recalled, he would quit his solitude, and again mingle in the

crowd--glad of a temporary relief, and rejoicing to snatch amusement for

the moment. Thus passed weeks after weeks, time gradually softening his sorrow, and

habit strengthening his desire of amusement, till the scenes around him

seemed to awaken into a new character, and Valancourt, to have fallen

among them from the clouds.

His figure and address made him a welcome visitor, wherever he had been

introduced, and he soon frequented the most gay and fashionable circles

of Paris. Among these, was the assembly of the Countess Lacleur, a woman

of eminent beauty and captivating manners. She had passed the spring of

youth, but her wit prolonged the triumph of its reign, and they mutually

assisted the fame of each other; for those, who were charmed by her

loveliness, spoke with enthusiasm of her talents; and others, who

admired her playful imagination, declared, that her personal graces were

unrivalled. But her imagination was merely playful, and her wit, if such

it could be called, was brilliant, rather than just; it dazzled, and its

fallacy escaped the detection of the moment; for the accents, in which

she pronounced it, and the smile, that accompanied them, were a spell

upon the judgment of the auditors. Her petits soupers were the most

tasteful of any in Paris, and were frequented by many of the second

class of literati. She was fond of music, was herself a scientific

performer, and had frequently concerts at her house. Valancourt, who

passionately loved music, and who sometimes assisted at these concerts,

admired her execution, but remembered with a sigh the eloquent

simplicity of Emily's songs and the natural expression of her manner,

which waited not to be approved by the judgment, but found their way at

once to the heart.




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