She prepared, therefore, to obey the command, which she

could not conquer, and to resign the gay assemblies of Paris,--where her

beauty was generally unrivalled and won the applause, to which her

wit had but feeble claim--for the twilight canopy of woods, the lonely

grandeur of mountains and the solemnity of gothic halls and of long,

long galleries, which echoed only the solitary step of a domestic, or

the measured clink, that ascended from the great clock--the ancient

monitor of the hall below. From these melancholy expectations she

endeavoured to relieve her spirits by recollecting all that she had ever

heard, concerning the joyous vintage of the plains of Languedoc; but

there, alas! no airy forms would bound to the gay melody of Parisian

dances, and a view of the rustic festivities of peasants could afford

little pleasure to a heart, in which even the feelings of ordinary

benevolence had long since decayed under the corruptions of luxury.

The Count had a son and a daughter, the children of a former marriage,

who, he designed, should accompany him to the south of France; Henri,

who was in his twentieth year, was in the French service; and Blanche,

who was not yet eighteen, had been hitherto confined to the convent,

where she had been placed immediately on her father's second

marriage. The present Countess, who had neither sufficient ability, or

inclination, to superintend the education of her daughter-in-law, had

advised this step, and the dread of superior beauty had since urged

her to employ every art, that might prevail on the Count to prolong

the period of Blanche's seclusion; it was, therefore, with extreme

mortification, that she now understood he would no longer submit on this

subject, yet it afforded her some consolation to consider, that, though

the Lady Blanche would emerge from her convent, the shades of the

country would, for some time, veil her beauty from the public eye.

On the morning, which commenced the journey, the postillions stopped at

the convent, by the Count's order, to take up Blanche, whose heart beat

with delight, at the prospect of novelty and freedom now before her. As

the time of her departure drew nigh, her impatience had increased, and

the last night, during which she counted every note of every hour, had

appeared the most tedious of any she had ever known. The morning light,

at length, dawned; the matin-bell rang; she heard the nuns descending

from their chambers, and she started from a sleepless pillow to welcome

the day, which was to emancipate her from the severities of a cloister,

and introduce her to a world, where pleasure was ever smiling, and

goodness ever blessed--where, in short, nothing but pleasure and

goodness reigned! When the bell of the great gate rang, and the sound

was followed by that of carriage wheels, she ran, with a palpitating

heart, to her lattice, and, perceiving her father's carriage in the

court below, danced, with airy steps, along the gallery, where she was

met by a nun with a summons from the abbess. In the next moment, she was

in the parlour, and in the presence of the Countess who now appeared to

her as an angel, that was to lead her into happiness. But the emotions

of the Countess, on beholding her, were not in unison with those of

Blanche, who had never appeared so lovely as at this moment, when her

countenance, animated by the lightning smile of joy, glowed with the

beauty of happy innocence.




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