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the same day.

"I waited for him at a cafe, where he joined me about four
o'clock, and we went together towards the Magdalen; my knees
trembled under me as I crossed the courts. `Ye heavenly powers!'
said I, `then I shall once more behold the idol of my heart--the
dear object of so many sighs and lamentations! All I now ask of
Providence is, to vouchsafe me strength enough to reach her
presence, and after that, to dispose as it pleaseth of my future
fate, and of my life itself. Beyond this, I have no prayer to
utter.'

"M. de T---- spoke to some of the porters of the establishment,
who appeared all anxious to please him. The quarter in which
Manon's room lay was pointed out to us, and our guide carried in
his hand the key of her chamber: it was of frightful size. I
asked the man who conducted us, and whose duty it was to attend
to Manon, how she passed her time? He said, that she had a
temper of the most angelic sweetness; that even he, disagreeable
as his official duties must render him, had never heard from her
a single syllable in the nature of rebuke or harshness; that her
tears had never ceased to flow during the first six weeks after
her arrival, but that latterly she seemed to bear her misfortunes
with more resignation, and that she employed herself from morning
till night with her needle, excepting some hours that she, each
day, devoted to reading. I asked whether she had been decently
provided for. He assured me that at least she had never felt the
want of necessaries.

"We now approached her door. My heart beat almost audibly in
my bosom. I said to M. de T----, `Go in alone, and prepare her
for my visit; I fear that she may be overcome by seeing me
unexpectedly.' The door was opened. I remained in the passage,
and listened to the conversation. He said that he came to bring
her consolation; that he was a friend of mine, and felt deeply
interested for the happiness of us both. She asked with the
tenderest anxiety, whether he could tell her what had become of
me. He promised that she should soon see me at her feet, as
affectionate and as faithful as ever. `When?' she asked. `This
very day,' said he; `the happy moment shall not be long delayed;
nay, this very instant even, if you wish it.' She at once
understood that I was at the door; as she was rushing towards it,
I entered. We embraced each other with that abounding and
impassioned tenderness, which an absence of many months makes so
delicious to those who truly love. Our sighs, our broken
exclamations, the thousand endearing appellations of love,
exchanged in languishing rapture, astonished M. de T----, and
affected him even to tears.

"`I cannot help envying you,' said he, as he begged us to be
seated; `there is no lot, however glorious, that I would hold as
comparable to the possession of a mistress at once so tender and
impassioned.' `Nor would I,' I replied, `give up her love for
universal empire!'

"The remainder of an interview which had been so long and so

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