Page:Letters of Mlle. de Lespinasse.djvu/79

to be loved, as you deserve to be ? how else can she employ her soul and her life ? Ah ! she has neither taste nor sensi- bility ; of that I am sure. She ought to love you, if only from vanity — but why do I meddle in all this ? You are satisfied, or if you are not, you love the ill she does you ; why, therefore, should I pity you ? But that other unhappy person ! it is she who interests me ; have you written to her ? is her pain as deep as ever ? I must tell you that the other day at Mme. de Boufflers much was said of you and " Le Conn^table," and the young Comtesse de Boufiiers told me that she believed you were very much in love, and this belief had made her watch Mme. de . . . with great attention. A man present assured us that you no longer loved her ; you had done so, but the feeling had worn out, and he thought you would never be long happy or unhappy for the same woman ; he said the activity of your soul did not allow it to fix itself long on one object ; and from that arose a witty discussion on matters of feeling and passion. The Comtesse de Boufiiers finally said that she did not know who it was with whom you were in love, but it certainly was no longer Mme. de . . . and she judged, by the notes she had received from you at the time of your departure, that you were strongly attached to some one and that your absence from her rent your soul ; but then came the natural reflection : " Why does he go to Paissia ? " Perhaps to cure himself, perhaps to stifle the feelings of the woman he loves. At last, after many conjec- tures of no interest, I was asked if I liked you, if I knew you v/ell, for until then I had not said a word : " Yes, I like him much ; after knowing him a little there is only one way of liking him." " Well, then, you know his intimacies ; who is the object of Ms passion ? " " Xo, truly, I know nothing ; except that he is now in Berlin and is well ; that the King of Prussia has received him admirably and is to show him his