rare intellectual treat to Manon. In his vivacious, glowing manner, he satisfied her craving for knowledge by enlarging her ideas of society and government. Sometimes, about this time, Manon would preside over little dinners given to four or five friends, when the sociable, jovial M. Phlipon, flattered at seeing such distinguished guests at his table, would only show himself from his most amiable side. The conversational powers of the future Madame Roland were now for the first time called into play.
Amongst several highly-cultivated men whose acquaintance she made through Sainte Lette, there was a M. de Sévelinges, a gentleman who had recently lost a beloved wife, and was plunged in grief when first Manon saw him. He was of an ancient family, of restricted means, and lived at Soissons, where he held some financial post, giving the rest of his time to the study of literature. Whereas Sainte Lette's nature seemed "compacted of fire and sulphur," his Pylades was of a gentle and melancholy temperament, and of the most refined sensibility. He, too, little by little, came under Manon's irresistible charm. After corresponding with her for a considerable time, there crept a something tender and insinuating into his letters; he seemed to find his solitude irksome, and to feel grieved at her position. He often dilated on the charms of a thoughtful companionship, finally writing a letter which, though somewhat ambiguously couched, had every appearance of a proposal of marriage. The idea of marrying M. de Sévelinges was not repugnant to Manon, and, though she was not the least in love with the gentleman, she may possibly have considered herself disillusioned in that respect, while in reality she was very heart-whole, as Sainte Lette had once
