any reserve in confessing them to me at the very outset of her visit; she began by laying down in most plain terms that no impulse of the heart was at the bottom of this new bond; that the little 'puss in boots' is assuredly the very last she could have dreamed of loving, as he had no expectations, 'He belongs to a family of beggars,' she said, 'which has failed to win respect wherever it has dwelt; but he has a brother who has married well at Marseilles, who promises to help the others, and him. He seems enterprising, and guarantees he will soon carve his fortune.' Madame Beauharnais confesses to me that he has made her presents of a magnificence which has led her to believe that he is possessed of greater means than people wot of. 'As regards myself,' she says to me, 'I have not seen fit to inform him of my straitened circumstances; he believes I am now in the enjoyment of a certain fortune, and is under the impression that I have great expectations over in Martinique. Do not impart to him anything you know, my good friend; you would be spoiling everything. Since I do not love him, you can understand my going into the business; 'tis you I will ever love, you may depend on it. Rose will always be yours, ever at your disposal, you have only to make a sign; but I know full well that you no longer love me,' she proceeded, suddenly bursting into tears, which she had the power of summoning at pleasure; 'this is what grieves me
