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CHAPTER XVII.
LA PUCELLE.
In the quiet of Cirey, Voltaire must have felt like some storm-tost mariner who has at length reached a land-locked bay. Yet even here he was not always free from the apprehensions which had beset his earlier career. The guest already quoted, Madame de Grafigny, once had a curious illustration of this. She had been present at the readings of the several cantos of the "Maid" as they were completed. These readings were conducted with some secrecy, and took place in the bath-room, as a very private spot, accessible only to a chosen few; and Madame de Grafigny, much delighted with the poem, from time to time gave a brief account of its tenor and progress to a correspondent, M. Devaux. Among other seignorial rights exercised by Madame du Châtelet at Cirey was the control of the post-bag; and on what she might think sufficient occasion she did not scruple to open letters addressed to, others. Suspecting that people in the neighbouring towns had talked about the readings, she opened a letter from M. Devaux to Madame de Grafigny, and read these words: "The canto of 'Jeanne' is charming!" This information, conveyed
