“How happy are you, dear aunt,” said she, “to preserve such friends in your present troubles.”
“I owe them,” replied I, “to my simplicity and candor.”
“Will you not retire to Germany?”
“Certainly not,” answered I.
“Yet it would be better to allow the first burst of displeasure on the part of the dauphiness to pass over.”
“Who gave you this counsel, my dear niece? I am quite sure it does not originate in yourself.”
“I had promised not to tell,” answered she; “but if you insist upon it, I must confess, that I was persuaded by the prince de Condé and M. de Soubise to urge you to follow it.”
“Do they then wish for my absence?” inquired I, angrily.
“Only for your own sake, dearest aunt.”
“I thank them; but my resolution is formed to commit myself entirely to Providence in this melancholy affair.”