of the registers in Nice. Count Del Ferice was good enough to
overlook some little peculiarity in the relation between the dates
of my birth and your marriage. We will therefore say no more about
the matter. The object of this letter is to let you know that those
facts have been communicated to several persons, as a matter of
necessity. I do not expect you to congratulate me. I congratulate
myself, however, with all my heart. Within two years I have freed
myself from my worthy mother, I have placed myself beyond your
power to injure me, and I have escaped ruining a man I loved by
marrying him. I have laid the foundations of peace if not of