“The musical tones of his voice rang in my ears, as the carriage drove away.
“‘It was a splendid affair, was it not, my child? and the Countess is a fine noble lady?’ said Monsieur, as we rattled over the stones.
“‘I admire her much,’ I replied.
“‘I perceive you are becoming a star here, a perfect magnet of attraction; every one speaks of you in praise,’ was the next observation of this worthy man, who was somewhat slow in making discoveries of any kind, unless some one else had previously enlightened him.
“I made no reply to what he said; for by a train of ideas in thinking of Monsieur de Serval, and what he had said to me, my thoughts reverted to Blanche, and I wondered, and wished for her arrival in Naples; it was a long time since I had seen her; she must have altered much; I wondered if she still loved, and thought of me. My teacher had not specified any particular day for her arrival, but merely said, he expected her in a few days, or weeks. I longed for the society of some gentle one of my own sex. I began to perceive the brilliance, but isolated loveliness of my position; cut off from all social intercourse with other women; an object of admiration in the eyes of men; of indifference, envy, or contempt to women; I, therefore, longed to see my school-girl friend. Inez’s mind had never so well assimilated to my own; there was too much of earth about her; her feelings were too sensual, to suit my dreamy, abstract speculations of an ideal love. Visions, I then had, in those fresh young days of platonic sentiment, before my soul was rendered practical by earthly passion; still Inez had grown a fine, handsome woman; and, from what I had heard, notwithstanding the many temptations to which an actress is ever exposed, had sustained an unblemished reputation. How often have I seen individuals of both sexes, who possessed cultivated minds, personal attractions, and elegant manners; the world considered them irresistible; and I acknowledged, and appreciated their perfections, yet their fascinations never reached my heart. It is a sympathetic tone of mind which mutually attracts us; for does not every one think the object they love beautiful? ‘Beauty is only in the gazer’s eye;’ and the vanity of human nature induces us to believe that the object of our preference must be charming.
“In the afternoon of the following day, as I sat alone in the parlor, Madame Bonni being employed in domestic affairs, and Monsieur gone out on theatrical business; Arla, a pretty female attendant of the house, ushered into the room Monsieur de Serval. I was sitting by the window, dressed in a sky blue tissue; my arms and neck bare. When he entered, I was amusing myself by singing to the canary bird; and the winged warbler hopped about his gayly gilded prison, and almost looked amazed, probably imagining he heard a free brother of the forest. I scarcely heard the light step of the gentleman, and he had already taken a seat near me, ere I looked around. I had unconsciously fallen into a reverie, and I presume my face wore an expression of sadness, for the first observation he made in his sweet low voice, was,
“‘Your face wears a sadder expression by daylight, Mademoiselle, than it did last night, at the brilliant ball.’
“‘That is its natural expression, Monsieur; the other was a momentary exhilaration.’
“‘Ah, it is strange that one so young should ever feel sad; sadness generally comes with experience and satiety.’
“‘But it seems to me that there is such a thing as living years in advance of time, and so I feel sometimes; an indefinite presentiment of unhappiness seems sometimes to hang over me, and so I have felt this afternoon.’