taught them what she could with joy and gladness.
Caliste was at length declared out of danger, and immediately afterwards Valmont returned with the news that Lisette had married a young man with whom she had danced at the fête. Her answer was to be given that very evening; for she had promised to meet him again when the rest of the family were in bed. Irritated by her father’s displeasure, and urged by her companion, she left her home, whilst her mother and Victorine were with Caliste, and whilst D’Elsac was gone out for a walk to calm his mind.
Lisette had married a youth without principle; and already did he show that her life with him would be far from a happy one. Her money, little as it was, was an object to the young man; and he at once obtained possession of it, taking her with him to Paris, where they were married, and where the husband, irritated at her earnest entreaties to return to Salency, began, as I have before remarked, to show already his brutal nature. “It is of no use,” he would say to her, “you have lost your character in Salency; if there was the slightest chance of your getting
anything by going there, you should go tomorrow; as it is, if you go back there, you may remain. I shall not take the trouble of sending for you again to Paris.”
The proud heart of Lisette was not yet humbled; for her beauty gained her much notice in Paris, and she had not attempted to make any apology to her father, or to beg his forgiveness, though it was known to her he had followed her to the capital.
Such was the painful account Valmont brought of the fate of the most beautiful maiden in all Salency; and the broken-hearted parents felt that they had none to blame but themselves for her conduct. Valmont’s heart was softened, and he shed many tears when he again beheld Caliste; whilst the afflicted family mourned together for the rash and misjudging Lisette; though they all agreed that, as she did not desire pardon, it was better for the present to leave her to herself.
On Valmont’s return, D’Elsac prepared to leave Salency, for he had been absent much longer than he had intended; but, before he went, he took an opportunity of telling Margoton and her husband the real motive of his journey,
though he added he could not suppose they could now consent to part with another child.
Margoton and Valmont had for some time felt how painful it was to meet their neighbours, those very neighbours who had assisted in the triumph of Lisette; and, as Caliste’s conduct was not free from suspicion, they replied to D’Elsac in a way he little expected, by proposing that they should sell their little property in Salency, and all go to live near Grenoble, where he might take first one and then the other of their children, without choosing one in preference to her sisters. This plan particularly suited his wishes; and as to Victorine, her happiness was almost unbounded at returning so near her dear Switzerland, particularly as her mother confessed to her before their departure, that it was in the earnest desire of seeking after that heavenly peace which had been the means of preserving Victorine through the trials that had nearly destroyed her sister’s earthly and eternal happiness.
It was on the 8th of August, just two months after the fête of the Rose, that Margoton Durocher, her husband, and her three daughters, first attended the Protestant chapel at Geneva.