First Part Chapter 44

THE SAME TO THE SAME
Paris, 1829.

A whole year passed, my dear, without a letter! What does this mean? I
am a little hurt. Do you suppose that your Louis, who comes to see me
almost every alternate day, makes up for you? It is not enough to know
that you are well and that everything prospers with you; for I love
you, Renee, and I want to know what you are feeling and thinking of,
just as I say everything to you, at the risk of being scolded, or
censured, or misunderstood.

Your silence and seclusion in the country,
at the time when you might be in Paris enjoying all the Parliamentary
honors of the Comte de l'Estorade, cause me serious anxiety. You know
that your husband's "gift of gab" and unsparing zeal have won for him
quite a position here, and he will doubtless receive some very good
post when the session is over. Pray, do you spend your life writing
him letters of advice? Numa was not so far removed from his Egeria.

Why did you not take this opportunity of seeing Paris? I might have
enjoyed your company for four months. Louis told me yesterday that you
were coming to fetch him, and would have your third confinement in
Paris--you terrible mother Gigogne! After bombarding Louis with
queries, exclamations, and regrets, I at last defeated his strategy so
far as to discover that his grand-uncle, the godfather of Athenais, is
very ill.