answer to this letter, in which my father charged me, except I wished to incur his severest malediction, never to think more about you, declaring that my sole prosperity in life depended on my union with D'Alembert's daughter, who, in my visits to the chateau, he said, had conceived a partiality for me, which her father, rather than destroy her peace, had determined to gratify. My resolution, on perusing this letter, was instantly formed: I resolved never to marry a woman I disliked, nor unite myself to one I loved, except assured I could add to, instead of injure, her happiness. Notwithstanding my determination, I lingered in your house till the altered looks of your father plainly convinced me he wished for my departure: the pangs which rend soul and body, could not, I am sure, have been greater than those I endured on tearing myself from you.
"I returned to my father's house; he treated me ill, and I resumed my wanderings, with a hope that change of scene might
