Still he declared that, in spite of his wishes, it was hardly
possible. His great-uncle and aunt would never consent. I said they
had no right to interfere between husband and wife, and he replied
that they had brought him up, and taken the place of parents to him;
to which I rejoined that I was far nearer to him. He said I was a
mutinous Englishwoman; and I rejoined that he should never find me
mutinous to him.
Nay, I made up my mind that if he would not insist on taking me, I
would find means to escape and join him. What! Was I to be carried
about in the coach of Madame de Nidemerle to all the hateful salons
of Paris, while my husband, the only person in France whom I could
endure, might be meeting wounds and death in the Low Countries while
I might be dancing!
So again I declined when the ladies in the coach invited me to their
houses in Paris. Should I go to a convent? they asked; and one began
to recommend the Carmelites, another the Visitation, another Port
Royal, till I was almost distracted; and M. le Marquis began to say
it was a pious and commendable wish, but that devotion had its proper
times and seasons, and that judgment must be exercised as to the
duration of a retreat, etc.
'No, Monsieur,' said I, 'I am not going into a convent. A wife's
duty is with her husband; I am going into garrison at Nancy.'
Oh, how they cried out! There was such a noise that the gentlemen
turned their horses' heads to see whether any one was taken ill.
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