She advised me, as I had been
put under Father Vincent's guidance, to seek him at the Church of St.
Sulpice, where, on certain days of the week, he was accessible to
ladies wishing to undertake pious works. For the rest, she said that
a little resolution on my part would enable me to reserve the early
part of the day for study and the education of my son; and she fully
approved of my giving the evenings to society, and gave me at once
the entree to her circle. She insisted that I should remain on that
day and dine with her, and Madame de Montausier indited two charming
billets, which were sent to invite our family to join us there in the
evening.
'It will not be a full circle,' she said; 'but I think your brother
treats as a friend a young man who is there to make his first essai.'
'M. Darpent?' I asked; and I was told that I was right, and that the
young advocate had been writing a discourse upon Cicero which he was
to read aloud to the fair critics and their friends. Madame de
Montausier added that his father was a counselor in the Parliament,
who had originally been a Huguenot, but had converted himself with
all his family, and had since held several good appointments. She
thought the young man, Clement Darpent, likely to become a man of
mark, and she did not like him the less for having retained something
of the Huguenot gravity.
The dinner was extremely pleasant; we followed it up by a walk in the
beautifully laid out gardens; and after we had rested, the reception
began, but only in the little green cabinet, as it was merely a
select few who were to be admitted to hear the young aspirant.
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