Madame de Girardin knew
that my aunt was in a position to open to vanity the portals of some
noble houses which talents and fame alone could not open. Now Madame
Emile de Girardin's monomania was to be received in the noble
_faubourg_,--to live there perfectly at home, as if it were her native
sphere,--to be able to say, "My friend, the little Marchioness," or, "I
have just come from our dear Jeanne's house, my charming Countess, you
know: she is suffering dreadfully from her neuralgia." She reckoned a
triumph of this sort a thousand times preferable to the applause of her
readers and her friends. All the dull pleasantries with which she
adorned her over-praised "Letters" owed their origin solely to the
unequivocal veto placed by two or three courageous noble ladies on the
attempts made by Madame Emile de Girardin to force her entrance _vi et
armis_ into their mansions. For my aunt's sake, she received me with
especial courtesy, which I was ingenuous enough to attribute to my own
personal merit. However, I had not time to indulge in analysis: she was
about to begin to read her tragedy.
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