Improving the distaste I found she
began to imbibe for the town, I proposed to abandon it entirely, and
settle ourselves in an agreeable solitude, in some small house,
distant enough from the city to avoid the perpetual intrusion of her
hangers-on. She followed my advice, and this plan, which her good
angel and mine suggested, might fully have secured our happiness and
tranquility till death had divided us- but this was not the state we
were appointed to; Madam de Warrens was destined to endure all the
sorrows of indigence and poverty, after having passed the former
part of her life in abundance, that she might learn to quit it with
the less regret; and myself, by an assemblage of misfortunes of all
kinds, was to become a striking example to those, who, inspired with a
love of justice and the public good, and trusting too implicitly to
their own innocence, shall openly dare to assert truth to mankind,
unsupported by cabals, or without having previously formed parties
to protect them.
An unhappy fear furnished some objections to our plan: she did not
dare to quit her ill-contrived house, for fear of displeasing the
proprietor. "Your proposed retirement is charming," said she, "and
much to my taste, but we are necessitated to remain here, for, on
quitting this dungeon, I hazard losing the very means of life, and
when these fail us in the woods, we must again return to seek them
in the city. That we may have the least possible cause for being
reduced to this necessity, let us not leave this house entirely, but
pay a small pension to the Count of Saint-Laurent, that he may
continue mine.
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