One day when it froze to an extreme degree, in
opening a packet she had sent me of several things I had desired her
to purchase for me, I found a little under-petticoat of English
flannel, which she told me she had worn, and desired I would make of
it an under-waistcoat.
This care, more than friendly, appeared to me so tender, and as if
she had stripped herself to clothe me, that in my emotion I repeatedly
kissed, shedding tears at the same time, both the note and the
petticoat. Theresa thought me mad. It is singular that of all the
marks of friendship Madam d'Epinay ever showed me this touched me
the most, and that ever since our rupture I have never recollected
it without being very sensibly affected. I for a long time preserved
her little note, and it would still have been in my possession had not
it shared the fate of my other notes received at the same period.
Although my disorder then gave me but little respite in winter,
and a part of the interval was employed in seeking relief from pain,
this was still upon the whole the season which since my residence in
France I had passed with most pleasure and tranquillity. During four
or five months, whilst the bad weather sheltered me from the
interruptions of importunate visits, I tasted to a greater degree than
I had ever yet or have since done, of that equally simple and
independent life, the enjoyment of which still made it more
desirable to me; without any other company than the two governesses in
reality, and the two female cousins in idea.
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