Your letter, Mademoiselle, having been forwarded on Tuesday last to Paris, I would have hastened to call on you, to thank you in person; but being seized that day with a sort of catarrh accompanied by fever, I wrapped myself up well and returned at once to my hermitage. Feeling better, I seize the first opportunity of telling you how extremely touched I am by the kindness of the one person in the world whom I have always admired, whether wielding the sword or the pen. You have realised in your person the valour of both Morphiso and Bradamante, so nobly sung by Ariosto. But you have done more, you have parried the attacks of the spoiled child to whom everybody yields, and you set an example to the world of a mind which is proof against every form of weakness. You were born, Mademoiselle, to vanquish the warrior, the diplomat, and love itself, and deserve the worship of the friends who have the honour of living with you and of enjoying the charm as well as the advantage of listening to you. There is no one of either sex who does not feel some emulation when listening to you, no one who is not moved by your speech and encouraged by your example to become still braver or more virtuous. As soon as I am able to return to Paris, Mademoiselle, I will hasten to assure you of the regard, the attachment, and the admiration which I have for you. While welcoming these polite speeches with all the sensibility of a woman of his time, d’Eon had already thought of an excellent way of “vanquishing love,” and was forming projects for retiring into a convent for a few months. Full of his part, and taking a malicious pleasure in the comedy, he chose the most equivocal situations, and amused himself in playing the cynical dilettante. Having obtained permission, through M. de Reine, to retire to the convent of Saint Louis, at Saint Cyr, he had been obliged to give up the idea, “as the Bishop of Chartres, who was then in Rome, could alone grant so rare a favour.” On being acquainted with the Chevalière’s desire, the nuns had, without the slightest hesitation, admitted her to their parlour for want of the coveted cell, and d’Eon, short as had been his visit, had left among the venerable dames a pleasant impression which is expressed in the following note:—