We do not possess any of the letters which the Count wrote at that time; but, judging by Hélène’s answers, he must have been a jealous and despotic man. She submitted to his tyranny in a most extraordinary manner. He insisted on her burning all the letters she had received from her husband and her friends, and made so severe a selection among her numerous acquaintances at Warsaw, that little by little he narrowed her sphere to a small circle, in which he reigned supreme; Hélène accepted everything. “I wrote to you last night, and intended sending off my note this morning,” she writes, “but when I awoke it was too late. “What is it that worries you? Tell me at once. If a complete sacrifice of all that displeases you can secure your peace of mind, say but one word, and it will cost me nothing. I shall consider myself the gainer if, by giving up everything, I am able to make you happy and contented. “If these ladies had not insisted on my going with them, I would willingly have stayed at home. “With you alone I have enough to occupy my heart and mind without requiring the presence of others.” About this time, that is, towards the end of 1790, the Comtesse Vincent, who had completely recovered her health, left Ukrania, and joined her husband at Warsaw. It was impossible to prevent her return, and equally impossible to conceal from her the growing intimacy between the Lord Chamberlain and the Princesse de Ligne, whose reputation of coquetry and beauty had already reached her ears. The Comtesse Anna adored her husband, and in spite of all his efforts to hide the truth from her she soon discovered it, and absolutely refused to admit the Princess within her doors. “I shall never consent,” she said to her husband, “to receive the woman who has robbed me of your affection, whatever may be the nature of your intimacy.” The Count, very much surprised at this unexpected resistance on her part, vainly endeavoured to dispel his wife’s suspicion, but when Hélène called on the Countess she found the door closed. Mortally wounded by this affront, she gave way to all the violence of her character; she declared to the Count that she insisted on his compelling his wife to receive her, adding that she could never rest under an insult that dishonoured her in the eyes of the world. The Count, after trying in vain to calm her, finally flew into a passion, and after a terrible scene abruptly left her. Utterly upset by the manner in which the Count had left her on the previous day, Hélène sent him the very next morning these few lines, written in such a state of agitation as to be almost illegible:--