“I hope you will receive this letter on your way. I have just received one from my uncle; it appears that he _is not angry with me, and, with the exception of helping me by his influence or his money, is entirely devoted to me_. What irony! But what can I do? If my family is indifferent to me, I am quite the same towards them; provided that you always love me, I shall have no wish left in the world; I have neither vanity nor ambition, I have only love.” The Count arrived at Niemirow very much dissatisfied with his journey, and anxious about the future. He had thought, from what Hélène had said, that he would meet with no opposition to a divorce on the part of the Lignes, and instead of the consent he expected, he had only received a very decided refusal, accompanied by a severe criticism of his own conduct, and of the interested motives which, rightly or wrongly, were attributed to him. He had also fancied he would easily obtain his wife’s consent by leaving her his two sons; instead of this, his schemes were baffled on all sides by very serious difficulties. On the other hand, the position of the Princess, who was living an isolated life, almost hidden, it may be said, in one of the Count’s residences, in the neighbourhood of Niemirow, could no longer be endured without serious inconvenience. The Comtesse Anna was very much beloved in the country, her two children inhabited Niemirow, and everybody was beginning to wonder at her prolonged absence; how much more extraordinary would it appear when her husband should return! All these reflections threw the Count into a gloomy state of mind; he made a short stay at Kowalowska, but Hélène was pained by the coldness of his manner, and the embarrassment he showed during their first interview; he briefly narrated the unsatisfactory results of his journey, intimating that he could not remain at Niemirow, and advising her to go to her uncle’s and wait there for a solution which was probably very remote.