(Last letter of Bianca to her mother. Forlì, 1817.) [3] It is in order to abridge and to be able to paint the interior of the soul, that the author, using the formula of the first person, alleges several feelings to which he is a stranger: personally, he never had any which would be worth quoting. [Pg 29] CHAPTER IV In a soul completely detached--a girl living in a lonely castle in the depth of the country--the slightest astonishment may bring on a slight admiration, and, if the faintest hope intervene, cause the birth of love and crystallisation(4). In this case love delights, to begin with, just as a diversion. Surprise and hope are strongly supported by the need, felt at the age of sixteen, of love and sadness. It is well known that the restlessness of that age is a thirst for love, and a peculiarity of thirst is not to be extremely fastidious about the kind of draught that fortune offers. Let us recapitulate the seven stages of love. They are:-- 1. Admiration. 2. What pleasure, etc. 3. Hope. 4. Love is born. 5. First crystallisation. 6. Doubt appears. 7. Second crystallisation. Between Nos. 1 and 2 may pass one year. One month between Nos. 2 and 3; but if hope does not make haste in coming, No. 2 is insensibly resigned as a source of unhappiness. A twinkling of the eye between Nos. 3 and 4. There is no interval between Nos. 4 and 5. The sequence can only be broken by intimate intercourse. Some days may pass between Nos. 5 and 6, according to the degree to which the character is impetuous and used to risk, but between Nos. 6 and 7 there is no interval. [Pg 30] CHAPTER V Man is not free to avoid doing that which gives him more pleasure to do than all other possible actions.[1] Love is like the fever(5), it is born and spends itself without the slightest intervention of the will. That is one of the principal differences between gallant-love and passion-love. And you cannot give yourself credit for the fair qualities in what you really love, any more than for a happy chance. Further, love is of all ages: observe the passion of Madame du Deffant for the graceless Horace Walpole. A more recent and more pleasing example is perhaps still remembered in Paris. In proof of great passions I admit only those of their consequences, which are exposed to ridicule: timidity, for example, proves love. I am not speaking of the bashfulness of the enfranchised schoolboy. [1] As regards crime, it belongs to good education to inspire remorse, which, foreseen, acts as a counterbalance. [Pg 31] CHAPTER VI THE CRYSTALS OF SALZBURG