"Mlle. de Chantilly," he writes, "I take leave of you; you are an enchantress more dangerous than the late Madame Armide. Whether as Pierrot, whether under the guise of Love, or even as a simple shepherdess, you are so excellent that you enchant us all. I have seen myself on the point of succumbing--I, whose fatal art affrights the world. What a triumph for you, had you been able to make me submit to your laws! I thank you for not having used all your powers; you might well pass for a young sorceress, with your shepherd's crook, which is nothing else than the magic wand with which that poor prince of the French, whom, I fancy, they called Renaud, was struck. Already I have seen myself surrounded with flowers and _fleurettes_, fatal equipment for all the favourites of Mars. I shudder at it; and what would the King of France and Navarre have said if, in place of the torch of his vengeance, he had found me with a garland in my hand? In spite of the danger to which you have exposed me, I have not the heart to blame you for my weakness; it is a charming one! But it is only by flying from it that one is able to escape a peril so great. [Illustration: JUSTINE FAVART From an engraving by J. J. FLIPART, after the drawing by CHARLES NICOLAS COCHIN _fils_] "Adieu, divinité du parterre adorée; Faites le bien d'un seul et les désirs de tous; Et puissent vos amours égaler la durée De la tendre amitié que mon cœur a pour vous! "Pardon, Mademoiselle, to the remains of intoxication this _rhymed prose_ to which your talents inspire me;[127] the effects of the liquor of which I have drunk endures, they say, often longer than one thinks." * * * * *