And with tears in my eyes, I thanked her for having been so indulgent, so good, so patient. _December 4th._ To-day at three o'clock the old aunt who has the box at the theatre on Tuesdays is to come to demand my hand officially, and so before the 10th of January (that will be absolutely necessary because of the grandmother's will) I shall be Comtesse de Martelle-Simieuse. Adrien will get the one and a half millions and me into the bargain, as extra consolation prize. I think it will be money easily gained. I don't think that he is much to be pitied. _December 11th._ The wedding is fixed for January 6th. It is absurd to get married at such a time, but it couldn't be arranged otherwise. The will! The will! Besides, after all, the date doesn't displease me so very much. We shall have a short--a _very_ short--honeymoon--a few days at Nice--ten days at the outside. After that Paris in full swing, with all the theatres open. The unfortunate Louise de Montbrian got married last spring--at the end of May, and returned to Paris after a six-weeks' honeymoon only to find the city torrid and sinister. We shall be supremely happy--of that I haven't the slightest doubt. He adores me. And I! Do I love him? Well, I must be candid with myself, and it would not be true if I declared, in the phrases so common in English novels, that I love him madly; that I only really live when he is present; that I tremble at the sound of his footsteps, and start when I hear his voice. Oh, no! I am not so easily moved. My heart can't be expected to go at that rate. But I already like him very much. Love will come in time, I have no doubt. Love is such an economizer in a household. I bring a million, and we can reckon on an income of about 230,000 francs. That may at first sight seem a very large income, but it isn't really so. First of all we must deduct about 80,000 francs for the keeping up of Simieuse, our château in Vendée, and for hunting. That will leave only 150,000 francs for living expenses, which amount will be quite sufficient if we love each other and pull together _en bon camarade_. But if, on the contrary, we begin after a short time--and this is the history of many households--to pull in opposite directions, we shall only have 75,000 francs each, and that will mean pinching--supposing that theatres--leaving the opera and the Théâtre Français out of the reckoning--cost 2,000 or 3,000 francs a year if we go together, it would at once be double that sum if we went separately. And so with everything else--the expenditure doubled.