My conduct in these respects, indeed, was somewhat strangely misconstrued by an old female domestic who always remained in the house; but as the misconstruction was all to my advantage, I had no reason to complain. By a little civility and kindness, I had established with her the character of a complete ph[oe]nix of pages; and I afterwards found that old Marguerite assured Madame de Villardin, on her arrival, that I had every night made a complete tour of the château to see that the fires were burning, and the rooms properly aired. At length, after waiting two days in hourly expectation of the coming of Monsieur de Villardin, an avant-courier arrived, and in about two hours more the cavalcade appeared in the avenue. In Paris, where one never saw the whole household of the Duke collected, one was not aware of the numbers it contained; but now, when two carriages, each containing eight people, and drawn by six horses, were followed up to the gates by twenty-four horsemen, one begun to have a much more respectful idea of Monsieur de Villardin's establishment than one had formerly entertained. The Duke himself was on horseback; and, springing to the ground the first, he gave his hand to the Duchess, who appeared to me pale and languid. Both spoke kindly to me: but I could clearly perceive that something was wrong in the domestic comfort of the family; and I soon found that the defects of Monsieur de Villardin's temper and character had not been greatly improved since I had left Paris. Old Jerome Laborde was my principal oracle in these matters, and from him I learned, that for some weeks the Duchess had been very gay in the capital; had been out continually, except when she received company at home, and had been universally admired and praised. All this had been less agreeable to Monsieur de Villardin than it might have been to a man of a more happy disposition; and after becoming irritable and morose in a considerable degree, he had suddenly announced his determination of retiring to Brittany. Madame de Villardin, unconscious of offence herself, and, as most women do, mistaking her husband's character, endeavoured to argue him out of his resolution. A discussion ensued, the particulars of which did not transpire, even to the all inquiring ears of soubrettes and valets de chambre; but the whole household perceived that it must have been bitter and severe, for when it was over, Madame de Villardin was found fainting, and bathed in tears. The arrangements for departure were hurried from that moment: and before three days were over, the whole party were on their way to the Prés Vallée. As the old man told me this story spontaneously, I thought I might, at least, venture to ask whether he believed the Duke to have any real cause for the jealousy that he evidently felt.