"  Now,  thank  God,  you  are  very  well  instructed  in  all  that
relates  to  your  good  country.  But  all  this  time  I  have  had  no
letter  from  you,  and  consequently  nothing  to  answer,  so  I  must
naturally  talk  to  you  of  what  I  see  and  hear.  Pomenars  is  a
most  extraordinary  creature  ;  there  is  no  man  to  whom  I  more
willingly  wish  two  heads,  for  he  will  never  be  able  to  carry  his
own  safely  away.  For  my  part,  my  daughter,  I  long  to  see  the
end  of  the  week,  that  I  may  repay  all  the  civilities  I  have  received
from  everybody  in  a  proper  manner,  and  then  retire  to  enjoy
myself  at  Les  Rochers."


CHAPTER  XXV

The  "  Fete  de  Marie  "  at  Vitre — A  drinking  province — The  Marquise  takes  refuge
at  Les  Rochers — An  exhausted  hostess— Madame  de  Se'vigne  is  escorted  back  to  Vitre
by  the  Governor's  guards

BUT  Madame  de  Sevigne  could  not  escape  from  Vitre  to
her  dear  Les  Rochers  as  easily  as  she  had  hoped.  The
Due  and  Duchesse  de  Chaulnes  were  most  unwilling  to  let  their
charming  guest  depart,  and  they  treated  her  with  much  distinc-
tion, and  did  everything  they  could  think  of  to  make  her  prolong
her  visit.  "  But  for  this,"  she  says,  "  you  can  well  understand
that  I  should  hardly  stay  at  Vitre,  where  I  have  no  business.
