de Chalusse
frantic with indignation. He knew something that I was ignorant
of--that Madame de Rochecote, who enacted the part of a severe and
implacable censor, was famed for the laxity of her morals. The
count's first impulse was to wreak vengeance on my persecutors;
for, in spite of his usual coolness, M. de Chalusse had a furious
temper at times. It was only with the greatest difficulty that I
dissuaded him from challenging General de Rochecote, who was
living at the time. However, it now became necessary to make some
other arrangements for me. M. de Chalusse offered to find another
school, promising to take such precautions as would insure my
peace of mind. But I interrupted him before he had spoken a dozen
words, declaring I would rather return to the book-binders than
chance another such experiment. And what I said I meant. A
subterfuge--a fictitious name, for instance--could alone shield me
from persecution similar to what I had endured at Sainte-Marthe.
But I knew that I was incapable of playing such a part--I felt
that I should somehow confess everything. My firmness imparted
some resolution to M. de Chalusse. He exclaimed, with an oath,
that I was right--that he was weary of all this deception and
concealment, and that he would make arrangements to have me near
him. 'Yes,' he concluded, embracing me, 'the die is cast, come
what may!'
"However, these measures required a certain delay; and, in the
meantime, he decided to install me in Paris, which is the only
place where one can successfully hide from prying eyes.
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