Meanwhile a circumstance occurred which increased the general discord,
and threatened Emilia with the loss of her last remaining comfort--the
advice and consolation of Madame de Menon. The marchioness, whose
passion for the Count de Vereza had at length yielded to absence, and
the pressure of present circumstances, now bestowed her smiles upon a
young Italian cavalier, a visitor at the castle, who possessed too
much of the spirit of gallantry to permit a lady to languish in vain.
The marquis, whose mind was occupied with other passions, was
insensible to the misconduct of his wife, who at all times had the
address to disguise her vices beneath the gloss of virtue and innocent
freedom. The intrigue was discovered by madame, who, having one day
left a book in the oak parlour, returned thither in search of it. As
she opened the door of the apartment, she heard the voice of the
cavalier in passionate exclamation; and on entering, discovered him
rising in some confusion from the feet of the marchioness, who,
darting at madame a look of severity, arose from her seat. Madame,
shocked at what she had seen, instantly retired, and buried in her own
bosom that secret, the discovery of which would most essentially have
poisoned the peace of the marquis. The marchioness, who was a stranger
to the generosity of sentiment which actuated Madame de Menon, doubted
not that she would seize the moment of retaliation, and expose her
conduct where most she dreaded it should be known. The consciousness
of guilt tortured her with incessant fear of discovery, and from this
period her whole attention was employed to dislodge from the castle
the person to whom her character was committed. In this it was not
difficult to succeed; for the delicacy of madame's feelings made her
quick to perceive, and to withdraw from a treatment unsuitable to the
natural dignity of her character. She therefore resolved to depart
from the castle; but disdaining to take an advantage even over a
successful enemy, she determined to be silent on that subject which
would instantly have transferred the triumph from her adversary to
herself. When the marquis, on hearing her determination to retire,
earnestly enquired for the motive of her conduct, she forbore to
acquaint him with the real one, and left him to incertitude and
disappointment.
To Emilia this design occasioned a distress which almost subdued the
resolution of madame. Her tears and intreaties spoke the artless
energy of sorrow. In madame she lost her only friend; and she too well
understood the value of that friend, to see her depart without feeling
and expressing the deepest distress. From a strong attachment to the
memory of the mother, madame had been induced to undertake the
education of her daughters, whose engaging dispositions had
perpetuated a kind of hereditary affection. Regard for Emilia and
Julia had alone for some time detained her at the castle; but this was
now succeeded by the influence of considerations too powerful to be
resisted. As her income was small, it was her plan to retire to her
native place, which was situated in a distant part of the island, and
there take up her residence in a convent.