'Theresa had been surprised by a visit from M. Quesnel, some time before
the receipt of this letter, who was accompanied by a stranger that
viewed the premises with much curiosity.'
Towards the conclusion of his letter, which is dated a week after this
sentence, Valancourt adds, 'I have received a summons from my regiment,
and I join it without regret, since I am shut out from the scenes that
are so interesting to my heart. I rode to La Vallee this morning, and
heard that the new tenant was arrived, and that Theresa was gone. I
should not treat the subject thus familiarly if I did not believe you
to be uninformed of this disposal of your house; for your satisfaction I
have endeavoured to learn something of the character and fortune of your
tenant, but without success. He is a gentleman, they say, and this is
all I can hear. The place, as I wandered round the boundaries, appeared
more melancholy to my imagination, than I had ever seen it. I wished
earnestly to have got admittance, that I might have taken another leave
of your favourite plane-tree, and thought of you once more beneath
its shade: but I forbore to tempt the curiosity of strangers: the
fishing-house in the woods, however, was still open to me; thither I
went, and passed an hour, which I cannot even look back upon without
emotion. O Emily! surely we are not separated for ever--surely we shall
live for each other!'
This letter brought many tears to Emily's eyes; tears of tenderness and
satisfaction on learning that Valancourt was well, and that time and
absence had in no degree effaced her image from his heart. There were
passages in this letter which particularly affected her, such as those
describing his visits to La Vallee, and the sentiments of delicate
affection that its scenes had awakened. It was a considerable time
before her mind was sufficiently abstracted from Valancourt to feel
the force of his intelligence concerning La Vallee. That Mons. Quesnel
should let it, without even consulting her on the measure, both
surprised and shocked her, particularly as it proved the absolute
authority he thought himself entitled to exercise in her affairs. It is
true, he had proposed, before she left France, that the chateau should
be let, during her absence, and to the oeconomical prudence of this she
had nothing to object; but the committing what had been her father's
villa to the power and caprice of strangers, and the depriving herself
of a sure home, should any unhappy circumstances make her look back to
her home as an asylum, were considerations that made her, even then,
strongly oppose the measure. Her father, too, in his last hour, had
received from her a solemn promise never to dispose of La Vallee; and
this she considered as in some degree violated if she suffered the place
to be let.