Her
music teacher was her first devotee. He was followed by her dancing
master, who, as a propitiatory preparation had a wen cut out of his
cheek; then came a wealthy butcher; then a man of rank; then a dissolute
physician, from marrying whom she narrowly escaped; then a jeweler, and
many others. The merits of these gentlemen--particularly those of the
energetic butcher---were warmly commended by their female friends, who,
in France, are brokers in this business on a very extensive scale. It is
a unique proof of her ascendancy over every person near her that the
letters which her father received, requesting his permission to address
her, were submitted by him to her to draft the answer he was to send. So
she placed herself _loco parentis_, and wrote the most paternal letters
of refusal; all of which her father dutifully copied and sent, with many
a pang when she let riches and rank pass by her. The suitors were
dismissed, one and all, and she resumed her books and studies.
Her mother died in 1775. She became the mistress of the house. Her
father formed disreputable connections. Late in that year her future
husband, Roland de la Platiere, presented himself, with a letter from a
friend of her girlhood. He was forty years old; he was a student; his
form was awkward and his manners were stiff; his morals were
irreproachable, his disposition was exacting, but his ability was great.
He was capable of instructing even her on many subjects, and they became
well acquainted by the elective sympathy of scholarship.
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