BecauseItellyouthiswillyouthinkmesomelittlegirlwhocultivatesagarden—fullofillusions？You，whoarewittyandwise，haveyounotguessedthatwhenMademoiselled’Estereceivedyourpedanticlessonshesaidtoherself:\"No，dearpoet，myfirstletterwasnotthepebblewhichavagabondchildflingsaboutthehighwaytofrightentheowneroftheadjacentfruit—trees，butanetcarefullyandprudentlythrownbyafishermanseatedonarockabovethesea，hopingandexpectingamiraculousdraught。\"
Allthatyousaysobeautifullyaboutthefamilyhasmyapproval。
Themanwhoisabletopleaseme，andofwhomIbelievemyselfworthy，willhavemyheartandmylife，——withtheconsentofmyparents，forIwillneithergrievethem，nortakethemunawares:
happily，Iamcertainofreigningoverthem;and，besides，theyarewhollywithoutprejudice。Indeed，ineveryway，Ifeelmyselfprotectedagainstanydelusionsinmydream。Ihavebuiltthefortresswithmyownhands，andIhaveletitbefortifiedbytheboundlessdevotionofthosewhowatchovermeasifIwereatreasure，——notthatIamunabletodefendmyselfintheopen，ifneedbe;for，letmesay，circumstanceshavefurnishedmewitharmorofproofonwhichisengravedtheword\"Disdain。\"Ihavethedeepesthorrorofallthatiscalculating，——ofallthatisnotpure，disinterested，andwhollynoble。Iworshipthebeautiful，theideal，withoutbeingromantic;thoughIHAVEbeen，inmyheartofhearts，inmydreams。ButIrecognizethetruthofthevariousthings，justeventovulgarity，whichyouhavewrittenmeaboutSocietyandsociallife。
Forthetimebeingweare，andwecanonlybe，twofriends。Whyseekanunseenfriend？youask。Yourpersonmaybeunknowntome，butyourmind，yourheartIKNOW;theypleaseme，andIfeelaninfinitudeofthoughtswithinmysoulwhichneedamanofgeniusfortheirconfidant。Idonotwishthepoemofmyhearttobewasted;IwouldhaveitknowntoyouasitistoGod。Whatapreciousthingisatruecomrade，onetowhomwecantellall！Youwillsurelynotrejecttheunpublishedleafletsofayounggirl’sthoughtswhentheyflytoyouliketheprettyinsectsflutteringtothesun？Iamsureyouhaveneverbeforemetwiththisgoodfortuneofthesoul，——thehonestconfidencesofanhonestgirl。