Bydintofreflectingonhispositionasanunfortunateanddespisedlover，ErnestwentthroughsomethingofthesameprocessasModeste’sfirstletterhadforceduponhim。Thoughsorrowissaidtodevelopvirtue，itonlydevelopsitinvirtuouspersons;thatcleaning—outoftheconsciencetakesplaceonlyinpersonswhoarebynatureclean。LaBrierevowedtoendurehissufferingsinSpartansilence，toactworthily，andgivewaytonobaseness;whileCanalis，fascinatedbytheenormous\"dot，\"wastellinghimselftotakeeverymeansofcaptivatingtheheiress。Selfishnessanddevotion，thekey—notesofthetwocharacters，thereforetook，bytheactionofamorallawwhichisoftenveryoddinitseffects，certainmeasuresthatwerecontrarytotheirrespectivenatures。Theselfishmanputonself—abnegation;
themanwhothoughtchieflyofotherstookrefugeontheAventinusofpride。Thatphenomenonisoftenseeninpoliticallife。Menfrequentlyturntheircharacterswrongsideout，anditsometimeshappensthatthepublicisunabletotellwhichistherightside。
Afterdinnerthetwofriendsheardofthearrivalofthegrandequerry，whowaspresentedattheChaletthesameeveningbyLatournelle。Mademoiselled’Herouvillehadcontrivedtowoundthatworthymanbysendingafootmentotellhimtocometoher，insteadofsendinghernephewinperson;thusdeprivingthenotaryofadistinguishedvisithewouldcertainlyhavetalkedaboutfortherestofhisnaturallife。SoLatournellecurtlyinformedthegrandequerry，whenheproposedtodrivehimtotheChalet，thathewasengagedtotakeMadameLatournelle。Guessingfromthelittleman’ssulkymannerthattherewassomeblundertorepair，thedukesaidgraciously:——
\"ThenIshallhavethepleasure，ifyouwillallowme，oftakingMadameLatournellealso。\"
DisregardingMademoiselled’Herouville’shaughtyshrug，thedukelefttheroomwiththenotary。MadameLatournelle，half—crazedwithjoyatseeingthegorgeouscarriageatherdoor，withfootmeninroyalliverylettingdownthesteps，wastooagitatedonhearingthatthegrandequerryhadcalledforher，tofindhergloves，herparasol，herabsurdity，orherusualairofpompousdignity。Onceinthecarriage，however，andwhileexpressingconfusedthanksandcivilitiestothelittleduke，shesuddenlyexclaimed，fromathoughtinherkindheart，——