When she read this, she was astonished at the moderation of Madame Cheron, and looked at her with timid expectation, as she said sorrowfully--'What am I to say, madam ?' 'Why--we must see the young man, I believe,' replied her aunt, 'and hear what he has further to say for himself.

You may tell him he may come.' Emily dared scarcely credit what she heard.

'Yet, stay,' added Madame Cheron, 'I will tell him so myself.' She called for pen and ink; Emily still not daring to trust the emotions she felt, and almost sinking beneath them.

Her surprise would have been less had she overheard, on the preceding evening, what Madame Cheron had not forgotten--that Valancourt was the nephew of Madame Clairval.
What were the particulars of her aunt's note Emily did not learn, but the result was a visit from Valancourt in the evening, whom Madame Cheron received alone, and they had a long conversation before Emily was called down.

When she entered the room, her aunt was conversing with complacency, and she saw the eyes of Valancourt, as he impatiently rose, animated with hope.
'We have been talking over this affair,' said Madame Cheron, 'the chevalier has been telling me, that the late Monsieur Clairval was the brother of the Countess de Duvarney, his mother.