This letter, oh, my love! has nearly killed me with joy.

You were not deceived, then; it was true! Heaven has blessed our love.

We shall have a son.
"'I shall have a son, the living image of my adored Valerie! Oh! why are we separated by such an immense distance?
Why have I not wings that I might fly to your feet and fall into your arms, full of the sweetest voluptuousness! No! never as at this moment have I cursed the fatal union imposed upon me by an inexorable family, whom my tears could not move.

I cannot help hating this woman, who, in spite of me bears my name, innocent victim though she is of the barbarity of our parents.
And, to complete my misery, she too will soon render me a father.
Who can describe my sorrow when I compare the fortunes of these two children?
"'The one, the son of the object of my tenderest love, will have neither father nor family, nor even a name, since a law framed to make lovers unhappy prevents my acknowledging him.

While the other, the son of my detested wife, by the sole fact of his birth, will be rich, noble, surrounded by devotion and homage, with a great position in the world.
I cannot bear the thought of this terrible injustice! How it is to be prevented, I do not know: but rest assured I shall find a way.