There is a great deal of justice in the old line, displeasing though it be to those who think of love in a cottage, "'Tis best repenting in a coach and six!" If among the Eupatrids, the Well Born, there is less love in wedlock, less quiet happiness at home, still they are less chained each to each,--they have more independence, both the woman and the man, and occupations and the solace without can be so easily obtained! Madame de Ventadour, in retiring from the mere frivolities of society--from crowded rooms, and the inane talk and hollow smiles of mere acquaintanceship--became more sensible of the pleasures that her refined and elegant intellect could derive from art and talent, and the communion of friendship.

She drew around her the most cultivated minds of her time and country.

Her abilities, her wit, and her conversational graces enabled her not only to mix on equal terms with the most eminent, but to amalgamate and blend the varieties of talent into harmony.

The same persons, when met elsewhere, seemed to have lost their charm; under Valerie's roof every one breathed a congenial atmosphere.

And music and letters, and all that can refine and embellish civilized life, contributed their resources to this gifted and beautiful woman.