A LOVE-STORY (1836-1839) Early in 1836 the quiet of Herne Hill was fluttered by a long-promised, long-postponed visit.

Mr.Domecq at last brought his four younger daughters to make the acquaintance of their English friends.

The eldest sister had lately been married to a Count Maison, heir to a peer of France; for Mr.Domecq, thanks in great measure to his partner's energy and talents, was prosperous and wealthy, and moved in the enchanted circles of Parisian society.
To a romantic schoolboy in a London suburb the apparition was dazzling.
Any of the sisters would have charmed him, but the eldest of the four, Adele Clotilde, bewitched him at once with her graceful figure and that oval face which was so admired in those times.

She was fair, too--another recommendation.

He was on the brink of seventeen, at the ripe moment, and he fell passionately in love with her.