.

The Portrait.
In that malady which is termed love the paroxysms succeed each other at intervals, ever accelerating from the moment the disease declares itself.

By and by, the paroxysms are less frequent, in proportion as the cure approaches.

This being laid down as a general axiom, and as the leading article of a particular chapter, we will now proceed with our recital.

The next day, the day fixed by the king for the first conversation in Saint-Aignan's room, La Valliere, on opening one of the folds of the screen, found upon the floor a letter in the king's handwriting.