" In fact, Eleonore was one of the "grandes dames"
now so rare. To endeavor to explain what august quality there was in
the carriage of the head, what refinement and delicacy in the curve of
the throat, what harmony in her movements, and nobility in her
bearing, what grandeur in the perfect accord of details with the whole
being, and in the arts, now a second nature, which render a woman
grand and even sacred,--to explain all these things would simply be to
attempt to analyze the sublime. People enjoy such poetry as they enjoy
that of Paganini; they do not explain to themselves the medium, they
know the cause is in the spirit that remains invisible.
Madame de Chaulieu bowed her head in salutation of Helene and her
aunt; then, saying to Diane, in a pure and equable tone of voice,
without a trace of emotion, "Is it not time to dress, duchess?" she
made her exit, accompanied by her daughter-in-law and Mademoiselle
d'Herouville. As she left the room she spoke in an undertone to the
old maid, who pressed her arm, saying, "You are charming,"--which
meant, "I am all gratitude for the service you have just done us.
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