ZIBELINE RECEIVESThe Duchesse de Montgeron had no children, and her most tender affectionswere concentrated upon her husband and her brother. The scruples whichcaused the latter to forswear matrimony grieved her deeply, for, knowingthe inflexibility of his character, she was sure that no one in the worldcould make him alter his decision.Thus, on one side the title of the Duc de Montgeron was destined to passto a collateral branch of the family; and on the other, the title ofMarquis de Prerolles would become extinct with the General.But, although she now considered it impossible to realize the projectwhich she had momentarily cherished, she continued to show the samekindness to Mademoiselle de Vermont. She would have regarded any othercourse as unworthy of her, since she had made the first advances;moreover, the young girl's nature was so engaging that no one whoapproached her could resist her charm.Very reserved or absolutely frank, according to the degree of confidencewith which she was treated, Valentine had sufficient intuition to avoid alack of tact.She was, in feminine guise, like 'L'Ingenu' of Voltaire, struck, as wasHuron, with all that was illogical in our social code; but she did notmake, after his fashion, a too literal application of its rules, and knewwhere to draw the line, if she found herself on the point of making somehazardous remark, declaring frankly: "I was about to say somethingfoolish!" which lent originality to her playful conversation.After receiving from Valentine's hands the contract signed in presence ofthe notary, for the benefit of the Orphan Asylum, the president of thesociety did not fail to give a dinner in honor of the new patroness.As she was a foreigner she was placed in the seat of honor at the table,to the great displeasure of Madame Desvanneaux, who was invited to takethe second place, in spite of her title of vice-president.