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 The Countess was now informed her carriage was ready, and she lost no time in re-entering it: it passed within a few yards of Montmorenci Castle; and through the bars of the massy iron gate which opened into its spacious court, Madeline beheld that court strewed with fragments of the building, o'er which the high grass waved in rank luxuriance. "The pride, the glory of the family belonging to that castle (said the Countess, bending forward to look at it), is gone for ever; dazzling was its splendour, but rapid its decline: greatness unsupported by goodness can never be durable."

"You think then, madam, (cried Madeline), that the Count really merited his afflictions."

Tis an unpleasant subject, my dear, (said the Countess) we will change it"; 'twas accordingly dropped.

About sun-set they reached the chateau, which the Countess de Merville possessed in right of her father; it was built at a very