Page:Daughters of Genius.djvu/431

 MADAME DE MIRAMION. 421 all armed, and all possessed with the idea that the abduc- tion was undertaken with the full and free consent of the lady. She soon undeceived them. She utterly refused to enter the castle or leave the carriage. At length one of the gentlemen, a knight of a religious order, gave her his word of honor that if she would alight and remain in the ' castle for the night, she should be set free at daybreak, and conveyed in safety to her friends. She then con- sented to accept the shelter proffered her. She passed the night in solitude, and in the morning was replaced in her carriage and set free. Such was the state of the law at that time in France, and such the power of the nobility, that the perpetrators of this outrage escaped punishment, and people generally seem to have thought it a gallant and high-spirited adven- ture, and one that ought to have been rewarded with success. From this time to, the end of her life, Madame de Miramion thought no more of lovers. After recovering from the serious illness caused by that day and night of terror, she entered upon the way of life which has caused her name to be remembered with honor and affection for two centuries. She became austerely religious. She economized her large income, so as to have the largest possible sum to expend in works and institutions of charity — discarding all the gay costumes and decora- tions of her sex, and wearing always a plain, peculiar dress, like that of a religious order. She personally superintended her affairs, and showed a particular talent for business, making the most of all her sources of income. The education Of her daughter was her oavii work, and so successful was she with her, that when she was married at fifteen, she was regarded and treated as a mature woman, and proved worthy of the confidence reposed in her.