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 554 GEOEGE SAND. and it was a relief to both when the girl went to visit some friends at their country house near Melun. Here she met M. Casimir Dudevant, a young man of twenty- seven, who was pleased with her from the first. In a short time he offered her his hand, and she accepted him. She was then a beautiful girl of eighteen. Her hair, dark and curly, fell in profusion upon her shoulders ; her features were good, her complexion of a pale, clear olive tint, her eyes dark, soft, and full of expression. If her figure was somewhat too short, she possessed small and beautifully shaped hands and feet. Her manners were simple, her voice gentle and low. With strangers and acquaintances she was reserved, and did not shine in con- versation ; but among friends she was animated, frank, and charming. It is little wonder that M. Dudevant was attracted by her, but it is somewhat surprising that he was not in love with her. The marriage was admitted by both to be one founded upon friendship only. Doubtless it was by Aurore regarded as an escape from her difficult relations with her mother. It proved a sad mistake. The young couple, fatally ignorant of each other's character, proved to have few tastes in common ; their dispositions were wholly uncongenial ; and, to make matters worse, M. Dudevant after a time fell into habits of dissipation. For the sake of her two children, Maurice and Solange, Madame Dudevant made no attempt to release herself, until at the end of eight years, she found that the situation had become intolerable. She was totally indifferent to her husband, and he regarded her with feelings of positive dislike. She then made a curious proposition to him. For some time she had been conscious of her literary talent, and she now proposed to her husband that he should permit her to spend every alternate three months in Paris, there to trv her fortune with her pen. Her youngest child, the