Page:The Writings of Prosper Merimee-Volume 1.djvu/63

Rh of all, I think, are the Count's acknowledgment of his (or Lokis') escapade in the tree, and the episode of the sorceress and the "land of the beasts beyond the marsh." The Count, we are told, was never seen after the tragedy in the bridal chamber; but we know where he went. I am not sure, however, that they crowned him successor to King Noble.

Finally, we have to turn on the results thus obtained the searchlight of the Letters. Those to the Inconnue will sufficiently illustrate what is going to be said, for the average reader; the student really interested in Mérimée should not miss anything yet published, although the Lettres à une Autre Inconnue have the least really intimate note and add least of any kind to the others. Those to Panizzi, perhaps, give most idea of the capacity for solid friendship, quite apart from sentiment or passion, which is so remarkable a feature in Mérimée; which seemed during his lifetime most incredible to shallow and superficial observers; and which supplies a most valuable corrective, even for those who do not deserve such an appellation, of the slightly paraded cynicism of some of his creative work. Those to Mrs. Senior give the most poetical touches—it is here that we find that exquisite piece of pathetic humour, the story of the