Page:The Writings of Prosper Merimee-Volume 7.djvu/47

 LETTERS TO AN UNKNOWN

I Paris, Thursday. I RECEIVED your letter in due time. Everything about you is paradoxical, and the same reasons lead you to act in a manner precisely contrary to that of other mortals. You say you are going to the coun- try. Well and good ; that signifies that you will have nothing to do but write, for in the country the days are long, and idleness is propitious for letter-writing. At the same time, the watchful- ness and solicitude of your guardian being less interrupted by the customary engagements of the city, you will have to submit to more cate- chising when letters come to you. In a chateau, moreover, the arrival of a letter is an event. Not at aU; while you may not be able to write, you may, on the other hand, receive no end of letters.