It is true, my dear friend, as you imagined your letter would surprize me, your daughter's marriage with Mons. de Valcy is not concluded; but I see clearly it will be, and that Mons. de Valcy will get a title … And so you consent to receive him at your house, and you want to be acquainted with him, although you already know that he is a gamester and a coxcomb, which appears to me to be sufficient knowledge of him. In short, you are almost reconciled to Madame de Gerville, who you say has behaved very well on this occasion by making Mons. de Limours treat you with respect and attention … But cannot you see that these pretended regards are only shewn with the desire and even certainty of winning you over to their party? This marriage should have been disapproved, because your daughter, with the name she bears, and the fortune she will have, ought not to be dazzled with a fortune; and, besides that, it is very shocking to give your daughter to the son of a woman of bad character, and who is himself but a very inferior kind of man. I know very well that Mons. de Limours is master; but, with prudence and resolution you might have dissuaded him from his purpose; or at least, if he had persisted in his design, by yielding with repugnance and concern, you would have made Madame de Gerville's part appear truly odious; you would have had a right never to admit her to your house; and you would have discovered her behaviour to the world in general; and no one could have reproached you with having sacrificed your daughter through vanity or weakness.

Though you have told me some time since you are infinitely more satisfied with Flora than you used to be, yet I cannot conceal from you that the description you give me of her disposition afflicts me much. You allow that she might have had a better education.