[Mod-xml-general] E they had thought so childish in

[Stevie M. <sna...@ca...>]

 Bending forward on one of those low chairs then called "chaffeuses," in
the attitude of a listener, Madame du Tillet was pressing to her bosom
with maternal tenderness, and occasionally kissing, the hand of her
sister, Madame Felix de Vandenesse. Society added the baptismal name to
the surname, in order to distinguish the countess from her
sister-in-law, the Marquise Charles de Vandenesse, wife of the former
ambassador, who had married the widow of the Comte de Kergarouet,
Mademoiselle Emilie de Fontaine. Half lying on a sofa, her handkerchief
in the other hand, her breathing choked by repressed sobs, and with
tearful eyes, the countess had been making confidences such as are made
only from sister to sister when two sisters love each other; and these
two sisters did love each other tenderly. We live in days when sisters
married into such antagonist spheres can very well not love each other,
and therefore the historian is bound to relate the reasons of this
tender affection, preserved without spot or jar in spite of