her mind was now so entirely occupied by nearer interests, that she forgot the old housekeeper and the promised history, which so lately had excited her curiosity, but which dorothee was probably not very anxious to disclose, for night came; the hours passed; and she did not appear in emily's chamber.with the latter it was a sleepless and dismal night; the more she suffered her memory to dwell on the late scenes with valancourt, the more her resolution declined, and she was obliged to recollect all the arguments, which the count had made use of to strengthen it, and all the precepts, which she had received from her deceased father, on the subject of self-command, to enable her to act, with prudence and dignity, on this the most severe occasion of her life.there were moments, when all her fortitude forsook her, and when, remembering the confidence of former times, she thought it impossible, that she could renounce valancourt.his reformation then appeared certain; the arguments of count de villefort were forgotten; she readily believed all she wished, and was willing to encounter any evil, rather than that of an immediate separation.

thus passed the night in ineffectual struggles between affection and reason, and she rose, in the morning, with a mind, weakened and irresolute, and a frame, trembling with illness.