The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1888-06-11
A NUNS LOVE LETTER
Sketch of Portuguese Romance Of the
Seventeenth Century.

seventeenth century
Edmund Gosse in the Fortnightly Revie'0.
. In January, 1869, little duodecimo of
1872 pages, entitled simply Lettres Porto-
gdiseS, was issued by Barbin, the leading
Paris publisher. The letters were five in
number; they were neither signed nor ad-
dressed, and there was no Indication of
| date or place, A predatory note stated that
| they We're a translation of certain Portu-
gese letters written to gentleman of quail
| lty who bad been serving in Portugal and
| that the publisher did not know the name
| of the writer. He abstained from saying
that he knew to whom they were addressed.
Internal evidence showed that the writer
was a nun in a Portuguese convent and that
| she bad been forsaken, after an lmpasSloned
episode, by French cavalry officer who
had loved and had ridden away. he had
passed at the head of his regiment through
the narrow streets Of the town whore she
lived, like the hero OF a border ballad, not a
bowshot from her bower caves, and she
| had leaned over her balcony wrapped in
her mantilla and all was lost and won.
The little book was read and continued to
| be read, edition after edition was called for,
| and in 1913 the letters were stated to be
| written by ''le Cheval!er de &. . :" st.
! Simon and Duclos each informed the world
| that the male parsonage was the Marquis Of
| Chamllly, long atterward Marshal of
| France, and a mighty warrior before the
| Rol-Solel. But 10 indiscretion of memoir
writer's gave the slightest information re-
garding the lady. All that appeared was
| that her name was Mariana aud that her
| chamber-window looked across to the only
place mentioned in the letters-Mertola,
little town on the right bank of the
| Guadlana. But in 1910 Boissonade, in a
| copy of the first edition, found note in
oh hot
the letters were written by Mariana Alca-
forada, nun in convent at Beja, in the
| province of Alem-TeIo.
| The freedom with which this clustered
| lady and her foreign lover met has been OBJ
| jected to as improbable But the manners
of Portugal in the seventeenth century gave
to women of religious orders social free
dom denied TO ordinary wives and daughters
In the Memoirs of AbancOurt, whom Cha
milly attended on his first mission to Lis
bon, we read of royal parties OF pleasure at
the convent of Santa SperanZa, where the
nuns and courtiers mingle in theatrical rep
reservations before the king and queen.
Another contemporary account admits that
the French and English were so much be-
loved in Portugal that some liberty was al
lowed to them beyond what Portuguese
gentleman might indulge in. 1t is easy to be
seen that if converts might without scan
dal be opened to men III social intercourse,
it is not probable that they would be closed
to brilliant foreign ally fresh from Villa
Vicosa orFerreira. But we must allow Mari
ana Alcoforada to tell her own tale.
Everyone has noticed the entire change
in my mood, my manners and my person.
My mother has spoken to me about it, with
bitterness at first, and then with GER
tain kindness. | do not know what said
to her in reply; | fancy | must have con-
fessed everything to her. The stricteSt of the
nuns here are sorry to see what a condition
| am in; they even treat me on account of
it with some consideration and some ten
derness. Everybody is touched at my love,
and you alone remain perfectly Indifferent,
writing me only cold letters, full of repeti-
tions; half the paper is not filed and you
are rude enough to let me see that you are
dying with impatence to be done writing
Dona BriteS has been prosecuting me these
last days to get me to leave my room; and
fancying that it would amuse me, she took
me for a turn on the balcony from which
one has a view of MertOa; l went with her,
and at once a cruel memory came back
to me, a memory which kept me weeping
all the remainder of the day. She brought
me back, and | threw myself on my bed,
where | could but reflect thousand times
over how little chance there was of me
being ever cured. Whatever is done to
solace me, augments my suffering, and in
the remedies themselves L find intimate
reasons why l should be wretched. l have
often seen you pass that spot with an air
that charmed me, and | was on that balcony
on that fatal day when first began to feel
the symptoms ofmy lllstarred passion. fan
cied that you wished to please me, although
you did not know me. 1 persuaded myself
that you had noticed me among all the lad
les that were with me- / imagined that
when you drew rein you were well pleased
that should have a better sight of you, and
that | should admire your skill and how
graceful you looked on horseback l was
surprised to notice that was frightened
when you took your horse through difficult
place; the fact is that was taking a secret
interest in all your actions"