274 - SÉGUR (Sophie Rostopchine, Countess of), 1799–1874.

SÉGUR (Sophie Rostopchine, Countess of), 1799–1874. L.A., Paris, December 31, 1868, 3 pages and one line, in-8 format, on paper with a mourning border, to her granddaughter Madeleine de Malaret. A very beautiful letter to one of the true “Model Granddaughters,” which sheds light—with tenderness and melancholy—on the other side of the novel. The countess is concerned about Madeleine’s sadness following the departure of her sister Camille, who has just married Paul Ladureau de Belot: “Pierre says you’re like a lost soul (Madame de Bellipain used to say, ‘a donkey in a field’), that nothing interests you, that everything bores you, that you wander as if in search of your soul, &c. Alas, my poor little one, your happy days are over; Camille has been taken from you and can only return to you if she becomes a widow; that is rare and not something to be wished for.” She urges her to force herself to work, to draw, and to study German, to stave off boredom. “Camille herself uses the same strategy: she reads, writes, works—and besides, she often has visitors.” This is followed by a brief, amusing passage on the advantage of living on a mezzanine floor, which makes it easier to have visitors, unlike the fourth floor where their grandmother from Ayguevives lives, who “will come to regret living so high up.” And she finally confides: “Farewell, my poor little one. Mama, like you, is out of sorts. And when will we be able to return to normal? Let us hope that the year 1869 will be more favorable to us and that you will all be reunited by the grace of God. I send you my most tender kisses, my dear little Madeleine, and I commend you all to the protection of your Aunt Sabine.” Sabine de Ségur, one of the countess’s daughters—and thus Madeleine’s maternal aunt—was a nun at the Convent of the Visitation; she died on October 20, 1868, at the age of 39, barely two months before this letter was written. A moving family testament that reveals the novelist’s deep affection. This letter sheds an intimate light on the characters who inspired *Les Petites Filles modèles*: it vividly captures their close bond, ten years after the book’s publication.