156 - VICHET Marie-Louise, Marquise de (1779–1848), née Riouffol d’Hauteville.

VICHET Marie-Louise, Marquise de (1779–1848), née Riouffol d’Hauteville. Autograph MANUSCRIPT, Memorandum from Celles in 1838; small quarto notebook of 63 pages (plus a few blank folios). The private diary of a woman who was in love with Chateaubriand during a stay on his estate in the Vivarais region. Note: After a brief exchange in 1816, the Marquise de Vichet maintained a correspondence with Chateaubriand from 1827 to 1829, which was published in 1903 under the title *Un dernier amour de René*. She spent the summer on his estate at Celles en Vivarais, now known as Celles-les-Bains (Ardèche). This “memorandum” was kept from August 18 to October 16, 1838. It begins as follows: “How sad it is to remember! Here I am again in this desolate mountain: I return here stripped bare, ravaged, and dejected! My God, have mercy on me! I reread last year’s memorandum; I was unwell, tormented, and had little hope, yet I wrote to my mother and my husband. This year, nothing in my life is any better, yet I can no longer write—or even think. Ah, how sad it is to remember!” She recounts her trips to the spa, visits to and from neighbors (notably Mme de la Merlière and Mme de Montravel), her health concerns, and so on. Let us quote the latest entries. October 15: “No letter from Vichet—it pains me deeply that he has taken to no longer writing to me. I think I was wrong to point this out to him; I fear he may no longer be able to bring himself to write to me… Once I reproached him for no longer playing the guitar, and he went two years without touching it. It’s beyond his control. May God have mercy on me and grant me the strength to bear so many crosses. The chevalier wrote to me about young Pravier, who has arrived at Montlouis to try to rid him of all these devils.” 16: “Mira has returned in a pitiful state; I have cared for her well and nursed her back to health. She already loves me; the little darling is licking her wounds. Her troubles are over; she will be happy, and I hope to keep her.”