There was a theatre, in which performances were not unfrequent.

I had a part given me, which I studied for six months without intermission, and in which, on the evening of the representation, I was obliged to be prompted from the beginning to the end.

After this experiment no second proposal of the kind was ever made to me.
My acquaintance with M.D'Epinay procured me that of her sister-in-law, Mademoiselle de Bellegarde, who soon afterwards became Countess of Houdetot.

The first time I saw her she was upon the point of marriage; when she conversed with me a long time, with that charming familiarity which was natural to her.

I thought her very amiable, but I was far from perceiving that this young person would lead me, although innocently, into the abyss in which I still remain.
Although I have not spoken of Diderot since my return from Venice, no more than of my friend M.Roguin, I did not neglect either of them, especially the former, with whom I daily became more intimate.