Note 140 — Chapter VII
Reading edition
D’Eon acquits the Countess of having had any part in the plot against his life. Of a house rendered illustrious by its virtues and courage, she would never have consented to such an act. Was she to be reproached for having married an unknown poisoner? She was, perhaps, to be reproached for avarice and ugliness, but for this, nature was to blame. As for her soul it was pure and Christian.—‘Preamble to Will.’ Ch. MSS.