Julie de Lespinasse (1732–1776).

A charming letter. She scolds the mathematician for not dating his letters: ‘This is a very important piece of advice I am giving you, even if I have to bend double to deliver it. & Besides, you are also wrong to do geometry like a madman, to dine like an ogre, and to sleep no more than a hare. You may be sure it is not my secretary [D’ALEMBERT] who says this; for he would never have paraphrased VOLTAIRE’s verse, which says of time: ‘Everything consumes it and love alone employs it’; he would have written: ‘Everything consumes it and algebra employs it’... She gives news of M. d’USSÉ, who has returned from Lisieux: ‘He assured me that Mlle d’Ussé was well, and that their passion is only growing stronger. It has reached a frightening degree, for she has nowhere left to go but down’... She encourages Condorcet to write to Mme d’Ablois, to maintain his acquaintance with the Meulans whom he loves so much. ...“My secretary does not know how to respond to all the kind words you say to him; he knows only to love you very much and to take great pleasure in telling you so. As for me, [...] in the midst of a dissipated life which is all the more tedious for that very reason, I sorely miss the sweetness of your company. I shall not tell you how grateful I am for the sentiments you express towards me; I repay you with the tender affection I have always held for you"...