I was never scolded for sleeping in church, and so I have acquired a
habit of it which I cannot get rid of. In the mornings I do not go to
sleep; but in the evenings, after dinner, it is impossible for me to
keep awake. I never sleep at the theatre, but I do, very often, at the
opera. I believe the devil cares very little whether I sleep or not in
church; sleep is not a sin, but the result of human weakness. I see
you are too devout to go to the theatre on Sunday; but I think that
visiting is more dangerous than the theatre; for it is difficult in a
visit not to say harm of your neighbour, which is a much worse sin
than seeing a comedy. I should never approve of going to the theatre
instead of going to church; but after having fulfilled one's duties to
God, I think the theatre is less dangerous for a scrupulous conscience
than conversation.
Many Frenchwomen, especially those who have been coquettish and
debauched, as soon as they grow old and can no longer have lovers,
make themselves devout--or, at least, they say they are. Usually such
women are very dangerous; they are envious and cannot endure others.
But I must stop, my dear Louise; I am sweating in a terrible way.
The heat is extraordinary; it is two months since a drop of rain has
fallen, and the leaves are frying on the trees.
I know very well what it is to be exposed in hunting to a burning sun;
many a time I have stayed with the hounds from early morning till five
in the evening, and in summer till nine at night. I come in red as
a lobster, with my face all burned; that is why my skin is so rough
and brown. No one pays any attention here to the dust; I have seen
in travelling such clouds of it that we could not see each other in
the coach, and yet the king never ordered the horsemen to keep back.
The good night air does no one any harm; at Marly I often walk out by
moonlight.