May 13, 1780

Opme is such a peaceful chateau, I can easily imagine my own mother wandering the gardens here just after my birth. There is something sacred about sleeping in the room where one was born, as if you could touch the past. I visit the stables and think of my father there with the horses I'm told he loved so much. My only memory of him is of following him there to see a new arrival. It was autumn, and I was not quite five years of age; he died the next January.

Thierry, F-, and R-, are all with me now. The coming summer has made the roads much easier to travel on, and so their journeys were all as uneventful as one could wish. After the endless activity of Paris we take great delight in doing as little as possible. Until yesterday evening the weather was very fine, and we took most of our meals outside, but last night it rained and today threatens with more clouds. Thierry and I have had a most joyful reunion, and I fear that at times we have left my other guests too much alone, but they do not seem to mind. Thierry is somewhat pensive and talks little of his work, though the Ferme has not released him and may in fact promote him to a better position soon.

A letter from Christine came, redirected from Sully, in which she confirms her plans to be back in France this summer for her sister's wedding. Though Paris is very uncomfortable at the height of the season, I think they nevertheless plan to marry there, and so we will have to decide if I will go to Paris, or if Christine will travel here to Auvergne. Feeling much recovered I am only hiding away at Opme for my own pleasure, and may go to Riom with Thierry soon, so that he may visit his family, and I mine.

Olympe, Comtesse