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diff --git a/old/brohl10.txt b/old/brohl10.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..10b2bff --- /dev/null +++ b/old/brohl10.txt @@ -0,0 +1,8065 @@ +Project Gutenberg Etext of Samuel Brohl & Company, by Cherbuliez +#2 in our series by Victor Cherbuliez + + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world, be sure to check +the copyright laws for your country before posting these files!! + +Please take a look at the important information in this header. +We encourage you to keep this file on your own disk, keeping an +electronic path open for the next readers. Do not remove this. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**Etexts Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*These Etexts Prepared By Hundreds of Volunteers and Donations* + +Information on contacting Project Gutenberg to get Etexts, and +further information is included below. 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FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS*Ver.04.29.93*END* + + + + + +Etext prepared by Dagny, dagnyj@hotmail.com +and John Bickers, jbickers@ihug.co.nz + + + + + +SAMUEL BROHL & COMPANY + +by VICTOR CHERBULIEZ + + + + +CHAPTER I + +Were the events of this nether sphere governed by the calculus of +probabilities, Count Abel Larinski and Mlle. Antoinette Moriaz would +almost unquestionably have arrived at the end of their respective +careers without ever having met. Count Larinski lived in Vienna, +Austria; Mlle. Moriaz never had been farther from Paris than +Cormeilles, where she went every spring to remain throughout the fine +weather. Neither at Cormeilles nor at Paris had she ever heard of +Count Larinski; and he, on his part, was wholly unaware of the +existence of Mlle. Moriaz. His mind was occupied with a gun of his own +invention, which should have made his fortune, and which had not made +it. He had hoped that this warlike weapon, a true /chef-d'oeuvre/, in +his opinion superior in precision and range to any other known, would +be appreciated, according to its merits, by competent judges, and +would one day be adopted for the equipment of the entire Austro- +Hungarian infantry. By means of unremitting perseverance, he had +succeeded in obtaining the appointment of an official commission to +examine it. The commission decided that the Larinski musket possessed +certain advantages, but that it had three defects: it was too heavy, +the breech became choked too rapidly with oil from the lubricator, and +the cost of manufacture was too high. Count Abel did not lose courage. +He gave himself up to study, devoted nearly two years to perfecting +his invention, and applied all his increased skill to rendering his +gun lighter and less costly. When put under test, the new firearm +burst, and this vexatious incident ruined forever the reputation of +the Larinski gun. Far from becoming enriched, the inventor had sunk +his expenses, his advances of every kind; he had recklessly squandered +both revenue and capital, which, to be sure, was not very +considerable. + +Mlle. Antoinette Moriaz had a more fortunate destiny than Count +Larinski. She did not plume herself on having invented a new gun, nor +did she depend upon her ingenuity for a livelihood; she had inherited +from her mother a yearly income of about a hundred thousand livres, +which enabled her to enjoy life and make others happy, for she was +very charitable. She loved the world without loving it too much; she +knew how to do without it, having abundant resources within herself, +and being of a very independent disposition. During the winter she +went out a great deal into society, and received freely at home. Her +father, member of the Institute and Professor of Chemistry at the +College of France, was one of those /savants/ who enjoy dining out; he +had a taste also for music and for the theatre. Antoinette accompanied +him everywhere; they scarcely ever remained at home except upon their +reception evenings; but with the return of the swallows it was a +pleasure to Mlle. Moriaz to fly to Cormeilles and there pass seven +months, reduced to the society of Mlle. Moiseney, who, after having +been her instructress, had become her /demoiselle de compagnie/. She +lived pretty much in the open air, walking about in the woods, +reading, or painting; and the woods, her books, and her paint-brushes, +to say nothing of her poor people, so agreeably occupied her time that +she never experienced a quarter of an hour's /ennui/. She was too +content with her lot to have the slightest inclination to change it; +therefore she was in no hurry to marry. She had completed twenty-four +years of her existence, had refused several desirable offers, and +wished nothing better than to retain her maidenhood. It was the sole +article concerning which this heiress had discussions with those +around her. When her father took it into his head to grow angry and +cry, "You must!" she would burst out laughing; whereupon he would +laugh also, and say: "I'm not the master here; in fact, I am placed in +the position of a ploughman arguing with a priest." + +It is very dangerous to tax one's brains too much when one dines out +frequently. During the winter of 1875, M. Moriaz had undertaken an +excess of work; he was overdriven, and his health suffered. He was +attacked by one of those anemic disorders of which we hear so much +nowadays, and which may be called /la maladie a la mode/. He was +obliged to break in upon his daily routine, employ an assistant, and +early in July his physician ordered him to set out for Engadine, and +try the chalybeate water-cure at Saint Moritz. The trip from Paris to +Saint Moritz cannot be made without passing through Chur. It was at +Chur that Mlle. Antoinette Moriaz, who accompanied her father, met for +the first time Count Abel Larinski. When the decree of Destiny goes +forth, the spider and the fly must inevitably meet. + +Abel Larinski had arrived at Chur from Vienna, having taken the route +through Milan and across the Splugen Pass. Although he was very short +of funds, upon reaching the capital of the canton of Grisons he had +put up at the Hotel Steinbock, the best and most expensive in the +place. It was his opinion that he owed this mark of respect to Count +Larinski; such duties he held to be very sacred, and he fulfilled them +religiously. He was in a very melancholy mood, and set out for a +promenade in order to divert his mind. In crossing the Plessur Bridge, +he fixed his troubled eyes on the muddy waters of the stream, and he +felt almost tempted to take the fatal leap; but in such a project +there is considerable distance between the dream and its fulfilment, +and Count Larinski experienced at this juncture that the most +melancholy man in the world may find it difficult to conquer his +passion for living. + +He had no reason to feel very cheerful. He had quitted Vienna in order +to betake himself to the Saxon Casino, where /roulette/ and /trente- +et-quarante/ are played. His ill-luck would have it that he stopped +on the way at Milan, and fell in with a circle of ill repute, where +this most imprudent of men played and lost. There remained to him just +enough cash to carry him to Saxon; but what can be accomplished in a +casino when one has empty pockets? Before crossing the Splugen he had +written to a petty Jew banker of his acquaintance for money. He +counted but little on the compliance of this Hebrew, and this was why +he paused five minutes to contemplate the Plessur, after which he +retraced his steps. Twenty minutes later he was crossing a public +square, ornamented with a pretty Gothic fountain, and seeing before +him a cathedral, he hastened to enter it. + +The cathedral of Chur possesses, among other curiosities, a painting +by Albert Durer, a St. Lawrence on the gridiron, attributed to +Holbein, a piece of the true cross, and some relics of St. Lucius and +his sister Ernesta. Count Abel only accorded a wandering attention to +either St. Lucius or St. Lawrence. Scarcely had he made his way into +the nave of the building, when he beheld something that appeared to +him far more interesting than paintings or relics. An English poet has +said that at times there is revealed to us a glimpse of paradise in a +woman's face, and it was such a rare blessing that was at this moment +vouchsafed unto Count Larinski. He was not a romantic man, and yet he +remained for some moments motionless, rooted to the spot in +admiration. Was it a premonition of his destiny? The fact is that, in +beholding for the first time Mlle. Antoinette Moriaz, for it was none +other than she who thus riveted his attention, he experienced an +inexplicable surprise, a thrilling of the heart, such as he never +before had experienced. In his first impression of this charming girl +he made one slight mistake. He divined at once that the man by whom +she was accompanied, who had gray hair, a broad, open brow, vivacious +eyes, shaded by beautiful, heavy eye-brows, belonged to some learned +fraternity; but he imagined that this individual with a white cravat, +who had evidently preserved his freshness of heart, although past +sixty years of age, was the fortunate suitor of the beautiful girl by +his side. + +There are some women whom it is impossible not to gaze upon. Wherever +Mlle. Antoinette Moriaz appeared she was the object of universal +observation: first, because she was charming; and, then, because she +had a way of her own of dressing and of arranging her hair, a peculiar +movement of the head, a grace of carriage, which inevitably must +attract notice. There were those who made so bold as to assert that +she assumed certain little peculiarities solely for the purpose of +attracting the chance observer. Do not believe a word of it. She was +altogether indifferent to public opinion and consulted her own taste +alone, which was certainly impregnated with a touch of audacity; but +she did not seek to appear audacious--she merely acted according to +her natural bent. Observing her from a distance, people were apt to +fancy her affected, and somewhat inclined to be fantastic; but on +approaching her, their minds were speedily disabused of this fancy. +The purity of her countenance, her air of refinement and thorough +modesty, speedily dispelled any suspicious thoughts, and those who had +for a moment harboured them would say mentally, "Pardon me, +mademoiselle, I mistook." Such, at least, was the mental comment of +Count Abel, as she passed close by him on leaving the church. Her +father was telling her something that made her smile; this smile was +that of a young girl just budding into womanhood, who has nothing yet +to conceal from her guardian angel. Count Larinski left the church +after her, and followed her with his eyes as she crossed the square. +On returning to the hotel he had a curiosity to satisfy. He questioned +one of the /garcons/, who pointed out to him in the hotel register for +travellers the following entry: "M. Moriaz, member of the Institute of +France, and his daughter, from Paris, /en route/ for Saint Moritz." +"And where then?" he asked himself; then dismissed the subject from +his mind. + +When he had dined, he repaired to the post-office to inquire for a +letter he was expecting from Vienna. He found it, and returned to shut +himself up in his chamber, where he tore open the envelope with a +feverish hand. This letter, written in a more peculiar than felicitous +French, was the reply of the Jew banker. It read as follows: + + "M. LE COMTE: + + "Although you both write and understand German very well, you do + not like to read it, and therefore I write to you in French. It + grieves me deeply not to have it in my power to satisfy your + honoured demand. Business is very dull. It is impossible for me to + advance you another florin, or even to renew your note, which + falls due shortly. I am the father of a family; it pains me to be + compelled to remind you of this. + + "I wish to tell you quite freely what I think. I did believe in + your gun, but I believe in it no longer, no one believes in it any + more. When strong, it was too heavy; when you made it lighter, it + was no longer strong. What came next? You know it burst. Beware + how you further perfect it, or it will explode whenever it becomes + aware that any one is looking at it. This accursed gun has eaten + up the little you had, and some of my savings besides, although I + have confidence that you will, at least, pay me the interest due + on that. It grieves me to tell you so, M. de Comte, but all + inventors are more or less crack-brained, and end in the hospital. + For the love of God, leave guns as they are, and invent nothing + more, or you will go overboard, and there will be no one to fish + you out." + +Abel Larinski paused at this place. He put his letter down on the +table, and, turning round in his arm-chair, with a savage air, his eye +fixed on a distant corner of the room, he fell to thus soliloquizing +in a sepulchral voice: + +"Do you hear, idiot? This old knave is right. Accursed be the day when +the genius of invention thrilled your sublime brain! A grand discovery +you have made, forsooth! What have I gained from it? Grand illusions, +grand discomfitures! What hath it availed me that I passed whole +nights discussing with you breech-loaders, screw-plates, tumbrels, +sockets, bridges, ovoid balls, and spring-locks? What fruits have I +gained from these refreshing conversations? You foresaw everything, my +great man, except that one little thing which great men so often fail +to see, that mysterious something, I know not what, which makes +success. When you spoke to me, in your slow, monotonous tones, when +you fixed upon me your melancholy gaze, I should have been able to +read in your eyes that you were only a fool. The devil take thee and +thy gun, thy gun and thee; hollow head, head full of chimeras, true +Pole, true Larinski!" + +To whom was Count Abel speaking? To a phantom? To his double? He alone +knew. When he had uttered the last words, he resumed the perusal of +his letter, which ended thus: + + "Will you permit me to give you a piece of advice, M. le Comte, a + good little piece of advice? I have known you for three years, and + have taken much interest in your welfare. You invent guns, which, + when they are strong, lack lightness. I beg your pardon, but I do + not comprehend you, M. le Comte. The name you bear is excellent; + the head you carry on your shoulders is superb, and it is the + general opinion that you resemble /Faust/; but neither name nor + head does you any good. Leave the guns as they are, and bestow + your attention upon women; they, and they alone, can draw you out + of the deep waters where you are now floundering. There is no time + to lose. I beg your pardon, but you must be thirty years old, and + perhaps a little more. This /diable/ of a gun has made you lose + three valuable years. + + "It pains me, M. le Comte, to be compelled to remind you that the + little note falls due shortly. I have had the value of the + bracelet you left with me as a pledge estimated; it is not worth a + thousand florins, as you believed; it is a piece of antiquity that + has a value to only those who can indulge in a caprice for fancy + articles, and such caprices are rare nowadays, the time for such + is past. + + "I am, M. le Comte, with much respect, your humble and obedient + servant, + +"MOSES GULDENTHAL." + + +Abel Larinski turned once more in his chair. He crumpled up between +his fingers the letter of M. Moses Guldenthal, saying to himself as he +did so, that the Guldenthals are often very clear-sighted folks. "Ay, +to be sure," thought he, "this Hebrew is right, I have lost three +valuable years. I have had fever, and my eyes have been clouded; but, +Heaven be praised! The charm is broken, the illusion fled, I am cured +--saved! Farewell, my chimera, I am no longer thy dupe! Many thanks, +my dear friend: I return to you your gun; do with it as it seemeth +best to you." + +His eyes suddenly fell on his own reflection in the mirror above the +chimney-piece, and he regarded it fixedly for a few moments. + +"The semblance truly of an inventor," he resumed, mournfully smiling. +"This pale, emaciated face; these deep-set eyes, with dark circles +about them; these hollow, cadaverous cheeks! The three years have +indeed left their traces. Bah! a little rest in the Alpine pastures, +and /Faust/ will become rejuvenated." + +He seized a pen, and wrote the following reply: + + "You are truly kind, my dear Guldenthal: you refuse me the + miserable florins, but you give me in their stead a little piece + of advice that is worth a fortune. Unluckily, I am not capable of + following it. Noble souls like ours comprehend each other with + half a word, and you are a poet whenever it suits you. When in the + course of the day you have transacted a neat little piece of + business, after having rubbed your hands until you have almost + deprived them of skin, you tune your violin, which you play like + an angel, and you draw from it such delightful strains that your + ledger and your cash-box fall to weeping with emotion. I, too, am + a musician, and my music is the fair sex. But, alas! women never + can be for me other than an adorable inutility, a part of the + dream of my life. Your dreams yield you a handsome percentage, as + I have sorrowfully experienced; my dreams yield me nothing, and + therefore it is that they are dear to me. + + "I must prohibit--understand me clearly--your disposing of the + trinket I left with you; we have the weakness, we Poles, of + clinging to our family relics. Set your mind at rest; before the + end of the month I shall have returned to Vienna, and will honour + the dear little note. One day you will go down on your knees to + beg of me to loan you a thousand florins, and I will astonish you + with my ingratitude. May the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of + Jacob, have you in his holy keeping, my dear Guldenthal!" + +As he finished his letter, he heard the sound of harps and violins. +Some itinerant musicians were giving a concert in the hotel-garden, +which was lit up as bright as day. Abel opened his window, and leaned +on his elbows, looking out. The first object that presented itself to +his eyes was Mlle. Moriaz, promenading one of the long garden-walks, +leaning on her father's arm. Many eyes were fixed on her--we have +already said it was difficult not to gaze upon her--but no one +contemplated her with such close attention as Count Larinski. He never +once lost sight of her. + +"Is she beautiful? Is she even pretty?" he queried within himself. "I +cannot quite make up my mind, but I am very sure that she is charming. +Like my bracelet, this is a fancy article. She is a little thin, and +her shoulders are too vigorously fashioned for her waist, which is +slender and supple as a reed; but, such as she is, she has not her +equal. Her walk, her carriage, resemble nothing I ever have seen +before. I can well imagine that when she appears in the streets of +Paris people turn to look after her, but no one would have the +audacity to follow her. How old is she? Twenty-four or twenty-five +years, I should say. Why is she not married? Who is this withered, +pinched-looking fright of a personage who trots at her side like a +poodle-dog? Probably some /demoiselle de compagnie/. And there comes +her /femme de chambre/, a very spruce little lass, bringing her a +shawl, which the /demoiselle de compagnie/ hastens to put over her +shoulders. She allows it to be done with the air of one who is +accustomed to being waited upon. Mlle. Moriaz is an heiress. Why, +then, is she not married?" + +Count Larinski pursued his soliloquy as long as Mlle. Moriaz +promenaded in the garden. As soon as she re-entered the hotel, it +appeared to him that the garden had become empty, and that the +musicians were playing out of tune. He closed his window. He gave up +his plan of starting the next day for Saxon. He had decided that he +would set out for Saint Moritz, to pass there at least two or three +days. He said to himself, "It seems absurd; but who can tell?" + +Thereupon he proceeded to investigate the state of his finances, and +he weighed and re-weighed his purse, which was very light. Formerly +Count Larinski had possessed a very pretty collection of jewellery. He +had looked upon this as a reserve fund, to which he would have +recourse only in cases of extreme distress. Alas! there remained to +him now only two articles of his once considerable store--the bracelet +that was in the hands of M. Guldenthal, and a diamond ring that he +wore on his finger. He decided that, before quitting Chur, he would +borrow money on this ring, or that he would try to sell it. + +He remained some time seated at the foot of his bed, dangling his legs +to and fro, his eyes closed. He had closed them, in order to better +call up a vision of Mlle. Moriaz, and he repeated the words: "It seems +absurd; but who can tell? The fact is, we can know nothing of a +surety, and anything may happen." Then he recalled one of Goethe's +poems, entitled "Vanitas! vanitatum vanitas!" and he recited several +time in German these two lines: + + "Nun hab' ich mein' Sach' auf nichts gestellt, + Und mein gehort die ganze Welt!" + +This literally signifies, "Now that I no longer count on anything, the +whole world is mine." Abel Larinski recited these lines with a purity +of accent that would have astonished M. Moses Guldenthal. + +M. Moriaz, after wishing his daughter good-night, and imprinting a +kiss upon her brow, as was his custom, had retired to his chamber. He +was preparing for bed, when there came a knock at his door. Opening +this, he saw before him a fair-haired youth, who rushed eagerly +towards him, seized both his hands, and pressed them with effusion. M. +Moriaz disengaged his hands, and regarded the intruder with a +bewildered air. + +"How?" cried the latter. "You do not know me? So sure as you are one +of the most illustrious chemists of the day, I am Camille Langis, son +of your best friend, a young man of great expectations, who admires +you truly, who has followed you here, and who is now ready to begin +all over again. There, my dear master, do you recognise me?" + +"Ay, to be sure I recognise you, my boy," replied M. Moriaz, +"although, to tell the truth, you have greatly changed. When you left +us you were a mere youth." + +"And now?" + +"And now you have the air of a young man; but, I beg of you, where +have you come from? I thought you were in the heart of Transylvania." + +"It is possible to return from there, as you see. Three days ago I +arrived in Paris and flew to Maisons-Lafitte. Mme. De Lorcy, who bears +the double insignia of honour of being my aunt and the godmother of +Antoinette--I beg your pardon, I mean Mlle. Antoinette Moriaz-- +informed me that you were in ill-health, and that your physician had +sent you to Switzerland, to Saint Moritz, to recruit. I hastened after +you; this morning I missed you by one hour at Zurich; but I have you +now, and you will listen to me." + +"I warn you, my dear child, that I am at this moment a most detestable +auditor. We have done to-day one /hotel de ville/, one episcopal +palace, one cathedral, and some relics of St. Lucius. To speak +plainly, I am overpowered with sleep. Is there any great haste for +what you have to say to me?" + +"Is there any great haste? Why, I arrive breathless from Hungary to +demand your daughter in marriage." + +M. Moriaz threw up his arms; then, seating himself on the edge of his +bed, he piteously gasped: + +"You could not wait until to-morrow? If a judge is desired to take a +favourable view of a case, he surely should not be disturbed in his +first sleep to consider it." + +"My dear master, I am truly distressed to be compelled to be +disagreeable to you, but it is absolutely necessary that you should +listen to me. Two years ago, for the first time, I asked of you your +daughter's hand. After having consulted Antoinette--you will permit me +to call her Antoinette, will you not?--after having consulted her, you +told me that I was too young, that she would not listen seriously to +my proposal, and you gave me your permission to try again in two +years. I have employed these two mortal years in constructing a +railroad and a wire bridge in Hungary, and, believe me, I took +infinite pains to forget Antoinette. In vain! She is the romance of my +youth, I never can have another. On July 5, 1873, did you not tell me +to return in two years? We are now at July 5, 1875, and I return. Am I +a punctual man?" + +"As punctual as insupportable," rejoined M. Moriaz, casting a +melancholy look at his pillow. "Now, candidly, is it the thing to seek +the presence of the President of the Academy of Sciences between +eleven o'clock and midnight, to pour such silly stuff into his ear? +You are wanting in respect for the Institute. Besides, my dear boy, +people change in two years; you are a proof of it. You have developed +from boyhood almost into manhood, and you have done well to let your +imperial grow; it gives you quite a dashing military air--one would +divine at first sight that you were fresh from Hungary. But, while you +have changed for the better, are you sure that Antoinette has not +changed for the worse? Are you sure that she is still the Antoinette +of your romance?" + +"I beg your pardon; I saw her just now, without her seeing me. She was +promenading on your arm in the hotel-garden, which was lit up in her +honour. Formerly she was enchanting, she has become adorable. If you +would have the immense goodness to give her to me, I would be capable +of doing anything agreeable to you. I would relieve you of all your +little troublesome jobs; I would clean your retorts; I would put +labels on your bottles and jars; I would sweep out your laboratory. I +know German very well--I would read all the large German books it +might please you to consult; I would read them, pen in hand; I would +make extracts--written extracts--and such extracts! /Grand Dieu!/ they +would be like copperplate. My dear master, will you give her to me?" + +"The absurd creature! He imagines that it only depends upon me to give +him my daughter. I could as easily dispose of the moon. Since she has +had teeth, she had made me desire everything she desires." + +"At least you will give me permission to pay my addresses to her +to-morrow?" + +"Beware, unlucky youth!" cried M. Moriaz. "You will ruin your case +forever. Since you have been away she has refused two offers, one of +them from a second secretary of legation, Viscount de R---, and at the +present moment she holds in holy horror all suitors. She is +accompanying me to Saint Moritz in order to gather flowers and paint +aquarelle sketches of them. Should you presume to interrupt her in her +favourite occupations, should you present yourself before her like a +creditor on the day of maturity, I swear to you that your note would +be protested, and that you would have nothing better to do than return +to Hungary." + +"You are sure of it?" + +"As sure as that sulphuric acid will turn litmus red." + +"And you have the heart to sent me back to Paris without having spoken +with her?" + +"What I have said is for your good, and you know whether I mean you +well or not." + +"It is agreed, then, that you will take charge of my interests; that +you will plead my cause?" + +"It is understood that I will sound the premises, that I will prepare +the way--" + +"And that you will send me tidings shortly, and that these tidings +will be good. I shall await them here, at the Hotel Steinbock." + +"As you please; but, for the love of Heaven, let me sleep!" + +M. Camille Langis pressed his two arms and said, with much emotion: "I +place myself in your hands; take care how you answer for my life!" + +"O youth!" murmured M. Moriaz, actually thrusting Camille from the +room. "One might search in vain for a more beautiful invention." + +Ten hours later, a post-chaise bore in the direction of Engadine Mlle. +Antoinette Moriaz, her father, her /demoiselle de compagnie/, and her +/femme de chambre/. They breakfasted tolerably well in a village +situated in the lower portion of a notch, called Tiefenkasten, which +means, literally, /deep chest/, and certainly a deeper never has been +seen. After breakfast they pursued their way farther, and towards four +o'clock in the afternoon they reached the entrance of the savage +defile of Bergunerstein, which deserves to be compared with that of +Via Mala. The road lies between a wall of rocks and a precipice of +nearly two hundred metres, at the bottom of which rush the swift +waters of the Albula. This wild scenery deeply moved Mlle. Moriaz; she +never had seen anything like it at Cormeilles or anywhere about Paris. +She alighted, and, moving towards the parapet, leaned over it, +contemplating at her ease the depths below, which the foaming torrent +beneath filled with its roars. + +Her father speedily joined her. + +"Do you not find this music charming?" she asked of him. + +"Charming, I grant," he replied; "but more charming still are those +brave workmen who, at the risk of their necks, have engineered such a +suspended highway as we see here. I think you admire the torrent too +much, and the road not enough." And after a pause he added, "I wish +that our friend Camille Langis had had fewer dangers to contend with +in constructing his." Antoinette turned quickly and looked at her +father; then she bestowed her attention once more upon the Albula. "To +be sure," resumed M. Moriaz, stroking his whiskers with the head of +his cane, "Camille is just the man to make his way through +difficulties. He has a youthful air that is very deceptive, but he +always has been astonishingly precocious. At twenty years of age he +became head of his class at the Central School; but the best thing +about him is that, although in possession of a fortune, yet he has a +passion for work. The rich man who works accepts voluntary poverty." + +There arose from the precipice a damp, chill breeze; Mlle. Moriaz drew +over her head a red hood that she held in her hand, and scraping off +with her finger some of the facing of the parapet, which glittered +with scales of mica, she asked: "What do you call this?" + +"It is gneiss, a sort of sheet-granite; but do not you too admire +people who work when they are not compelled to do anything?" + +"Then you must admire yourself a great deal." + +"Oh, I! In my early youth I worked from necessity, and then I formed a +habit which I cannot now get rid of; while Camille Langis--" + +"Once more?" she ejaculated, with a gesture of impatience. "What +prompts you to speak to me of Camille?" + +"Nothing. I often think of him." + +"Do not let us two play at diplomacy. You have had news of him +lately?" + +"You just remind me that I have, through a letter from Mme. De Lorcy." + +"Mme de Lorcy, my godmother, would do better to meddle with what +concerns her. That woman is incorrigible." + +"Of what would you have her correct herself?" + +"Simply of her mania for making my happiness after her own fashion. I +read in your eyes that Camille has returned to Paris. What is his +object?" + +"I know nothing about it. How should I know? I only presume--that is, +I suppose----" + +"You do not suppose--you know." + +"Not at all. At the same time, since hypothesis is the road which +leads to science, a road we /savants/ travel every day, I--" + +'You know very well," she again interposed, "that I promised him +nothing." + +"Strictly speaking, I admit; but you requested me to tell him that you +found him too young. He has laboured conscientiously since then to +correct that fault." Then playfully pinching her cheeks, he added: +"You are a great girl for objections. Soon you will be twenty-five +years old, and you have refused five eligible offers. Have you taken a +vow to remain unmarried?" + +"Ah! you have no mercy," she cried. "What! you cannot even spare me on +the Albula! You know that, of all subjects of conversation, I have +most antipathy for this." + +"Come, come; you are slandering me now, my child. I spoke to you of +Camille as I might have spoken of the King of Prussia; and you rose in +arms at once, taking it wholly to yourself." + +Antoinette was silent for some moments. + +"Decidedly, you are very fond of Camille," she presently said. + +"Of all the sons-in-law you could propose to me----" + +"But I do not propose any." + +"That is precisely what I find fault with." + +"Very good; since you think so much of him, this Camille, suppose you +command me to marry him?" + +"If I were to command, would you obey?" + +"Perhaps, just for the curiosity of the thing," she rejoined, +laughing. + +"Naughty girl, to mock at her father!" said he. "If these twenty years +I have been in servitude, I can scarcely emancipate myself in a day. +However, since the great king deigns to hold parley with his +ministers, I am Pomponne--let us argue." + +"Ah, well! you know as well as I that I have a real friendship for +Camille, as the playmate of my childhood. I remember him when he was +ever so small, and he remembers me, too, when I was a tiny creature. +We played hide-and-seek together, and he humoured me in my ten +thousand little caprices. Delightful reminiscences these, but +unfortunately I think of them too much when I see him." + +"He has passed two years among the Magyars; two years is a good +while." + +"Bah! he could never possibly have any authority over me. I intend +that my husband shall be my government." + +"So that you may have the pleasure of governing your government?" + +"Besides, I know Camille too well. I could only fall in love with a +stranger," said she, heedless of the last sally. + +"Was not the Viscount R--- a stranger?" + +"At the end of five minutes I knew him by heart. He is precisely like +all other second secretaries of legation in the world. You may be sure +that there is not a single idea in his head that is really his own. +Even his figure does not belong to himself; it is the /chef-d'oeuvre/ +of the united efforts of his tailor and his shirt-maker." + +"According to this, a prime requisite in the man whom you could love +is to be poorly clad." + +"If ever my heart is touched, it will be because I have met a man who +is not like all the other men of my acquaintance. After that I will +not positively forbid him to have decent clothing." + +M. Moriaz made a little gesture of impatience, and then set out to +regain the chaise, which was some distance in advance. When he had +proceeded about twenty steps, he paused, and, turning towards +Antoinette, who was engaged in readjusting her hood and rebuttoning +her twelve-button gloves, he said: + +"I have drawn an odd number in the great lottery of this world. In our +day there are no romantic girls; the last remaining one is mine." + +"That is it; I am a romantic girl!" she cried, tossing her pretty, +curly head with an air of defiance; "and if you are wise you will not +urge me to marry, for I never shall make any but an ineligible match." + +"Ah, speak lower!" he exclaimed, casting a hurried glance around him, +and adding: "Thank Heaven! there is no one here but the Albula to hear +you." + +M. Moriaz mistook. Had he raised his eyes a little higher he would +have discovered, above the rock cornice bordering the highway, a foot- +path, and in this foot-path a pedestrian tourist, who had paused +beneath a fir-tree. This tourist had set out from Chur in the +diligence. At the entrance of the defile, leaving his luggage to +continue without him to Saint Moritz, he had alighted, and with his +haversack on his back had set forward on foot for Bergun, where he +proposed passing the night, as did also M. Moriaz. Of the conversation +between Antoinette and her father he had caught only one word. This +word, however, sped like an arrow into his ear, and from his ear into +the innermost recesses of his brain, where it long quivered. It was a +treasure, this word; and he did not cease to meditate upon it, to +comment on it, to extract from it all its essence, until he had +reached the first houses of Bergun, like a mendicant who has picked up +in a dusty road a well-filled purse, and who opens it, closes it, +opens it again, counts his prize piece by piece, and adds up its value +twenty times over. Our tourist dined at the /table d'hote/; he was so +preoccupied that he ate the trout caught in the Albula without +suspecting that they possessed a marvellous freshness, an exquisite +flavour and delicacy, and yet it is notorious that the trout of the +Albula are the first trout of the universe. + +Mlle. Moiseney, the duties of whose office consisted in serving as +chaperon to Mlle. Moriaz, was not a great genius. This worthy and +excellent personage had, in fact, rather a circumscribed mind, and she +had not the least suspicion of it. Her physiognomy was not pleasing to +M. Moriaz; he had several times besought his daughter to part with +her. In the goodness of her soul Antoinette always refused; she was +not one who could countenance rebuffs to old domestics, old dogs, old +horses, or worn-out governesses. Young Candide arrived at the +conclusion, as the result of his observations, that the first degree +of happiness would be to be Mlle. Gunegonde, and the second to +contemplate her throughout life. Mlle. Moiseney believed that it would +be the first degree of superhuman felicity to be Mlle. Moriaz, the +second to pass one's life near this queen, who, arbitrary and +capricious though she might be, was most thoughtful of the happiness +of her subjects, and to be able to say: "It was I that hatched the egg +whence arose this phoenix; I did something for this marvel; I taught +her English and music." She had boundless admiration for her queen, +amounting actually to idolatry. The English profess that their +sovereigns can do nothing amiss: "The king can do no wrong." Mlle. +Moiseney was convinced that Mlle. Moriaz could neither do wrong nor +make mistakes about anything. She saw everything with her eyes, +espoused her likes and her dislikes, her sentiments, her opinions, her +rights, and her wrongs; she lived, as it were, a reflected existence. +Every morning she said to her idol, "How beautiful we are to-day!" +precisely as the bell-ringer who, puffing out his cheeks, cried: "We +are in voice; we have chanted vespers well to-day!" M. Moriaz excused +her for finding his daughter charming, but could not so readily +approve of her upholding Antoinette's ideas, her decisions, her +prejudices. "This woman is no chaperon," said he; "she is an +admiration-point!" He would have been very glad to have routed her +from the field, and to give her place to a person of good sound sense +and judgment, one who might gain some influence over Antoinette. It +would have greatly surprised Mlle. Moiseney had he represented to her +that she lacked good sense. This good creature flattered herself that +she had an inexhaustible stock of this commodity; she placed the +highest estimate on her own judgment; she believed herself to be well- +nigh infallible. She discoursed in the tone of an oracle on future +contingencies; she prided herself on being able to divine all things, +to foresee all things, to predict all things--in a word, to be in the +secret of the gods. As her Christian name was Joan, M. Moriaz, who set +little store by his calendar, sometimes called her Pope Joan, which +wounded her deeply. + +Mlle. Moiseney had two weaknesses; she was a gormand, and she admired +handsome men. Let us understand the case: she knew perfectly well that +they were not created for her; that she had no attractions to offer +them; that they had nothing to give her. She admired them naively and +innocently, as a child might admire a beautiful Epinal engraving; she +would willingly have cut out their likenesses to hang on a nail on her +wall, and contemplate while rereading "Gonzalve de Cordue" and "Le +Dernier des Cavaliers," her two favourite romances. At Bergun, during +the repast, her brain had been working, and she had made two +reflections. The first was, that the trout of Albula were +incomparable, the second that the stranger seated opposite her had a +remarkably handsome head, and was altogether a fine-looking man. +Several times, with fork halfway to mouth, and nose in the air, she +had forgotten herself in her scrutiny of him. + +Antoinette, rather weary, had retired early to her chamber. Mlle. +Moiseney repaired thither to see if she needed anything, and, as she +was about leaving her for the night, candle in hand, she suddenly +inquired, "Do not you think, as I do, that this stranger is a +remarkable-looking person?" + +"Of whom do you speak?" rejoined Antoinette. + +"Why, of the traveller who sat opposite me." + +"I confess that I scarcely looked at him." + +"Indeed! He has superb eyes, nearly green, with fawn-coloured +tinting." + +"Most astonishing! And his hair, is it green also?" + +"Chestnut brown, almost hazel." + +"Pray be more exact; is it hazel or not?" + +"You need not laugh at me--his whole appearance is striking, his +figure singular, but full of character, full of expression, and as +handsome as singular." + +"What enthusiasm! It seemed to me, so far as I noticed, that he was +inclined to stoop, and that his head was very badly poised." + +"What do you say?" cried Mlle. Moiseney, greatly scandalized. "How +came you to think his head badly poised?" + +"There--there! Don't let us quarrel about it; I am ready to retract. +Good-night, mademoiselle. Apropos, did you know that M. Camille Langis +had returned to Paris?" + +"I did not know it, but I am not surprised. I had surmised it; in +fact, I was quite sure that he would be back about this time, +perfectly sure. And, of course, you think he has returned with the +intention--" + +"I think," interrupted Antoinette, "that it costs me more to pain M. +Langis than any other man in the world. I think, also, that he +possesses most tiresome fidelity; it is always the way, one never +loses one's dog when one wants to lose him; and I think, moreover, +that a woman makes a poor bargain when she marries a man for whom she +feels friendship; for, if she gains a husband, she is very sure to +lose a friend." + +"How true your words are!" exclaimed Mlle. Moiseney. "But you are +always right. Has M. Langis forgotten that you thought him too young-- +only twenty-three?" + +"He has so little forgotten it that he has managed, I don't know how, +to be at present twenty-five. How resist such a mark of affection? I +shall be compelled to marry him." + +"That will never do. People do not marry for charity," replied Mlle. +Moiseney, deprecatingly. + +"Adieu, my dear," said Antoinette, dismissing her. "Do not dream too +much about your unknown charmer. I assure you he had a decided stoop +in his shoulders. However, that makes small difference; if your heart +speaks, I will see to arranging this affair for you." And she added, +musingly, "How amusing it must be to marry other people!" + +The next morning Mlle. Moiseney made the acquaintance of her unknown +charmer. Before leaving Bergun Mlle. Moriaz wished to make a sketch, +and she had gone out early with her father. Mlle. Moiseney descended +to the hotel /salon/, and, espying a piano, she opened it and played a +/fantasia/ by Schumann; she was a tolerably good musician. When she +had finished, Count Abel Larinski, the man with green eyes, who had +entered the /salon/ without her hearing him, approached to thank her +for the pleasure he had had in listening to her; but he begged to take +the liberty to tell her that she failed to properly observe the +movement, and had taken an /andantino/ for an /andante/. At her +solicitation he took her place at the instrument, and executed the +/andantino/ as few but professional artists could do. Mlle. Moiseney, +ever ready with her enthusiasm, declared that he must be a Liszt or a +Chopin, and implored him to play her something else, to which he +consented with good grace. After this they talked about music and many +other things. The man with the green eyes possessed one quality in +common with Socrates, he was master in the art of interrogating, and +Mlle. Moiseney loved to talk. The subject on which she discoursed most +willingly was Mlle. Antoinette Moriaz; when she was started under this +heading she became eloquent. At the end of half an hour Count Abel was +thoroughly /au fait/ on the character and position of Mlle. Moriaz. He +knew that she had a heart of gold, a mind free from all narrow +prejudices, a generous soul, and a love for all that was chivalrous +and heroic; he knew that two days of every week were devoted by her to +visiting the poor, and that she looked upon these as natural creditors +to whom it was her duty to make restitution. He knew also that Mlle. +Moriaz could all the better satisfy her charitable inclinations, as +her mother had left her an income of one hundred thousand livres. He +learned that she danced to perfection, that she drew like an angel, +and that she read Italian and spoke English. This last seemed of +mediocre importance to Count Abel. St. Paul said: "Though I speak with +the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as +sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal." The count was of St. Paul's +opinion, and had Mlle. Moriaz known neither how to speak English, nor +to draw, nor yet to dance, it would not in the least have diminished +the esteem with which he honoured her. The main essential in his eyes +was that she was benevolent to the poor, and that she cherished a +little tenderness for heroes. + +When he had learned, with an air of indifference, all that he cared to +learn, he respectfully bowed himself away from Mlle. Moiseney, to whom +he had not mentioned his name, and, buckling his haversack, he put it +on his back, paid his bill, and set out on foot to make a hasty ascent +of the culminating point of the Albula Pass, which leads into the +Engadine Valley. One would have difficulty in finding throughout the +Alps a more completely barren, rugged, desolate spot, than this +portion of the Albula Pass. The highway lies among masses of rocks, +heaped up in terrible disorder. Arrived at the culminating point, +Count Abel felt the necessity of taking breath. He clambered up a +little hillock, where he seated himself. At his feet were wide open +the yawning jaws of a cavern, obstructed by great tufts of aconite +(wolf's-bane), with sombre foliage; one would have said that they kept +guard over some crime in which they had been accomplices. Count Abel +contemplated the awful silence that surrounded him; everywhere +enormous boulders, heaped together, or scattered about in isolated +grandeur; some pitched on their sides, others standing erect, still +others suspended, as it were, in mid-air. It seemed to him that these +boulders had formerly served for the games of bacchanalian Titans, +who, after having used them as skittles or jack-stones, had ended by +hurling them at one another's heads. It is most probable that He who +constructed the Albula Pass, alarmed and confused by the hideous +aspect of his work, did justice to it by breaking it into fragments +with his gigantic hammer. + +Count Abel heard a tinkling of bells, and, looking up, he saw +approaching a post-chaise, making its way from Engadine to Bergun. It +was a large, uncovered berlin, and in it sat a woman of about sixty +years of age, accompanied by her attendants and her pug-dog. This +woman had rather a bulky head, a long face, a snub-nose, high cheek- +bones, a keen, bright eye, a large mouth, about which played a smile, +at the same time /spirituel/, imperious, and contemptuous. Abel grew +pale, and became at once convulsed with terror; he could not withdraw +his eyes from this markedly Mongolian physiognomy, which from afar he +had recognised. "Ah, yes," he said, "it is she!" He drew over his face +the cape of his mantle, and disappeared as completely as it is +possible to disappear when one is perched upon a hillock. It was six +years since he had seen this woman, and he had promised himself never +to see her again; but man is the plaything of circumstances, and his +happiness as well as his pride is at the mercy of a chance encounter. +Count Abel was no longer proud; for some moments he had humbled +himself, he had ceased to exist. + +Happily he discovered that he had not been recognised; that the woman +of sixty years of age was not looking his way. She had good taste; +discovering the hideous aspect of the country, which is usually known +as the Vallee du Diable, she had opened a volume, bound in morocco, +which her waiting-woman had placed in her hands. This volume was not a +new novel; it was a German book, entitled "The History of +Civilization, viewed in Accordance with the Doctrines of Evolution, +from the most Remote Period to the Present Day." She neither had made +much progress in the pages of the book nor in the history of +civilization; she had not got beyond the age of stone or of bronze; +she was still among primitive animal life, among the protozoa, the +monads, the infusoria, the vibratiles--in the age of albumen, or +gelatinous civilization, as it was called by the author, the sagacity +of whose views charmed her. She only interrupted her reading at +intervals to lightly stroke the nose of her pug, who lay snoring in +her lap, and she was a thousand leagues from suspecting that Count +Abel Larinski was at hand, watching her. + +The berlin passed by him without stopping, and soon it had begun the +descent towards Bergun. Then he felt a great weight roll from his +heart, which beat freely once more. The berlin moved rapidly away; the +count followed it with his prayers, smoothing its course, removing +every stone or other obstacle that might retard its progress. It was +just disappearing round one of the curves of the road, when it crossed +another post-chaise, making the ascent in a walk, and in it Count Abel +perceived something red: it was the hood of Mlle. Antoinette Moriaz. A +moment more and the berlin was gone; it seemed to him that the shadow +of his sorrowful youth, emerged suddenly from the realm of shades, had +been plunged back there forever, and that the fay of hope--she who +holds in her keeping the secrets of the future--was ascending toward +him, red-hooded, flowers in her hands, sunshine in her eyes. The +clouds parted, the deep shadow covering the Vallee du Diable cleared +away, and the dismal solitude began to smile. Count Abel arose, picked +up his staff, and shook himself. As he passed before the cavern, he +discovered, among the tufts of aconite which covered it, a mossy +hollow, and he perceived that this hollow was ornamented with +beautiful blue campanulas, whose little bells gracefully waved in the +gentle breeze which was stirring. He gathered one of these campanulas, +carried it to his lips, and found its taste most agreeable. Half an +hour later he turned from the highway into a foot-path which led +through green pastures and forests of larch-trees. + +By the time he had reached the heart of the valley it was nightfall. +He traversed the hamlet of Cresta, crossed a bridge, found himself at +the entrance of the village of Cellarina, about twenty-five minutes' +walk form Saint Moritz. After taking counsel with himself, he resolved +to proceed no farther; and so he put up at a neat, pretty inn, which +had just been freshly white-washed. + +The air of the Engadine is so keen and bracing that the first nights +passed there are apt to be sleepless ones. Count Larinski scarcely +slept at all in his new quarters. Would he have slept better on the +plains? He became worn out with his thoughts. Of what was he thinking? +Of the cathedral at Chur, of the Vallee du Diable, of the tufts of +aconite, the campanulas, and the meeting of the two post-chaises, one +ascending, the other descending. After that he saw no longer anything +but a red hood, and his eyes were open when the first blush of the +morning penetrated his modest chamber. Eagles sleep little when they +are preparing for the chase. + + + +CHAPTER II + +The Baths of Saint Moritz are, according to the verdict of a large +number of people, by no means an enlivening resort, and here tarry +chiefly genuine invalids, who cherish a sincere desire to recover +health and strength. The invigorating atmosphere, the chalybeate +waters, which are unquestionably wholesome, although they do taste +like ink, have wrought more than one actual miracle; nevertheless, it +is said to require no little philosophy to tolerate existence there. +"I am charmed to have had the experience of visiting the Baths," we +once heard an invalid say, "for I know now that I am capable of +enduring anything and everything." But this, let us hasten to assure +the reader, is an exaggeration--the mere babbling of an ingrate. + +The Upper Engadine Valley, in which Saint Moritz is situated, has, as +well as the Baths, its detractors and its admirers. This narrow +valley, throughout whose whole length flows the Inn, shut in by +glacier-capped mountains, whose slopes are covered with spruce, pine, +and larch trees, lies at an altitude of some five thousand feet above +the level of the sea. It often snows there in the month of August, but +spring and early summer in the locality are delightful; and dotted +about are numerous little romantic green lakes, glittering like +emeralds in the sunshine. Those who slander these by comparing them to +wash-bowls and cisterns, are simply troubled with the spleen, a malady +which neither iron, iodine, nor yet sulphur, can cure. + +One thing these discontented folks cannot deny, and that is that it +would be difficult, not to say impossible, to find anywhere in the +mountains more flowery and highly perfumed mossy banks than those of +the Engadine. We do not make this assertion because of the +rhododendrons that abound on the borders of the lakes: we are not fond +of this showy, pretentious shrub, whose flowers look as if they were +moulded in wax for the decoration of some altar; but is it not +delightful to walk on a greensward, almost black with rich satyrion +and vanilla? And what would you think of a wealth of gentians, large +and small; great yellow arnicas; beautiful Martagon lilies; and +St.-Bruno lilies; of every variety of daphne; of androsace, with its +rose-coloured clusters; of the flame-coloured orchis; of saxifrage; of +great, velvety campanulas; of pretty violet asters, wrapped in little, +cravat-like tufting, to protect them from the cold? Besides, near the +runnels, following whose borders the cattle have tracked out graded +paths, there grows that species of immortelle called /Edelweiss/, an +object of covetousness to every guest at the Baths. Higher up, near +the glacier approach, may be found the white heart's-ease, the +anemone, and the glacial ranunculus (spearwort); higher still, often +buried beneath the snow, flourishes that charming little lilac flower, +delicately cut, sensitive, quivering, as it were, with a cold, known +as the soldanella. To scrape away the snow and find beneath it a +flower! Are there often made such delightful discoveries in life? + +Having said thus much, we must admit that the Rue de Saint Moritz does +not resemble the Rue de la Paix of Paris. We must also admit that the +markets of the place are poorly supplied, and that in an atmosphere +well calculated to stimulate the appetite the wherewithal to supply +this cannot always be obtained. We cannot have everything in this +world; but it is by no means our intention to advise any one to take +up his residence for life in the Engadine. There must, however, be +some charm in this valley, since those of its inhabitants who emigrate +from it in their youth are very apt, after they have made some money, +to return to pass their old age in their natal place, where they build +some very pretty houses. + +Mlle. Moriaz did not find Saint Moritz disagreeable; the wildness of +the scenery and the rugged pines pleased her. From the terrace of +Hotel Badrutt she loved to gaze upon the green lake, slumbering at her +feet, and it never occurred to her to grumble because it had the form +of a wash-bowl. She loved to see the cows returning at evening from +the pasture. The cowherd in charge marshalled home in the most orderly +manner his little drove, which announced its coming from afar by the +tinkling of the cow-bells. Each one of the creatures stopped of itself +at the entrance to its stall and demanded admittance by its lowing. In +the morning, when they were turned out again, they awaited the arrival +of the entire herd, and fell into rank and file, each in its proper +place. The first time Mlle. Moriaz witnessed this ceremony, she found +it as interesting as a first presentation at the theatre or opera. + +There were several rainy days, which she employed in reading, +painting, and making observations on the human animals of both sexes +whom she encountered at the /table d'hote/. She soon gained an +increase of occupation. With her, mind and heart were so constantly on +the alert that it was impossible for her to remain a week in a place +without discovering some work of charity to be performed. A woman to +whom she had taken a fancy, a little shopkeeper of the place, +interested her in her daughter, who was destined to be a governess, +and who desired to learn drawing. Antoinette undertook to give her +drawing-lessons, making her come every day to the hotel, and often +keeping her there several hours. Her pupil was rather dull of +comprehension, and caused her to grow a little cross sometimes; but +she always made amends to the girl by her caresses and sprightly talk. + +The weather became fine again. Antoinette availed herself of the +opportunity to take long promenades; she clambered up the mountain- +slopes, over slippery turf, in the hope of carrying home some rare +plant; but her strength was not equal to her valour--she could not +succeed in scaling those heights where flourished the /Edelweiss/. A +week after her arrival she had a surprise, we might even say a +pleasurable emotion, which was not comprised in the programme of +amusements that the proprietor of Hotel Badrutt undertook to procure +for his guests. Returning from an excursion to Lake Silvaplana, she +found in her chamber a basket containing a veritable sheaf of Alpine +flowers, freshly gathered, and among them not only /Edelweiss/ in +profusion, but several very rare plants, and the rarest of all a +certain bell-flower creeper, which smells like the apricot, and which, +except in some districts of the Engadine, is only found now in +Siberia. This splendid bouquet was accompanied by a note, thus +conceived: + + "A man who had had enough of life, resolved to hang himself. To + execute his dolorous design, he selected a lonely and dismal spot, + where there grew a solitary oak, whose sap was nearly exhausted. + As he was engaged in securing his cord, a bird alighted on the + half-dead tree and began to sing. The man said to himself: 'Since + there is no spot so miserable that a bird will not deign to sing + in it, I will have the courage to live.' And he lived. + + "I arrived in this village disgusted with life, sorrowful and so + weary that I longed to die. I saw you pass by, and I know not what + mysterious virtue entered into me. I will live. + + " 'What matters it to me?' you will say, in reading these lines; + and you will be right. My sole excuse for having written them is, + that I will leave here in a few days; that you never will see me + again, never know who I am!" + +The first impression of Antoinette was one of profound astonishment. +She would have taken it for granted that there was some mistake had +not her name been written in full on the envelope. Her second impulse +was to laugh at her adventure. She accorded full justice to Mlle. +Moriaz; she knew very well that she did not resemble the first chance +comer; but that her beauty would work miracles, resurrections; that a +hypochondriac, merely from seeing her pass by, was likely to regain +his taste for existence, scarcely appeared admissible to her. So great +was her curiosity, that she took the pains to make inquiries; the +flowers and the letter had been left by a little peasant, who was not +of the place, and who could not be found. Antoinette examined the +hotel-register; she did not see there the handwriting of the letter. +She studied the faces which surrounded her; there was not in Hotel +Badrutt a single romantic-looking person. Very speedily she renounced +her search. The bouquet pleased her; she kept it as a present fallen +from the skies, and preserved the letter as a curiosity, without long +troubling herself to know who had written it. "Do not let us talk +about it any more, it is doubtless some lunatic," she replied one day +to Mlle. Moiseney, who kept constantly recurring to the incident whose +mystery she burned to fathom. The good demoiselle had been tempted to +stop people in the road to ask, "Was it you?" Perchance she might have +suspected her Bergun unknown to have a hand in the affair, had she had +the least idea that he was at Saint Moritz, where she never had met +him. He came there, nevertheless, every day, but at his own time; +besides, the hotels were full to overflowing, and it was very easy to +lose one's self in the crowd. + +To tell the truth, when Count Abel Larinski came to Saint Moritz he +was far less occupied with Mlle. Moriaz than with a certain +illustrious chemist. The air of the Engadine and the waters that +tasted like ink had worked marvels: in a week M. Moriaz felt like a +new man. There had come to him a most formidable appetite, and he +could walk for hours at a time without becoming weary. He abused his +growing strength by constantly strolling through the mountains without +a guide, hammer in hand; and every day, in spite of the remonstrances +of his daughter, he increased the length of his excursions. The more +people know, the more inquisitive they become; and, when one is +inquisitive, one can go to great lengths without feeling fatigue; one +only becomes conscious of this after the exertion is over. M. Moriaz +never for a moment suspected that he was accompanied, at a respectful +distance, on these solitary expeditions, by a stranger, who, with eyes +and ears both on the alert, watched over him like a providence. The +most peculiar part of the affair was that this providence would gladly +have caused him to take a misstep, or thrust him into some quagmire, +in order to have the pleasure of drawing him out, and bearing him in +his arms to the Hotel Badrutt. "If only he could fall into a hole and +break his leg!" Such was the daily wish of Count Abel Larinski; but +/savants/ have great license allowed them. Although M. Moriaz was both +corpulent and inclined to be absent-minded, he plunged into more than +one quagmire without sticking fast, more than one marsh without having +his progress impeded. + +One morning he conceived the project of climbing up as high as a +certain fortress of mountains whose battlements overhang a forest of +pine and larch trees. He was not yet sufficiently accustomed to the +mountains to realize how deceptive distances become there. After +having drained two glasses of the chalybeate waters, and breakfasted +heartily, he set out, crossed the Inn, and began the ascent to the +forest. The slope grew more and more abrupt, and ere long he +discovered that he had wandered from the foot-path. He was not one to +be easily disheartened; he continued climbing, laying hold of the +brushwood with his hands, planting his feet among perfidious pine- +needles, which form a carpet as smooth as a mirror, making three steps +forward and two backward. Great drops of perspiration started out on +his brow, and he sat down for a moment to wipe them away, hoping that +some wood-cutter might appear and show him the way back to the path, +if there was one. But no human soul came within sight; and plucking up +his courage again he resumed the ascent, until he had nearly reached a +breastwork of rock, in which he vainly sought an opening. He was about +retracing his steps when he remembered that from the gallery of the +hotel he had observed this breastwork of reddish rock, and it seemed +to him that he remembered also that it formed the buttress of the +mountain-stronghold of which he was in quest; and so he concluded that +this would be the last obstacle he would have to overcome. He thought +that it would be actually humiliating to be so near the goal and yet +renounce it. The rock, worn by the frost, presented sundry crevices +and indentures, forming a natural stairway. Arming himself with all +his strength, and making free use of his nails, he undertook to scale +it, and in five minutes had gained a sort of plateau, which, unluckily +for him, he found to be commanded by a smooth granite wall of a +fearful height. The only satisfactory procedure for him now was to +return whence he had come; but in these perilous passages to ascend is +easier than to descend; it being impossible to choose one's steps, +descent might lead to a rather undesirable adventure. M. Moriaz did +not dare to risk this adventure. + +He walked the whole length of the plateau where he found himself in +the hope of discovering some outlet; but the sole outlet he could +discover had already been monopolized by a mountain-torrent whose +troubled waters noisily precipitated themselves through it to the +depths below. This torrent was much too wide to wade, and to think of +leaping over it would have been preposterous. All retreat being cut +off, M. Moriaz began to regret his audacity. Seized by a sudden agony +of alarm, he began to ask himself if he was not condemned to end his +days in this eagle's-nest; he thought with envy of the felicity of the +inhabitants of the plains; he cast piteous glances at the implacable +wall whose frowning visage seemed to reproach him with his imprudence. +It seemed to him that the human mind never had devised anything more +beautiful than a great highway; and it would have taken little to make +him exclaim with Panurge, "Oh, thrice--ay, quadruply--happy those who +plant cabbages!" + +Although there seemed small chance of his being heard in this +solitude, he called aloud several times; he had great difficulty in +raising his voice above the noise of the cataract. Suddenly he +believed that he heard below him a distant voice replying to his call. +He redoubled his cries, and it seemed to him that the voice drew +nearer, and soon he saw emerging from the thicket bordering the +opposite bank of the torrent a pale face with chestnut beard, which he +remembered having beheld in the cathedral at Chur, and to have seen +again at Bergun. + +"You are a prisoner, monsieur," was the salutation of Count Larinski; +for, of course, the newcomer was none other than he. "One moment's +patience, and I am with you." And his face beamed with joy. He had him +at last, this precious game which has caused him so many steps. + +He turned away, bounding from rock to rock with the agility of a +chamois. In about twenty minutes he reappeared, bearing on his +shoulder a long plank which he had detached from the inclosure of a +piece of pasture-land. He threw it across the torrent, secured it as +well as he could, crossed this impromptu foot-bridge of his own +device, and joined M. Moriaz, who was quite ready to embrace him. + +"Nothing is more perfidious than the mountains," said the count. "They +are haunted by some mysterious sprite, who fairly delights in playing +tricks with venturesome people; but 'all's well that ends well.' +Before setting out from here you need something to revive you. The +rarefied atmosphere of these high regions makes the stomach +frightfully hollow. More prudent than you, I never undertake these +expeditions without providing myself with some refreshment. But how +pale you are!" he added, looking at him with sympathetic, almost +tender, eyes. "Put on, I beg of you, my overcoat, and I will wrap +myself up in my plaid, and then we will both be warm." + +With these words he took off his overcoat and handed it to M. Moriaz, +who, feeling almost frozen, offered feeble objections to donning the +garment, although he had some difficulty in getting into the sleeves. + +During this time Count Abel had thrown down on the rock the wallet he +carried slung to a leathern strap over his shoulders. He drew forth +from it a loaf of light bread, some hard-boiled eggs, a /pate/ of +venison, and a bottle of excellent burgundy. These provisions he +spread out around him, and then presented to M. Moriaz a cup cut from +a cocoanut-shell, and filled it to the brim, saying, "Here is +something that will entirely restore you." M. Moriaz drained the cup, +and soon felt his weakness disappear. His natural good spirits +returned to him, and he gaily narrated to his Amphitryon his +deplorable Odyssey. In return, Abel recounted to him a similar +adventure he had had in the Carpathian Mountains. It is very easy to +take a liking to a man who helps you out of a scrape, who gives you +drink when you are thirsty, and food when you are hungry; but, even +had not M. Moriaz been under great obligations to Count Larinski, he +could not have avoided the discovery that this amiable stranger was a +man of good address and agreeable conversation. + +Nevertheless, so soon as the repast was finished, he said: "We have +forgotten ourselves in our talk. I am the happy father of a charming +daughter who has a vivid imagination. She will believe that I have met +with an untimely end if I do not hasten as speedily as possible to +reassure her." + +Count Abel hereupon gave his hand to M. Moriaz to aid him in +preserving his equilibrium as he crossed the plank, which was not +wide. Throughout the descent he overwhelmed him with attentions, +sustaining him with his arm when the descent became too abrupt. So +soon as they had made their way to a foot-path, they resumed their +conversation. Abel was very clear-sighted, and, like Socrates, as we +said before, he was master in the art of interrogating. He turned the +conversation to erratic glaciers and boulders. M. Moriaz was enchanted +with his manner of asking questions; as Professor of the College of +France, he was well pleased to owe his life to an intelligent man. + +As they traversed a pine-forest, they heard a voice hailing them, and +they were shortly joined by a guide whom Mlle. Moriaz, mortally +disquieted at the prolonged absence of her father, had sent in quest +of him. Pale with emotion, trembling in every fibre, she had seated +herself on the bank of a stream. She was completely a prey to terror, +and in her imagination plainly saw her father lying half dead at the +bottom of some precipice or rocky crevasse. On perceiving him she +uttered a cry of joy and ran to meet him. + +"Ah! truly, my love," said he, "I have been more fortunate than wise. +And I shall have to ask my deliverer his name in order to present him +to you." + +Count Abel appeared not to have heard these last words. He stammered +out something about M. Moriaz having exaggerated the worth of the +little service it had been his good fortune to render him, and then +with a cold, formal, dignified air, he bowed to Antoinette and moved +hurriedly away, as a man who cares little to make new acquaintances, +and who longs to get back to his solitude. + +He was already at some distance when M. Moriaz, who had been busily +recounting his adventures to his daughter, bethought him that he had +kept his deliverer's overcoat. He searched in the pockets, and there +found a memorandum-book and some visiting-cards bearing the name of +Count Abel Larinski. Before dinner he made the tour of all the hotels +in Saint Moritz without discovering where M. Larinski lodged. He +learned it in the evening from a peasant who came over from Cellarina +for the overcoat. + +The good Mlle. Moiseney was quite taken with Count Abel; first, +because he was handsome, and then because he played the piano +bewitchingly. There could be no doubt that Antoinette would feel +grateful to this good-looking musician who had restored to her her +father. Certain of being no longer thwarted in her enthusiasm, she +said to her that evening, with a smile which was meant to be +excessively ironical: + +"Well, my dear, do you still think that Count Larinski has a stoop in +his shoulders, and that his head is badly poised?" + +"It is a matter of small import, but I do not gainsay it." + +"Ah, if you had only heard him play one of Schumann's romances!" + +"A talent for music is a noble one. Nevertheless, the man's chief +merit, in my eyes, is that he has a taste for saving life." + +"Oh, I was sure from the first, perfectly sure, that this man had a +large heart and a noble soul. I read physiognomies very correctly, and +I never need to see people twice to know how far they can be relied +on." After a pause she added, "I wonder if I dare tell you, my dear, +of an idea that has occurred to me?" + +"Tell me, by all means. Your ideas sometimes amuse me." + +"Might it not turn out that the author of a certain note, and sender +of a certain thing, was M. le Comte Abel Larinski?" + +"Why he rather than any other?" queried Antoinette. "I believe you do +him wrong: he appears to be a gentleman, and gentlemen do not write +anonymous letters." + +"Oh! that was a very innocent one, and you may be sure that he wrote +it in perfect good faith." + +"You believe, then, mademoiselle, that in good faith a man about to +put a halter about his neck would renounce his project because he had +encountered Mlle. Antoinette Moriaz on a public highway?" + +"Why not?" cried Mlle. Moiseney, looking at her with eyes wide open +with admiration. "Besides, you know the Poles are a hot-headed people, +whose hearts are open to all noble enthusiasms. One could pardon in +Count Larinski what could not be overlooked in a Parisian." + +"I will pardon him on condition that he will keep his promise and +never make himself known to me, for this is unquestionably the first +duty of a mysterious unknown. Just now he refused to let my father +present him to me, which is a good mark in his favour. If he alters +his mind, he becomes at once a condemned man. I pity you, my dear +Joan," added Antoinette, laughingly. "You are dying with longing to +hear one of those romances without words, which M. Larinski plays so +divinely; and if M. Larinski be the man of the letter, his own avowal +prohibits him from appearing before me again. How can you extricate +yourself from this dilemma? The case is embarrassing." + +It was M. Moriaz who undertook the solution of this embarrassing +dilemma. Three days later, some moments before dinner, he was walking +in the hotel-grounds, smoking a cigar. He saw passing along the road +Count Abel, on his way back to Cellarina. A storm was coming up; +already great drops of rain were beginning to fall. M. Moriaz ran +after the count and seized him by the button, saying: "You have saved +my life--permit me, at least, to save you from the rain. Do me the +honour to share our dinner; we will have it served in my apartment." + +Abel strongly resisted this proposition, giving reasons that sounded +like mere pretences. A rumbling of thunder was heard. M. Moriaz took +his man by the arm, and led him in by force. He presented him to his +daughter, saying: "Antoinette, let me present to you M. le Comte +Larinski, a most excellent man, but little inclined to sociability. I +was compelled to use violence in bringing him here." + +The count acknowledged these remarks with a constrained smile. He wore +the manner of a prisoner; but, as he prided himself on his good- +breeding and on his philosophy, he seemed to be endeavouring to make +the best of his prison. During dinner he was grave. He treated +Antoinette with frigid politeness, paid some attention to Mlle. +Moiseney, but reserved his chief assiduities for Mr. Moriaz. He +addressed his conversation more particularly to him, and listened to +him with profound respect. A professor is always sensible to this kind +of courtesy. + +After the coffee was served, the crusting of ice in which Count Abel +had incased himself began to thaw. He had been all over the world; he +knew the United States and Turkey, New Orleans and Bucharest, San +Francisco and Constantinople. His travels had been profitable to him: +he had observed men and things, countries and institutions, customs +and laws, the indigenous races and the settlers, all but the transient +visitors, with whom he seemed to have had no time to occupy himself; +at least they formed no part of his conversation. He related several +anecdotes, with some show of sprightliness; his melancholy began to +melt away, he even indulged in little bursts of gaiety, and Antoinette +could not avoid comparing him and his discourse to some of the more +rigorous passages of the Engadine, where, amid the black shades of the +pines, among frowning rocks, there are to be found lilies, gentians, +and lakes. + +He resumed his gravity to reply to a question of M. Moriaz concerning +Poland. "Unhappy Poland!" cried he. "To-day the Jew is its master. +Active, adroit, inventive, little scrupulous, he makes capital out of +our indolence and our improvidence. He has over us one great +advantage, which is simply that, while we live from day to day, he +possesses a notion of a to-morrow; we despise him, and we could not do +without him. We are always thirsty, and he supplies us with drink; we +never have ready money, and he loans it to us at an enormous rate of +interest; we cannot return it to him, and he reimburses himself by +seizing our goods and chattels, our jewels, our land, and our castles. +We take out our revenge in insolence, and from time to time in petty +persecutions, and we gradually arrive at the conclusion that the sole +means of freeing ourselves from the yoke of the Jew would be to +conquer the vices by which he lives." Count Abel added that for his +part he had no prejudice against these children of Abraham, and he +quoted the words of an Austrian publicist who said that each country +had the kind of Jews it deserved. "In fact," he continued, "in +England, as in France, and in every country where they are placed on a +footing of equality, they become one of the most wholesome, most +vigorous elements of the nation, while they are the scourge, the +leeches, of the countries that persecute them." + +"And, truly, justice demands that it should be so," cried Mlle. +Moriaz. + +For the first time the count addressed himself directly to her, +saying, with a smile: "How is this, mademoiselle? You are a woman, and +you love justice!" + +"This astonishes you, monsieur?" she rejoined. "You do not think +justice one of our virtues?" + +"A woman of my acquaintance," he replied, "always maintained that it +would be rendering a very bad service to this poor world of ours to +suppress all injustice, because with the same stroke would also be +suppressed all charity." + +"That is not my opinion," said she. "When I give, it seems to me that +I make restitution." + +"She is somewhat of a socialist," cried M. Moriaz. "I perceive it +every January in making out her accounts, and it is fortunate that she +intrusts this to me, for she never takes the trouble to look at the +memorandum her banker sends her." + +"I am proud for Poland that Mlle. Moriaz has a Polish failing," said +Abel Larinski, gallantly. + +"Is it a failing?" queried Antoinette. + +"Arithmetic is the most beautiful of the sciences and the mother of +certainty," said M. Moriaz. And turning towards the count, he added: +"She is very wrong-headed, this girl of mine; she holds absolutely +revolutionary principles, dangerous to public order and the +preservation of society. Why, she maintains that people who are in +need have a right to the superfluities of others!" + +"This appears to me self-evident," said she. + +"And, for example," further continued M. Moriaz, "she has among her +/proteges/ a certain Mlle. Galard--" + +"Galet," said Mlle. Moiseney, bridling up, for she had been +impatiently awaiting an opportunity to put in a word. + +"This Mlle. Leontine Galet, who lives at No. 25 Rue Mouffetard--" + +"No. 27," again interposed Mlle. Moiseney, in a magisterial tone. + +"As usual, you are sure of it, perfectly sure. Very good! This Mlle. +Galard or Galet, residing at No. 25 or No. 27 Rue Mouffetard, was +formerly a florist by trade, and now she has not a sou. I do not wish +to fathom the mysteries of her past--it is very apt to be 'lightly +come, lightly go' with the money of these people--but certain it is +that Mlle. Galard--" + +"Galet," put in Mlle. Moiseney, sharply. + +"Is to-day an infirm old woman, a worthy object of the compassion of +charitable people," continued M. Moriaz, heedless of this last +interruption. "Mlle. Moriaz allows her a pension, with which I find no +fault; but Mlle. Galet--I mistake, Mlle. Galard--has retained from her +former calling her passion for flowers, and during the winter Mlle. +Moriaz sends her every week a bouquet costing from ten to twelve +francs, which shows, according to my opinion, a lack of common-sense. +In the month of January last, she sent for Parma violets for this +/protégé/ of hers. Now, I appeal to M. Larinski--is this reasonable, +or is it absurd?" + +"It is admirably absurd and foolishly admirable," replied the count. + +"The flowers I give her are never so beautiful as some that were sent +me the other day," exclaimed Mlle. Moriaz. + +She went then into the next room, and returned, carrying the vase of +water containing the mysterious bouquet. "What do you think of these?" +she asked the count. "They are already much faded, and yet I think +they are beautiful still." + +He admired the bouquet; but, although Antoinette regarded him fixedly, +she detected neither blush nor confusion on his face. "It was not he," +she said to herself. + +There was a piano in the room where they had dined. As Count Abel was +taking leave, Mlle. Moiseney begged him to give Mlle. Moriaz proof of +his talent. He slightly knit his brows at this request, and resumed +that sombre, almost savage, air he had worn when he met Antoinette at +the foot of the mountain. He urged in excuse the lateness of the hour, +but he allowed the promise to be wrested from him that he would be +more complaisant the next day. + +When he was gone, accompanied by M. Moriaz, who said he would walk a +little distance with him, Antoinette exclaimed: "You see, my dear--it +was not he." + +"Suppose I was wrong," replied Mlle. Moiseney, in a piqued tone--"you +will at least grant that he is handsome?" + +"As handsome as you please. Do you know what I think of when I look at +him? A haunted castle. And I feel curious to make the acquaintance of +the goblins that visit it." + +Notwithstanding his promise, Count Larinski did not reappear before +the lapse of three days; but this time he gave all the music that was +asked of him. His memory was surprising, and his whole soul seemed to +be at the ends of his fingers; and he drew marvellous strains from an +instrument which, in itself, was far from being a marvel. He sang, +too; he had a barytone voice, mellow and resonant. After having hummed +in a low tone some Roumanic melodies, he struck up one of his own +national songs. This he failed to finish; tears started in his eyes, +emotion overpowered his voice. He broke off abruptly, asking pardon +for the weakness that had caused him to make himself ridiculous; but +one glance at Mlle. Moriaz convinced him that she did not find him +ridiculous. + +A most invaluable resource, indeed, in a mountain-country where the +evenings are long, is a Pole who knows how to talk and to sing. M. +Moriaz liked music; but he liked something else besides. When he could +not go into society and was forbidden to work, he grew sleepy after +dinner; in order to rouse himself he was glad to play a hand of +/bezique/ or /ecarte/. For want of some one better, he played with +Mlle. Moiseney; but this make-shift was little to his taste; he +disliked immensely coming into too close proximity with the pinched +visage and yellow ribbons of Pope Joan. He proposed to Count Larinski +to take a hand with him, and his proposal was accepted with the best +grace in the world. "Decidedly this man is good for everything," +thought M. Moriaz, and he conceived a great liking for him. The result +was, that during an entire week Count Abel passed every evening at the +Hotel Badrutt. + +"Your father is a most peculiar man," said Mlle. Moiseney, +indignantly, to Antoinette. "He is shockingly egotistical. He has +confiscated M. Larinski. The idea of employing such a man as that to +play /bezique/! He will stop coming." + +But the count's former savageness seemed wholly subdued. He did not +stop coming. + +One evening M. Moriaz committed an imprudence. In making an odd trick, +he carelessly asked M. Larinski who had been his piano professor. + +"One whose portrait I always carry about me," was the reply. + +And, drawing from his vest-pocket a medallion, he presented it to M. +Moriaz, who, after having looked at it, passed it over to his +daughter. The medallion contained the portrait of a woman with blond +hair, blue eyes, a refined, lovely mouth, a fragile, delicate being +with countenance at the same time sweet and sad, the face of an angel, +but an angel who had lived and suffered. + +"What an exquisite face!" cried Mlle. Moriaz. + +Truly it was exquisite. Some one has asserted that a Polish woman is +like punch made with holy-water. One may like neither the punch nor +the holy-water, and yet be very fond of Polish women. They form one of +the best chapters in the great book of the Creator. + +"It is the portrait of my mother," said Count Larinski. + +"Are you so fortunate as to still possess her?" asked Antoinette. + +"She was a tender flower," he replied; "and tender flowers never live +long." + +"Her portrait shows it plainly; one can see that she suffered much, +but was resigned to live." + +For the first time the count departed from the reserve he had shown +towards Mlle. Antoinette Moriaz. "I have no words to tell you," he +exclaimed, "how happy I am that my mother pleases you!" + +Othello was accused of having employed secret philters to win +Desdemona's love. Brabantio had only himself to blame; he had taken a +liking to Othello, and often invited him to come to him; he did not +make him play /bezique/, but he questioned him on his past. The Moor +recounted his life, his sufferings, his adventures, and Desdemona +wept. The fathers question, the heroes or adventurers recount, and the +daughters weep. Such are the outlines of a history as old as the +world. Abel Larinski had left the card-table. He had taken his seat in +an arm-chair, facing Mlle. Moiseney. He was questioned; he replied. + +His destiny had been neither light nor easy. He was quite young when +his father, Count Witold Larinski, implicated in a conspiracy, had +been compelled to flee from Warsaw. His property was confiscated, but +luckily he had some investments away from home, which prevented him +from being left wholly penniless. He was a man of projects. He +emigrated to America with his wife and his son; he dreamed of making a +name and a fortune by cutting a canal through the Isthmus of Panama. +He repaired to New Granada, there to make his studies and his charts. +He made them so thoroughly that he died of yellow fever before having +begun his work, having come to the end of his money and leaving his +widow in the most cruel destitution. Countess Larinski said to her +son: "We have nothing more to live on; but, then, is it so necessary +to live?" She uttered these words with an angelic smile about her +lips. Abel set out for California. He undertook the most menial +services; he swept the streets, acted as porter; what cared he, so +long as his mother did not die of hunger? All that he earned he sent +to her, enduring himself the most terrible privations, making her +think that he denied himself nothing. In the course of time Fortune +favoured him; he had acquired a certain competency. The countess came +to rejoin him in San Francisco; but angels cannot live in the rude, +exciting atmosphere of the gold-seekers; they suffer, spread their +wings, and fly away. Some weeks after having lost his mother--it was +in 1863--Count Abel learned from a journal that fell into his hands +that Poland had risen again. He was twenty-one years of age. He +thought he heard a voice calling him, and another voice from the skies +whispered: "She calls thee. Go; it is thy duty." And he went. Two +months later he crossed the frontier of Galicia to join the bands of +Langiewicz. + +Othello spoke to Desdemona of caverns, deserts, quarries, rocks, and +hills whose heads touch heaven; of cannibals, the anthropophagi, and +men whose heads do grow beneath their shoulders. Count Abel spoke to +Mlle. Moriaz of the fortunes and vicissitudes of partisan warfare, of +vain exploits, of obscure glories, of bloody encounters that never are +decisive, of defeats from which survive hope, hunger, thirst, cold, +snow stained with blood, and long captivities in forests, tracked by +the enemy; then disasters, discouragements, the vanishing of the last +hope, punishment, the gallows, and finally a mute, feverish +resignation, swallowed up in that vast solitude with which silence +surrounds misfortune. After the dispersion of the band whose destinies +he had followed, he had gone over to Roumania. + +This narration, exact and precise, bore the impress of truth. Count +Abel made it in a simple, modest tone, keeping himself as much as +possible in the background, and growing persuasive without apparent +effort. There were moments when his face would flame up with +enthusiasm, when his voice would become husky and broken, when he +would seek for a word, become impatient because he could not find it, +find it at last, and this effort added to the energy of his spasmodic +and disjointed eloquence. In conclusion, he said: "In his youth man +believes himself born to roll; the day comes when he experiences the +necessity of being seated. I am seated; my seat is a little hard, but +when I am tempted to murmur, I think of my mother and refrain." + +"What did you do in Roumania?" inquired M. Moriaz, who liked to have +stories circumstantially detailed. + +"Ah! I beg of you to excuse me from recounting to you the worst +employed years of my life. I am my father's own son. He dreamed of +cutting through an isthmus, I of inventing a gun. I spent four years +of my life in fabricating it, and the first time it was used it +burst." + +And thereupon he plunged into a somewhat humorous description of his +invention, his hopes, his golden dreams, his disappointments, and his +chagrin. "The only admirable thing in the whole affair," he concluded, +"and something that I believe never has happened to any other +inventor, is that I am cured entirely of my chimera; I defy it to take +possession of me again. I propose to put myself under discipline in +order to expiate my extravagance. So soon as my cure is entirely +finished I will set out for Paris, where I will do penance." + +"What kind of penance?" asked M. Moriaz. "Paris is not a hermitage." + +"Nor is it my intention to live there as a hermit," was the reply, +given with perfect simplicity. "I go to give lessons in music and in +the languages." + +"Indeed!" exclaimed M. Moriaz. "Do you see no other career open to +you, my dear count?" + +"I am no longer a count," he replied, with an heroic smile. "Counts do +not run about giving private lessons." And a strange light flashed in +his eyes as he spoke. "I shall run about giving private lessons until +I hear anew the voice that spoke to me in California. It will find me +ever ready; my reply will be: 'I belong to thee; dispose of me at thy +pleasure.' Ah! this chimera is one that I never will renounce!" + +Then suddenly he started as one just awakening from a dream; he drew +his hand over his brow, looked confusedly around him, and said: +"/Grand Dieu!/ here I have been talking to you of myself for two +hours! It is the most stupid way of passing one's time, and I promise +you it shall not happen again." + +With these words he rose, took up his hat, and left. + +M. Moriaz paced the floor for some moments, his hands behind his back; +presently he said: "This /diable/ of a man has strangely moved me. One +thing alone spoils his story for me--that is the gun. A man who once +has drunk will drink again; one who has invented will invent again. No +man in the world ever remained satisfied with his first gun." + +"I beg of you, monsieur," cried Mlle. Moiseney, "could you not speak +to the Minister of War about adopting the Larinski musket?" + +"Are you your country's enemy?" he asked. "Do you wish its +destruction? Have you sworn that after Alsace we must lose Champagne?" + +"I am perfectly sure," she replied, mounting on her high horse, "that +the Larinski musket is a /chef-d'oeuvre/, and I would pledge my life +that he who invented it is a man of genius." + +"If you would pledge your word of honour to that, mademoiselle," he +replied, making her a profound bow, "you may well feel assured that +the French Government would not hesitate a moment." + +Mlle. Moriaz took no part in this conversation. Her face slightly +contracted, buried in her thoughts as in a solitude inaccessible to +earthly sounds, her cheek resting in the palm of her left hand, she +held in her right hand a paper-cutter, and she kept pricking the point +into one of the grooves of the table on which her elbow rested, while +her half-closed eyes were fixed on a knot of the mahogany. She saw in +this knot the Isthmus of Panama, San Francisco, the angelic +countenance of the beautiful Polish woman who had given birth to Count +Abel Larinski; she saw there also fields of snow, ambuscades, retreats +more glorious than victories, and, beyond all else, the bursting of a +gun and of a man's heart. + +She arose, and saluted her father without a word. In crossing the +/salon/ she perceived that M. Larinski had forgotten a book he had +left on the piano when he came in. She opened the volume; he had +written his name on the top of the first page, and Antoinette +recognised the handwriting of the note. + +Shut up in her own room, while taking down and combing her hair, her +imagination long wandered through California and Poland. She compared +M. Larinski with all the other men she ever had known, and she +concluded that he resembled none of them. And it was he who had +written: "I arrived in this village disgusted with life, sorrowful and +so weary that I longed to die. I saw you pass by, and I know not what +mysterious virtue entered into me. I will live." + +It seemed to her that for long years she had been seeking some one, +and that she had done well to come to the Engadine, because here she +had found the object of her search. + + + +CHAPTER III + +Two, three, four days passed without Count Larinski reappearing at the +Hotel Badrutt, where every evening he was expected. This prolonged +absence keenly affected Mlle. Moriaz. She sought an explanation +thereof; the search occupied part of her days, and troubled her sleep. +She had too much character not to conceal her trouble and anxiety. +Those about her had not the least suspicion that she asked herself a +hundred times in the twenty-four hours: "Why does he not come? will he +never come again? is it a fixed resolution? Does he blame us for +drawing out, by our questions, the secret of his life? or does he +suspect that I have discovered him to be the writer of the anonymous +letter? Will he leave Engadine without bidding us good-bye? Perhaps he +has already gone, and we shall never see him again." This thought +caused Mlle. Moriaz a heart-burn that she had never before +experienced. Her day had come; her heart was no longer free: the bird +had allowed itself to be caught. + +Mlle. Moiseney said to her one evening: "It seems certain to me that +we never shall see Count Larinski again." + +She replied in an almost indifferent tone, "No doubt he has found +people at Cellarina, or elsewhere, who are more entertaining than we." + +"You mean to say," said Mlle. Moiseney, "that M. Moriaz and the +/bezique/ has frightened him away. I would not for worlds speak ill of +your father; he has all the good qualities imaginable, except a +certain delicacy of sentiment, which is not to be learned in dealing +with acids. Think of condemning a Count Larinski to play /bezique/! +There are some things that your father does not and never will +understand." + +M. Moriaz had entered meanwhile. "Please oblige me by explaining what +it is that I do not understand," said he to Mlle. Moiseney. + +She replied with some embarrassment, "You do not understand, monsieur, +that certain visits were a charming diversion to us, and that now we +miss them." + +"And do you think that I do not miss them? It has been four days since +I have had a game of cards. But how can it be helped? Poles are fickle +--more fools they who trust them." + +"It may be simply that M. Larinski has been ill," interrupted +Antoinette, with perfect tranquility. "I think, father, that it would +be right for us to make inquiries." + +The following day M. Moriaz went to Cellarina. He brought back word +that M. Larinski had gone on a walking-excursion through the +mountains; that he had started out with the intention of climbing to +the summit of Piz-Morteratsch, and of attempting the still more +difficult ascent of Piz-Roseg. Mlle. Moriaz found it hard to decide +whether this news was good or bad news. All depended on what point of +view was taken, and she changed hers every hour. + +Since his mishap, M. Moriaz had become less rash than formerly. +Experience had taught him that there are treacherous rocks that can be +climbed without much difficulty, but from which it is impossible to +descend--rocks exposing one to the danger of ending one's days in +their midst, if there is no Pole near at hand. Certain truths stamp +themselves indelibly on the mind; so M. Moriaz never ventured again on +the mountains without being attended by a guide, who received orders +from Antoinette not to leave him, and not to let him expose himself. +One day he came in later than usual, and his daughter reproached him, +with some vivacity, for the continual anxiety he caused her. "The +glaciers and precipices will end by giving me the nightmare," she said +to him. + +"Pray on whose account, my dear?" he playfully rejoined. "I assure you +the ascent that I have just made was neither more difficult nor more +dangerous than that of Montmartre, nor of the Sannois Hill, and as to +glaciers, I have firmly resolved to keep shy of them. I have passed +the age of prowess. My guide has been making me tremble by relating +the dangers to which he was exposed in 1864 on Morteratsch, where he +had accompanied Professor Tyndall and another English tourist. They +were all swept away by an avalanche. Attached to the same rope, they +went down with the snow. A fall of three hundred metres! They would +have been lost, if, through the presence of mind of one of the guides, +they had not succeeded in stopping themselves two feet from a +frightful precipice, which was about to swallow them up. I am a +father, and I do not despise life. Let him ascend Morteratsch who +likes! I wish our friend Larinski had made the descent safe and sound. +If he has met an avalanche on the way, he will invent no more guns." + +Antoinette was no longer mistress of her nerves: during the entire +evening she was so preoccupied that M. Moriaz could not fail to notice +it; but he had no suspicion of the cause. He was profoundly versed in +qualitative and quantitative analysis, but less skilled in the +analysis of his daughter's heart. "How pale you are!" he said to her. +"Are you not well? You are cold.--Pray, Mlle. Moiseney, make yourself +useful and prepare her a mulled egg; you know I do not permit her to +be sick." + +It was not the mulled egg that restored Mlle. Moriaz's color. The next +morning as she was giving a drawing lesson to her /protegee/, Count +Abel was announced. She trembled; the blood rose in her cheeks, and +she could not conceal her agitation from the penetrating gaze of the +audacious charmer. It might easily be seen that he had just descended +from where the eagles themselves seldom ascend. His face was weather- +beaten by the ice and snow. He had successfully accomplished the +double ascent, of which he was compelled to give an account. In +descending from Morteratsch he had been overtaken by a storm, and had +come very near never again seeing the valley or Mlle. Moriaz. He owed +his life to the presence of mind and courage of his guide, on whom he +could not bestow sufficient praise. + +While he modestly narrated his exploits, Antoinette had dismissed her +pupil. He seemed embarrassed by the /tete-a-tete/ which, nevertheless, +he had sought. He rose, saying: "I regret not being able to see M. +Moriaz; I came to bid him farewell. I leave this evening." + +She summoned courage and replied: "You did well to come; you left a +volume of Shakespeare--here it is." Then drawing from her notebook a +paper--"I have still another restitution to make to you. I have had +the misfortune to discover that it was you who wrote this letter." + +With these words she handed him the anonymous note. He changed +countenance, and it was now his turn to grow red. "Who can prove to +you," he demanded, "that I am the author of this offence, or rather +crime?" + +"Every bad case may be denied, but do not you deny." + +After a moment's silence, he replied: "I will not lie, I am not +capable of lying. Yes, I am the guilty one; I confess it with sorrow, +because you are offended by my audacity." + +"I never liked madrigals, either in prose or verse, signed or +anonymous," she returned, rather dryly. + +He exclaimed, "You took this letter for a madrigal?" Then, having +reread it, he deliberately tore it up, throwing the pieces into the +fireplace, and added, smiling: "It certainly lacked common-sense; he +who wrote it is a fool, and I have nothing to say in his defence." + +Crossing her hands on her breast, and uplifting to him her brown eyes, +that were as proud as gentle, she softly murmured, "What more?" + +"I came to Chur," he replied, "I entered a church, I there saw a fair +unknown, and I forgot myself in gazing at her. That evening I saw her +again; she was walking in a garden where there was music, and this +music of harps and violins was grateful to me. I said within myself: +'What a thing is the heart of man! The woman who has passed me by +without seeing me does not know me, will never know of my existence; I +am ignorant of even her name, and I wish to remain so, but I am +conscious that she exists, and I am glad, content, almost happy. She +will be for me the fair unknown; she cannot prevent me from +remembering her. I will think sometimes of the fair unknown of +Chur.' " + +"Very good," said she, "but this does not explain the letter." + +"We are coming to that," he continued. "I was seated in a copse, by +the roadside. I had the blues--was profoundly weary; there are times +when life weighs on me like a torturing burden. I thought of +disappointed expectations, of dissipated illusions, of the bitterness +of my youth and of my future. You passed by on the road, and I said to +myself, 'There is good in life, because of such encounters, in which +we catch renewed glimpses of what was once pleasant for us to see.' " + +"And the note?" she asked again, in a dreamy tone. + +He went on: "I never was a philosopher; wisdom consists in performing +only useful actions, and I was born with a taste for the useless. That +evening I saw you climb a hill, in order to gather some flowers; the +hill was steep and you could not reach the flowers. I gathered them +for you, and, in sending my bouquet, I could not resist the temptation +of adding a word. 'Before doing penance,' I said to myself, 'let me +commit this one folly; it shall be the last.' We always flatter +ourselves that each folly will be our last. The unfortunate note had +scarcely gone, when I regretted having sent it; I would have given +much to have had it back; I felt all its impropriety; I have dealt +justly by it in tearing it to pieces. My only excuse was my firm +resolution not to meet you, not to make your acquaintance. Chance +ordered otherwise: I was presented to you, you know by whom, and how; +I ended by coming here every evening, but I rebelled against my own +weakness, I condemned myself to absence for a few days, so as to break +a dangerous habit, and, thank God! I have broken my chain." + +She lightly tapped the floor with the tip of her foot, and demanded +with the air of a queen recalling a subject to his allegiance, "Are +you to be believed?" + +He had spoken in a half-serious, half-jesting tone, tinged with the +playful melancholy that was natural to him. He changed countenance, +his face flushed, and he cried out abruptly, "I regained my strength +and will on the summit of Morteratsch, and I only return to bid you +farewell, and to give you the assurance that I never will see you +again." + +"It is a strange case," she replied; "but I pardon you, on condition +that you do not execute your threat. You are resolved to be wise; the +wise avoid extremes. You will remember that you have friends in Paris. +My father has many connections; if we can be of service to you in any +way--" + +He did not permit her to finish, and responded proudly: "I thank you, +with all my heart. I have sworn to be under obligations to none but +myself." + +"Very well," she replied, "you will visit us for our pleasure. In a +month we shall be at Cormeilles." + +He shook his head in sign of refusal. She looked fixedly at him, and +said, "It must be so." + +This look, these words, sent to Count Abel's brain such a thrill of +joy and of hope that for a moment he thought he had betrayed himself. +He nearly fell on his knees before Mlle. Moriaz, but, speedily +mastering his emotions, he bowed gravely, casting down his eyes. She +herself immediately resumed her usual voice and manner, and questioned +him on his journey. He told her, in reply, that he proposed to go by +the route of Soleure, and to stay there a day in order to visit in +Gurzelengasse the house where Kosciuszko, the greatest of Poles, had +died. He had thought of this pilgrimage for a long time. He added: +"Still another useless action. Ah! when shall I improve?" + +"Don't improve too much," she said, smiling. And then he went away. + +M. Moriaz returned to the hotel about noon: his guide being engaged +elsewhere, he had taken only a short ramble. After breakfast his +daughter proposed to him that he should go down with her to the banks +of the lake. They made the descent, which is not difficult. This +pretty piece of water, that has been falsely accused of resembling a +shaving-dish, is said to be not less than a mile in length. When the +father and daughter reached the entrance of the woods that pedestrians +pass through in going to Pontresina, they seated themselves on the +grass at the foot of a larch. They remained some time silent. +Antoinette watched the cows grazing, and stroked the smooth, glossy +leaves of a yellow gentian with the end of her parasol. M. Moriaz +busied himself with neither the cows nor the yellow gentian--he +thought of M. Camille Langis, and felt more than a little guilty in +that quarter; he had not written to him, having nothing satisfactory +to tell him. He could see the young man waiting in vain, at the Hotel +Steinbock. To pass a fortnight at Chur is a torture that the most +robust constitution scarcely can endure, and it is an increased +torture to watch every evening and every morning for a letter that +never comes. M. Moriaz resolved to open hostilities, to begin a new +assault on the impregnable place. He was seeking in his mind for a +beginning for his first phrase. He had just found it, when suddenly +Antoinette said to him, in a low, agitated, but distinct voice: "I +have a question for you. What would you think if I should some day +marry M. Abel Larinski?" + +M. Moriaz started up, and his cane, slipping from his hand, rolled to +the bottom of the declivity. He looked at his daughter, and said to +her: "I beg of you to repeat what you just said to me. I fear I have +misunderstood you." + +She answered in a firmer voice, "I am curious to know what you would +think if I should marry, some day or other, Count Larinski." + +He was startled, thunderstruck. He never had foreseen that such a +catastrophe could occur, nor had the least suspicion that anything had +passed between his daughter and M. Larinski. Of all the ideas that had +suggested themselves to him, this seemed the least admissible, the +most improbable and ridiculous. After a long silence, he said to +Antoinette, "You want to frighten me--this is not serious." + +"Do you dislike M. Larinski?" she asked. + +"Certainly not; I by no means dislike him. He has good manners, he +speaks well, and I must acknowledge that he had a very graceful way of +taking me from off my rock, where I should still be had it not been +for him. I am grateful to him for it; but, from that to giving him my +daughter, there is a wide margin. If he wanted me to give him a medal +he should have it." + +"Let us talk seriously," said she. "What objections have you to make?" + +"First, M. Larinski is a stranger, and I mistrust strangers. Then, I +know him but slightly. I naturally demand additional information. +Finally, I own that the state of his affairs--" + +"Ah! that is the main point," she interrupted. "He is poor; that is +his crime, which he has not disguised. How differently we think! I +have some fortune; its only advantage that I can see is that it makes +me free to marry the man I esteem, though he be poor." + +"And perhaps a little because of that very reason," interrupted M. +Moriaz, in his turn. "Come, I entreat you, let me explain the +anxieties arising from my miserable good sense. M. Larinski has +related his history to us. Frankly, do you not think that it is rather +that--what shall I say--of an adventurer? The word shocks you--I take +it back--but you must admit that this Pole belongs to the--ambulatory +family." + +"Or family of heroes," she replied. + +"That is it, of wandering heroes. I wish all manner of good to heroes, +although I never have clearly discovered their use. At all events, I +am not sure that they are the best qualified men in the world to make +a wife happy, and I intend that my daughter shall be happy." + +"You are not convinced as I am that M. Larinski has a superior mind, +and a heart of gold?" + +"A heart of gold! I should be glad to believe it. I have no reason to +doubt it; but many very skilful persons are deceived by false +jewellery. Ah! my dear, if you were better versed in chemistry, you +would know how easy it is to manufacture a false trinket. Formerly, +after having cleaned the piece to be gilded, a gold amalgam was +applied. Now, the brass or copper trinket is steeped in a solution of +perchloride of gold and bicarbonate of potash, and in less than a +minute the thing is accomplished. It is called gilding by immersion. +There is another process in which galvanism-- But let us admit that M. +Larinski's heart is real gold. In the purest gold there is usually +some alloy, to dispense with which resort must be had to the cupel. Do +you not know what a cupel is? It is a small capsule or cup of a porous +substance, used in the refining process, and possessing the property +of absorbing the fused oxides and retaining the refined metal. What is +the proportion of lead or of gold ore in M. Larinski's heart? Neither +you nor I know." + +She was no longer listening; her chin in her hand, her glances +wandered over the glade. He touched her arm gently to rouse her, and +said: "It is all over? You love him?" + +"Why will you make me say so?" she replied, blushing. + +"And he has declared himself? He has dared----" + +"He has dared nothing. Ah! how little you know him! If you were to +offer me to him, his pride would say no, and I would have to go down +on my knees to get the better of his refusal." + +"We will say, at once, that he is unique, that he is a marvel, that +there is not a second Pole like him; the mould has been broken. And +yet are you sure that he loves you?" + +She replied by a motion of the head. + +"I should confess," he resumed, "that the passion that is called the +grand passion is for me a sealed letter, the mystery of mysteries. I +am completely ignorant of it. Yet that did not prevent my marrying, +and making a choice that brought me great happiness. Your method is +different, and I must believe that you have yielded to an irresistible +force. It seems to me, however, that resistance can always be made. +You have will, character--" + +She interrupted him, murmuring, "It is either he or no one." + +"Oh! if it comes to that," he continued, "you are of age, and mistress +of your actions; there is nothing for me but to submit. Still, it will +be painful to you, I like to believe, to marry in opposition to my +wishes." + +"Do you doubt it? I am willing not to marry." + +"Bad solution! It is worse than the other. Let us come to terms. The +positive has its place only in science. It is absolutely true that +borax is a salt composed of boracic acid and soda. Beyond such facts +all is uncertain. Does this happy man surmise the sentiments he has +inspired?" + +"I tell you that you do not know him? Do you take him for a coxcomb? +When he came this morning to announce his departure, his serious +intention was to bid us an eternal farewell, and never to see me +again." + +"A most excellent idea that," sighed M. Moriaz. "Unfortunately, you +represented to him that it took but two hours to go from Paris to +Cormeilles." + +"I had trouble to persuade him of it." + +"Well, since the matter stands thus, nothing is yet lost. You know, my +dear, that my physician advised me to beware of abrupt transitions, +and not to change too suddenly from the keen air of Engadine to the +heavy atmosphere of the plains. On leaving Saint Moritz, we will +descend five hundred metres lower, and remain three weeks at +Churwalden; consequently, we will not be in Paris for a month. You +will employ this month in somewhat calming your imagination. It is +very easy for it to become excited in these mountain-holes, without +taking into account the wearisomeness of hotel-life. From the very day +after our arrival you took a dislike to the paper in our little +/salon/, and its squares, I confess, are very ugly. In every square, a +thrush stretching out its neck to peck a currant. Two hundred thrushes +and two hundred currants--it was enough to weary you to death. +Suddenly there appears a Pole--" + +"The thrushes had nothing to do with it," she replied, smiling. "A +month hence I shall say as I do to-day. 'It is either he or no one.' +And you shall choose." + +"Do not repeat that formula, I beg. Fixed resolves are the prison- +house of the will. Promise me to reflect; reflection is an excellent +thing. One thing more--grant me in advance what I am going to ask +you." + +"It is granted." + +"You have a godmother--" + +"Ah! now we are coming to the point," she added. + +"You cannot deny that Mme. De Lorcy is a woman of the world, a woman +of good sense, a woman of experience, who is deeply interested in your +welfare--" + +"And who has decided from time immemorial, that I can only be happy on +condition that I marry her nephew, M. Camille Langis." + +"Well, I admit that she is partial. That is no reason why we should +not send her our Pole. She will inspect him, she will tell us her +opinion; it will be a new element in the argument." + +"Ah! I know her opinion without asking it. This woman of experience +and good sense is incapable of recognising merit in a man who is +sufficiently impertinent to make Mlle. Moriaz love him, without having +at least fifty thousand livres a year to offer her." + +"What does that matter? We will let her speak--we need not question +her, an oracle; but she knows false jewellery. If she discover--" + +"I would require proofs," she interrupted, quickly. + +"And if she furnish them?" + +She was silent an instant, then she said: "Let it be so; do as you +please." + +With these words they ended the conversation; then arose, and retook +the road to Saint Moritz. M. Moriaz scarcely had reached there, when +he entered a carriage to drive to Cellarina, provided with a portfolio +given him by Antoinette. He found M. Larinski busy strapping his +trunks, and waiting for the mail-coach that made the journey between +Samaden and Chur by the Col du Julier. + +M. Moriaz expressed his regret at having missed his visit, and asked +if he would consent to charge himself with a commission for his +daughter, who desired to send to her godmother, Mme. De Lorcy, a +sketch of Saint Moritz. + +"Cheerfully," coldly replied Count Abel, and he promised, so soon as +he reached Paris, to send the portfolio to Maisons Lafitte. + +"Do better than that," rejoined M. Moriaz, "and carry your good-nature +so far as to take it yourself to its address. Mme. de Lorcy is an +amiable woman, who will be charmed to make your acquaintance, and hear +from you of us." + +The count bowed with a submissive air. There was so little ardour in +this submission that M. Moriaz queried if his daughter had not been +dreaming, if M. Larinski was as much in love with her as she fancied. +He had not read the anonymous letter; Antoinette had refrained from +even mentioning it to him. + +He was returning to Saint Moritz, when he met midway a pedestrian, +who, lost in thought, neither looked at him nor recognised him. M. +Moriaz ordered the coachman to stop, sprang out of the carriage, went +up to the traveller whom he seized by both shoulders, exclaiming: + +"What, you! you again! I can go nowhere in Grisons without meeting +you. I ask as I did at Chur, 'Where do you come from?' " + +"Did you think I would stay there forever?" rejoined M. Camille +Langis, reproachfully. "You have not kept your word, you have +forgotten me; you did not write to me. I am tired of waiting, so here +I am." + +"And where are you going?" + +"To the Hotel Badrutt, to plead my own cause, because my advocate has +failed me." + +"Ah! you have chosen an excellent time," cried M. Moriaz; "you have a +real genius for arriving in season. Go, hurry, plead, moan, weep, +entreat; you will be well received; you can come and tell me all about +it." + +"What do you mean?" asked Camille; "is it all over? Have you spoken, +and did she silence you?" + +"Not at all; she listened to me, without enthusiasm, it is true, but +with attention and deference, when suddenly--Ah! my poor friend, how +can it be helped? This sad world is full of accidents and Poles." + +M. Langis looked at him in amazement, as if to ask for an explanation. +M. Moriaz continued: "Do yourself justice. You are the most honest +fellow upon earth, I grant; you are a charming man, and an engineer of +the highest merit. But, unfortunately, there is no mystery of blood +and tears in your existence; you are perfectly unpretending, frank, +unaffected, and as transparent as crystal; in short, you are not a +stranger. Had you a delicate, blond, and romantic mother, and do you +wear her portrait on your heart? have you unfathomable green eyes? +have you adventures to relate? have you visited California? have you +swept the streets of San Francisco? have you exchanged bullets with +the Cossacks? have you been killed in three combats and in ten +skirmishes? I fear you have not even thought of dying once. Have you +tried all professions, without succeeding in one? have you invented a +gun which burst? and, above all, are you as poor as a church-mouse? +What! is it possible that you possess none of these fine advantages, +and yet are audacious enough to ask me for my daughter's hand?" + +M. Moriaz ended this harangue as the Samaden mail-coach passed. Count +Abel, seated on the outside, bowed and waved his hand to them. + +"Look well at that man," said M. Moriaz to Camille, "for he is the +enemy." + +And then, instead of giving him the remaining information that the +youth desired, he said: + +"Go away and forget; it is the best thing that you can do." + +"You do not know me yet," replied Camille. "I am obstinate, I fire to +the last cartridge. I will follow your steps. Oh! don't be afraid, I +will lie--deceive Antoinette; let her think that I have relinquished +my claims. I shall pay her only a friendly visit; but my eyes hunger +to see her, and I will see her." + +The morning of the following day the enemy arrived at Chur, whence he +proceeded to Berne. Deponent saith not why he failed to turn aside at +Soleure, as he had expressed his intention of doing in order to pay +tribute there to the memory of the great Kosciuszko. The facts of the +case are, that from Berne he went direct to Lausanne, and that +immediately on reaching there he hastened to the Saxon Casino. When he +seated himself at the gaming-table, he experienced a violent +palpitation of the heart. His ears tingled, his brain was on fire, and +the cold sweat started out on his forehead. He cast fierce glances +right and left; he seemed to see in his partner's eyes his past, his +future, and Mlle. Moriaz life-size. Fortune made amends for the +harshness she had shown him at Milan. After a night of anguish and +many vicissitudes, at daybreak Count Abel had twenty thousand francs +in his pocket. It was sufficient to pay his debts, which he was +anxious to do, and to enable him to await without too much impatience +the moment for executing his projects. + +He left the casino, his face flushed and radiant; he was so joyful +that he became tender and affectionate, and, had M. Guldenthal himself +come in his way, he could have embraced him. + + + +CHAPTER IV + +Although he had said nothing about it to Mlle. Moriaz in narrating to +her his voyages and Odysseys, Count Abel was already acquainted with +Paris, having made several long sojourns there. This may seem +improbable. Gone in his early youth to America, he had not recrossed +the ocean until he returned to fight in Poland; since then he had +lived in Roumania and Vienna. Where, then, had he found time to visit +France? Certain it is, however, that he was at home on the boulevard, +and that he knew well the streets that led to the places where Paris +amuses itself; but he had no thoughts now for amusements. +Notwithstanding the fact that his purse was full, he proposed to live +a retired and austere life. He found suitable apartments in one of the +lodging-houses of Rue Mont-Thabor. These apartments, on the fifth +floor, were pleasant but modest; they consisted of two rooms having a +view of the chestnut-trees in the garden of the Tuileries. The +portress was a nice woman, whose good-will Count Abel gained on the +very first day. He considered it useful, in the affairs of this world, +to be at peace with both conscience and portress. + +After getting installed in his garret his first care was to write to +M. Moses Guldenthal. He informed him that he was ready to refund +interest and capital, and he commissioned him to pay off some trifling +debts that he had left in Vienna; he also desired him to send him the +bracelet, which he hoped to make use of. He felt a genuine relief in +the thought that he owed no man anything, that his condition was clear +and transparent. When a man is proud he likes to be out of debt, and +when he is clever he foresees all possible contingencies. His second +care was to go to the Passage de l'Opera and buy a bouquet for sixty +francs, which he carried to No. 27 Rue Mouffetard. He had one of those +memories that retain everything and let nothing escape them. This +bouquet--the most beautiful Mlle. Galet ever had received--caused her +great astonishment. She did not know to whom to attribute it, the +modest donor having escaped from the effusions of her gratitude by not +making himself known. She supposed that Mlle. Moriaz had sent it to +her, and, as she had taste for composition, she wrote to her a four +page letter of thanks. + +Count Abel had not forgotten that he was the bearer of a commission +from Mlle Moriaz. A few days after his arrival, he decided to go to +Maisons, but to take the longest route there; he wanted to see +Cormeilles in passing, and a certain villa in which he was +particularly interested. He went in the Argenteuil cars, got out at +Sannois, climbed that pretty hill that commands the loveliest of +views, and stopped at the inn of Trouillet mills in order to breakfast +there. The morning was charming--it was in the middle of August--and +the approach of autumn was already felt, which enhances the beauty of +all things. The sky was flecked with small gray clouds; a light, +silvery mist hung on the brow of the hills; in two places the Seine +appeared glittering in the sunshine. Abel breakfasted in the open air; +while eating he gazed on the sky and on the great garden-plain +extending at his feet, covered with vegetables, grape-vines, and +asparagus, interspersed with fruit-trees. The wooded hills bordering +it formed an admirable frame. In his present mood Count Larinski was +charmed with the landscape, which was at once grand and smiling. Then +he questioned himself as to how much a bed of asparagus would yield at +the gates of Paris, and, having finished his calculation, he surveyed +with the eye of a poet the heather and broom that surrounded him. He +decided that the Sannois Hill is more beautiful than Koseg; and indeed +it is not necessary to be in love with Mlle. Moriaz to hold that +opinion. + +After having had a good breakfast, he again set out, following the +crest of the hill and going through the woods. As he approached +Cormeilles, he saw in the distance, beyond a grove of oaks, the white +walls of a pretty villa. His heart beat faster, and by a sort of +divination he said within himself, "That must be it." He inquired; he +had made no mistake. Five minutes later he stood before a railing, +through which he saw a green lawn. At the entrance of the porter's +lodge a woman sat knitting. + +"Can you tell me where M. Moriaz lives?" asked Count Larinski. + +"Here, monsieur," she replied; "but M. Moriaz is absent; he will not +return for a month. If you come from a distance, monsieur," she added, +graciously, "perhaps you would like to rest awhile on the terrace. The +view is beautiful." + +This hospitable reception seemed a good omen, for, sensible as he was, +he believed in presentiments and prognostics. He entered without +waiting to be urged. When he had crossed the lawn he stood facing two +detached buildings, separated by a mass of verdure: to the right, an +old summer-house, used from time immemorial for M. Moriaz's +collections, laboratory, and library; to the left, a new two-story +house, part stone, part brick, built in an elegant but unobtrusive +style, without ornament or pretension, and flanked by a turret covered +with ivy and clematis, which served for a dove-cote. The house was not +a palace, but there was an air about it of well-being, comfort, and +happiness. In looking at it you felt like saying, "The inmates here +ought to be happy!" This was about what Count Abel said to himself; in +fact, he could hardly refrain from exclaiming, "Dieu! how happy I +shall be here!" The situation, the terrace, the garden, everything +pleased him infinitely. It seemed to him that the air here was +fresher, more delightful than elsewhere, that it was exhilarating in +the extreme; it seemed to him that the grass on the lawn was greener +than any grass he ever had seen before, that the flowers in the +carefully tended borders exhaled an unusually delicious perfume. He +espied an open window on the ground-floor. He drew near it; the room +into which he gazed, full of /bric-a-brac/ of exquisite choice, was +Mlle. Moriaz's study. There was in the appearance of this little +sanctuary, hung with white silken drapery, and as elegant as the +divinity whose favourite tarrying-place it was, something of purity, +chastity, and maidenliness. It opened its windows to the fresh breezes +and to the perfume of the flowers; but it seemed as if nothing could +penetrate there that was coarse or suspicious; that the entrance was +forbidden to all doubtful or malignant beings who might have a secret +crime to hide, to all pilgrims through life who had travelled its +highways and had brought hence dust and mud on the soles of their +shoes. Strange to say, Count Abel experienced an attack of timidity +and embarrassment. He felt that he was indiscreet; he averted his eyes +and went away. + +This impression was soon dispelled. He regained his assurance, and +walked around the terrace twice, treading the gravel with the step of +a conqueror, making it feel the full weight of his foot. He finally +seated himself on a bench; he had the nonchalant attitude of a man who +is at home. Five or six doves were billing and cooing on the ledge of +the roof; he could readily understand that they were talking of him, +and that they were saying, "Here he is--we have been waiting for him." +A beautiful Angora cat, white as snow, with delicate nose and silky +hair, came, arching her back and waving her bushy tail, from out a +grove, and advanced towards him. She examined him curiously an +instant, rubbed herself against the bench, and then sat coquettishly +at the feet of the intruder. He caressed her, saying: "You are as +white and graceful as your mistress; you are an intelligent animal; +you understand, my dear, that I come from her. Shall I tell you a +secret? She loves Count Abel Larinski." + +With these words he rose and left, after thanking the portress, who +would have been extremely astonished had she been aware of the +reflections that had just been occupying his mind. He went a short +distance on the highway, then finding, to the right, a road that led +to Cormeilles, he took it, but soon struck into a path that wound +through the woods. He was sorry to leave a spot that spoke vividly to +his heart, and even more so to his imagination. He seated himself on +the turf, in the midst of a grove of oaks; around him stretched a +blooming heath. Through an opening in the grove, he could see Saint- +Germain, its forests, and the Seine glittering in the sunshine, with +the two bridges of Maisons Lafitte spanning it with their arches. +Through another opening he caught a glimpse, to his left, of the proud +bastions of Mont-Valerien, and, in the distance, Paris, the Arc de +l'Etoile, the gilt dome of the Invalides, and the smoke of the +factories rising slowly in the air, then by turns remaining stiff and +motionless, or being swept away by the wind. + +The place was retired, solitary, very still. No sound was to be heard +save the singing of a lark, and at intervals the melancholy cry of a +peacock. Abel Larinski was overcome by a mysterious emotion; he felt a +voluptuous languor steal through his veins. He watched the smoke over +Paris, and he saw floating in it an ethereal form whose face was +partly concealed by a red hood. It smiled on him, and he read in this +smile a promise of all the joys of the land of Canaan. + +He turned away his eyes, partially closing them, and there appeared +another form to him--in truth, very different from the first. It was +that of a man whom he had known intimately, of a man whom he had +deeply loved. In vain the lark sang aloud, in vain the peacock wailed +--Abel Larinski no longer heard them. He was thinking of a certain +Samuel Brohl; he was reviewing in his mind all the history of this +Samuel, a man who never had had a secret from him. This history was +quite as sad a one as that of Abel Larinski, but much less brilliant, +much less heroic. Samuel Brohl prided himself neither on being a +patriot nor a paladin; his mother had not been a noble woman with the +smile of an angel, and the thought never had occurred to him of +fighting for any cause or any person. He was not a Pole, although born +in a Polish province of the Austrian Empire. His father was a Jew, of +German extraction, as indicated by his name, which signifies a place +where one sinks in the mire, a bog, swamp, or something of that +nature; and he kept a tavern in a wretched little market-town near the +eastern frontier of Galicia--a forlorn tavern, a forlorn tavern- +keeper. Although always on the alert to sell adulterated brandy to his +neighbour, and to seize the opportunity to lend him money on usury, he +did not thrive: he was a coward of whose timidity every one took +advantage to make him disgorge his ill-gotten gains. His creed +consisted in three doctrines: he firmly believed that the arts of +lying well, of stealing well, and of receiving a blow in the face +without apparently noticing it, were the most useful arts to human +life; but, of the three, the last was the only one that he practised +successfully. His intentions were good, but his intellect deficient. +This arrant rogue was only a petty knave that any one could dupe. + +Abel Larinski transported himself, in thought, to the tavern in which +Samuel Brohl had spent his first youth, and which was as familiar to +him as though he had lived there himself. The smoky hovel rose before +him: he could smell the odour of garlic and tallow; he could see the +drunken guests--some seated round the long table, others lying under +it--the damp and dripping walls, and the rough, dirty ceiling. He +remembered a panel in the wainscoting against which a bottle had been +broken, in the heat of some dispute; it had left a great stain of wine +that resembled a human face. He remembered, too, the tavern-keeper, a +little man with a dirty, red beard, whose demeanour was at once timid +and impudent. He saw him as he went and came, then saw him suddenly +turn, lift the end of his caftan and wipe his cheek on it. What had +happened? An insolvent debtor had spit in his face; he bore it +smilingly. This smile was more repulsive to Count Abel than the great +stain that resembled a human face. + +"Children should be permitted to choose their fathers," he thought. +And yet this poor Samuel Brohl came very near living as happy and +contented in the paternal mire as a fish in water. Habit and practice +reconcile one even to dirt; and there are people who eat and digest +it. What made Samuel Brohl think of reading Shakespeare? Poets are +corrupters. + +The way it happened was this. Samuel had picked up, somewhere, a +volume which had dropped from a traveller's pocket. It was a German +translation of /The Merchant of Venice/. He read it, and did not +understand it; he reread it, and ended by understanding it. It +produced a wild confusion of ideas in his mind; he thought that he was +becoming insane. Little by little, the chaos became less tumultuous; +order began to reign, light to dawn. Samuel Brohl felt that he had had +a film over his eyes, and that it was now removed. He saw things that +he never had seen before, and he felt joy mingled with terror. He +learned /The Merchant of Venice/ by heart. He shut himself up in the +barn, so that he might cry out with Shylock: "Hath not a Jew eyes? +hath not a Jew hands, organs, dimensions, senses, affections, +passions? If you prick us, do we not bleed? If you tickle us, do we +not laugh? if you poison us, do we not die? and if you wrong us, shall +we not revenge?" He repeated, too, with Lorenzo: + + "Sit, Jessica. Look how the floor of heaven + Is thick inlaid with patines of bright gold. + There's not the smallest orb which thou behold'st + But in his motion like an angel sings, + Still quiring to the young-eyed cherubins: + Such harmony is in immortal souls; + But whilst this muddy vesture of decay + Doth grossly close it in, we cannot hear it." + +Samuel sometimes rose at night to watch the heavens, and he fancied he +heard the voices of the "young-eyed cherubins." He dreamed of a world +where Jessicas and Portias were to be met, of a world where Jews were +as proud as Shylock, as vindictive as Shylock, and, as Shylock, ate +the hearts of their enemies for revenge. He also dreamed, poor fool, +that there was in Samuel Brohl's mind or bosom an immortal soul, and +that in this soul there was music, but that he could not hear it +because the muddy vesture of decay too grossly closed it in. Then he +experienced a feeling of disgust for Galicia, for the tavern, for the +tavern-keeper, and for Samuel Brohl himself. An old schoolmaster, who +owned a harpsichord, taught him to play on it, and, believing he was +doing good, lent him books. One day, Samuel modestly expressed to his +father a desire to go to the gymnasium at Lemberg to learn various +things that seemed good to him to know. It was then that he received +from the paternal hand a great blow, which made him see all the stars +of heaven in broad daylight. Old Jeremiah Brohl had taken a dislike to +his son Samuel Brohl, because he thought he saw something in his eyes +that seemed to say that Samuel despised his father. + +"Poor devil!" murmured Count Abel, picking up a pebble and tossing it +into the air. "Fate owes him compensation, it has dealt so roughly +with him thus far. He fell from the frying-pan into the fire; he +exchanged his servitude for a still worse slavery. When he left the +land of Egypt, he fancied he saw the palms of the promised land. Alas! +it was not long before he regretted Egypt and Pharaoh! Why was not +this woman Portia? why was she neither young nor beautiful?" And he +added: "Ah! old fairy, you made him suffer!" + +It seemed to Count Larinski that this woman, this ugly fairy who had +made Samuel Brohl suffer so much, stood there, before him, and that +she scanned him from head to foot, as a fairy, whether old or young, +might scan a worm. She had an imperious, contemptuous smile on her +lips, the smile of a czarina; so Catharine II smiled, when she was +dissatisfied with Potemkin, and said to herself, "I made him what he +is, and to-morrow I can ruin him." "Yes, it was she, it was surely +she," thought Count Larinski. "I cannot mistake. I saw her five weeks +ago, in the Vallee du Diable; she made me tremble!" + +This woman who had taken Samuel Brohl from out of the land of Egypt, +and had showered attentions upon him, was a Russian princess. She +owned an estate of Podolia, and chance would have it that one day, in +passing, she stopped at the tavern where young Samuel was growing up +in the shadow of the tabernacle. He was then sixteen. In spite of his +squalid rags, she was struck by his figure. She was a woman of +intelligence, and had no prejudices. "When he is well washed and cared +for," she thought, "when he is divested of his native impurities, when +he has seen the world and had communication with honest people, he +certainly will be a noble fellow." She made him talk, and found him +intelligent; she liked intelligent men. She made him sing, assured +herself that he had a voice; she adored music. She questioned him; he +told her all his misery, and while he talked she said to herself: "No, +I do not mistake; he has a future before him; in two or three years he +will be superb. Three years is not long: the gardener who grafts a +young tree is often condemned to wait longer than that." When he had +ended his narrative, she told him that she was in want of a secretary, +that she had had several, but that she had soon tired of them, on +account of their not having the desired qualifications; she asked him +if he would like to accept the position. He replied only by pointing +his finger to his father, who was smoking his pipe on the door-step. A +moment later she was closeted with Jeremiah Brohl. + +She at once proposed to him to buy his son; he dropped his arms in +astonishment, then felt delighted and charmed. He declared, at first, +that his son was not for sale; and then he insinuated that if ever he +did sell him he would sell him dear; he was, according to his opinion, +merchandise of the best quality, a rich and rare article. He raised +his demands ridiculously; she exclaimed; he affirmed he could not put +them lower, that he had his terms, and that he always sold at a fixed +price. They disputed a long time; she was about to give up; he +yielded, and they ended by making the transaction. She sent for Samuel +and said to him: "My boy, you belong to me--I have bought you for +cash. You are satisfied with the bargain, are you not?" + +He was stupefied to learn that he had a commercial value; he never had +suspected it. He wanted very much to know what he was worth; but the +princess was discreet upon the subject, and desired that he should +believe that he had cost her a fabulous sum. After reflection, he made +his conditions; he stipulated that he should belong to himself for +three years, which time he would employ in study and in satisfying a +multitude of curious longings. + +She readily consented, as that had been her own intention: it would +take fully three years before the fruit was ripe and ready to be +served at the princely table. She gave him instructions and advice, +all bearing the stamp of a superior mind; she understood the world, +the state of public affairs, and physiology, all that can be learned, +and all that cannot be learned. Thus Samuel Brohl set out, his pocket +well filled, for the University of Prague, which he soon left to +settle at Heidelberg, whence he went to Bonn, then to Berlin, then to +Paris. He was restless, he did not know what he wanted, but wherever +he went he studied semiquavers, naturals, and flats; it was part of +the conditions. + +The princess was herself a great traveller; two or three times a year +Samuel Brohl received a visit from her. She questioned him, examined +him, felt him, as we feel a peach to be certain it is ripe. Samuel was +very happy; he was free, he enjoyed his life, he did as he pleased. +One single thing spoiled his happiness; when he looked in the glass, +he would sometimes say within himself: "These are the features of a +man who is sold, and the woman who bought him is neither young nor +beautiful." Several times he determined to learn a trade, so that he +might be in a position to refund the debt and break the bargain. But +he never did. He was both ambitious and idle. He wanted to fly at +once; he had a horror of beginnings of apprenticeships. His early +education had been so neglected that in order to recover lost time he +would have been compelled to study hard--all the more so because, +although he was quick-witted, and had a marvellous facility for +entering into the thoughts of others, his own stock was poor; he had +no ideas of his own, nor individuality of mind. He possessed a +collection of half-talents; even in music, he was incapable of +originating; when he attempted to compose, his inspirations proved +mere reminiscences. He did himself justice; he felt that, strive as he +might, his half-talents never would aid him to secure the first +position, and he disdained the second. In fact, what he most needed +was will, which, after all, makes the man. He tried to fling himself +from his horse, which carried him where he did not desire to go; but +he felt that his feet held firm in the stirrup; he had not strength to +disengage them, and he remained in the saddle. Not being able to be a +great man, he abandoned himself to his fate, which condemned him to be +only a knave. At the expiration of his term of freedom, he declared +himself solvent, and the princess took possession of her merchandise. + +"Yes, poets are corrupters," thought Count Abel Larinski. "If Samuel +Brohl never had read /The Merchant of Venice/, or /Egmont/, a tragedy +in five acts, or Schiller's ballads, he would have been resigned to +his new position; he would have seen its good sides, and would have +eaten and drunk his shame in peace, without experiencing any +uncomfortable sensations; but he had read the poets, and he grew +disgusted, nauseated. He was dying with desire to get away, and the +princess suspected it. She kept him always in sight, she held him +close, she paid him quarterly, shilling by shilling, his meagre +allowance. She said to herself: 'So long as he has nothing, he cannot +escape.' She mistook; he did escape, and he was so afraid of being +retaken that for some time he hid like a criminal, pursued by the +police. He fancied that this woman was always on his track. It was +then, for the first time, that he felt hunger, for they eat in the +land of Egypt. He lived by all sorts of expedients, and cursed the +poets. One day he learned that his father was dead; he hastened to the +old tavern in order to succeed to the inheritance. He was not aware +that for two years old Jeremiah Brohl had been in his dotage, and that +his debtors mocked him while devouring his substance. A fine +inheritance! it was diminished to two or three rickety chairs, four +cracked walls that scarcely could stand upright, and some jewellery +concealed in a hiding-place that Samuel knew of. Old Jeremiah never +had been able to dispose of it for the price he required, and he +preferred to keep it rather than lower his charge. He had principles, +which was well for Samuel, as the jewellery was useful to him. He sold +a necklace, and set out for Bucharest, some one having told him that +he certainly would make his fortune there. He gave music-lessons; this +wearisome profession did not suit him, he could not endure the +constraint and the regular hours. The boys plagued him--he would +willingly have wrung their necks; the girls treated him like a dog-- +they never thought of his being handsome, because they suspected him +of being a Jew. Why had he gone to Bucharest--a city where all Germans +are Jews, and where Jews are not considered men? Although he had +earned a little money, he grew melancholy, and he began to think +seriously of killing himself." + +Count Abel Larinski leaned forward, plucked a spray of heather, +tickled his lips with it, and began to laugh; then, striking his +breast, he said, in an undertone, "Thank God, Samuel Brohl is not +dead, for he is here!" + +He spoke the truth: Samuel Brohl was not dead, and life was of value +to him, since he had met Mlle. Antoinette Moriaz in the cathedral in +Chur. It was Samuel Brohl who had come to Cormeilles, and who was +seated, at this moment, in the midst of a grove of oaks. Perhaps the +lark that he had heard singing a quarter of an hour before had +recognised him, for it had ceased singing. The peacock continued its +screaming, and its doleful cries sounded like a warning. Yes, the man +seated among the heather, employed in narrating his own history to +himself, was indeed Samuel Brohl, and the proof of this was that he +had laughed, while Count Abel Larinski never laughed; moreover, for +four years the latter had been out of the world. The second reason is, +perhaps, the better. + +He whom, with or without his consent, we shall call henceforth Samuel +Brohl, reproached himself for this access of levity, as he would have +reproached himself for a false note that had escaped him in executing +a Mozart sonata. He resumed his grave, dignified air, in order to +salute with a wave of his hand the phantom that had just appeared +before him. It was the same that he had summoned one evening at the +Hotel Steinbock, and treated there as an addle-brain, as a visionary, +and even as an imbecile; but this time he gave him a more indulgent +and gracious reception. He bore him no ill-will, he wished him well, +he was under essential obligations to him, and Samuel Brohl was no +ingrate. + +"Ah! well, my poor friend, I am here," he said, in that mute language +that phantoms understand. "I have taken your place, and almost your +form; I play your part in the great fair of this world, and, although +your noble body has rested for four years, six feet underground, +thanks to me you still live. I always have had a most sincere +admiration for you. I considered you a phenomenon, a prodigy. You were +courageous, devoted, generosity itself; you esteemed honour above all +the gold deposits in California; you detested all coarse thoughts and +doubtful actions; your mother had nourished you in all sublime +follies. You were a true chevalier, a true Pole, the last Don Quixote +in this age of sceptics, plunderers, and interlopers. Blessed be the +chance that made us acquainted! You lived retired, solitary, unknown, +in a miserable hovel just outside of Bucharest. So goes the world! You +were in hiding--you who had nothing to hide from either God or man-- +you who deserved a crown. Alas! the Russian Government had the poor +taste not to appreciate your exploits, and you feared that it would +claim and obtain your extradition. At our first meeting I pleased you, +and you took me into your friendship; I spoke Polish, and you loved +music. I became your intimate friend, your sole companion, your +confidant. You must grant that you owe to me the last happy moments of +your short existence. I soon knew your origin, the history of your +youth, of your enterprises, and of your misfortunes. You initiated me +into the secret of the great invention that you had just made; you +explained to me in detail the mechanism of your famous gun. I was +intelligent; I understood, or thought I understood. This gun, you +said, would one day make my fortune, for, on your own account, you had +renounced all hope; you had heart-disease, and you knew that you were +condemned to a speedy end. My imagination was kindled. Through my +entreaty you decided to leave with me for Vienna. This expedition was +fatal to you, but I swear to you I did not foresee it." + +Samuel crossed his hands on his knee; then he continued: "May my +tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth, may my blood cease to flow in +my veins, may the marrow dry up in my bones, if ever I forget to be +grateful for what I owe to you, Abel Larinski, or cease to remember +the forlorn hovel in which we passed the first night of our journey! +You were attacked by suffocation. You had only time to call and wake +me. I hastened to you. You gave me, in a dying voice, your last +instructions. You delivered into my hands your last fifty florins, +which were as acceptable as an orange would have been to the +shipwrecked passengers of the Medusa. Then you pointed with your +finger to a box, in which were inclosed family relics, letters, your +journal, and papers. You said: 'Destroy all that; Poland is dead, let +no one remember that I have lived!' After that you breathed your last. +Well! I confess that I did not fulfil your orders. I kept your +mother's portrait, the papers, all; and, in announcing your decease to +the police, I made them believe that the man who was dead was named +Samuel Brohl, and that Count Larinski still lived. What would you have +me do? The temptation was too great. Samuel Brohl had disgraceful +antecedents, he was base-born, he had been sold; there was a stain on +his past that never could be wiped away, and, as he had had the +misfortune to read the poets, it had come about that he often despised +himself. It was, indeed, time that he should be thrown into the shade, +and my joy was extreme to know that he was dead, and to feel that I +was alive. As soon as I succeeded in persuading myself that I was +indeed Count Abel Larinski, I was as happy as a child whose parents +have dressed him in new clothes, and who struts about to show them. +With your name I acquired a noble past; in thought, I roamed through +it with delight; I visited its every nook and corner, as a poor devil +would make the circuit of a park that he has just come to inherit. You +bequeathed me your relations, your adventures, your exploits. When you +fought for your country, I was there; when you received a gun-shot- +wound near Dubrod, it was into my flesh that the bullet penetrated. Of +what do you complain? Between friends is not everything in common? I +left my own skin, I entered yours; I was satisfied there, and desired +to remain. To-day I resemble you in everything; I assure you that if +we were seen together it would be difficult to tell us apart. I have +assumed your habits, your manners, your language, the poise of your +head, your playful melancholy, your pride, your opinions, all, even to +the colour of your hair and your handwriting. Abel Larinski, I have +become you: I mistake, I am more Pole, more Larinski, than you were +yourself." + +At this moment Samuel Brohl had a singular expression of countenance; +his gaze was fixed. He was no longer of this world--he conversed with +a spirit; but he was neither terrified nor awed, as was Hamlet in +talking to the shade of his father. He treated familiarly the shade of +the true Abel Larinski; it was precisely as we treat a partner that +has transacted business with us in the same firm. + +"It is very true, my dear Abel," he continued, "that the principle of +partnership accomplishes wonders; one man alone is a small affair. +But, of all partnerships, the most useful and convenient is the one +that we have made together. The living and the dead can render each +other important services, and they never quarrel. You should be +satisfied; you play a fine role; you are the signature of the house. +We will not speak of your gun; that was a poor speculation, for which +I scarcely can pardon you. It was the fault of your disordered brain +that we wandered off on that bypath, but, thanks be to Heaven! we have +at last gained the highway. Five weeks ago we met a woman, and what a +woman! She has velvety-brown eyes, whence glances well forth like +fresh and living waters. To praise her grace properly, I must borrow +the language of the 'Song of Solomon': 'Thy lips, O my spouse! drop as +the honey-comb; honey and milk are under thy tongue; and the smell of +thy garments is like the smell of Lebanon. This thy stature is like to +a palm-tree. Thou art all fair, my love; there is no spot in thee. A +garden inclosed is my sister, my spouse: a spring shut up--a fountain +sealed.' Some day she will cry out, with the Shulamite, 'Let my +beloved come into his garden, and eat his pleasant fruits.' She +belongs to us, my dear Larinski--my dear partner; she had yielded, and +you and I share the honour of the victory. I presented myself before +her, and my presence did not displease her. I related to her your +history, as you would have related it yourself, with delicacy and +simplicity, neither adding nor omitting. Her heart was touched; her +heart was taken captive. You will wed her--she will bear your name; +but you will marry her by proxy, and I shall be your proctor. I +promise to consider myself your mandatory, or, to express it better, +you will own the property and I will have the usufruct. Never fear +that I shall forget what I owe to you, or the modesty proper to my +estate." + +At these words, he made a grand gesture, as if to banish the phantom +that he had conjured up, and that fled away trembling with sorrow, +shame, and indignation. The peacock cried anew a mournful shriek. +"Stupid bird!" thought Samuel Brohl, quaking with sudden dread. + +He looked at his watch, and reflected that the hour was advancing-- +that he was losing time with the spirits. He rose hastily, and wended +his way toward Cormeilles; thence he wished to come upon a sunny path +that led to the banks of the Seine, and Sartrouville, the belfry of +which was plainly visible. When he reached the foot of the declivity, +he turned his head and saw, on the summit of the hill, through the +space left by the crooked branches of two plantains, a white wall, +that seemed to laugh amid the verdure, and a little higher the pointed +roof of the dove-cote, where Mlle. Moriaz's doves had their nests. He +did not need to look long at this roof to recognise it. He threw a +burning kiss in the air--a kiss that was sent to the doves as well as +to the dove-cote--to the house as well as to the woman--to the woman +as well as the house. For the first time in his life, Samuel Brohl was +in love; but Samuel Brohl's love differed from Abel Larinski's. When +they adore a woman, be she as beautiful as a picture, the frame, if it +is a rich one, pleases them as much as the painting; and they propose +to possess their mistress with all her appendages and appurtenances. + + + +CHAPTER V + +Mme. de Lorcy was a woman of about fifty years of age, who still +possessed remains of beauty. She had been a widow for long years, and +never had thought of marrying again. Although her wedded life had been +a happy one, she considered that liberty is to be prized above all +else; she employed hers in a most irreproachable manner. She was self- +possessed, even better acquainted with numbers than with dress, and +managed her property herself, which was by no means a trifling thing +to do. Liking to make good use of her time, she thought to do it by +busying herself in the affairs of others. She had a real vocation for +the profession of a consulting lawyer. Usually her advice was sensible +and judicious--nothing better could be done than to follow it; only +her clients complained that she pronounced her sentences with too +little tenderness, without granting any appeal. She was good, +charitable, but lacked unction, and she had no sympathy with the +illusions of others. A German poet, in making his New-Year offerings, +wishes that the rich may be kind-hearted, that the poor may have +bread, that the ladies may have pretty dresses, that the men may have +patience, that the foolish may get a little reason, and that sensible +people may grow poetic. Mme. de Lorcy was kind-hearted, she had pretty +dresses and a great deal of reason; but her reason was wanting in +poetry, and poetic people to whom she gave advice required a good deal +of patience to listen to the end. Those who permitted themselves to +despise her counsel, and who were happy after their own fashion, +incurred her lasting displeasure. She obstinately asserted to them +that their seeming happiness was all a deceit; that they had fastened +a stone about their necks; and that, without appearing to do so, at +the bottom of their hearts they bitterly repented. She added, "It is +not my fault; I told you, but you would not believe me." + +Mme. de Lorcy had an almost maternal affection for her nephew, M. +Camille Langis. Confident that he could not be otherwise than +successful in a love-affair, she promised him that he should marry +Mlle. Moriaz. To be sure, he was rather young; but she had decided +that the question of age made no difference, and that in all else +there was a perfect fitness between the parties. M. Langis hesitated a +long time about declaring himself. He said to Mme. de Lorcy: "If she +refuse me, I shall no longer be able to see her; and so long as I can +see her, I am only half-wretched." It was Mme. de Lorcy who forced him +to draw his sword and open the campaign, in which she was to act as +second. This campaign had not been a successful one. Deeply wounded at +the refusal, which she had in vain attempted to prevent, she was ready +to force Mlle. Moriaz into compliance. They made her believe, to +pacify her, that the sentence was not definite, or at least that a +period of grace would be granted to the condemned. M. Langis set out +for Hungary, and he had now returned. In the mean time, Antoinette had +refused two offers. Mme. de Lorcy had inferred this to be a favourable +omen for her projects. Thus she felt annoyance mingled with anger on +receiving the following letter from M. Moriaz: + + "DEAR MADAME: + + "You will be charmed to learn that I am extremely well. My cheeks + are full, my complexion florid, my legs as nimble as a chamois, my + appetite like that of an ogre. If ever you become anemic, which + God forbid, you should set out forthwith for Saint Moritz, and I + shall soon have good news from you. Saint Moritz is a place where + you find what you want, but you find, besides, what you do not + want. I do not speak of bears; I have not seen any, and should I + meet one, I am strong enough to strangle it. Besides, bears are + taciturn animals, they never relate their histories, and the only + animals I fear are those that have the gift of narrating, and that + one is not allowed to strangle. I will say no more. Have I made + myself intelligible? You are so intelligent. + + "Apropos, Antoinette sends you a sketch or a painting, I do not + know which, that will be handed to you by Count Abel Larinski. He + is a Pole, of that there can be no doubt; you will perceive it at + once. I wish him well; he was obliging enough to extricate me from + a breakneck position into which I had foolishly thrust myself. + That I have a pair of legs to walk on, and a hand to write with, I + owe to him. I recommend him to your kind reception, and I beg you + to get him to relate his history. He is one of those who narrate, + not every day, it is true, but when you touch the right spring, he + starts, and cannot be stopped. Seriously, M. Larinski is no + ordinary man; you will find pleasure in his acquaintance. I have + discovered that he is in rather embarrassed circumstances. He is + the son of an emigrant, whose property has been confiscated. His + father was a half fool, who made great attempts to cut a channel + through the Isthmus of Panama, and never succeeded in cutting his + way through anything. He was himself beginning to earn money in + San Francisco, when, in 1863, he gave everything up to go and + fight against the Russians. This enthusiastic patriot has since + adopted the calling of an inventor, in which he has been + unsuccessful; he is now in search of a livelihood. Do not think he + will ask for anything; he is an hidalgo; he wraps himself proudly + in his poverty, as a Castilian does in his cloak. I am interested + in him,; I want to assist him, give him a lift; but, first, I wish + to feel sure that he is worthy of my sympathy. Examine him + closely, sift him well; I trust your eyes rather than my own; I + have the greatest faith in your skill in this kind of valuation. + + "Antoinette sends you her most affectionate greetings. She adores + Saint Moritz; you would think that she had found something here + which has wrought a charm over her. For my own part, I am + delighted to have recovered my appetite, my sleep, and all the + rest, and yet I regret having come; can you reconcile that? Let me + know as soon as possible what you think of my Pole; but, pray do + not condemn him unheard. No hasty decision, I entreat; an expert + is bound not to be influenced by his prejudices, but to weigh his + judgments as his words. Adieu, dear madame; pity me in spite of my + full cheeks." + +Madame de Lorcy replied in these words, by return mail: + + "You are indeed innocent, my dear professor, and your finesse is + but too apparent; I could not help understanding. Is she, indeed + so foolish. I did not think her overwise; but here she astonishes + me more than I would have believed. You can tell her, for me--or + rather don't say anything to her; I will only speak to you, I am + too angry to reason with her. I will see your Pole, I await him + resolutely; but, in truth, I have seen him already. I am well + acquainted with him, I know him by heart; I have no doubt that he + is some impostor. I will examine him without prejudice, with + religious impartiality. You are so good as to remind me that an + expert suspends his judgment. I will hold my police force in + reserve, and I will let you know before long what I think of your + adventurer. Ah! yes, I do pity you, poor man. After all, however, + you alone are to blame; is it my fault that you did not know how + to act? God bless you!" + +At the time when Samuel Brohl, seated amid the heather, in an oak- +grove, was conversing with phantoms, Mme. de Lorcy, alone in her +/salon/, was occupied with her needlework, and her thoughts, which +revolved in a circle, like a horse in a riding-school. She had for +several days been expecting Count Abel Larinski's visit; she wondered +at his want of promptness, and suspected that he was afraid of her. +This suspicion pleased her. Several times she fancied she heard a +man's step in the antechamber, at which she started nervously, and the +rose-coloured strings of her cap fluttered on her shoulders. + +Suddenly, while she was counting her stitches, with head bent down, +some one entered without her perceiving it, seized her hand, and, +devoutly kissing it, threw his hat on the table, and then dropped into +a chair, where he remained motionless, with his legs stretched out, +and his eyes riveted on the floor. + +"Oh! It is you, Camille," exclaimed Mme. de Lorcy. "You come apropos. +Well?" + +"Well! yes, madame, that is it," replied M. Langis; "and you see +before you the most unhappy of men. Why is your pond dry? I want to +fling myself into it head foremost." + +Mme. de Lorcy laid down her embroidery, and crossed her arms. "So you +have returned?" said she. + +"Would to God I never had gone there! It is a land where poison is +sold, and I have drunk of it." + +"Don't abuse metaphors. You have seen her? What did you say to her?" + +"Nothing, madame--nothing of what is in my heart. I made her believe +that I had reflected, and changed my views; that I was entirely cured +of my foolish passion for her; that I was simply making her a friendly +visit. Yes, madame, I remained half a day with her, and during the +half day I never once betrayed myself. I convinced her that the mask +was a face. Tell me, conscientiously, have you ever read of a more +heroic act in Plutarch's /Lives of Great Men/?" + +"She herself, what did she say to you?" + +"She was so enchanted, so delighted with the change, that she was +dying to embrace me." + +"She shall pay for it. And he, did you see him?" + +"Just caught a glimpse of him, looked up to him as was befitting the +humility of my position. This fortunate man, this glorious mortal, was +enthroned on the top of the mail-coach." + +"Is he really so fascinating?" + +"He has, I assure you, a certain look of deep profundity, and he bears +his exploits inscribed on his brow. What am I, to contend against him! +You must allow that I have the appearance of a school-boy. And yet, if +I were to boast. This road in Transylvania for which I had the +contract was by no means easy to construct. We had to cut through the +solid rock, working in the air, suspended by ropes. This perilous +labour so disheartened our workmen that some of them left us; to +encourage the rest, I was slung up like them, and like them handled +the pickaxe. One day, in the explosion of a charge a piece of stone +struck the rope of one of my men with such violence that it cut it as +clean in two as the edge of a razor would have done. The man fell--I +believed him to be lost; by a miracle, his clothes caught in some +brushwood, to which he succeeded in clinging. It was I who went to his +assistance, and I swear to you that in this rescue I proved the +strength of my muscles, and ran the risk twenty times of breaking my +neck. The workmen had mistrusted me on account of my youth; from that +day, I can assure you, they held me in respect." + +"Did you relate this incident to Antoinette?" + +"What would have been the use? With women it does not suffice to be a +great man; you must have the look of one too." And Camille Langis +cried out, clinching his hands: "Ah! madame, I entreat you, do you +know where I can procure a Polish head, a Polish mustache, a Polish +smile? Pray, where are these articles to be had, and what is their +market price? I will not haggle! O women! what a set you are--plague +on you!" + +"And are aunts the same?" gravely asked Mme. de Lorcy. + +He answered more calmly: "No, madame, you are a woman without an +equal, and I name you every day in my prayers. You are my only +resource, my consolation, my counsel. Do not refuse me your precious +instructions! What ought I to do?" + +Mme. de Lorcy gazed up at the ceiling for an instant, and then said: +"Love elsewhere, my dear; abandon this foolish girl to her fate and +her Pole." + +He started and replied: "You demand what is impossible. I am no longer +my own master; she has taken possession of me--she holds me. Love +elsewhere? Can you think of it? I detest her--I curse her--but I adore +her!" + +She rejoined: "You should not use hyperbole any more than metaphors. +Both are unsolid food. When you decide not to love, you will love no +more." + +"That supposes that I have several hearts to choose from. I never had +but one, and that no longer belongs to me. So you refuse me your +advice?" + +"What advice would you have me give you before having seen M. Larinski +--before having taken the measure of this hero?" + +"What! you expect to see him?" + +"I am waiting for him to call, and I am sorry he keeps me waiting." + +"Seriously, will you receive this man?" + +"I have been asked to examine him." + +"I am lost, if you feel the need of hearing before condemning him. Our +most sacred duty is to be resolutely unjust towards the enemies of our +friends." + +"Nonsense! I shall not be indulgent towards him." + +"Do as you like; I have my plan." + +"What is it?" + +"I shall seek some groundless quarrel with this contraband, this +poacher, and I will blow his brains out." + +"A fine scheme, my dear Camille! And afterward, when you have killed +him, you will have gained a great deal. Have you confidence in me? I +have already begun to work for you. The Abbe Miollens, as you know, is +well acquainted in the society of Polish emigrants; I have sent to him +for information. I have also written to Vienna for intelligence +concerning him. Antoinette is foolish in forming such an acquaintance, +it must be admitted; but, in matters of honour, she is as delicate as +an ermine in tending the whiteness of her robe; if there be in M. +Larinski's past a stain no larger than a ten-sou piece, she will +forever discard him. Let me act; be wise, do not blow out any one's +brains. /Grand Dieu!/ what would become of us, if the only way to get +rid of people was by killing them?" + +As she pronounced these words a servant entered, bearing a card on a +silver salver. She took the card and exclaimed: "When you speak of the +wolf-- Here is our man!" She begged M. Langis to retire; he implored +permission to remain, promising to be a model of discretion. She was +insisting on his leaving when Count Abel Larinski appeared. + +Samuel Brohl had scarcely taken three steps in Mme. de Lorcy's /salon/ +before he conjectured why M. Moriaz had asked him to go there, and +what was the significance of the commission with which he was charged. +Notwithstanding the /salon/ had a southern exposure, and that it was +then the middle of the month of August, it seemed to him to be cold +there. He thought that he felt a draught of chilly air, an icy wind, +which pierced him through and through, and caused him an unpleasant +shiver. He did not need to look very attentively at Mme. de Lorcy to +be convinced that he was before his judge, and that this judge was not +a friendly one; and, as soon as his gaze met that of M. Camille +Langis, something warned him that this young man was his enemy. Samuel +Brohl had the gift of observation. + +He delivered his message, and handed Mme. de Lorcy the little +portfolio that contained Mlle. Moriaz's painting, expressing his +regret that business had prevented his coming sooner. Mme. de Lorcy +thanked him for his kindness, with rather a cool politeness, and asked +him for news of her goddaughter. He did not expatiate on this topic. + +"The valley of Saint Moritz is a dreary country," she next said. + +"Rather say, madame, that it is a dreary country possessing a great +charm for those who love it." + +"It appears that Mlle. Moriaz is almost wearied to death there. I +should think she would die of ennui." + +"Do you think her capable of yielding to ennui in any place?" + +"Certainly, do not doubt it; but she has recourse to her imagination +to dispel the tedium. She has a marvellous talent for procuring +herself diversion and for varying her pleasures. Hers is an +imagination having many relays: no sooner is one horse exhausted than +there is another to take its place." + +"That is a precious gift," he replied, briefly. "I assure you, +however, that you calumniate the Engadine. The trees there are not so +well grown as those in your park; but the Alpine fir and pine have +their beauty." + +"You went to this hole for your health, monsieur?" + +"Yes, and no, madame. I was not ill, but any physician contended that +I should be still better if I breathed the air of the Alps for three +weeks. It was taking a cure as a preventive." + +"M. Larinski made the ascent of the Morteratsch," said Camille, who, +seated on a divan with his arms extended on his knees, never had +ceased to look at Samuel Brohl with a hard and hostile glance. "That +is an exploit that can be performed only by well people." + +"It is no exploit," replied Samuel; "it is a work of patience, easy +for those who are not subject to vertigo." + +"You are too modest," rejoined the young man. "Had I done as much, I +would sound a trumpet." + +"Have you attempted the ascent?" asked Samuel. + +"Not at all. I do not care about having feats of prowess to relate," +he replied, in an almost challenging tone. + +Mme. de Lorcy hastened to interrupt the conversation by saying, "Is +this the first time you have been in Paris, monsieur?" + +"Yes, madame," replied Samuel, who withdrew more and more into his +shell. + +"And does Paris please you as much as a pine-grove?" + +"Much more, madame." + +"Have you any acquaintances?" + +"None; and the truth is, I have no desire to make any." + +"Why?" + +"Shall I tell you my reason? I am not fond of breaking ice, and Poles +complain that there is nothing in the world so icy as Parisian +coldness." + +"That explains itself," cried Camille. "Paris, that is Paris proper, +is a small city of a hundred thousand souls, and this small city is +invaded more and more, by strangers who come here to seek pleasure or +fortune. It is but natural that Paris should protect itself." + +"Parisians pride themselves on their penetration," replied Samuel. "It +does not require much of it to distinguish an honest man from an +adventurer." + +"Ah! permit me," returned M. Langis, "that depends a good deal on +practice. The most skillful are deceived." + +Samuel Brohl rose and made a movement to leave. Mme. de Lorcy insisted +on his sitting down again. She saw that she had made a bad beginning +in the fulfilment of her office of examining magistrate, and of +gaining the prisoner's confidence. Fearing that Camille, in spite of +his promise, would spoil everything by some insult, she found a +pretext to send him away; she begged that he would go and examine a +pair of horses that were a recent acquisition. + +As soon as he was gone, she changed her manner; she grew amiable, she +endeavoured to remove the ill impression of her first welcome; she put +Count Abel at his ease, who felt that the air lost its chilliness +about him. Without appearing to do so, she made him undergo an +examination- she asked him many questions; he replied promptly. +Visitors came in; it was an hour before he took leave, after having +promised Mme. de Lorcy to dine with her the next day. + +She did not wait until then to write to M. Moriaz. Her letter was thus +conceived: + + +"August 16, 1875. + + "You recommend me to be impartial, my dear friend. Why should I not + be? It is true that I have dreamed of a certain marriage: one of + the parties would not listen to my propositions, and the other had + abandoned the idea. My project has come to nothing. Camille has + enjoined me never to speak of it to him again. You see I am no + longer interested in the question, or, rather, I have in the + matter no other interest than that which I feel for Antoinette, + whose happiness is as dear to me as it is to you. Apropos, do not + give her my letters; read to her the passages that you judge + suitable to communicate to her--I leave that to your discretion. + + "First of all, let me unfold to you my humble opinions. I am + charged with having prejudices; it is a shocking calumny. I will + make you a profession of faith, and you shall judge. I am at war + with more than one point of our French morals; I deplore the habit + that we have formed of considering marriage as a business + transaction, of esteeming it as a financial or commercial + partnership, and making everything subordinate to the equality of + the personal estates. This principle is revolting to me, my dear + friend. We are accused in foreign countries of being an immoral + people. Heavens! it seems to me that we understand and practise + virtue quite as much as the English or Germans, and, to speak the + whole truth, I am not afraid to advance the opinion that this, of + all the countries of the universe, is the one where there is the + most virtue. It is not at that point that we sin. Our misfortune + is, that we are too rational in our habits of life, too + circumspect, too prudent; we lack boldness in our undertakings; we + wish, as it is said, to have one foot on firm land and the other + not far off. We must have security; we do not like risk; doubtful + affairs do not please us; we are too prone to look ahead, and to + look ahead is to fear. That is one reason why we send out no + colonies, and that is the reason we have no more children. Are you + satisfied with me? + + "Napoleon I was in the habit of saying that, in fighting a battle, + he so ordered matters as to have seventy chances out of a hundred + in his favour; he left the rest to Fate. Ah! brave people, life is + a battle, but the French of to-day will not risk anything. They + are the most honest, the least romantic of men, and I regret it. + Read Antoinette this passage of my letter. Our young people think + that they have a right to the paternal fortune; they consider that + their father is wanting in his duty if he does not leave them a + settled position, a certain future. Their second preconceived + notion is that they must find a wife who will bring them as much + at least as they have to offer her. I have so much, you have so + much--we are evidently created for each other; let us marry. All + this is deplorable. I like better to hear of the young American + who only expects from his parents the education necessary for a + man to make his way; he has his tools given to him and the method + of using them, but not a sou. You have learned to swim, my friend + --swim. After that he marries, most frequently a woman who has + nothing, and who loves to spend money. May the God Dollar protect + him! he will gaily make an opening for himself in life, and his + wife will give him ten children, who will follow the same course + as their father. Where it is customary for hunger to marry thirst, + there are happy marriages, and a hardy race of people. In all + conscience, am I not romantic enough? + + "Let me consider another case. Take a man who has fortune: he + profits thereby to consult his heart only, and offer his name and + revenues to the woman he loves and who has no dower. I clap my + hands, I think it the best of examples, and I regret that it is so + seldom practised among us. In France princes never are seen + marrying shepherdesses; on the contrary, one too often sees + penniless sons-in-law carrying off heiresses, and that is + precisely the most objectionable case. In a romance, or at the + theatre, the poor young man who marries a million is a very noble + person; in life it is different. Not if the poor young man had a + profession or a trade, if he could procure by his own work a + sufficient income to render him independent of his wife; but if he + submit to be dependent on her, if he expect from her his daily + bread, to roll in her carriage, to ask her for the expenses of his + toilet, for his pocket-money, and perhaps for sundry questionable + outlays--frankly, this young man lacks pride; and what is a man + who has no pride? Besides, what surety is there that in marrying + it is, indeed, the woman he is in love with and not the dower? Who + assures me that Count Abel Larinski?--I name no one, personalities + are odious, and I own there are exceptions. /Dieu/, how rare they + are! If I were Antoinette, I would love the poor, but in their own + interest. I would not marry them. The interest of the whole human + race is at stake. Beggars are inventive; let them have their own + way to make, and they will be sure to invent some means of + livelihood; give them the key of a cash-box, and they will cease + to strive, you have destroyed their genius. My dear professor, in + fifteen years I have brought about a great many marriages. Three + times I have married hunger to thirst, and, thank God, I once + decided a millionaire to marry a poor girl who had not a sou, but + I never aided a beggar to marry a rich girl. Now you have my + principles and ideas--Are you listening to me still? You fall + asleep sometimes while listening to a sermon. Good! you open your + eyes--I proceed: + + "I have seen your man. Well, sincerely, he only half pleases me. I + do not deny that he has a handsome head; a sculptor might use it + as a model. I will add that his eyes are very interesting, by + turns grave, gentle, gay, or melancholy. I have nothing to say + against his manners or his language; his address is excellent, and + he is no booby--far from it. With all this there is something + about him that shocks me--I scarcely know what--a mingling of two + natures that I cannot explain. He might be said to resemble, + according to circumstances, a lion or a fox; I believe that the + fox-nature predominates, that the lion is supplementary. I simply + give you my impressions, which I am perfectly willing to be + induced to change. I am inclined to fancy that M. Larinski passed + his first youth amid vulgar surroundings, that later he came into + contact with good society, and being intelligent soon shook off + the force of early influences; but there still remain some traces + of these. While he was in my /salon/ his eyes twice took an + inventory of its contents, and that with a rapidity which would + have done credit to a practised appraiser. It was then, + especially, that he had the air of a fox. + + "Nor is this all. I read the other day the story of a princess who + was travelling over the world, and asked hospitality, one evening, + at the door of a palace. Was she a real princess or an + adventuress? The queen who received her judged it well to + ascertain. For this purpose she prepared for her, with her own + hands, a soft bed, composed of two mattresses, on which she piled + five feather-beds; between the two mattresses she slipped three + peas. The next day the traveller was asked how she had slept. + 'Very badly,' she replied. 'I do not know what was in my bed, but + my whole body is bruised; I am black and blue, and I never closed + my eyes until dawn!' 'She is a true princess,' cried the queen. Is + M. Larinski a true prince? I made him undergo the test of the + three peas. I allowed myself to question him with indiscreet, + urgent, improper curiosity; he did not appear to feel the + indiscretion. He replied promptly and submissively; he endeavoured + to satisfy me, and I was not satisfied. I shall see him again + to-morrow--he comes to dine at Maisons. I only wish to be able to + prove to myself that he is a true prince. + + "My dear professor, you are the most imprudent of men, and, + whatever happens, you have only yourself to blame. People do not + open their doors so easily to strangers. You tell me that, thanks + to M. Larinski's kindness, you did not break your leg. Mercy on + me! a father would better break his leg in three places than + expose his daughter to the risk of marrying an adventurer; his leg + could be easily set. There is nothing so frightful in that. + + "/Postscriptum/.--I open my letter. I want to prove to you how much + I desire to be just, and how far my impartiality goes. You know + that my neighbour, Abbe Miollens, lived a long time in Poland, and + has correspondents there. I begged him to get me information + concerning the count--of course, without explaining anything to + him. He reports that Count Abel Larinski is a true count. His + father, the confiscation of the property, the emigration to + America, the Isthmus of Panama--all is true; the history is + authentic. Countess Larinski was a saint. Concerning the son, + nothing is known; he must have been three or four years old when + he landed in New York. No one ever saw him; no one seems to know + anything about his taking part in the insurrection of 1863. Having + spoken the truth about his parents, it is to be presumed that he + told the truth about himself. Very well, but one can fight for + one's country, and have a saint for one's mother, and yet possess + none of the qualities that go towards making a happy household. I + take back the word adventurer, but I still hold to all I have said + about him. Why did he take an inventory of my furniture with his + eyes? Why did he sleep so soundly in a bed where there were three + peas? This requires an explanation. + + "Kiss Antoinette for me. Give my regards to Mlle. Moiseney, without + telling her that I think her a simpleton; it is a conviction in + which I shall die. Was it, indeed, very difficult to descend from + that terrible rock of yours?" + +Three days later, Mme. de Lorcy wrote a second letter: + + +"August 19th. + + "I have received this very moment, my dear monsieur, the reply from + Vienna that I have been expecting, and which I hasten to share + with you. I had applied to our friend Baron B---, first secretary + of the embassy from France to Vienna, in order to try to learn + what reputation Count Larinski had left there. He is esteemed + there as a most worthy man; as an inventor who was more daring + than wise; as a devoted patriot; as one of those Poles whose only + thought is of Poland and of their Utopia, and who would set fire + to the four corners of the earth without wincing, for the sole + purpose of procuring embers at which to roast their chestnuts. I + will not return to the subject of the gun; you know all about it. + It seems that there was some good in this explosive gun, and that + he who invented it united a sort of genius with ingenuousness, + inexperience, and ignorance enough to make one weep. Nothing can + be said against the private character of the man. He had a few + debts, and his tradespeople felt considerable anxiety when he left + Vienna one morning on foot. He had no sooner reached Switzerland + than he sent back money to settle everything. Here we have an + admirable trait. However, his tastes were simple, and he led a + steady life; it was the gun that brought his finances into + disorder. I will add that M. Larinski visited in Vienna at several + of the most distinguished houses, where he is remembered most + kindly. He was sought everywhere on account of his talents as a + musician, which were far more to be relied on than his talent as a + gunsmith. He plays the piano to perfection, and has a very + beautiful voice. Had he employed these talents, he could have made + his way to the opera, but his dignity held him back. Now you know + what has been communicated to me by Baron B---. On the faith of an + honest woman, I have neither added nor omitted anything. + + "I am going to astonish you. Would you believe that I am beginning + to be reconciled to Count Larinski? What shocked me in him is + explained and excused by his long residence in America. He is a + mixed breed of Yankee and Pole. Far from having prejudices against + him, I now have them in his favour. Do you know, I am by no means + sure that he cherishes in his heart any serious sentiment for your + daughter? As a man of taste he admires her. I should like to know + who would not admire her! I suspect Antoinette of allowing her + imagination to become excited about nothing. He talks of her on + all occasions in as free and tranquil a fashion as he would talk + of a work of art. I find it impossible to believe that he is in + love. I have in vain watched his green eyes. I never have seen a + suspicious look. + + "As I announced to you, he came to Maisons yesterday to dine. I had + invited Abbe Miollens, and Camille had invited himself, promising + that he would act like a philosopher; he only half kept his + promise: for I must inform you that my nephew has conceived, I do + not know why, an insurmountable antipathy to M. Larinski; he is + subject to taking dislikes to people. During dinner, Abbe + Miollens, who is a great linguist and a great traveller, and who + has at the ends of his fingers everything concerning Poland and + the Poles, led the conversation to the insurrection of 1863. M. + Larinski, at first, refrained from discussing this sad subject; + little by little the flood-gates were opened: he related his + adventures or campaigns without boasting, praising others rather + than himself; when suddenly his voice grew husky and his eyes dim, + he interrupted himself, and begged we would speak of other things. + Fortunately, at this moment, he did not see Camille, whose lips + were a sinister smile. Young Frenchmen have become such sceptics! + I made eyes at the bad boy, and on leaving the table I sent him to + smoke a cigar in the park. + + "I should confess to you that M. Larinski has made a conquest of + Abbe Miollens, who of all men is the most difficult to please, and + who disputes with Providence the privilege of fathoming the depths + of the human heart. You are aware that the abbe is a remarkable + violinist: he sent for his instrument; M. Larinski seated himself + at the piano, and the two gentlemen played a concert by Mozart-- + divine music performed by two angels of the first class. The + conversation that followed charmed me more than the concerto. I do + not know by what fatality we came to speak of marriage. I did not + miss the opportunity to disclose with a most innocent air, my + little theories, with which you are acquainted. Would you believe + that the count concurred, more than concurred, with my views? He + is more royalist than the king; he does not admit that a good rule + allows of any exception. According to him, a poor man who marries + a rich woman forfeits his honour, debases himself, sells himself; + he is a man in bondage. He developed this theme with sombre + eloquence. I assure you that the lion no longer bore resemblance + to the fox. + + "After the departure of this fine musician and great orator, Abbe + Miollens, remaining alone with me, told me how much he was charmed + with his conversation and manners; he could not cease to sing his + praises. I think he went a little too far. However, I joined with + him in regretting that a man of his merit should be reduced to + live by expedients. The abbe's arm reaches a long way; he promised + me that he would busy himself, at the expense of all other + business, to find some employment for M. Larinski. He remembered + that there was some talk of establishing in London an + international school for the living languages. One of the founders + of this institute had applied to him to learn if he could + recommend some professor of the Slavonian languages. It would be + exactly the thing, and I should be delighted to procure for your + /protégé/ an occupation that would insure all the happiness that + it is possible to enjoy on the other side of the Channel. After + this, will you still accuse me of being prejudiced against him? + + "Adieu, my dear monsieur. Give my tender love to my amiable + goddaughter. I rely on you to read my letters to her with care and + discretion. Little girls should have only a part of the truth." + +Eight days afterward Mme. de Lorcy wrote a third letter, which was +thus expressed: + + +"August 27th. + + "I am more and more content with M. Larinski. I blame myself for + the suspicions with which he inspired me. The Viennese were right + to consider him a worthy man, and Abbe Miollens has not valued him + too highly. You write, on your part, my dear friend, that you are + not dissatisfied with Antoinette. She is gay, tranquil; she walks, + paints, never speaks of Count Abel Larinski, and, when you speak + to her of him, she smiles and does not reply. You claim that she + has reflected; that time and absence have wrought their effect. + 'Out of sight, out of mind,' you say. Take care! I am more + mistrustful than you. Are you very sure that Antoinette may not be + a slyboots? + + "What is certain is, that I received a charming epistle from her, + in which there is no more mention of M. Larinski than if Poland + and the Pole did not exist. She praises Engadine; she pretends + that she would ask for nothing better than to end her days in a + pine-forest. I can read between the lines that it would be a pine- + forest after her own heart, where there would be reunions, balls, + guests to dinner, small parties, a conservatory of music, and the + opera. The last paragraph of her letter is devoted to the + insurrection in Herzegovina, and it is hardly worth while to say + that all her sympathies are with the insurgents. 'If I were a + man,' she writes, 'I would go and fight for them.' That is very + well; she always took the part of thieves against the police. I + remember long ago--she was ten years old--I told her the story of + an unfortunate traveller besieged in a forest by an army of + wolves. He made a barricade about himself, and around it he + lighted great fires. The wolves fell into the flames, where they + roasted, one after the other. Antoinette began to weep bitterly, + and I imagined that she was lamenting the terror of the + unfortunate man. 'Not at all,' she cried: 'the poor beasts!' She + was made so; we cannot remake her. She will always side with the + wolves, especially with the lean ones who scarcely can make two + ends meet. + + "I told you that Count Larinski was a worthy man. He came to see me + the day before yesterday. We have become very good friends. I + asked him if Paris still pleased him, and he replied, with the + most gracious smile, 'What I like best in Paris is Maisons + Lafitte.' Thereupon he said some exceedingly pretty things, which + I will not repeat. We walked /tete-a- tete/ around the park. + Heaven be praised that I returned heart-whole! We talked politics; + he bears the reputation of being hot-headed, but he is not wanting + in good sense. I wished to know if he was in favour of the Turks + or of the Bosnians. He replied: + + " 'As a Christian, as a Catholic, I am interested in the Christians + of the East, and I am for the Cross against the Crescent.' He + pronounced these words, Christian, Catholic, and cross, in a tone + full of unction. I surmise that he is a devotee. He added, 'As a + Pole, I am for Turkey.' + + " 'I believed,' said I, 'that the Poles had sympathy with all the + oppressed.' + + " 'Poles,' he replied, 'cannot like those who like their + oppressors, and they cannot forget that the Osmanlis are their + natural allies, and, on occasions, their refuge.' + + "I gave him Antoinette's letter to read. I was very glad, at any + hazard, to prove to him that she could write four pages without + asking about him. He read it with extreme attention: but when he + came to the famous passage--'If I were a man, I would go and fight + for them!'--he smiled, and returned me the letter, saying, in a + disdainful and rather a dry tone: + + " 'Write for me to Mlle. Moriaz that I believe I am a man, yet that + I will not fight for the Bosnians, and that the Turks are my + greatest friends.' + + " 'She is foolish,' I said. 'Fortunately, she changes her folly + with every new moon!' + + " 'What would you have?' he replied; 'in order not to be insipid, + it is well to be a little foolish. My poor mother used often to + say: "My son, youth should be employed in laying by a great store + of extravagant enthusiasm; otherwise, at the end of life's journey + the heart will be void, for much is left on the road." ' + + "Calm, /seigneur/, your excited fears, no one has designs on your + daughter; we evidently find her charming, but are by no means in + love with her. With much precaution and circumlocution I gently + proceeded to question Count Larinski on the state of his affairs, + about which he never has opened his mouth. He frowned. I did not + lose courage. I offered him this place of professor of the + Slavonian languages of which the abbe had again spoken. I saw in + an instant that his sensitive pride had taken alarm. However, upon + reflection, he softened, thanked me, declined my kind offer, and + announced--guess what! How much is my news worth? what will you + give for it? He announced, I tell you, that in two weeks--you + understand me--he will return to Vienna, where he has been + promised a post in the archives of the Minister of War. I did not + dare to ask what was the salary; after all, if he is satisfied, it + is not for us to be harder to please than he. When I affirm that + Count Larinski is a good, worthy man!--In two weeks! you + understand me perfectly. + + "My dear friend, I am enchanted to know that the water of Saint + Moritz and the air of the Engadine have entirely re-established + your health; but do not be imprudent. Half-cures are fatal. Be + careful not to leave Churwalden too soon, for the descent into the + heavy atmosphere of the plains. Your physician, whom I have just + seen, declares that, if you hasten your return he will not answer + for the consequences. Antoinette, I am sure, will join her + entreaties to ours. Do not let us see you before the end of three + weeks! Follow my orders, my dear professor, and all will go well. + Camille is about to leave; he has become insupportable. He had the + audacity to assert to me that I was a good woman, but very + credulous, which in my estimation is not very polite. He no longer + acts as a nephew, and respect is dead." + +Ten days later M. Moriaz received at Churwalden a fourth and last +letter: + + +"September 6th. + + "Decidedly my dear friend, Count Larinski is a delightful man, and + I never will pardon myself for having judged ill of him. The day + before yesterday I did not know the extent of his merit and of his + virtues. His beautiful soul is like a country where one passes + from one pleasing discovery to another, and at each step a new + scene is revealed. Between ourselves, Antoinette is a dreamer: + where has she got the idea that this man is in love with her? + These Counts Larinski have artists' enthusiasm, tender and + sensitive hearts, and poetic imaginations; they love everything, + and they love nothing; they admire a pretty woman as they admire a + beautiful flower, a humming-bird, a picture of Titian's. Did I + tell you that the other day, as I was showing him through my park, + he almost fainted before my purple beech--which assuredly is a + marvel? He was in ecstasy; I truly believe there were tears in his + eyes. I might have supposed he was in love with my beech; yet he + has not asked my permission to marry it. + + "Moreover, if he were up to his eyes in love with your daughter, + have no fear; he will not marry her, and this is the reason-- Wait + a little, I must go further back. + + "Abbe Miollens came to see me yesterday afternoon; he was + distressed that M. Larinski had not approved of his proposition. + + " 'The evil is not so great,' I said; 'let him go back to Vienna, + where all his acquaintances are; he will be happier there.' + + " 'The evil that I see in it,' he replied, 'is that he will be lost + to us forever. Vienna is so far away! Professor in London, only + ten hours' journey from Paris, he could cross the Channel + sometimes, and we could have our music together.' + + "You can understand that this reasoning did not touch me in the + least; whatever it cost me I will bear it, and resign myself to + lose M. Larinski forever; but the abbe is obstinate. + + " 'I fear,' he said, 'that the Austrians pay their archivists + badly; the English manage matters better, and Lord C--- gave me + /carte blanche/.' + + " 'Oh! but that,' rejoined I, 'is a delicate point to touch. As + soon as you approach the bread-and-butter question, our man + assumes a rigid, formal manner, as if an attack had been made on + his dignity.' + + " 'I truly believe,' he replied, 'that there is a fundamental basis + of incomparable nobility of sentiment in his character; he is not + proud, he is pride itself.' + + "The abbe is passionately fond of Horace; he assets that it is to + this great poet that he owes that profound knowledge of men for + which he is distinguished. He quoted a Latin verse that he was + kind enough to translate for me, and that signified something + equivalent to the statement that certain horses rear and kick when + you touch the sensitive spot. 'That is like the Poles,' he said. + + "Meanwhile, M. Larinski entered, and I retained the two gentlemen + to dinner. In the evening they again gave me a concert. Why was + Antoinette not there? I fancied I was at the Conservatoire. Then + we conversed, and the abbe, who never can let go his idea, said, + without any reserve, to the count: + + " 'My dear count, have you reflected? If you go to London, we could + hope to see you often; and, besides, the salary--well, as this + terrible word has been spoken, listen to me; I will do all in my + power to obtain conditions for you in every way worthy of your + merit, your learning, your character, your position.' + + "He was not permitted to finish the list; the count reared like the + horse in Horace, exclaiming, 'O Mozart! what a horrid subject of + conversation!' Then he added, gravely: 'M. l'Abbe, you are a + thousand times too good, but the place offered to me in Vienna + seems to me better adapted to my kind of ability; I would make, I + fear, a detestable professor, and the salary, were it double, + would in my opinion have but little weight.' + + "The abbe still insisted. 'In our century,' said he, 'less than any + other, can one live on air.' + + " 'I have lived on it sometimes,' replied the count, gaily, 'and I + did not find it bad. My health is proof against accidents. Ah! + where money is concerned, you have no idea how far my indifference + goes. It is not a virtue with me, it is an infirmity; it is + because of my nationality, because I am my father's son. I feel + myself incapable of thinking of the future, of practising + thoroughly French habits of economy. If my purse is full, I soon + empty it; after which I condemn myself to privations--no, that + does not express it--I enjoy them. According to me, there is no + true happiness into which a little suffering does not enter. + Besides, I have a taste for contrasts. At times I believe myself a + millionaire, I have the pretensions of a nabob; I give full scope + to my fancies; the next day, my bed is hard and I live on bread- + and-water, and am perfectly happy. In short, I am a fool once in + the year, and a philosopher the rest of the time.' + + " 'The trouble is,' returned the abbe, 'that one day of folly will + sometimes suffice to compromise forever the future of a + philosopher.' + + " 'Oh, reassure yourself,' replied he; 'my extravagances never are + very dangerous. There was method in Hamlet's madness, and there is + always a little reason in mine.' + + "While making this declaration of principles, he had seated himself + at the piano, and idly began running his fingers over the keys. + Suddenly he began to sing a German song, which I got Abbe Miollens + to translate for me, and which is not long. The hero of the song + is an amorous pine, standing on the summit of a barren mountain of + the north. He is alone; he is weary; the snow and ice wrap him in + a white mantle, and he spends his dreary hours of leisure in + dreaming of a palm, which in days of yore he met, it seems, in his + travels. + + "M. Larinski sang this little melody with so much pathos that the + good abbe was touched, and I became anxious. Anxiety, once felt, + is apt to be constantly returning. I asked myself if he had met + his palm in the Engadine, and added aloud, rather dryly: 'Is the + day of your departure definitely fixed? will you not do us the + favour of granting us a reprieve?' + + "He executed the most pearly chromatic scale, and replied: 'Alas! + madame, I am only deferring my departure on account of a letter + that cannot be much longer delayed; in less than a week, I shall + have the distress of bidding you farewell.' + + " 'You shall not leave,' said Abbe Miollens, 'without letting us + hear once again the poem of the pine. You sang it with so much + soul that it seemed to me you must be relating an episode of your + own history. My dear count, did you ever chance to dream of a + palm?' + + "He answered: 'I have no longer the right to dream; I am no longer + free.' + + "The abbe started and cried out, in his simple-hearted way, 'Ah! + what, are you married?' + + " 'I thought I had told you so,' replied he with a melancholy + smile, and he hastened to speak of a ballet that he had seen the + evening before at the opera, and with which he was only half + pleased. + + "You can readily believe that when he pronounced the words, 'I + thought I had told you so,' I was on the point of falling on his + neck; I was so happy, that I was afraid he would read in my eyes + my joy, astonishment, and profound gratitude. I think that he is + very keen, and that he has conjectured for some time the mistrust + with which he inspired me. If he wanted to mock me a little, I + will pardon him; a good man unjustly suspected has a perfect right + to revenge himself by a little irony. I ordered the horses to be + put to my carriage to take him over to the railroad, and the abbe + and I accompanied him as far as the station. There cannot be too + much regard shown to honest people who have been abused by + fortune. + + "Well! what do you say, my dear friend? Was I wrong in claiming + that M. Larinski is a delightful man? He will leave before the end + of a week, and he is married, unhappily married, I fear, for his + smile was melancholy. You see he may have married out of gratitude + some /grisette/, some little working-woman, who nursed him through + illness, one of those women who are not presentable; that would be + thoroughly in character. Happily, in law there are no good or bad + marriages; this one I hold to be unimpeachable. + + "The reaction was violent: I am so rejoiced that I feel tempted to + illuminate Cormeilles and Maisons Lafitte. In what way will your + undeceive our dreamer? In your place I would use some precautions. + Be prudent; go bridle in hand; and in the future, believe me, + climb no more among the rocks; you see what it may lead to. + + "Once more, do not hasten your departure. We have had for some days + stifling heat; we literally suffocate. You need to spend a + fortnight longer amid the shade of the pine-trees, and four + thousand feet above the level of the sea. + + "Adieu, my dear professor! I am interrupted in my writing by the + incredulous, the sceptical, the suspicious, the absurd, the + ridiculous Camille, who respectfully recommends himself to your + indulgent friendship." + + + +CHAPTER VI + +In reading the fourth letter of Mme. de Lorcy, M. Moriaz experienced a +feeling of satisfaction and deliverance, over which he was not master. +His daughter had gone to pay a visit in the neighbourhood, and he was +alone with Mlle. Moiseney, who said to him, "You have received good +news, monsieur?" + +"It is excellent," he replied; then, promptly correcting himself, he +added: "Excellent, or to be regretted, or vexatious; I leave that to +our powers of discernment." + +When he had finished reading the letter, and replaced it in the +envelope, he remained thoughtful for some moments; he was wondering +how he should proceed to announce the excellent news. For three weeks +his daughter had been a mystery to him. She never once had pronounced +the name of Count Larinski. Churwalden pleased her as much as Saint +Moritz; apparently, she was gay, tranquil, perfectly happy. Had her +delusion passed away? Had she changed her mind? M. Moriaz did not +know; but he surmised that still waters should be mistrusted, and that +a young girl's imagination is like an abyss. One thoroughly good +warning is worth two indifferent ones; henceforth, he feared +everything. "If I speak to her," thought he, "I shall not be able to +dissimulate my joy, and perhaps she will go into hysterics." He had a +horror of hysterics; he resolved to have recourse to Mlle. Moiseney, +and he said to her, abruptly: + +"I suppose, mademoiselle, that you are acquainted with all that has +passed, and that Antoinette has given you her confidence?" + +She opened her eyes wide, and was on the point of answering that she +knew nothing; but she restrained herself, and setting her little +pointed head erect on her thin shoulders, she said, proudly, "Can you +imagine that Antoinette would keep any secrets from me?" + +"Heaven forbid!" replied he. "And do you approve, do you encourage her +sentiments for M. Larinski?" + +Mlle. Moiseney started; she had been far from suspecting that Count +Larinski had specially impressed Mlle. Moriaz, and, as on certain +occasions her mind worked rapidly, she understood immediately all the +consequences of this prodigious event. There was a cloud before her +eyes, and in this cloud she beheld all manner of things, both pleasing +and displeasing to her; her mouth open, she strove to clear her ideas. +She said to herself: "It is an imprudent act; not only that, it cannot +be;" but she also said: "Mlle. Antoinette can no more make a mistake +than the Queen of England can; because she wishes it, she is right in +wishing it." Mlle. Moiseney ended by regaining her self-possession; +her lips formed the most pleasant smile, as she exclaimed: + +"He has no fortune, but he has a beautiful name. Mme. la Comtesse +Larinski! it sounds well to the ear." + +"Like music; I grant, it is perfect," rejoined M. Moriaz. +"Unfortunately, music is not everything in the affairs of this world." + +She was not listening to him. Full of her own idea, without taking +time to breathe: "You jest, monsieur," she continued, with +extraordinary volubility. "Believe me or not, I have foreseen this +marriage for some time. I have presentiments that never deceive me. I +was sure that it would be thus. What a handsome couple! Fancy them +driving in an open carriage through the park, or entering a +proscenium-box at the opera! They will make a sensation. And truly, +without boasting, I think I may call your attention to the fact that I +have been of some account in the affair. The first time I saw Count +Larinski, you know, at the /table d'hote/ in Bergun, I recognised at +once that he was beyond comparison--" + +"By-the-way, he ate trout?" interrupted M. Moriaz; "it does honour to +your discernment." + +"You had better ask Antoinette," replied she, "if that very evening I +did not praise the handsome stranger. She maintained that he stooped, +and that his head was badly poised; would you believe it?--his head +badly poised! Ah! I was sure it would end so. Do you wish to prove my +discernment? Shall I tell you where your letter comes from that +contains such excellent news? The count wrote it; he has at last +proposed. I guessed it at once. Ah! monsieur, I sympathize in your +joy. He is, indeed, the son-in-law that I have dreamed of for you. A +superior man, so open-hearted, so unaffected and frank!" + +"Do you really think so?" asked M. Moriaz, fanning himself with the +letter. + +"He related to us his whole life," rejoined she, in a pedantic tone. +"How many people could do as much?" + +"A delightful narration. I only regret that he was silent concerning +one detail which was of a nature to interest us." + +"An unpleasant detail?" she asked, raising her gooseberry-coloured +eyes to him. + +"On the contrary, a circumstance that does him honour, and for which I +am obliged to him. Believe me, my dear demoiselle, I should be charmed +to receive a son-in-law from your hands, and to give my daughter to a +man whose genius and noble sentiments you divined from merely seeing +him eat. Unfortunately, I fear this marriage will not come about; +there is one little difficulty." + +"What?" + +"Count Larinski forgot to apprise us that he was already married." + +Mlle. Moiseney sent forth a doleful cry. M. Moriaz handed her Mme. de +Lorcy's letter; after reading it, she remained in a state of deep +dejection; a pitiless finger had burst the iris bubble that she had +just blown, and that she saw resplendent at the end of her pipe. + +"Do not give way to your despair," said M. Moriaz; "take courage, +follow the example I set you, imitate my resignation. But tell me, how +do you think Antoinette will take the matter?" + +"It will be a terrible blow to her," replied Mlle. Moiseney; "she +loves him so much!" + +"How do you know, since she has not judged it best to tell you?" + +"I know from circumstances. Poor dear Antoinette! The greatest +consideration must be used in announcing to her this intelligence; and +I alone, I believe--" + +"I agree with you," M. Moriaz hastened to interpose; "you alone are +capable of operating on our patient without causing her suffering. You +are so skilful! your hand is so light! Make the best of the situation, +mademoiselle--I leave it to you." + +With these words he took up his hat and cane, and hastened to get +away, rather anxious about what had passed, yet feeling too happy, too +much rejoiced, to be a good consoler. + +It was not long before Mlle. Moriaz returned from her walk. She came +humming a ballad; she was joyous, her complexion brilliant, her eyes +sparkling, and she carried an armful of heather and ferns. Mlle. +Moiseney went to meet her, her face mournful, her head bent down, her +glance tearful. + +"Why! what is the matter, my dear Joan?" she said; "you look like a +funeral." + +"Alas!" sighed Mlle. Moiseney, "I have sad news to communicate." + +"What! have they written to you from Cormeilles that your parrot is +dead?" + +"Ah, my dear child, be reasonable, be strong; summon up all your +courage." + +"For the love of God, what is the matter?" + +"Ah! would that I could spare you this trouble! Your father has just +received a letter from Mme. de Lorcy." + +Antoinette grew more attentive, her breath came quickly. "And what was +there in this letter that is so terrible, so heart-rending?" she +asked, forcing a smile. + +"Fortunately, I am here," replied Mlle. Moiseney. "You know that your +joys and your sorrows are mine. All the consolation that I can lavish +upon you, the tenderest sympathy--" + +"My dear Joan, in the name of Heaven, explain first, and then +console!" + +"You told me nothing, my child--I have a right to complain; but I have +divined all. I can read your heart. I am sure that you love him." + +"Of whom do you speak?" replied Antoinette, whose colour rose in her +cheeks. + +"Of a most charming man, who, either through inconceivable stupidity, +or through most criminal calculation, neglected to tell us that he was +married." + +And with these words, Mlle. Moiseney extended both arms, that she +might receive into them Mlle. Moriaz, whom she believed to be already +swooning. + +Mlle. Moriaz did not swoon. She flushed crimson, then grew very pale; +but she remained standing, her head proudly erect, and she said, in a +tone of well-feigned indifference: "Oh! M. Larinski is married? My +very sincere compliments to the Countess Larinski." + +After which she busied herself arranging in a vase the heather and +ferns she had brought back with her. Mlle. Moiseney stood lost in +astonishment at her calm; she gazed in a stupor at her, and suddenly +exclaimed: "Thank God! you do not love him! Your father has mistaken, +he often mistakes; he sometimes gets the strangest ideas into his +mind; he was persuaded that this would be a death-blow to you; he does +not know you at all. Ah! unquestionably, M. Larinski is far from being +disagreeable; I do not dispute his having some merit; but I always +thought that there was something suspicious about him; his manners +were a little equivocal; I suspected him of hiding something from us. +As it appears, he has made a /mesalliance/ that he did not care to +acknowledge. It is deplorable that a man of such excellent address +should have low tastes and doubtful morality. His duty was to tell us +all; he was neither loyal nor delicate." + +"You dream, my dear," replied Antoinette. "What law, human or divine, +obliged M. Larinski to tell us everything? Did you expect him to +render an account of his deeds and misdeeds to us as to a tribunal of +penance?" + +In speaking thus, she took off her hat and mantilla, seated herself in +the embrasure of a window, and opened a book which she began to read +with great attention. + +"God be praised! she does not love him," thought Mlle. Moiseney, who +was not aware that Mlle. Moriaz was turning two or three pages at a +time with perceiving it. + +Deeply absorbed as she was, she still recognised her father's step as +he came upstairs to his room. She hurried out to meet him. He noticed +with pleasure that her face was not wan, nor were her eyes red. He was +less satisfied when she said, in a calm, clear voice: + +"Please show me the letter that you have received from Mme. de Lorcy." + +"What is the use?" he rejoined. "I know it by heart. I am ready to +recite it to you." + +"Is it a letter that cannot be shown?" + +"No, indeed; but as I tell you that I am ready to give you an account +of it--" + +"I would prefer to read it with my own eyes." + +"After all, you have a right. There! take it. But I beg of you do not +be offended by unfortunate expressions." + +"Mme. de Lorcy always knows how to choose the proper word to express +her thought," she responded. + +When she had run her eye rapidly over Mme. de Lorcy's eight closely +written pages, she looked at her father and smiled. + +"You must own that you found a very useful and a very zealous ally in +Mme. de Lorcy; do her this justice, she has worked hard, and you owe +her many thanks for having busied herself so actively in ridding you +of 'this worthy man, this good man, this delightful man'; those are +her own words, if you remember." + +M. Moriaz exclaimed: "I hope you do not imagine that it was a matter +arranged between us. Do you really suspect me of having some dark plot +with Mme. de Lorcy! Do you believe me capable of being implicated in +an act of perfidy?" + +"God forbid! I only accuse you of being too joyous, and of not knowing +how to conceal it." + +"Is that a crime?" + +"Perhaps it is an indiscretion." + +"I swear to you, my dear child, that I only consider your happiness, +and Mme. de Lorcy herself-- Since M. Langis no longer thinks of you, +what reason could she have--" + +"I do not know," interrupted Antoinette; "but her prejudice would take +the place of reason." + +"So you will not believe that Count Larinski is married?" + +"I believe it, without being certain, and I wish to be assured of it. +Have I not acted in good faith through all this matter? was I not +ready to comply with your conditions? I consented to refer to the +judgment of Mme. de Lorcy. She has deigned to be gracious to the +accused. She has admitted that M. Larinski is a perfectly honourable +and even a delightful man; but she has discovered, at intervals of +several days, first, that he does not love me, and then, that he has +deceived me by letting me believe that he was still free. I wish to +satisfy my own mind, and convince myself that I am not being played +with." + +"And you have concluded----" + +"I have concluded that, with your permission, we shall leave to-morrow +morning for Cormeilles." + +This conclusion was by no means agreeable to M. Moriaz, whose face +grew sensibly longer. + +"Of what are you afraid? You know that I have character, and you ought +to know, no matter what Mme. de Lorcy says, that I am not wanting in +good sense. When it is proved to me that I have deceived myself, I +will make the sign of the cross over my romance; it will be dead and +buried, and I promise you not to wear mourning for it." + +"So be it," said he; "I believe in your good sense, I have faith in +your reason: we shall leave to-morrow for Cormeilles." + +Four days later, Mme. de Lorcy was walking in an alley in her park. +She was joined there by M. Langis, to whom she said, in a good- +humoured tone: "Always grave and melancholy, my dear Camille! When +will you cease your drooping airs? I cannot understand you. I do my +best to be agreeable to you, to settle matters satisfactorily. Nothing +seems to cheer you. You make me think of the hare in La Fontaine: + + " 'Cet animal est triste, et la Crainte le ronge.' " + +"Fear and hate, madame," replied he. "I hate this man; he is +insupportable to me. I will give up coming to Maisons if I always must +meet him here. Has he paid you his adieux for the last time?" + +"Not yet; a little patience--we shall not count the minutes. Besides, +what harm can this man do you? The lion has lost his claws--what do I +say?--he has carried his good-nature to the point of muzzling himself. +It is not generous to pursue with hate a disarmed enemy." + +"Very well, madame, if he is not gone in three days, I return to my +first idea; it was the best." + +"You will cut his throat?" + +"With all my heart." + +"For the love of art?" + +"I am not a very bloodthirsty individual, but I would take a singular +delight in slashing at the skin of this gloomy personage." + +Mme. de Lorcy shrugged her shoulders. "What makes you think him +gloomy, my dear? You are perfectly reasonable. You ought to adore M. +Larinski; you are under the greatest obligations to him. He has been +the first to succeed in touching the heart of our dear, hitherto +insensible girl; he has broken the charm. She was the Sleeping Beauty; +he has awakened her, and, through the favour of Heaven, he cannot +marry her. I can see her in Churwalden, a prey to the gloomiest ennui, +weeping over her illusions, furious at having been deceived. Do you +not divine all the advantage that can be derived from a woman's +anger?" + +"You know that I love her, and yet I do not wish to owe anything to +her spite." + +"You are a child: be guided. The moment is come for you to propose. In +a few days you will start for Churwalden, and you will say to this +angry woman, 'I have lied--I love you.' In short, you will talk to her +of your amorous flame; and you may, freely, under these circumstances, +exhaust all your treasure-store of hyperbole. She will listen to you, +I can promise you, and she will say to herself, 'I seek vengeance-- +here it is.' " + +"I would like to believe you, madame," he replied, "but are you very +certain that Mlle. Moriaz is still at Churwalden?" + +And, pointing with his finger, he showed her at the end of the avenue +a figure coming towards them clad in a pretty nut-brown dress with a +long train sweeping the gravel. + +"Truly, I believe that it is she," cried Mme. de Lorcy. "M. Moriaz is +the most unskilful person; but, after all, not much harm is done." + +Mlle. Moriaz had arrived the evening previous at Cormeilles. After +resting somewhat from the fatigues of the journey, she had nothing +more urgent to do than to order the horses put to her coupe and to +come and pay her respects to her godmother, who could not fail to be +touched by this attention. + +Mme. de Lorcy ran to Antoinette and embraced her several times, +saying: "You are here at last! How charmed I am to see you again! You +made us wait long enough; I began to fear that you had taken root in +the Grisons. Is it indeed an enchanted land? I rather believe that +your father is a cruel egotist, that he shamefully sacrificed you to +his own convenience in prolonging his cure; but here you are--I will +pardon him. Your poor, your /proteges/, are clamorous for you. Who do +you think asked after you, the other day? Mlle. Galet, whom, according +to your orders, I supplied with her quarter's allowance. How you spoil +her! I found on her table a bouquet fit for a duchess; she insisted +that you had sent it to her from where you were, and I had all the +trouble in the world to make her understand that double camellias are +not gathered among the glaciers of Roseg. Strew with flowers, if you +will, Mlle. Galet's existence and garret; but do not fling at her head +a bushel of double camellias, streaked with white; it is madness. I +seriously propose to have you put under restraint. Never mind, I am +very happy to see you again. You are looking very well.--Don't you +think, Camille, that she appears extremely well?" + +Mlle. Moriaz coldly received Mme. de Lorcy's embraces; but she smiled +graciously on M. Langis, and pressed his hand affectionately. Mme. de +Lorcy led them into her /salon/, where they talked on indifferent +subjects. Antoinette was waiting for M. Langis's departure to broach +the subject that she had at heart. At the end of twenty minutes, he +rose, but immediately reseated himself. A door had just opened, giving +admittance to Count Abel Larinski. + +At the unexpected apparition of Samuel Brohl, the two women changed +colour; the one flushed from the effort that she made to dissimulate +her vexation, the other turned pale from emotion. Samuel Brohl crossed +the /salon/ with deliberate step, without appearing to recognise the +person who was with Mme. de Lorcy. Suddenly he trembled, as if he had +been touched by a torpedo, and, profoundly agitated, almost lost +countenance. Was he as much astonished as he seemed? For some time the +Sannois Hill had become his favourite promenade, and he never went +there without going as far as a certain spot whence he could see the +front of a certain house, the window-shutters of which had remained +during two months as though hermetically sealed. It might be that the +evening before he had found them open. Induction is a scientific +process with which Samuel Brohls are familiar. + +He had abundant will and self-control. He was not long in recovering +himself; he raised his head like one who feels himself strong enough +to defy all dangers. After greeting Mme. de Lorcy, he drew near +Antoinette, and asked how she was, in a grave, almost ceremonious +tone. + +"Your visit distresses me, my dear count," said Mme. de Lorcy to him; +"I fear it is the last. Have you come to bid us farewell?" + +"Alas! yes, madame," he replied. "The letter for which I have been +waiting has not yet arrived; but this delay will not alter my plans: +in three days I shall leave Paris." + +"Without a desire to return, without regret?" she asked. + +"I shall only regret Maisons, and the kind reception I have received +there. Paris is too large; little people like myself feel their +smallness more here than elsewhere; it does not require an excess of +pride for one to dislike being reduced to the state of an atom. +Residing in Vienna suits me better; I breathe freer there; it is a +city better adapted to my size and taste. Birds do wrong to change +their nests." + +Thereupon, he began to describe and warmly extol the Prater and its +fine walks, Schonbrunn, its botanical gardens and the Gloriette, the +church of St. Stephen's, and the limpid waters of the Danube; +sometimes addressing himself to Antoinette, who listened without a +word, and sometimes to Mme. de Lorcy, whose eyes were turned at +intervals towards M. Langis, seeming to say to him: "Was I not right? +Confess that your apprehensions lacked common-sense. Do you hear him? +he has only half an hour to spend with her, and he describes the +Prater. Are you still thinking of cutting his throat? Please say one +polite and civil word to him. It is not he, it is you who are gloomy. +Throw off your sinister air. How long will this taciturn reverie last +in which you are sunk? You make yourself a laughing-stock--you act +like a fool. You resemble a sphinx of the desert engaged in meditating +upon a serpent, and who mistakes an innocent adder for a viper." M. +Langis understood what she wished to say to him, but he did not throw +off his sinister air. + +After praising Vienna and its environs, Samuel Brohl eulogized the +easy, careless character of the Viennese. He told, in a sprightly way, +several anecdotes. His gaiety was rather feverish--somewhat forced +studied, and abrupt; but, nevertheless, it was gaiety. Mme. de Lorcy +responded to him, Mlle. Moriaz continued silent; she crumpled between +her fingers the guipure lace of her Marie-Antoinette fichu, and, with +fixed eye, she seemed to be counting the stitches. Samuel Brohl +interrupted himself in the midst of a sentence, and rose suddenly. He +turned towards Antoinette; in a hollow voice he begged her to tell M. +Moriaz how much he regretted that his early departure would deprive +him of the honour and pleasure of visiting him at Cormeilles; then he +bowed to Mme. de Lorcy, thanked her for the happy moments that he had +spent with her, and charged her to commend him to the kind remembrance +of Abbe Miollens. + +"We shall meet again, my dear count," she said to him, in a clear +voice, emphasizing her words; "and I hope that, before long, we shall +make the acquaintance of the Countess Larinski." + +He looked at her in astonishment, and murmured, "I lost my mother ten +years ago." + +Immediately, without giving Mme. de Lorcy time to explain herself, he +directed his steps hastily towards the door, followed by three +glances, all three of which spoke, although they did not all say the +same thing. The room was large; during the thirty seconds that it took +him to cross it, the angel of silence hovered in the air. + +He was about passing through the door, when, as fatality ordained, +there occurred to him an unfortunate and disastrous thought. He could +not resist the desire to see Mlle. Moriaz once more, to impress +forever on his memory her adored image. He turned, and their eyes met. +He paid dearly for this weakness of the will. Apparently the violent +restraint that he had exercised over himself for an hour had exhausted +his strength. It seemed to him that his heart ceased to beat; he felt +his legs stiffen, and refuse to serve him; his teeth clinched, his +pupils dilated, consciousness forsook him. Suddenly, heavily as a mass +of lead, he fell prone upon the floor, where he remained in a +senseless condition. + +Mlle. Moriaz could not suppress a cry, and seemed for a moment on the +point of fainting herself. Mme. de Lorcy drew her arm around her +waist, and hurried her into the next room, throwing to M. Langis a +bottle of salts as she did so, and saying, "Take care of Count +Larinski." + +The first thing that M. Langis did was to set the bottle on the table, +after which he went close up to Samuel Brohl, who, fainting and +inanimate, bore almost the appearance of death. He examined him an +instant, bent over him, then, folding his arms and shrugging his +shoulders, he said to him, "Monsieur, Mlle. Moriaz is no longer here." + +Samuel Brohl did not stir. "You did not hear me," continued Camille. +"You are superb, M. le Comte; you are very handsome; your attitude is +irreproachable, and you might well be taken for a dead person. You +fell admirably; I swear I never saw at the theatre a more successful +fainting-fit; but spare yourself further trouble for the performance. +I repeat, Mlle. Moriaz is no longer here." + +Samuel Brohl remained inert and rigid. + +"Perhaps you want to try the strength of my wrists," continued +Camille. "Very well, I will give you that satisfaction." + +And, with these words, he seized him round his waist, summoned all his +strength in order to lift him, and deposited him at full length on the +sofa. + +He examined him again, and said: "Will this tragi-comedy last much +longer? Shall I not find a secret to resuscitate you? Listen to me, +monsieur. I love with all my soul the woman that you pretend to love. +Does that not suffice? Monsieur, you are a Polish adventurer, and I +have as much admiration for your social talents as I have little +esteem for yourself. Does that not suffice yet? I would not, however, +lift my hand to you. I entreat you to consider the affront received." + +It seemed as if the dead man trembled slightly, and Camille exclaimed: +"Thank God! this time you have given sign of life, and the insult +found the way to your heart. I would be charmed to restore you to your +senses. I await your commands. The day, the place, and the weapons, I +leave to your choice. And, stay! You can count on my absolute +discretion. No one, I give you my word, shall learn from me that your +fainting-fit had ears, and resented insults. Here is my address, +monsieur." + +And, drawing from his pocket a visiting-card, he tried to slip it into +the cold, listless, pendent hand, which let it fall to the ground. + +"What obstinacy!" he said. "As you will, M. le Comte; I am at the end +of my eloquence." + +He turned his back, seated himself in a chair, and taking a paper, he +unfolded it. Meanwhile the door opened, and Mme. de Lorcy appeared. + +"What are you doing here, Camille?" she exclaimed. + +"You see, madame," he answered, "I am waiting until this great +comedian has finished playing his piece." + +He was not aware that Mlle. Moriaz also had just entered the /salon/. +She cast him an angry, indignant, threatening glance, in which he read +his condemnation. He tried to find some word of excuse or explanation +to disarm her anger, but his voice failed him. He bowed low, took his +hat, and went away. + +Mme. de Lorcy, very much agitated, opened a window; then she threw +water into Samuel Brohl's face, rubbed his temples with a vivacity +that was not altogether exempt from roughness, and made him smell +English salts. + +"Ah, my dear! pray go away," she said to Antoinette; "this is no place +for you." + +Antoinette did not go away; her face contracted, her lips trembling, +she seated herself aside at some distance from the sofa. + +Mme. de Lorcy's energetic exertions at last produced their effect. +Samuel Brohl was not dead; a quiver ran through his frame, his limbs +relaxed, and at the end of a few instants he reopened his eyes, then +his mouth; he sat up, and stammered: "Where am I? What has happened? +Ah, my God! it was but a moment ago that she was here!" + +Mme. de Lorcy laid her hand on his mouth, and, bending over his ears, +she said, in a severe, imperious tone, "She is here still!" + +She did not succeed in making herself understood. One only recovers by +degrees from such a fainting-fit. Samuel Brohl was again overcome by +weakness; his eyes closed once more, and he let his head sink between +his hands. After a silence of a few moments he said, in a choked +voice: "Ah! pardon me, madame. I am ashamed of myself. My courage +failed me; my strength betrayed me. I love her madly, and I had sworn +never to see her again. It was in order to fly from her that I was +going away." + +He raised his head; he saw Antoinette; he looked wildly at her, as +though he did not recognise her. + +He recognised her at last, made a gesture of alarm, rose +precipitately, and fled. + +Mlle. Moriaz drew near Mme. de Lorcy, and said to her, "Well, what do +you think of it?" + +"I think, my dear," she replied, "that Mme. de Lorcy is a fool, and +that Count Larinski is a powerful man." + +Antoinette looked at her with a bitter smile, and touched her arm +lightly. "Admit, madame," she said, "that if he had a hundred thousand +livres' income, you would not think of doubting his sincerity." + +Mme. de Lorcy did not reply; she could not say "No," and she was +enraged to feel that she was both right and wrong. It is an accident +that happens sometimes to women of the world. + + + +CHAPTER VII + +On her entering her coupe to return to Cormeilles, Mlle. Moriaz was +the prey of an agitation that did not calm down during the entire +drive. Her whole soul was stirred by a tender, passionate sentiment +for the man who had swooned away in taking farewell of her; she was +filled with anger against the foolish prejudices and the petty finesse +of the people of the world; filled with joy at having baffled a +monstrous conspiracy against her happiness; filled with pride because +she had seen clearly, because she had not mistaken in her choice, and +because the man whom she loved was worthy of being loved. During +several days she had suffered cruelly from anxiety, from actual agony +of mind, and over and over again she had said to herself, "Perhaps +they are right." A woman's heart believes itself to be at the mercy of +error, and it is torture to it to be obliged to doubt itself and its +own clairvoyance. When it is unmistakably demonstrated to it that its +god is only an idol of wood or of stone, that what was once adored +must henceforth be despised, it feels ready to die, and imagines that +some spring must give way in the vast machine of the universe, that +the sky must fall, the earth crumble away; and yet a woman's error of +judgment is not a matter of such very grave import. The sun continues +to shine, the earth to revolve upon its axis, as though it had not +occurred. The machine of the universe would be subject to quite too +many accidents should it become unsettled every time a woman made a +mistake. + +"It was I who was right; they were incapable of comprehending him," +though Mlle. Moriaz, as she crossed the Seine, and she contemplated +with a delighted eye the lovely blue sky, the tranquil waters, the +verdant banks of the river, with their long range of poplar-trees. It +seemed to her that all was going well, that order reigned everywhere, +that the Great Mechanician was at his post, that the world was in good +hands, and that travellers therein had no cause to fear untoward +mischance. + +When she arrived at Cormeilles, M. Moriaz was shut up in his +laboratory, which he had been overjoyed to find just as he had left +it. A velvet skull-cap perched on one side of his head, his sleeves +turned up, a brown holland apron tied round his neck and his waist, a +feather brush in his hand, he had proceeded at once to examine his +precious stock in detail--his furnaces, his long-necked, big-bellied +matrasses, the curved necks and the tubulures of his retorts, his +cucurbits, and his alembics. Balloons, tubes, pipettes, pneumatic +vats, receivers, cupels, lamps, bell-glasses, blow-pipes, and mortars, +he passed in review to assure himself that during his absence nothing +had been damaged. He carefully dusted his jars, examined the labels, +made sure that none of his treasures were cracked, that his gauges +were not out of order. He was as happy as a king who has his troops +pass in review before him, and feels convinced that they bear +themselves well; that they will stand fire and do honour to their +master. + +Agreeable as was the occupation to which for two hours he had devoted +himself, M. Moriaz had not forgotten the existence of his daughter and +of M. Larinski. He knew that Antoinette had repaired to Maisons +Lafitte to have an explanation with Mme. de Lorcy, and this thought +cast a shadow over his felicity. He hoped, however, that this +interview might turn out according to his wishes; that the Pole star, +which had caused him so much disquietude, might disappear forever from +his horizon. + +Some one knocked at the door of his laboratory. "Come in!" he cried, +and turning he saw Antoinette standing upon the threshold. He gazed at +her fixedly. Her eye was so animated, her countenance so beaming, so +luminous, that involuntarily he dropped his arms and let fall, as he +did so, a little vial he held in his hands. + +"Naughty girl, to cause such havoc in her father's laboratory!" she +cried, gaily. + +"The harm done is not very great," he replied; and he began diligently +brushing up the fragments of the vial. It was his way of gaining time, +but he did it so awkwardly that she snatched the brush from his hands: +"This is the way to sweep," said she. + +He watched her, saying to himself: "This is the reverse of the scene +at Churwalden. It is now I who wear a long face, and she cannot +dissemble her joy. Just requital of things here below." + +So soon as she had finished her brushing she looked around and +remarked: "Well, here you are once more in your paradise--this +enchanted spot, where you taste such ineffable delights." + +"Oh, yes, I am happy here--happy enough that is," he replied, with +modesty. + +"Fastidious creature! It is altogether charming in your laboratory." + +"Yes, it is suitable. Nevertheless, I often reflect that there is +something wanting. Do you know what my dream is? I should like to have +over in yonder corner a transparent /chapelle/. You, perhaps, are +unacquainted with a /chapelle/. It is a framework or basket-funnel +above a chimney, for facilitating the release of volatiles and +pernicious vapours, and having one side of glass. It enables the +chemist to watch the process taking place within. German chemists have +nearly always transparent /chapelles/ in their laboratories." + +"How can any one accuse you of lack of imagination?" she exclaimed. +"You are a very romantic man, and your romance is a transparent +/chapelle/. Now I know why you are so indulgent to the romances of +others." + +Then carelessly drawing the brush in her hand over an arm-chair, she +seated herself in it, placed another seat facing her, and said: "Come, +sit down here near me on this stool; I will put a cushion on it to +make you more comfortable. Come, I must talk with you." + +He drew near, seated himself, and put his ear towards her. "Must I +take off my apron?" he asked. + +"Why so?" + +"I foresee that our conversation will revolve about matters pertaining +to the height of romance. I wish to make a suitable appearance." + +"Nonsense! your apron is very becoming. All that I desire and +stipulate is, that you will accord me most religious attention." + +She then proceeded to recount to him, point by point, all that had +occurred at Mme. de Lorcy's. She began her recital in a tranquil tone; +she grew animated; she warmed up by degrees; her eyes sparkled. He +listened to her with deep chagrin; but he gazed on her with pride as +he did so, thinking, "/Mon Dieu/, how beautiful she is, and what a +lucky rascal is this Pole!" + +When she had ended, there was a moment's pause, during which she left +him to his reflections. As he maintained an ominous silence, she grew +impatient. "Speak," she exclaimed. "I wish to know your innermost +thoughts." + +"I think you are adorable." + +"Oh! please, do for once be serious." + +"Seriously," he rejoined, "I am not certain that you are wrong, nor +has it been proved to me that you are right; there remain some +doubts." + +She cried out eagerly: "According to this, the sole realities of this +world are things that can be seen, touched, felt--a retort and its +contents. Beyond this all is null and void, a lie, a cheat. Ah! your +wretched retorts and crucibles! If I followed out this thought, I +should be ready to break every one of them." + +She cast about her as she spoke so ferocious and threatening a look, +that M. Moriaz trembled for his laboratory, "I beg of you," he +protested, "have mercy on my poor crucibles, my honest retorts, my +innocent jars! They have nothing to do with this affair. Is it their +fault that the stories you narrate to me so disturb my usual train of +thoughts that I find it wholly impossible to make adroit replies?" + +"You do not, then, believe in the extraordinary?" + +"The extraordinary! Every time I encounter it, I salute it," replied +he, drawing off his cap and bowing low; "but at the same time I demand +its papers." + +"Ah! there we are. I really imagined that the investigation had been +made." + +"It was not conclusive, since it failed to convince Mme. de Lorcy." + +"Ah! who could convince Mme. de Lorcy? Do you forget how people of the +world are constituted, and how they detest all that astonishes, all +that exceeds their limits, all that they cannot weight with their +small balances, measure with their tiny compasses?" + +"/Peste!/ you are severe on the world; I always fancied that you were +fond of it." + +"I do not know whether I am fond of it or not; it is certain that I +scarcely should know how to live without it; but I surely may be +permitted to pass an opinion on it, and I often tell myself that if +Christ should reappear among us with his train of publicans and +fisherman--are you listening?--that if the meek and the lowly Jesus +should come to preach his Sermon on the Mount in the Boulevard des +Italiens--" + +"To make a show of probability," he interrupted, "suppose you were to +place the scene at Montmartre. Frankly, I cannot see what possible +connection there can be between the Christ and your Count Larinski; +and, pray, do not let us enter into a theological discussion; you know +it is wholly out of my line. Religion seems to me an excellent thing, +a most useful thing, and I freely accept Christianity, minus the +romantic side, with which I have no time to occupy myself. You will at +least grant me that, if there are true miracles, there are also false +ones. How distinguish them?" + +"It is the heart that must decide," said she. + +"Oh! the infallibility of the heart!" exclaimed he. "There never was +council yet that voted that." + +There was a pause, after which M. Moriaz resumed: "And so, my dear, +you are persuaded that M. Larinski is still free, and that Mme. de +Lorcy lied?" + +"Not at all; if she had lied, she would not have betrayed herself so +naively just now. I accuse her of deceiving herself, or rather of +having wished to deceive herself. Do you know what you are going to +do--I mean this evening--after dinner? You are going to order up the +carriage, and you are going--" + +"To Paris, Rue Mont-Thabor!" he exclaimed, bounding up in his seat. +"Very good, I will put on a dress-coat, and I will say to Count +Larinski: 'My dear monsieur, I come to demand your hand for my +daughter, who adores you. Certain malicious tongues assert that you +are no longer free; I do not believe them; besides, this would be a +mere bagatelle.' On the whole, I believe you would do better to put it +down in writing for me; left to myself I never will get through with +it; out of my professor's chair I have considerable difficulty in +finding words!" + +"Dear me, how hasty you are! Who suggests such a thing? Abbe Miollens +is our friend; he is a worthy man, whose testimony would be reliable." + +"Now this is something like! I see what you mean. At this rate you +will not need to prepare my harangue. Here we have an acceptable idea, +a possible interview. This evening, after my dinner, I shall go see +Abbe Miollens; but it is clearly understood, I presume, that if he +confirms the sentence--" + +"I shall not ask for its repeal, and I promise you that I will be +courageous beyond anything that you can imagine; you shall not so much +as suspect that I even regret my chimera. But, as a fair exchange, you +on your side must make me a promise. If Abbe Miollens--" + +"You know as well as I that you are of age." + +"I know as well as you that I never will be content without your +consent. Here once more as in the Engadine, I say, 'Either he or no +one.' " + +"Did I not warn you that when once a formula has been pronounced, one +is apt to keep on repeating it forever?" + +"Either he or no one: that is my last word. Would you not rather that +it should be he? Are you willing to accept him?" + +"I will submit." + +"With a good grace?" + +"With resignation." + +"With cheerful resignation?" + +"I shall certainly do my best to acquire it; or, rather, if he makes +you happy, I shall welcome him all the days of my life; in the +contrary case, I will repeat, morning and evening, like Mme. de Lorcy: +'You would not listen to me; you ought to have believed me.' " + +"It is agreed; you are a good father, and now we are in perfect +harmony," she replied, impulsively seizing his two hands, and pressing +them in her own. + +He watched her a moment between his half-closed eyes, and then he +cried, half resentfully: + +"But, /mon Dieu/ why do you love this man?" + +She replied, in a low voice: "Because I love him; this is my sole +reason; but I find it good." + +"Certainly most decisive. But, come, let us go quickly," he replied, +rising. "I fear that my retorts and crucibles, if they listen to you +much longer, will fall into a syncope as prolonged as that of M. +Larinski. Was ever such a debate heard of in a chemical laboratory?" + +As soon as dinner was over, M. Moriaz made ready to repair to Maisons, +where Abbe Miollens passed the summer in the vicinity of Mme. de +Lorcy. Mlle. Moiseney followed him to the carriage, and said: + +"You have a remarkable daughter, monsieur! With what courage she has +assumed her role! With what resolution she has renounced an impossible +happiness! Did you observe her during dinner? How tranquil she was! +how attentive! Is she not astonishing?" + +"As astonishing as you are sagacious," he replied. + +"Ah! undoubtedly; I never thought that she loved him so much as you +imagine I did: but he pleased her; she admired him. Did she ever utter +a word of complaint, or a sigh, on learning the cruel truth? what +strength of mind! what equability of temperament! what nobility of +sentiment! You do not admire her enough, monsieur; you are not proud +enough of having such a daughter. As to me, I glory in having been of +some value in her education. I always made a point of developing her +judgment, and putting her on her guard against all erratic tendencies. +Yes, I can safely say that I took great pains to cultivate and fortify +her reason." + +"I thank you with all my heart," rejoined M. Moriaz, leaning back in +one corner of the carriage; "you can most assuredly boast of having +accomplished a marvellous work; but I beg of you, mademoiselle, when +you have finished your discourse, will you kindly say to the coachman +that I am ready to start?" + +During the drive, M. Moriaz gave himself up to the most melancholy +reflections; he even tormented himself with sundry reproaches. "We +have acted contrary to good sense," he thought. "Her imagination has +been taken by storm; in time it would have calmed down. We should have +left her to herself, to her natural defence--her own good judgment, +for she has a large stock of it. I fell on the unlucky idea of calling +Mme. de Lorcy to my aid, and she has spoiled everything by her boasted +/finesse/. As soon as Antoinette had reason to suspect that her choice +was condemned by us, and that we were plotting the enemy's +destruction, the sympathy, mingled with admiration, which she accorded +to M. Larinski, became transformed into love; the fire smouldering +beneath ashes leaped up into flames. We neglected to count on that +passion which is innate in women, and which phrenologists call +combativeness. With her there is now a cause to be gained, and, when +love unites its interests with cards or with war, it becomes +irresistible. Truly our campaign is greatly jeopardized, unless Heaven +or M. Larinski interfere." + +Thus reasoned M. Moriaz, whom paternal misadventures and recent +experiences had rendered a better psychologist than he ever had been. +While busied with his reflections the carriage drove rapidly onward, +and thirty-five minutes sufficed to reach the little /maison de +campagne/ occupied by Abbe Miollens. He found him in his cabinet, +installed in a cushioned arm-chair embroidered by Mme. de Lorcy, +slowly sipping a cup of excellent tea brought him by the missionaries +from China. On his left was his violin-box, on his right his beloved +Horace, Orelli's edition, Zurich, 1844. + +Conversation began. As soon as M. Moriaz had pronounced the name of +Count Larinski, the abbe assumed the charmed and contented countenance +of a dog lying in wait for its favourite game. + +He exclaimed, "A most truly admirable man!" + +"Mercy upon us!" thought M. Moriaz. "Here we have an exordium +strangely similar to that of Mlle. Moiseney. Do they think to condemn +me to a state of perpetual admiration of their prodigy? I fear there +must be some kinship of spirit between our friend the abbe and that +crack-brained woman; that he is cousin-german to her at least." + +"How grateful I am to you, my dear monsieur," continued Abbe Miollens, +lying back in his chair, "for having given us the pleasure of the +acquaintance of this rare man! It is you who sent him to us; to you +belongs the merit of having discovered him, or invented him, if you +choose." + +"Oh! I beg of you not to exaggerate," humbly rejoined M. Moriaz. "He +invented himself, I assure you." + +"At all events it was you who patronized him, who made him known to +us; without you the world never would have suspected the existence of +this superb genius, this noble character, who was hidden from sight +like the violet in the grass." + +"He is unquestionably her cousin-german," thought M. Moriaz. + +"Only think," continued the abbe, "I have found M. Larinski all over +again in Horace! Yes, Horace has represented him, trait for trait, in +the person of Lollius. You know Marcus Lollius, to whom he addressed +Ode ix. of book iv., and who was consul in the year 733 after the +foundation of Rome. The resemblance is striking; pay attention!" + +Depositing his cup on the table he took the book in his right hand, +and placing the forefinger of his left by turns on his lips or +complacently following with it the lines of especial beauty in the +text, he exclaimed: "Now what do you say to this? 'Thy soul is wise,' +wrote Horace to Lollius, 'and resists with the same constancy the +temptations of happiness as those of adversity--/est animus tibi et +secundis temporibus dubiisque rectus/.' Is not this Count Larinski? +Listen further: 'Lollius detested fraud and cupidity; he despised +money which seduces most men--/abstinens ducentis ad se cuncta +pecuniae/.' This trait is very striking; I find even, between +ourselves, that our dear count despises money entirely too much, he +turns from it in horror, its very name is odious to him; he is an +Epictetus, he is a Diogenes, he is an anchorite of ancient times who +would live happily in a Thebaid. He told us himself that it made +little difference to him whether he dined on a piece of bread and a +glass of water, or in luxury at the Café Anglais. But I have not +finished. 'Happy be those,' exclaimed Horace, 'who know how to suffer +uncomplainingly the hardships of poverty--/qui duram que callet +pauperiem pati/!' Of whom does he speak--of Lollius, or of our friend, +who not only endures his poverty but who loves it, cherishes it as a +lover adores his mistress? And the final trait, what to you think of +it? Lollius was always ready to die for his country--'/non ille pro +patria timidus perire/.' In good faith, is it not curious? Does it not +seem as though Horace had known Count Larinski at Rome or at Tibur?" + +"I do not doubt it for an instant," replied M. Moriaz, taking the book +from the hands of Abbe Miollens and placing it respectfully on the +table. "Luckily, our friend Larinski, as you call him, fell upon the +excellent idea of resuscitating himself some thirty years ago, which +procured for us the great joy of meeting him at Saint Moritz; and +while we are on the subject-- My dear abbe, have you a free, impartial +mind? Can you listen to me? I have a question to propound, an +elucidation to demand. It is not only the friend to whom I address +myself, it is the confessor, the director of consciences, the man of +the whole universe in whose discretion I place most reliance." + +"I am all ears," responded the abbe, crossing the shapely legs in +which he took no little pride. + +M. Moriaz entered at once into the subject that troubled him. It was +some moments before Abbe Miollens divined whither he was tending. As +soon as he had grasped a ray of light, his face contracted, and +uncrossing his limbs, he cried: "Ah, what a misfortune! You will have +to renounce your delightful dream, my dear Monsieur, and, believe me, +no one can be more grieved than I. I fully comprehend with what joy +you would have seen your charming daughter consecrate, I will not say +her fortune, for you know as well as I how little Count Larinski would +care for that, but consecrate, I say, her graces, her beauty, and all +the qualities of her angelic character to the happiness of a man of +rare merit who has been cruelly scourged by Providence. She loves him, +she is loved by him; Heaven would have blest their union. Ah, what a +misfortune! I must repeat it, this marriage is impossible; our friend +is already married." + +"You are sure of it?" cried M. Moriaz, in a burst of enthusiasm that +the good abbe mistook for an access of despair. + +"I scarcely can pardon myself for causing you this pain. You ask if I +am sure of it! I have it from our friend himself. One evening, apropos +of I scarcely remember what, it occurred to me to ask if he were +married, and he replied, briefly: 'I thought I had told you so.' Ah! +my dear professor, it were needless to discuss whether such a marriage +would be a happy one, for it never can take place." + +"Well, now we have something positive," M. Moriaz hastened to observe, +"and there is nothing to do but yield to evidence." + +"Alas! yes," rejoined the abbe; and, then, after a pause, during which +he wore a reflective air, he added, "However--" + +"There is no 'however,' M. l'Abbe. Believe me, your word suffices." + +"But I might possibly have misunderstood." + +"I have entire confidence in your ears--they are excellent." + +"But pray allow me to observe that it is never worth while to despair +too soon. Do you know what? Count Larinski came recently to see me +without finding me at home. I owe him a farewell visit. To-morrow +morning, I promise you, I will call on him." + +"For what purpose?" interrupted M. Moriaz. "I thank you a thousand +times for your kindly intentions, but God forbid that I should +uselessly interfere with your daily pursuits; your time is too +precious! I declare myself completely edified. I consider the proof +firmly established; there is no further doubt." + +As Madame de Lorcy had remarked, Abbe Miollens was not one to easily +relax his hold upon an idea he had once deemed good. In vain M. Moriaz +combated his proposition, bestowing secret maledictions on his excess +of zeal; the abbe would not give up, and M. Moriaz was forced to be +resigned. It was agreed that the next day the worthy man should call +on Count Larinski, and that from Paris he should repair to Cormeilles, +in order to communicate to the proper person the result of his +mission. M. Moriaz perceived the advantage of having Antoinette learn +from the abbe's own lips the fatal truth; and he did not leave without +impressing upon him to be very circumspect, as prudent as a serpent, +as discreet as a father confessor. He started for home with quite a +contented mind, seeing the future lie smoothly and pleasantly before +him, and it really seemed to him that the drive from Maisons to +Cormeilles was a much shorter and more agreeable one than that from +Cormeilles to Maisons. + +Samuel Brohl was seated before an empty trunk, which he was apparently +about to pack, when he heard some one knock at his door. He went to +open it and found himself face to face with Abbe Miollens. From the +moment of their first meeting, Samuel Brohl had conceived for the abbe +that warm sympathy, that strong liking, with which he was always +inspired by people in whom he believed he recognised useful animals +who might be of advantage to him, whom he considered destined to +render him some essential service. He seldom mistook; he was a +admirable diagnostician; he recognised at first sight the divine +impress of predestination. He gave the most cordial reception to his +reverend friend, and ushered him into his modest quarters with all the +more /empressement/, because he detected at once the mysterious, +rather agitated air he wore. "Does he come in the quality of a +diplomatic agent, charged with some mission extraordinary?" he asked +himself. On his side the abbe studied Samuel Brohl without seeming to +do so. He was struck with his physiognomy, which expressed at this +moment a manly yet sorrowful pride. His eyes betrayed at intervals the +secret of some heroic grief that he had sworn to repress before men, +and to confess to God alone. + +He sat down with his guest, and they began to talk; but the abbe +directed the conversation into topics of the greatest indifference. +Samuel Brohl listened to him and replied with a melancholy grace. +Lively as was his curiosity he well knew how to hold it in check. +Samuel Brohl never had been in a hurry; during the month that had +elapsed he had proved that he knew how to wait--a faculty lacking in +more diplomates than one. + +Abbe Miollens's call had lasted during the usual time allotted to a +polite visit, and the worthy man seemed about to depart, when, +pointing with his forefinger to the open valise, he remarked: "I see +here preparations that grieve me. I did dream, my dear count, of +inviting you to Maisons. I have a spare chamber there which I might +offer to you. /Hoc erat in votis/, I should indeed have been happy to +have had you for a guest. We should have chatted and made music to our +hearts' content, close by a window opening on a garden. 'Hae latebrae +dulces, etiam, si credis, amoenae.' But, alas! you are going to leave +us; you do not care for the friendship accorded you here. Has Vienna +such superior attractions for you? But I remember, you will doubtless +be restored there to a pleasant home, a charming wife, children +perhaps who----" + +Samuel looked at him with an astonished, confused air, as he had +viewed Mme. de Lorcy when she undertook to speak to him of the +Countess Larinski. "What do you mean?" he finally asked. + +"Why, did you not confide to me yourself that you were married?" + +Samuel opened wide his eyes; during some moments he seemed to be in a +dream; then, suddenly putting his hand to his brow and beginning to +smile, he said: "Ah! I see--I see. Did you take me literally? I +thought you understood what I said. No, my dear abbe, I am not +married, and I never shall marry; but there are free unions as sacred, +as indissoluble as marriage." + +The abbe knit his brows, his countenance assumed an expression of +chagrin and disapproval. He was about delivering to his dear count a +sermon on the immorality and positive danger of free unions, but +Samuel Brohl gave him no time. "I am not going to Vienna to rejoin my +mistress," he interposed. "She never leaves me, she accompanies me +everywhere; she is here." + +Abbe Miollens cast about him a startled, bewildered gaze, expecting to +see a woman start out of some closet or come forward from behind some +curtain. + +"I tell you that she is here," repeated Samuel Brohl, pointing to an +alabaster statuette, posed on a /piedouche/. The statuette represented +a woman bound tightly, on whom two Cossacks were inflicting the knout; +the socle bore the inscription, "Polonia vincta et flagellata." + +The abbe's countenance became transformed in the twinkling of an eye, +the wrinkles smoothed away from his brow, his mouth relaxed, a joyous +light shone in his eyes. "How well it is that I came!" thought he. +"And under what obligations M. Moriaz will be to me!" + +Turning towards Samuel he exclaimed: + +"I am simply a fool; I imagined-- Ah! I comprehend, your mistress is +Poland; this is delightful, and it is truly a union that is as sacred +as marriage. It has, besides, this advantage--that it interferes with +nothing else. Poland is not jealous, and if, peradventure, you should +meet a woman worthy of you whom you would like to marry, your mistress +would have nothing to say against it. To speak accurately, however, +she is not your mistress; one's country is one's mother, and +reasonable mothers never prevent their sons from marrying." + +It was now Samuel's turn to assume a stern and sombre countenance. His +eye fixed upon the statuette, he replied: + +"You deceive yourself, M. l'Abbe, I belong to her, I have no longer +the right to dispose of either my heart, or my soul, or my life; she +will have my every thought and my last drop of blood. I am bound to +her by my vows quite as much, I think, as is the monk by his." + +"Excuse me, my dear count," said the abbe; "this is fanaticism, or I +greatly mistake. Since when have patriots come to take the vow of +celibacy? Their first duty is to become the fathers of children who +will become good citizens. The day when there will cease to be Poles, +there will cease also to be a Poland." + +Samuel Brohl interrupted him, pressing his arm earnestly, and saying: + +"Look at me well; have I not the appearance of an adventurer?" The +abbe recoiled. "This word shocks you?" continued Samuel. "Yes, I am a +man of adventures, born to be always on my feet, and ready to start +off at a moment's warning. Marriage was not instituted for those whose +lives are liable at any time to be in jeopardy." With a tragic accent, +he added: "You know what occurred in Bosnia. How do we know that war +may not very shortly be proclaimed, and who can foresee the +consequences? I must hold myself in readiness for the great day. +Perhaps an inscrutable Providence may ere long offer me a new occasion +to risk my life for my country; perhaps Poland will call me, crying, +'Come, I have need of thee!' If I should respond: 'I belong no more to +myself, I have given my heart to a woman who holds me in chains; I +have henceforth a roof, a family, a hearthstone, dear ties that I dare +not break!' I ask you, M. l'Abbe, would not Poland have a right to say +to me, 'Thou hast violated thy vow; thou hast denied me; upon thy head +rest forever my maledictions?' " + +Abbe Miollens had just taken a pinch of snuff, and he hearkened to +this harangue, tapping his fingers impatiently on the lid of his +handsome gold snuff-box, which had been presented to him by the most +amiable of his penitents. + +"If this be the way you view it," replied he, "is your conscience +quite tranquil, my dear friend? for you will permit me, I trust, to +call you so. Ay, is it sure that from your standpoint your conscience +has no accusations to make you? Is it certain that your heart has not +been unfaithful to its mistress? If I may believe a certain rumour +that has reached my ear, there took place a most singular scene +yesterday at the house of Mme. de Lorcy." + +Samuel Brohl trembled violently; he changed colour; he buried his face +in his hands, doubtless to hide from the abbe the blushes remorse had +caused to mantle his cheeks. In a faint voice he murmured: + +"Not a word more! you know not how deep a wound you have probed." + +"It is, then, true that you love Mlle. Antoinette Moriaz?" asked the +abbe. + +"I have sworn that she never shall know it," replied Samuel, in +accents of the most humble contrition. "Yesterday I had the unworthy +weakness to betray myself. /Mon Dieu!/ what must she have thought of +me?" + +As he spoke thus, his face buried in his hands, he slightly moved +apart his fingers, and fixed upon the abbe two glittering eyes that, +like cats' eyes, were capable of seeing clearly in the dark. + +"What she thinks of you!" echoed the abbe, taking a fresh pinch of +snuff. "Bah! my dear count, women never are angry when a man swoons +away because of their bright eyes, especially when this man is a noble +chevalier, a true knight of the Round Table. I have reason to believe +that Mlle. Moriaz did not take your accident unkindly. Shall I tell +you my whole thought? I should not be surprised if you had touched her +heart, and that, if you take the pains, you may flatter yourself with +the hope of one day being loved by her." + +At this moment the voice of his worthy friend appeared to Samuel Brohl +the most harmonious of all music. He felt a delicious thrill quiver +through his frame. The abbe was telling him nothing he had not known +before; but there are things of which we are certain, things that we +have told ourselves a hundred times, and yet that seem new when told +us for the first time by another. + +"You are not misleading me?" ejaculated Samuel Brohl, overwhelmed with +joy, transported beyond himself. "Can it really be true!--One day I +may flatter myself--one day she may judge me worthy-- Ah! what a +glorious vision you cause to pass before my eyes! How good and cruel +together you are to me! What bitterness is intermingled with the +ineffable sweetness of your words! No, I never could have believed +that there could be so much joy in anguish, so much anguish in joy." + +"What would you imply, my dear count?" interposed Abbe Miollens. "Have +you need of a negotiator? I can boast of having had some experience in +that line. I am wholly at your service." + +These words calmed Samuel Brohl. Quickly recovering himself, he coldly +rejoined: + +"A negotiator? What occasion would I have for a negotiator? Do not +delude me with a chimera, and above all do not tempt me to sacrifice +my honour to it. This height of felicity that you offer to me I must +renounce forever; I have told you why." + +Abbe Miollens was at first inclined to be indignant; he even took the +liberty to rebuke, to expostulate with his noble friend. He +endeavoured to prove to him that his principles were too rigorous, +that such a thing is possible as exaggeration in virtue, too great +refinement in delicacy of conscience. He represented to him that noble +souls should beware of exaltation of sentiment. He cited the Gospels, +he cited Bossuet, he also cited his well-beloved Horace, who censored +all that was ultra or excessive, and recommended the sage to flee all +extremities. His reasoning was weak against the unwavering resolution +of Samuel, who resisted, with the firmness of a rock, all his +remonstrances, and finally ended these with the words: + +"Peace, I implore you! Respect my folly, which is surely wisdom in the +eyes of God. I repeat it to you, I am no longer free, and, even if I +were, do you not know that there is between Mlle. Moriaz and myself an +insurmountable barrier?" + +"And pray, what is that?" demanded the abbe. + +"Her fortune and my pride," said Samuel. "She is rich, I am poor; this +adorable being is not made for me. I told Mme. de Lorcy one day what I +thought of this kind of alliances, or, to speak more clearly, of +bargains. Yes, my revered friend, I love Mlle. Moriaz with an ardour +of passion with which I reproach myself as though it were a crime. +Nothing remains to me but to avoid seeing her, and I never will see +her again. Let me follow to its end my solitary and rugged path. One +consolation will accompany me: I can say that happiness has not been +denied to me: that it is my conscience, admonished from on high, which +has refused to accept it, and there is a divine sweetness in great +trials religiously accepted. Believe me, it is God who speaks to me, +as he spoke to me of old in San Francisco, to enjoin me to forsake +everything and give my blood for my country. I recognise his voice, +which to-day bids my heart be silent and immolate itself on the altar +of its chosen cause. God and Poland! Beyond this, my watch-word, I +have no longer the right to yield to anything." + +And, turning towards the statuette, he exclaimed: "It is at her feet +that I lay down my dolorous offering; she it is who will cure my +bruised and broken heart." + +Samuel Brohl spoke in a voice thrilling with emotion; the breath of +the Divine Spirit seemed to play through his hair, and make his eyes +grow humid. The eyes of the good abbe also grew moist: he was +profoundly moved; he gazed with veneration upon this hero; he was +filled with respect for this antique character, for this truly +celestial soul. He never had seen anything like it, either in the odes +or in the epistles of Horace. Lollius himself was surpassed. +Transported with admiration, he opened wide his arms to Samuel Brohl, +spreading them out their full length, as though otherwise they might +fail to accomplish their object, and, clasping him to his bosom, he +cried: + +"Ah! my dear count, how grand you are! You are immense as the world!" + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +Abbe Miollens hastened to repair to Cormeilles, where he gave a +faithful circumstantial account of his conference with Count Larinski. +He was still warm from the interview, and he gave free vent to the +effusions of his enthusiasm. He struck up a Canticle of Zion in honour +of the antique soul, the celestial soul, which had just been revealing +to him all its hidden treasures. M. Moriaz, both astonished and +scandalized, observed, dryly: + +"You are right, this Pole is a prodigy; he should either be canonized +or hanged, I do not know which." + +Antoinette said not a word; she kept her reflections to herself. She +retired to her chamber, where she paced to and fro for some time, +uncertain regarding what she was about to do, or, rather more restless +than uncertain. Several times she approached her writing-table, and +gazed earnestly at her inkstand; then, seized with a sudden scruple, +she would move away. At last she formed a resolute decision, seized +her pen, and wrote the following lines: + + "MONSIEUR: Before setting out for Vienna, will you be so good as to + come and pass some moments at Cormeilles? I desire to have a + conversation with you in the presence of my father. + + "Accept, monsieur, I beg of you, the expression of my most profound + esteem. + +"ANTOINETTE MORIAZ." + +The next morning she received by the first mail the response she +awaited, and which was thus fashioned: + + "This test would be more than my courage could endure. I never + shall see you again, for, should I do so, I would be a lost man." + +This short response caused Mlle. Moriaz a disappointment full of +bitterness, and blended with no little wrath. She held in her hand a +pencil, which she deliberately snapped in two, apparently to console +herself for not having broken the proud and obstinate will of Count +Abel Larinski. And yet can one break iron or a diamond? The carrier +had brought her at the same time another letter, which she opened +mechanically, merely to satisfy her conscience. She ran through the +first lines without succeeding in comprehending a single word that she +read. Suddenly her attention became riveted, her face brightened up, +her eyes kindled. This letter, which a kind Providence had sent her as +a supreme resource in her distress, was from the hand of Mlle. Galet, +and here was what this retired florist of the Rue Mouffetard wrote: + + "MA CHERE DEMOISELLE: I learn that you have returned. What + happiness for me! and how I long to see you! You are my good + angel, whom I should like to see every day of my life, and the + time has seemed so long to me without you. When you enter the + garret of the poor, infirm old woman, it seems to her as though + there were three suns in the heavens; when you abandon her, the + blackness of midnight surrounds her. Mme. de Lorcy has been very + good to me. As my angel requested her, she came a fortnight since + to pay me the quarter due of my pension. She is a very charitable + lady, and she dresses beautifully; but she is a little hard on + poor people. She asks a great many questions; she wants to know + everything. She reproached me with spending too much, being too + fond of luxury, and you know how that is. She forgets that + everything is higher priced than it used to be, that meat and + vegetables are exorbitant, and that just now eggs cost one franc + and fifty centimes a dozen. Besides, a poor creature, deprived of + the use of her limbs, as I am, cannot go to market herself, and it + is quite possible that my /femme de menage/ does not purchase as + wisely as she might. I know I have great scenes with her sometimes + for bringing me early vegetables; /le bon Dieu/ can, at least, + bear me witness that I am no glutton. + + "The good Mme. de Lorcy scolded me about a bouquet of camellias she + saw on my table, just like those for which I have been grateful to + my angel. I don't know what notions she got into her head about + them. Ah! well, /ma chere demoiselle/, I have learned since that + these double camellias--they are variegated, red and white--came + to me from a man, for, at present, as it would appear, men have + taken to give me bouquets and making me visits; it is rather late + in the day. The particular man to whom I refer presented himself + one fine morning, and, telling me that you had spoken to him of + me, said that he wished to assure himself that I was well and + wanted nothing. He returned several times, always pampering me + with some attention or other. But the best of all was when he came + to tell me that my angel had returned. What a man he is! he has + surely dropped right down from the skies! One evening when I was + sick he gave me my medicine himself, and would have sat up with me + all night if I had been willing to let him. You must tell me who + he is, for it puzzles me greatly. He has the head of some grand + lion; he is as generous as he is handsome, but very sad. He must + have some great sorrow on his heart. The misfortune, so far as I + am concerned, is that he cannot spoil me much longer--it is almost + over now. He expects to leave here in two days; and he has + announced to me that he will come to make his adieus, to-morrow + afternoon. + + "You will come soon, won't you, /ma chere demoiselle/? I burn with + impatience to embrace you, since you permit me to embrace you. You + are my angel and my sunshine, and I am your very humble and + devoted servant, + +"LOUISE GALET." + +This letter of Mlle. Louise Galet continued nothing definite, beyond, +perhaps, the passage relative to the early vegetables, and the +supposed scenes with her /chambriere/. Whatever may have been the good +demoiselle's past record, she certainly was not void of principles, +and she prided herself on her truthfulness; only she did not always +see the necessity of telling everything she knew; in her narratives +she frequently omitted certain details. She had written at the +instigation of Samuel Brohl, who had not explained to her his motives. +To be sure, she had partially divined these, being shrewd and sly. He +had commended himself to her discretion, for which he had paid +liberally. Mlle. Galet had at first refused the round sum he had +offered her; she had ended by accepting it with tender gratitude. +These little pampering attentions make good friends. + +An audacious idea suddenly came to Mlle. Moriaz; there was no time to +recoil from it. She ordered up her coupe. M. Moriaz had just gone out +to make a call in the neighbourhood. She determined to profit by his +absence, and besought Mlle. Moiseney to make ready in haste to +accompany her to Paris, where she had to confer with her dressmaker. +Ten minutes later she stepped into her carriage, having ordered her +coachman to drive like the wind. + +Her dressmaker did not detain her long; from the Rue de la Paix she +ordered to be driven to No. 27 Rue Mouffetard. She never was in the +habit of permitting Mlle. Moiseney, who was very short of breath, to +climb with her to the fifth story, where Mlle. Galet lodged; upon this +occasion she indicated to her an express order to remain peaceably +below in the coupe to await her return. + +She slowly mounted the stairs; on her way up she encountered a +servant, who informed her that Mlle. Galet was lying down taking a +nap, being somewhat indisposed, but that the key was in the door. The +apartment of which Mlle. Moriaz was in quest was composed of three +rooms, a vestibule serving as a kitchen, a tiny /salon/, and a bed- +chamber. She paused a few moments in the vestibule to regain her +breath, to gather together all her courage, to compose her mind; she +had at once divined that there was some one in the /salon/. She +entered; Mlle. Galet was not there, but he was there, the man whom she +had come to seek. Apparently, he awaited the awakening of the mistress +of the place. In perceiving the woman whom he had sworn never to see +again, he trembled violently, and his eyes sought some loophole of +escape; there was none. Standing upon the threshold, Antoinette barred +the passage. She looked fixedly at him and felt certain of her +victory; he had the air of one vanquished, and his defeat resembled a +complete routing. + +She crossed her arms, she smiled, and, in a firm, half-mocking tone, +said: + +"So this is the way you rob me of my poor people! They flourish under +it, I am well aware. Confess now that there is a little hypocrisy in +your virtue. Mlle. Galet never for a moment doubted that these famous +camellias were given for my sake. Bouquets costing sixty francs! +absolute folly! How you despise money! Why, then, do you not despise +mine? You are afraid of it, you fear to burn your fingers by touching +it. You will not aid me to throw it out of the windows? Your poor and +mine will surely pick it up. Say, will you not? My fortune is not such +a great affair; but it is certain that I alone do not suffice to spend +it properly; there is plenty for two--for two would really only be +one. You cannot consent to share it with me? You are too proud--that +is it. The day before yesterday you were playing comedy; you do not +love me. It costs little to owe something to those we love." + +He made a gesture of despair and cried: + +"I implore you, let me go!" + +"Presently; I propose telling you first all that is in my mind. I do +not place much reliance on your boasted nobility of spirit; it is +pride, egotistical pride. Yes, your pride is your god--a pitiful sort +of a god! And as to Poland--" He winced at this word. After a pause, +Antoinette continued: "It is she herself who will give, or rather +lend, you to me. I solemnly promise that if ever she has need of you I +will say to her, 'Here he is, take him'; and to you, yourself, I will +say, 'She calls you--go.' But speak to me and look at me; you will not +die of so doing. Are you so very much afraid of me? Come, have courage +to repeat to me what you have said to others?" + +He fell back into a chair, where he remained, his arms hanging +helplessly at his sides, his head drooping on his breast, and he +murmured: + +"I knew well that if I saw you again I should be lost." + +"Say, rather, saved. Your mind was sick; I have cured you. I work +miracles; you once took the pains to write me so. Will you touch my +hand? That will not bind you to anything; you can return it to me if +you choose." + +He took the hand she extended to him; he did not carry it to his lips, +but he held it within his own. + +"Listen to me," she resumed. "To-day, this very hour, you will set out +for Cormeilles, and you will say to my father: 'She has given me her +hand; it has seemed good to me to keep it; allow me to do so?' Is it +agreed upon? Will you obey me?" + +He exclaimed: "You are here, you speak to me, the world has +disappeared; henceforth I believe only in you!" + +"Well done! You see when two people frankly discuss matters they soon +come to an understanding; but the main essential is to see each other. +Since you are so wise when you see me, I naturally desire to have you +see me always. There--take that!" And she handed him a medallion +containing her portrait; then she moved towards the door. On the +threshold she turned. "Please tell Mlle. Galet," said she, "that I +respect her nap, and will return to-morrow. Mlle. Moiseney awaits me, +and must be growing impatient. I have your word of honour? Adieu, +then, until this evening. I must hasten away." + +And she did hasten, or, rather, she flew away. + +Returning from as well as driving into Paris, the coachman put his +horses to full speed, and Cormeilles was reached before the soup was +cold. Nevertheless, M. Moriaz had had abundant time for anxiety. He +did not take his seat at table without first questioning Mlle. +Moiseney; knowing nothing, she could give him no information; but she +responded indefinitely to his queries with that air of mystery beneath +which it was her wont to disguise her ignorance. He resolved to +question Antoinette after dinner. She anticipated him, taking him +aside and recounting to him what had occurred. + +"I presume," said she, "that henceforth you will believe in his pride +and his disinterestedness. Did I not foretell you that I should have +to put myself on my knees to compel him to marry me?" + +He could not repress a movement of indignation. + +"Oh, reassure yourself!" she resumed; "that is only my way of +speaking. He was at my feet and I was standing." + +M. Moriaz opened his lips and closed them again three times without +speaking. He finally contented himself with a gesture, which +signified, "The die is cast, let come what must." + +Samuel Brohl religiously kept his word. After having made a most +faultless toilet, he repaired by the railway to Argenteuil, where he +took a carriage. He reached Cormeilles as the clock struck nine. He +was ushered into the /salon/, where M. Moriaz was reading his journal. +Samuel was pale, and his lips trembled with emotion. He greeted M. +Moriaz with profound respect, saying: + +"I feel, monsieur, like a criminal. Be merciful, and refuse her to +me." + +M. Moriaz replied: "The fact is, you come, monsieur, in the words of +the evangelist, 'like a thief in the night'; but I have nothing to +refuse you. You are not the son-in-law I frankly avow, whom I should +have chosen. This matters not; my daughter belongs to herself, she is +mistress of her own actions, and I have no reason to believe that she +errs in her choice. You are a man of taste and of honour, and you know +the worth of what she has given you. If you render Antoinette happy, +you will find in me a warm friend. I have said all that is necessary; +let us suppose that you have replied to me, and talk of something +else." + +Samuel Brohl considered the matter settled; he insisted no longer, and +entered at once upon another topic. He knew how to be agreeable and +dignified at the same time. He was as amiable and gracious as his +lively emotion would permit. M. Moriaz was obliged to confess to +himself that Count Larinski was as good company at Cormeilles as he +had been at Saint Moritz, and had no other fault than having taken it +into his head to become his son-in-law. + +Their interview was a prolonged one. During this time Antoinette had +been promenading the walk in front of the house, inhaling the jasmine- +perfumed air, pouring out her heart to the night and to the stars. Her +happy reverie was troubled only by the presence of a bat, flitting +incessantly from one end of the terrace to the other, flapping its +wings about her head. The loathsome creature seemed to be especially +in quest of her, circling around and above her with obstinate +persistency, even venturing to graze her hair in passing; Antoinette +even fancied that she could distinguish its hideous face, with deep +pouches and long ears, and she moved away, quivering with disgust. + +She heard a step on the gravel-walk. Samuel Brohl had taken leave of +M. Moriaz and was crossing the terrace to regain his carriage. He +recognised Antoinette, approached her and clasped on her wrist a +bracelet he held in his hand, saying as he did so: "What could I give +you that would equal in value the medallion you deigned to offer me +and that should never leave me? However, here is a trinket by which I +set great store. My mother loved it; she always refused to part with +it, even in the time of her greatest distress; she wore it on her arm +when she died." + +We are not all moulded alike; and there is no human clay in which are +not intermingled some spangles of gold. Intriguers as well as +downright knaves are often capable of experiencing moments of sincere +and pure sentiments; in certain encounters every human being rises +superior to him-or herself. The upper part of Mlle. Moriaz's face was +shaded by her red hood, the lower part lit up by the moon, which was +slowly rising above the hills. Samuel Brohl contemplated her in +silence; she seemed to him as beautiful as a dream. During two entire +minutes he forgot that she had an income of a hundred thousand livres, +and that, according to all probabilities, M. Moriaz would die one day. +His head was completely turned by the thought that this woman loved +him, that soon she would be his. Yes, for precisely two minutes, +Samuel Brohl was as passionately in love with Mlle. Moriaz as might, +perchance, have been Count Larinski. + +He could not resist the impulse that transported him. He folded in his +arms the slender, supple form of Antoinette, and imprinted upon her +hair a kiss of flame, a true Polish kiss. She offered no resistance; +but at this moment the bat that had already forced upon her its +distasteful company renewed the attack, struck her full in the face, +and stuck fast in her hood. Antoinette felt the touch of its cold, +clammy wings, of its hooked claws. She tore the hood from her head and +flung it away in horror. Samuel Brohl sprang forward to pick it up, +pressed it to his lips, and made his escape, like a thief carrying off +his booty. + +When Antoinette re-entered the /salon/, she found there Mlle. +Moiseney, whose boisterous, overwhelming joy had just put M. Moriaz to +flight. This time Mlle. Moiseney knew everything. She had seen Samuel +Brohl arrive, she had been unable to control her overweening +curiosity, and, without the slightest scruples, she had listened at +the door. She cast herself into Antoinette's arms, pressed her to her +heart, and cried: "Ah, my dear! oh, my dear! Did I not always say that +it would end thus?" + +Mlle. Moriaz hastened to free herself from her embraces; she felt the +need of being alone. On entering her chamber she took a hasty survey +of it: her furniture, her pretty knick-knacks, her rose-tined +tapestry, the muslin hangings of her bed, the large silver crucifix +hanging on the extreme wall, all seemed to regard her with +astonishment, asking, "What has happened?" And she replied: + +"You are right, something has happened." + +She remained in contemplation before a portrait of her mother, whom +she had lost very young. + +"I have been told," she mused, "that you were a great romance-reader. +I do not care for romances at all--I scarcely ever read them; but I +have just been making one myself, with which you would not be +discontented. This man would astonish you a little; he would please +you still more. Some hours ago he seemed lost to me forever. I +brazened it out. I went in search of him, and when he saw me he +surrendered. Only now he was with me on the terrace; his lips touched +me here on my hair, and thrilled me from head to foot. Do not feel +displeased with me--his are pure and royal lips! They have been +touched by the sacred fire; they never have lied; never have there +fallen from them other than proud and noble words; they modestly +recount the history of a life without blemish Ah! why are you not +here? I have a thousand things to say to you, which you alone could +comprehend; others do not comprehend me." + +She began her toilet for the night. When she had unfastened her hair, +she remembered that there was One in her chamber who could comprehend +everything, and to whom she had yet said nothing. She knelt down, her +wealth of hair streaming over her beautiful shoulders, her hands +reverently clasped, her eyes fixed on the silver crucifix, and she +said, in a low tone: + +"Forgive me that I have forgotten thee, thou who never hast forgotten +me! I return thanks to thee that thou hast granted my desires; thou +hast given me the happiness of which I have dreamed without daring to +ask it. Ah, yes, I am happy, perfectly happy! I promise thee that I +will cast the reflection of my joy among the poor and unfortunate of +this world: I will love them as I have never loved them before! When +we give them food and drink, we give it also unto thee; and when we +give them flowers, this crown of thorns that has wounded thy brow +bursts into bloom. I will give them flowers and bread. It is vain to +say that thou art a jealous God. Full as may be my heart, thou knowest +that there is always room for thee, and that thou never canst knock at +the door without my crying: 'Enter; the house and all that therein is +belong unto thee! My happiness blesses thee: oh, bless thou it!' " + +While Mlle. Moriaz thus held communion with her crucifix, Samuel Brohl +was rolling along the great highway from Cormeilles to Argenteuil, a +distance of six kilometres. His head was held erect, his face was +radiant, his eyes were like balls of fire, his temples throbbed, and +it seemed to him that his dilated chest might have held the world. He +was speaking to himself--murmuring over and over again the same +phrase. "She is mine!" he repeated to the vines bordering the road, to +the mill of Trouillet, to the Sannois Hills, whose vague outlines +loomed up against the sky. "She is mine!" he cried to the moon, which +this evening shone for him alone, whose sole occupation was to gaze +upon Samuel Brohl. It was plain to see that she was in the secret, +that she knew that before long Samuel Brohl would marry Mlle. Moriaz. +She had donned her festal garments to celebrate this marvellous +adventure; her great gleaming face expressed sympathy and joy. + +Although he had exhorted his coachman to make haste, Samuel missed the +train, which was the last. He decided to put up for the night at +Argenteuil, and sought hospitality at the inn of the Coeur-Volant, +where he ordered served forthwith a great bowl of punch, his favourite +drink. He betook himself to bed in the full expectation of enjoying +most delicious dreams; but his sleep was troubled by a truly +disagreeable incident. Glorious days are at times succeeded by most +wretched nights, and the inn of Coeur-Volant was destined to leave +most disagreeable reminiscences with Samuel Brohl. + +Towards four o'clock he heard some one knocking at his door, and a +voice not unknown to him cried: + +"Open, I beseech you!" + +He was seized with an insupportable anguish; he felt like one +paralyzed, and it was with great difficulty that he rose up in a +sitting posture. He remembered that the bolt was drawn, and this +reassured him. What was not his stupefied amazement to see the bolt +glide back in its shaft! The door opened; some one entered, slowly +approached Samuel, drew back the curtains of his bed, and bent towards +him, fixing upon him great eager eyes that he recognised. They were +singular eyes, these, at once full of sweetness and full of fire, of +audacity and of candour; a child, a grand soul, an unbalanced weakling +--all this in one was in this gaze. + +Samuel Brohl quailed with horror. He tried to speak, but his tongue +was powerless to move. He made desperate efforts to unloose it; he +finally succeeded in moving his lips, and he murmured: + +"Is it you, Abel? I believed you dead." + +Evidently Count Abel, the veritable Abel Larinski, was not dead. He +was on his feet, his eyes were terribly wide open, and his face never +had worn more life-like colouring. Nothing remained but to believe +that he had been buried alive, and that he had been resuscitated. In +coming forth from the tomb, he had carried with him a portion of its +dust; his hair was covered with a singular powder of an earthy hue, +and at intervals he shook himself as though to make it fall from him. + +With the exception of this there was nothing alarming in his +appearance; but a mocking, half-crafty smile played about his lips. +After a long pause, he said to Samuel: + +"Yes, it is indeed I. You did not expect me?" + +"Are you sure that you are not dead?" rejoined Samuel. + +"Perfectly sure," he replied, once more shaking a mass of dust from +his head. "Does my return incommode you, Samuel Brohl?" he added. +"Your name is Samuel, I believe; it is a pretty name. Why have you +taken mine? You must give it back to me." + +"Not to-day," pleaded Samuel, in a stifled voice, "nor to-morrow, nor +the day after to-morrow; but after the marriage." + +Count Abel burst out laughing, which was by no means his habit, and +which therefore greatly surprised Samuel. Then he cried: + +"It is I she will marry--she will be the Countess Larinski." + +Suddenly the door opened again, and Mlle. Antoinette Moriaz appeared, +robed in white like a bride, a crown on her head, a bouquet in her +hand. She bent her steps towards Samuel, but the apparition arrested +her progress, saying: + +"It is not he whom you love; it is my history. Do you not see that +this is a false Pole? His father was a German Jew, who kept a tavern. +Here it was that this hero grew up. I will relate to you how." + +Here Samuel put his hand over his mouth, and stammered: "Oh, for +mercy's sake, say nothing!" + +Heeding him not, the apparition continued: "Yes, Samuel Brohl is a +hero. For five years he was the pledged lover of an old woman, and he +fulfilled all the duties of his post. This cherished hero well earned +his money. Are you not eager to be called Mme. Brohl?" + +With these words, he opened wide his arms to Mlle. Moriaz, who fixed +upon him a gaze at the same time astonishing and tender, and straining +her to his bosom, kissed her hair and her crown. + +Then Samuel Brohl recovered strength, life, movement; clinching his +hands, he sprang forward to dispute with Abel Larinski his prey. +Suddenly, with a shiver of terror and dismay, he paused; he had heard +proceeding from a distant corner of the chamber a shrill, malignant +laugh. He turned, and distinctly perceived his father--a greasy cap on +his head, wrapped in a forlorn, threadbare, dirty caftan. This was +unquestionably Jeremiah Brohl, and this night it seemed truly that the +whole world had arisen from the dead. The little old man continued to +laugh jeeringly; then in a sharp, peevish voice, he cried: +"/Schandbube! vermaledeiter Schlingel! ich will dich zu Brei +schlagen!/" which signifies: "Scoundrel! accursed blackguard! I will +beat you to a jelly!" It was a mode of address that Samuel had heard +often in his infancy; but familiar though he might be with paternal +amenities, when he saw his father uplift a withered, claw-like hand, a +cry escaped his lips; he started back to evade the blow, entangled his +feet in the legs of a chair, stumbled, and flung himself violently +against a table. + +He opened his eyes and saw no one. He ran to the window and threw open +the shutter; the growing dawn illumined the chamber with its grayish +light. Thank God! there was no one there. The vision had been so real +that it was some time before Samuel Brohl could fully regain his +senses, and persuade himself that his nightmare was forever +dissipated, that phantoms were phantoms, that cemeteries do not +surrender their prey. When he had once acquired this rejoicing +conviction, he spoke to the dead man who had appeared to him, and +whose provoking visit had indiscreetly troubled his sleep, and with +considerable hauteur he said, in a tone of superb defiance: "We must +be resigned, my poor Abel; we shall see each other again only in the +valley of Jehosaphat; I have seen twenty shovelfuls of earth cast upon +you--you are dead; I live, and she is mine!" + +Thereupon he hastened to settle his account, and to quit the Coeur- +Volant, within whose walls he promised himself never again to set +foot. + +At the very same moment, M. Moriaz, who had risen early, was engaged +in writing the following letter: + + "It is done, my dear friend--I have yielded. Pray, do not reproach + me with my weakness; what else could I do? When one has been for + twenty years the most submissive of fathers, one does not + emancipate one's self in a day; I never have been in the habit of + erecting barriers, and it is scarcely likely that I could learn to + do so at my age. Ah! /mon Dieu!/ who knows if, after all, her + heart has not counselled her well, if one day she will not satisfy + us all that she was in the right/ It must be confessed that this + /diable/ of a man has an indescribable charm about him. I can + detect only one fault in him: he has committed the error of + existing at all; it is a grave error, I admit, but thus far I have + nothing else with which to reproach him. + + "When one loses a battle, nothing remains but to plan an orderly + retreat. Count Larinski, I regret to inform you, is armed with all + needful weapons; he carries with him his certificate of birth, and + certificate of the registry of death of both his parents. No + pretext can be made on this score, and my future son-in-law will + not aid me to gain time. The sole point upon which we must + henceforth direct our attention is the contract. We scarcely can + take too many precautions; we must see that this Pole's hands are + absolutely tied. If you will permit me, I will one day ask you to + confer with me and my notary, who is also yours. I venture to hope + that upon this point Antoinette will consent to be guided by our + counsels. + + "I am not gay, my friend; but, having been born a philosopher, I + bear my misfortunes patiently, and I will forthwith reread /Le + Monde comme il va, ou la Vision de Babouc/, in order to endeavour + to persuade myself that, if all is not well, all is at least + supportable." + +The evening of the same day, M. Moriaz received the following +response: + + "I never will pardon you. You are a great chemist, I grant, but a + pitiful, a most deplorable father. Your weakness, which well + merits another name, is without excuse. You should have resisted; + you should have stood your ground firmly. Antoinette, although she + is of age, never in the world would have decided to address to you + a formal request of consent to this marriage. She would have made + some scenes; she would have pouted; she would have endeavoured to + soften you by assuming the airs of a tearful, heart-broken widow; + she would have draped herself in black crape. And after that? + Desperate case! These Artemisias are very tiresome, I admit; but + one can accustom one's self to anything. Should philosophers, who + plead such sublime indifference about the affairs of this mundane + sphere, be at the mercy of a fit of the sulks, or a dress of black + crape? Besides, black is all the fashion just now, even for those + who are not in mourning. + + "You speak of contracts! You are surely jesting! What! distrustful + of a Pole? take precautions against an antique man?--I quote from + Abbe Miollens--against a soul as noble as great? Think what you + are doing! At the mere thought of his disinterestedness being + called into question, M. Larinski would swoon away as he did in my + /salon/. It is a little way he has, which is most excellent, since + it proves successful. Do not think of such trifles as contracts; + marry them with equal rights, and leave the consequences to + Providence! Follies have neither beauty nor merit, unless they are + complete. Ah, my good friend, Poland has its charm, has it? + Admirable! But you must swallow the whole thing. I am your + obedient servant." + + + +CHAPTER IX + +The pitiless sentence pronounced by Mme. de Lorcy grieved M. Moriaz, +but did not discourage him. It was his opinion that, let her say what +she might, precautions were good; that, well though it might be to +bear our misfortunes patiently, there was no law forbidding us to +assuage them; that it was quite permissible to prefer to complete +follies those of a modified character, and that a bad cold or an +influenza was decidedly preferable to inflammation of the lungs, which +is so apt to prove fatal. "Time and myself will suffice for all +things," proudly said Philip II. M. Moriaz said, with perhaps less +pride: "To postpone a thing so long as possible, and to hold +deliberate counsel with one's notary, are the best correctives of a +dangerous marriage that cannot be prevented." His notary, M. Noirot, +in whom he reposed entire confidence, was absent; a case of importance +had carried him to Italy. Nothing remained but to await his return, +until which everything stood in suspense. + +In the first conversation he had with his daughter on the subject, M. +Moriaz found her very reasonable, very well disposed to enter into his +views, to accede to his desires. She was too thoroughly pleased with +his resignation not to be willing to reward him for it with a little +complaisancy; besides, she was too happy to be impatient; she had +gained the main points of her case--it cost her little to yield in +matters of secondary detail. + +"You will be accused of having taken a most inconsiderate step," said +her father to her. "You are little sensible to the judgment of the +world, to what people say; I am much more so. Humour my weakness or +cowardice. Let us endeavour to keep up appearances; do not let us +appear to be in a hurry, or to have something to hide; let us act with +due deliberation. Just at present no one is in Paris; let us give our +friends time to return there. We will present Count Larinski to them. +Great happiness does not fear being discussed. Your choice will be +regarded unfavourably by some, approved by others. M. Larinski has the +gift of pleasing; he will please, and all the world will pardon my +resignation, which Mme. de Lorcy esteems a crime." + +"You promised me that your resignation would be mingled with +cheerfulness: I find it somewhat melancholy." + +"You scarcely could expect me to be intoxicated with joy." + +"Will you at least assure me that you have taken your part bravely, +and that you will think of no further appeal?" + +"I swear it to you!" + +"Very good; then we will honour your weakness," she replied, and she +said Amen to all that he proposed. + +It was agreed that the marriage should take place during the winter, +and that two months should be allowed to elapse before proceeding to +the preliminary formalities. M. Moriaz undertook to explain matters to +Samuel Brohl, who found the arrangement little to his taste. He took +pains, however, to give no signs of this. He told M. Moriaz that he +was still in the first bewildering surprise of his happiness, that he +was not sorry to have time to recover from it; but he secretly +promised himself to devise some artifice for abridging delays, for +hastening the /denoument/. He was apprehensive of accidents, +unforeseen occurrences, squalls, storms, tornadoes, sudden blights, in +short everything that might damage or destroy a harvest; he +impatiently longed to gather in his, and to have it carefully stowed +away in his granary. In the interim he wrote to his old friend M. +Guldenthal a letter at once majestic and confidential, which produced +a most striking effect. M. Guldenthal concluded that a good marriage +was much better security than a poor gun. Besides, he had had the +agreeable surprise of being completely reimbursed for his loan, +capital and interest. He was charmed to have so excellent a debtor +return to him, and he hastened to advance to him all that he could +possibly want, even more. + +A month passed peaceably by, during which time Samuel Brohl repaired +two or three times each week to Cormeilles. He made himself adored by +the entire household, including the gardener, the porter and his +family, and the Angora cat that had welcomed him at the time of his +first visit. This pretty, soft white puss had conceived for Samuel +Brohl a most deplorable sympathy; perhaps she had recognised that he +possessed the soul of a cat, together with all the feline graces. She +lavished on him the most flattering attentions; she loved to rub +coaxingly against him, to spring on his knee, to repose in his lap. In +retaliation, the great, tawny spaniel belonging to Mlle. Moriaz +treated the newcomer with the utmost severity and was continually +looking askance at him; when Samuel attempted a caress, he would growl +ominously and show his teeth, which called forth numerous stern +corrections from his mistress. Dogs are born gendarmes or police +agents; they have marvellous powers of divination and instinctive +hatred of people whose social status is not orthodox, whose +credentials are irregular, or who have borrowed the credentials of +others. As to Mlle. Moiseney, who had not the scent of a spaniel, she +had gone distracted over this noble, this heroic, this incomparable +Count Larinski. In a /tete-a-tete/ he had contrived to have with her, +he had evinced much respect for her character, so much admiration for +her natural and acquired enlightenment, that she had been moved to +tears; for the first time she felt herself understood. What moved her, +however, still more was that he asked her as a favour never to quit +Mlle. Moriaz and to consider as her own the house he hoped one day to +possess. "What a man!" she ejaculated, with as much conviction as +Mlle. Galet. + +The principal study of Samuel Brohl was to insinuate himself into the +good graces of M. Moriaz, whose mental reservations he dreaded. He +succeeded in some measure, or at least he disarmed any lingering +suspicions by the irreproachable adjustment of his manners, by the +reserve of his language, by his great show of lack of curiosity +regarding all questions that might have a proximate or remote +connection with his interests. How, then, had Mme. de Lorcy come to +take it into her head that there was something of the appraiser about +Samuel Brohl, and that his eyes took an inventory of her furniture? If +he had forgotten himself at Maisons, he never forgot himself at +Cormeilles. What cared he for the sordid affairs of the sublunary +sphere? He floated in ether; heaven had opened to him its portals; the +blessed are too absorbed in their ecstasy to pay heed to details or to +take an inventory of paradise. Nevertheless, Samuel's ecstasies did +not prevent him from embracing every opportunity to render himself +useful or agreeable to M. Moriaz. He frequently asked permission to +accompany him into his laboratory. M. Moriaz flattered himself that he +had discovered a new body to which he attributed most curious +properties. Since his return he had been occupied with some very +delicate experiments, which he did not always carry out to his +satisfaction; his movements were brusque, his hands all thumbs; very +often he chanced to ruin everything by breaking his vessels. Samuel +proposed to assist him in a manipulation requiring considerable +dexterity; he had very flexible fingers, was as expert as a juggler, +and the manipulation succeeded beyond all hopes. + +Mme. de Lorcy was furious at having been outwitted by Count Larinski; +she retracted all the concessions she had made concerning him; her +rancour had decided that the man of fainting-fits could not be other +than an imposter. She had disputes on this subject with M. Langis, who +persisted in maintaining that M. Larinski was a great comedian, but +that this, strictly considered, did not prevent his being a true +count; in the course of his travels he had met specimens of them who +cheated at cards and pocketed affronts. Mme. de Lorcy, in return, +accused him of being a simpleton. She had written again to Vienna, in +hopes of obtaining some further intelligence; she had been able to +learn nothing satisfactory. She did not lose courage; she well knew +that, in the important affairs of life, M. Moriaz found it difficult +to dispense with her approbation, and she promised herself to choose +with discretion the moment to make a decisive assault upon him. In the +meanwhile she gave herself the pleasure of tormenting him by her +silence, and of grieving him by her long-continued pouting. One day M. +Moriaz said to his daughter: + +"Mme. de Lorcy is displeased with us; this grieves me. I fear you have +dropped some word that has wounded her. I shall be greatly obliged to +you if you will go and see her and coax her into good-humour." + +"You gave me a far from agreeable commission," she rejoined, "but I +can refuse you nothing; I shall go to-morrow to Maisons." + +At the precise moment when this conversation was taking place, Mme. de +Lorcy, who was passing the day in Paris, entered the Ecole des Beaux- +Arts. The exhibition of the work of a celebrated painter, recently +deceased, had attracted thither a great throng of people. Mme. de +Lorcy moved to and fro, when suddenly she descried a little old woman, +sixty years of age, with a snub nose, whose little gray eyes gleamed +with malice and impertinence. Her chin in the air, holding up her eye- +glasses with her hand, she scrutinized all the pictures with a +critical, disdainful air. + +"Ah! truly it is the Princess Gulof," said Mme. de Lorcy to herself, +and turned away to avoid an encounter. It was at Ostend, three years +previous, during the season of the baths, that she had made the +acquaintance of the princess; she did not care to renew it. This +haughty, capricious Russian, with whom a chance occurrence at the +/table d'hote/ had thrown her into intercourse, had not taken a place +among her pleasantest reminiscences. + +Princess Gulof was the wife of a governor-general whom she had wedded +in second marriage after a long widowhood. He did not see her often, +two or three times a year, that was all. Floating about from one end +of Europe to another, they kept up a regular exchange of letters; the +prince never took any step without consulting his wife, who usually +gave him sound advice. During the first years of their marriage, he +had committed the error of being seriously in love with her: there are +some species of ugliness that inspire actually insane passions. The +princess found this in the most wretched taste, and soon brought +Dimitri Paulovitch to his senses. From that moment perfect concord +reigned between this wedded couple, who were parted by the entire +continent of Europe, united by the mail-bags. The princess did not +bear a very irreproachable record. She looked upon morality as pure +matter of conventionality, and she made no secret of her thoughts. She +was always on the alert for new discoveries, fresh experiences; she +never waited to read a book to the end before flinging it into the +waste-paper basket, most frequently the first chapter sufficed; she +had met with many disappointments, she had wearied of many caprices, +and she had arrived at the conclusion that man is, after all, of but +small account. Nevertheless, there had come to her late in life a +comparatively lasting caprice; during nearly five years she had +flattered herself that she had found what she sought. Alas! for the +first time she had been abandoned, forsaken, and that before she had +herself grown tired of her fancy. This desertion had inflicted a sharp +wound on her pride; she had conceived an implacable hatred for the +faithless one, and then she had forgotten him. She had plunged into +the natural sciences, she had made dissections--it was her way of +being avenged. She held very advanced ideas; she believed in the most +radical of the doctrines of evolution; she deemed it a clearly +demonstrated fact that man is a development of the monkey, the monkey +of the monad. She profoundly despised any one who permitted himself to +doubt this. She did not count melancholy; to analyze or dissect +everything, that was her way of being happy. + +During their common sojourn at Ostend, Mme. de Lorcy had gained the +good graces of the Princess Gulof through the dexterity with which she +had dressed the wounds of Moufflard, her lapdog, whose paw had been +injured by some awkward individual. She had been quite pleased with +Mme. de Lorcy, her sympathy and her kindly services, and she had +bestowed her most amiable attentions upon her. Mme. de Lorcy had done +her best to respond to her advances; but she found herself revolted by +this old magpie whose prattling never ceased, and whose chief delight +was in the recital of the secret chronicles of every capital of +Europe; Mme. de Lorcy, in fact, soon grew disgusted with her +cosmopolitan gossip and her physiology; she found her cynical and +evil-minded. In meeting her at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, her first +impulse was to evade her; but suddenly she changed her mind. For some +weeks past she had been governed by a fixed idea, about which all else +revolved; an inspiration came over her, which doubtless fell directly +from the skies. + +"Princess Gulof," said she to herself, "has passed her life in running +around the world; her real home is a railroad-car; there is not a +large city where she has failed to make a sojourn; she is acquainted +with the whole world: is it not possible that she knows Count +Larinski?" + +Mme. de Lorcy retraced her steps, cut her way through the crowd, +succeeded in approaching the princess, and, taking her by the arm, +exclaimed: "Ah! is it you, princess! How is Moufflard?" + +The princess turned her head, regarded her fixedly a moment, and then +pressing her hand between her thumb and forefinger she rejoined with +as little ceremony as though they had met the day before: "Moufflard +does very poorly indeed, my dear. He died two months ago of +indigestion." + +"How you must have mourned his loss!" + +"I am still inconsolable." + +"Ah! well, princess, I shall undertake to console you. I own a lapdog, +not yet six months old: you never saw a more charming one or one with +a shorter nose or whiter and more delicate hair. I am a great +utilitarian, as you know. I only care for large dogs that are of some +use. Will you accept of me Moufflard II? But you must come and fetch +him yourself, which will procure me the pleasure of seeing you at +Maisons." + +The princess replied that she was on her way to England; that she was +merely taking Paris in passing; that her hours were numbered; and two +minutes later she announced to Mme. de Lorcy that she would call on +her the following day, in the afternoon. + +True to her appointment, Princess Gulof entered Mme. de Lorcy's +/salon/ the following day. The ladies occupied themselves first of all +with the lapdog, which was found charming and quite worthy to succeed +to Moufflard I. Mme. de Lorcy watched all the time for a suitable +opportunity of introducing the subject nearest to her heart; when she +thought it had come, she observed: + +"Apropos, princess, you who know everything, you who are a true +cosmopolitan, have you ever heard of a mysterious personage who calls +himself Count Abel Larinski?" + +"Not that I am aware of, my dear, although his name may not be +absolutely unknown to me." + +"Search among your reminiscences; you must have encountered him +somewhere; you have visited all the countries of the world--" + +"Of the habitable world," she interposed; "but according to my +especial point of view Siberia scarcely can be called so, and it is +there, if I mistake not, that your Count Larinski must have been +sent." + +"Would to heaven!-- Perhaps there was question of procuring this +little pleasure for his father; but, unfortunately, he took the +precaution to emigrate to America. The inconvenience of America is, +that people can return from there, for my Larinski has returned, and +it is that that grieves me." + +"What has he done to you?" inquired the princess pinching the ears of +the dog who was slumbering in her lap. + +"I spoke to you at Ostend about my goddaughter Mlle. Moriaz, who is an +adorable creature. I proposed to marry her to my nephew, M. Langis, a +most highly accomplished young man. This Larinski came suddenly on the +scene, he cast a charm over the child, and he will marry her." + +"What a pity! Is he handsome?" + +"Yes; that, to tell the truth, is his sole merit." + +"It is merit sufficient," replied the princess, whose gray eyes +twinkled as she spoke. "There is nothing certain but a man's beauty; +all else is open to discussion." + +"Pray, allow me to consider matters from a more matter-of-fact point +of view,: said Mme. de Lorcy. "Also I may as well confide to you my +whole perplexity: I suspect Count Larinski of being neither a true +Larinski nor a true count; I would stake my life that the Larinskis +are all dead, and that this man is some adventurer." + +"You will end by interesting me," rejoined the princess. "Do not speak +too severely of adventurers, however; they are one of the most curious +varieties of the human family. Let your goddaughter marry hers; it +will bring a piquant element into her life; the poor world is so +generally a prey to ennui." + +"Thank you! my goddaughter was not born to marry an adventurer. I +detest this Larinski, and I have vowed that I will play him some +abominable trick!" + +"Do not become excited, my dear. What colour are his eyes?" + +"Green as those of the cats or of the owls." + +Once more the eyes of Princess Gulof flashed and twinkled, and she +cried: "An adventurer with green eyes! Why, it is a superb match, and +I find you hard to please." + +"You grieve me, princess," said Mme. de Lorcy. "I had promised myself +that you would lend me the assistance of your judgment, your +incomparable penetration, your experienced eye; that you would aid me +in unmasking this Pole, in detecting in him some irremediable vice +that would at once prove an insurmountable obstacle to the marriage. +Be good, for once in your life; may I present him to you?" + +"I repeat to you that I am merely taking Paris in passing," replied +the princess, "and I am expected in England. Besides, you do too much +honour to my incomparable penetration. I swear to you that I am no +connoisseur in Larinskis; you may as well spare yourself the pains of +presenting to me yours. I am a good-natured woman, who has often been +made a good dupe, and I do not complain of it. The best reminiscences +of my past are of sundry agreeable errors, and of men skilled in +deception. I have found it the wisest way to judge by the labels, and +never to ask any one to show me the contents of his sack, for I long +ago discovered that sacks are very apt to be empty or at best only +poorly filled. Let your goddaughter act according to her own head; if +she deceives herself, it is because she wishes to be deceived, and she +knows better than you what suits her. /Eh! bon Dieu/, what matters it +if there be one more unhappy household under the broad canopy of +heaven? Besides, it is only fools who are unhappy, and who stupidly +pause before a closed portal; others manage in some way to find a +loop-hole of escape. Marriage, my dear, is an institution worn +threadbare. Ten years hence there will be only free women and husbands +on trial. Ten years hence the Countess Larinski will be a liberated +countess. Let her serve her time as a galley-slave, and she will come +out entirely cured of her follies." + +Just as Princess Gulof was finishing this remarkable declaration of +her principles, the door opened and Mlle. Moriaz entered. Whatever it +might cost her to do so, the future Countess Larinski faithfully kept +the promise she had made to her father. Mme. de Lorcy was strictly on +her guard; she hastened to meet her, held out both hands, kissed her +on both cheeks, and reproached her, in the most affectionate tone in +the world, for the rarity of her visits. Then she presented her to the +princess, who said: "Come here, my beauty, that I may look at you; I +have been told that you are adorable." + +When Antoinette approached, she fixed on her a keen, penetrating +glance, examined her from head to foot, passed all her perfections in +review: one might have taken her for some Normandy farmer at a cattle- +fair. The result of this investigation was satisfactory; the princess +cried, "Truly she does very well!" and proceeded to assert that Mlle. +Moriaz greatly resembled a certain person who had played a certain +role in a certain adventure that she undertook to narrate. She had +scarcely finished this recital when she entered on another. Mme. de +Lorcy was on thorns. She knew by experience that the anecdotes of +Princess Gulof were ordinarily somewhat indelicate and ill-suited to +maiden ears. She watched Antoinette anxiously, and, when she saw the +approach of an especially objectionable passage, she was suddenly +seized with a fit of coughing. The princess, comprehending the +significance of that, made an effort to gloss over, but her glossings +were very transparent. Mme. de Lorcy coughed anew, and the princess +ended by losing patience, and, brusquely interrupting herself, +exclaimed: "And this, that, and the other, etc. Thus ended the +adventure." + +Mlle. Moriaz listened with an astonished air, not in the least +understanding these attacks of coughing and these interruptions, nor +divining the significance of the constant repetition of "this, that, +and the other, etc." Princess Gulof struck her as a very eccentric and +unpleasantly brusque person; she even suspected her of being slightly +deranged or at least rather crack-brained; yet she was pleased with +her for being present upon this especial occasion and sparing her a +/tete-a-tete/ with Mme. de Lorcy with its disagreeable explanations +and unpleasant discussions. + +She remained nearly an hour, planted on a chair, watching with a sort +of stupor the turning of the fan of this word-mill, whose clapper kept +up such an incessant noise. After having criticised to her heart's +content her neighbours, including under that title emperors and grand- +dukes, and having abundantly multiplied the et ceteras, Princess Gulof +suddenly turned the conversation to physiology: this science, whose +depths she believed herself to have fathomed, was, in her estimation, +the secret of everything, the Alpha and Omega of human life. She +exposed certain materialistic views, making use of expressions that +shocked the modest and delicate ears of Mlle. Moriaz. The astonishment +the latter had at first experienced became now blended with horror and +disgust; she judged that her visit had lasted long enough, and she +proceeded to beat a retreat, which Mme. de Lorcy made no effort to +prevent. + +Upon arriving at Cormeilles, her carriage crossed with a young man on +horseback, who with his head bowed down allowed his animal full +liberty to take his own course. This young man trembled when a clear, +soprano voice, which he preferred to the most beautiful music in the +world, cried to him, "Where are you going, Camille?" + +He bowed over his horse's neck, drew down his hat over his eyes, and +replied, "To Maisons." + +"Do not go there. I have just left because there is a dreadful old +woman there who says horrid things." Then Mlle. Moriaz added, in a +queenly tone, "You cannot pass--you are my prisoner." + +She obliged him to turn back; ten minutes later she had alighted from +her coupe, he had sprung from his saddle, and they were seated side by +side on a rustic bench. + +A few days previous M. Langis had met M. Moriaz, who had complained +bitterly of being forsaken by him as well as by Mme. de Lorcy, and who +had extracted from him the promise to come and see him. Camille had +kept this promise. Had he chosen well his time of doing so? The truth +is, he had been both rejoiced and heart-broken to learn that Mlle. +Moriaz was absent. Man is a strange combination of contradictions, +especially a man who is in love. In the same way he had bestowed both +blessings and imprecations upon Heaven for permitting him to meet +Antoinette. During some moments he had lost countenance, but had +quickly recovered himself; he had formed the generous resolution to +act out consistently his role of friend and brother. He had acquitted +himself of it so well at Saint Moritz, that Antoinette believed him +cured of the caprice of a day with which she had inspired him and +which she had never taken seriously. + +"The last time I saw you," said she, "you dropped a remark that pained +me, but I am pleased to think that you did not mean to do so." + +"I am a terrible culprit," he rejoined, "and I smite myself upon the +breast therefore. I was wanting in respect to your idol." + +"Fortunately, my idol knew nothing about it, and, if he had known, I +would have appeased him by saying: 'Pardon this young man; he does not +always know what he is saying.' " + +"He even seldom knows it; but what help is there for it? A man given +to fainting always did seem a curiosity to me. I know we should +endeavour to conquer our prejudices; every country has its customs, +and, since Poland is a country that pleases you, I will make an effort +to see only its good sides." + +"Now that is the right way to talk. I hope this very day to reconcile +you with Count Larinski; stay and dine with us--he will be here very +soon; the first duty of the people whom I love is to love one +another." + +M. Langis at first energetically declined accepting this invitation; +Antoinette insisted: he ended by bowing in sign of obedience. Youth +has a taste for suffering. + +Tracing figures in the gravel with a stick he had picked up, M. Langis +said, in a wholly unconstrained voice: "I do not wish M. Larinski any +harm, and yet you must admit that I would have the right to detest him +cordially, for I had the honour two years ago, if I mistake not, of +asking your hand in marriage. Do you remember it?" + +"Perfectly," she replied, fixing upon him her pure, clear eyes; "but I +ought to avow to you that this fancy of yours never seemed to me +either very reasonable or very serious." + +"You are wrong; I can certify to you that your refusal plunged me for +as much as forty-eight hours into the depths of despair--I mean one of +those genuine despairs that neither eat, drink, nor sleep, and that +speak openly of suicide!" + +"And at the end of forty-eight hours were you consoled?" + +"/Eh! bon Dieu/, it surely was time to come to reason. I had hesitated +a long time before asking your hand, because I thought, 'If she +refuses me, I cannot see her any more.' But I still do see you, so all +is well!" + +"And how soon do you mean to marry?" + +"I? Never! I shall die a bachelor. An aspirant to the hand of Mlle. +Moriaz, being unable to win her, could not care for another woman. +Nothing remains but to strike the attitude of the inconsolable lover." + +"And when this ceases to hinder one from eating, drinking, or sleeping +--what then?" + +"One becomes interesting without being inconvenienced by the +consequences," he gaily interposed. Then, letting his eyes wander idly +around for a moment, he added: "It seems to me that you have in some +way changed the order of this terrace; put to the right what was at +the left, thinned out the shrubbery, cut the trees; I feel completely +lost here." + +"You mistake greatly; nothing is changed here; it is you who have +become forgetful. How! you now longer recognise this terrace, scene of +so many exploits? I was a thorough tyrant; I did with you what I +pleased. You revolted sometimes, but in his heart the slave adored his +chains. Open your eyes. See! here is the sycamore you climbed one day +to escape me when I wanted you to make believe that you were a girl, +as you said, and you had little fancy for such a silly role. There is +the alley where we played ball, and yonder the hedge and the grove +where we played hide-and-seek." + +"Say rather, /cligne-musette/; it is more poetical," he rejoined. +"When I was down in Transylvania I made a /chanson/ about it all, and +set it myself to music." + +"Sing me your /chanson/." + +"You are mocking at me; my voice is false, as you well know; but I +will consent to recite it to you. The rhymes are not rich--I am no son +of Parnassus." + +With these words, lowering his voice, not daring to look her in the +face, he recited the couplets. + +"Your /chanson/ is very pretty," said she; "but it does not tell the +truth, for here we are sitting together on this bench; we have not +lost each other at all." + +She was so innocent that she had no idea of the torture she was +inflicting, and he saw this so plainly that he could not so much as +have the satisfaction of finding fault with her; yet he asked himself +whether in the best woman's heart there was not a foundation of +cruelty, of unconscious ferocity. He felt the tears start to his eyes; +he scarcely could restrain them; he abruptly bowed his head, and began +to examine a beautiful horned beetle, which was just crossing the +gravel-path at a quick pace, apparently having some very important +affairs to regulate. When M. Langis raised his head his eyes were dry, +his face serene, his lips smiling. + +"It is very certain," he observed, "that two years ago I must have +appeared supremely ridiculous to you. This little playmate of old, +this foolish little Camille, to attempt to transform himself into a +husband! The pretension was absurd indeed." + +"Not at all," she replied; "but I thought at once that it was a +mistake. Little Camilles are apt to be hot-headed and fanciful; they +are subject to self-deceptions regarding their sentiments. Friendship +and love, however, are two entirely different things! I once said to +Mlle. Moiseney that a woman never should marry an intimate friend, +because it would be a sure way of losing him as such, and friends are +good to keep." + +"Bah! How much do you care now for yours? I find my role very modest, +very insignificant. Open the trap-door--it is time for me to +disappear." + +"Bad counsel! I shall not open the trap-door. One always has need of +friends. I can readily imagine the possibility of the very happiest +married woman needing some advice or assistance that she could not ask +of her husband, for husbands do not understand everything. If ever +such a thing happens to me, Camille, I shall turn to you." + +"Agreed!" he cried; "to help you out of embarrassment, I would run, if +necessary, all the way from Transylvania." + +He held out his right hand, which she shook warmly. + +At this moment they heard a step that Mlle. Moriaz at once recognised, +and Count Larinski appeared from the walk bordering the house. +Antoinette hastened to meet him, and led him forward by laying hold of +the tip of his glove, which he was in the act of drawing off. + +"Gentlemen," said she, "I do not need to present you to each other; +you are already acquainted." + +It is a very difficult thing to lead two men who do not like each +other into conversation: the present effort proved a total failure. +Fortunately for all parties, M. Moriaz shortly made his appearance at +the end of the terrace, and M. Langis arose to join him. Antoinette +remained alone with Samuel Brohl, who at once rather brusquely asked: + +"Has M. Langis the intention of remaining here forever?" + +"He has only just arrived," she replied. + +"And you will send him away soon?" + +"I thought so little of sending him away that I asked him to dinner, +in order to give you an opportunity of becoming more fully acquainted +with him." + +"I thank you for your amiable intentions, but M. Langis pleases me +little." + +"What have you against him?" + +"I have met him sometimes at Mme. de Lorcy's, and he always has shown +me a most dubious politeness. I scent in him an enemy." + +"Pure imagination! M. Langis has been my friend from childhood up, and +I have forewarned him that it is his duty to love the people whom I +love." + +"I mistrust these childhood's friends," said he, growing excited. "I +should not wonder if this youth was in love with you." + +"Ah, indeed! then you should have heard him but now. He has been +reminding me, this youth, that two years ago he sought my hand, and he +assured me that forty-eight hours sufficed to console him for my +refusal." + +"I did not know that the case was so grave, or the personage so +dangerous. Truly, do you mean to keep him to dinner?" + +"I invited him; can I retract?" + +"Very well, I will leave the place," he cried, rising. + +She uplifted her eyes to his face and remained transfixed with +astonishment, so completely was his face transformed. His contracted +brows formed an acute angle, and he had a sharp, hard, evil air. This +was a Larinski with whom she was not yet acquainted, or rather it was +Samuel Brohl who had just appeared to her--Samuel Brohl, who had +entered upon the scene as suddenly as though he had emerged from a +magic surprise-box. She could not remove her eyes from him, and he at +once perceived the impression he was making on her. Forthwith Samuel +Brohl re-entered his box, whose cover closed over him, and it was a +true Pole who said to Mlle. Moriaz, in a grave, melancholy, and +respectful tone: + +"Pardon me, I am not always master of my impressions." + +"That is right," said she; "and you will remain, won't you?" + +"Impossible," he replied; "I should be cross, and you would not be +pleased." + +She urged him; he opposed her entreaties with a polite but firm +resistance. + +"Adieu," said she. "When shall I see you again?" + +"To-morrow--or the day after--I do not know." + +"Really, do you not know?" + +He perceived that her eyes were full of tears. Tenderly kissing her +hand he said, with a smile that consoled her: + +"This is the first time we have had any dispute; it is possible that I +may be wrong, but it seems to me that if I were a woman I would not +willingly marry a man who was always right." + +These words uttered, he assured himself anew that her eyes were humid, +and then he left, charmed to have proved the extent of the empire he +held over her. + +When she rejoined M. Langis, the young man asked: + +"Does it chance to be I who put Count Larinski to flight? If so, I +should be quite heart-broken." + +"Reassure yourself," said she, "he came expressly to inform me that +his evening was not free." + +The dinner was only passably lively. Mlle. Moiseney owed M. Langis a +grudge; she could not forgive him for having made fun of her more than +once--in her eyes an unpardonable sin. M. Moriaz was enchanted to find +himself once more in company with his dear Camille; but he kept asking +himself, mournfully, "Why is not he to be my son-in-law?" Antoinette +had several attacks of abstraction; she did not, however, omit the +least friendly attention to Camille. Love had become master of this +generous soul; it might cause it to commit many imprudences, but it +was not in its power to cause it to commit an injustice. + +At nine o'clock M. Langis mounted his horse and took his departure. + +Meanwhile, Mlle. Moriaz, her arm resting on the ledge of her window, +was meditating on the strange conduct of Count Larinski as she gazed +on the stars; the sky was without clouds, unless a little black speck +above Mount-Valerien might be so called. Mlle. Moriaz's heart swelled +with emotion, and she felt implicit confidence that all would be +arranged the next day. What is one black spot in the immensity of a +starry sky? + + + +CHAPTER X + +In all that Samuel Brohl did, even in his wildest freaks, there was +somewhat of calculation, or contrivance. Unquestionably, he had +experienced intense displeasure at encountering M. Camille Langis at +Cormeilles; he had, doubtless, very particular and very personal +reasons for not liking him. He knew, however, that there was need for +controlling his temper, his impressions, his rancour; and, if he +ceased to do so for a moment, it was because he counted upon deriving +advantage therefrom. He was impatient to enter into possession, to +feel his good-fortune sheltered from all hazards; delays, +procrastinations, long waiting, displeased and irritated him. He +suspected M. Moriaz of purposely putting his shoulder to the wheel of +time, and of preparing a contract that would completely tie the hands +of Count Larinski. He resolved to seize the first opportunity of +proving that he was mistrustful, stormy, susceptible, in the hope that +Mlle. Moriaz would become alarmed and say to her father, "I intend to +marry in three weeks, and without any conditions." The opportunity had +presented itself, and Samuel Brohl had taken good care not to lose it. + +The next day he received the following note: + + "You have caused me pain, a great deal of pain. Already! I passed a + sorrowful evening, and slept wretchedly all night. I have + reflected seriously upon our dispute; I have endeavoured to + persuade myself that I was in the wrong: I have neither been able + to succeed, nor to comprehend you. Ah! how your lack of confidence + astonishes me! It is so easy to believe when one loves. Please + write me word quickly that you also have reflected, and that you + have acknowledged your misdemeanour. I will not insist upon your + doing penance, your face humbled to the ground; but I will condemn + you to love me to-day more than yesterday, to-morrow more than + to-day. Upon these conditions, I will pass a sponge across your + grave error, and we shall speak of it no more. + +"Ever yours. It is agreed, is it not?" +Samuel Brohl had the surprise of receiving at the same time another + +letter, thus worded: + + "MY DEAR COUNT: I cannot explain to myself your conduct; you no + longer give me any signs of life. I believed that I had some + claims upon you, and that you would hasten to announce to me in + person the great event of events, and seek my congratulations. + Come, I beg of you, and dine this evening at Maisons with Abbe + Miollens, who is dying to embrace you; he studies men in Horace, + you know, and he finds none whom he prefers to you. + + "You need not answer, but come; else I will be displeased with you + as long as I live." + +Samuel replied as follows to Mlle. Moriaz: + + "Be assured I have suffered more than you. Forgive me; much should + be forgiven a man who has suffered much. My imagination is subject + to the wildest alarms. Great, unlooked-for joy has rendered me + mistrustful. I have been especially low-spirited of late. After + having resolutely fought against my happiness, I tremble now lest + it escape me; it appears to me too beautiful not to prove only a + dream. To be loved by you! How can I help fearing to lose the + great boon? Each evening I ask myself: 'Will she still love me + to-morrow?' Perhaps my anxiety is blended with secret remorse. My + pride, ever on the alert to take umbrage, has often been my + torment; you can tell me it is only self-love: I will endeavour to + cure myself of it, but this cannot be done in a day. During these + long months of waiting there will come to me more than one + suspicion, more than one troubled thought. I promise you, however, + that I shall maintain a rigid silence concerning them, and, if + possible, hide them. + + "You condemn me, for my punishment, to love you to-day more than + yesterday; you know well this were impossible. No; I shall inflict + upon myself another chastisement. Mme. de Lorcy has invited me to + dinner. I suspect her of having a very mediocre feeling of good- + will for me, and I also accuse her of being cold and insensible; + of understanding nothing whatever of the heart's unreasonableness, + which is true wisdom. Nevertheless, I will refrain from declining + her invitation. It is at Maisons and not at Cormeilles that I + shall this day pass my evening. Are you content with me? Is not + the penance severe enough? + + "But to-morrow--oh! I shall arrive at your home to-morrow by two + o'clock, and I shall enter by the little green gate at the foot of + the orchard. Will you do me a favour? Promenade about two o'clock + in the gravel-walk that I adore. The wall being low at that place, + I shall perceive from afar, before entering, the white silk of + your sun-umbrella. I am counting, you see, upon sunshine. How very + childish! Yet, even this is not strange; I was born three months + and a half ago; I commenced to live July 5th of this year; at four + o'clock in the afternoon, in the cathedral at Chur. Forgive me all + my errors, my suspicions, my childish absurdities." + +Mlle. Moriaz concluded that it would be well to shorten the term of +waiting, and that she would ask Count Larinski to fix the date of +their marriage himself. As to the contract, she had immediate occasion +to speak of it to her father, who announced to her that he had invited +his notary, Maitre Noirot, to dine with him the next day. + +She was silent a few moments, and then said, "Can you explain to me +the use of notaries?" + +He replied about as did /le Philosophe sans le savoir/: "We only see +the present; notaries foresee the future and possible contingencies." + +She replied that she did not believe in contingencies, and that she +did not like precautions, because they presupposed distrust, and might +appear offensive. + +"We have charming weather to-day," said her father; "nevertheless +there is a possibility of rain to-morrow. If I started this evening on +a journey, I should carry my umbrella, without fearing to insult +Providence. Who speaks to you of offending M. Larinski? Not content +with approving of the step I propose taking, he will thank me for it. +Why did he at first refuse to marry you? Because you are rich, and he +is poor. The contract I wish to have drawn up will thoroughly set at +ease his disinterestedness and his pride." + +"The question of money no longer exists for him," she eagerly replied; +"it is my desire that it should not be started again. And since you +like comparisons, let us suppose that you invited one of your friends +to take a turn in your garden. Your espaliers are laden with fruit, +and you know that your friend is an honest man, and that, besides, he +does not care for pears. Suppose you were to put handcuffs on him, +would he or would he not be insulted?" + +He answered in an exceedingly vexed tone, that this was entirely +different, and Mlle. Moiseney having taken the liberty to interfere in +the discussion in Antoinette's behalf, declaring that Counts Larinski +are not to be distrusted, and that men of science are incapable of +comprehending delicacy of sentiment, he gave full vent to his wrath, +telling the worthy demoiselle to meddle with what concerned her. For +the first time in his life he was seriously angry. Antoinette caressed +him into good-humour, promised that she would put on the best possible +face to Maitre Noirot, that she would pay religious attention to his +counsels, and that she would endeavour to profit by them. + +While M. Moriaz was engaged in this stormy interview with his +daughter, Samuel Brohl was /en route/ for Maisons. After the first +flush of astonishment, the note and invitation of Mme. de Lorcy had +pleased him immensely; he saw in it the proof that she had ceased to +struggle against the inevitable--against Samuel Brohl and destiny; +that she had resolved to bear her disappointment with a cheerful +countenance. He formed the generous resolution to console her for her +vexation; to gain her good-will by force of modesty and graceful +attentions. + +Alone in his compartment of the cars, Samuel Brohl was happy, +perfectly happy. He was nearing port; he held it for an established +fact that, before a fortnight, the banns would be published. Was he +alone in his compartment? An adored image kept him company; he spoke +to it, it replied to him. Blended with a rather uncommon frigidity of +soul, Samuel Brohl had an imagination that readily took fire, and, +when his imagination was kindled, he felt within him something warm, +which he took for a heart, and sincerely persuaded himself that he had +such an organ. At this moment he saw Antoinette as he had left her the +evening previous, her face animated, her cheeks flushed, her +countenance full of reproach, her eyes tearful. She never had appeared +to him so charming. He believed himself so madly in love that he was +inclined to mock a little at himself. He teased in anticipation the +joys that were in reserve for him; he revelled in thought of the day +and the hour when this superb creature would be his, when he could +view her as his own undisputed possession, and devour page after page, +chapter after chapter, of this elegantly printed, richly bound book. + +However, he was not the man to wholly absorb himself in such a +reverie. His thoughts travelled farther; in idea he embraced his +entire future, which he fashioned out at pleasure. He took leave of +his sorrowful past as a blind man who by some miracle recovers his +sight, parts from his dog and his staff--troublesome witnesses of evil +days. He had done with petty employments, with ungrateful toil, with +humiliating servitude, with anxiety about the morrow, with the +necessity for counting every sou, with meagre repasts, with sordid +expedients, with sorrow, distress, and usuries; to all these he said +farewell. Henceforth he would pick up silver and gold by the +shovelful; he would have a share in abundance of festivals--the joy of +doing nothing--the pleasure of commanding--all the sweetness and all +the calm satisfaction of delightful egotism--reposing in a bed of +eider-down--fed upon delicate birds--owning two or three houses, a +carriage, horses, and a box at the opera. What a future! At intervals +Samuel Brohl passed his tongue over his lips; they were parched with +thirst. + +Alnaschar the Lazy received one hundred drachms of silver as his +entire patrimony, and he promised himself that he would one day marry +the daughter of the grand-vizier. He meant to clothe himself like a +prince, to mount upon a horse with a saddle of fine gold and housings +of gold, richly embroidered with diamonds and pearls. He proposed to +see that his wife formed good habits, to train her to obedience, to +teach her to stand before him and be always ready to wait upon him; he +resolved to discipline her with his looks, his hand, and his foot. +Samuel Brohl possessed a calmer spirit than the Athenian Hippoclide; +he was less brutal than Alnaschar of Bagdad: was he much less +ferocious? He proposed, he also, to educate his wife; he intended that +the daughter of the grand-vizier should consecrate herself wholly to +his happiness, to his service. To possess a beautiful slave, with +velvety eyes, chestnut hair, tinged with gold, who would make of +Samuel Brohl her padishah and her god, who would pass her life at his +knees on the alert for his wishes, reading his good pleasure in his +face, attentive to his fancies and to his eye-brows, belonging to him +body and soul, uplifting to him the gaze of a timid gazelle or a +faithful spaniel--such was his dream of conjugal felicity. And little +need would he have to exert himself much in the education of Mlle. +Antoinette Moriaz. Love would charge itself with that. She adored +Samuel Brohl, and he relied upon her devotion; it were impossible that +she could refuse him anything! She was prepared in advance for every +compliance, every obedience; she was ready to be his humble servant in +all things. Knaves make it their boast that they can readily fathom +honest people; the truth is, they only half comprehend them. Honest +people have sentiments, as do certain languages, reputed easy, which +are full of mystery, of refined delicacy, inaccessible to the vulgar +mind. A commercial traveller often learns to speak Italian in three +weeks, and yet never really knows the language; Samuel Brohl had +gained a superficial knowledge of Mlle. Moriaz in a few days, and yet +he was far from having a true comprehension of her. + +He arrived at Maisons in the most cheerful, self-satisfied frame of +mind. As he walked through the park, he remembered that Mme. de Lorcy +had lost her only two children when they were still of a tender age; +that she was therefore free to will her property as she pleased; that +she had a short neck, an apoplectic temperament; that Antoinette was +her goddaughter; that although she was piqued with Count Larinski the +count was adroit, and would find a way to regain her sympathies. The +park appeared to him magnificent; he admired its long, regular alleys, +which had the appearance of extending as far as Peking; he paused some +moments before the purple beech, and it seemed to him that there must +be some resemblance between this beautiful tree and himself. He +contemplated with the eyes of proprietorship the terrace planted with +superb lindens, and he decided that he would establish himself in his +Maisons chateau, that his pretty Cormeilles villa would merely be his +country-seat. As it may be seen, his imagination refused him nothing; +it placed happiness and wealth untold at his command. + +We are unable to state whether Mme. de Lorcy actually had an +apoplectic temperament; the one thing certain is, that she was not +dead. Samuel Brohl perceived her from afar on the veranda, which she +had just stepped out upon in order to watch for his arrival. He had +forgotten himself in the park, which should one day be his park, and +she was beginning to be uneasy about his coming. + +She cried out to him: "At last! You always make us wait for you," +adding, in a most affable tone, "We meet to-day under less tragic +circumstances than the last time you were here, and I hope you will +bear away a pleasanter remembrance of Maisons." + +He respectfully kissed her hand, saying: "Happiness must be purchased; +I cannot pay too dearly for mine." + +She ushered him into the /salon/, where he had scarcely set foot, when +he descried an old woman lounging on a /causeuse/, fanning herself as +she chatted with Abbe Miollens. He remained motionless, his eyes +fixed, scarcely breathing, cold as marble; it seemed to him that the +four walls of the /salon/ swayed from right to left, and left to +right, and that the floor was sliding from under his feet like the +deck of a pitching vessel. + +The previous day, Antoinette once departed, Mme. de Lorcy had resumed +her attack on Princess Gulof, and the princess had ended by consenting +to delay her departure, to dine with the adventurer of the green eyes, +and to subject him to a close scrutiny. There she was; yes, it was +indeed she! The first impulse of Samuel Brohl was to regain the door +as speedily as possible; but he did nothing of the kind. He looked at +Mme. de Lorcy: she herself was regarding him with astonishment; she +wondered what could suddenly have overcome him; she could find no +explanation for the bewilderment apparent in his countenance. "It is a +mere chance," he thought at last; "she has not intentionally drawn me +into a snare." This thought was productive of a sort of half relief. + +"/Eh bien!/ what is it?" she asked. "Has my poor /salon/ still the +misfortune to be hurtful to you?" + +He pointed to a /jardiniere/, saying: "You are fond of hyacinths and +tuberoses; their perfume overpowered me for a moment. I fear you think +me very effeminate." + +She replied in a caressing voice: "I take you for a most worthy man +who has terrible nerves; but you know by experience that if you have +weaknesses I have salts. Will you have my smelling-bottle?" + +"You are a thousand times too good," he rejoined, and bravely marched +forward to face the danger. It is a well-known fact that dangers in a +silken robe are the most formidable of all. + +Mme. de Lorcy presented him to the princess, who raised her chin to +examine him with her little glittering eyes. It seemed to him that +those gray orbs directed at him were two balls, which struck him in +the heart; he quivered from head to foot and asked himself confusedly +whether he were dead or living. He soon perceived that he was still +living; the princess had remained impassible--not a muscle of her face +had moved. She ended by bestowing upon Samuel a smile that was almost +gracious, and addressing to him some insignificant words, which he +only half understood, but which seemed to him exquisite--delicious. He +fancied that she was saying to him: "You have a chance, you were born +lucky; my sight has been impaired for some years, and I do not +recognise you. Bless your star, you are saved!" He experienced such a +transport of joy that he could have flung his arms about the neck of +Abbe Miollens, who came up to him with extended hand, saying: + +"What have you been thinking about, my dear count? Since we last met a +very great event has been accomplished. What woman wishes, God wishes; +but, after all, my own humble efforts were not without avail, and I am +proud of it." + +Mme. de Lorcy requested Count Larinski to offer his arm to Princess +Gulof and lead her out to dinner. He mechanically complied; but he had +not the strength to utter a syllable as he conducted the princess to +table. She herself said nothing; she seemed wholly busied in arranging +with her unoccupied hand a lock of her gray hair, which had strayed +too far over her forehead. He looked fixedly at this short, plump +hand, which one day in a fit of jealous fury had administered to him +two smart blows; his cheeks recognised it. + +During dinner the princess was very gay: she paid more attention to +Abbe Miollens than to Count Larinski; she took pleasure in teasing the +good priest--in endeavouring to shock him a little. It was not easy to +shock him; to his natural, easy good-nature he united an innate +respect for grandeurs and for princesses. She did not neglect so good +an opportunity to air her monkey-development theories. He merrily +flung back the ball; he declared that he should prefer to be a fallen +angel rather than a perfected monkey; that in his estimation a parvenu +made a much sorrier figure in the world than the descendent of an old +family of ruined nobility. She replied that she was more democratic +than he. "It is pleasant to me," said she, "to think that I am a +progressive ape, who has a wide future before him, and who, by taking +proper pains, may hope to attain new advancement." + +While they were thus chatting, Samuel Brohl was striving with all his +might to recover from the terrible blow he had received. He noted with +keen satisfaction that the eyesight of the princess was considerably +impaired; that the microscopic studies, for which she had always had a +taste, had resulted in rendering her somewhat near-sighted; that she +was obliged to look out carefully to find her way among her wine- +glasses. "She has not seen me for six years," thought he, "and I have +become a different man, I have undergone a complete metamorphosis; I +have difficulty sometimes in recognising myself. Formerly, my face was +close-shaven, now I have let my entire beard grow. My voice, my +accent, the poise of my head, my manners, the expression of my +countenance, all are changed; Poland has entered my blood--I am Samuel +no longer, I am Larinski." He blessed the microscope, which enfeebled +the sight of old women; he blessed Count Abel Larinski, who had made +of him his twin brother. Before the end of the repast he had recovered +all his assurance, all his aplomb. He began to take part in the +conversation: he recounted in a sorrowful tone a sorrowful little +story; he retailed sundry playful anecdotes with a melancholy grace +and sprightliness; he expressed the most chivalrous sentiments; +shaking his lion's mane, he spoke of the prisoner at the Vatican with +tears in his voice. It were impossible to be a more thorough Larinski. + +The princess manifested, in listening to him, an astonished curiosity; +she concluded by saying to him: "Count, I admire you; but I believe +only in physiology, and you are a little too much of a Pole for me." + +After they had left the table and repaired to the /salon/, several +callers dropped in. It was like a deliverance to Samuel. If the +society was not numerous enough for him to lose himself in it, at +least it served him as a shield. He held it for a certainty that the +princess had not recognised him; yet he did not cease feeling in her +presence unutterably ill at ease. This Calmuck visage of hers recalled +to him all the miseries, the shame, the hard, grinding slavery of his +youth; he could not look at her without feeling his brow burn as +though it were being seared with a hot iron. + +He entered into conversation with a supercilious, haughty, and +pedantic counsellor-at-law, whose interminable monologues distilled +ennui. This fine speaker seemed charming to Samuel, who found in him +wit, knowledge, scholarship, and taste; he possessed the (in his eyes) +meritorious quality of not knowing Samuel Brohl. For Samuel had come +to divide the human race into two categories: the first comprehended +those well-to-do, thriving people who did not know a certain Brohl; he +placed in the second old women who did know him. He interrogated the +counsellor with deference, he hung upon his words, he smiled with an +air of approbation at all the absurdities that escaped him; he would +have been willing to have his discourse last three hours by the watch; +if this charming bore had shown symptoms of escaping him, he would +have held him back by the button. + +Suddenly he heard a harsh voice, saying to Mme. de Lorcy: "Where is +Count Larinski? Bring him to me; I want to have a discussion with +him." + +He could not do otherwise than comply; he quitted his counsellor with +regret, went over and took a seat in the arm-chair that Mme. de Lorcy +drew up for him at the side of the princess, and which had for him the +effect of a stool of repentance. Mme. de Lorcy moved away, and he was +left /tete-a-tete/ with Princess Gulof, who said to him, "I have been +told that congratulations are due to you, and I must make them at once +--although we are enemies." + +"By what right are we enemies, princess?" he asked with a slightly +troubled feeling, which quickly passed away as she answered: + +"I am a Russian and you are a Pole, but we shall have no time for +fighting; I leave for London to-morrow morning at seven o'clock." + +He was on the point of casting himself at her feet and tenderly +kissing her two hands, in testimony of his gratitude. "To-morrow at +seven o'clock," he mentally ejaculated. "I have slandered her; she has +some good in her." + +"When I say that I am a Russian," resumed the princess, "it is merely +a formal speech. Love of country is a prejudice, an idea that has had +its day, that had sense in the times of Epaminondas or of Theseus, but +that has it no longer. We live in the age of the telegraph, the +locomotive; and I know of nothing more absurd now than a frontier, or +more ridiculous than a patriot. Rumour says that you fought like a +hero in the insurrection of 1863; that you gave proof of incomparable +prowess, and that you killed with your own hand ten Cossacks? What +harm had they done you, those poor Cossacks? Do they not sometimes +haunt your dreams? Can you think of your victims without disquietude +and without remorse?" + +He replied, in a dry, haughty tone: "I really do not know, princess, +how many Cossacks I have killed; but I do know that there are some +subjects on which I do not love to expatiate." + +"You are right--I should not comprehend you. Don Quixote did not do +Sancho the honour to explain himself to him every day." + +"Ah, I beg of you, let us talk a little of the man-monkey," he +observed, in a rather more pliant tone than he had at first assumed. +"That is a question that has the advantage of being neither Russian +nor Polish." + +"You will not succeed that way in throwing me off the track. I mean to +tell you all the evil I think of you, no matter how it may incense +you. You uttered, at table, theories that displeased me. You are not +only a Polish patriot; you are an idealist, a true disciple of Plato, +and you do not know how I always have detested this man. In all these +sixty years that I have been in this world, I have seen nothing but +selfishness, and grasping after self-gratification. Twice during +dinner you spoke of an ideal world. What is an ideal world? Where is +it situated? You speak of it as of a house whose inhabitants you are +well acquainted with, whose key is in your pocket. Can you show me the +key? I promise not to steal it from you. O poet!--for you are quite as +much of a poet as of a Pole, which is not saying much--" + +"Nothing remains but to hang me," he interposed, smilingly. + +"No, I shall not hang you. Opinions are free, and there is room enough +in the world for all, even idealists. Besides, if you were to be +hanged, it would bring to the verge of despair a charming girl who +adores you, who was created expressly for you, and whom you will +shortly marry. When will the ceremony take place?" + +"If I dared hope that you would do me the honour of being present, +princess, I should postpone it until your return from England." + +"You are too amiable; but I could not on any consideration retard the +happiness of Mlle. Moriaz. There, my dear count, I congratulate you +sincerely. I had the pleasure to meet here the future Countess +Larinski. She is adorable! It is an exquisite nature, hers--a true +poet's wife. She must have brains, discernment; she has chosen you-- +that says everything. As to her fortune, I dare not ask you if she has +any; you would turn away from me in disgust. Do idealists trouble +their heads with such vile questions?" + +She leaned towards him, and, fanning herself excitedly, added: "These +poor idealists! they have one misfortune." + +"And what is that, princess?" + +"They dream with open eyes, and the awakening is sometimes +disagreeable. Ah, my dear Count Larinski, this, that, and the other, +/et cetera/. Thus endeth the adventure." + +Then, stretching out her neck until her face was close to his, she +darted at him a venomous, viper-like look, and, in a voice that seemed +to cut into his tympanum like a sharp-toothed saw, she hissed, "Samuel +Brohl, the man with the green eyes, sooner or later the mountains must +meet!" + +It seemed to him that the candelabra on the mantel-piece darted out +jets of flame, whose green, blue, and rose-coloured tongues ascended +to the ceiling; and it appeared to him as though his heart was beating +as noisily as a clock-pendulum, and that every one would turn to +inquire whence came the noise. But every one was occupied; no one +turned round; no one suspected that there was a man present on whom a +thunderbolt had just fallen. + +The man passed his hand over his brow, which was covered with a cold +sweat; then dispelling, by an effort of will, the cloud that veiled +his eyes, he, in turn, leaned towards the princess, and with quivering +lip and evil, sardonic glance, said to her, in a low voice: + +"Princess, I have a slight acquaintance with this Samuel Brohl of whom +you speak. He is not a man who will allow himself to be strangled +without a great deal of outcry. You are not much in the habit of +writing, nevertheless he received from you two letters, which he +copied, placing the originals in safety. If ever he sees the necessity +of appearing in a court of justice, these two letters can be made to +create quite a sensation, and unquestionably they will be the delight +of all the petty journals of Paris." + +Thereupon he made a profound bow, respectfully took leave of Mme. de +Lorcy, and retired, followed by Abbe Miollens, who inflicted a real +torture by insisting on accompanying him to the station. + +No longer restrained by Mme. de Lorcy's presence, the abbe spoke +freely of the happy event in which he prided himself to have been a +co-operator; he overwhelmed him with congratulation, and all the good +wishes he could possibly think of for his happiness. During a quarter +of an hour he lavished on him his myrrh and honey. Samuel would gladly +have wrung his neck. He could not breathe until the abbe had freed him +from his obtrusive society. + +A storm muttered in the almost cloudless sky. It was a dry storm; the +rain fell elsewhere. The incessant lightning, accompanied by distant +thunder, gleamed from all quarters of the horizon, and darted its +luminous flashes over the whole extent of the plain. At intervals the +hills seemed to be on fire. Several times Samuel, who stood with his +nose against the glass of the car-door, thought that he saw in the +direction of Cormeilles the flaring light of a conflagration, in which +were blazing his dream and two millions, to say nothing of his great +expectations. + +He bitterly reproached himself for his folly of the previous day. "If +I had passed yesterday evening with her," he thought, "surely she +would have spoken of the Princess Gulof. I would have taken measures +accordingly, and nothing would have happened." It was all M. Langis's +fault; it was to him that he imputed the disaster, and he hated him +all the more. + +However, as he approached Paris, he felt his courage returning. + +"Those two letters frightened the old fairy," he thought. "She will +think twice before she declares war with me. No, she will not dare." +He added: "And if she dared, Antoinette loves me so much that I can +make her believe what I please." + +And he prepared in his mind what he should say, in case the event +occurred. + +At that very moment Mme. de Lorcy, who was alone with Princess Gulof, +was saying: "Well, my dear, you have talked with my man. What do you +think of him?" + +The princess distressed her by her reply. "I think, my dear," she +rejoined, "that Count Larinski is the last of the heroes of romance-- +or, if you like better, the last of the troubadours; but I have no +reason to believe him to be an adventurer." + +Mme. de Lorcy could get nothing further from Princess Gulof; she had +invited her to remain overnight; she got no pay for her hospitality. +The princess spent part of the night in reflecting and deliberating. +Samuel Brohl's insolent menace had produced some effect. She sought to +remember the exact purport of the two letters that formerly she had +had the imprudence to write him from London, while he was fulfilling a +business commission for her in Paris. On his return she had required +Samuel to burn these two compromising epistles, in her presence; he +had deceived her; he burned the envelopes and blank paper. The thought +of some day having her composition quoted in court, and printed +verbatim in the petty journals, terrified her, and made her blood boil +in her veins; she hardly cared to take Paris and St. Petersburg into +her confidence concerning an experience the recollection of which +caused her disgust--but to let such an admirable opportunity of +vengeance escape her! renounce the delight of the gods and of +princesses! permit this man who had just defied her to accomplish his +underhand intrigue! She could not resign herself to the idea, and the +consequence was that, during the night she spent at Maisons, she +scarcely closed her eyes. + + + +CHAPTER XI + +The following day, after breakfast, Mlle. Moriaz was walking alone on +the terrace. The weather was delightfully mild. She was bare-headed, +and had opened her white silk umbrella to protect herself from the +sun; for Samuel Brohl had been a true prophet--there was sunshine. She +looked up at the sky, where no trace was left of the wind-storm of the +preceding evening, and it seemed to her that she never had seen the +sky so blue. She looked at her flower-beds, and the flowers that she +saw were perhaps not there. She looked at the orchard, growing on the +slope that bordered the terrace, and she admired the foliage of the +apple-trees, over which Autumn, with liberal hand, had scattered gold +and purple; the grass there was as high as her knee, and was fragrant +and glossy. Above the apple-trees she saw the spire of the church at +Cormeilles; it seemed to amuse itself watching the flying clouds. It +was a high-festival day. The bells were ringing out a full peal; they +spoke to this happy girl of that far-off, mysterious land which we +remember, without ever having seen it. Their silvery voices were +answered by the cheerful cackling of the hens. She at once understood +that a joyful event was occurring in the poultry-yard, as well as in +the belfry; that below, as well as above, an arrival was being +celebrated. But what pleased her more than all the rest was the little +deep-set gateway with its ivy-hung arch at the end of the orchard. It +was through this gate that he would come. + +She walked several times around the terrace. The gravel was elastic, +and rebounded under her step. Never had Mlle. Moriaz felt so light: +life, the present, the future, weighed no heavier on her brow than a +bird in the hand that holds it and feels it tremble. Her heart +fluttered like a bird; like a bird it had wings, and only asked to +fly. She believed that there was happiness everywhere; there seemed to +be joy diffused through the air, in the wind, in every sound, and in +all silences. She gazed smilingly on the vast landscape that was +spread out before her eyes, and the sparkling Seine sent back her +smile. + +Some one came to announce that a lady, a stranger, had called, who +wished to speak with her. Immediately thereupon the stranger appeared, +and Mlle. Moriaz was most disagreeably surprised to find herself in +the presence of the Princess Gulof, whom she would willingly never +have seen again. "This is an unpleasant visit," she thought, as she +asked her guest to be seated on a rustic bench. "What can this woman +want with me?" + +"It was M. Moriaz whom I desired to speak with," began the princess. +"I am told that he is out. I shall leave in a few hours for Calais; I +cannot await his return, and I have, therefore, decided to address +myself to you, mademoiselle. I have come here to render you one of +those little services that one woman owes to another; but, first of +all, I would like to be assured that I may rely on your absolute +discretion; I do not desire to appear in this affair." + +"In what affair, madame?" + +"One of no little consequence; it concerns your marriage." + +"You are extremely kind to concern yourself with my marriage; but I do +not understand----" + +"You will understand in a few moments. So you promise me----" + +"I promise nothing, madame, before I understand." + +The princess looked in amazement at Mlle. Moriaz. She had anticipated +talking with a dove; she found that the dove had a less accommodating +temper and a much stiffer neck than she had believed. She hesitated +for a moment whether she would not at once end the interview; she +decided, however, to proceed: + +"I have a story to relate to you," she continued, in a familiar tone; +"listen with attention, I beg of you. I err if in the end you do not +find it interesting. Thirteen or fourteen years ago, one of those +unlucky chances, common in travelling, obliged me to pass several +hours in a miserable little town in Galicia. The inn, or rather the +tavern, where I stopped, was very dirty; the tavern-keeper, an ill- +looking little German Jew, was still dirtier than his tavern, and he +had a son who was in no better condition. I am given to forming +illusions about people. In spite of his filth, this youth interested +me. His stupid father refused him all instruction, and beat him +unmercifully; he appeared intelligent; he made me think of a fresh- +water fish condemned to live in a quagmire. He was called Samuel +Brohl: remember the name. I pitied him and I saw no other way of +saving him than to buy him of his father. This horrid little man +demanded an exorbitant price. I assure you his pretensions were +absurd. Well, my dear, I was out of cash; I had with me just the money +sufficient for the expenses of the rest of the journey; but I wore on +my arm a bracelet that had the advantage of pleasing him. It was a +Persian trinket, more singular than beautiful. I can see it now; it +was formed of three large plates of gold ornamented with grotesque +animals, and joined by a filigree network. I valued this bracelet; it +had been brought to me from Teheran. By means of a secret spring, one +of the plates opened, and I had had engraved inside the most +interesting dates of my life, and underneath them my profession of +faith, with which you have no concern. Ah! my dear, when one has once +been touched by that dangerous passion called philanthropy, one +becomes capable of exchanging a Persian bracelet for a Samuel Brohl, +and I swear to you that it was a real fool's bargain that I made. This +miserable fellow paid me badly for my kindness to him. I sent him to +the university, and later I took him into my service as secretary. He +had a black heart. One fine morning, he took to his heels and +disappeared." + +"That was revolting ingratitude," interrupted Antoinette, "and your +good work, madame, was poorly recompensed; but I do not see what +relation Samuel Brohl can have to my marriage." + +"You are too impatient, my darling. If you had given me time I would +have told you that I had had the very unexpected pleasure of dining +yesterday with him at Mme. de Lorcy's. This German has made great +advances since I lost sight of him; not content with becoming a Pole, +he is now a person of vast importance. He is called Count Abel +Larinski, and he is to marry very soon Mlle. Antoinette Moriaz." + +The blood rushed into Antoinette's cheeks, and her eyes flashed fire. +Princess Gulof entirely mistook the sentiment that animated her, and +said: "My dear, don't be angry, don't be indignant, your indignation +will not help you at all. Without doubt, a rascal capable of deceiving +such a charming girl as you deserves death ten times over; but be +careful not to make an exposure! My dear, scandal always splashes mud +over every one concerned, and there is a rather vulgar but exceedingly +sensible Turkish proverb that says that the more garlic is crushed, +the stronger becomes its odour. Believe me, you would not come off +without a tinge of ridicule; certain mistakes always appear a little +ridiculous, and it is useless to proclaim them to the universe. Thank +Heaven! you are not yet the Countess Larinski--I arrived in time to +save you. Be silent about the discovery you have just made; by no +means mention it to Samuel Brohl, and seek a proper pretext to break +with him. You would not be a woman if you could not find ten for one." + +Mlle. Moriaz could no longer refrain her anger. "Madame," she +exclaimed excitedly, "will you declare to M. Larinski, in my presence, +that his name is Samuel Brohl?" + +"I made that declaration to him yesterday--it is useless to repeat it. +He was nearer dead than alive, and I was truly sorry for the state +into which I had thrown him. I cannot disguise from myself that I am +the cause of all this; why did I take the boy from his father's tavern +and his natal mud? Perhaps there he would have remained honest. It was +I who launched him into the world and gave him the desire to advance, +I put the trump-cards into his hand, but he found that he could not +win fast enough by fair play, so he ended by cheating. It is not my +place to overwhelm the poor devil--we owe some consideration to those +who are under obligations to us; and, once more, I desire not to +appear further in this business. Promise me that Samuel Brohl never +will be informed of the measures I have taken." + +She replied, in a haughty tone: "I promise you, madame, that I never +will do Count Larinski the wrong to repeat to him a single word of the +very likely story you have related to me." + +The princess rose hastily, remained standing before Mlle. Moriaz, and +contemplated her in silence; finally she said, in tones of the most +cutting sarcasm: "Ah! you do not believe me, my dear. Decidedly you do +not believe me. You are right; you should not put faith in an old +woman's childish chatter. No, my darling, there is no Samuel Brohl: I +dined yesterday at Maisons with the most authentic of Counts Larinski, +and nothing remains for me to say but to present my best wishes for +the certain happiness of the Countess Larinski, /et cetera/--of the +Countess Larinski and company." + +With these words she bowed, turned on her heels, and disappeared. + +Mlle. Moriaz remained an instant as if stunned by a blow. She +questioned herself as to whether she had not seen a vision, or had had +the nightmare. Was it, indeed, a Russian princess of flesh and blood +who had just been there, who had been seated close beside her, and had +conversed so strangely with her that the belfry of Cormeilles could +not hear it without falling into a profound stupor? In fact, the +belfry of Cormeilles had become silent, its bells no longer rang; an +appalling silence reigned for two leagues round. + +Antoinette soon controlled her emotions. "The day before yesterday," +she thought, "this woman appeared to me to be deranged: she is a +lunatic; I wish that Abel were here, he could tell me what happened at +dinner between him and this dotard, and we should laugh over it +together. Perhaps nothing happened at all. The Princess Gulof should +be confined. They do very wrong to let maniacs like that go at large. +It is dangerous; the bells of Cormeilles have ceased ringing. Ah! /bon +Dieu/, who knows? Mme. de Lorcy surely has a hand in this business; it +is the result of some grand plot. How many acts are there in the play? +Here we are at the second or third; but there are some jokes that are +very provoking. I shall end by being seriously angry." + +Princess Gulof appeared to have entirely failed in her object. It +seemed to Mlle. Moriaz that for the last twenty minutes she loved +Count Larinski more than ever before. + +The hour drew near; he was on the way; she had never been so impatient +to see him. She saw some one at the end of the terrace. It was M. +Camille Langis, who was going towards the laboratory. + +He turned his head, retraced his steps, and came to her. M. Moriaz had +asked him to translate two pages of a German memoir which he had not +been able to understand. Camille was bringing the translation; perhaps +that was the reason of his coming back to Cormeilles after two days; +perhaps, too, it was only a pretext. + +Mlle. Moriaz could not help thinking that his visit was inopportune; +that he had chose an unfortunate time for it. "If the count finds him +still here," thought she, "I am not afraid that he will make a scene, +but all his pleasure will be spoiled." There was a tinge of coldness +in her welcome to M. Langis, of which he was sensible. + +"I am in the way," he said, making a movement to retire. + +She kept him, and altered her tone: "You are never in the way, +Camille. Sit there." + +He seated himself, and talked of the races at Chantilly, that he had +attended the day before. + +She listened to him, bowed her head in sign of approval; but she heard +his voice through a mist that veiled her senses. She lifted her hand +to brush away a wasp that annoyed her by its buzzing. The lace of her +cuff, in falling back, left her wrist exposed. + +"What a curious bracelet you have!" said M. Langis. + +"Have you not seen it before?" she replied. "It is some time +since----" + +She interrupted herself, a sudden idea occurring to her. She looked at +her wrist. This bracelet from which she never was parted--this +bracelet that Count Larinski had given to her--this bracelet that he +loved because it had belonged to his mother, and that the late +Countess Larinski had worn as long as she lived--resembled none other; +but Mlle. Moriaz observed that it had a strong resemblance to the +Persian bracelet that the Princess Gulof had described to her, and +which she had exchanged for Samuel Brohl. The three gold plates, the +grotesque animals, the filigree network--nothing was wanting. She took +it from her arm and handed it to M. Langis, saying to him: "There is, +it seems, something written on the interior of one of these plates; +but you must know the secret to be able to open it. Can you guess +secrets?" + +He carefully examined the bracelet. "Two of these plates," said he, +"are solid, and of heavy gold; the third is hollow, and might serve as +a case. I see a little hinge that is almost invisible; but I seek in +vain for the secret--I cannot find it." + +"Is the hinge strong?" + +"Not very, and the lid easily could be forced open." + +"That is what I want you to do," she rejoined. + +"What are you thinking of? I would not spoil a trinket that you +value." + +She replied: "I have made the acquaintance of a Russian princess who +has a mania for physiology and dissection. I have caught the disease, +and I want to begin to dissect. I am fond of this trinket, but I want +to know what is inside. Do as I tell you," she continued. "You will +find in the laboratory the necessary instruments. Go; the key is in +the door." + +He consulted her look; her eye was burning, her voice broken, and she +repeated: "Go--go! Do you not understand me?" + +He obeyed, went to the laboratory, taking the bracelet with him. After +five minutes he returned saying: "I am very unskilful; I crushed the +lid in raising it; but you wished it, and your curiosity will be +satisfied." + +She could, in truth, satisfy her curiosity. She eagerly seized the +bracelet, and on the back of the plate, now left bare, she saw +engraved in the gold, characters almost microscopic in size. Through +the greatest attention she succeeded in deciphering them. She +distinguished several dates, marking the year, the month, and the day, +when some important event had occurred to the Princess Gulof. These +dates, accompanied by no indication of any kind, formerly sufficed to +recall the principal experiments that she had practised on mankind +before having discovered Samuel Brohl. The result had not been very +cheerful, for beneath this form of calendar stood a confession of +faith, thus expressed, "Vanity of vanities, all is vanity!" This +melancholy declaration was signed, and the signature was perfectly +legible. Mlle. Moriaz spelled it out readily, although at that moment +her sight was dim, and she was convinced that the trinket, which Count +Larinski had presented to her as a family relic, had belonged to Anna +Petrovna, Princess Gulof. + +She grew mortally pale, and lost consciousness; she seemed on the +verge of an attack of delirium. In the agitation of her mind, she +imagined that she saw herself at a great distance, at the end of the +world, and very small; she was climbing a mountain, on the other side +of which there was a man awaiting her. She questioned herself, "Am I, +or is this traveller, Mlle. Moriaz?" She closed her eyes, and saw a +blank abyss open before her, in which her life was ingulfed, whirled +about, like the leaf of a tree in a whirlpool. + +M. Langis drew near her, and, lightly slapping the palms of her hands, +said, "What is the matter?" + +She roused herself, made an effort to lift her head, and let it sink +again. The trouble that lay in the depths of her heart choked her; she +experienced an irresistible need of confiding in some one, and she +judged that the man who was talking to her was one of those men to +whom a woman can tell her secret, one of those souls to whom she could +pour out her shame without blushing. She began, in a broken voice, a +confused, disconnected recital that Camille could scarcely follow. +However, he finally understood; he felt himself divided between an +immense pity for her despair, and a fierce lover's joy that tightened +his throat and well-nigh strangled him. + +The belfry of Cormeilles had recovered its voice; two o'clock rang out +on the air. Antoinette rose and exclaimed: "I was to meet him at the +pretty little gate that you see from here! He will have the right to +be angry if I keep him waiting." + +At once she hastened towards the balustered steps that led from the +terrace to the orchard. M. Langis followed her, seeking to detain her. +"You need not see him again," said he. "I will meet him. Pray, charge +me with your explanations." + +She repelled him and replied, in a voice of authority: "I wish to see +him, no one but I can say to him what I have in my heart. I command +you to remain here; I intend that he shall blame no one but me." She +added with a curl of the lips meant for a smile: "You must remember, I +do not believe yet that I have been deceived; I will not believe it +until I have read the lie in his eyes." + +She hastily descended into the orchard, and, during five minutes, her +eye fixed on the gate, she waited for Samuel Brohl. Her impatience +counted the seconds, and yet Mlle. Moriaz could have wished the gate +would never open. There was near by an old apple-tree that she loved; +in the old days she had more than once suspended her hammock from one +of its arched and drooping branches. She leaned against the gnarled +trunk of the old tree. It seemed to her that she was not alone; some +one protected her. + +At last the gate opened and admitted Samuel Brohl, who had a smile on +his lips. His first words were: "And your umbrella! You have forgotten +it?" + +She replied: "Do you not see that there is no sunshine?" And she +remained leaning against the apple-tree. + +He uplifted his hand to show her the blue sky; he let it fall again. +He looked at Antoinette, and he was afraid. He guessed immediately +that she knew all. At once he grew audacious. + +"I spent a dull day yesterday," said he. "Mme. de Lorcy invited me to +dine with a crazy woman; but the night made up for it. I saw Engadine +in my dreams--the firs, the Alpine pines, the emerald lakes, and a red +hood." + +"I, too, dreamed last night. I dreamed that the bracelet you gave me +belonged to the crazy woman of whom you speak, and that she had her +name engraved on it." + +She threw him the bracelet: he picked it up, examined it, turned and +returned it in his trembling fingers. She grew impatient. "Look at the +place that has been forced open. Don't you know how to read?" + +He read, and became stupefied. Who would have believed that this +trinket that he had found among his father's old traps had come to him +from Princess Gulof? that it was the price she had paid for Samuel +Brohl's ignominy and shame? Samuel was a fatalist; he felt that his +star had set, that Fate had conspired to ruin his hopes, that he was +found guilty and condemned. His heart grew heavy within him. + +"Can you tell me what I ought to think of a certain Samuel Brohl?" she +asked. + +That name, pronounced by her, fell on him like a mass of lead; he +never would have believed that there could be so much weight in a +human word. He trembled under the blow; then he struck his brow with +his clinched hand and replied: + +"Samuel Brohl is a man as worthy of your pity as he is of mine. If you +knew all that he has suffered, all that he has dared, you could not +help deeply pitying him and admiring him. Listen to me; Samuel Brohl +is an unfortunate man--" + +"Or a wretch!" she interrupted, in a terrible voice. She was seized by +a fit of nervous laughter; she cried out: "Mme. Brohl! I will not be +called Mme. Brohl. Ah! that poor Countess Larinski!" + +He had a spasm of rage that would have terrified her had she +conjectured what agitated him. He raised his head, crossed his arms on +his breast, and said, with a bitter smile: + +"It was not the man that you loved, it was the count." + +She replied, "The man whom I loved never lied." + +"Yes, I lied!" he cried, gasping for breath. "I drank that cup of +shame without remorse or disgust. I lied because I loved you madly. I +lied because you were dearer to me than my honour. I lied because I +despaired of touching your heart, and any road seemed good that led to +you. Why did I meet you? why could I not see you without recognising +in you the dream of my whole life? Happiness had passed me by, it was +about to take flight; I caught it in a trap--I lied. Who would not +lie, to be loved by you?" + +Samuel Brohl never had looked so handsome. Despair and passion kindled +a sombre flame in his eyes; he had the sinister charm of a fiery +Satan. He fixed on Antoinette a fascinating glance that said: "What +matter my name, my lies, and the rest? My face is not a mask, and I am +the man who pleased you." He had not the least suspicion of the +astonishing facility with which Antoinette had taken back the heart +that she had given away so easily; he did not suspect that miracles +can be wrought by contempt. In the middle ages people believed in +golems, figures in clay of an entrancing beauty, which had all the +appearance of life. Under a lock of hair was written, in Hebrew +characters, on their brow, the word "Truth." If they chanced to lie, +the word was obliterated; they lost all their charm, the clay was no +longer anything but clay. + +Mlle. Moriaz divined Samuel Brohl's thought; she exclaimed: "The man I +loved was he whose history you related to me." + +He would have liked to kill her, so that she never should belong to +another. Behind Antoinette, not twenty steps distant, he descried the +curb of a well, and grew dizzy at the sight. He discovered, with +despair, that he was not made of the stuff for crime. He dropped down +on his knees in the grass, and cried, "If you will not pardon me, +nothing remains for me but to die!" She stood motionless and +impassive. She repeated between her teeth Camille Langis's phrase: "I +am waiting until this great comedian has finished playing his piece." + +He rose and started to run towards the well. She was in front of him +and barred the passage, but at the same moment she felt two hands +clasp her waist, and the breath of two lips that sought her lips and +that murmured, "You love me still, since you do not want me to die." + +She struggled with violence and horror; she succeeded, by a frantic +effort, in disengaging herself from his grasp. She fled towards the +house. Samuel Brohl rushed after her in mad pursuit; he was just +reaching her, when he suddenly stopped. He had caught sight of M. +Langis, hurrying from out a thicket, where he had been hidden. Growing +uneasy, he had approached the orchard through a path concealed by the +heavy foliage. Antoinette, out of breath, ran to him, gasping, +"Camille, save me from this man!" and she threw herself into his arms, +which closed about her with delight. He felt her sink; she would have +fallen had he not supported her. + +At the same instant a menacing voice saluted him with the words, +"Monsieur, we will meet again!" + +"To-day, if you will," he replied. + +Antoinette's wild excitement had given place to insensibility; she +neither saw nor heard; her limbs no longer sustained her. Camille had +great difficulty in bringing her to the house; she could not ascend +the steps of the terrace; he was obliged to carry her. Mlle. Moiseney +saw him, and filled the air with her cries. She ran forward, she +lavished her best care on her queen. All the time she was busy in +bringing her to her senses she was asking Camille for explanations, to +which she did not pay the least attention; she interrupted him at +every word to exclaim: "This has been designed, and you are at the +bottom of the plot. I have suspected you--you owe Antoinette a grudge. +Your wounded vanity never has recovered from her refusal, and you are +determined to be revenged. Perhaps you flatter yourself that she will +end by loving you. She does not love you, and she never will love you. +Who are you, to dare compare yourself with Count Larinski? Be silent! +Do I believe in Samuel Brohl? I do not know Samuel Brohl. I venture my +head that there is no such person as Samuel Brohl." + +"Not much of a venture, mademoiselle," replied M. Moriaz, who had +arrived in the meantime. + +Antoinette remained during an hour in a state of mute languor; then a +violent fever took possession of her. When the physician who had been +sent for arrived, M. Langis accompanied him into the chamber of the +sick girl. She was delirious: seated upright, she kept continually +passing her hand over her brow; she sought to efface the taint of a +kiss she had received one moonlight night, and the impression in her +hair of the flapping of a bat's wings that had caught in her hood. +These two things were confounded in her memory. From time to time she +said: "Where is my portrait? Give me my portrait." + +It was about ten o'clock when M. Langis called on Samuel Brohl, who +was not astonished to see him appear; he had hoped he would come. +Samuel had regained self-possession. He was calm and dignified. +However, the tempest through which he had gone had left on his +features some vestige of its passage. His lips quivered, and his +beautiful chestnut locks curled like serpents about his temples, and +gave his head a Medusa-like appearance. + +He said to Camille: "Where and when? Our seconds will undertake the +arrangement of the rest." + +"You mistake, monsieur, the motive of my visit," replied M. Langis. "I +am grieved to destroy your illusions, but I did not come to arrange a +meeting with you." + +"Do you refuse to give me satisfaction?" + +"What satisfaction do I owe you?" + +"You insulted me." + +"When?" + +"And you said: 'The day, the place, the weapons. I leave all to your +choice.' " + +M. Langis could not refrain from smiling. "Ah! you at last acknowledge +that your fainting-fit was comedy?" he rejoined. + +"Acknowledge on your part," replied Samuel, "that you insult persons +when you believe that they are not in a state to hear you. Your +courage likes to take the safe side." + +"Be reasonable," replied Camille. "I placed myself at Count Larinski's +disposal: you cannot require me to fight with a Samuel Brohl!" + +Samuel sprang to his feet; with fierce bearing and head erect he +advanced to the young man, who awaited him unflinchingly, and whose +resolute manner awed him. He cast upon him a sinister look, turned, +and reseated himself, bit his lips until the blood came; then said in +a placid voice: + +"Will you do me the favour of telling me, monsieur, to what I owe the +honour of this visit?" + +"I came to demand of you a portrait that Mlle. Moriaz is desirous of +having returned." + +"If I refuse to give it up, you will doubtless appeal to my delicacy?" + +"Do you doubt it?" ironically replied Camille. + +"That proves, monsieur, that you still believe in Count Larinski; that +it is to him you speak at this moment?" + +"You deceive yourself. I came to see Samuel Brohl, who is a business- +man, and it is a commercial transaction that I intend to hold with +him." And drawing from his pocket a porte-monnaie, he added: "You see +I do not come empty-handed." + +Samuel settled himself in his arm-chair. Half closing his eyes, he +watched M. Langis through his eye-lashes. A change passed over his +features; his nose became more crooked, and his chin more pointed; he +no longer resembled a lion, he was a fox. His lips wore the sugared +smile of a usurer, one who lays snares for the sons of wealthy +families, and who scents out every favourable case. If at this moment +Jeremiah Brohl had seen him from the other world, he would have +recognised his own flesh and blood. + +He said at last to Camille: "You are a man of understanding, monsieur; +I am ready to listen to you." + +"I am very glad of it, and, to speak frankly, I had no doubts about +it. I knew you to be very intelligent, very much disposed to make the +best of an unpleasant conjuncture." + +"Ah! spare my modesty. I thank you for your excellent opinion of me; I +should warn you that I am accused of being greedy after gain. You will +leave some of the feathers from your wings between my fingers." + +For a reply M. Langis significantly patted the porte-monnaie which he +held in his hand, and which was literally stuffed with bank-notes. +Immediately Samuel took from a locked drawer a casket, and proceeded +to open it. + +"This is a very precious gem," he said. "The medallion is gold, and +the work on the miniature is exquisite. It is a master-piece--the +colour equals the design. The mouth is marvellously rendered. Mengs or +Liotard could not have done better. At what do you value this work of +art?" + +"You are more of a connoisseur than I. I will leave it to your own +valuation." + +"I will let you have the trinket for five thousand francs; it is +almost nothing." + +Camille began to draw out the five thousand francs from his porte- +monnaie. "How prompt you are!" remarked Samuel. "The portrait has not +only a value as a work of art; I am sure you attach a sentimental +value to it, for I suspect you of being head and ears in love with the +original." + +"I find you too greedy," replied Camille, casting on him a crushing +glance. + +"Do not be angry. I am accustomed to exercise methodical precision in +business affairs. My father always sold at a fixed price, and I, too, +never lower my charges. You will readily understand that what is worth +five thousand francs to a friend is worth double to a lover. This gem +is worth ten thousand francs. You can take it or leave it." + +"I will take it," replied M. Langis. + +"Since we agree," continued Samuel, "I possess still other articles +which might suit you." + +"Why, do you think of selling me your clothing?" + +"Let us come to an understanding. I have other articles of the same +lot." + +And he brought from a closet the red hood, which he spread out on the +table. + +"Here is an article of clothing--to use your own words--that may be of +interest to you. Its colour is beautiful; if you saw it in the +sunshine, it would dazzle you. I grant that the stuff is common--it is +very ordinary cashmere--but if you deign to examine it closely, you +will be struck by the peculiar perfume that it exhales. The Italians +call it '/l'odor femminino/.' " + +"And what is your rate of charge for the '/odor femminino/?' " + +"I will be moderate. I will let you have this article and its perfume +for five thousand francs. It is actually giving it away." + +"Assuredly. We will say ten and five--that makes fifteen thousand." + +"One moment. You can pay for all together. I have other things to +offer you. One would say that the floor burned your feet, and that you +could not endure being in this room." + +"I allow that I long to leave this--what shall I say?--this shop, +lair, or den." + +"You are young, monsieur; it never does to hurry; haste causes us acts +of forgetfulness that we afterwards regret. You would be sorry not to +take away with you these two scraps of paper." + +At these words he drew from his note-book two letters, which he +unfolded. + +"Is there much more?" demanded Camille. "I fear that I shall become +short of funds, and be obliged to go back for more." + +"Ah! these two letters, I will not part with them for a trifle, the +second especially. It is only twelve lines in length; but what pretty +English handwriting! Only see! and the style is loving and tender. I +will add that it is signed. Ah! monsieur, Mlle. Moriaz will be charmed +to see these scrawls again. Under what obligations she will be to you! +You will make the most of it; you will tell her that you wrested them +from me, your dagger at my throat--that you terrified me. With what a +gracious smile she will reward your heroism! According to my opinion, +that smile is as well worth ten thousand francs as the medallion--the +two gems are of equal value." + +"If you want more, it makes no difference." + +"No, monsieur; I have told you I have only one price." + +"At this rate, it is twenty-five thousand francs that I owe you. You +have nothing more to sell me?" + +"Alas! that is all." + +"Will you swear it?" + +"What, monsieur! you admit, then, that Samuel Brohl has a word of +honour--that when he has sworn, he can be believed?" + +"You are right; I am still very young." + +"That is all, then, I swear to you," affirmed Samuel, sighing. "My +shop is poorly stocked; I had begun laying in a supply, but an +unfortunate accident deranged my little business." + +"Bah! be consoled," replied M. Langis; "you will find another +opportunity; a genius of such lofty flights as yours never is at a +loss. You have been unfortunate; some day Fortune will compensate you +for the wrongs she has done you, and the world will accord justice to +your fine talents." + +Speaking thus, he laid on the table twenty-five notes of a thousand +francs each. He counted them; Samuel counted them after him, and at +once delivered to him the medallion, the hood, and the two letters. + +Camille rose to leave. "Monsieur Brohl," he said, "from the first day +I saw you, I formed the highest opinion of your character. The reality +surpasses my expectations. I am charmed to have made your +acquaintance, and I venture to hope that you are not sorry to have +made mine. However, I shall not say, /au revoir/." + +"Who knows?" replied Samuel, suddenly changing his countenance and +attitude. And he added, "If you are fond of being astonished, +monsieur, will you remain still another instant in this den?" + +He rolled and twisted the twenty-five one-thousand-franc notes into +lamp-lighters; then, with a grand gesture, /a la Poniatowski/, he +approached the candle, held them in the flame until they blazed, and +then threw them on the hearth, where they were soon consumed. + +Turning towards M. Langis, he cried, "Will you now do me the honour of +fighting with me?" + +"After such a noble act as that, I can refuse you nothing," returned +Camille. "I will do you that signal honour." + +"Just what I desire," replied Samuel. "I am the offended; I have the +choice of arms." And, in showing M. Langis out, he said, "I will not +conceal from you that I have frequented the shooting-galleries, and +that I am a first-class pistol-shot." + +Camille bowed and went out. + +The next day, in a lucid interval, Mlle. Moriaz saw at the foot of her +bed a medallion laid on a red hood. From that moment the physician +announced an improvement in her symptoms. + + + +CHAPTER XII + +Six days after these events, Samuel Brohl, having passed through Namur +and Liege without stopping at either place, arrived by rail at Aix-la- +Chapelle. He went directly to the Hotel Royal, close to the railroad- +station; he ordered a hearty dinner to be served him, which he washed +down with foaming champagne. He had an excellent appetite; his soul +kept holiday; his heart was expanded, inflated with joy, and his brain +intoxicated. He had revenged himself; he had meted out justice to that +insolent fellow, his rival. Mlle. Moriaz did not belong to Samuel +Brohl, but she never would belong to Camille Langis. Near the Franco- +Belgian frontier, on the verge of a forest, a man had been shot in the +breast; Samuel Brohl had seen him fall; and some one had cried, "He is +dead!" It is asserted that Aix-la-Chapelle is a very dull city, that +the very dogs suffer so sadly from ennui that they piteously beg +passers-by to kick them, with a view to having a little excitement. +Samuel never felt one moment's ennui during the evening that he spent +in Charlemagne's city. He had constantly in mind a certain spot in a +forest, and a man falling; and he experienced a thrill of delight. + +After the champagne, he drank punch, an after that he slept like a +dormouse; unfortunately, sleep dissipated his exhilaration, and when +he awoke his gaiety had left him. He had the fatal custom of +reflecting; his reflections saddened him; he was revenged, but what +then? He thought for a long while of Mlle. Moriaz; he gazed with +melancholy eye at his two hands, which had allowed her and good +fortune to elude their grasp. + +He recited in a low voice some German verses, signifying: + +"I have resolved to bury my songs and my dreams; bring me a large +coffin. Why is this coffin so heavy? Because in it with my dreams I +have laid away my love and my sorrows." + +When he had recited these verses Samuel felt sadder than before, and +he cursed the poets. "They did me great harm," he said, bitterly. +"Without them I had spent days interwoven with gold and silk. My +future was secure: it was they who gave me a distaste for my position. +I believed in them; I was the dupe of their hollow declamation; they +taught me thoughtless contempt, and they gave me the sickly ambition +to play the silly part of a man of fine sentiments. I despised the +mud. Where am I now?" + +He had formed the project of going to Holland and of embarking thence +for America. What would he do in the United States? He did not know +yet. He passed in review all the professions that at all suited him; +they all required an outlay for first expenses. Thanks to God and to +M. Guldenthal, whose loan was in the greatest danger, he was not +destitute of all supplies. But a week previous he had held into the +flames and burned twenty-five one-thousand-franc bills of the Bank of +France. He felt some remorse for the act; he could not help thinking +that a revenge that cost twenty-five thousand francs was an article of +luxury of which poor devils should deprive themselves. In thinking +over this adventure, it seemed to him that it was another than himself +who had burned those bills, or at least that he had mechanically +executed this /auto-da-fe/ through a sort of thoughtless impulse, like +a puppet moved by an invisible string. Suddenly the phantom with whom +he had had frequent conversations appeared, and there was a sneer on +its lips. Samuel addressed it once more--this was to be the last time; +he said: + +"Imbecile! You are my evil genius. It was you who caused me to commit +this extravagance. You yourself lighted the candle, you put the bills +into my hands, you guided my arm, extended it, held it above the fatal +flame. This act of supreme heroism was your work; it is not I, it is +you, who paid so dearly for the pleasure of astonishing one who +wantonly insulted me, and of killing him. Cursed forever be the day +when I assumed your name, and when I conceived the foolish notion of +becoming your second self! I made myself a Pole: did Poland ever have +the least idea of government? You of all men were the most incapable +of making your way; I aped a poor model indeed. Abel Larinski, I break +off all connection with you; I wind up the affairs of our firm, I put +the key under the door, or drop it down the well. O my great Pole! I +return to you your title, your name, and with your name all that you +gave me--your pride, your pretensions, your dangerous delicacy, your +attitudes, your sentimental grimaces, and your waving plume." + +It was thus that Samuel Brohl took a decisive farewell of Count Abel +Larinski, who might henceforth rest quietly in his grave; there was no +further danger of a dead man being compromised by a living one. What +name did Samuel Brohl mean now to assume? Out of spite to his destiny, +he chose for the time the humblest of all; he decided to call himself +Kicks, which was his mother's name. + +His melancholy would have known no bounds, had he suspected that +Camille Langis was still in the world. Camille Langis for two weeks +lay between life and death, but the ball had finally been successfully +extracted. Mme. de Lorcy hastened to Mons and nursed him like a +mother; she had the joy of bringing him back alive to Paris. + +Care was taken that no mention of the duel should be made to Mlle. +Moriaz, and not a word concerning it reached her; her condition for a +long time caused the gravest anxiety. After she became convalescent +she remained sunk in a gloomy, taciturn sadness. She never made the +least allusion to what had passed, and would not permit any one to +speak of it to her. She had been deceived, and a mortification, +mingled with dread, was the result of her mistake. It seemed to her +that nothing remained in life for her but remembrance and silence. + +Towards the end of November, M. Moriaz proposed to her that they +should return to Paris. She expressed her desire not to leave +Cormeilles--to pass the winter in solitude; the human face terrified +her. M. Moriaz tried to represent to her that she was unreasonable. + +"Will you wear eternal mourning for a stranger?" he asked; "for, in +reality, the man that you loved you never saw. Ah! /mon Dieu/, you +deceived, you deluded yourself. Is there, I will not say a single +woman, but a single member of the Institute, who has not once been +grossly imposed on? It is through the means of failures in experiments +that science progresses." + +And he rose to still higher considerations; he endeavoured to prove to +her that, if it is bad to have erred, an excessive fear of erring is a +still worse evil, because it is better to lose one's way than not to +walk at all. + +When he had finished his harangue, she said, shaking her head, "I have +no longer faith in any one." + +"What! not even in the brave fellow to whom you owe the recovery of +your portrait and your letters?" + +"Of whom do you speak?" she exclaimed. + +Then he declared to her how M. Langis had effected the descent into +the den, without telling her what had resulted therefrom. + +"Ah! that was kind, very kind," she said. "I never doubted that +Camille was a true friend." + +"A friend? Are you very sure that it is only friendship that he feels +for you?" + +Whereupon M. Moriaz told her all the rest. She grew pensive and sank +into a reverie. Suddenly the door of the /salon/ opened, and Camille +entered. After inquiring after her health, he informed her that in +consequence of a cold he, too, had been sick; and, as he was now free +from business engagements, his physician was sending him to pass the +winter in Sorrento. + +She replied: "That is a journey that I would like to make. Will you +take me with you?" + +She gazed fixedly at him; there was everything in her gaze. He bent +his knee before her, and for some moments they remained hand-in-hand, +and eye to eye. In the midst of this, Mlle. Moiseney appeared, who, at +sight of this /tableau vivant/, stood perfectly confounded. + +"You are very much astonished, mademoiselle," said M. Moriaz to her. + +"Not so much as you fancy, monsieur," replied she, recovering herself. +"I did not dare to say it, but in my heart I always believed, always +thought-- Yes, I always was sure that it would end thus." + +"God bless Pope Joan!" he cried; "I shall cease to correct her." + +We have failed to learn what Samuel Brohl is doing in America. In +waiting for something better, has he become an humble teacher? has he +attempted a new matrimonial enterprise? has he become a reporter of +the /New York Herald/, or a politician in one of the Northern States, +or a carpet-bagger in South Carolina? does he dream of being some day +President of the glorious republic with the starry banner? + +Up to the present time, no American journal has devoted the shortest +paragraph to him. Adventurers are beings who constantly vanish and +reappear; they belong to the family of divers; but, after many +plunges, they always end by some catastrophe. The wave supports the +drowning man an instant, then bears him away and drags him down to the +depths of the briny abyss; there is heard a splash, a ripple, a hoarse +cry, followed by a smothered groan, and Samuel Brohl is no more! For +some days the question is agitated whether his real name is Brohl, +Kicks, or Larinski; soon something else is talked about, and his +memory becomes a prey to eternal silence. + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg Etext of Samuel Brohl & Company, by Cherbuliez + |