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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/3933.txt b/3933.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..9e8c68f --- /dev/null +++ b/3933.txt @@ -0,0 +1,2223 @@ +The Project Gutenberg Etext of Zibeline, by Phillipe de Massa, v3 +#20 in our series The French Immortals Crowned by the French Academy +#3 in our series by Phillipe de Massa + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world, be sure to check +the laws for your country before redistributing 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. + +Please do not remove this. + +This should be the first thing seen when anyone opens the book. +Do not change or edit it without written permission. 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The scruples which +caused the latter to forswear matrimony grieved her deeply, for, knowing +the inflexibility of his character, she was sure that no one in the world +could make him alter his decision. + +Thus, on one side the title of the Duc de Montgeron was destined to pass +to a collateral branch of the family; and on the other, the title of +Marquis de Prerolles would become extinct with the General. + +But, although she now considered it impossible to realize the project +which she had momentarily cherished, she continued to show the same +kindness to Mademoiselle de Vermont. She would have regarded any other +course as unworthy of her, since she had made the first advances; +moreover, the young girl's nature was so engaging that no one who +approached her could resist her charm. + +Very reserved or absolutely frank, according to the degree of confidence +with which she was treated, Valentine had sufficient intuition to avoid a +lack of tact. + +She was, in feminine guise, like 'L'Ingenu' of Voltaire, struck, as was +Huron, with all that was illogical in our social code; but she did not +make, after his fashion, a too literal application of its rules, and knew +where to draw the line, if she found herself on the point of making some +hazardous remark, declaring frankly: "I was about to say something +foolish!" which lent originality to her playful conversation. + +After receiving from Valentine's hands the contract signed in presence of +the notary, for the benefit of the Orphan Asylum, the president of the +society did not fail to give a dinner in honor of the new patroness. + +As she was a foreigner she was placed in the seat of honor at the table, +to the great displeasure of Madame Desvanneaux, who was invited to take +the second place, in spite of her title of vice-president. + +"It is because of her millions that she was placed before me," she said +in an undertone to her husband, as soon as the guests had returned to the +drawing-room. And, giving orders that her carriage should be summoned +immediately, she left the house without speaking to any one, and with the +air of a peeress of England outraged in her rights of precedence! + +This was, for the hostile pair, a new cause of grievance against +Zibeline. When she, in her turn, gave at her home a similar dinner, +a fortnight later, she received from them, in reply to her invitation, +which was couched in the most courteous terms, a simple visiting card, +with the following refusal: "The Comte and the Comtesse Desvanneaux, not +being in the habit of accepting invitations during Lent, feel constrained +to decline that of Mademoiselle de Vermont." + +The dinner was only the more gay and cordial. + +Valentine's household was conducted on a footing more elegant than +sumptuous. + +The livery was simple, but the appearance of her people was +irreproachable. The butler and the house servants wore the ordinary +dress-coat and trousers; the powdered footmen wore short brown coats, +ornamented, after the English fashion, with metal buttons and a false +waistcoat; the breeches were of black velveteen, held above the knee by a +band of gold braid, with embroidered ends, which fell over black silk +stockings. At the end of the ante-chamber where this numerous personnel +was grouped, opened a long gallery, ornamented with old tapestries +representing mythological subjects in lively and well-preserved coloring. +This room, which was intended to serve as a ballroom at need, was next to +two large drawing-rooms. The walls of one were covered with a rich +material, on which hung costly paintings; the furniture and the ceiling +of the other were of oak, finely carved, relieved with touches of gold in +light and artistic design. + +Everywhere was revealed an evident desire to avoid an effect of heaviness +and ostentation, and this was especially noticeable in the dining-room, +where the pure tone of the panels and the moulding doubled the intensity +of the light thrown upon them. Upon the table the illumination of the +apartment was aided by two large candelabra of beautifully chiselled +silver, filled with candles, the light of which filtered through a forest +of diaphanous little white shades. + +The square table was a veritable parterre of flowers, and was laid for +twelve guests, three on each side. + +The young mistress of the house was seated on one side, between the Duc +de Montgeron and the Marquis de Prerolles. Facing her sat the Duchesse +de Montgeron, between General Lenaieff and the Chevalier de Sainte-Foy. +--Laterally, on one hand appeared Madame de Lisieux, between M. de +Nointel and the painter Edmond Delorme; on the other, Madame de Nointel, +between M. de Lisieux and the Baron de Samoreau. + +Never, during the six weeks that Valentine had had friendly relations +with the Duchess, had she appeared so self-possessed, or among +surroundings so well fitted to display her attractions of mind and of +person. She was a little on the defensive on finding herself in this new +and unexpected society, but she felt, this evening, that she was in the +midst of a sympathetic and admiring circle, and did the honors of her own +house with perfect ease, finding agreeable words and showing a delicate +forethought for each guest, and above all displaying toward her +protectress a charming deference, by which the Duchess felt herself +particularly touched. + +"What a pity!" she said to herself, glancing alternately at Zibeline and +at her brother, between whom a tone of frank comradeship had been +established, free from any coquetry on her side or from gallantry on his. + +The more clearly Henri divined the thoughts of his sister, the more he +affected to remain insensible to the natural seductions of his neighbor, +to whom Lenaieff, on the contrary, addressed continually, in his soft and +caressing voice, compliments upon compliments and madrigals upon +madrigals! + +"Take care, my dear Constantin!" said Henri to him, bluntly. "You will +make Mademoiselle de Vermont quite impossible. If you go on thus, she +will take herself seriously as a divinity!" + +"Fortunately," rejoined Zibeline, "you are there, General, to remind me +that I am only a mortal, as Philippe's freedman reminded his master every +morning." + +"You can not complain! I serve you as a confederate, to allow you to +display your erudition," retorted the General, continuing his persiflage. + +But he, too, was only a man, wavering and changeable, to use Montaigne's +expression, for his eyes, contradicting the brusqueness of his speech, +rested long, and not without envy, on this beautiful and tempting fruit +which his fate forbade him to gather. The more he admired her freshness, +and the more he inhaled her sweetness, the more the image of Eugenie +Gontier was gradually effaced from his memory, like one of those tableaux +on the stage, which gauze curtains, descending from the flies, seem to +absorb without removing, gradually obliterating the pictures as they +fall, one after another. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +A DASHING AMAZON + +On leaving the table, the fair "Amphitryonne" proposed that the gentlemen +should use her private office as a smoking-room, and the ladies followed +them thither, pretending that the odor of tobacco would not annoy them in +the least, but in reality to inspect this new room. + +Edmond Delorme had finished his work that very morning, and the enormous +canvas, with its life-size subject, had already been hung, lighted from +above and below by electric bulbs, the battery for which was cleverly +hidden behind a piece of furniture. + +The portrait, bearing a striking resemblance to the original, was indeed +that of "the most dashing of all the Amazons on the Bois," to quote the +words of the artist, who was a better painter of portraits than of +animals, but who, in this case, could not separate the rider from her +steed. + +Seaman, a Hungarian bay, by Xenophon and Lena Rivers, was drawn in +profile, very erect on his slender, nervous legs. He appeared, on the +side nearest the observer, to be pawing the ground impatiently with his +hoof, a movement which seemed to be facilitated by his rider, who, drawn +in a three-quarters view and extending her hand, allowed the reins to +fall over the shoulders of her pure-blooded mount. + +"What do you think of it?" Zibeline inquired of General de Prerolles. + +"I think you have the air of the commander of a division of cavalry, +awaiting the moment to sound the charge." + +"I shall guard her well," said Zibeline, "for she would be sure to be put +to rout by your bayonets." + +"Not by mine!" gallantly exclaimed Lenaieff. "I should immediately +lower my arms before her!" + +"You!--perhaps! But between General de Prerolles and myself the +declaration of war is without quarter. Is it not, General?" said +Valentine, laughing. + +"It is the only declaration that fate permits me to make to you, +Mademoiselle," Henri replied, rather dryly, laying emphasis on the double +sense of his words. + +This rejoinder, which nothing in the playful attack had justified, +irritated the Duchess, but Valentine appeared to pay no attention to it, +and at ten o'clock, when a gypsy band began to play in the long gallery, +she arose. + +"Although we are a very small party," she said, "would you not like to +indulge in a waltz, Mesdames? The gentlemen can not complain of being +crowded here," she added, with a smile. + +M. de Lisieux and M. de Nointel, as well as Edmond Delorme, hastened to +throw away their cigarettes, and all made their way to the long gallery. +The Baron de Samoreau and the Chevalier de Sainte-Foy remained alone +together. + +The Duchess took the occasion to speak quietly to her brother. + +"I assure you that you are too hard with her," she said. "There is no +need to excuse yourself for not marrying. No one dreams of such a thing +--she no more than any one else. But she seems to have a sentiment of +friendship toward you, and I am sure that your harshness wounds her." + +A more experienced woman than Madame de Montgeron, who had known only a +peaceful and legitimate love, would have quickly divined that beneath her +brother's brusque manner lurked a budding but hopeless passion, whence +sprang his intermittent revolt against the object that had inspired it. + +This revolt was not only against Zibeline's fortune; it included her all- +pervading charm, which penetrated his soul. He was vexed at his sister +for having brought them together; he was angry with himself that he had +allowed his mind to be turned so quickly from his former prejudices; and, +however indifferent he forced himself to appear, he was irritated against +Lenaieff because of the attentions which that gentleman showered upon +Zibeline, upon whom he revenged himself by assuming the aggressive +attitude for which the Duchess had reproached him. + +In a still worse humor after the sisterly remonstrance to which he had +just been compelled to listen, he seated himself near the entrance of the +gallery, where the gypsy band was playing one of their alluring waltzes, +of a cadence so different from the regular and monotonous measure of +French dance music. + +The three couples who were to compose this impromptu ball, yielded +quickly to the spell of this irresistible accompaniment. + +"Suppose Monsieur Desvanneaux should hear that we danced on the eve of +Palm Sunday?" laughingly pro-tested Madame de Lisieux. + +"He would report it at Rome," said Madame de Nointel. + +And, without further regard to the compromising of their souls, each of +the two young women took for a partner the husband of the other. + +Mademoiselle de Vermont had granted the eager request of Lenaieff that +she would waltz with him, an occupation in which the Russian officer +acquitted himself with the same respectful correctness that had formerly +obtained for him the high favor of some grand duchess at the balls in the +palace of Gatchina. + +He was older and stouter than his brother-in-arms, Henri de Prerolles, +and a wound he had received at Plevna slightly impeded his movements, so +that he was unable to display the same activity in the dance as the other +waltzers, and contented himself with moving a 'trois temps', in an +evolution less in harmony with the brilliancy of the music. + +Henri, on the contrary, who had been a familiar friend of the Austrian +ambassador at the time when the Princess de Metternich maintained a sort +of open ballroom for her intimates, had learned, in a good school, all +the boldness and elegance of the Viennese style of dancing. + +But he sat immovable, as did also Edmond Delorme, because of the lack of +partners; and, not wishing to take the second place after Lenaieff, his +rival, he would not for the world abandon his role of spectator, unless +some one forced him to it. + +"Suppose we have a cotillon figure, in order to change partners?" said +Valentine suddenly, during a pause, after she had thanked her partner. + +And, to set the example, she took, from a basket of flowers, a rosebud, +which she offered to Henri. + +"Will you take a turn with me?" she said, with the air of the mistress +of the house, who shows equal courtesy to all her guests. + +"A deux temps?" he asked, fastening the rosebud in his buttonhole. + +"Yes, I prefer that," she replied. + +He passed his arm around her waist, and they swept out upon the polished +floor, he erect and gallant, she light and supple as a gazelle, her chin +almost resting upon her left hand, which lay upon her partner's shoulder, +her other hand clasped in his. + +At times her long train swirled in a misty spiral around her, when they +whirled about in some corner; then it spread out behind her like a great +fan when they swept in a wide curve from one end of the gallery to the +other. + +During the feverish flight which drew these two together, their breasts +touched, the bosom of the enchantress leaned against the broad chest of +the vigorous soldier, her soft hair caressed his cheek, he inhaled a +subtle Perfume, and a sudden intoxication overflowed his heart, which he +had tried to make as stern and immobile as his face. + +"How well you waltz!" murmured Zibeline, in his ear. + +"I am taking my revenge for my defeat on the ice," he replied, clasping +her a little closer, in order to facilitate their movements. + +"The prisoners you take must find it very difficult to escape from your +hands," she said, with a touch of malice. + +"Does that mean that already you wish to reclaim your liberty?" + +"Not yet--unless you are fatigued." + +"Fatigued! I should like to go thus to the end of the world!" + +"And I, too," said Zibeline, simply. + +By common consent the other waltzers had stopped, as much for the purpose +of observing these two as for giving them more space, while the wearied +musicians scraped away as if it were a contest who should move the +faster, themselves or the audacious couple. + +"What a pity!" again said the Duchess to her husband, whose sole +response was a shrug of his shoulders as he glanced at his brother-in- +law. + +At the end of his strength, and with a streaming brow, the gypsy leader +lowered his bow, and the music ceased. + +Henri de Prerolles, resuming his sang-froid, drew the hand of +Mademoiselle de Vermont through his arm, and escorted her to her place +among the other ladies. + +"Bravo, General!" said Madame de Lisieux. "You have won your +decoration, I see," she added, indicating the rosebud which adorned his +buttonhole. + +"What shall we call this new order, ladies?" asked Madame de Nointel of +the circle. + +"The order of the Zibeline," Valentine replied, with a frank burst of +laughter. + +"What?--do you know--" stammered the author of the nickname, blushing up +to her ears. + +"Do not disturb yourself, Madame! The zibeline is a little animal which +is becoming more and more rare. They never have been found at all in my +country, which I regret," said Mademoiselle de Vermont graciously. + +The hour was late, and the Duchess arose to depart. The Chevalier de +Sainte-Foy, exercising his function as a sort of chamberlain, went to +summon the domestics. Meanwhile Valentine spoke confidentially to Henri. + +"General," said she, "I wish to ask a favor of you." + +"I am at your orders, Mademoiselle." + +"I am delighted with the success of this little dinner," Valentine +continued, "and I wish to give another after Easter. My great desire is +to have Mademoiselle Gontier--with whom I should like to become better +acquainted--recite poetry to us after dinner. Would you have the +kindness to tell her of my desire?" + +"I!" exclaimed the General, amazed at such a request. + +"Yes, certainly. If you ask her, she will come all the more willingly." + +"You forget that I am not in the diplomatic service, Mademoiselle." + +"My request annoys you? Well, we will say no more about it," said +Zibeline. "I will charge Monsieur de Samoreau with the negotiations." + +They rejoined the Duchess, Zibeline accompanying her to the vestibule, +always evincing toward her the same pretty air of deference. + +The drive home was silent. The Duke and the Duchess had agreed not to +pronounce the name of Mademoiselle de Vermont before Henri, who racked +his brain without being able to guess what strange motive prompted the +young girl to wish to enter into closer relations with the actress. + +A letter from Eugenie was awaiting him. He read: + + "Two weeks have elapsed since you have been to see me. I do not ask + whether you love me still, but I do ask you, in case you love + another, to tell me so frankly. + + "ARIADNE." + +"So I am summoned to the confessional, and am expected to accuse myself +of that which I dare not avow even to my own heart! Never!" said Henri, +crushing the note in his hand. "Besides, unless I deceive myself, +Ariadne has not been slow in seeking a consoling divinity! Samoreau is +at hand, it appears. He played the part of Plutus before; now he will +assume that of Bacchus," thought the recreant lover, in order to smother +his feeling of remorse. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +AN UNEXPECTED MEETING + +The life of General de Prerolles was uniformly regulated. He arose at +dawn, and worked until the arrival of his courier; then he mounted his +horse, attired in morning military costume. + +After his ride, he visited the quartermaster-general of his division, +received the report of his chief of staff, and gave necessary orders. +It was at this place, and never at the General's own dwelling, that the +captains or subaltern officers presented themselves when they had +occasion to speak to him. + +At midday he returned to breakfast at the Hotel de Montgeron where, +morning and evening, his plate was laid; and soon after this meal he +retired to his own quarters to work with his orderly, whose duty it was +to report to him regarding the numerous guns and pieces of heavy ordnance +which make the object of much going and coming in military life. + +After signing the usual number of documents, the General would mount +another of his horses, and at this hour would appear in civilian attire +for an afternoon canter. After this second ride he would pass an hour +at his club, but without ever touching a card, no matter what game was +in progress. + +He dined at different places, but oftenest with his sister, where by this +time a studied silence was preserved on the subject of Zibeline. This, +however, did not prevent him from thinking of her more and more. + +Mademoiselle de Vermont had not been seen again in the Bois de Boulogne +since the night of her dinner, although Henri had sought in vain to meet +her in the mornings in the bridle-path, and afternoons in the Avenue des +Acacias. + +He decided that probably she did not wish to ride during Holy Week; but +when several days had passed after Easter, and still she was not seen +amusing herself in her usual fashion, he said to himself that perhaps it +would be the proper thing to make what is called "a dinner-call." + +There are some women whose fascination is so overwhelming as to cause the +sanest of lovers to commit themselves, whence comes the slightly vulgar +expression, "He has lost his bearings." Henri began to feel that he was +in this state when he presented himself at Zibeline's home. A domestic +informed him that Mademoiselle had been absent a week, but was expected +home that evening. He left his card, regretting that he had not waited +twenty-four hours more. + +It was now the middle of April, the time when the military governor of +Paris is accustomed to pass in review the troops stationed on the +territory under his command, and this review was to take place the next +morning. + +The order for the mobilizing of his own division having been received and +transmitted, Henri's evening was his own, and he resolved to pass it with +Lenaieff, feeling certain that his colleague at least would speak to him +of Zibeline. + +The aide-de-camp general lived at the Hotel Continental, much frequented +by Russians of distinction. Henri found his friend just dressing for +dinner, and well disposed to accept his proposition. + +As they descended the stairs, they passed an imposing elderly man, with +white moustache and imperial, still very erect in his long redingote with +military buttons--a perfect type of the German officer who gets himself +up to look like the late Emperor William I. This officer and the French +general stopped on the stairs, each eyeing the other without deciding +whether he ought to salute or not, as often happens with people who think +they recognize some one, but without being able to recall where or in +what circumstances they have met before. + +It was Henri whose memory was first revived. + +"Captain, you are my prisoner!" he said, gayly, seizing the stranger by +the collar. + +"What! The Commandant de Prerolles!" cried the elderly man, in a +reproachful tone, from which fifteen years had not removed the +bitterness. + +"I know who he is!" said Lenaieff. "Monsieur is your former jailer of +the frontier fortress!" + +The officer of the landwehr attempted to withdraw from the hand that held +him. + +"Oh, I don't intend to let you escape! You are coming to dine with us, +and we will sign a treaty of peace over the dessert," said Henri, +clasping the officer's hand affectionately. + +His tone was so cordial that the stranger allowed himself to be +persuaded. A quarter of an hour later all three were seated at a table +in the Cafe Anglais. + +"I present to you General Lenaieff," said Henri to his guest. "You +should be more incensed against him than against me, for, if he had done +his duty, you would probably have had me imprisoned again." + +"Not imprisoned--shot!" the Captain replied, with conviction. + +"In that case I regret my complicity still less," said Lenaieff, "for +otherwise I should have lost an excellent friend, and, had Prerolles been +shot, he never could have made me acquainted with the delicious +Mademoiselle de Vermont!" + +"Ah! So that is what you are thinking of?" Henri said to himself. + +"I do not know the young lady of whom you speak," the German interrupted; +"but I know that, for having allowed the Commandant to escape, I was +condemned to take his place in the prison, and was shut up there for six +months, in solitary confinement, without even seeing my wife!" + +"Poor Captain! How is the lady?" Henry inquired. + +"Very well, I thank you." + +"Will you permit us to drink her health?" + +"Certainly, Monsieur." + +"Hock! hoch!" said Henri, lifting his glass. + +"Hock! hoch!" responded the ex-jailer, drinking with his former +prisoner. + +This delicate toast began to appease the bitterness of the good man; +while the memories of his escape, offering a diversion to Henri's mind, +put him in sympathetic humor with the stranger. + +"'Ah! There are mountains that we never climb but once,'" he said. "We +three, meeting in Paris, can prove the truth of that proverb." + +"Not only in Paris," said Lenaieff. "If you were in Saint Petersburg, +Henri, you might, any evening, see your old flame, Fanny Dorville." + +"Does she keep a table d'hote?" + +"No, indeed, my boy. She plays duenna at the Theatre Michel, as that fat +Heloise used to do at the Palais-Royal. She must have died long ago, +that funny old girl!" + +"Not at all. She is still living, and is a pensioner of the Association +of Dramatic Artists! But, pardon me, our conversation can hardly be +amusing to our guest." + +"No one can keep a Frenchman and a Russian from talking about women! The +habit is stronger than themselves!" said the old officer, with a hearty +laugh. + +"Well, and you, Captain," said Lenaieff: "Have you not also trodden the +primrose path in your time?" + +"Gentlemen, I never have loved any other woman than my own wife," replied +the honest German, laying his large hand upon his heart, as if he were +taking an oath. "That astonishes you Parisians, eh?" he added +benevolently. + +"Quite the contrary! It assures us peace of mind!" said Lenaieff. "To +your health, Captain!" + +"And yours, Messieurs!" + +And their glasses clinked a second time. + +"Apropos," said Lenaieff to Henri, "the military governor has asked me to +accompany him to-morrow to the review at Vincennes. I shall then have +the pleasure of seeing you at the head of your division." + +"Teufel!" exclaimed the German officer; "it appears that the Commandant +de Prerolles has lost no time since we took leave of each other." + +"Thanks to you, Monsieur! Had you not allowed me to withdraw from your +society, I should certainly not have reached my present rank! To your +health, Captain!" + +"To yours, General!" + +Succeeding bumpers finally dissipated entirely the resentment of the +former jailer, and when they parted probably never to meet again--he and +his prisoner had become the best friends in the world. + +"Meine besten complimente der Frau Hauptmannin!" said Henri to him, in +leaving him on the boulevard. + +"Lieber Gott! I shall take good care not to own to her that I dined with +you." + +"And why, pray?" + +"Because there is one thing for which she never will forgive you." + +"What is that?" + +"The fact that you were the cause of her living alone for six months!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + +THE MILITARY REVIEW + +The different troops, assembled for review, were massed on the parade- +ground at Vincennes, facing the tribunes. + +In the centre, the artillery brigade, surrounded by two divisions of +infantry, was drawn up in two straight columns, connected by regiments; +each division of infantry, in double columns, was connected by brigades. + +These six columns were separated by spaces varying from twenty to twenty- +five metres. + +In the background, the cavalry division was lined up in columns; behind +that was its artillery, in the same order of formation. + +At a given signal, the troops advanced five hundred metres, and, as soon +as they halted, drums, clarinets and trumpets beat and sounded from all +parts of the field, saluting the arrival of the military governor of +Paris. + +This functionary, followed by his staff, in the midst of which group +glittered the brilliant Russian uniform of the aide-decamp General +Leniaeff, rode slowly past the front and the flanks of the massed body, +the troops facing to the left or the right as he passed. + +This inspection finished, he took up his stand before the pillars at the +entrance, and the march past began by battalions en masse, in the midst +of the acclamations of numerous spectators who had come to witness this +imposing display, well calculated to stir patriotic pride. + +The enthusiasm increased; the Prerolles division marched past after its +artillery, and, as always, the martial and distinguished profile of its +general produced its usual effect on the public. + +He rode Aida, his favorite mare, an Irish sorrel of powerful frame, with +solid limbs, whose horizontal crupper and long tail indicated her race; +she was one of those animals that are calm and lively at the same time, +capable of going anywhere and of passing through all sorts of trials. + +After its parade, the infantry, whose part in the affair was finished, +retraced their steps and took up a position on the other side of the +field of manoeuvres, facing the north, and in front of rising ground, in +preparation for the discharge of musketry. + +During this time the artillery brigade, re-formed in battle array on the +parade-ground, detached six batteries, which advanced at a trot to within +one hundred and fifty metres of the tribunes, where they discharged a +volley. The long pieces were run rapidly to right and left, unmasking +the cavalry, which, after a similar volley from its own batteries, +appeared behind them in battle order, and executed a galloping march, its +third line held in reserve. + +A few moments later all the troops rejoined the infantry on the ground +set apart for rest and for the purpose of partaking of a cold repast, +consisting of potted meats, with which each man was furnished. + +Nothing more picturesque could be imagined than this temporary camp, with +its stacked arms, knapsacks lying on the ground, holes dug in the ground +in which to kindle fires, and the clattering of cans. On the other side +of the field the artillerymen and cavalrymen ate, holding their reins +under their arms, while their officers stood around some temporary table, +served by canteen men of the united divisions. Tiny columns of blue +smoke rose where coffee was making, and everywhere were the swift +movement and sprightly good-fellowship in which the soldier feels himself +in his natural element. + +The curious spectators crowded themselves in front of the banner, while +in the centre of the square the military governor of Paris, and the other +officers, talked with some privileged persons who had been able to +present themselves among them. + +Descending from his mount a little apart from the group, and plunged in +thought, the former sub-lieutenant of 'chasseurs a pied' gazed at the old +fortress, the sight of which recalled so many sad memories. + +Vincennes had been his first garrison, and its proximity to Paris had +been disastrous for him. There he had entered one morning, stripped of +his fortune! + +And what a series of disasters had followed! But for his heavy losses +upon that fatal night, he would not have been compelled to sell +Prerolles, the income of which, during his long absence, would have +sufficed to lessen the tax on the land, transmissible, had events turned +out otherwise, to some heir to his name. If only fate had not made Paul +Landry cross his path! + +"Good morning, General!" came the sound of a fresh, gay voice behind, +which sent a thrill through him. + +He turned and saw Zibeline, who had just stopped a few steps distant from +him, sitting in her carriage, to which was harnessed a pretty pair of +cobs, prancing and champing their bits. + +"Ah, it is you, Mademoiselle!" he said, carrying his hand to the visor +of his kepi, fastened under his chin. + +"I found your card last night," said Zibeline, "and I have come here this +morning to return your call!" + +Then, leaning back in her driving-seat in order to reveal Edmond Delorme +installed beside her, she added: + +"I have brought also my painter-in-ordinary. We have watched the review +together, and he is as enthusiastic as I over the picturesque effect of +this improvised bivouac. See! He is so much occupied with his sketch +that I can not get a word out of him." + +It was Aida, whose bridle was held by a dragoon, that served as a model +for the artist's pencil. + +"Will you permit me?" he said to Henri. + +"It appears decidedly, that my mare has caught your eye," replied the +General, approaching the carriage and resting his spurred foot on its +step. + +"She has superb lines," said the painter, without interrupting his +drawing. + +"Well, I am curious to know whether she could beat Seaman," said +Zibeline. "Are you willing to run a race with me, General?" + +"As you please--some morning when you return to the Bois." + +"You noticed my absence, then?" + +"I assure you that I did," Henri replied, earnestly. + +Then, fearing that he had said too much, he added: + +"I, and many others!" + +"Good! You were almost making a pretty speech to me, but, as usual, the +disavowal was not slow in coming. Fortunately, here comes your friend +Lenaieff, who is hastening to make amends to me." + +"What good fortune to meet you here, Mademoiselle!" cried Constantin, +who, having perceived Valentine from a distance, had taken an abrupt +leave of his general-in-chief. + +"I know that you have called to see me several times," said she, "but I +was in the country." + +"So early in the month of April?" + +"Oh! not to live there. Monsieur de Perolles knows that I have promised +to build our Orphan Asylum at a certain distance from Paris, and hardly +three weeks remain to me before I must hand over the property. If I am +not ready on the day appointed, Monsieur Desvanneaux will be sure to +seize my furniture, and I could not invite you any more to dinner, +Messieurs! A propos, General, Monsieur de Samoreau has failed in his +negotiations. Mademoiselle Gontier refuses to come to recite at my next +soiree!" + +"What necessity is there for you to make her acquaintance?" demanded +Henri. + +"Ah, that is my secret!" + +During this conversation a hired fiacre, well appointed, had stopped +beside the road, and Eugenie Gontier descended from it, inquiring of an +officer belonging to the grounds where she could find General de +Prerolles. When the officer had pointed out the General to her, she +started to walk toward him; but, on seeing her former lover leaning +familiarly against the door of Zibeline's carriage, she immediately +retraced her steps and quickly reentered her own. + +"There is no longer any doubt about it!" said Mademoiselle de Vermont, +who had been observing Eugenie's movements. "Mademoiselle Gontier has +made a fixed resolution to avoid meeting me." + +"That is because she is jealous of you!" said Lenaieff naively. + +"Jealous? And why?" said Zibeline, blushing. + +Visibly embarrassed, Henri drew out his watch in order to avert his +countenance. + +"Midday!" he cried. "This is the hour for the return of the troops to +their barracks. You would do well not to delay in starting for home, +Mademoiselle. The roads will be very crowded, and your horses will not +be able to trot. I beg your pardon for taking away your model, my dear +Delorme, but I really must be off." + +"It is all the same to me; I have finished my sketch," said the painter, +closing his portfolio. + +At this moment, as the military governor passed near them, on his way to +the crossway of the Pyramid, Henri made a movement as if to rejoin him. + +"Do not disturb yourself, General de Prerolles," said the military +governor. "The compliments which I have made you on the fine appearance +of your troops are probably not so agreeable to you as those to which you +are listening at present!" + +And saluting Mademoiselle de Vermont courteously, he went his way. + +"Now you are free, Henri. Suppose we accompany Mademoiselle back to +Paris?" suggested Lenaieff, seeming to read his friend's mind. + +"What an honor for me!" Valentine exclaimed. + +The General made a sign to his orderly, who approached to receive his +instructions. + +"Tell the brigadier-generals that I am about to depart. I need no more +escort than two cavalrymen for General Lenaieff and myself. Now I am +ready, Mademoiselle," Henri continued, turning toward Valentine. "If you +will be guided by me, we should do well to reach the fortifications by +way of the Lake of Saint-Mande." + +She made a little sound with her tongue, and the two cobs set off in the +direction indicated, the crowds they passed stopping to admire their high +action, and asking one another who was that pretty woman who was escorted +by two generals, the one French, the other a foreigner. + +"I must look like a treaty of peace in a Franco-Russian alliance!" said +Zibeline, gayly. + +The sun shone brightly, the new leaves were quivering on the trees, the +breeze bore to the ear the echo of the military bands. + +Animated by the sound, the two cobs went ahead at a great pace, but they +were kept well in hand by their mistress, who was dressed this morning in +a simple navy-blue costume, with a small, oval, felt hat, ornamented with +two white wings, set on in a manner that made the wearer resemble a +valkyrie. Her whip, an unnecessary accessory, lay across the seat at her +right, on which side of the carriage Henri rode. + +The General's eyes missed none of the graceful movements of the young +girl. And his reflections regarding her, recently interrupted, returned +in full force, augmenting still more his regret at the inexorable fate +that separated him from her. "What a pity!" he thought in his turn, +repeating unconsciously the phrase so often uttered by his sister. + +Arrived at the Place du Tr&ne, Valentine stopped her horses a moment, and +addressed her two cavaliers: + +"I thank you for your escort, gentlemen. But however high may be your +rank, I really can not go through Paris looking like a prisoner between +two gendarmes! So good-by! I shall see you this evening perhaps, but +good-by for the present." + +They gave her a military salute, and the carriage disappeared in the +Faubourg St. Antoine, while the two horsemen followed the line of the +quays along the Boulevard Diderot. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + +THE CHALLENGE + +That person who, in springtime, between ten o'clock and midday, never has +walked beside the bridle-path in the Bois de Boulogne, under the deep +shade of the trees, can form no idea of the large number of equestrians +that for many years have been devoted to riding along that delightful and +picturesque road. + +To see and to be seen constitutes the principal raison d'etre of this +exercise, where the riders traverse the same path going and coming, a man +thus being able to meet more than once the fair one whom he seeks, or a +lady to encounter several times a cavalier who interests her. + +On this more and more frequented road, the masculine element displayed +different costumes, according to the age and tastes of each rider. The +young men appeared in careless array: leggins, short coats, and small +caps. The older men, faithful to early traditions, wore long trousers, +buttoned-up redingotes, and tall hats, like those worn by their fathers, +as shown in the pictures by Alfred de Dreux. + +For the feminine element the dress is uniform. It consists of a riding- +habit of black or dark blue, with bodice and skirt smoothly molded to the +form by one of the two celebrated habit-makers, Youss or Creed. The +personal presence alone varied, according to the degree of perfection of +the model. + +A cylindrical hat, a little straight or turned-over collar, a cravat tied +in a sailor's knot, a gardenia in the buttonhole, long trousers and +varnished boots completed the dress of these modern Amazons, who, having +nothing in common with the female warriors of ancient times, are not +deprived, as were those unfortunates, of any of their feminine charms. + +The military element is represented by officers of all grades from +generals to sub-lieutenants, in morning coats, with breeches and high +boots, forbidden under the Second Empire, but the rule at present. + +At the top of the Pre-Catelan, the path is crossed by the Bagatelle road +to the lakes, a point of intersection situated near a glade where the +ladies were fond of stopping their carriages to chat with those passing +on horseback. A spectator might have fancied himself at the meet of a +hunting-party, lacking the whippers-in and the dogs. + +A few days after the review at Vincennes, on a bright morning in May, +a file of victorias and pony-chaises were strung out along this sylvan +glade, and many persons had alighted from them. Announcing their arrival +by trumpet-blasts, two or three vehicles of the Coaching Club, headed by +that of the Duc de Mont had discharged a number of pretty passengers, +whose presence soon caused the halt of many gay cavaliers. + +Several groups were formed, commenting on the news of the day, the +scandal of the day before, the fete announced for the next day. + +More serious than the others, the group surrounding Madame de Montgeron +strolled along under the trees in the side paths which, in their +windings, often came alongside of the bridle-path. + +"What has become of Mademoiselle de Vermont, Duchess?" inquired Madame +de Lisieux, who had been surprised not to find Zibeline riding with their +party. + +"She is in the country, surrounded by masons, occupied in the building of +our Orphan Asylum. The time she required before making over the property +to us expires in two weeks." + +"It is certainly very singular that we do not know where we are to go for +the ceremonies of inauguration," said Madame Desvanneaux, in her usual +vinegary tones. + +"I feel at liberty to tell you that the place is not far away, and the +journey thence will not fatigue you," said the president, with the air of +one who has long known what she has not wished to reveal heretofore. + +"The question of fatigue should not discourage us when it is a matter of +doing good," said M. Desvanneaux. "Only, in the opinion of the founders +of the Orphan Asylum, it should be situated in the city of Paris itself." + +"The donor thought that open fields and fresh air would be better for the +children." + +"Land outside of Paris costs very much less, of course; that is probably +the real reason," said M. Desvanneaux. + +"Poor Zibeline! you are well hated!" Madame de Nointel could not help +saying. + +"We neither like nor dislike her, Madame. We regard her as indifferently +as we do that," the churchwarden replied, striking down a branch with the +end of his stick, with the superb air of a Tarquin. + +Still gesticulating, he continued: + +"The dust that she throws in the eyes of others does not blind us, that +is all!" + +The metaphor was not exactly happy, for at that instant the unlucky man +received full in his face a broadside of gravel thrown by the hoofs of a +horse which had been frightened by the flourishing stick, and which had +responded to the menace by a violent kick. + +This steed was none other than Seaman, ridden by Mademoiselle de Vermont. +She had recognized the Duchess and turned her horse back in order to +offer her excuses for his misconduct, the effects of which Madame +Desvanneaux tried to efface by brushing off the gravel with the corner of +her handkerchief. + +"What has happened?" asked General de Prerolles, who at that moment +cantered up, mounted on Aida. + +"Oh, nothing except that Mademoiselle has just missed killing my husband +with that wicked animal of hers!" cried the Maegera, in a fury. + +"Mademoiselle might turn the accusation against him," Madame de Nointel +said, with some malice. "It was he who frightened her horse." + +The fiery animal, with distended veins and quivering nostrils, snorted +violently, cavorted sidewise, and tried to run. Zibeline needed all her +firmness of grasp to force him, without allowing herself to be thrown, to +stand still on the spot whence had come the movement that had alarmed +him. + +"Your horse needs exercise," said Henri to the equestrienne. "You ought +to give him an opportunity to do something besides the formal trot around +this path." + +"I should be able to do so, if ever we could have our match," said +Zibeline. "Will you try it now?" + +"Come on!" + +She nodded, gave him her hand an instant, and they set off, side by side, +followed by Zibeline's groom, no less well mounted than she, and wearing +turned-over boots, bordered with a band of fawn-colored leather, +according to the fashion. + + + + +CHAPTER XXV + +THE AMAZON HAS A FALL + +They were a well-matched pair: he, the perfect type of the elegant and +always youthful soldier; she, the most dashing of all the Amazons in the +Bois, to quote the words of Edmond Delorme. + +Everyone was familiar with the personal appearance of both riders, and +recognized them, but until now Mademoiselle de Vermont had always ridden +alone, and now to see her accompanied by the gallant General, whose +embroidered kepi glittered in the sunlight, was a new spectacle for the +gallery. + +The people looked at them all the more because Seaman was still prancing, +but without unseating his mistress, who held him at any gait or any +degree of swiftness that pleased her. + +"What a good seat you have!" said Henri. + +"That is the first real compliment you ever have paid me. I shall +appropriate it immediately, before you have time to retract it," Zibeline +replied. + +At the circle of Melezes, Henri proposed to turn to the right, in order +to reach Longchamp. + +"A flat race! You are joking!" Zibeline cried, turning to the left, +toward the road of La Vierge, + +"You don't intend that we shall run a steeplechase, I hope." + +"On the contrary, that is exactly my intention! You are not afraid to +try it, are you?" + +"Not on my own account, but on yours." + +"You know very well that I never am daunted by any obstacle." + +"Figuratively, yes; but in riding a horse it is another matter." + +"All the more reason why I should not be daunted now," Zibeline insisted. + +When they arrived at the public square of the Cascades, in front of the +Auteuil hippodrome, she paused a moment between the two lakes, uncertain +which course to take. + +It was Thursday, the day of the races. The vast ground, enclosed on all +sides by a fence, had been cleared, since early morning, of the boards +covering the paths reserved for pedestrians on days when there was no +racing; but it was only eleven o'clock, and the place was not yet open to +the paying public. Several workmen, in white blouses, went along the +track, placing litters beside the obstacles where falls occurred most +frequently. + +"Do you think the gatekeeper will allow us to enter at this hour?" +Zibeline asked. + +"I hope not!" Henri replied. + +"Well, then, I shall enter without his permission! You are free to +declare me the winner. I shall be left to make a walkover, I see!" +And setting off at a gallop along the bridle-path, which was obstructed a +little farther on by the fence itself, she struck her horse resolutely, +and with one audacious bound sprang over the entrance gate. She was now +on the steeplechase track. + +"You are mad!" cried the General, who, as much concerned for her safety +as for his own pride, urged on his mare, and, clearing the fence, landed +beside Zibeline on the other side. + +"All right!" she cried, in English, dropping her whip, as the starter +drops the flag at the beginning of a race. + +The die was cast. Henri bent over Aida's neck, leaning his hands upon +her withers in an attitude with which experience had made him familiar, +and followed the Amazon, determined to win at all hazards. + +Zibeline's groom, an Englishman, formerly a professional jockey, had +already jumped the fence, in spite of the cries of the guard, who ran to +prevent him, and coolly galloped after his mistress, keeping at his usual +distance. + +The first two hedges, which were insignificant obstacles for such horses, +were crossed without effort. + +"Not the brook, I beg of you!" cried Henri, seeing that, instead of +running past the grand-stand, Zibeline apparently intended to attempt +this dangerous feat. + +"Come on! Seaman would never forgive me if I balk at it!" she cried, +riding fearlessly down the slope, + +The good horse gathered up his four feet on the brink, took one vigorous +leap, appearing for a second to hover over the water; then he fell +lightly on the other side of the stream, with a seesaw movement, to which +the intrepid Amazon accommodated herself by leaning far back. The +rebound threw her forward a little, but she straightened herself quickly +and went on. + +The General, who had slackened his pace that he might not interfere with +her leap, gave vent to a sigh of relief. He pressed Aida's flanks +firmly, and the big Irish mare jumped after her competitor, with the +majestic dignity of her race. + +Reassured by the 'savoir-faire' of his companion, the former winner of +the military steeplechase felt revive within himself all his ardor for +the conflict, and he hastened to make up the distance he had lost. + +The two horses, now on the west side of the racetrack, were almost neck- +and-neck, and it would have been difficult to prognosticate which had the +better chance of victory. Zibeline's light weight gave Seaman the +advantage, but Aida gained a little ground every time she leaped an +obstacle; so that, after passing the hurdles and the third hedge, the +champions arrived simultaneously at the summit of the hill, from which +point the track extends in a straight line, parallel with the Allee des +Fortifications. + +Feeling himself urged on still harder, the English horse began to lay +back his ears and pull so violently on the rein that his rider had all +she could do to hold him, and lacked sufficient strength to direct his +course. Seeing Zibeline's danger, Henri hastened to slacken his horse's +pace, but it was too late: the almost perpendicular declivity of the +other side of the hill added fresh impetus to the ungovernable rush of +Seaman, who suddenly became wild and reckless. + +The situation was all the more critical for the reason that the next +obstacle was a brook, only two metres wide, but of which the passage was +obstructed on the farther side of the track by heavy beams, laid one on +top of another, solidly riveted and measuring one metre and ten +millimetres from the base to the summit. The excited horse charged +obliquely toward this obstruction with all his might. Paying no more +attention to the pressure upon his bit, he rose in the air, but as he had +not given himself sufficient time to take plenty of room for the leap, +his hoofs struck violently against the top beam, the force of resistance +of which threw him over on one side; his hindquarters turned in the air, +and he fell in a heap on the other side of the obstacle, sending up a +great splash of water as he went into the brook. + +Had Zibeline been crushed by the weight of the horse in this terrible +fall, or, not having been able to free herself from him, had she been +drowned under him? Henri uttered a hoarse cry, struck his spurs into the +sides of his mare, crossed the brook breathlessly, stopping on the other +side as soon as he could control his horse's pace; then, rushing back, he +leaped to the ground to save the poor girl, if there was still time to do +so. + +Zibeline lay inanimate on the grass, her face lying against the earth. +By a lucky chance, the horse had fallen on his right side, so that his +rider's limbs and skirt had not been caught. Unhorsed by the violence of +the shock, Zibeline had gone over the animal's head and fallen on the +other side of the brook. Her Amazon hat, so glossy when she had set out, +was now crushed, and her gloves were torn and soiled with mud; which +indicated that she had fallen on her head and her hands. + +Henri knelt beside her, passed his arm around her inert and charming +body, and drew her tenderly toward him. Her eyes were half-open and +dull, her lips pale; her nose, the nostrils of which were usually well +dilated, had a pinched look; and a deadly pallor covered that face which +only a moment before had been so rosy and smiling. + +These signs were the forerunners of death, which the officer had +recognized so many times on the battlefield. But those stricken ones had +at least been men, devoting themselves to the risks of warfare; while in +the presence of this young girl lying before him, looking upon this +victim of a reckless audacity to which he felt he had lent himself too +readily, the whole responsibility for the accident seemed to him to rest +upon his own shoulders, and a poignant remorse tore his heart. + +He removed her cravat, unhooked her bodice, laid his ear against her +breast, from which an oppressed breathing still arose. + +Two laborers hurried to open the gate and soon arrived at the spot with a +litter, guided by the groom, whose horse had refused to jump the brook, +and who since then had followed the race on foot outside the track. +While the General placed Zibeline on the litter, the groom took Aida by +the bridle, and the sad procession made its way slowly toward the +enclosure surrounding the weighing-stand. + +As for Seaman, half submerged in the stream, and with an incurable +fracture of the leg, nothing was left to do for the poor animal but to +kill him. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI + +AN UNCONSCIOUS AVOWAL + +Walking slowly, step by step, beside her whose power had so quickly and +so wholly subjugated him, watching over her removal with more than +paternal solicitude, Henri de Prerolles, sustained by a ray of hope, +drew a memorandum-book from his pocket, wrote upon a slip of paper a name +and an address, and, giving it to the groom, ordered him to go ahead of +the litter and telephone to the most celebrated surgeon in Paris, +requesting him to go as quickly as possible to the domicile of +Mademoiselle de Vermont, and, meantime, to send with the greatest +despatch one of the eight-spring carriages from the stables. + +It was noon by the dial on the grand-stand when the litter was finally +deposited in a safe place. The surgeon could hardly arrive in less than +two hours; therefore, the General realized that he must rely upon his own +experience in rendering the first necessary aid. + +He lifted Valentine's hand, unbuttoned the glove, laid his finger on her +pulse, and counted the pulsations, which were weak, slow, and irregular. + +While the wife of the gate-keeper kept a bottle of salts at the nostrils +of the injured girl, Henri soaked a handkerchief in tincture of arnica +and sponged her temples with it; then, pouring some drops of the liquid +into a glass of water, he tried in vain to make her swallow a mouthful. +Her teeth, clenched by the contraction of muscles, refused to allow it to +pass into her throat. At the end of half an hour, the inhalation of the +salts began to produce a little effect; the breath came more regularly, +but that was the only symptom which announced that the swoon might soon +terminate. The landau with the high springs arrived. The General ordered +the top laid back, and helped to lift and place upon the cushions on the +back seat the thin mattress on which Zibeline lay; then he took his place +on the front seat, made the men draw the carriage-top back into its +proper position, and the equipage rolled smoothly, and without a jar, to +its destination. On the way they met the first carriages that had arrived +at the Auteuil hippodrome, the occupants of which little suspected what +an exciting dramatic incident had occurred just before the races. +Zibeline's servants, by whom she was adored, awaited their mistress at +the threshold, and for her maids it was an affair of some minutes to +undress her and lay her in her own bed. During this delay, the surgeon, +who had hastened to answer the call, found Henri nervously walking about +from one drawing-room to the other; and, having received information as +to the details of the fall, he soon entered the bedchamber. While +awaiting the sentence of life or of death which must soon be pronounced, +he who considered himself the chief cause of this tragic event continued +to pace to and fro in the gallery--that gallery where, under the +intoxication of a waltz, the demon of temptation had so quickly +demolished all his resolutions of resistance. A half-hour--an age!-- +elapsed before the skilled practitioner reappeared. "There is no +fracture," he said, "but the cerebral shock has been such that I can not +as yet answer for the consequences. If the powerful reactive medicine +which I have just given should bring her back to her senses soon, her +mental faculties will suffer no harm. If not, there is everything to +fear. I will return in three hours," he added. Without giving a thought +to the conventionalities, Henri entered the bedchamber, to the great +astonishment of the maids, and, installing himself at the head of the +bed, he decided not to leave that spot until Valentine had regained her +senses, should she ever regain them. An hour passed thus, while Henri +kept the same attitude, erect, attentive, motionless, with stray scraps +of his childhood's prayers running through his brain. Suddenly the heavy +eyelids of the wounded girl were lifted; the dulness of the eyes +disappeared; her body made an involuntary attempt to change its position; +the nostrils dilated; the lips quivered in an effort to speak. Youth and +life had triumphed over death. With painful slowness, she tried to raise +her hand to her head, the seat of her pain, where, though half paralyzed, +thought was beginning to return. Her eyes wandered to and fro in the +shadowy room, seeking to recognize the surroundings. A ray of light, +filtering through the window-curtains, showed her the anxious face +bending tenderly over her. "Henri!" she murmured, in a soft, plaintive +voice. That name, pronounced thus, the first word uttered after her long +swoon, revealed her secret. Never had a more complete yet modest avowal +been more simply expressed; was it not natural that he should be present +at her reentrance into life, since she loved him? With women, the +sentiment of love responds to the most diverse objects. The ordinary +young girl of Zibeline's age, either before or after her sojourn in a +convent, considers that a man of thirty has arrived at middle age, and +that a man of forty is absolutely old. Should she accept a man of either +of these ages, she does it because a fortune, a title, or high social +rank silences her other tastes, and her ambition does the rest. But, with +an exceptional woman, like Mademoiselle de Vermont, brought up in view of +wide horizons, in the midst of plains cleared by bold pioneers, among +whom the most valorous governed the others, a man like General de +Prerolles realized her ideal all the more, because both their natures +presented the same striking characteristics: carelessness of danger, and +frankness carried to its extremest limit. Therefore, this declaration-- +to use the common expression--entirely free from artifice or affectation, +charmed Henri for one reason, yet, on the other hand, redoubled his +perplexity. How could he conciliate his scruples of conscience with the +aspirations of his heart? The problem seemed then as insoluble as when +it had been presented the first time. But Valentine was saved. For the +moment that was the essential point, the only one in question. The +involuntary revelation of her secret had brought the color to her cheeks, +the light to her eyes, a smile to her lips, in spite of the leaden band +that seemed still pressing upon her head. "How you have frightened me!" +said Henri, in a low voice, seating himself on the side of the bed and +taking her hand. "Is that true?" she asked, softly pressing his fingers. +"Hush!" he said, making a movement to enjoin silence. She obeyed, and +they remained a few moments thus. Nevertheless, he reflected that the +account of the accident would soon be spread everywhere, that Valentine's +new friends would hear about it as soon as they arrived at the race-track +that day, and that he could no longer prolong his stay beside her. + +"Are you leaving me so soon?" Valentine murmured, when he said that he +must go. + +"I am going to tell my sister and the Chevalier de Sainte-Foy of your +mishap." + +"Very well," she replied, as if already she had no other desire than to +follow his wishes. + +He gave the necessary orders, and again took his place beside the bed, +awaiting the second visit of the doctor, whose arrival was simultaneous +with that of the Duchess. + +This time the verdict was altogether favorable, with no mention of the +possibility of any aggravating circumstances. An inevitable +feverishness, and a great lassitude, which must be met with absolute +repose for several days, would be the only consequences of this dangerous +prank. + +The proprieties resumed their normal sway, and it was no longer possible +for Henri to remain beside the charming invalid. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII + +DISTRACTION + +The Duchesse de Montgeron, who had passed the rest of the day with +Mademoiselle de Vermont, did not return to her own dwelling until eight +o'clock that evening, bearing the most reassuring news. + +Longing for fresh air and exercise, Henri went out after dinner, walked +through the Champs-Elysees, and traversed the crossing at l'Etoile, in +order to approach the spot where Zibeline lay ill. + +If one can imagine the feelings of a man of forty-five, who is loved for +himself, under the most flattering and unexpected conditions, one can +comprehend the object of this nocturnal walk and the long pause that +Henri made beneath the windows of Zibeline's apartment. A small garden, +protected by a light fence, was the only obstacle that separated them. +But how much more insuperable was the barrier which his own principles +had raised between this adorable girl and himself. + +Had he not told his sister, confided to Eugenie Gontier, and reiterated +to any one that would listen to him, the scruples which forbade him ever +to think of marriage? To change this decision, in asking for the hand of +Mademoiselle de Vermont, would-in appearance, at least--sacrifice to the +allurement of wealth the proud poverty which he had long borne so nobly. + +But the demon of temptation was then, as always, lurking in the shadow, +the sole witness of this duel to the death between prejudice and love. + +When he returned to his rooms he found another note from his former +mistress: + + "You have just had a terrible experience, my dear friend. Nothing + that affects you can be indifferent to me. I beg you to believe, + notwithstanding the grief which our separation causes me, in all the + prayers that I offer for your happiness. + + "ARIADNE." + +"My happiness? My torture, rather!" he said, the classic name of +Ariadne suggesting the idea that the pseudonym of Tantalus might well be +applied to himself. + +But he had long kept a rule to write as little as possible, and was +guarded in making reply to any letter, especially to such a communication +as this. + +When he left the house the next morning, on his way to attend to military +duties, he learned that his sister had gone away early on an excursion to +one of the suburbs, and that she would not return until evening. As the +Duchess was the only person who had been initiated into the mystery +surrounding Zibeline on the subject of the building of the Orphan Asylum, +it was evident that she had gone to take her place in the directing of +the work. + +In the afternoon Henri called to inquire for the invalid, and was +received by the Chevalier de Sainte-Foy. She had had a quiet night; +a little fever had appeared toward morning, and, above all, an extreme +weakness, requiring absolute quiet and freedom from any excitement. +On an open register in the reception-room were inscribed the names of all +those persons who had called to express their interest in Mademoiselle de +Vermont: Constantin Lenaieff, the Lisieux, the Nointels, Edmond Delorme, +the Baron de Samoreau, and others. Only the Desvanneaux had shown no +sign of life. Their Christian charity did not extend so far as that. + +Henri added his name to the list, and for several days he returned each +morning to inscribe it anew, feeling certain that, as soon as Valentine +was able to be placed half-reclining on a couch, she would give orders +that he should be admitted to her presence. But nothing of the kind +occurred. + +On the evening of the fifth day after the accident, the Duchess informed +her brother that their young friend had been taken to the country, where +it was thought a complete cure would sooner be effected. + +This hasty departure, made without any preliminary message, caused Henri +to feel the liveliest disappointment. + +Had he deceived himself, then? Was it, after all, only by chance that +she had so tenderly pronounced his name, and had that familiar +appellative only been drawn from her involuntarily because of her +surprise at beholding his unexpected presence at her bedside? + +Regarding the matter from this point of view, the whole romance that he +had constructed on a fragile foundation had really never existed save in +his own imagination! + +At this thought his self-esteem suffered cruelly. He felt a natural +impulse to spring into a carriage and drive to the dwelling of Eugenie +Gontier, and there to seek forgetfulness. But he felt that his +bitterness would make itself known even there, and that such a course +would be another affront to the dignity of a woman of heart, whose +loyalty to himself he never had questioned. + +Try to disguise it as he would, his sombre mood made itself apparent, +especially to his brother-in-law, who had no difficulty in guessing the +cause, without allowing Henri to suspect that he divined it. + +The date for the formal transfer of the Orphan Asylum to the committee +had been fixed for the fifteenth day of May. + +On the evening of the fourteenth, at the hour when the General was +signing the usual military documents in his bureau, a domestic presented +to him a letter which, he said, had just been brought in great haste by a +messenger on horseback: + +The superscription, "To Monsieur the General the Marquis de Prerolles," +was inscribed in a long, English hand, elegant and regular. The orderly +gave the letter to his chief, who dismissed him with a gesture before +breaking the seal. The seal represented, without escutcheon or crown, a +small, wild animal, with a pointed muzzle, projecting teeth, and shaggy +body, under which was a word Henri expected to find: Zibeline! + +The letter ran thus: + + "MY DEAR GENERAL: + + "An officer, like yourself, whose business it is to see that his + orders are obeyed, will understand that I have not dared, even in + your favor, to infringe on those imposed upon me by the doctor. + But those orders have been withdrawn! If you have nothing better to + do, come to-morrow, with your sister, to inspect our asylum, before + Monsieur Desvanneaux takes possession of it! + + "Your military eye will be able to judge immediately whether + anything is lacking in the quarters. Yours affectionately, + + "VALENTINE DE VERMONT. + + "P.S.--Poor Seaman is dead! I beg you to carry this sad news to his + friend Aida. V." + + +If a woman's real self is revealed in her epistolary style, finesse, +good-humor, and sprightliness were characterised in this note. +Zibeline's finesse had divined Henri's self-deception; her good-humor +sought to dissipate it; and her sprightliness was evidenced by her +allusions to M. Desvanneaux and the loss of her horse. + +When they found themselves reunited at the dinner-hour, the Duchess said +simply to her brother: + +"You must have received an invitation to-day from Mademoiselle de +Vermont. Will you accompany us tomorrow?" + +"Yes, certainly. But where? How? At what hour?" + +"We must leave here at one o'clock. Don't disturb yourself about any +other detail--we shall look after everything." + +"Good! I accept." + +As he was not so curious as the Desvanneaux, it mattered little to him to +what place they took him, so long as he should find Zibeline at the end +of the journey. + +At the appointed hour the brother and sister drove to the Gare du Nord. +The Duke, a director of the road, who had been obliged to attend a +convocation of the Council until noon, had preceded them. He was waiting +for them beside the turnstile at the station, having already procured +their tickets and reserved a carriage in one of the omnibus trains from +Paris to Treport which make stops at various suburban stations. + +"Will it be a very long journey?" Henri asked, on taking his place in +the carriage. + +"Barely three-quarters of an hour," said the Duke, as the train started +on its way. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII + +THE VOW REDEEMED + +The third road, constructed between the two lines which met at Creil, +passing, the one by way of Chantilly, the other, by Pontoise, was not in +existence in 1871, when, after the war, Jeanne and Henri de Prerolles +went to visit the spot, already unrecognizable, where they had passed +their childhood. L'Ile-d'Adam was at that time the nearest station; to +day it is Presles, on the intermediate line, which they now took. + +"This is our station," said Madame de Montgeron, when the train stopped +at Montsoult. They descended from the carriage, and found on the +platform two footmen, who conducted them to a large char-a-banc, to which +were harnessed four dark bay Percherons, whose bridles were held by +postilions in Zibeline's livery, as correct in their appearance as those +belonging to the imperial stables, when the sojourn of the court was at +Compiegne or at Fontainebleau. + +"Where are we going now, Jeanne?" asked Henri, whose heart seemed to him +to contract at the sight of Maffliers, which he knew so well. + +"A short distance from here," his sister replied. + +The horses set off, and, amid the sound of bells and the cracking of +whips, the carriage reached the national road from Paris to Beauvais, +which, from Montsoult, passes around the railway by a rapid descent, from +the summit of which is visible, on the right, the Chateau of +Franconville; on the left, the village of Nerville perched on its crest. + +One of the footmen on the rear seat held the reins, and a quarter of an +hour later the carriage stopped just before arriving at the foot of +Valpendant. + +Valpendant had formerly been a feudal manor within the confines of Ile- +de-France, built midway upon a hill, as its name indicated. On the side +toward the plain was a moat, and the castle itself commanded the view of +a valley, through which ran the little stream called Le Roi, which flows +into the river Oise near the hamlet of Mours. Acquired in the fifteenth +century by the lords of Prerolles, it had become an agricultural +territory worked for their profit, first by forced labor, and later by +farmers. + +Even recently, the courtyard, filled with squawking fowls and domestic +animals of all kinds, and the sheds crowded with agricultural implements +piled up in disorder, presented a scene of confusion frequent among +cultivators, and significant of the alienation of old domains from their +former owners. + +"We have arrived!" said the Duchess, alighting first. + +"What, is it here?" Henri exclaimed, his heart beating more quickly. + +"Your old farm was for sale just at the time that Mademoiselle de Vermont +was seeking an appropriate site for the Orphan Asylum. This spot +appeared to her to combine all the desirable conditions, and she has +wrought the transformation you are about to behold. It might as well be +this place as another," the Duchess added. "In my opinion, it is a sort +of consolation offered to us by fate." + +"Be it so!" said Henri, in a tone of less conviction. + +He followed his sister along the footpath of a bluff, which as children +they had often climbed; while the carriage made a long detour in order to +reach the main entrance to the grounds. + +The footpath, winding along near the railway embankment, ended at a +bridge, where Zibeline awaited the three visitors. A significant +pressure of her hand showed Henri how little cause he had had for his +apprehensions. + +They entered. Seen from the main entrance, the metamorphosis of the +place was complete. + +The old tower that had served as a barn alone remained the same; it was +somewhat isolated from the other building, and had been repaired in the +style of its period, making a comfortable dwelling for the future +director of the Asylum. Mademoiselle de Vermont occupied it temporarily. + +On each side of the grounds, standing parallel, rose two fine buildings: +on the ground floor of each were all the customary rooms and accessories +found on model farms; on the upper floors were dormitories arranged to +receive a large number of children of both sexes. There were +schoolrooms, sewing-rooms, a chapel-in short, nothing was lacking to +assist in the children's intellectual and manual education. + +"You have done things royally," said the Duke to the happy donor, when, +having finished the inspection of the premises, they returned to the +directors' room, indicated by a plate upon its door. + +As for Henri, silent and absorbed, he hesitated between the dread of +facing a new emotion and the desire to go once more to gaze upon the +tower of Prerolles, hardly more than two kilometres distant. + +"What is the matter with you, General?" Zibeline asked, observing that +he did not appear to take pleasure in the surprise she had prepared. + +"I lived here many years a long time ago," he replied. "I am thinking of +all that it recalls to me; and, if you would not consider it discourteous +on my part, I should like to leave you for a little time to make a +pilgrimage on foot around the neighborhood." + +"Would you like to have me take you myself? I have a little English cart +which can run about anywhere," said Zibeline. + +The proposition was tempting. The sweetness of a tete-a-tete might +diminish the bitterness of recollections. He accepted. + +She ordered the cart brought around, and they climbed into the small +vehicle, which was drawn by a strong pony, driven by Zibeline herself. + +"Which way?" she asked, when they had passed through the gates. + +"To the right," he said, pointing to a rough, half-paved slope, an +abandoned part of what had been in former days the highway, which now +joins the new road at the Beaumont tunnel. + +Passing this point, and leaving on their left the state road of l'Ile- +d'Adam, they drove through a narrow cross-cut, between embankments, by +which one mounts directly to the high, plateau that overlooks the town of +Presles. + +The hill was steep, and the pony was out of breath. They were compelled +to stop to allow him to rest. + +"It is not necessary to go any farther," said Henri to his companion. "I +need only to take a few steps in order to see what interests me." + +"I will wait for you here," she replied, alighting after him. "Don't be +afraid to leave me alone. The horse will not move; he is used to +stopping." + +He left her gathering daisies, and walked resolutely to the panoramic +point of view, where a strange and unexpected sight met his eyes! + +All that had once been so dear to him had regained its former aspect. +The kitchen-gardens had given place to the rich pastures, where yearling +colts frisked gayly. The factory had disappeared, and the chateau had +been restored to its original appearance. The walls enclosing the park +had been rebuilt, and even several cleared places indicated the sites of +cottages that had been pulled down. + +Henri de Prerolles could hardly believe his eyes! Was he the sport of a +dream or of one of those mirages which rise before men who travel across +the sandy African deserts? The latitude and the position of the sun +forbade this interpretation. But whence came it, then? What fairy had +turned a magic ring in order to work this miracle? + +A crackling of dry twigs under a light tread made him turn, and he beheld +Zibeline, who had come up behind him. + +The fairy was there, pale and trembling, like a criminal awaiting arrest. + +"Is it you who have done this?" Henri exclaimed, with a sob which no +human strength could have controlled. + +"It is I!" she murmured, lowering her eyes. "I did it in the hope that +some day you would take back that which rightfully belongs to you." + +"Rightfully, you say? By what act?" + +"An act of restitution." + +"You never have done me any injury, and nothing authorizes me to accept +such a gift from Mademoiselle de Vermont." + +"Vermont was the family name of my mother. When my father married her, +he obtained leave to add it to his own. I am the daughter of Paul +Landry." + +"You!" + +"Yes. The daughter of Paul Landry, whose fortune had no other origin +than the large sum of which he despoiled you." + +Henri made a gesture of denial. + +"Pardon me!" Zibeline continued. "He was doubly your debtor, since this +sum had been increased tenfold when you rescued him from the Mexicans who +were about to shoot him. 'This is my revenge!' you said to him, without +waiting to hear a word from him. Your ruin was the remorse of his whole +life. I knew it only when he lay upon his deathbed. Otherwise--" + +She paused, then raised her head higher to finish her words. + +"Never mind!" she went on. "That which he dared not do while living, I +set myself to do after his death. When I came to Paris to inquire what +had become of the Marquis de Prerolles, your glorious career answered for +you; but even before I knew you I had become the possessor of these +divided estates, which, reunited by me, must be restored to your hands. +You are proud, Henri," she added, with animation, "but I am none less +proud than you. Judge, then, what I have suffered in realizing our +situation: I, overwhelmed with riches, you, reduced to your officer's +pay. Is that a satisfaction to your pride? Very well! But to my own, +it is the original stain, which only a restitution, nobly accepted by +you, ever can efface!" + +She paused, looking at him supplicatingly, her hands clasped. As he +remained silent, she understood that he still hesitated, and continued: + +"To plead my cause, to vanquish your resistance, as I am trying now to +triumph over it, could be attempted with any chance of success only by a +dear and tender friend; that is the reason why I sought to establish +relations with--" + +"With Eugenie Gontier?" + +"But she would not consent to it--all the worse for her! For, since +then, you and I have come to know each other well. Your prejudices have +been overcome one by one. I have observed it well. I am a woman, and +even your harshness has not changed my feelings, nor prevented me from +believing that, in spite of yourself, you were beginning to love me. +Have I been deceiving myself?--tell me!" + +"You know that you have not, since, as I look at you and listen to you, +I know not which I admire more-your beauty or the treasures of your +heart!" + +"Then come!" + +"Whither?" + +"To Prerolles, where all is ready to receive you." + +"Well, since this is a tale from the Arabian Nights, let us follow it to +the end! I will go!" said Henri. + +Browsing beside the road, the pony, left to himself, had advanced toward +them, step by step, whinnying to his mistress. Valentine and Henri +remounted the cart; which soon drew up before the gates of the chateau, +where, awaiting them, reinstated in his former office, stood the old +steward, bent and white with years. + +The borders of the broad driveway were of a rich, deep green. Rose- +bushes in full bloom adorned the smooth lawns. The birds trilled a +welcome in jumping from branch to branch, and across the facade of the +chateau the open windows announced to the surrounding peasantry the +return of the prodigal master. + +At the top of the flight of steps Valentine stepped back to allow Henri +to pass before her; then, changing her mind, she advanced again. + +"No, you are at home," she said. "It is I that must enter first!" + +He followed her docilely, caring no longer to yield to any other will +than hers. + +Within the chateau, thanks to the complicity of the Duchess, the +furnishings resembled as closely as possible those of former days. The +good fairy had completed successfully two great works: the restoration of +the chateau and the building of the asylum. The inhabitants of the one +would be so much the better able to foresee the needs of the other. + +Having explored one of the wings, they returned to the central hall. +Mademoiselle de Vermont made a sign to the steward to remain there, and +beckoned to Henri to accompany her to the historic gallery. After they +had entered it, she closed the door. The family portraits had been +rehung in their former places, in chronological order, and, in its proper +place, figured that of the General of Division the Marquis de Prerolles, +in full uniform, mounted on Aida, the portrait being the work of Edmond +Delorme. + +At this sight, touched to the depths of his heart, Henri knelt before +Valentine, and carried her hand to his lips. + +"I adore you!" he said, without attempting to hide the tears of +gratitude that fell upon those generous hands. + +"Do you, indeed?" Zibeline murmured. + +"You shall see!" he replied, rising. "Come, in your turn." + +He led her before the portrait of the ancestral marshal of France, and +said: + +"Twenty-three years ago I vowed before that portrait either to vanquish +the enemy or to regain with honor all that I had lost at play. I have +kept my word. Will you be my wife?" + +"Ah, you know my heart is yours!" Zibeline whispered, hiding her face +upon his shoulder. + +The door at the end of the gallery opened; the Duc and the Duchesse de +Montgeron appeared. Henri took Zibeline's hand and approached them. + +"The Marquise de Prerolles!" he said, presenting her to his sister and +her husband. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIX + +THE MARQUISE DE PREROLLES + +The next day a special train landed the fair patronesses at the station +of Presles, whence Zibeline's carriages conducted them to Valpendant. + +The deed of gift was signed before M. Durand and his colleague, a notary +of Pontoise. + +This formality fulfilled, M. Desvanneaux, whose own role, for a moment +overshadowed, appeared to him to renew its importance, took the floor and +said: + +"It remains to us, Mesdames, to assure the support of the Orphan Asylum +by means of an annual income." + +"The Marquis and the Marquise de Prerolles assume this responsibility," +said the ministerial officer, treasurer of the Asylum. "This mutual +engagement will form the object of a special clause in the drawing up of +their contract." + +In this way was the news of the approaching marriage between Valentine +and Henri announced to the Society. + +"The little intriguer!" murmured the churchwarden, nudging the elbow of +his Maegera. + +The General, who noted the effect which this announcement had produced +upon the peevish pair, divined the malicious words upon the hypocritical +lips. He drew the husband aside, and put one hand upon his shoulder. + +"Desvanneaux," he said, "you have known me twenty-five years, and you +know that I am a man of my word. If ever a malevolent word from you +regarding my wife should come to my ears, I shall elongate yours to such +a degree that those of King Midas will be entirely eclipsed! Remember +that!" + +The ceremony took place six weeks later, in the church of St. Honore- +d'Eylau, which was not large enough to hold the numerous public and the +brilliant corps of officers that assisted. + +The witnesses for the bridegroom were the military governor of Paris and +the Duc de Montgeron. Those of the bride were the aide-de-camp General +Lenaieff, in full uniform, wearing an astrachan cap and a white cloak +with the Russian eagle fastened in the fur; and the Chevalier de Sainte- +Foy. + +On the evening before, a last letter from his former mistress had come to +the General: + + "I have heard all the details of your romance, my dear Henri. Its + conclusion is according to all dramatic rules, and I congratulate + you without reserve. + + "If, on the eve of contracting this happy union, an examination of + your conscience should suggest to you some remorse for having + abandoned me so abruptly, let me say that no shadow, not even the + lightest, must cloud the serenity of this joyous day: I am about to + leave the stage forever, to become the wife of the Baron de + Samoreau! + Always affectionately yours, + "EUGENIE GONTIER." + + + + +ETEXT EDITOR'S BOOKMARKS: + +All that was illogical in our social code +Only a man, wavering and changeable +Their Christian charity did not extend so far as that +There are mountains that we never climb but once + + + + +End of this Project Gutenberg Etext of Zibeline, v3 +by Phillipe de Massa + diff --git a/3933.zip b/3933.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..67d1f4e --- /dev/null +++ b/3933.zip diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. 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