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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/3955.txt b/3955.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..1463fb7 --- /dev/null +++ b/3955.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1752 @@ +The Project Gutenberg Etext of L'Abbe Constantin by Ludovic Halevy, v2 +#42 in our series The French Immortals Crowned by the French Academy +#2 in our series by Ludovic Halevy + +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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By the end of May all the recruits in the +army are sufficiently instructed to be capable of sharing in the general +evolutions. Almost every day manoeuvres of the mounted artillery are +executed on the parade-ground. Jean loved his profession; he was in the +habit of inspecting carefully the grooming and harness of the horses, the +equipment and carriage of his men. This morning, however, he bestowed +but scant attention on all the little details of his duty. + +One problem agitated, tormented him, and left him always undecided, and +this problem was one of those the solution of which is not given at the +Ecole Polytechnique. Jean could find no convincing reply to this +question: Which of the two sisters is the prettier? + +At the butts, during the first part of the manoeuvre, each battery worked +on its own account, under the orders of the captain; but he often +relinquished the place to one of his lieutenants, in order to accustom +them to the management of six field-pieces. It happened on this day that +the command was intrusted to the hands of Jean. To the great surprise of +the Captain, in whose estimation his Lieutenant held the first rank as a +well-trained, smart, and capable officer, everything went wrong. The +Captain was obliged to interfere; he addressed a little reprimand to +Jean, which terminated in these words: + +"I can not understand it at all. What is the matter with you this +morning? It is the first time such a thing has happened with you." + +It was also the first time that Jean had seen anything at the butts at +Souvigny but cannon, ammunition wagons, horses, or gunners. + +In the clouds of dust raised by the wheels of the wagons and the hoofs of +the horses Jean beheld, not the second mounted battery of the 9th +Regiment of artillery, but the distinct images of two Americans with +black eyes and golden hair; and, at the moment when he listened +respectfully to the well-merited lecture from his Captain, he was in the +act of saying to himself: + +"The prettier is Mrs. Scott!" + +Every morning the exercise is divided into two parts by a little interval +of ten minutes. The officers gathered together and talked; Jean remained +apart, alone with his recollections of the previous evening. His +thoughts obstinately gathered round the vicarage of Longueval. + +"Yes! the more charming of the two sisters is Mrs. Scott; Miss Percival +is only a child." + +He saw again Mrs. Scott at the Cure's little table. He heard her story +told with such frankness, such freedom. The harmony of that very +peculiar, very fascinating voice, still enchanted his ear. He was again +in the church; she was there before him, bending over her prie-Dieu, her +pretty head resting in her two little hands; then the music arose, and +far off, in the dusk, Jean perceived the fine and delicate profile of +Bettina. + +"A child--is she only a child?" + +The trumpets sounded, the practice was resumed; this time, fortunately, +no command, no responsibility. The four batteries executed their +evolutions together; this immense mass of men, horses, and carriages, +deployed in every direction, now drawn out in a long line, again +collected into a compact group. All stopped at the same instant along +the whole extent of the ground; the gunners sprang from their horses, ran +to their pieces, detached each from its team, which went off at a trot +and prepared to fire with amazing rapidity. Then the horses returned, +the men re-attached their pieces; sprang quickly to saddle, and the +regiment started at full gallop across the field. + +Very gently in the thoughts of Jean Bettina regained her advantage over +Mrs. Scott. She appeared to him smiling and blushing amid the sunlit +clouds of her floating hair. Monsieur Jean, she had called him, Monsieur +Jean, and never had his name sounded so sweet. And that last pressure of +the hand on taking leave, before entering the carriage. Had not Miss +Percival given him a more cordial clasp than Mrs. Scott had done? Yes, +positively a little more. + +"I was mistaken," thought Jean; "the prettier is Miss Percival." + +The day's work was finished; the pieces were ranged regularly in line one +behind the other; they defiled rapidly, with a horrible clatter, and in a +cloud of dust. When Jean, sword in hand, passed before his Colonel, the +images of the two sisters were so confused and intermingled in his +recollection that they melted the one in the other, and became in some +measure the image of one and the same person. Any parallel became +impossible between them, thanks to this singular confusion of the two +points of comparison. Mrs. Scott and Miss Percival remained thus +inseparable in the thoughts of Jean until the day when it was granted to +him to see them again. The impression of that meeting was not effaced; +it was always there, persistent, and very sweet, till Jean began to feel +disturbed. + +"Is it possible"--so ran his meditations--"is it possible that I have +been guilty of the folly of falling in love madly at first sight? No; +one might fall in love with a woman, but not with two women at once." + +That thought reassured him. He was very young, this great fellow of +four-and-twenty; never had love entered fully into his heart. Love! +He knew very little about it, except from books, and he had read but few +of them. But he was no angel; he could find plenty of attractions in the +grisettes of Souvigny, and when they would allow him to tell them that +they were charming, he was quite ready to do so, but it had never entered +his head to regard as love those passing fancies, which only caused the +slightest and most superficial disturbance in his heart. + +Paul de Lavardens had marvellous powers of enthusiasm and idealization. +His heart sheltered always two or three grandes passions, which lived +there in perfect harmony. Paul had been so clever as to discover, in +this little town of 15,000 souls, numbers of pretty girls, all made to be +adored. He always believed himself the discoverer of America, when, in +fact, he had done nothing but follow in the track of other navigators. + +The world-Jean had scarcely encountered it. He had allowed himself to be +dragged by Paul, a dozen times, perhaps, to soirees or balls at the great +houses of the neighborhood. He had invariably returned thoroughly bored, +and had concluded that these pleasures were not made for him. His tastes +were simple, serious. He loved solitude, work, long walks, open space, +horses, and books. He was rather savage--a son of the soil. He loved +his village, and all the old friends of his childhood. A quadrille in a +drawing-room caused him unspeakable terror; but every year, at the +festival of the patron saint of Longueval, he danced gayly with the young +girls and farmers' daughters of the neighborhood. + +If he had seen Mrs. Scott and Miss Percival at home in Paris, in all +the splendor of their luxury, in all the perfection of their costly +surroundings, he would have looked at them from afar, with curiosity, +as exquisite works of art. Then he would have returned home, and would +have slept, as usual, the most peaceful slumber in the world. + +Yes, but it was not thus that the thing had come to pass, and hence his +excitement, hence his disturbance. These two women had shown themselves +before him in the midst of a circle with which he was familiar, and which +had been, if only for this reason, singularly favorable to them. Simple, +good, frank, cordial, such they had shown themselves the very first day, +and delightfully pretty into the bargain--a fact which is never +insignificant. Jean fell at once under the charm; he was there still! + +At the moment when he dismounted in the barrack-yard, at nine o'clock, +the old priest began his campaign joyously. Since the previous evening +the Abbe's head had been on fire; Jean had not slept much, but he had not +slept at all. He had risen very early, and with closed doors, alone with +Pauline, he had counted and recounted his money, spreading out his one +hundred Louis-d'or, gloating over them like a miser, and like a miser +finding exquisite pleasure in handling his hoard. All that was his! for +him! that is to say, for the poor. + +"Do not be too lavish, Monsieur le Cure," said Pauline; "be economical. +I think that if you distribute to-day one hundred francs--" + +"That is not enough, Pauline. I shall only have one such day in my life, +but one I will have. How much do you think I shall give to-day?" + +"How much, Monsieur le Cure?" + +"One thousand francs!" + +"One thousand francs!" + +"Yes. We are millionaires now; we possess all the treasures of America, +and you talk about economy? Not to-day, at all events; indeed, I have no +right to think of it." + +After saying mass at nine o'clock he set out and showered gold along his +way. All had a share--the poor who acknowledged their poverty and those +who concealed it. Each alms was accompanied by the same little +discourse: + +"This comes from the new owners of the Longueval--two American ladies, +Mrs. Scott and Miss Percival. Remember their names, and pray for them." + +Then he made off without waiting for thanks, across the fields, through +the woods, from hamlet to hamlet, from cottage to cottage--on, on, on. +A sort of intoxication mounted to his brain. Everywhere were cries of +joy and astonishment. All these louis-d'or fell, as if by a miracle, +into the poor hands accustomed to receive little pieces of silver. The +Curb was guilty of follies, actual follies. He was out of bounds; he did +not recognize himself; he had lost all control over himself; he even gave +to those who did not expect anything. + +He met Claude Rigal, the old sergeant, who had left one of his arms at +Sebastopol. He was growing gray--nay, white; for time passes, and the +soldiers of the Crimea will soon be old men. + +"Here!" said the Cure, "I have twenty francs for you." + +"Twenty francs? But I never asked for anything; I don't want anything; +I have my pension." + +His pension! Seven hundred francs! + +"But listen; it will be something to buy you cigars. It comes from +America." + +And then followed the Abbe's little speech about the masters of +Longueval. + +He went to a poor woman whose son had gone to Tunis. + +"Well, how is your son getting on?" + +"Not so bad, Monsieur le Cure; I had a letter from him yesterday. He +does not complain; he is very well; only he says there are no Kroomirs. +Poor boy! I have been saving for a month, and I think I shall soon be +able to send him ten francs." + +"You shall send him thirty francs. Take this." + +"Thirty francs! Monsieur le Cure, you give me thirty francs?" + +"Yes, that is for you." + +"For my boy?" + +"For your boy. But listen; you must know from whom it comes, and you +must take care to tell your son when you write to him." + +Again the little speech about the new owners of Longueval, and again the +adjuration to remember them in their prayers. At six o'clock he returned +home, exhausted with fatigue, but with his soul filled with joy. + +"I have given away all," he cried, as soon as he saw Pauline, "all! all! +all!" + +He dined, and then went in the evening to perform the usual service for +the month of Mary. But this time, the harmonium was silent; Miss +Percival was no longer there. + +The little organist of the evening before was at that moment much +perplexed. On two couches in her dressing-room were spread two frocks-- +a white and a blue. Bettina was meditating which of these two frocks she +would wear to the opera that evening. After long hesitation she fixed on +the blue. At half-past nine the two sisters ascended the grand staircase +at the opera-house. Just as they entered their box the curtain rose on +the second scene of the second act of Aida, that containing the ballet +and march. + +Two young men, Roger de Puymartin and Louis de Martillet, were seated in +the front of a stage-box. The young ladies of the corps de ballet had +not yet appeared, and these gentlemen, having no occupation, were amusing +themselves with looking about the house. The appearance of Miss Percival +made a strong impression upon both. + +"Ah! ah!" said Puymartin, "there she is, the little golden nugget!" + +"She is perfectly dazzling this evening, this little golden nugget," +continued Martillet. "Look at her, at the line of her neck, the fall of +her shoulders--still a young girl, and already a woman." + +"Yes, she is charming, and tolerably well off into the bargain." + +"Fifteen millions of her own, and the silver mine is still productive." + +"Berulle told me twenty-five millions, and he is very well up in American +affairs." + +"Twenty-five millions! A pretty haul for Romanelli!" + +"What? Romanelli!" + +"Report says that that will be a match; that it is already settled." + +"A match may be arranged, but with Montessan, not with Romanelli. +Ah! at last! Here is the ballet." + +They ceased to talk. The ballet in Aida lasts only five minutes, and for +those five minutes they had come. Consequently they must be enjoyed +respectfully, religiously, for there is that peculiarity among a number +of the habitues of the opera, that they chatter like magpies when they +ought to be silent, to listen, and that they observe the most absolute +silence when they might be allowed to speak, while looking on. + +The trumpets of Aida had given their last heroic 'fanfare' in honor of +Rhadames before the great sphinxes under the green foliage of the palm- +trees, the dancers advanced, the light trembling on their spangled robes, +and took possession of the stage. + +With much attention and pleasure Mrs. Scott followed the evolutions of +the ballet, but Bettina had suddenly become thoughtful, on perceiving in +a box, on the other side of the house, a tall, dark young man. Miss +Percival talked to herself, and said: + +"What shall I do? What shall I decide on? Must I marry him, that +handsome, tall fellow over there, who is watching me, for it is I that he +is looking at? He will come into our box directly this act is over, and +then I have only to say, 'I have decided; there is my hand; I will be +your wife,' and then all would be settled! I should be Princess! +Princess Romanelli! Princess Bettina! Bettina Romanelli! The names go +well together; they sound very pretty. Would it amuse me to be a +princess? Yes--and no! Among all the young men in Paris, who, during +the last year, have run after my money, this Prince Romanelli is the one +who pleases me best. One of these days I must make up my mind to marry. +I think he loves me. Yes, but the question is, do I love him? No, I +don't think I do, and I should so much like to love--so much, so much!" + +At the precise moment when these reflections were passing through +Bettina's pretty head, Jean, alone in his study, seated before his desk +with a great book under the shade of his lamp, looked through, and took +notes of, the campaigns of Turenne. He had been directed to give a +course of instruction to the non-commissioned officers of the regiment, +and was prudently preparing his lesson for the next day. + +But in the midst of his notes--Nordlingen, 1645; les Dunes, 1658; +Mulhausen and Turckheim, 1674-1675--he suddenly perceived (Jean did not +draw very badly) a sketch, a woman's portrait, which all at once appeared +under his pen. What was she doing there, in the middle of Turenne's +victories, this pretty little woman? And then who was she--Mrs. Scott +or Miss Percival? How could he tell? They resembled each other so much; +and, laboriously, Jean returned to the history of the campaigns of +Turenne. + +And at the same moment, the Abbe Constantin, on his knees before his +little wooden bedstead, called down, with all the strength of his soul, +the blessings of Heaven on the two women through whose bounty he had +passed such a sweet and happy day. He prayed God to bless Mrs. Scott in +her children, and to give to Miss Percival a husband after her own heart. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +THE FAIR AMERICANS + +Formerly Paris belonged to the Parisians, and that at no very remote +period-thirty or forty years ago. At that epoch the French were the +masters of Paris, as the English are the masters of London, the Spaniards +of Madrid, and the Russians of St. Petersburg. Those times are no more. +Other countries still have their frontiers; there are now none to France. +Paris has become an immense Babel, a universal and international city. +Foreigners do not only come to visit Paris; they come there to live. +At the present day we have in Paris a Russian colony, a Spanish colony, +a Levantine colony, an American colony. The foreigners have already +conquered from us the greater part of the Champs-Elysees and the +Boulevard Malesherbes; they advance, they extend their outworks; we +retreat, pressed back by the invaders; we are obliged to expatriate +ourselves. We have begun to found Parisian colonies in the plains of +Passy, in the plain of Monceau, in quarters which formerly were not Paris +at all, and which are not quite even now. Among the foreign colonies, +the richest, the most populous, the most brilliant, is the American +colony. There is a moment when an American feels himself rich enough, a +Frenchman never. The American then stops, draws breath, and while still +husbanding the capital, no longer spares the income. He knows how to +spend, the Frenchman knows only how to save. + +The Frenchman has only one real luxury--his revolutions. Prudently and +wisely he reserves himself for them, knowing well that they will cost +France dear, but that, at the same time, they will furnish the +opportunity for advantageous investments. The Frenchman says to himself: + +"Let us hoard! let us hoard! let us hoard! Some of these mornings +there will be a revolution, which will make the 5 per cents. fall 50 or +60 francs. I will buy then. Since revolutions are inevitable, let us +try at least to make them profitable." + +They are always talking about the people who are ruined by revolutions, +but perhaps the number of those enriched by revolutions is still greater. + +The Americans experience the attraction of Paris very strongly. There is +no town in the world where it is easier or more agreeable to spend a +great dial of money. For many reasons, both of race and origin, this +attraction exercised over Mrs. Scott and Miss Percival a very remarkable +power. + +The most French of our colonies is Canada, which is no longer ours. +The recollection of their first home has been preserved faithfully and +tenderly in the hearts of the emigrants to Montreal and Quebec. Susie +Percival had received from her mother an entirely French education, and +she had brought up her sister in the same love of our country. The two +sisters felt themselves Frenchwomen; still better, Parisians. As soon as +the avalanche of dollars had descended upon them, the same desire seized +them both--to come and live in Paris. They demanded France as if it had +been their fatherland. Mr. Scott made some opposition. + +"If I go away from here," he said, "your incomes will suffer." + +"What does that matter?" replied Susie. "We are rich--too rich. Do let +us go. We shall be so happy, so delighted!" + +Mr. Scott allowed himself to be persuaded, and, at the beginning of +January, 1880, Susie wrote the following letter to her friend, Katie +Norton, who had lived in Paris for some years: + +"Victory! It is decided! Richard has consented. I shall arrive in +April, and become a Frenchwoman again. You offered to undertake all the +preparations for our settlement in Paris. I am horribly presuming-- +I accept! When I arrive in Paris, I should like to be able to enjoy +Paris, and not be obliged to lose my first month in running after +upholsterers, coach-builders, horse-dealers. I should like, on arriving +at the railway station, to find awaiting me my carriage, my coachman, my +horses. That very day I should like you to dine with me at my home. +Hire or buy a mansion, engage the servants, choose the horses, the +carriages, the liveries. I depend entirely upon you. As long as the +liveries are blue, that is the only point. This line is added at the +request of Bettina. + +"We shall bring only seven persons with us. Richard will have his valet, +Bettina and I two ladies' maids; then there are the two governesses for +the children, and, besides these, two boys, Toby and Bobby, who ride to +perfection. We should never find in Paris such a perfect pair. + +"Everything else, people and things, we shall leave in New York. No, not +quite everything; I had for gotten four little ponies, four little gems, +black as ink. We have not the heart to leave them; we shall drive them +in a phaeton; it is delightful. Both Bettina and I drive four-in-hand +very well. Ladies can drive four-in-hand in the Bois very early in the +morning; can't they? Here it is quite possible. Above all, my dear +Katie, do not consider money. Be as extravagant as you like, that is all +I ask." The same day that Mrs. Norton received this letter witnessed the +failure of a certain Garneville. He was a great speculator who had been +on a false scent. Stocks had fallen just when he had expected a rise. +This Garneville had, six weeks before, installed himself in a brand-new +house, which had no other fault than a too startling magnificence. Mrs. +Norton signed an agreement--100,000 francs a year, with the option of +buying house and furniture for 2,000,000 during the first year of +possession. A famous upholsterer undertook to correct and subdue the +exaggerated splendor of a loud and gorgeous luxury. That done, Mrs. +Scott's friend had the good fortune to lay her hand on two of those +eminent artists without whom the routine of a great house can neither be +established nor carried on. The first, a chef of the first rank, who had +just left an ancient mansion of the Faubourg St. Germain, to his great +regret, for he had aristocratic inclinations. + +"Never," said he to Mrs. Norton, "never would I have left the service of +Madame la Duchesse if she had kept up her establishment on the same +footing as formerly; but Madame la Duchesse has four children--two sons +who have run through a good deal, and two daughters who will soon be of +an age to marry; they must have their dowries. Therefore, Madame la +Duchesse is obliged to draw in a little, and the house is no longer +important enough for me." + +This distinguished character, of course, made his conditions. Though +excessive, they did not alarm Mrs. Norton, who knew that he was a man of +the most serious merit; but he, before deciding, asked permission to +telegraph to New York. He wished to make certain inquiries. The reply +was favorable; he accepted. + +The second great artist was a stud-groom of the rarest and highest +capacity, who was just about to retire after having made his fortune. +He consented, however, to organize the stables for Mrs. Scott. It was +thoroughly understood that he should have every liberty in purchasing the +horses, that he should wear no livery, that he should choose the +coachmen, the grooms, and everyone connected with the stables; that he +should never have less than fifteen horses in the stables, that no +bargain should be made with the coach-builder or saddler without his +intervention, and that he should never mount the box, except early in the +morning, in plain clothes, to give lessons in driving to the ladies and +children, if necessary. + +The cook took possession of his stores, and the stud-groom of his +stables. Everything else was only a question of money, and with regard +to this Mrs. Norton made full use of her extensive powers. She acted in +conformity with the instructions she had received. In the short space of +two months she performed prodigies, and that is how, when, on the 15th of +April, 1880, Mr. Scott, Susie, and Bettina alighted from the mail train +from Havre, at half-past four in the afternoon, they found Mrs. Norton at +the station of St. Lazare, who said: + +"Your caleche is there in the yard; behind it is a landau for the +children; and behind the landau is an omnibus for the servants. The +three carriages bear your monogram, are driven by your coachman, and +drawn by your horses. Your address is 24 Rue Murillo, and here is the +menu of your dinner to-night. You invited me two months ago; I accept, +and will even take the liberty of bringing a dozen friends with me. I +shall furnish everything, even the guests. But do not be alarmed; you +know them all; they are mutual friends, and this evening we shall be able +to judge of the merits of your cook." + +The first Parisian who had the honor and pleasure of paying homage to the +beauty of Mrs. Scott and Miss Percival was a little Marmiton fifteen +years old, who stood there in his white clothes, his wicker basket on his +head, at the moment when Mrs. Scott's carriage, entangled in the +multitude of vehicles, slowly worked its way out of the station. The +little cook stopped short on the pavement, opened wide his eyes, looked +at the two sisters with amazement, and boldly cast full in their faces +the single word: + +"Mazette!" + +When Madame Recamier saw her first wrinkles, and first gray hairs, she +said to a friend: + +"Ah! my dear, there are no more illusions left for me! From the day +when I saw that the little chimney-sweeps no longer turned round in the +street to look at me, I understood that all was over." + +The opinion of the confectioners' boys is, in similar cases, of equal +value with the opinion of the little chimney-sweeps. All was not over +for Susie and Bettina; on the contrary, all was only beginning. + +Five minutes later, Mrs. Scott's carriage was ascending the Boulevard +Haussmann to the slow and measured trot of a pair of admirable horses. +Paris counted two Parisians the more. + +The success of Mrs. Scott and Miss Percival was immediate, decisive, +like a flash of lightning. The beauties of Paris are not classed and +catalogued like the beauties of London; they do not publish their +portraits in the illustrated papers, or allow their photographs to be +sold at the stationers. However, there is always a little staff, +consisting of a score of women, who represent the grace, and charm, and +beauty of Paris, which women, after ten or twelve years' service, pass +into the reserve, just like the old generals. Susie and Bettina +immediately became part of this little staff. It was an affair of four- +and-twenty hours--of less than four-and-twenty hours, for all passed +between eight in the morning and midnight, the day after their arrival in +Paris. + +Imagine a sort of little 'feerie', in three acts, of which the success +increases from tableau to tableau: + +1st. A ride at ten in the morning in the Bois, with the two marvellous +grooms imported from America. + +2d. A walk at six o'clock in the Allee des Acacias. + +3d. An appearance at the opera at ten in the evening in Mrs. Norton's +box. + +The two novelties were immediately remarked, and appreciated as they +deserved to be, by the thirty or forty persons who constitute a sort of +mysterious tribunal, and who, in the name of all Paris, pass sentence +beyond appeal. These thirty or forty persons have, from time to time, +the fancy to declare "delicious" some woman who is manifestly ugly. +That is enough; she is "delicious" from that moment. + +The beauty of the two sisters was unquestionable. In the morning, it was +their grace, their elegance, their distinction that attracted universal +admiration; in the afternoon, it was declared that their walk had the +freedom and ease of two young goddesses; in the evening, there was but +one cry of rapture at the ideal perfection of their shoulders. From that +moment, all Paris had for the two sisters the eyes of the little pastry- +cook of the Rue d'Amsterdam; all Paris repeated his 'Mazette', though +naturally with the variations and developments imposed by the usages of +the world. + +Mrs. Scott's drawing-room immediately became the fashion. The habitues +of three or four great American houses transferred themselves to the +Scotts, who had three hundred persons at their first Wednesday. Their +circle increased; there was a little of everything to be found in their +set--Americans, Spaniards, Italians, Hungarians, Russians, and even +Parisians. + +When she had related her history to the Abbe Constantin, Mrs. Scott had +not told all--one never does tell all. In a word, she was a coquette. +Mr. Scott had the most perfect confidence in his wife, and left her +entire liberty. He appeared very little; he was an honorable man, who +felt a vague embarrassment at having made such a marriage, at having +married so much money. + +Having a taste for business, he had great pleasure in devoting himself +entirely to the administering of the two immense fortunes which were in +his hands, in continually increasing them, and in saying every year to +his wife and sister in-law: + +"You are still richer than you were last year!" + +Not content with watching with much prudence and ability over the +interests which he had left in America, he launched in France into large +speculations, and was as successful in Paris as he had been in New York. +In order to make money, the first thing is to have no need of it. + +They made love to Mrs. Scott to an enormous extent; they made love to her +in French, in Italian, in English, in Spanish; for she knew those four +languages, and there is one advantage that foreigners have over our poor +Parisians, who usually know only their mother tongue, and have not the +resource of international passions. + +Naturally, Mrs. Scott did not drive her adorers from her presence. She +had ten, twenty, thirty at a time. + +No one could boast of any preference; to all she opposed the same +amiable, laughing, joyous resistance. It was clear to all that the game +amused her, and that she did not for a moment take it seriously. Mr. +Scott never felt a moment's anxiety, and he was perfectly right. More, +he enjoyed his wife's successes; he was happy in seeing her happy. He +loved her dearly--a little more than she loved him. She loved him very +much, and that was all. There is a great difference between dearly and +very much when these two adverbs are placed after the verb to love. + +As to Bettina, around her was a maddening whirl, an orgy of adulation. +Such fortune! Such beauty! Miss Percival arrived in Paris on the 15th +of April; a fortnight had not passed before the offers of marriage began +to pour upon her. In the course of that first year, she might, had she +wished it, have been married thirty-four times, and to what a variety of +suitors! + +They asked her hand for a young exile, who, under certain circumstances, +might be called to ascend a throne--a very small one, it is true, but a +throne nevertheless. + +They asked her hand for a young duke, who would make a great figure at +Court when France--as was inevitable--should recognize her errors, and +bow down before her legitimate masters. + +They asked her hand for a young prince, who would have a place on the +steps of the throne when France--as was inevitable--should again knit +together the chain of the Napoleonic traditions. + +They asked her hand for a young Republican deputy, who had just made a +most brilliant debut in the Chamber, and for whom the future reserved the +most splendid destiny, for the Republic was now established in France on +the most indestructible basis. + +They asked her hand for a young Spaniard of the purest lineage, and she +was given to understand that the 'contrat' would be signed in the palace +of a queen, who does not live far from the Arc de Triomphe. Besides, one +can find her address in the 'Almanach Bottin', for at the present day, +there are queens who have their address in Bottin between an attorney and +a druggist; it is only the kings of France who no longer live in France. + +They asked her hand for the son of a peer of England, and for the son of +a member of the highest Viennese aristocracy; for the son of a Parisian +banker, and for the son of a Russian ambassador; for a Hungarian count, +and for an Italian prince; and also for various excellent young men who +were nothing and had nothing--neither name nor fortune; but Bettina had +granted them a waltz, and, believing themselves irresistible, they hoped +that they had caused a flutter of that little heart. + +But up to the present moment nothing had touched that little heart, and +the reply had been the same to all "No! no!" again "No!" always "No!" + +Some days after that performance of Aida, the two sisters had a rather +long conversation on this great, this eternal question of marriage. A +certain name had been pronounced by Mrs. Scott which had provoked on the +part of Miss Percival the most decided and most energetic refusal, and +Susie had laughingly said to her sister: + +"But, Bettina, you will be obliged to end by marrying." + +"Yes, certainly, but I should be so sorry to marry without love. It +seems to me that before I could resolve to do such a thing I must be in +danger of dying an old maid, and I am not yet that." + +"No, not yet." + +"Let us wait, let us wait." + +"Let us wait. But among all these lovers whom you have been dragging +after you for the last year, there have been some very nice, very +amiable, and it is really a little strange if none of them--" + +"None, my Susie, none, absolutely none. Why should I not tell you the +truth? Is it their fault? Have they gone unskilfully to work? Could +they, in managing better, have found the way to my heart? or is the +fault in me? Is it perhaps, that the way to my heart is a steep, rocky, +inaccessible way, by which no one will ever pass? Am I a horrid little +creature, and, cold, and condemned never to love?" + +"I do not think so." + +"Neither do I, but up to the present time that is my history. No, I have +never felt anything which resembled love. You are laughing, and I can +guess why. You are saying to yourself, 'A little girl like that +pretending to know what love is!' You are right; I do not know, but I +have a pretty good idea. To love--is it not to prefer to all in the +world one certain person?" + +"Yes; it is really that." + +"Is it not never to weary of seeing that person, or of hearing him? Is +it not to cease to live when he is not there, and to immediately begin to +revive when he reappears?" + +"Oh, but this is romantic love." + +"Well, that is the love of which I dream, and that is the love which does +not come--not at all till now; and yet that person preferred by me to all +and everything does exist. Do you know who it is?" + +"No, I do not know; I do not know, but I have a little suspicion." + +"Yes, it is you, my dearest, and it is perhaps you, naughty sister, who +makes me so insensible and cruel on this point. I love you too much; you +fill my heart; you have occupied it entirely; there is no room for any +one else. Prefer any one to you! Love any one more than you! That will +never, never be!" + +"Oh, yes, it will." + +"Oh, no. Love differently, perhaps, but more--no. He must not count +upon that, this gentleman whom I expect, and who does not arrive." + +"Do not be afraid, my Betty, there is room in your heart for all whom you +should love--for your husband, for your children, and that without your +old sister losing anything. The heart is very little, but it is also +very large." + +Bettina tenderly embraced her sister; then, resting her head coaxingly on +Susie's shoulder, she said: + +"If, however, you are tired of keeping me with you, if you are in a hurry +to get rid of me, do you know what I will do? I will put the names of +two of these gentlemen in a basket, and draw lots. There are two who at +the last extremity would not be absolutely disagreeable." + +"Which two?" + +"Guess." + +"Prince Romanelli." + +"For one! And the other?" + +"Monsieur de Montessan." + +"Those are the two! It is just that. Those two would be acceptable, +but only acceptable, and that is not enough." + +This is why Bettina awaited with extreme impatience the day when she +should leave Paris, and take up their abode in Longueval. She was a +little tired of so much pleasure, so much success, so many offers of +marriage. The whirlpool of Parisian gayety had seized her on her +arrival, and would not let her go, not for one hour of halt or rest. She +felt the need of being given up to herself for a few days, to herself +alone, to consult and question herself at her leisure, in the complete +solitude of the country-in a word, to belong to herself again. + +Was not Bettina all sprightly and joyous when, on the 14th of June, they +took the train for Longueval? As soon as she was alone in a coupe with +her sister: + +"Ah!" she cried, "how happy I am! Let us breathe a little, quite alone, +you and me, for a few days. The Nortons and Turners do not come till the +25th, do they?" + +"No, not till the 25th." + +"We will pass our lives riding or driving in the woods, in the fields. +Ten days of liberty! And during those ten days no more lovers, no more +lovers! And all those lovers, with what are they in love, with me or my +money? That is the mystery, the unfathomable mystery." + +The engine whistled; the train put itself slowly into motion. A wild +idea entered Bettina's head. She leaned out of the window and cried, +accompanying her words with a little wave of the hand: + +"Good-by, my lovers, good-by." + +Then she threw herself suddenly into a corner of the coupe with a hearty +burst of laughter. + +"Oh, Susie, Susie!" + +"What is the matter?" + +"A man with a red flag in his hand; he saw me, and he looked so +astonished." + +"You are so irrational!" + +"Yes, it is true, to have called out of the window like that, but not to +be happy at thinking that we are going to live alone, 'en garcons'." + +"Alone! alone! Not exactly that. To begin with, we shall have two +people to dinner to-night." + +"Ah! that is true. But those two people, I shall not be at all sorry to +see them again. Yes, I shall be well pleased to see the old Cure again, +but especially the young officer." + +"What! especially?" + +"Certainly; because what the lawyer from Souvigny told us the other day +is so touching, and what that great artilleryman did when he was quite +little was so good, so good, that this evening I shall seek for an +opportunity of telling him what I think of it, and I shall find one." + +Then Bettina, abruptly changing the course of the conversation, +continued: + +"Did they send the telegram yesterday to Edwards about the ponies?" + +"Yes, yesterday before dinner." + +"Oh, you will let me drive them up to the house. It will be such fun to +go through the town, and to drive up at full speed into the court in +front of the entrance. Tell me, will you?" + +"Yes, certainly, you shall drive the ponies." + +"Oh, how nice of you, Susie!" + +Edwards was the stud-groom. He had arrived at Longueval three days +before. He deigned to come himself--to meet Mrs. Scott and Miss +Percival. He brought the phaeton drawn by the four black ponies. He was +waiting at the station. The passage of the ponies through the principal +street of the town had made a sensation. The population rushed out of +their houses, and asked eagerly: + +"What is it? What can it be?" + +Some ventured the opinion: + +"It is, perhaps, a travelling circus." + +But exclamations arose on all sides: + +"You did not notice the style of it--the carriage and the harness shining +like gold, and the little horses with their white rosettes on each side +of the head." + +The crowd collected around the station, and those who were curious +learned that they were going to witness the arrival of the new owners of +Longueval. They were slightly disenchanted when the two sisters +appeared, very pretty, but in very simple travelling costumes. + +These good people had almost expected the apparition of two princesses +out of fairy tales, clad in silk and brocade, sparkling with rubies and +diamonds. But they opened wide their eyes when they saw Bettina walk +slowly round the four ponies, caressing one after another lightly with +her hand, and examining all the details of the team with the air of a +connoisseur. + +Having made her inspection, Bettina, without the least hurry, drew off +her long Swedish gloves, and replaced them by a pair of dog-skin which +she took from the pocket of the carriage apron. Then she slipped on to +the box in the place of Edwards, receiving from him the reins and whip +with extreme dexterity, without allowing the already excited horses to +perceive that they had changed hands. + +Mrs. Scott seated herself beside her sister. The ponies pranced, +curveted, and threatened to rear. + +"Be very careful, miss," said Edwards; "the ponies are very fresh to- +day." + +"Do not be afraid," replied Bettina. "I know them." + +Miss Percival had a hand at once very firm, very light, and very just. +She held in the ponies for a few moments, forcing them to keep their own +places; then, waving the long thong of her whip round the leaders, she +started her little team at once, with incomparable skill, and left the +station with an air of triumph, in the midst of a long murmur of +astonishment and admiration. + +The trot of the black ponies rang on the little oval paving-stones of +Souvigny. Bettina held them well together until she had left the town, +but as soon as she saw before her a clear mile and a half of highroad- +almost on a dead level-she let them gradually increase their speed, till +they went like the wind. + +"Oh! how happy I am, Susie!" cried she; "and we shall trot and gallop +all alone on these roads. Susie, would you like to drive? It is such a +delight when one can let them go at full speed. They are so spirited and +so gentle. Come, take the reins." + +"No; keep them. It is a greater pleasure to me to see you happy." + +"Oh, as to that, I am perfectly happy. I do like so much to drive four- +in-hand with plenty of space before me. At Paris, even in the morning, +I did not dare to any longer. They looked at me so, it annoyed me. But +here--no one! no one! no one!" + +At the moment when Bettina, already a little intoxicated with the bracing +air and liberty, gave forth triumphantly these three exclamations, "No +one! no one! no one!" a rider appeared, walking his horse in the +direction of the carriage. It was Paul de Lavardens. He had been +watching for more than an hour for the pleasure of seeing the Americans +pass. + +"You are mistaken," said Susie to Bettina; "there is some one." + +"A peasant; they don't count; they won't ask me to marry them." + +"It is not a peasant at all. Look!" + +Paul de Lavardens, while passing the carriage, made the two sisters a +highly correct bow, from which one at once scented the Parisian. + +The ponies were going at such a rate that the meeting was over like a +flash of lightning. + +Bettina cried: + +"Who is that gentleman who has just bowed to us?" + +"I had scarcely time to see, but I seemed to recognize him." + +"You recognized him?" + +"Yes, and I would wager that I have seen him at our house this winter." + +"Heavens! if it should be one of the thirty-four! Is all that going to +begin again?" + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +A LITTLE DINNER FOR FOUR + +That same day, at half-past seven, Jean went to fetch the Cure, and the +two walked together up to the house. During the last month a perfect +army of workmen had taken possession of Longueval; all the inns in the +village were making their fortunes. + +Enormous furniture wagons brought cargoes of furniture and decorations +from Paris. Forty-eight hours before the arrival of Mrs. Scott, +Mademoiselle Marbeau, the postmistress, and Madame Lormier, the mayoress, +had wormed themselves into the castle, and the account they gave of the +interior turned every one's head. The old furniture had disappeared, +banished to the attics; one moved among a perfect accumulation of +wonders. And the stables! and the coach-houses! A special train had +brought from Paris, under the high superintendence of Edwards, a dozen +carriages--and such carriages! Twenty horses--and such horses! + +The Abbe Constantin thought that he knew what luxury was. Once a year he +dined with his bishop, Monseigneur Faubert, a rich and amiable prelate, +who entertained rather largely. The Cure, till now, had, thought that +there was nothing in the world more sumptuous than the Episcopal palace +of Souvigny, or the castles of Lavardens and Longueval. + +He began to understand, from what he was told of the new splendors of +Longueval, that the luxury of the great houses of the present day must +surpass to a singular degree the sober and severe luxury of the great +houses of former times. + +As soon as the Cure and Jean had entered the avenue in the park, which +led to the house: + +"Look! Jean," said the Cure; "what a change! All this part of the park +used to be quite neglected, and now all the paths are gravelled and +raked. I shall not be able to feel myself at home as I used to do: it +will be too grand. I shall not find again my old brown velvet easy- +chair, in which I so often fell asleep after dinner, and if I fall asleep +this evening what will become of me? You will think of it, Jean, and if +you see that I begin to forget myself, you will come behind me and pinch +my arm gently, won't you? You promise me?" + +"Certainly, certainly, I promise you." + +Jean paid but slight attention to the conversation of the Cure. He felt +extremely impatient to see Mrs. Scott and Miss Percival again, but this +impatience was mingled with very keen anxiety. Would he find them in the +great salon at Longueval the same as he had seen them in the little +dining-room at the vicarage? Perhaps, instead of those two women, so +perfectly simple and familiar, amusing themselves with this little +improvised dinner, and who, the very first day, had treated him with so +much grace and cordiality, would he find two pretty dolls-worldly, +elegant, cold, and correct? Would his first impression be effaced? +Would it disappear? or, on the contrary, would the impression in his +heart become still sweeter and deeper? + +They ascended the six steps at the entrance, and were received in the +hall by two tall footmen with the most dignified and imposing air. This +hall had formerly been a vast, frigid apartment, with bare stone walls. +These walls were now covered with admirable tapestry, representing +mythological subjects. The Cure dared scarcely glance at this tapestry; +it was enough for him to perceive that the goddesses who wandered through +these shades wore costumes of antique simplicity. + +One of the footmen opened wide the folding-doors of the salon. It was +there that one had generally found the old Marquise, on the right of the +high chimney-piece, and on the left had stood the brown velvet easy- +chair. + +No brown easy-chair now! That old relic of the Empire, which was the +basis of the arrangement of the salon, had been replaced by a marvellous +specimen of tapestry of the end of the last century. Then a crowd of +little easy-chairs, and ottomans of all forms and all colors, were +scattered here and there with an appearance of disorder which was the +perfection of art. + +As soon as Mrs. Scott saw the Cure and Jean enter, she rose, and going to +meet them, said: + +"How kind of you to come, Monsieur le Cure, and you, too, Monsieur Jean. +How pleased I am to see you, my first, my only friends down here!" + +Jean breathed again. It was the same woman. + +"Will you allow me," added Mrs. Scott, "to introduce my children to you? +Harry and Bella, come here." + +Harry was a very pretty little boy of six, and Bella a very charming +little girl, five years old. They had their mother's large, dark eyes, +and her golden hair. + +After the Cure had kissed the two children, Harry, who was looking with +admiration at Jean's uniform, said to his mother: + +"And the soldier, mamma, must we kiss him, too?" + +"If you like," replied Mrs. Scott, "and if he will allow it." + +A moment after, the two children were installed upon Jean's knees, and +overwhelming him with questions. + +"Are you an officer?" + +"Yes, I am an officer." + +"What in?" + +"In the artillery." + +"The artillery! Oh, you are one of the men who fire the cannon. Oh, how +I should like to be quite near when they fire the cannon!" + +"Will you take us some day when they fire the cannon? Tell me, will +you?" + +Meanwhile, Mrs. Scott chatted with the Cure, and Jean, while replying to +the children's questions, looked at Mrs. Scott. She wore a white muslin +frock, but the muslin disappeared under a complete avalanche of little +flounces of Valenciennes. The dress was cut out in front in a large +square, her arms were bare to the elbow, a large bouquet of red roses at +the opening of her dress, a red rose fixed in her hair, with a diamond +'agraffe'--nothing more. + +Mrs. Scott suddenly perceived that the children had taken entire +possession of Jean, and exclaimed: + +"Oh, I beg your pardon. Harry, Bella!" + +"Oh, pray let them stay with me." + +"I am so sorry to keep you waiting for dinner; my sister is not down yet. +Oh! here she is!" + +Bettina entered. The same frock of white muslin, the same delicate mass +of lace, the same red roses, the same grace, the same beauty, and the +same smiling, amiable, candid manner. + +"How do you do, Monsieur le Cure? I am delighted to see you. Have you +pardoned my dreadful intrusion of the other day?" + +Then, turning toward Jean and offering him her hand: + +"How do you do, Monsieur--Monsieur--Oh! I can not remember your name, +and yet we seem to be already old friends, Monsieur--" + +"Jean Reynaud." + +"Jean Reynaud, that is it. How do you do, Monsieur Reynaud? I warn you +faithfully that when we really are old friends--that is to say, in about +a week--I shall call you Monsieur Jean. It is a pretty name, Jean." + +Up to the moment when Bettina appeared Jean had said to himself: + +"Mrs. Scott is the prettier!" + +When he felt Bettina's little hand slip into his arm, and when she turned +toward him her delicious face, he said: + +"Miss Percival is the prettier!" + +But his perplexities gathered round him again when he was seated between +the two sisters. If he looked to the right, love threatened him from +that direction, and if he looked to the left, the danger removed +immediately, and passed to the left. + +Conversation began, easy, animated, confidential. The two sisters were +charmed; they had already walked in the park; they promised themselves a +long ride in the forest tomorrow. Riding was their passion, their +madness. It was also Jean's passion, so that after a quarter of an hour +they begged him to join them the next day. There was no one who knew the +country round better than he did; it was his native place. He should be +so happy to do the honors of it, and to show them numbers of delightful +little spots which, without him, they would never discover. + +"Do you ride every day?" asked Bettina. + +"Every day and sometimes twice. In the morning on duty, and in the +evening I am ride for my own pleasure." + +"Early in the morning?" + +"At half-past five." + +"At half-past five every morning?" + +"Yes, except Sunday." + +"Then you get up--" + +"At half-past four." + +"And is it light?" + +"Oh, just now, broad daylight." + +"To get up at half-past four is admirable; we often finish our day just +when yours is beginning. And are you fond of your profession?" + +"Very. It is an excellent thing to have one's life plain before one, +with exact and definite duties." + +"And yet," said Mrs. Scott, "not to be one's own master--to be always +obliged to obey." + +"That is perhaps what suits me best; there is nothing easier than to +obey, and then to learn to obey is the only way of learning to command." + +"Ah! since you say so, it must be true." + +"Yes, no doubt," added the Cure; "but he does not tell you that he is the +most distinguished officer in his regiment, that--" + +"Oh! pray do not." + +The Cure, in spite of the resistance of Jean, was about to launch into a +panegyric on his godson, when Bettina, interposing, said: + +"It is unnecessary, Monsieur le Cure, do not say anything, we know +already all that you would tell us, we have been so indiscreet as to make +inquiries about Monsieur--oh, I was just going to say Monsieur Jean-- +about Monsieur Reynaud. Well, the information we received was +excellent!" + +"I am curious to know," said Jean. + +"Nothing! nothing! you shall know nothing. I do not wish to make you +blush, and you would be obliged to blush." + +Then turning toward the Cure, "And about you, too, Monsieur l'Abbe, we +have had some information. It appears that you are a saint." + +"Oh! as to that, it is perfectly true," cried Jean. + +It was the Cure this time who cut short the eloquence of Jean. Dinner +was almost over. The old priest had not got through this dinner without +experiencing many emotions. They had repeatedly presented to him +complicated and scientific constructions upon which he had only ventured +with a trembling hand. He was afraid of seeing the whole crumble beneath +his touch; the trembling castles of jelly, the pyramids of truffles, the +fortresses of cream, the bastions of pastry, the rocks of ice. Otherwise +the Abbe Constantin dined with an excellent appetite, and did not recoil +before two or three glasses of champagne. He was no foe to good cheer; +perfection is not of this world; and if gormandizing were, as they say, a +cardinal sin, how many good priests would be damned! + +Coffee was served on the terrace in front of the house; in the distance +was heard the harsh voice of the old village clock striking nine. Woods +and fields were slumbering; the avenues in the park showed only as long, +undulating, and undecided lines. The moon slowly rose over the tops of +the great trees. + +Bettina took a box of cigars from the table. "Do you smoke?" said she. + +"Yes, Miss Percival." + +"Take one, Monsieur Jean. It can't be helped. I have said it. Take +one--but no, listen to me first." + +And speaking in a low voice, while offering him the box of cigars: + +"It is getting dark, now you may blush at your ease. I will tell you +what I did not say at dinner. An old lawyer in Souvigny, who was your +guardian, came to see my sister in Paris, about the payment for the +place; he told us what you did after your father's death, when you were +only a child, what you did for that poor mother, and for that poor young +girl. Both my sister and I were much touched by it." + +"Yes," continued Mrs. Scott, "and that is why we have received you to-day +with so much pleasure. We should not have given such a reception to +every one, of that you may be sure. Well, now take your cigar, my sister +is waiting." + +Jean could not find a word in reply. Bettina stood there with the box of +cigars in her two hands, her eyes fixed frankly on the countenance of +Jean. At the moment, she tasted a true and keen pleasure which may be +expressed by this phrase: + +"It seems to me that I see before me a man of honor." + +"And now," said Mrs. Scott, "let us sit here and enjoy this delicious +night; take your coffee, smoke--" + +"And do not let us talk, Susie, do not let us talk. This great silence +of the country, after the great noise and bustle of Paris, is delightful! +Let us sit here without speaking; let us look at the sky, the moon, and +the stars." + +All four, with much pleasure, carried out this little programme. Susie +and Bettina, calm, reposeful, absolutely separated from their existence +of yesterday, already felt a tenderness for the place which had just +received them, and was going to keep them. Jean was less tranquil; the +words of Miss Percival had caused him profound emotion, his heart had not +yet quite regained its regular throb. + +But the happiest of all was the Abbe Constantin. + +This little episode which had caused Jean's modesty such a rude, yet +sweet trial, had brought him exquisite joy, the Abbe bore his godson such +affection. The most tender father never loved more warmly the dearest of +his children. When the old Cure looked at the young officer, he often +said to himself: + +"Heaven has been too kind; I am a priest, and I have a son!" + +The Abbe sank into a very agreeable reverie; he felt himself at home, +he felt himself too much at home; by degrees his ideas became hazy and +confused, reverie became drowsiness, drowsiness became slumber, the +disaster was soon complete, irreparable; the Cure slept, and slept +profoundly. This marvellous dinner, and the two or three glasses of +champagne may have had something to do with the catastrophe. + +Jean perceived nothing; he had forgotten the promise made to his +godfather. And why had he forgotten it? Because Mrs. Scott and Miss +Percival had thought proper to put their feet on the footstools, placed +in front of their great wicker garden-chairs filled with cushions; then +they had thrown themselves lazily back in their chairs, and their muslin +skirts had become raised a little, a very little, but yet enough to +display four little feet, the lines of which showed very distinctly and +clearly beneath two pretty clouds of white lace. Jean looked at these +little feet, and asked himself this question: + +"Which are the smaller?" + +While he was trying to solve this problem, Bettina, all at once, said to +him in a low voice: + +"Monsieur Jean! Monsieur Jean!" + +"Miss Percival?" + +"Look at the Cure, he is asleep." + +"Oh! it is my fault." + +"How your fault?" asked Mrs. Scott, also in a low voice. + +"Yes; my godfather rises at daybreak, and goes to bed very early; he told +me to be sure and prevent his falling asleep; when Madame de Longueval +was here he very often had a nap after dinner. You have shown him so +much kindness that he has fallen back into his old habits." + +"And he is perfectly right," said Bettina, "do not make a noise, do not +wake him." + +"You are too good, Miss Percival, but the air is getting a little fresh." + +"Ah! that is true, he might catch cold. Stay, I will go and fetch a +wrap for him." + +"I think, Miss Percival, it would be better to try and wake him +skilfully, so that he should not suspect that you had seen him asleep." + +"Let me do it," said Bettina. "Susie, let us sing together, very softly +at first, then we will raise our voices little by little, let us sing." + +"Willingly, but what shall we sing?" + +"Let us sing, 'Quelque chose d'enfantin,' the words are suitable." + +Susie and Bettina began to sing: + + If I had but two little wings, + And were a little feathery bird, + +Their sweet and penetrating voices had an exquisite sonority in that +profound silence. The Abbe heard nothing, did not move. Charmed with +this little concert, Jean said to himself: + +"Heaven grant that my godfather may not wake too soon!" + +The voices became clearer and louder: + + But in my sleep to you I fly, + I'm always with you in my sleep. + +Yet the Abbe did not stir. + +"How he sleeps," said Susie, "it is a crime to wake him." + +"But we must; louder, Susie, louder." + +Susie and Bettina both gave free scope to the power of their voices. + + Sleep stays not, though a monarch bids, + So I love to wake ere break of day. + +The Cure woke with a start. After a short moment of anxiety he breathed +again. Evidently no one had noticed that he had been asleep. He +collected himself, stretched himself prudently, slowly, he was saved! + +A quarter of an hour later the two sisters accompanied the Cure and Jean +to the little gate of the park, which opened into the village a few yards +from the vicarage; they had nearly reached the gate when Bettina said all +at once to Jean: + +"Ah! all this time I have had a question to ask you. This morning when +we arrived, we met on the way a slight young man, with a fair mustache, +he was riding a black horse, and bowed to us as we passed." + +"It was Paul de Lavardens, one of my friends; he has already had the +honor of being introduced to you, but rather vaguely, and his ambition is +to be presented again." + +"Well, you shall bring him one of these days," said Mrs. Scott. + +"After the 25th!" cried Bettina. "Not before! not before! No one till +then; till then we will see no one but you, Monsieur Jean. But you, it +is very extraordinary, and I don't quite know how it has happened, you +don't seem anybody to us. The compliment is perhaps not very well +turned, but do not make a mistake, it is a compliment. I intended to be +excessively amiable in speaking to you thus." + +"And so you are, Miss Percival." + +"So much the better if I have been so fortunate as to make myself +understood. Good-by, Monsieur Jean--till tomorrow!" + +Mrs. Scott and Miss Percival returned slowly toward the castle. + +"And now, Susie," said Bettina, "scold me well, I expect it, I have +deserved it." + +"Scold you! Why?" + +"You are going to say, I am sure, that I have been too familiar with that +young man." + +"No, I shall not say that. From the first day that young man has made +the most favorable impression upon me; he inspires me with perfect +confidence." + +"And so he does me." + +"I am persuaded that it would be well for us both to try to make a friend +of him." + +"With all my heart, as far as I am concerned, so much the more as I have +seen many young men since we have lived in France. Oh! yes, I have, +indeed! Well! this is the first, positively the first, in whose eyes I +have not clearly read, 'Oh, how glad I should be to marry the millions of +that little person!' That was written in the eyes of all the others, but +not in his eyes. Now, here we are at home again. Good-night, Susie-- +to-morrow." + +Mrs. Scott went to see and kiss her sleeping children. + +Bettina remained long, leaning on the balustrade of her balcony. + +"It seems to me," said she, "that I am going to be very fond of this +place." + + + + +ETEXT EDITOR'S BOOKMARKS: + +Believing themselves irresistible +Frenchman has only one real luxury--his revolutions +Great difference between dearly and very much +Had not told all--one never does tell all +In order to make money, the first thing is to have no need of it +To learn to obey is the only way of learning to command + + + + +End of this Project Gutenberg Etext of The Abbe Constantin, v2 +by Ludovic Halevy + diff --git a/3955.zip b/3955.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..701e71a --- /dev/null +++ b/3955.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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