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You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online -at <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you -are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the -country where you are located before using this eBook. -</div> - -<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Title: The Naiad</p> -<p style='display:block; margin-left:2em; text-indent:0; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:1em;'>A ghost story</p> -<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: George Sand</p> -<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Translator: Katherine Berry di Zéréga</p> -<p style='display:block; text-indent:0; margin:1em 0'>Release Date: November 7, 2022 [eBook #69312]</p> - <p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em; text-align:left'>Produced by: Richard Tonsing, Carlos Colon, the University of Minnesota and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This book was produced from images made available by the HathiTrust Digital Library.)</p> -<div style='margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE NAIAD ***</div> - -<div class='tnotes covernote'> - -<p class='c000'><strong>Transcriber’s Note:</strong></p> - -<p class='c000'>The cover image was created by the transcriber and is placed in the public domain.</p> - -</div> - -<div class='figcenter id001'> -<img src='images/front.jpg' alt='' class='ig001'> -</div> - -<div class='titlepage'> - -<div> - <h1 class='c001'>THE NAIAD<br> <span class='xlarge'>A GHOST STORY</span></h1> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c002'> - <div><span class='large'><em>FROM THE FRENCH OF</em></span></div> - <div class='c003'><span class='large'><span class='sc'>George Sand</span></span></div> - <div class='c002'><span class='small'>BY</span></div> - <div class='c003'><span class='large'>KATHERINE BERRY <span class='fss'>DI</span> ZÉRÉGA</span></div> - <div class='c002'>PRESS OF</div> - <div><span class='large'>WILLIAM R. JENKINS</span></div> - <div><span class='sc'>851 & 853 Sixth Avenue</span></div> - <div><span class='sc'>New York</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c004'> - <div><span class='small'><span class='sc'>Copyright, 1892,</span></span></div> - <div><span class='small'><span class='sc'>by</span></span></div> - <div><span class='small'><span class='sc'>Katherine Berry di Zéréga.</span></span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c004'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'><span class='sc'>To the late</span></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><span class='fixed'>Lady Frankland</span></div> - <div class='c003'>THIS BOOK IS LOVINGLY INSCRIBED</div> - <div class='c003'>BY HER</div> - <div class='c003'>MOTHER</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='chapter'> - <h2 class='c005'><em>PREFACE.</em></h2> -</div> - -<p class='drop-capa0_0_6 c006'><em>When years ago the author of this volume read, -with delight, the story in the original, she then -decided to translate it, in order that others (unfamiliar -with the language) might enjoy a similar pleasure; -the work of publication, hardly begun, was interrupted -by the illness and sudden death of her only daughter, -and to one who in so many ways resembled the heroine -of this sketch, this book is now dedicated.</em></p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <h2 class='c005'><span class='sc'>Contents.</span></h2> -</div> - -<table class='table0'> - <tr><td class='c007' colspan='2'>CHAPTER I.</td></tr> - <tr> - <th class='c008'></th> - <th class='c009'><span class='small'>PAGE</span></th> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c008'><span class='sc'>The Three Loaves</span>,</td> - <td class='c009'><a href='#Page_3'>3</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c008'> </td> - <td class='c009'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c008'> </td> - <td class='c009'> </td> - </tr> - <tr><td class='c007' colspan='2'>CHAPTER II.</td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c008'> </td> - <td class='c009'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c008'><span class='sc'>The Apparition</span>,</td> - <td class='c009'><a href='#Page_19'>19</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c008'> </td> - <td class='c009'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c008'> </td> - <td class='c009'> </td> - </tr> - <tr><td class='c007' colspan='2'>CHAPTER III.</td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c008'> </td> - <td class='c009'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c008'><span class='sc'>The Law Suit</span>,</td> - <td class='c009'><a href='#Page_35'>35</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c008'> </td> - <td class='c009'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c008'> </td> - <td class='c009'> </td> - </tr> - <tr><td class='c007' colspan='2'>CHAPTER IV.</td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c008'> </td> - <td class='c009'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c008'><span class='sc'>The Naiad</span>,</td> - <td class='c009'><a href='#Page_52'>52</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c008'> </td> - <td class='c009'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c008'> </td> - <td class='c009'> </td> - </tr> - <tr><td class='c007' colspan='2'>CHAPTER V.</td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c008'> </td> - <td class='c009'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c008'><span class='sc'>The Duel</span>,</td> - <td class='c009'><a href='#Page_83'>83</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c008'> </td> - <td class='c009'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c008'> </td> - <td class='c009'> </td> - </tr> - <tr><td class='c007' colspan='2'>CHAPTER VI.</td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c008'> </td> - <td class='c009'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c008'><span class='sc'>Conclusion</span>,</td> - <td class='c009'><a href='#Page_99'>99</a></td> - </tr> -</table> - -<div class='chapter ph1'> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c004'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Naiad.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -</div> - -<div> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_3'>3</span> - <h2 class='c005'>CHAPTER I.<br> <span class='large'><span class='sc'>The Three Loaves.</span></span></h2> -</div> - -<p class='drop-capa0_0_6 c006'>Charged by my father with a very delicate -mission, I repaired, towards the end of May, -1788, to the château of Ionis, situated a dozen -leagues distant, in the lands lying between Angers and -Saumur. I was twenty-two, and already practising the -profession of lawyer, for which I experienced but slight -inclination, although neither the study of business nor -of argument had presented serious difficulties to me. -Taking my youth into consideration, I was not -esteemed without talent, and the standing of my father, -a lawyer renowned in the locality, assured me a brilliant -patronage in the future, in return for any paltry efforts -I might make to be worthy of replacing him. But I -would have preferred literature, a more dreamy life, a -more independent and more individual use of my faculties, -a responsibility less submissive to the passions and -interests of others. As my family was well off, and I -an only son, greatly spoiled and petted, I might have -chosen my own career, but I would have thus afflicted -my father, who took pride in his ability to direct me -<span class='pageno' id='Page_4'>4</span>in the road which he had cleared in advance, and -I loved him too tenderly to permit my instinct to -outweigh his wishes.</p> - -<p class='c010'>It was a delightful evening in which I was finishing -my ride on horseback through the woods that surrounded -the ancient and magnificent castle of Ionis. -I was well mounted, dressed <i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">en cavalier</span></i>, with a species -of elegance, and accompanied by a servant of whom I -had not the slightest need, but whom my mother had -conceived the innocent idea of giving me for the occasion, -desiring that her son should present a proper -appearance at the house of one of the most brilliant -personages of our patronage.</p> - -<p class='c010'>The night was illuminated by the soft fire of its -largest stars. A slight mist veiled the scintillations of -those myriads of satellites that gleam like brilliant -eyes on clear, cold evenings. This was a true summer -sky, pure enough to be luminous and transparent, still -sufficiently softened not to overwhelm one by its immeasurable -wealth. It was, if I may so speak, one of -those soft firmaments that permit one to think of earth, -to admire the vaporous lines of narrow horizons, to -breathe without disdain its atmosphere of flowers and -herbage—in fine, to consider oneself as something in -this immensity, and to forget that one is but an atom -in the infinite.</p> - -<p class='c010'>In proportion as I approached the seigneurial park -the wild perfumes of the forest were mingled with those -of the lilacs and acacias, whose blooming heads leaned -over the wall. Soon through the shrubbery I saw -the windows of the manor gleaming behind their -curtains of purple moire, divided by the dark crossbars -of the frame work. It was a magnificent castle -<span class='pageno' id='Page_5'>5</span>of the renaissance, a <i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">chef-d’œuvre</span></i> of taste mingled with -caprice, one of those dwellings where one is impressed -by something indescribably ingenious and bold, which -from the imagination of the architect seems to pass -into one’s own, and take possession of it, raising it -above the usages and preoccupations of a positive -world.</p> - -<p class='c010'>I confess that my heart beat fast in giving my name -to the lackey commissioned to announce me. I had -never seen Madame d’Ionis; she passed for one of the -prettiest women in the country, was twenty-two, and -had a husband who was neither handsome nor amiable, -and who neglected her in order to travel. Her writing -was charming, and she found means to show not only -a great deal of sense, but still more cleverness in her -business letters. Altogether she was a very fine -character. This was all that I knew of her, and it was -sufficient for me to dread appearing awkward or provincial. -I grew pale on entering the salon. My first -impression then was one of relief and pleasure, when I -found myself in the presence of two stout and very -ugly old women, one of whom, Madame the Dowager -d’Ionis informed me that her daughter-in-law was at -the house of her friends in the neighborhood, and -probably would not return before the next day.</p> - -<p class='c010'>“You are welcome, all the same,” added this matron. -“We have a very friendly and grateful feeling for your -father, and it appears that we stand in great need of -his counsel, which you are without doubt charged to -communicate to us.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“I came from him,” I replied, “to talk over the -affair with Madame d’Ionis.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“The Countess d’Ionis does in fact occupy herself -<span class='pageno' id='Page_6'>6</span>with business affairs,” replied the dowager, rather -coldly, as if to warn me that I had committed a -blunder. “She understands it, she has a good head, -and in the absence of my son, who is at Vienna, she is -conducting this wearisome and interminable law suit. -You must not depend upon me to replace her, for I -understand nothing about it, and all that I can do is to -retain you until the countess’ return, and offer you a -supper, such as it may be, and a good bed.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>Hereupon the old lady, who in spite of the little -lesson she had given me, appeared a good enough -woman, rang and gave orders for making me at home. -I refused to eat anything, having taken care to do so -on the road, and knowing that nothing is more annoying -than to eat alone, and under the eyes of people -with whom one happens to be totally unacquainted.</p> - -<p class='c010'>As my father had allowed me several days in which -to execute my commission, I had nothing better to do, -than to wait the return of my beautiful client; and I -was, in the eyes of herself and family, a messenger of -sufficient importance to be entitled to a very cordial -hospitality. I did not then await a second invitation -to remain in her house, although there was a very -comfortable inn where persons of my condition went -ordinarily to await the moment of consultation with -“people of quality.” Such was still the language of -the provinces at this epoch, and it was necessary to -appreciate these terms and their value, in order to -maintain one’s position without degradation and -without impertinence in one’s relations with the world. -A <i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">bourgeois</span></i>, and a philosopher (they did not yet say -Democrat), I was not in the least convinced of the moral -superiority of the nobility, and although they prided -<span class='pageno' id='Page_7'>7</span>themselves upon being philosophical, I knew it was -necessary to humor their susceptibilities of etiquette -and respect them, in order to be respected oneself. I -displayed then a slight timidity with an air of sufficiently -good style, having already seen at my father’s -house some specimens of all classes of society. The -dowager appeared to perceive this, before the lapse of -many minutes and no longer assumed an air of condescension -in order to welcome, if not as an equal, at least -as a friend the son of the family lawyer.</p> - -<p class='c010'>While she was conversing with me, as a woman with -whom custom supplies the place of wit, I had the -leisure to examine both her countenance and that of -the other matron still stouter than she who, seated at -some distance and filling in the background of a piece -of tapestry, never opened her lips and scarcely raised -her eyes in my direction. She was dressed somewhat -in the style of the dowager, in a dark silk gown with -tight sleeves, and a black lace scarf, surmounting a -white cap, tied under her chin. But it was not so fresh -or clean, her hands were less white, although equally -plump, her type coarser, although coarseness was very -evident in the heavy features of the stout dowager of -Ionis. In short I was no longer in doubt as to her -condition of companion, when the dowager remarked -apropos of my refusal to sup.</p> - -<p class='c010'>“No matter, Zéphyrine, we must not forget that -M. Nivières is young, and that he may be hungry yet -before going to sleep. Order a light supper to be -served in his apartment.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>The monumental Zéphyrine arose; she was as tall -as she was stout. “And above all,” observed her -mistress, “do not let them forget the bread.”</p> - -<p class='c010'><span class='pageno' id='Page_8'>8</span>“The bread,” said Zéphyrine, in a fine, husky little -voice that offered a pleasing contrast to her stature. -Then she repeated, “The bread!” with an intonation -strongly marked by doubt and surprise.</p> - -<p class='c010'>“The loaves,” replied the dowager with authority.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Zéphyrine seemed to hesitate an instant and went -out, but her mistress recalled her immediately, and -gave her this strange order—“Three loaves!”</p> - -<p class='c010'>Zéphyrine opened her mouth to answer, shrugged -her shoulders slightly and disappeared.</p> - -<p class='c010'>“Three loaves!” I exclaimed in my turn. “But -what kind of an appetite do you suppose I have, -Madame la Comtesse?”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“Oh, that is nothing,” said she, “They are quite -small.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>She was silent for a moment, I sought for some subject -of conversation while awaiting the time when I -might retire, when she appeared a prey to a certain -perplexity, placed her hand on a bell, and stopped to -say as if speaking to herself—“Still three loaves!”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“It is a great deal in fact,” answered I, repressing a -strong temptation to laugh. She looked at me in -amazement, unconscious that she had spoken aloud.</p> - -<p class='c010'>“You speak of the law suit,” said she, as if to make -me forget her distraction, “it is a great deal that they -claim. Do you think we will gain it?”</p> - -<p class='c010'>But she paid very little attention to my evasive -answers, and rang emphatically. A servant came, she -asked for Zéphyrine, who reappeared and in whose ear -she whispered, after which she seemed relieved, and -began to chat with me like a good-natured gossip, very -ignorant, but benevolent and almost maternal, questioning -me upon my tastes, my dispositions, my occupations -<span class='pageno' id='Page_9'>9</span>and my pleasures. I made myself more of a -child than I was in order to put her at her ease, for I -soon remarked that she was one of those women of the -great world who contrive to get along with the most -mediocre intelligence, and who would prefer not to -encounter a greater degree in others. On the whole -she showed so much good nature that I was not greatly -bored with her during the space of an hour, and that I -did not await her permission to leave her with too -much impatience.</p> - -<p class='c010'>A groom of the chambers conducted me to my apartment, -for it was almost a complete suite, three decidedly -handsome rooms, quite large and furnished in the -Louis XV style, with a great deal of luxury. My own -servant to whom my good mother had given his lesson, -was in my bedroom, awaiting the honor of undressing -me, in order to appear as well posted in his duties as -the valets of great houses.</p> - -<p class='c010'>“This is all very well, my dear Baptiste,” said I to -him, when we were alone, “but thou canst go to sleep, -I shall undress myself as I have been in the habit of -doing all my life.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>Baptiste bade me good-night, and left me. It was -only ten o’clock. I had no desire to sleep so soon, so I -set myself to examine the furniture and pictures in my -room, when my eyes fell upon the repast which had -been served near the fire-place, and the three loaves -appeared before me in all their mysterious symmetry. -They were passably large and arranged in the centre -of the Japanese waiter in a pretty basket of old -Saxony, with a handsome silver salt-cellar in the -midst, and three damask napkins placed at intervals -around it.</p> - -<p class='c010'><span class='pageno' id='Page_10'>10</span>“What the deuce does this mean?” I asked myself, -“and why has this vulgar accessory of my supper, the -bread, tormented my aged hostess to such an extent?” -“Why were three loaves so expressly ordered? Why -not four! Why not ten? Since they take me for an -ogre! Upon my word! This is really a bounteous -feast, and here are some bottles of wine whose etiquettes -promise well. But why three carafes of -water? Here again it becomes mysterious and absurd. -Does this good old countess imagine that I am triple, -or that I carry two guests in my valise?” I was -musing upon this enigma when some one knocked at -the door of the ante-chamber.</p> - -<p class='c010'>“Come in,” cried I, without moving, thinking that -Baptiste had forgotten something. What was my surprise -to behold the powerful Zéphyrine in her night -cap, holding a candle in one hand and, with a finger -placed upon her lips, advancing towards me on tip-toe -as if she entertained the absurd idea of not letting the -floor creak under her elephantine tread. I certainly -grew paler than I had done in preparing to meet the -youthful Madame d’Ionis. The spectacle of this voluminous -apparition was truly appalling!</p> - -<p class='c010'>“Fear nothing, sir,” said the good old maid ingeniously, -as if she had divined my terror. “I come to -explain about the extraordinary—the three carafes, and -the three loaves.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“Ah! willingly,” answered I, offering her an armchair, -“I was really considerably perplexed.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“As housekeeper,” said Zéphyrine, refusing to be -seated and still holding her candle, “I should be very -much mortified if monsieur imagined that I wished to -perpetrate a poor joke. I would not permit myself—and -<span class='pageno' id='Page_11'>11</span>still I come to ask monsieur to connive at it, so that -my mistress may not be displeased.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“Go on, Mademoiselle Zéphyrine, I am not of a -disposition to be vexed at a joke, above all, when it is -an amusing one.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“Oh! <i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">mon Dieu</span></i>, no, sir, there is nothing amusing -about it, but neither is there anything disagreeable. -It is only this, madame the dowager countess is very—her -head is very—.” Zéphyrine stopped short; she -either loved or feared the dowager and could not make -up her mind to criticise her. Her embarrassment was -comical, for it showed itself in a childish smile curling -around the corners of a decidedly small and toothless -mouth which caused her round, chubby face, minus -forehead and chin, to appear still larger. You might -have mistaken it for the full moon grimacing as it is -represented on almanacs. Her breathless little voice, -and her peculiar lisp had the effect of causing her to -appear so extraordinary that I did not dare to look -her in the face for fear of losing my countenance.</p> - -<p class='c010'>“Let me see,” said I, endeavoring to encourage -her in her revelations, “madame the dowager countess -is something of a tease; she likes to amuse herself -at the expense of others!”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“No, sir, no indeed. She does it in perfect good -faith; she believes, she imagines”—I sought in vain -for what the countess might imagine, when Zéphyrine -added with an effort—“In fact, sir, my poor mistress -believes in spirits!”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“Well, granted,” I replied. “She is not the only -person of her sex and age who entertains the same -belief; and, it certainly does harm to no one.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“But it sometimes causes evil to those who fear -<span class='pageno' id='Page_12'>12</span>them, and if monsieur should be afraid of anything in -this apartment, I can assure him that nothing ever -reappears here.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“So much the worse, I would have been very -pleased to see something supernatural. Ghosts are part -of all old manors and this one is so handsome that I -would only have imagined very agreeable phantoms.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“Really, monsieur has then heard something spoken -of?”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“In regard to this castle and this apartment, never. -I am waiting for you to tell me about it.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“Well, monsieur, this is the story: In the year—I -can’t remember—but it was in the reign of Henri II, -monsieur must know better than I when that was, -there lived here three young ladies of the d’Ionis -family, beautiful as the day, and so amiable that they -were adored by everybody. A wicked court lady who -was jealous of them, and of the youngest in particular, -caused some poison to be placed in the water of a -fountain from which they drank and which was used -in making their bread. All three died the same night, -and as they pretend to say, in the room where we now -are. But this is not by any means certain and no one -ever imagined such a thing until lately. To be sure -they were in the habit of telling a story in the country -of three white ladies who had shown themselves for a -long time in the castle and in the gardens; but it was -so old that no one thought of it any more, and no one -believed it, when one of the friends of the family, -M. l’abbé de Lamyre, who is an <i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">esprit gai</span></i> and a good -talker, having slept in this room, dreamed or pretended -to have dreamed of three green ladies who had appeared -and prophesied before him. And as he saw that his -<span class='pageno' id='Page_13'>13</span>dream interested madame the dowager, and diverted -the young countess, her daughter-in-law, he invented -whatever he pleased and made his ghosts talk according -to his fancy so well, that madame the dowager is -persuaded that the future of the family and that of the -law suit, which is tormenting M. le comte, might be -revealed by causing these phantoms to reappear and -speak. But, as all the persons who have lodged here -have seen nothing at all, and have simply laughed at -her, she has resolved to put only those here who not -having been forewarned would not think of inventing -apparitions or of concealing those that they might have -seen. This is why she has ordered you to be put in -this room without saying anything to you, but as -madame is not very—clever, perhaps, she has not been -able to keep herself from speaking to me of the three -loaves in your presence.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“To be sure, the three loaves and the three carafes -have given me some subject of thought. Nevertheless, -I confess that absolutely I can discover no connection -whatever.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“Oh, yes, monsieur, the three ladies of the time of -Henri II were poisoned by bread and water.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“There I see the connection very plainly, but I do -not understand how this offering, if it is one, should -be agreeable to them. What do you think of it yourself?”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“I think wherever their souls may be they neither -know nor care anything about it,” said Zéphyrine with -an air of superior modesty. “But you ought to learn -how these ideas were suggested to my good old mistress. -I bring you the manuscript that Madame d’Ionis, -her daughter-in-law, Madame Caroline as we call her -<span class='pageno' id='Page_14'>14</span>here, has herself unearthed by means of directions -given in some old scribblings found in the archives of -the family. This perusal will interest you more than -my conversation, and I am going to wish you good -evening after having preferred a little petition, however.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“With all my heart, my dear young lady, what can -I do for you?”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“Do not tell any one in the world, unless Madame -Caroline, who will not mind, that I have forewarned -you, for madame the dowager would scold me, and -would trust me no longer.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“I promise, and what must I say to-morrow if I am -questioned in regard to my dreams?”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“Ah! that, monsieur, is a case in which you must -have the kindness to invent something, a dream without -sense or connection, whatever you please, provided it -includes the three young ladies, otherwise madame the -dowager will be like a soul in torment, and will accuse -me of not putting the loaves, and carafes and salt-cellar -in their places, or rather that I have warned you, and -that your incredulity has prevented the ghosts from -making their appearance. She is convinced of these -ladies’ bad temper and of their refusal to show themselves -to those who ridicule them beforehand, were it -only in their thoughts.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>Left alone, after having promised Zéphyrine to lend -myself to the fancy of her mistress, I opened and read -the manuscript of which I shall only relate the circumstances -relative to my story. That of the d’Ionis, -young ladies appeared to me purely legendary, recounted -by Madame d’Ionis on the faith of documents -of slender authenticity, which she herself criticised in -<span class='pageno' id='Page_15'>15</span>that light and mocking strain which was the fashion of -the day. I pass over then in silence the chronicle of -the three dead ladies, thus coldly commented upon, and -which had appeared more interesting to me in the -sober words of Zéphyrine and will only relate the -following fragment, transcribed by madame d’Ionis -from a manuscript dated 1650, and revised by an -ancient chaplain of the castle.</p> - -<p class='c010'>“It is a fact that I have heard in my youth that the -castle of Ionis was haunted by three spirits, exhibiting -the appearance of ladies richly dressed, who without -menacing any one appeared to be seeking something in -the rooms and closets of the house. Masses and prayers -recited for their benefit proving ineffectual to -prevent their return, some one conceived the idea of -causing three white loaves to be blessed, and of putting -them in the room where the demoiselles d’Ionis had -expired. That night they came without making any -noise or frightening any one by their appearance, and -it was discovered on the following day that they had -nibbled the loaves after the manner of mice but had -taken nothing away, and on the following night they -had recommenced complaining and making the doors -creak and bolts groan. For this reason some one conceived -the idea of giving them three pitchers of clear -water, which they did not drink, but a portion of which -they spilled. At length the prior of Saint —— suggested -that they might be entirely appeased by offering -them a salt-cellar with white salt, on account of their -having been poisoned by a loaf without salt, and as -soon as this was done they were heard singing a very -beautiful song in which we are assured that they promised, -in Latin, to bestow blessings and good fortune -<span class='pageno' id='Page_16'>16</span>upon the younger branch of the Ionis family to whom -their property had reverted. This took place, I am told, -in the time of King Henri IV, and since then nothing -further has been heard of them; but for a long time a -belief existed in the d’Ionis family, that by making -them this offering at midnight they could be drawn -thither and the future revealed through them. It is -even said that if the three loaves, three carafes and a -salt-cellar should by chance be discovered on a table in -the aforesaid castle, astounding things would be seen -and heard in this place.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>To this fragment Madame d’Ionis had added the -following reflection: “It is much to be regretted for -the sake of the d’Ionis family that this fine miracle -should have ceased; all its members would then -have been virtuous and wise: but, though I have in -my hands a formula of invocation arranged by some -astrologer formerly attached to the house, I have no -hopes that the green ladies will ever reappear here.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>I remained for some time absorbed, not from the -effects of this perusal, but rather on account of Madame -d’Ionis’ pretty handwriting and her elegant revision -of the other reflections that accompanied the legend. -I did not then make, as I permit myself to-day, any -criticism on the easy scepticism of this beautiful lady. -I fully sympathized with her on this point. It was -the fashion to regard fantastical things not from an -artistic but from an ironical point of view. People -prided themselves upon not crediting nurses’ tales or -the superstitions of former ages. I was, besides, strongly -disposed to fall in love. They had spoken to me so -much at home of this amiable person, and my mother -had recommended me so strongly on my departure, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_17'>17</span>not to allow my head to be turned that it was already -partially accomplished. So far I had only been in -love with two or three of my cousins, and these affections, -rehearsed in verses as chaste as my flame, had -not consumed my heart to such an extent that it was -not ready to lend itself to burning much more -seriously.</p> - -<p class='c010'>I had brought with me a bundle of law papers that -my father had made me promise to look over. I opened -it conscientiously; but after having read several pages -with my eyes, without taking in the sense of a -single word, I soon found out that mode of study was -perfectly useless and wisely determined to renounce it. -I thought I could make up for my laziness by seriously -thinking over the d’Ionis law suit, that I had at the -end of my fingers, and I prepared the arguments with -which I was to convince the countess of the steps she -ought to take. Only, each of these wonderful arguments -terminated, I know not how, with some amorous -madrigal which had no direct connection with the -procedure.</p> - -<p class='c010'>In the midst of this important work I was seized -with hunger. The muse is not so hard upon children -of a family accustomed to live well as to forbid them -to sup with a good appetite. I therefore set myself to -do justice to the <i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">pâté</span></i> which smilingly greeted me among -my law papers and my alexandrines, and I unfolded -the napkin placed at my plate where, to my great surprise, -I found a fourth roll.</p> - -<p class='c010'>This surprise yielded quickly to a very simple train -of reasoning. If in the plans and previsions of the -dowager, the three cabalistic loaves were to remain -intact, it was but natural that one should have been -<span class='pageno' id='Page_18'>18</span>consecrated to the demands of my appetite. I tasted -the wines and found them of so good a quality that I -generously made a sacrifice to the phantoms of the -carafes of water, designed for their particular use.</p> - -<p class='c010'>And while eating with great pleasure, I, at length, -began to think of the chronicle and to ask myself how -I should recount the wonders that I could not dispense -with having seen. I regretted that Zéphyrine had not -furnished me with more details of the three dead -women’s presumed peculiarities. The extract from the -magazine of 1650 was not sufficiently explicit: were -these ladies to wait until I was asleep before coming, -like mice, to nibble the loaves they were supposed to -relish so greatly? Or rather, were they likely to appear -at any moment, and seat themselves, one at my left, -the other at my right, and the third opposite me?</p> - -<p class='c010'>The bell of the castle announced midnight, it was -the classic hour, the fatal hour!</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_19'>19</span> - <h2 class='c005'>CHAPTER II.<br> <span class='large'><span class='sc'>The Apparition.</span></span></h2> -</div> - -<p class='drop-capa0_0_6 c006'>The clock struck twelve, but the last vibration -died away without any ghost appearing. I arose, -thinking I was rid of them. I had finished eating and, -after a dozen leagues on horseback, began to feel the -need of sleep, when the bell of the castle which had a -very fine <i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">timbre</span></i> solemn and resounding, began again -to toll the four quarters and twelve hours with an -imposing slowness.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Shall I confess that I felt some emotion at this sort of -return of the fantastical hour that I thought had gone -by? Why not? So far I had maintained a philosophical -composure. Although a fervent disciple of reason, -I was none the less a very young man, and a man of -imagination, brought up at the knees of a mother, who -firmly believed in all the legends which served as -lullabies, and which had never appeared in the least -laughable to me. I was conscious of experiencing an -imperceptible uneasiness, and in order to overcome it—for -I felt quite ashamed of it—I hastened to undress -myself.</p> - -<p class='c010'>The bell had ceased tolling. I was in bed and about -to extinguish my candle, when a clock some distance -from the village began in its turn to strike four quarters -<span class='pageno' id='Page_20'>20</span>and twelve hours, but in a tone so lugubrious and with -such dreadful nonchalance, that I was seriously discomposed—and -still more so, as it had like the castle -clock a double stroke, and appeared as if it would -never cease.</p> - -<p class='c010'>In fact, for several minutes it seemed as if I would -hear it recommence and that it would strike thirty-seven -times; but this was a pure illusion, as I assured -myself by opening my window. The most profound -silence reigned in the castle and throughout the country. -The sky was quite overcast, the stars were no -longer visible; the air was heavy; and I could see -clouds of moths dancing in the ray of light that my -candle cast outside. Their uneasiness was a sign of -storm. As I have always enjoyed a tempest greatly, -I pleased myself with inhaling its approach. Sudden -gusts wafted the perfume of the garden towards me. -The nightingale sang once more, then ceased, in order -to seek a shelter. I forgot my foolish emotion while -enjoying this spectacle of reality.</p> - -<p class='c010'>My room opened on the court of honor, which was -immense and surrounded by magnificent buildings, -whose delicate proportions were defined in pale blue -against the dark sky, by the light of the first flashes.</p> - -<p class='c010'>But the wind arose and drove me from the casement -from which it seemed desirous of tearing away the -curtains. I closed everything and before again retiring, -as I wished to brave the ghosts and satisfy Zéphyrine -by accomplishing conscientiously what I presumed to -be the rites of invocation, I brushed the table and -removed the remains of my repast. I placed the three -carafes around the basket. I had not disturbed the -salt; and wishing to establish a complete victory over -<span class='pageno' id='Page_21'>21</span>myself, by provoking my imagination to its extreme -limit, I arranged three chairs around the table and -placed three candlesticks upon it, one before each easy -chair.</p> - -<p class='c010'>After this, I extinguished all the lights and fell -asleep quietly, without failing to compare myself to -sire Enguerrand, whose story my mother had often -sung to me in the form of a plaintive melody, recounting -thus his adventures in the terrible castle of -Ardennes.</p> - -<p class='c010'>You can very well believe that my first sleep must -have been profound, for I remember nothing more of -the storm, and it was not that which awoke me; it was -a clinking of glasses on the table, that I at first heard -intermingled with my dreams—and that I ended by -hearing in reality. I opened my eyes, and—believe me -who will, but I was witness of such surprising things, -that after twenty years the slightest detail is as clear in -my memory as on the first day.</p> - -<p class='c010'>There was some light in the room although I could -see no candle burning. It was a species of very vague -green flame, which seemed to proceed from the fire-place. -By the means of this faint illumination I could -see, not very distinctly, but beyond any doubt, three -persons, or rather three forms seated on the chairs that -I had placed around the table, one at the right, the -other at the left, the third between the two first, opposite -the first-place, with its back to my bed.</p> - -<p class='c010'>In proportion as my eyes became accustomed to this -light, I thought I could distinguish in these three -shadows the forms of women, dressed or rather enveloped -in voluminous greenish white veils, which at -times resembled clouds, and which entirely concealed -<span class='pageno' id='Page_22'>22</span>their faces, forms and hands. I do not know if they -moved; but, if so, I could see none of their motions: -and still the clinking of the glasses continued, as if -they had been pushed and knocked against the basket, -in a sort of musical measure. After the lapse of several -moments, I confess I grew seriously alarmed. I -thought I was the dupe of some mystery, and was -about to leap resolutely into the middle of the room -in order to frighten those who wished to terrify me -when, remembering that in this house there could be -none but respectable women, perhaps great ladies, who -were doing me the honor of amusing themselves at -my expense, I suddenly drew my curtain and hurriedly -dressed myself.</p> - -<p class='c010'>When this was accomplished, I pulled back the -curtain to watch for the time when I should surprise -these malicious people by a loud outcry in my harshest -voice when, behold! everything had disappeared, and -darkness reigned supreme.</p> - -<p class='c010'>At this period, the means of procuring light instantaneously -had not been discovered; I did not even -possess that of obtaining it slowly by aid of my gunflint. -I was thus compelled to feel my way towards -the table, where I found absolutely nothing but the -easy chairs, the carafes, the candlesticks and the rolls, -in the same order I had placed them.</p> - -<p class='c010'>No perceptible voice had betrayed the departure of -the strange visitors; it is true that the wind was still -blowing very hard and howled mournfully down the -large chimney of my room.</p> - -<p class='c010'>I opened the window and blinds, and after quite a -struggle succeeded in fastening them.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Day had not yet dawned, and the slight transparency -<span class='pageno' id='Page_23'>23</span>of the exterior air was not sufficient to permit -me seeing every part of my room, so I was compelled -to go by the sense of feeling, not wishing to -call any one, or ask questions, so much I feared to -appear alarmed. I passed into the <i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">salon</span></i> and the room -beyond, taking care to make no more noise in my -search; then I came back, seated myself upon my bed, -struck my watch, and thought over my adventure.</p> - -<p class='c010'>My watch had stopped, and the clocks out of doors -struck the half hour, as if to announce that no other -means existed of learning the time.</p> - -<p class='c010'>I listened to the wind and strove to examine its -sound or to detect any which might proceed from some -corner of my apartment. I tortured my eyes and my -ears. I racked my brain also to discover if I had not -dreamed what I thought I had seen. The thing was -possible, although I could remember no dream that -had preceded or led up to this nightmare.</p> - -<p class='c010'>I resolved to torment myself no longer, and to await -a return of sleep on my bed without undressing myself -in case of some new mystification.</p> - -<p class='c010'>But I could not go to sleep again. Nevertheless, I -felt tired and the wind soothed me inexpressibly. I -dropped off every few moments, and the next instant I -would reopen my eyes, and in spite of myself gaze -suspiciously into the darkness and emptiness around -me.</p> - -<p class='c010'>I was beginning at last to doze, when the clinking -recommenced, and, this time, opening my eyes wide, -without moving, I saw the three ghosts in their -places, motionless apparently with their green veils -floating in the verdant light that proceeded from the -fire-place. I feigned sleep, for it was probable that -<span class='pageno' id='Page_24'>24</span>my open eyes could not be seen in the shadow of the -alcove, and I observed attentively. I was no longer -frightened; I no longer experienced anything but a -curiosity to surprise a mystery either pleasant or disagreeable -(as the case might be), a phantasmagoria with -well appointed scenery, enacted by living people, or—I -confess that I could find no definition for the second -hypothesis; it could only be a foolish, and ridiculous -one, and still it tormented me as being possible.</p> - -<p class='c010'>I then saw the three shadows arise, and move rapidly -and noiselessly around the table with incomprehensible -gestures. They had seemed to me of medium height -when seated; standing, they were as tall as men. -Suddenly, one of them diminished in size, re-assumed -the figure of a woman, became quite small, then grew -disproportionately tall, and approached me, while the -two others remained standing under the shadow of the -fire-place.</p> - -<p class='c010'>This affected me very unpleasantly and with a -childish movement, I covered my face with my pillow, -as if to place an obstacle between myself and the -vision.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Then, ashamed of my stupidity, I looked around -attentively. The ghost was seated in an easy chair -placed at the foot of my bed. I could not see its face. -The head and bust were not invisible, but partially -obscured by the curtain of the alcove. The light from -the fire-place, grown brighter, revealed only the lower -portion of a figure and the folds of a garment whose -form and color though indeterminate, could no longer -be called into question.</p> - -<p class='c010'>It was fearfully immovable, as if nothing breathed -under this species of shroud. I waited several moments -<span class='pageno' id='Page_25'>25</span>that appeared an age to me. I felt that I was losing -the coolness with which I had armed myself. I moved -in my bed, I thought of flying I knew not where. -I resisted this idea. I passed my hands over my eyes, -then stretched them out resolutely to seize the spectre -by the folds of this perfectly visible garment; but they -encountered space. I threw myself upon the chair, it -was empty. Light and vision had alike disappeared. -I recommenced rushing through the room and the -adjoining apartments. As at first, I found them empty. -Quite sure this time that I had neither dreamed nor -slept, I stayed up until day-break which did not long -delay.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Of late years people have made quite a study of the -phenomena of hallucinations; they have been observed -and classified. Scientific men have experimented upon -themselves. I have even seen delicate and nervous -women often act as spiritual mediums not without -suffering, but without fear, and giving a thorough -account of this state of delusion in which they had been.</p> - -<p class='c010'>In my youth, they were not so far advanced, there -was no medium between the absolute denial of all -visions and a blind belief in apparitions. They laughed -at those who were tormented by these visions that were -attributed to credulity and fear, and only excused -in cases of serious illness.</p> - -<p class='c010'>So during this terrible watch, I reprimanded myself -severely and unjustly for my weakness of mind, -without ever once thinking of attributing it all to the -effect of a bad digestion or atmospherical influence. -Such an idea would have been entertained with difficulty -as with the exception of a little fatigue and bad -humor I did not feel in the least ill.</p> - -<p class='c010'><span class='pageno' id='Page_26'>26</span>Thoroughly resolved to boast of my adventure to no -one, I retired and slept very well until Baptiste knocked -at my door to inform me that breakfast would soon be -ready. I admitted him after having thoroughly convinced -myself that my door had remained bolted, as I -had previously assured myself before going to sleep; -I had observed, and I again noticed that the other door -of my apartment was in a like condition. I counted -the large screws which secured the tiles of the fire-place. -I sought in vain for the slightest indication of -a secret door.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Besides, of what use would it be, said I to myself, -whilst Baptiste was powdering my hair; have I not -seen an object without substance, a robe, or a shroud -which vanished beneath my touch?</p> - -<p class='c010'>Without this conclusive circumstance, I might have -attributed it all to a joke of Madame d’Ionis, as -I learned from Baptiste that she had returned the -evening before towards midnight.</p> - -<p class='c010'>This news snatched me from my preoccupation. -I bestowed particular pains upon my <i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">coiffure</span></i> and my -toilet, and was a little vexed that the nature of my -profession condemned me to wear black; but my -mother had supplied me with such fine linen and such -well cut coats that I considered myself on the whole, -very presentable. I was neither ill-looking or badly -formed. I resembled my mother, who had been very -beautiful, and without being foppish, I was accustomed -to remark the general approval that a pleasing countenance -produces.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Madame d’Ionis was in the <i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">salon</span></i> when I entered. -I beheld a bewitching woman indeed; but much too -small to have figured in my trio of spectres. Neither -<span class='pageno' id='Page_27'>27</span>was there anything fantastical or diaphanous about -her. Hers was a realistic beauty, fresh, gay, lively, -expressing gracefully, what was designed in the style -of the period, an amiable embonpoint, discussing every -subject clearly and sensibly, and revealing great energy -of character combined with singular sweetness of -manner.</p> - -<p class='c010'>After exchanging several words with her, I understood -how, thanks to so much intelligence and resolution, -candor and cleverness, she managed to live on -good terms with a pretty bad husband and a very -stupid mother-in-law.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Scarcely had we begun breakfast, when the dowager, -scrutinizing me closely, declared that I looked ill and -pale, although I had so far forgotten my adventure as -to eat with a good appetite, and to be pleasantly -affected by the amiable attention of my beautiful hostess.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Then recollecting Zéphyrine’s instructions, I hastened -to say that I had slept well and had had very -pleasant dreams.</p> - -<p class='c010'>“Ah! I was sure of it,” cried the old lady evidently -enchanted. “One always sleeps well in that room. -Tell us your dreams, Monsieur Nivières.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“They were very confused; still I think I can -remember a lady.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“Only one?”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“Perhaps two!”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“Perhaps three also?” said Madame d’Ionis, -smiling.</p> - -<p class='c010'>“Precisely, madame, you remind me that they -were three!”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“Pretty?” said the triumphant dowager.</p> - -<p class='c010'>“Rather pretty, but somewhat faded.”</p> - -<p class='c010'><span class='pageno' id='Page_28'>28</span>“Really?” said Madame d’Ionis, who seemed to -communicate through her eyes with Zéphyrine (who -was seated at the lower end of the table), in order to -answer me. “And what did they say to you?”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“Incomprehensible things. But if it interests -madame, the dowager Countess, I will do my utmost -to remember.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“Ah! my dear child,” said the dowager, “it interests -me more than I can say. I will explain by and by. -Begin by telling us.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“But it will be very difficult for me to tell. Can -any one recount a dream?”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“Perhaps if your memory were assisted,” said -Madame d’Ionis with great coolness, determined to -encourage her mother-in-law’s hobby; “did they say -nothing to you about the future prosperity of this -house?”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“It seems to me they did, in fact.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“Ah! you see, Zéphyrine,” cried the dowager; -“you who believe in nothing and I wager that they -spoke of the law suit: come, Monsieur Nivières, tell -us all about it.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>A glance from Madame d’Ionis warned me not to -answer. I declared that not a word of the law suit -had I heard in my dreams. The dowager seemed -greatly disappointed, but consoled herself by saying: -“It will come! It will come!”</p> - -<p class='c010'>This, “it will come,” was very disagreeable to me, -although it was said with the utmost benevolence. -I did not in the least care to pass another bad night, -but I readily resigned myself to my fate when Madame -d’Ionis said to me in an undertone, while the dowager -was quarreling with Zéphyrine about her lack of faith.</p> - -<p class='c010'><span class='pageno' id='Page_29'>29</span>“It is very amiable of you to lend yourself to this -fancy of the day in our house. I trust indeed that you -will have only pleasant dreams while with us; and -you are not absolutely compelled to see these three -young ladies every night. It is sufficient that you -should have spoken of them to-day to my excellent -mother-in-law without laughing. It gives her great -pleasure and does not compromise your courage. All -of our friends have decided to see them in order to -have some peace.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>I was sufficiently compensated and magnetized by -the air of confiding intimacy that this charming woman -assumed towards me to recover my ordinary gayety, -and I endeavored, during my meal to recall, little by -little, the wonderful things that had been revealed to -me. Above all I predicted through the green ladies, a -long life to the dowager.</p> - -<p class='c010'>“And my asthma, monsieur?” said she, “did they -tell you that I would be cured of my asthma?”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“Not exactly; but they spoke of long life, fortune -and health.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“Well, indeed; I ask nothing further of the good -God.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“Now, my child,” said she to her daughter-in-law, -“you who tell a story so well, relate to this good -young man the cause of his dreams, and tell him the -history of the three young ladies of Ionis.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>I assumed an air of surprise, Madame d’Ionis asked -permission to give me the manuscript, that she had -only prepared, she said, in order to dispense with -going over the same story so often.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Breakfast being over, the dowager went to take her -siesta.</p> - -<p class='c010'><span class='pageno' id='Page_30'>30</span>“It is too warm to go in the garden at noon,” said -Madame d’Ionis, “and still I do not wish you to work -at that horrid law suit just after leaving the table. So -if you care to visit the interior of the castle, which is -quite interesting, I will act as your guide.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“To accept your proposition is indiscreet and presumptuous,” -I answered, “and yet I am dying to do -so.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“Well, don’t die, but come on,” said she, with -adorable gayety.</p> - -<p class='c010'>But she added immediately, and quite naturally:</p> - -<p class='c010'>“Come with us, my good Zéphyrine; you will open -the doors for us.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>An hour before, the addition of Zéphyrine would -have been very agreeable to me, but I no longer felt so -timid in Madame d’Ionis’ society, and I confess that -the presence of a third person annoyed me. I certainly -had no sort of presumption, no impertinent ideas; but -it seemed to me that I could have talked more sensibly -and agreeably in a <i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">tête-à-tête</span></i>. The presence of this -full moon blunted my ideas, and impeded the flight of -my imagination.</p> - -<p class='c010'>And then Zéphyrine was thinking of the thing, that -I, most naturally, would gladly have forgotten.</p> - -<p class='c010'>“You see now, Madame Caroline,” said she to -Madame d’Ionis, while crossing the gallery on the -ground floor, “there is nothing at all in the green -ladies’ room; M. Nivières has slept there undisturbed.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“Well, dear me! My good creature, I don’t doubt -it,” answered the young woman.</p> - -<p class='c010'>“M. Nivières doesn’t impress me as a fool but that -doesn’t hinder me from believing that the abbé Lamyre -<em>did</em> see something there.”</p> - -<p class='c010'><span class='pageno' id='Page_31'>31</span>“Indeed,” said I, with some emotion, “I have occasionally -had the honor of seeing Monsieur de Lamyre, -and I should have thought him no more of a fool than -myself.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“He is not a fool, sir,” replied Zéphyrine, “he is -fond of a joke which gives a serious tone to his jests.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“No,” said Madame d’Ionis with decision, “he is a -clever man with a powerful imagination. He began -by making fun at our expense, and telling us stories -about ghosts. It was easy then, not for our good -dowager, but for the rest of us, to see that he was -joking. But perhaps we should not jest too much -about certain foolish ideas. It was very evident to me, -that one night something frightened him, since then -nothing could persuade him to enter that room. But -let us speak of something else, for I am sure that -M. Nivières is already sick of this story, as for myself -it bores me inexpressibly, and since you have already -shown him the manuscript, I am absolved from giving -myself any further concern about it.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“It is strange, madame,” replied Zéphyrine laughing, -“one would say that you, in your turn, are beginning to -put some faith in this story! I then am the only -person in the house who remains incredulous.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>We entered the chapel and Madame d’Ionis rapidly -sketched its history. She was very cultivated and -nothing of a pedant, and exhibited in the course of her -explanations all the important rooms, the statues, the -paintings and all the rare and precious furniture contained -in the castle. She manifested throughout so -incomparable a grace and so remarkable a degree of -complaisance that I fell in love at first sight, as they -say, in love to the extent of being jealous when I -<span class='pageno' id='Page_32'>32</span>reflected that she was perhaps as amiable with every -one as with myself.</p> - -<p class='c010'>In this manner we at length arrived at the immense -and magnificent hall divided into two galleries by a -beautiful rotunda. This hall was called the library, -although only a portion of it was consecrated to books. -The other half was a sort of museum for pictures and -works of art. The rotunda contained a fountain surrounded -by flowers. Madame d’Ionis called my attention -to this valuable monument, that had recently been -removed from the gardens and placed here to preserve -it from accident, the fall of a large branch on a stormy -night having slightly injured it.</p> - -<p class='c010'>It was a rock of white marble on which marine -monsters were intertwined, and above them, on the -most elevated portion, a naiad, regarded as a <i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">chef-d’œuvre</span></i> -was gracefully seated. This group was thought -to be the work of Jean Goujon or of one of his best -pupils.</p> - -<p class='c010'>The nymph, instead of being nude, was chastely -draped; a circumstance which caused it to be thought -that it was the portrait of a modest lady who had not -been willing to pose in the simple apparel of a goddess, -or permit the artist to interpret her elegant figure -in order to exhibit it to the gaze of a profane -public. But these draperies, from which the upper -part of the bust and arms as far as the shoulders alone -were released did not prevent one from appreciating -the ensemble of this extraordinary type which characterizes -the statuary of the renaissance, those slight proportions, -that roundness combined with slenderness, -that delicacy allied to strength, that indefinable something -more beautiful than nature, which at first surprises -<span class='pageno' id='Page_33'>33</span>us like a dream, and which little by little captivates -the most enthusiastic region of the mind. One -knows not if these beauties were conceived for the -senses, but they do not affect them. They seem to -owe their origin to a Divinity in some Eden, or on -some Mount Ida, from which they have but descended -against their will, to mingle in the realities of earth. -Such is the famous Diana of Goujon, majestic, almost -terrifying in aspect, despite the serene sweetness of its -lineaments, exquisite and monumental, informed with -physical vigor and yet calm as intellectual force.</p> - -<p class='c010'>I had as yet seen nothing of that national statuary, -that we have perhaps never sufficiently appreciated, -and which places the France of that period on a level -with the Italy of Michael Angelo. I did not at first -comprehend what I beheld. I was besides ill-disposed -towards it, while comparing this extraordinary type -with the plump and dainty beauty of Madame d’Ionis, -a true Louis XV. specimen, ever smiling and more -attractive, on account of her vitality, than through any -grandeur of the intellect.</p> - -<p class='c010'>“This is more beautiful than true, <i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">n’est-ce pas</span></i>?” -said she calling my attention to the long arms and -serpentine body of the naiad.</p> - -<p class='c010'>“I don’t think so,” I replied while regarding -Madame d’Ionis with involuntary ardor.</p> - -<p class='c010'>She did not appear to pay the least attention.</p> - -<p class='c010'>“Let us stop here,” said she, “the air is so cool and -refreshing. If you wish, we will speak of business. -Zéphyrine, my dear, you may leave us.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>I was at last alone with her! Two or three times -during the past hour, the beautiful glance of her eye, -unaffectedly vivacious and loving, had given me a -<span class='pageno' id='Page_34'>34</span>vertigo, and I had thought were Zéphyrine not here -I would throw myself at her feet.</p> - -<p class='c010'>But hardly had she left us than I felt myself chained -by a sentiment of respect and fear, and at once began to -discuss the law suit with a desperate perspicacity.</p> - -<div class='figcenter id002'> -<img src='images/i_034.jpg' alt='' class='ig001'> -</div> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_35'>35</span> - <h2 class='c005'>CHAPTER III.<br> <span class='large'><span class='sc'>The Law Suit.</span></span></h2> -</div> - -<p class='drop-capa0_0_6 c006'>“So,” said she after having listened with attention, -“there is no way of losing it?”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“The opinion of my father as well as of myself, is -that in order to lose it, it would be necessary to desire -its loss.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“But your worthy father has surely understood that -I did wish it absolutely?”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“No, madame,” replied I with firmness, for it was -a question of my duty, and I assumed the only part -proper for me to play, in the presence of this noble lady. -“No, my father does not so understand it. His conscience -forbids him to betray the interests confided to -him by M. le comte d’Ionis. He thinks that you will -induce your husband to adopt a compromise and he -will render it as acceptable as possible to the adversaries -that you protect. But he will never bring himself -to persuade M. d’Ionis that his cause is bad in -justice.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“In legal justice,” she replied, with a sweet sad -smile; “but, in real justice, in moral and natural -justice, your worthy father knows well that our right -leads us to exercise a cruel spoliation.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“What my father thinks of this subject,” I replied a -little confused, “he is only accountable for to his own -<span class='pageno' id='Page_36'>36</span>conscience. When a lawyer can defend a cause where -the two justices of which you speak are in his favor, he -is very fortunate, thoroughly compensated for those -cases where he finds them in opposition; but he ought -never to observe this distinction when he has voluntarily -accepted the charge, and you know, madame, -that my father has only consented to oppose M. d’Aillane -because you wished him to do so.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“I did wish it, yes! I obtained my husband’s -consent that this suit should not be confided to another; -I hoped that your father, the best and most -honest man of my acquaintance would succeed in -saving this unhappy family from the rigorous pursuit -of my own. A lawyer can always show himself -reticent and generous, above all when he knows that -he will not be blamed by his principal client. And -I am this client, monsieur. It concerns my fortune, -and not M. d’Ionis, which nothing menaces.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“It is true, madame but you are in the power of -your husband; and the husband, like the chief of the -community....”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“Ah! I know the rest! He has more rights over -my fortune than I myself possess, and he uses them in -my interest, I am willing to believe it, but he forgets, -that in this, my conscience is concerned; and for whom? -He has an immense personal fortune and no children; -I have then before God the right to despoil myself of -a portion of my wealth in order not to ruin honest -people, victims of a question of procedure.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“Such a sentiment is worthy of you, madame, -and I am not here to dispute so fine a right, but to -remind you of our duty, and to beg of you not to -require us to be faithless to our trust. All the concessions -<span class='pageno' id='Page_37'>37</span>consistent with the success of your suit, we -will observe, even should we incur the reproaches of -M. d’Ionis and those of his mother. But to withdraw -from the accepted task, declaring that success is doubtful, -and that it would be better to compromise, is what -a thorough investigation of the affair forbids us to do, -under penalty of falsehood and betrayal.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“Indeed, no! You are mistaken,” cried Madame -d’Ionis excitedly. “I assure you, you are mistaken. -These are legal subtilities which may deceive a man -grown old in the practice of law, but that a <i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">sensible</span></i> -young man ought not to accept as an absolute rule of -conduct.... If your father has undertaken the suit, and -you admit that he has done so at my request, it is -because he foresaw my intentions. Had he been -ignorant of them, I should greatly regret the fact, and -I would think that you did not entertain the esteem -for me that I would have liked to inspire in the members -of your family. In this case where one feels that -victory would be horrible, one does not fear to propose -peace before the battle. To act otherwise is to conceive -a false idea of duty. Duty is not a military password, -it is a religion, and a religion which would -prescribe evil, ceases to be one. Hush! speak to me -no more of your charge. Do not place M. d’Ionis’ -ambition above my honor, do not make a sacred thing -of this ambition. It is a disgraceful thing, no more, -and no less. Unite your efforts with mine to save -these unfortunate people. Act so that I may find in -you a friend after my own heart, rather than an infallible -legislator and an implacable lawyer!”</p> - -<p class='c010'>While speaking thus she gave me her hand and -enveloped me in the enthusiastic fire of her beautiful -<span class='pageno' id='Page_38'>38</span>eyes. I lost my head and covering her hand with -kisses, I felt myself conquered. In fact, I was so in -advance I had been of her opinion before seeing her. -I still defended myself however, for I had sworn to my -father that I would not yield to the sentimental -considerations that his client had caused him to foresee -in her letters. Madame d’Ionis would not hear a -word of my defense.</p> - -<p class='c010'>“You speak,” said she, “like a good son, who is -pleading his father’s cause, but I would like you better, -were you not so good a lawyer.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“Ah! madame,” I cried heedless of consequences, -“do not say that I am pleading against you, for you -would make me hate too much a calling for which I -feel that I have not the requisite insensibility.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>I will not weary you with the particulars of the law -suit instituted by the d’Ionis family against the d’Aillanes. -The conversation I have just reported will -suffice to explain my story. It concerned an estate of -five hundred thousand francs, that is to say, almost -all the funded fortune of our beautiful client. M. -d’Ionis made a very bad use of the immense wealth -that he possessed on his own side of the house. He -was given over to dissipation, and the doctors allowed -him but two years to live. It was quite possible that -he would leave his widow more debts than money. -Should Madame d’Ionis renounce the benefit of the -law suit, she would then incur the risk of falling from -a state of opulence, into a condition of mediocrity to -which she had not been brought up. My father pitied -the d’Aillane family greatly, a family deserving the -highest esteem, and which included a worthy gentleman, -his wife and his two children. The loss of the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_39'>39</span>law suit would plunge them into misery; but my -father naturally preferred to devote himself to the -future of his client and to preserve her from disaster. -This was for him a true case of conscience; but he had -recommended me not to urge this consideration with -her. “Her soul is romantic and sublime,” said he, -“and the more her personal interest is alleged, the -greater pride and pleasure she will take in the joy of -her sacrifice; but with the approach of age, her enthusiasm -will disappear. Then look out for regrets; and -look out also for the reproaches that she will justly -heap upon us for not having wisely counselled her.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>My father did not know that I was so much of an -enthusiast in fact. Engaged in numberless affairs, he -had confided to me the care of subduing the generous -impulses of this admirable woman, by taking refuge -behind pretended scruples which he only considered -as accessories. It was a very good idea, but he -had not foreseen any more than myself that I would -share Madame d’Ionis’ opinion to such an extent. I -was at an age when material wealth is of no value in -the imagination; it is a period of a wealth of heart.</p> - -<p class='c010'>And then this woman, who produced upon me -the effect of a spark on powder; this despicable -absent husband condemned by his physicians; the -moderate circumstances which threatened her, and -towards which she smilingly stretched her arms—how -did I know?</p> - -<p class='c010'>I was an only son, my father possessed some fortune -and I could also acquire one. I was only a <i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">bourgeois</span></i>, -who owed a position to a magistracy in the past, and -in the present to the consideration attached to talent -and probity; but we were in the midst of a philosophical -<span class='pageno' id='Page_40'>40</span>period, and without thinking ourselves on the -verge of a radical revolution, one could readily admit -the idea of an impoverished woman of quality, marrying -a man of lower condition in easy circumstances.</p> - -<p class='c010'>In short, my youthful imagination was fired, and my -young heart instinctively desired the loss of Madame -d’Ionis’ fortune. While she talked with animation -about the annoyances of wealth and the happiness of -a reduced condition <i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">à la</span></i> Jean-Jacques Rousseau, I -made such rapid strides in my romance that it seemed -as if she were deigning to guess at my thoughts and -was alluding to them in each one of the intoxicating -words that fell from her lips.</p> - -<p class='c010'>I did not however surrender openly. My word was -pledged; I could only promise to try and dissuade my -father. I could give no assurance of success, for I did not -myself participate in any. I knew the firmness of his decisions. -The solution was approaching, we had reached -the termination of delays and evasive procedures. -Madame d’Ionis proposed a plan, in case she should -bring me over to her views. It was that my father -should feign illness when the time arrived to plead the -cause, that the case then should be confided to me, -and that I should lose it!</p> - -<p class='c010'>I confess that I took fright at this hypothesis and -that I then understood my father’s scruples. To hold -in one’s hands the destiny of a client and to sacrifice -her rights to a question of sentiment, is a fine role when -one can fill it openly and by her order; but such was not -my position. On account of M. d’Ionis, it was necessary -to preserve appearances, to execute errors adroitly, -and to employ deceit in order that virtue might -triumph. I became frightened, I grew pale, I almost -<span class='pageno' id='Page_41'>41</span>wept, for I was in love, and the idea of refusing broke -my heart.</p> - -<p class='c010'>“Let us say no more about it,” said Madame d’Ionis -kindly, she seemed now to divine, if she had not -already done so, the passion she had awakened in me. -“Pardon me for having put your conscience to this -proof. No! You must not sacrifice it to mine, we must -find some other means of securing these poor adversaries. -We will search for it together, for you are on -my side, I see it, I feel it, in spite of yourself. You -must stay with me for several days. Write to your -father that I am resisting and that you are endeavoring -to overcome my scruples. To my mother-in-law, -we will have the appearance of studying the chances of -success together. She is persuaded that I am a born -lawyer, and Heaven is my witness, that before this -deplorable affair, I knew no more about such things -than she herself, which isn’t saying much! Come,” -she added, resuming her charming and sympathetic -gayety, “do not let us torment ourselves and don’t be -so sad! We will contrive to find some cause for -delay. Ah! I have one now, a most singular and -absurd one, but which none the less would exercise an -all-powerful influence over the mind of the good -dowager, and even over M. d’Ionis. Can’t you -guess it?”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“I have no idea what you mean.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“Well then it is this, to make the green ladies -speak.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“What! really, does M. d’Ionis share his mother’s -credulity?”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“M. d’Ionis is very brave, he has given proofs of it; -but he believes in ghosts and fears them. Let the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_42'>42</span>three young ladies forbid us to hasten the law suit and -the suit will remain inactive.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“So, you can think of nothing better to satisfy the -desire I feel of aiding you, than that of condemning -me to the use of abominable impostures? Ah! -Madame, how well you understand the art of making -people unhappy!”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“What! you are so scrupulous as all that? Haven’t -you already participated with a good grace?”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“A joke without consequences was all very well; -but if M. d’Ionis inquires into the matter and summons -me to declare upon my honor....”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“True! ’Tis only another worthless idea! Let -us attempt no more to-day.” “<i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">La nuit porte conseil.</span></i>” -“To-morrow, perhaps, I shall at last be able to propose -something practicable. It is getting late, and I hear -the abbé Lamyre who is looking for us.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>The abbé Lamyre was a charming little man. -Although fifty years old, he was still fresh and good-looking. -He was kind, frivolous, witty, entertaining, -full of fun, and in fact, held philosophical opinions, -always agreeing with those whom he conversed with, -for the question with him was not to persuade, but to -please. He threw his arms around my neck, and -heaped praises upon me which I esteemed at their -proper value, as coming from one whom I knew -lavished them upon everyone, but for which I was more -thankful than usual, on account of the pleasure they -seemed to afford Madame d’Ionis.</p> - -<p class='c010'>He praised my great talents as a lawyer and poet and -forced me to recite some verses, which appeared to be -relished more than they deserved. Madame d’Ionis, -after having complimented me with an air of emotion -<span class='pageno' id='Page_43'>43</span>and sincerity, left us together to attend to the cares of -her household.</p> - -<p class='c010'>The abbé talked of a thousand things that did not -interest me. I would have liked to be alone to indulge -in a revery, to recall each word, each gesture of -Madame d’Ionis; but the abbé attached himself to me, -and told me numerous ingenious stories that I consigned -to the devil. At last, the conversation assumed -a lively interest for me, when it turned upon the burning -ground of my relations with Madame d’Ionis.</p> - -<p class='c010'>“I know what brings you here,” said he, “she has -already spoken to me about it. Without knowing the -day of your visit, she was expecting you. Your father -does not wish her to ruin herself, and, <i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">parbleu</span></i>, he is -very right. But he will not convince her, and you -must either quarrel with her, or let her have her own -way. If she believed in the green ladies, <i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">à la bonne -heure</span></i>, you might make them speak in her interest, but -unfortunately she has no more faith in them than you -or I!”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“Madame d’Ionis pretends however that you do -believe in them, Monsieur l’abbé.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“I? She told you that? Yes, yes, I know she -treats her little friend as if he were a great coward! -Sing the duo with her, I am not afraid of the green -ladies, I do not believe in them; but there is certainly -one thing that alarms me, it is having seen them.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“How then do you reconcile such contradictory -assertions?”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“Nothing more simple, either there are ghosts or -there are none. I myself have seen them, and I have -paid the penalty for knowing that they exist. Only I -do not consider them malicious, I am not afraid of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_44'>44</span>their injuring me, I was not born a coward, but I -mistrust my brain which is composed of saltpetre. -I know that shadows have no more power over bodies -than bodies have over shadows, since I have held the -sleeve of one of these young ladies without discovering -any kind of arm. From that moment, which I shall -never forget; and which has changed all my ideas -about the things of this world and of the next, I -have sworn to myself that never again would I put -human weakness to such a test. I am not at all -desirous of losing my reason. So much the worse for -me if I have not sufficient moral strength to coolly and -philosophically contemplate what passes my understanding; -but why should I deceive myself? I began -by trifling with myself, and laughingly summoned the -ghost. The ghost appeared.—<i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Bonjour!</span></i> Once is -enough for me, you won’t catch me in it another time.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>One can readily imagine that I was strongly impressed -by what I had heard. The abbé’s faith was -evident. He did not believe that he was the victim of -a mania. Since the emotions he had experienced in -“<i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">la chambre aux dames</span></i>,” he had never again dreamed -of them. He added that he was convinced that they -would have done him no kind of harm or injury, had he -possessed sufficient courage to examine them.</p> - -<p class='c010'>“But I -did not,” he observed, “for I almost lost consciousness, -and realizing my weakness, I said: -“Whoever wishes to do so may penetrate this mystery, -I will not assume the charge, I am not equal to -such a task.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>I questioned the abbé carefully. His vision had -been almost exactly like my own. I made a great -effort not to let him suspect the similarity of our -<span class='pageno' id='Page_45'>45</span>adventures. I knew he was too much of a gossip to -preserve the secret inviolate, and I feared Madame -d’Ionis’ sarcasms more than all the demons of the -night; so I assumed an air of ignorance while the abbé -questioned me, assuring him that nothing had disturbed -my sleep; and when the moment arrived at -eleven o’clock in the evening, to re-enter this fatal -room, I laughingly promised the dowager to keep a -secret account of my dreams, and took leave of the -company with an air of gayety and valor.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Nevertheless I was far from feeling either the one -or the other. The presence of the abbé, the supper -and the evening spent under the dowager’s eyes, had -rendered Madame d’Ionis more reserved than she had -been with me in the morning. She also seemed to -say in each allusion to our sudden and cordial intimacy: -“You know at what price I have granted it to -you.” I was vexed with myself, I had been neither -submissive enough, or sufficiently independent, I -seemed to have betrayed the mission my father had -confided to me, without in the least advancing my -chimeras of love.</p> - -<p class='c010'>The sombre interior reacted upon my impressions -and my beautiful apartment wore a gloomy and lugubrious -air. I knew not what to think of either the -abbé’s reason or my own. Had it not been for a -feeling of <i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">mauvaise honte</span></i>, I would have asked for other -lodgings and I really experienced a sensation of anger, -when I saw Baptiste enter with the accursed waiter, -the basket, the three loaves and all the absurd accompaniments -of the previous evening.</p> - -<p class='c010'>“What does this mean?” said I testily. “Am I -hungry? Haven’t I just left the table?”</p> - -<p class='c010'><span class='pageno' id='Page_46'>46</span>“Indeed, Monsieur,” he replied, “I think it is very -odd. It was Mademoiselle Zéphyrine who ordered me -to bring it to you. It was of no use for me to tell her -that you were in the habit of passing your nights in -sleeping, and not in eating, she answered laughingly:</p> - -<p class='c010'>“Take it all the same, it is a custom we have always -observed. It will not annoy your master and you will -see that he will be pleased to have you leave it in his -room.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“Very well, <i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">mon ami</span></i>, do me the favor of carrying it -back, without saying anything about it in the servant’s -hall. I need my table to write upon.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>Baptiste obeyed. I locked myself in, and retired, -after having written to my father. I confess that -I slept splendidly and dreamed of but one lady, Madame -d’Ionis.</p> - -<p class='c010'>The next day, the dowager assailed me anew with -questions. I was so rude as to declare that I had -dreamed nothing worth mentioning. The good lady -was greatly disappointed.</p> - -<p class='c010'>“I am sure,” said she to Zéphyrine, “that you did -not put the ladies’ supper in M. Nivières’ room?”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“Pardon me, madame,” replied Zéphyrine, looking -at me reproachfully.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Madame d’Ionis seemed also to say with her eyes, -that I was disobliging. The abbé exclaimed ingenuously:</p> - -<p class='c010'>“It is strange; these things then happen only to -me?”</p> - -<p class='c010'>After breakfast he left, and Madame d’Ionis appointed -a meeting with me, at one o’clock, in the library. -I was there at noon; but she sent me word by Zéphyrine -that she was besieged by importunate visitors -<span class='pageno' id='Page_47'>47</span>and that I must have patience. This was easier to ask -than acquire. I waited; the minutes seemed centuries. -I asked myself how I had managed to exist up to this -time, without this <i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">tête-à-tête</span></i> that I already called <em>daily</em>, -and how I could go on living when there would be no -further occasion to expect it. I sought for some means -that should entail the necessity, and resolved at last to -protract the law suit, to the extent of my poor abilities, -and I puzzled my brains over a thousand subterfuges -which did not even possess the merit of common sense.</p> - -<p class='c010'>While walking up and down the gallery, in my -agitation, I every now and then stopped before the -fountain and sometimes seated myself upon its brink, -that was surrounded by magnificent flowers, artistically -disposed in the crevices of the rough rock on top of -which rested a block of white marble. This rugged -base gave a more finished effect to the work of the -chisel causing the water to overflow in brilliant sheets -into the lower receptacles, which were adorned with -aquatic plants.</p> - -<p class='c010'>It was a delicious spot, and the reflection of the -stained glass occasionally imparted an appearance of -life to the fantastical features of the statuary.</p> - -<p class='c010'>I regarded the naiad with renewed wonder, surprised -to find it so beautiful and realizing at last the exalted -sense of this mysterious loveliness which I no longer -thought of comparing unfavorably with that of Madame -d’Ionis. I felt that all comparisons are puerile between -inanimate objects and beings that bear no resemblance -to each other. This inspiration of Jean Goujon’s had -a beauty peculiar to itself—the face wore an expression -of sublime sweetness—and seemed to communicate a -feeling of repose and happiness to the mind, like the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_48'>48</span>sensation of freshness imparted by the continuous -murmur of the limpid waters of the fountain. At last -Madame d’Ionis made her appearance.</p> - -<p class='c010'>“Here is some news,” said she, seating herself -familiarly near me; “look at this strange letter that I -have just received from M. d’Ionis.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>And she showed it to me with an <i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">abandon</span></i> that -affected me strongly. I was disgusted with a husband -whose letters to such a wife could be shown without -embarrassment to the first comer.</p> - -<p class='c010'>The letter was cold, long and diffuse, the characters -slender and tremulous, the orthography very doubtful. -Here is the substance of it:</p> - -<p class='c010'>“You ought not to have any scruples about gaining -your end. I have none whatever in employing the -most rigid legal means. I refuse all other arrangements -than those I have already proposed to the -d’Aillanes, and I wish to see a termination to this -law suit. You may, when it is once gained, extend a -helping hand to them, I shall not oppose your generosity, -but I wish for no compromise. Their lawyer -has offended me in his address in the first place, and -the appeal that they have lodged is presumptuous -beyond belief. I find M. Nivières very sluggish, and -I have expressed my displeasure through the mail -to-day. Act, yourself, stimulate his zeal, unless some -higher order should issue from ——. You know what -I mean, and I am surprised that you say nothing to -me about what may have been observed in the room—since -my departure. Has no one had the courage to -pass the night there and to write down what he may -have heard? Must we depend alone on the assertions -of the abbé de Lamyre, a man who does not speak -<span class='pageno' id='Page_49'>49</span>seriously? Let some one <em>worthy of belief</em> attempt this -proof, unless you have sufficient courage to do so -yourself, which would not surprise me.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>As she read this last sentence, Madame d’Ionis burst -out laughing.</p> - -<p class='c010'>“M. d’Ionis amuses me,” she said. “He flatters -me so that he may induce me to attempt a thing that -he would never think of doing himself, and he is -indignant at the cowardice of people for whose benefit -nothing would induce him to give such an example.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“What I find most remarkable in this,” said I, “is -M. d’Ionis’ faith in these apparitions, and his respect -for the decisions he believes them capable of rendering.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“You see now,” said she, “that this is the only -means of subduing his rigor towards the poor -d’Aillanes; I told you so, and I repeat it, and you will -not lend yourself to it, when the opportunity is so fine. -Since he is so anxious to receive the green ladies’ -revelations perhaps he will not go so far as to ask you -for your word of honor.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“It seems to me, on the contrary, that I must -seriously assume the role of imposter, since M. d’Ionis -demands the assertion of a person ‘<em>worthy of belief</em>.’”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“And then you fear the ridicule, the blame, the -jests that you would not fail to meet with; but I could -answer for M. d’Ionis’ absolute silence so far as that is -concerned.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“No, madame, no! I would fear neither ridicule -nor blame, as long as it was a question of obedience -to your wishes. But you would despise me if I merited -this blame by a false oath. Besides, why not try to -<span class='pageno' id='Page_50'>50</span>induce the d’Aillanes to consent to a compromise -conveying honorable conditions to themselves?”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“You know perfectly well that those M. d’Ionis -proposes are not honorable.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“You have then no hope of modifying his intentions?”</p> - -<p class='c010'>She shook her head and was silent. This gesture -was an eloquent explanation of the kind of man her -husband was, a creature without heart or principle, -indifferent to such an array of charms, and given over -to excesses.</p> - -<p class='c010'>“Still,” replied I, “he authorizes you to be generous -after victory.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“And what does he take them for?” cried she, -crimsoning with anger. “He forgets that the d’Aillanes -are the soul of honor, and will never receive as a -favor or benefit, what justice causes them to regard as -the legal property of their family.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>I was struck with the energy she infused into this -reply.</p> - -<p class='c010'>“Are you then so intimate with the d’Aillanes?” I -asked. “I was not aware of it.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>She blushed again and answered in the negative.</p> - -<p class='c010'>“I have never had much to do with them,” said she; -“but they are nearly enough related to me for our -honor to be identical. I am quite sure that it was my -uncle’s wish to leave them his fortune, and still more -as M. d’Ionis having married me for what is termed -<i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">mes beaux yeux</span></i>, did not at that time have the countenance -to look up a fortune for me by means of breaking -this will, through some legal defect.” Then she -added:</p> - -<p class='c010'><span class='pageno' id='Page_51'>51</span>“Are you not acquainted with any of the d’Aillanes?”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“I have seen the father quite often, the children -never, the son is an officer in a garrison somewhere or -other.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“At Tours,” said she quickly. Then she added, -still more hastily:</p> - -<p class='c010'>“At least I think so.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“They say he is a very fine fellow!”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“I am told so, but I have not seen him since he has -grown up.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>This answer reassured me. For an instant it had -occurred to me that the disinterested magnanimous -motives of Madame d’Ionis might be attributable to a -passion that she entertained for her cousin d’Aillane.</p> - -<p class='c010'>“His sister is charming,” said she; “Have you -never seen her?”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“Never, isn’t she still in the convent?”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“Yes, at Angers, they say she is an angel. Will -you not be proud when you have succeeded in plunging -a daughter of a good house into misery? One -who counted rightfully, upon an honorable marriage -and a life agreeable to her rank and education? This -is what troubles her poor father more than anything -else. But come, tell me your expedients, for you -have sought and found some, have you not?”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“Yes,” I replied, after having reflected as well as -one can reflect in a fever. “I have found a solution.”</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_52'>52</span> - <h2 class='c005'>CHAPTER IV.<br> <span class='large'><span class='sc'>The Naiad.</span></span></h2> -</div> - -<p class='drop-capa0_0_6 c006'>I had hardly imparted this hope of success, when I -was terrified at having entertained it myself, but -I could not now withdraw. My beautiful client -overwhelmed me with questions.</p> - -<p class='c010'>“Well, madame,” said I, “the means must be found -of making the oracle speak, without my acting the -part of an imposter; but you must furnish me with -certain details which I lack, concerning the apparition, -whose theatre of action as they affirm is this castle.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“Will you look over the old papers from which I -made my extracts?” cried she joyfully. “I have -them here.” She opened a piece of furniture of which -she had the key, and showed me quite a long account, -with commentaries written at different epochs by -different chroniclers attached to the chapel of the -castle, or to the chapter of a neighboring convent that -had been secularized under the last reign.</p> - -<p class='c010'>As I was in no hurry to undertake an engagement -which would have abridged the time accorded to my -mission I put off reading this fantastical bundle of -papers until evening, and allowed myself to be chastely -cajoled by my enchantress. It seemed to me that she -was exercising a delicate coquetry, whether it was that -<span class='pageno' id='Page_53'>53</span>she clung to her ideas to the extent of compromising -herself a little in order to triumph eventually, whether -my resistance excited her legitimate pride of an -irresistible woman, or whether, in fine, and I dwelt -with delight on this last supposition, she was animated -by a particular regard for me.</p> - -<p class='c010'>She was forced to leave me, other visitors were -arriving. There was company at dinner; she presented -me to her noble neighbors with marked distinction, -and showed me more consideration before -them, than I had perhaps any right to expect. Some -appeared to think that I was receiving more than my -position entitled me to, and tried to make her so understand -it. She proved that she feared no criticism, and -showed so much courage in sustaining me that I began -to lose my head.</p> - -<p class='c010'>When we were alone together, Madame d’Ionis -asked me what I intended doing with the manuscripts -relative to the apparition of the three green ladies? I -was over excited, it seemed as if she really loved me -and that I had now no occasion to fear her raillery. I -then recounted ingenuously, the vision I had seen, -and the one similar to it, that the abbé Lamyre had -related to me.</p> - -<p class='c010'>“So I am forced to believe,” I added, “that conditions -of the soul exist in which, equally without fear, -charlatanism or supposition, certain ideas assume -images which deceive our senses, and I wish to study -these phenomena, that I have already witnessed, under -the simple or sage conditions which have produced -them. I do not conceal from you, that contrary to my -habits of mind, far from guarding myself from the -charm of these illusions, I will do everything in my -<span class='pageno' id='Page_54'>54</span>power to yield my intellect up to them. And should -I in this poetical disposition of mind, succeed in seeing -or hearing some ghost who commands me to obey you, -I will not draw back from the oath that M. d’Ionis or -his mother may require. No one can force me to -swear that I believe in the revelations of spirits or in -apparitions of the dead, for perhaps I may not put -absolute faith in them, but in asserting that I have -heard voices, since even now I can affirm that I have -seen shadows, I will not be a liar, and should I be -taken for a fool, what do I care as long as you do me -the honor of not sharing this opinion?”</p> - -<p class='c010'>Madame d’Ionis exhibited great surprise at what I -told her, and asked me many questions relative to my -vision in the ladies’ room. She listened without -laughing, and was even astonished at the calmness -with which I had undergone this strange adventure.</p> - -<p class='c010'>“I see,” said she, “that you are very strong-minded. -As to me, I confess, that in your place I -would have been afraid. Before permitting you to -make another attempt, swear that you will be no more -affected or frightened by it than the first time.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“I think I can promise that,” I replied. “I feel -excessively calm, and should I witness any terrifying -spectacle, I trust that I shall remain master of myself -sufficiently to attribute it solely to my imagination.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“Do you wish to make this extraordinary invocation -to-night, then?”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“Perhaps; but I would prefer first to read all the -reports concerning it, and I would also like to glance -over some work on this subject, not any derogatory -<i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">critique</span></i>, my doubts are sufficiently established, but -one of those ancient, simple treatises where among -<span class='pageno' id='Page_55'>55</span>many absurdities, I may chance to discover some -ingenious ideas.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“Very well, you are right,” said she, “but I do not -know what work to recommend. I have never dipped -into these old books; if you would like, to-morrow, to -look over the library”——.</p> - -<p class='c010'>“If you will permit me, I will set about this task at -once. It is only eleven o’clock, this is the time that -your house subsides into silence. I will sit up in the -library, and if my imagination becomes slightly -excited, I will then be in a fit frame of mind to return -to my room so that I may offer to the three ladies the -commemorative supper which possesses the virtue of -attracting them hither.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“I will order the famous tray to be taken there -then,” said Madame d’Ionis, smilingly, “and I am -forcing myself to look only on the strange side of this -affair, not to be too much impressed by it.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“What, madame, you too!”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“Eh, <i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">mon Dieu</span></i>,” she exclaimed, “after all, what -do we know about it? We ridicule everything nowadays; -are we any the wiser for it than formerly? We -are weak creatures, who think ourselves strong; who -knows if we do not thus render ourselves more material -than God desired, and if what we take for lucidity of -vision is not really blindness. Like myself, you -believe in the immortality of the soul. Is an absolute -separation between our own and those freed from -matter so clear a thing to conceive that we can prove -it?”</p> - -<p class='c010'>She talked in this fashion for several minutes with -a great deal of intelligence and imagination; then left -me, a little disturbed, begging me in case I should -<span class='pageno' id='Page_56'>56</span>become nervous or beset by lugubrious ideas, to abandon -my project. I was so happy and so touched by -her solicitude, that I expressed my regret at not having -a little fear to overcome so that I might better prove -my zeal.</p> - -<p class='c010'>I went up stairs to my room, where Zéphyrine had -already arranged the basket; Baptiste wanted to take -it away.</p> - -<p class='c010'>“Leave it,” said I, “since it is the custom of the -house, and go to bed, I have no more need of you than -I have ever had.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“<i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Mon Dieu</span></i>, monsieur,” said he, “if you will permit -me, I will pass the night on an easy chair in your -room.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“And why, my friend?”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“Because I have heard there were ghosts here. Yes, -yes, sir, I understand the servants now, they are very -much afraid of these ghosts, and I who am an old -soldier, I would like to show them that I am not so -foolish as they are.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>I refused, however, and left him to arrange the bed, -while I went down to the library, after having told -him not to wait for me. I wandered through the -immense hall before beginning my work, and locked -myself in carefully, lest I should be disturbed by some -prying or mischievous valet. I then lighted a silver -candelabra with numerous branches and began to turn -over the leaves of the fantastical pamphlet relative to -the green ladies.</p> - -<p class='c010'>The frequent apparition of the d’Ionis demoiselles -observed and reported in detail coincided in every -particular with what I had seen and with what the -abbé had recounted to me. But then neither he nor I -<span class='pageno' id='Page_57'>57</span>had possessed sufficient faith, or courage to question -the phantoms. Others had done so, according to the -chroniclers, and it had been reserved for them to see -the three maidens, no longer as greenish clouds, but in -all the brilliancy of their youth and beauty, not all of -them at once, but one in particular, while the others -remained in the background. Then this funereal beauty -answered all <em>serious</em> and <em>decent</em> questions that might be -asked of her. She unveiled the secrets of the past, of -the present, and of the future. She gave judicious -advice. She informed those who were capable of -making a good use of them where treasures lay concealed. -She foretold disasters that might be averted, -mistakes to be repaired. She spoke in the name of -God and of the angels. She was a beneficent power to -those who consulted her with good and pious designs, -but she invariably reproved and threatened mockers, -libertines and impious people. According to the manuscript, -they had been known to inflict severe punishment -upon those whose intentions were wicked or -fraudulent, and those who were only influenced by -malice or idle curiosity might expect fearful things to -befall them, such as they would have bitter cause to -regret.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Without particularizing these fearful things, the -manuscript furnished the formula of invocation and all -the rules to be observed, with so much seriousness -and such naïve good faith that I yielded myself to its -influence. The apparition assumed such marvelous -colors in imagination as to beguile me rather to desire -than to fear it. I did not feel in the least depressed or -alarmed at the idea of seeing the dead walk or of hearing -them speak; on the contrary, I revelled in elysian -<span class='pageno' id='Page_58'>58</span>dreams, and beheld a Beatrix arise in the rays of my -empyrean.</p> - -<p class='c010'>“And why should these dreams be denied me,” I -exclaimed, mentally, “since the prologue of the vision -has already been vouchsafed me? My foolish fears have -hitherto rendered me unworthy and incapable of -believing in Swedenborgian revelations, such as superior -minds credit and which I have mistakenly -ridiculed. But now I will gladly renounce these old -illusions, and such sentiments will surely be more -healthful and agreeable to the soul of a poet than the -cold denial of our age. If I pass for a madman, should -I even become one, what matters it; I will have lived -in an ideal sphere, and will, perhaps, be happier than -all the sages of the earth combined.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>Thus I communed with myself, resting my head on -my hands. It was about two o’clock in the morning -and the most profound silence reigned throughout the -castle and the surrounding country, when a sound of -delicate and exquisite music, which seemed to proceed -from the rotunda snatched me from my revery. I -raised my head and pushed back the candlestick, so -that I could see to whom I was indebted for this -serenade, but the four candles which lighted my -writing-table thoroughly, were not sufficient for me to -distinguish objects at the end of the hall even, still less -the rotunda beyond.</p> - -<p class='c010'>I proceeded at once towards this rotunda and being -no longer dazzled by another light, I could distinguish -the upper portion of the beautiful group in the -fountain, fully illuminated by the moon, whose rays -penetrated the arched window of the cupola. The rest -of the circular hall was in shadow. In order to assure -<span class='pageno' id='Page_59'>59</span>myself that I was as much alone as I appeared to be, I -drew back the bolt of the large glass door which opened -on the parterre, and saw in fact that no one was there. -The music had seemed to diminish and fade away in -proportion to my approach, so that I now could -scarcely hear it. I passed into the other gallery, -and found it also deserted, but here the sounds -which had so charmed me could once more be heard -distinctly, and this time they seemed to proceed from -the rear.</p> - -<p class='c010'>I paused without turning around, to listen to them; -they were sweet and plaintive and formed a melodious -combination beyond my comprehension. It was rather -a succession of vague and mysterious chords, struck as -if by chance and executed by instruments that I could -not divine, for their tones resembled nothing that I had -ever heard. The effect although pleasing was exceedingly -melancholy.</p> - -<p class='c010'>I retraced my steps and convinced myself that these -voices, if voices they could be called, issued decidedly -from the shell of the tritons and nymphs of the fountain, -increasing and diminishing in intensity as the water -which now flowed in an irregular and intermittent -manner, increased or decreased in the basins.</p> - -<p class='c010'>I saw nothing fantastical in this for I remembered -having heard of those Italian jets, which produced -hydraulic organs of a more or less successful nature, -through means of air compressed by water. These -sounds were sweet and very true, perhaps because they -attempted no air and only sighed forth harmonious -chords somewhat after the manner of eolian harps.</p> - -<p class='c010'>I also remembered that Madame d’Ionis had spoken -to me of this music, telling me that it was out of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_60'>60</span>order, and that sometimes it played by itself for several -minutes.</p> - -<p class='c010'>This solution did not prevent me from pursuing the -course of my poetical reveries. I was grateful to this -capricious fountain who reserved its music for me -alone, on such a beautiful night and amid so religious -a silence.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Seen thus by the light of the moon, the effect was -startling, a shower of green diamonds appeared to be -descending upon the fresh ferns that were planted -around the border. There was something appalling in -the appearance of the tritons, immovable in the midst -of all this tumult, and their dying murmurs, mingled -with the subdued sound of the cascades, made them -seem as if in despair that their passionate souls should -be chained in bodies of marble. One would have -thought it a scene from Pagan life that had been -suddenly petrified by the sovereign touch of the -naiad.</p> - -<p class='c010'>I then remembered the species of fear that this -nymph had caused me in broad daylight, with her air -of proud repose in the midst of these monsters writhing -beneath her feet.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Can an unemotional soul express true beauty? -thought I, and should this creature of marble awake to -life, despite her magnificence would she not terrify one, -by that air of supreme indifference which renders her -so superior to the beings of our race?</p> - -<p class='c010'>I regarded her attentively in the light of the moonbeams -which bathed her white shoulders and revealed -her small head set upon a firm and slender neck as -upon a column. I could not distinguish her features, -as she was at too great a height; but her easy attitude -<span class='pageno' id='Page_61'>61</span>was defined in brilliant lines with an incomparable -grace.</p> - -<p class='c010'>This is truly, thought I, the idea I would fain -picture to myself of the green lady, for surely, seen -thus....</p> - -<p class='c010'>Suddenly I ceased to reason or reflect. It seemed to -me that I saw the statue move.</p> - -<p class='c010'>I thought that a cloud was passing over the moon -and had produced the illusion; but there was none. -Only, it was not the statue that moved, it was a form -that arose from behind or beside her, and which seemed -exactly like her, as if an animate reflection had -detached itself from this body of marble and had -quitted it to approach me. For a moment I doubted -the evidence of my senses, but it became so distinct, so -positive, that I was soon convinced that I beheld a real -being, and that I experienced no feeling of terror, nor -even any very great surprise.</p> - -<p class='c010'>The living image of the naiad descended the irregular -steps of the monument with a flying motion; her movements -were easy and ideally graceful. She was not -much taller than a real woman, although the elegance -of her proportions imparted a stamp of exceptional -beauty, which had intimidated me in the statue; but I -no longer experienced aught of this feeling, and my -admiration rose to ecstasy. I stretched out my arms to -seize her, for it seemed as if she were about to rush -towards me leaping over a height of from five to six -feet which still separated us.</p> - -<p class='c010'>I was mistaken. She stopped on the edge of the -rock and made me a sign to move back.</p> - -<p class='c010'>I obeyed mechanically and saw her seat herself upon -a marble dolphin, which at once began to roar in a -<span class='pageno' id='Page_62'>62</span>genuine fashion; then suddenly all these hydraulic -voices increased like a tempest and formed a truly -diabolical concert around her.</p> - -<p class='c010'>I began to be somewhat unnerved when a ghostly -greenish light, which seemed but a more brilliant -moonbeam burst from I knew not where, distinctly -revealing the features of the living naiad, so like those -of the statue that I had to look twice in order to assure -myself that it had not quitted its rocky chair of state.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Then, no longer seeking to unravel this mystery -without any desire to comprehend it, I became dumbly -intoxicated with the supernatural beauty of this -apparition. The effect that it produced upon me was -so absolute, that I never even thought of approaching -it, in order to assure myself of its immateriality, as I -had done before when it had appeared in my room.</p> - -<p class='c010'>And had I entertained such an idea, which I am -altogether unconscious of doing, the fear of causing it -to vanish by an audacious curiosity probably withheld -me.</p> - -<p class='c010'>How did it happen that I was not overcome by the -desire of verifying the evidence of my senses? ’Twas -in truth the influence of the sublime naiad, with clear -and living eyes, beaming with a fascinating sweetness, -the naiad, with undraped arms, contours of transparent -flesh and supple motions resembling those of childhood. -This daughter of Heaven seemed at the utmost -about fifteen years old. The ensemble of her figure -expressed the perfect chastity of youth, while the -charm of a mature womanly soul illuminated her -features.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Her peculiar attire was precisely that of the naiad; a -robe or floating tunic, made of some indescribable and -<span class='pageno' id='Page_63'>63</span>marvellous tissue whose soft folds seemed wet and -clinging; an exquisitely wrought diadem, and showers -of pearls were entwined in her magnificent hair, with -that mixture of peculiar luxury and happy caprice -which characterizes the taste of the renaissance; in -singular and charming contrast to the altogether -simple garment, and which evinced its richness only -in the easy grace of its arrangement and the minute -finish of the jewels, and delicate details of the coiffure.</p> - -<p class='c010'>I could have gone on looking at her all my life, -without dreaming of addressing her. I did not observe -the silence that had succeeded to the roar of the -fountain, I do not even know whether I stood gazing -at her for a moment or for an hour. It seemed to me -of a sudden—as if I had always seen her, always -known her—it was, perhaps, because I was living a -century in a moment’s space.</p> - -<p class='c010'>She was the first to speak. I heard but could not -understand all at once, for the silvery tones of her -voice, like her supernatural beauty, served to complete -the illusion.</p> - -<p class='c010'>I listened as if to music, without seeking to attach -any particular sense to her words.</p> - -<p class='c010'>At last I made an effort to shake off this stupor and -heard her ask if I could see her. I know not what I -answered, for she added:</p> - -<p class='c010'>“Under what guise dost thou behold me?”</p> - -<p class='c010'>It was only then that I remarked she addressed me -as “thou.” I felt myself drawn to reply in the same -fashion, for if she spoke to me <i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">en reine</span></i>, I addressed -her as a divinity.</p> - -<p class='c010'>“I see thee,” I replied, “as a being to whom -naught upon this earth can compare.”</p> - -<p class='c010'><span class='pageno' id='Page_64'>64</span>It seemed to me that she blushed, for my eyes were -becoming accustomed to the sea-green light which -inundated her figure. I beheld her, white as a lily, -with the fresh tint of youth upon her cheek, a melancholy -smile added to her charms.</p> - -<p class='c010'>“What do you see extraordinary in me?” said she.</p> - -<p class='c010'>“Beauty,” I replied, briefly. I was too much -moved to add more.</p> - -<p class='c010'>“My beauty,” answered she, “is an effect of the -imagination; for it does not exist in a form that thou -canst appreciate. All that is here of me is my mind. -Address me then as a soul and not as a woman. -About what did you wish me to advise you?”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“I no longer remember.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“And the cause of this forgetfulness?”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“Is thy presence.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“Try to remember.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“No, I do not wish to.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“Then, adieu!”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“No, no,” I exclaimed, approaching her, as if to -retain her, but I stopped short—terrified, for the -light suddenly paled and the apparition seemed fading -away.</p> - -<p class='c010'>“In the name of heaven, remain!” I went on, with -anguish. “I am submissive, my love for you is -chaste.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“What love?” she asked, reassuming her brilliancy.</p> - -<p class='c010'>“What love? I know not. Did I speak of love? -Oh, yes, I remember now. Yesterday I loved a woman -and I wished to please her, to work her will at the risk -of betraying my duty. If you are a pure essence, as I -believe, you know everything. Must I then explain?”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“No, I know the facts that concern the posterity of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_65'>65</span>the family whose name I bear.” “But I am no -divinity, I cannot read souls, I did not know that thou -lovedst.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“I love no one. At this moment I love nothing -upon earth, and I would like to die if in another state -of existence I could follow you.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“Thou talkest wildly. To be happy after death, it -is necessary to have led a pure life. Thou hast a difficult -duty to fulfill, and it is for this that thou hast -summoned me. Perform thy duty then or thou wilt -never see me more.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“What is this duty? Speak, henceforth I will obey -none but thee.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“This duty,” answered the naiad, leaning towards -me and speaking so low that I could with difficulty -distinguish her voice from the fresh murmur of the -waters, “is to obey thy father. And, afterwards, -thou shalt tell the generous woman who wishes to -sacrifice herself, that those whom she pities will always -bless her, but will never accept her sacrifice. I know -their thoughts, for they have summoned and consulted -me. I know that they are fighting for their honor, -but that they do not fear what men call poverty. For -proud souls there is no such thing as poverty. -Say this to the lady who will question thee to-morrow, -and yield not to the love that she inspires so far as to -make thee betray the religion of thy family.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“I will obey, I swear. And, now reveal to me the -secrets of eternal life. Where is your soul now? -What different qualities has it acquired in this -removal?”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“All that I can say is this: death does not exist—nothing -dies; but things in the outer world are very -<span class='pageno' id='Page_66'>66</span>different from what one imagines here. I will tell thee -no more. Do not question me.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“Say at least if I shall see you in this other life.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“I know not.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“And in this?”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“Yes, shouldst thou prove worthy.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“I will prove worthy. But tell me this much, -since you can direct and counsel those who live in -this world, can you not pity them?”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“I can.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“And love them?”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“I love them all as brothers with whom I have -lived.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“Love one then above the others. He will perform -miracles of courage and virtue if you will but interest -yourself in him.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“Let him perform these miracles and he will find -me in his thoughts. Adieu!”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“Wait one moment! O heaven! One moment! It -is said that you bestow a charmed ring upon those -who have not offended you, as a pledge of your -protection and as a means of evoking you. Is this -true? And wilt you give it to me?”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“Vulgar minds alone believe in magic. Thou -couldst never put faith therein, thou who speakest of -eternal life and who seekest divine truth. By what -means could a soul that communicates with thee without -the aid of real organs bestow upon thee a material -and palpable object?”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“Still I see a sparkling ring on your finger.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“I cannot perceive what thine eyes behold. What -kind of a ring dost thou see?”</p> - -<p class='c010'><span class='pageno' id='Page_67'>67</span>“A large circle with an emerald in the form of a -star, set in gold.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“It is strange thou shouldst see that,” said she, -after a moment’s silence. “The involuntary workings -of the human mind and the connection of its dreams -with certain past deeds, perchance, include providential -mysteries. The science of these inexplicable -things belongs only to the One who knows the cause -and the reason for everything. The hand that thou -thinkest thou dost behold exists only in thine imagination. -What is left of me in the tomb would fill thee -with horror; but it may be that thou seest me such as -I was on earth. Tell me how I appear to thee?”</p> - -<p class='c010'>I know not what enthusiastic picture I drew of her. -She seemed to listen with attention and said:</p> - -<p class='c010'>“If I resemble this statue, that should not surprise -thee for I acted as its model. Thus thou bringest -back to my mind the memory of what I once was, and -even the jewels thou dost describe, I remember having -worn. The ring thou thinkest thou dost see I lost -in a room that I occupied in this chateau. It fell -between two stones under the hearth. I intended to -have had the stone raised on the next day, but I died -that very day. Shouldst thou search for it thou mayst -perchance find it. In that case, I give it to thee as a -souvenir of me and of the oath thou hast sworn to -obey me. Behold, the day breaks, farewell!”</p> - -<p class='c010'>This farewell caused me the most acute pain I had -ever experienced and I came near rushing forward once -more to seize this shadowy enchantress, for by degrees -I had approached near enough to be within reach of -the hem of her garment, had I dared to touch it, but I -had not the courage. It is true, I had forgotten the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_68'>68</span>threats of the legend against those who attempted -this profanation. I was only held back, powerless, by -a superstitious respect, but a cry of despair broke from -my heart and vibrated even amid the marine shells, -held by the tritons of the fountain. The shadow -paused as if withheld by pity.</p> - -<p class='c010'>“What more dost thou desire?” said she. “Day -approaches and I cannot remain.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“Why not, if such is thy will?”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“I am forbidden to again behold the sun of this -earth. I dwell in the eternal light of a more beautiful -world.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“Take me with thee to that world. I no longer -wish to live in this. I will not remain here I swear, if -I must never see thee more.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“Thou shalt see me again, have no fear,” said she. -“Await till thou art worthy and until then, summon me -not. I forbid thee. I will watch over thee like an -invisible providence, and when thy soul is as pure as a -ray of morning, I will then appear to thee, simply on -the appeal of thy pious desire. Submit!”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“Submit!” repeated a solemn voice that resounded -at my right. I turned and beheld one of the phantoms -I had already seen in my room, at the time of the first -apparition.</p> - -<p class='c010'>“Submit!” repeated a voice exactly similar, like an -echo, at my left, and I beheld the second ghost.</p> - -<p class='c010'>I was not at all affected by this, although there was -something terrifying in the height of these two spectres -and in the deep tones of their voices. But what cared -I for the terrible things I might see or hear? Nothing -could snatch me from the ecstasy in which I was -plunged. I did not even stop to look at these accessory -<span class='pageno' id='Page_69'>69</span>shadows; my eyes sought my celestial beauty. -Alas! she had disappeared, and I no longer beheld -aught save the motionless naiad of the fountain, with -its passionless pose and its cold tones of marble rendered -blue by the first rays of morning.</p> - -<p class='c010'>I know not what became of the sisters; I did not see -them disappear. I went around and around the -fountain like a madman. I thought I was sleeping -and I grew bewildered in the confusion of my ideas, -hoping that I would not awake.</p> - -<p class='c010'>But I remembered the promised ring, and went up -to my room, where I found Baptiste, who spoke to me -without my being able to gather the meaning of his -words. He appeared worried, perhaps on account of -my expression, but I never thought of questioning him. -I looked at the hearth and soon observed two disconnected -stones, which I endeavored to raise, but it was -too difficult an undertaking without the necessary tools.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Baptiste probably thought me mad, and mechanically -endeavoring to aid me—</p> - -<p class='c010'>“Has monsieur lost anything?” said he.</p> - -<p class='c010'>“Yes, I let one of my rings fall here yesterday.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“A ring! Monsieur has no rings, I have never -seen him wear one.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“No matter. Let us try to find it.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>He took a knife and scraped the soft stone, to -enlarge the crack, removed the ashes and powdered -cement which filled it up, and while working thus to -please me, he asked me what kind of a ring it was in -the same tone he would have asked me what I had -been dreaming about.</p> - -<p class='c010'>“It is a gold ring with a star formed of a large -emerald,” I replied, with the coolness of certainty.</p> - -<p class='c010'><span class='pageno' id='Page_70'>70</span>He no longer doubted, and detaching a rod from the -window curtains, he bent it in the form of a hook -and reached the ring, which he smilingly presented -me. He thought without daring to say so, that it was -a gift from Madame d’Ionis. As for myself, I scarcely -looked at it, so sure was I that it was the same that I -had seen on the finger of the ghost; it was, in fact, -exactly like it. I put it on my little finger, never -doubting that it belonged to the defunct demoiselle -d’Ionis, or that I had seen the ghost of that marvelous -beauty.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Baptiste showed a great deal of discretion in his -behavior, and when he left me, made me promise to -go to bed.</p> - -<p class='c010'>You can readily imagine such was far from my -thoughts. I seated myself before the table, from which -Baptiste had removed the famous supper of three -loaves, and compelling myself to recall the details of -my transporting vision, some parts of which I feared I -might forget, I began to write a full account thereof, -just as you have read it.</p> - -<p class='c010'>I remained in this state of agitation mingled with -ecstasy, till the rising of the sun. At times I dozed a -little, my elbows on the table, and thought I was -again going through my dream; but it ever eluded -me, and Baptiste came and dragged me from the solitude -in which I would have gladly thenceforth have -passed my life.</p> - -<p class='c010'>I arranged it so as to go down stairs, just as they -were about to take their places at the table. I had not -yet asked myself how I was to give an account of the -vision; I thought of it while making believe breakfast, -for I ate nothing and without feeling wearied or ill, I -<span class='pageno' id='Page_71'>71</span>experienced an unconquerable disgust for the functions -of animal life.</p> - -<p class='c010'>The dowager who did not see very well, was not -aware of my trouble. I answered her usual questions -with the vagueness of the preceding days, but this time -without acting any comedy, and with the preoccupation -of a poet when questioned stupidly on the subject of -his poem, and who gives evasive and ironical replies to -get rid of stultifying investigations. I do not know if -Madame d’Ionis was anxious or surprised to see me -thus. I did not look at her, I did not even see her. I -hardly understood what she was saying to me, during -the mortal constraint of this breakfast.</p> - -<p class='c010'>At last I found myself alone in the library, awaiting -her as on previous days, but without any impatience -whatever. Far from it, I felt a lively satisfaction in -sinking into a revery. The weather was admirable; -the sun kissed the trees and the blooming grounds -beyond the large masses of transparent shadows that -were projected by the architecture of the chateau on the -nearest flowerbeds. I walked from one end of this vast -hall to the other, stopping each time that I found -myself before the fountain. The windows were closed -and the curtains drawn on account of the heat. These -curtains were of a soft shade of blue that I tried to -imagine green, and in this artificial twilight which -somewhat recalled that of my vision, I experienced an -incredible sensation of happiness, and a species of -delirious gayety.</p> - -<p class='c010'>I was talking aloud, and laughing without being -aware of any cause, when I felt some one seize me rather -roughly by the arm. I turned around and saw Madame -d’Ionis, who had come in without my observing her.</p> - -<p class='c010'><span class='pageno' id='Page_72'>72</span>“Come, answer me, look at me at least,” said she -with some impatience. “Are you aware that you -frighten me, and that I no longer know what to think -of you?”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“You have your wish,” I answered, “I have -tampered with my reason, I have become insane. But -do not reproach yourself on that account; I am much -happier thus, and do not wish to be cured.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“So,” said she, scrutinizing me anxiously, “this -apparition is not then an absurd story? At least, you -think—you have seen it produced?”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“Better than I see you at this moment.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“Don’t affect such an air of stupid pride—I do not -doubt your words. Tell me all about it quietly.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“No, never! I implore you do not question me. I -cannot, I do not wish to answer.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“Really the society of ghosts does not seem to agree -with you, my dear sir, and you will make me think -that you have heard some singularly flattering things, -for you are as proud and discreet as a fortunate lover.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“Ah! what do you say, madame?” I cried, “No -love is possible between two beings separated by the -abyss of a tomb. But you know not of what you -speak, you believe in nothing, you ridicule everything.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>I was so rude in my enthusiasm, that Madame -d’Ionis was rather vexed.</p> - -<p class='c010'>“There is one thing which I do not ridicule,” said -she quickly; “and that is my law suit, and since you -have promised on your honor, to consult a mysterious -oracle and to obey its orders—”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“Yes,” I replied, taking her hand with a familiarity -that was quite out of place, but so quietly that she was -not offended, so well did she understand the condition -<span class='pageno' id='Page_73'>73</span>of my mind; “yes, madame, you must pardon my -preoccupation and my forgetfulness. It was through -devotion to you that I have played a very dangerous -game, and I owe you at least an account of the result. -I have been ordered to carry out my father’s intentions -and make you win your suit.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>Whether she expected this answer, or whether she -doubted my sanity, Madame d’Ionis showed neither -surprise or disappointment. She contented herself -with shrugging her shoulders, and shaking my arm as -if to awake me.</p> - -<p class='c010'>“My poor child,” said she, “you have been -dreaming, that is all. For a moment I shared your -exaltation, I hoped at least that it would bring you -back to the ideas of delicacy and justice that at heart -you cherish. But I know not what exaggerated -scruples or what habits of passive obedience to your -father, have caused you to hear such chimerical words. -Shake off these illusions, there have been no ghosts, nor -has there been any mysterious voice, your head was -affected by the indigestible perusal of that old -manuscript, and by the abbé Lamyre’s doleful stories. -I am going to explain how it all happened.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>She talked with me for some time; but my efforts -to listen and understand were in vain. At times it -seemed as if she were speaking an unknown language. -When she saw that the words that fell upon my ear -were not communicated to my brain, she grew seriously -alarmed about me, felt my pulse to see if I had any -fever, asked me if my head ached, and begged me to -go and lie down. I understood that she gave me -permission to be alone and I gladly ran and threw -myself upon my bed, not that I felt the least fatigue, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_74'>74</span>but because I kept thinking all the time that could I -but sleep, I might again behold the celestial beauty of -my immortal nymph.</p> - -<p class='c010'>I do not know how the rest of the day passed. I -had no knowledge of it. The next morning I saw -Baptiste walking through the room on tip-toe.</p> - -<p class='c010'>“What are you doing, <i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">mon ami</span></i>?” I asked.</p> - -<p class='c010'>“I am sitting up with you, my dear master,” he -replied. “Thank God you have slept two good hours. -You feel better, don’t you?”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“I feel very well, have I then been ill?”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“You had a severe attack of fever last evening, and -it lasted part of the night. It was the effect of the -great heat. You never think of putting on your hat -when you go in the garden. Yet <i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">madame votre mère</span></i> -gave you so many cautions about it.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>Zéphyrine entered, asked about me with much -interest and made me promise to take <em>another</em> spoonful -of <em>my</em> soothing potion.</p> - -<p class='c010'>“Very well,” said I, although I had no recollection -of this potion, “a sick guest is an inconvenience and -all I ask is to get well quickly.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>The potion really did me a great deal of good, for I -again fell asleep and dreamed of my immortal nymph. -When I opened my eyes, I saw an apparition at the -foot of my bed, which would have charmed me two -nights ago, but which now vexed me like an -importunate reproach. It was Madame d’Ionis, who -came herself to see how I was, and to give her personal -supervision to the efforts made in my behalf. She was -very friendly, and showed real interest in me. I -thanked her to the best of my ability and assured her -that I was very well.</p> - -<p class='c010'><span class='pageno' id='Page_75'>75</span>Upon this, appeared the solemn head of a physician, -who examined my pulse and my tongue, prescribed -rest, and said to Madame d’Ionis:</p> - -<p class='c010'>“It is nothing. Keep him from reading, writing -and talking until to-morrow and he will then be able -to return to his family.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>Left alone with Baptiste, I questioned him.</p> - -<p class='c010'>“<i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Mon Dieu</span></i>, Monsieur,” said he, “I don’t exactly -know what to say. It seems that the room where you -were is considered haunted.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“The room where I was? Where then am I now?”</p> - -<p class='c010'>I looked around me and recovering from my stupor -I at last recognized that I was not in “<i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">la chambre aux -dames</span></i>,” but in another apartment of the chateau.</p> - -<p class='c010'>“As for me,” continued Baptiste, who was of a very -positive temperament. “I slept in the room and saw -nothing. I don’t believe any of these stories. But, -when I heard you tormenting yourself during your -fever, always talking about a beautiful lady who exists -and who does not exist, who is dead and who lives—who -knows what you haven’t said about it. It was -all so pretty sometimes that I wished to remember it, -or that I knew how to write it down, in order to -preserve it, but it did you harm, and I decided upon -bringing you here, where you are better off. Don’t -you see, Monsieur, that this all comes from writing too -many verses? Your father said rightly that it would -turn your brain! You would do better to think only -of your law papers.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“Thou art certainly right, my dear Baptiste,” I -answered “and I will try and take thine advice. In -fact it does seem as if I had had an attack of madness.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“Of madness? Oh! no indeed, Monsieur. <i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Dieu -<span class='pageno' id='Page_76'>76</span>merci</span></i>. You have wandered a little in your fever just -as it might happen to anyone; but now that it is all -over, if you will take a little chicken broth, your brain -will be as clear as ever.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>I resigned myself to the chicken broth, although I -would have preferred something more nourishing so as -to get well quickly. I was very weak, but little by -little my strength came back during the day, and I was -allowed a light supper. The following day, Madame -d’Ionis came again to see me. I had risen and was -feeling quite well. I talked very sensibly with her -about what had happened, without however giving her -any details upon the subject. I had been light-headed, -I was much ashamed of it, and begged her to keep my -secret; my position as a lawyer would be lost if I -acquired the reputation of a ghost seer; and it would -affect my father seriously.</p> - -<p class='c010'>“Fear nothing,” said she; “I will answer for the -discretion of my people; make sure of your valet’s -silence, and the story of this adventure will never leave -the place. Besides, even should something of the -kind be told, we would all be perfectly justified in -saying that you had had an attack of fever, and that it -pleased these superstitious souls to interpret it to suit -their credulity. And really, this would only be the -truth. You had a sun stroke coming here on horseback -on a scorching day. You were ill during the -night. On the following days I tormented you with -this unfortunate law suit, and I stopped at nothing to -bring you over to my way of thinking.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>She paused, and, in a different tone said:</p> - -<p class='c010'>“Do you remember what I said to you the day -before yesterday in the library?”</p> - -<p class='c010'><span class='pageno' id='Page_77'>77</span>“I confess that I did not understand, I was under -the influence.”——</p> - -<p class='c010'>“Of the fever? I saw that very plainly.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“Will it please you to repeat to me, now that my -head is no longer affected, what you were saying about -apparitions?”</p> - -<p class='c010'>Madame d’Ionis hesitated.</p> - -<p class='c010'>“Has your memory preserved the idea of this -apparition?” said she carelessly, but examining me -rather anxiously.</p> - -<p class='c010'>“No,” I replied, “it is very confused now, confused -as a dream of which one is still conscious, but no -longer cares to remember.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>I lied boldly, Madame d’Ionis was deceived, and I -saw that she also was lying, when she pretended -having spoken to me in the library only about the -effect of the manuscript, in order to blame herself for -having lent it to me at a time when I was already -greatly agitated. It was evident that through fear -caused by my mental condition, she had on that -evening said certain things, that she was very glad -now I had not understood, but I could not imagine -what they might be. She saw I was quite confused, -so she believed me cured. I talked very decidedly -about my vision as though it were the effect of a high -fever. She made me promise to think no more of it, -and never to torment myself about it.</p> - -<p class='c010'>“Don’t go and think yourself more weak-minded -than other people; there is no one in the world who -has not had their hours of delirium. Remain with us -two or three days longer, no matter what the doctor -says. I do not like to send you back to your parents, -so weak and pale. We will say nothing more about -<span class='pageno' id='Page_78'>78</span>the suit, it is useless; I will go and see your father -and talk it over with him; without worrying you any -more about it.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>By evening I was already cured, and I tried to get -into my old room, it was shut up. I risked asking -Zéphyrine for the key, who replied that it had been -given to Madame d’Ionis. They did not wish to put -anyone there, until the recently unearthed legend had -again been buried in oblivion.</p> - -<p class='c010'>I pretended that I had forgotten something in the -room. They had to yield. Zéphyrine went after the -key and entered the room with me. I searched everywhere -without saying what I was looking for. I -examined the hearth and saw the fresh scratches on -the disjointed stones, that Baptiste had left there with -his knife. But what did this prove, save that in my madness -I had caused a search for an object that existed -only in the memory of a dream? I had thought that I -had found a ring and had put it on my finger. It was -there no longer, without doubt it had never been there!</p> - -<p class='c010'>I did not even dare to question Baptiste on this -subject. They did not leave me one moment alone in -the ladies’ room, and they shut it up again, as soon as -I went out. I felt that there was nothing to keep me -at the chateau d’Ionis, and I left by stealth the next -morning so as to avoid the drive in a carriage with -which they had threatened me.</p> - -<p class='c010'>The horse and the fresh air quite set me up again. I -galloped rapidly through the woods that surrounded -the chateau, fearing that I might be pursued by the -solicitude of my beautiful hostess. I slackened my -pace when two leagues distant, and arrived quietly at -Angers during the afternoon.</p> - -<p class='c010'><span class='pageno' id='Page_79'>79</span>My face was a little changed; my father did not -notice it much, but nothing escapes a mother’s eye, -and it worried mine. I succeeded in quieting her -by eating with an appetite; I had compelled -Baptiste to give me his word that he would not -say anything; he had made it a condition however -that he would not feel bound, should I chance to fall -ill again.</p> - -<p class='c010'>But I took good care not to do so; I watched over -my physical and moral welfare like a youth bent upon -the preservation of his existence. I worked, but not -too much; I took walks regularly, I dwelt upon no -mournful ideas, I abstained from all reading of an -exciting nature. The reason for all this had its source -in an obstinate but tranquil mania and, so to speak, -’twas mistress of itself. I wanted to prove to my own -judgment that I neither had been nor now was out of -my mind, and that there was nothing more certain, in -my opinion, than the existence of the green ladies. I -also wished to restore my mind to that state of clearness -necessary to conceal my secret and to nourish it -internally as the source of my intellectual life and the -criterion of my moral existence.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Every trace of the crisis then rapidly disappeared, -and seeing me studious, reasonable and moderate in -all things, it would have been impossible to guess that -I was under the dominion of a fixed idea, of a well -regulated monomania.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Three days after my return to Angers, my father -sent me to Tours on some other business. I spent -twenty-four hours there, and when I returned home, I -learned that Madame d’Ionis had been there to have -an understanding with my father about the consequences -<span class='pageno' id='Page_80'>80</span>of her law suit. She had appeared to yield to -positive reason; she had consented to gain it.</p> - -<p class='c010'>I was glad that I had not met her. It would be -impossible to say that so charming a woman had -become repugnant to me, but it is certain that I feared -more than I desired her presence. Her scepticism, -which she appeared to have renounced one day only to -overwhelm me with it on the next, had produced an -injurious effect upon me, and had caused me inexpressible -suffering.</p> - -<p class='c010'>At the end of two months, notwithstanding all the -efforts I made to appear happy, my mother discovered -the terrible sadness that permeated my mind. Everyone -observed a great change for the better in me, and -at first she was pleased with it. My manner of life was -altogether austere, and my language as grave and -sensible as that of an old magistrate. Without being -devout, I professed to be religious. I no longer -scandalized simple people by my voltairianism. I -judged everything impartially and criticised without -bitterness those of whom I did not approve. All this -was edifying, excellent; but I had no taste for anything, -and I bore my life as if it were a burden. I was -no longer young, I experienced no more the ecstasy of -enthusiasm or the allurements of gayety.</p> - -<p class='c010'>I had time then, notwithstanding my important -occupations to write verses, and I would have made -time in any case, even had none been allowed me, for -I hardly slept any more and I sought none of those -amusements that absorb three quarters of a young -man’s life. I no longer thought of love, I fled from the -world, I ceased to parade myself with men of my age -before the eyes of the beautiful ladies of the land. I -<span class='pageno' id='Page_81'>81</span>was retiring, meditative, austere, very gentle with my -own people, very modest with everybody, very ardent -in legal discussions. Thus I was esteemed an -accomplished young man, but I was thoroughly -unhappy.</p> - -<p class='c010'>And it was because I nourished with a strange -stoicism, an insane passion without its parallel. I was -in love with a ghost, I could not even say with a dead -woman. All my historical researches resolved themselves -into this. The three demoiselles d’Ionis had -possibly never existed save in legend. Their history, -fixed by the latest chroniclers at the period of Henri II, -was already old and uncertain, even at that date. No -evidence of them remained: no title, name or crest -among the d’Ionis family papers that my father -happened to have in his possession on account of the -suit, not even a tombstone in any part of the country.</p> - -<p class='c010'>I was thus worshipping a pure fiction, engendered, -to all appearance in the vapors of my brain. But this -was precisely what I failed to be convinced of. I had -seen and heard this marvel of beauty; she existed in -a region that it was impossible for me to attain, but -from which it was possible for her to descend to me. -To solve the problem of this indefinable existence, and -the mystery of the tie that bound us would have -rendered me insane. I was conscious of the fact, I -wished to explain nothing, to fathom nothing; I lived -upon faith, which is “the evidence of things not seen,” -a sublime madness, if reason is only to be proved by -the evidence of the senses.</p> - -<p class='c010'>My madness was not so puerile as might have been -feared. I nursed it as a superior faculty and did not -allow it to descend from the heights upon which I -<span class='pageno' id='Page_82'>82</span>had enthroned it. Thus I abstained from another -evocation, lest I should lose myself in the cabalistic -pursuit of some chimera unworthy of me. The immortal -maiden had said that “I must become worthy, if she -were to live in my thoughts.” She had not promised -to reappear in the same form as I had seen her. She -had said that this form did not exist and was but the -product of my imagination caused by the elevation of -my feelings towards her. I ought not then to torment -my brain to reproduce her, for it might misrepresent -her and cause some other image to obliterate her own. -I wished to purify my life and cultivate the treasure of -conscience, in the hope, that at some given time, this -celestial figure would come to me of her own accord -and talk to me in those cherished tones that through -my unworthiness had been vouchsafed me for so short -a time.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Under the influence of this mania, I was in the way -of becoming a good man, and it was rather odd that I -should be led to wisdom through madness. But all -this was too subtle and too tense for human nature. -This rupture of my soul with the rest of my being, and -of my life with the temptations of youth, was gradually -leading me on to despair, perhaps even to insanity.</p> - -<p class='c010'>So far I was only melancholy, and although very -pale and very thin, I did not appear to be ill either -physically or mentally when the turn came for the -hearing of the case of d’Ionis versus d’Aillane. My -father instructed me to prepare my speech for the -following week. It was now about three months since -I had left, on a morning in June for the fatal chateau -d’Ionis.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_83'>83</span> - <h2 class='c005'>CHAPTER V.<br> <span class='large'><span class='sc'>The Duel.</span></span></h2> -</div> - -<p class='drop-capa0_0_6 c006'>The more time and attention we bestowed upon -this unhappy suit, the more fully convinced -were my father and myself that it was impossible to -lose it. Two wills were brought forward in evidence; -one of which five years previous had been duly attested, -signed and sealed, was in favor of M. d’Aillane. Being -in straitened circumstanced at this period, he had -escaped from his difficulties by a sale of the real estate -which he regarded as his own. The other will, -discovered three years afterwards, by one of those -strange chances which causes it to be said that life -resembles a romance, suddenly impoverished the -d’Aillanes to enrich Madame d’Ionis. The validity of -this last deed was incontestable; the date, later than -that of the first one was clear and precise. M. d’Aillane -pleaded the childish condition of the testator and the -nature of the pressure M. d’Ionis had brought to bear -upon him in his last hours. This latter argument was -sufficiently apparent; but the condition of dotage -could not be proved in any manner whatever.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Besides, M. d’Ionis assumed, rightly, that d’Aillane, -pressed by his creditors, had ceded the property to them -for less than its real value, and he demanded what was -for them a very considerable sum, since it represented -the last wreck of his adversaries’ fortune.</p> - -<p class='c010'><span class='pageno' id='Page_84'>84</span>M. d’Aillane did not expect to succeed. He was -conscious that his case was a weak one; but he was -bent upon clearing himself from the accusation brought -against him, of having known or even suspected the -existence of a second will, of having engaged the -person with whom it was deposited to keep it concealed -for three years, and of having hastened to utilize the -inheritance so as to practically escape from the -consequences of the future. There had been besides a -discussion upon the real value of the property, -exaggerated more or less by the two parties in the -debates, previous to my father’s intervention in the suit.</p> - -<p class='c010'>My father and I were discussing this last point and -were not quite of the same opinion, when Baptiste -announced M. d’Aillane, the son, captain of the —— -regiment.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Bernard d’Aillane was a handsome young man of -about my age, proud, sensitive, and very outspoken. -He expressed himself very politely, appealing to our -honor, as one who recognized our strict observance -thereof, but towards the close of his exordium, carried -away by his natural vivacity, he distinctly threatened -me, in case I should, in the course of my speech, -chance to express any doubt of his father’s perfect -loyalty.</p> - -<p class='c010'>My father was more disturbed by this challenge than -I, and a lawyer at heart, he expressed his indignation -in words. I saw that a quarrel was likely to result -from a project of reconciliation, and I begged the two -speakers to listen to me.</p> - -<p class='c010'>“Permit me, father,” said I, “to call M. d’Aillane’s -attention to the fact that he has just committed a -serious imprudence, and that, if I were not, thanks to -<span class='pageno' id='Page_85'>85</span>my profession, of a cooler temperament than himself, -I would take pleasure in provoking his anger, and -in making use of every argument that my case might -require.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“What do you say,” cried my father, who in his -heart was the most amiable of men, but easily carried -away in the exercise of his duties, “I sincerely trust, -my son, that you will use every argument, and if there -is the least occasion in the world to suspect the good -faith of our adversaries, it is neither M. le Capitaine -d’Aillane’s little moustache and little sword, or his -father’s great moustache and large sword that will -prevent you from proclaiming it.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>Young d’Aillane was perfectly infuriated, and being -unable to vent his rage upon a man of my father’s age, -he was strongly tempted to vent it upon me. He -made some very bitter remarks to me, of which I took -no notice, and, continuing to address my father, I -answered:</p> - -<p class='c010'>“You are perfectly right in believing that I will not -allow myself to be intimidated; but we must pardon -M. d’Aillane for having entertained such an idea. -Were I to find myself in a similar situation, and your -honor in question, reflect, my dear father, that I would -not be any more polite or reasonable than necessity -required. Have some consideration then for his -anxiety, and since we cannot relieve it, do not let us -be so harsh as to add to it unnecessarily. I have -examined the affair sufficiently to be convinced myself -of the extreme delicacy of the entire d’Aillane family, -and I shall consider it as much of a pleasure as of a -duty to acknowledge this on all occasions.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“That is all I wanted, monsieur,” cried the young -<span class='pageno' id='Page_86'>86</span>man, grasping my hands, “and now go on and gain -your suit, we ask nothing better.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“One moment, one moment,” replied my father, -with the same spirit he showed in his discussions in -court. “I do not know exactly, my son, what your -ideas about this perfect loyalty may be, but as for -myself, if I find circumstances in the history of this -affair where it is manifest, there are others that seem -suspicious to me, and I beg of you to promise nothing, -before weighing the objections that I was engaged in -submitting to you when monsieur honored us with his -visit.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“Allow me, my dear father,” I replied with firmness, -“to inform you that slight appearances will not be -sufficient to make me share your doubts. Without -considering M. le comte d’Aillane’s well-established -reputation, I have the evidence of certain testimony in -his favor.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>I paused, while reflecting that this testimony of my -sublime and mysterious friend, was something I would -be unable to bring forward without being laughed at. -It was nevertheless so serious a consideration with me, -that nothing in the world, not even apparent facts, -could make me doubt it.</p> - -<p class='c010'>“I know of what testimony you speak,” said my -father, “Madame d’Ionis has a great affection——.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“I hardly know Madame d’Ionis!” interrupted -young d’Aillane quickly.</p> - -<p class='c010'>“And I am not speaking of you, monsieur,” my -father smilingly replied. “I am speaking of Count -d’Aillane and of mademoiselle his daughter.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“And I, father,” said I, in my turn, “I was not -speaking of Madame d’Ionis.”</p> - -<p class='c010'><span class='pageno' id='Page_87'>87</span>“May one ask,” said young d’Aillane, “the name -of the person who has had this fortunate influence -over you, so that I may know to whom I owe my -gratitude?”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“With your permission, monsieur, I would prefer -not to tell you, this is something that concerns myself -alone.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>The young captain begged my pardon for being so -indiscreet, took leave of my father rather coldly, and -retired, expressing his gratitude to me for my good -will.</p> - -<p class='c010'>I followed him to the street door, as if out of politeness. -There he again gave me his hand; this time I -withdrew mine and begged him to come for one -moment into my room which opened on to the vestibule. -I once more declared that I was convinced of the -nobility of his father’s sentiments, and thoroughly -determined not to cast the slightest aspersion on the -honor of his family. After which I said:</p> - -<p class='c010'>“As this matter is settled, monsieur, you will permit -me to ask you why you should have insulted me, by -doubting my pride so far as to threaten me with your -resentment. If I have not done so before my father, -who seemed to urge me on, it was because I knew -that when his feeling of anger will have passed away, -he would consider himself the most unfortunate of -men. I have also a very tender mother, and for this -reason I ask you to keep our explanation here a -secret. Charged with the interests of Madame d’Ionis, -I plead her cause to-morrow; I beg of you then, to -grant on the following day, after leaving the palace, -the meeting that I now ask of you.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“No, <i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">parbleu</span></i>! I will do nothing of the kind,” -<span class='pageno' id='Page_88'>88</span>cried the young man, throwing his arms around my -neck. “I haven’t the least desire to kill a fellow who -has shown so much feeling and justice towards me. I -was wrong, I acted without reason, and I am now -quite ready to beg your pardon.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“That is altogether useless, monsieur, for you were -forgiven before. In my position, one is exposed to -such offenses, and they do not affect an honest man, -but there is none the less necessity for me to fight -you.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“<i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Oui—da! Et pourquoi diable</span></i>, after having begged -your pardon?”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“Because that has been done in private, and your -visit has been public. There is your horse pawing the -ground at our door, and your soldier in uniform, -attracting the attention of everyone. You know very -well what a little provincial town is. In one hour -from now, all the world will know that a brilliant -officer has been here to threaten a little lawyer, who is -conducting a suit against him, and you may be pretty -sure that, to-morrow, when I shall have observed for -you and yours all the consideration I look upon as -your due, more than one malicious soul will accuse me -of being afraid of you, and will laugh at the contemptible -figure I will cut beside you. I resign myself to -this humiliation, but this duty accomplished, I will -have another to fulfill which will be to prove that I am -no coward, unworthy of practicing an honorable profession, -and capable of betraying the confidence of my -clients through fear of a sword thrust. Consider that -I am very young, monsieur, that I have a character to -establish, now or never.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“You make me realize my mistake,” answered M. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_89'>89</span>d’Aillane. “I did not appreciate the importance of -my behavior, and I owe you a formal avowal in -public.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“It will be too late, after my speech, they will -always believe that I have yielded to fear; and it will -be too soon before; they might think that you feared -my revelations.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“Then I see there is no way out of this difficulty, -and that all I can do for you, is to give you the satisfaction -that you require. Depend upon my word and -my silence. On leaving the palace to-morrow, you -will find me at whatever place you may appoint.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>We made our arrangements. After which the young -officer observed with a mournful and affectionate air:</p> - -<p class='c010'>“This is a bad piece of business for me, monsieur, -for should I be so unfortunate as to kill you, I believe -I would then kill myself for having placed a man of so -much feeling as yourself in a position, where he must -of necessity stake his life against mine. God grant -that the result may not prove too serious. It will be a -lesson for me. And meanwhile, whatever happens, -bear in mind my repentance, and do not have too poor -an opinion of me. It is too true that the world brings -us up badly, we young men of family. We forget that -the <i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">bourgeoisie</span></i> is as good as we are, and that the time -has come to recognize this fact. Come, give me your -hand now, while we prepare to cut each other’s -throats!”</p> - -<p class='c010'>Madame d’Ionis was to come to town the next day -to be present at the trial. I had received several very -friendly letters from her in which she no longer strove -to influence my sense of duty as a lawyer, and in which -she contented herself with advising me to respect the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_90'>90</span>honor of her relatives, who could not, she said, be -despised or offended without reflecting disgrace upon -herself. It was easy to see that she counted upon her -presence to restrain me, in case I should be carried -away by oratorical fervor.</p> - -<p class='c010'>She was mistaken in thinking that she exercised any -power over me. I was now governed by a higher influence, -by a souvenir of an altogether different nature -than her own.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Again I conversed with my father in the evening -and prevailed upon him to leave me at liberty to take -my own view of the moral side of the affair. He bade -me good-night, saying at the same time in rather a -reproving tone, which I understood no more than I -did his words:</p> - -<p class='c010'>“My dear child, have a care. Madame d’Ionis is -thine oracle I know, but I greatly fear that she is only -making use of thee to advance the interests of another.” -And as he observed my astonishment, he added:</p> - -<p class='c010'>“We will talk that over later on. Think only of -acquitting thyself well to-morrow, and of doing honor -to thy father.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>Just as I was getting into bed, I was surprised to -see a bow of green ribbon pinned to my pillow. I took -it up and felt that it contained a ring; it was the -emerald star which I remembered but as a feverish -dream. This mysterious ring really existed then; it -had been given back to me.</p> - -<p class='c010'>I put it on my finger and touched it a hundred times -to assure myself that I was not the victim of an -illusion; then I took it off and examined it with a care -which I had not been equal to in the Castle of Ionis, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_91'>91</span>and there deciphered this device in very ancient -characters:</p> - -<p class='c010'>“Thy life belongs to me alone.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>Was it a command for me not to fight? Was the -immortal nymph still unwilling for me to rejoin her? -This was a great blow to me, for I was consumed with -a thirst for death, and I had hoped that circumstances -would authorize me to rid myself of life without being -either rebellious or cowardly.</p> - -<p class='c010'>I rang for Baptiste whom I could still hear walking -around the house.</p> - -<p class='c010'>“Come,” said I, “thou must tell me the truth, <i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">mon -ami</span></i>, for thou art an honest man, and my reason is in -thy hands. Who has been here this evening? Who -has put this ring in my room, on my pillow?”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“What ring, monsieur? I have seen no ring.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“But don’t you see it now? Isn’t it on my finger? -Haven’t you already seen it at the château d’Ionis?”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“Certainly, monsieur, I see it and recognize it perfectly. -It is the same one that you lost over there and -that I found between two tiles; but I swear upon my -honor, that I don’t know how it came here, and when -I turned down your bed I saw nothing on your pillow.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“Perhaps thou canst tell me one thing at least, that -I have never dared to ask thee since that fever that -made me delirious for several hours. Who was it that -took this ring away from me at the castle d’Ionis?”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“I know no more than you, monsieur. Seeing that -it was not on your finger I thought you had hidden it—so -that you might not compromise——.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“Whom? Explain thyself.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“<i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Dame</span></i>, monsieur; did not Madame d’Ionis give it -to you?”</p> - -<p class='c010'><span class='pageno' id='Page_92'>92</span>“Certainly not.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“To be sure, monsieur is not bound to tell me. But -it must be she who sent it back to you.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“Hast thou seen any one from her house here -to-day?”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“No, sir, no one. But whoever carried out the -directions, nevertheless, knows the ways of the house.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>As I saw that I would gain nothing by the examination -of material things, I bade Baptiste good-night and -gave myself up to my accustomed reveries. This -affair could no longer be explained naturally. This -ring contained the secret of my destiny. I was grieved -to disobey my immortal nymph, and at the same time -I was happy in thinking that she was keeping her -promise of watching over me.</p> - -<p class='c010'>I did not close my eyes that night. My poor head -was sick as well as my heart. Ought I to disobey the -arbitress of my destiny? Ought I to sacrifice my -honor to her? I was too much involved with M. -d’Aillane to retract my words. At times I entertained -the thought of suicide so that I might escape from the -torment of an existence which I no longer understood, -and then I comforted myself with the idea that this -terrible and delightful device—“Thy life belongs to -me alone”—did not have the same meaning that I -had at first supposed, and I resolved to pay no attention -to it, persuading myself that the maiden would -appear to me at the place of meeting, if she wished to -prevent it.</p> - -<p class='c010'>But why did she not now appear to me in person if -she wished to put an end to my perplexities? I called -upon her with the ardor of despair.</p> - -<p class='c010'>“The trial is too long and too cruel,” said I, “it -<span class='pageno' id='Page_93'>93</span>will cost me my life and my reason. If I must live for -thee, if I belong to thee——.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>A loud rapping at the street door made me tremble. -It was not yet daylight. I was the only one in the -house awake. I dressed myself hurriedly. A second -knock was heard, then came a third, just as I rushed -into the vestibule.</p> - -<p class='c010'>I opened the door all in a tremble. I know not -what connection there was in my mind between this -nocturnal visit and the cause of my anguish; but -whoever the visitor might be, I had a presentiment -that all would now be satisfactorily arranged. And -such proved to be the case, although I could not then -understand the connection with subsequent events that -were soon to extricate me from my position.</p> - -<p class='c010'>The visitor was one of Madame d’Ionis’ servants who -came post haste with a letter for my father or for -myself, as it was addressed to both.</p> - -<p class='c010'>While they were getting up in the house to answer -the summons, I read the following: “Stop the law -suit. I have this moment received and now transmit -to you a serious piece of news which releases you from -your engagements with M. d’Ionis. He is no more. -You will receive the official tidings during the day.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>I carried the letter to my father.</p> - -<p class='c010'>“<i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">À la bonne heure</span></i>!” said he. “This is a fortunate -piece of business for our beautiful client, if this disagreeable -dead man does not leave her too many debts; -a fortunate thing, too, for the d’Aillanes. The court -will lose the opportunity of rendering a fine judgment, -and thou that of making a fine speech. Come—let -us go to sleep again, since there is nothing better -to do.”</p> - -<p class='c010'><span class='pageno' id='Page_94'>94</span>He turned over towards the wall; then called me -back as I was leaving the room.</p> - -<p class='c010'>“My dear child,” said he, “one thing worries my -mind, and that is if you are in love with Madame -d’Ionis, and if she is left penniless”——</p> - -<p class='c010'>“No, no, father,” I cried, “I am not in love with -Madame d’Ionis.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“But you have been? Come, speak the truth, and -that is the cause of this change for the better in thee. -The ambitious tastes which thou hast developed -and the melancholy which worries thy mother so -much.”——</p> - -<p class='c010'>“Certainly,” said my mother, who had been awakened -by the knocking at such an unaccustomed hour, -and who came into the room in her nightcap while we -were talking, “be sincere now, my dear son. You -love this beautiful lady and I even think you are beloved -by her? Well then, confess to your parents.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“I am perfectly willing to confess,” I replied, kissing -my mother. “I was in love with Madame d’Ionis -for two days; but I was cured on the third day.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“Upon your honor?” said my father.</p> - -<p class='c010'>“Upon my honor.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“And the reason for this change?”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“Do not ask me, I cannot tell you.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“I know the reason,” said my father, laughing and -yawning at the same time, “it is because little Madam -d’Ionis and this handsome cousin ‘who doesn’t know -her.’ But this is no time for gossip upon such subjects. -It is only five o’clock, and since my son will -neither make love or make speeches to-day, I intend to -sleep all the morning.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>Relieved from anxiety concerning the duel, I took a -<span class='pageno' id='Page_95'>95</span>little rest. During the day, the news of M. d’Ionis’ -decease, which took place at Vienna fifteen days -before (news did not travel so quickly then as now), -was published in the city, and the suit suspended -in view of a speedy arrangement between the parties -concerned.</p> - -<p class='c010'>In the evening we received a visit from young -d’Aillane. He came to beg my father’s pardon, and -this time I granted it gladly. Notwithstanding the -serious manner in which he spoke of M. d’Ionis’ death, -we could easily see that he concealed his joy with -difficulty. He took supper with us; after which he -followed me into my room.</p> - -<p class='c010'>“My dear friend,” said he, “for you must allow me -to call you such henceforth, I would like to unburden -my heart to you, which overflows in spite of myself. -You do not consider me so interested, I hope, as to -think I am so wild with joy, over the close of this suit. -The secret of my happiness”——</p> - -<p class='c010'>“Don’t speak of it,” said I, “we know it, we have -guessed it.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“And why should I not speak of it to you, who -deserve so much esteem and inspire so much affection? -Do not think that you are a stranger to me. It is now -three months since I have been giving an account of -all your actions and your successes to”——</p> - -<p class='c010'>“To whom, pray?”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“To Madame d’Ionis. She was very anxious about -you for some time after your stay at her house. To -such an extent that I became jealous. She reassured -me on that point, however, by explaining to me that -you were seriously ill there for twenty-four hours.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“Then,” said I, with some anxiety, “as she has no -<span class='pageno' id='Page_96'>96</span>secrets from you, she must have told you the cause of -those hours of delirium?”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“Yes, don’t worry yourself about it; she has told -me everything, and without either of us thinking of -making light of it. On the contrary, we were very -sad over it, and Madame d’Ionis reproached herself for -allowing you to tamper with certain ideas of a dangerous -nature. All that I know about it myself, is that -though I may swear like a trooper that I do not -believe in the green ladies, I would never have had -sufficient courage to summon them a second time. -And, besides, if they had appeared I would have certainly -broken everything in the room, and you whom -I so stupidly irritated yesterday, your bravery, as -regards supernatural affairs, far excels my curiosity.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>This amiable youth, who was then on leave of -absence came to see me every day, and we soon grew -very intimate. He could not show himself yet at the -château d’Ionis, and he awaited with impatience the -time when his beloved and beautiful cousin would -permit him to present himself, after she had consecrated -the first period of mourning, <i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">aux convenances</span></i>. -He would have preferred taking up his abode in some -town nearer her residence, but she had forbidden him -to do so in due form, unwilling to rely upon the prudence -of a <i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">fiancé</span></i> so much in love.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Besides, he said that he had business at Angers, -although he could not explain what it was, and he did -not appear to interest himself much in it, as he passed -all his time with me.</p> - -<p class='c010'>He told me all about his love affair with Madame -d’Ionis. They had been destined for each other and -their love had been mutual from infancy. Caroline -<span class='pageno' id='Page_97'>97</span>had been sacrificed to ambition and placed in a convent -to break up their intimacy. They had seen each other -secretly before and since her marriage with M. -d’Ionis. The young captain did not consider himself -bound to make any mystery of it, as their relations -had been always of a perfectly pure nature.</p> - -<p class='c010'>“Had it been otherwise,” said he, “I would not be -quite so confiding.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>His confidences, which I had at first repelled, ended -by winning me over. His was one of those frank and -open natures which no one could resist. He questioned -me persistently, and seemed to understand the -art of doing so without appearing either curious or -importunate. You could not help feeling that he was -really interested in you, and that he wished those -whom he loved to be as happy as himself.</p> - -<p class='c010'>I allowed myself then to go as far as to tell him the -whole of my story, and even to confess the strange -passion that dominated me. He listened to me very -seriously and assured me he saw nothing absurd in my -love. Instead of trying to make me forget it, he -advised me to complete the task I had set myself of -becoming a good and worthy man.</p> - -<p class='c010'>“When you have accomplished this,” said he, -“either some miracle will happen to you, or rather -your mind, no longer perturbed, will recognize that it -has wandered in pursuit of some sweet chimera; some -still sweeter reality will then replace it, and your virtues -as well as your talents will none the less prove -blessings of inestimable value.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“Never,” I replied, “I will never love another than -the heroine of my dream.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>And in order to prove to him how all my thoughts -<span class='pageno' id='Page_98'>98</span>were absorbed, I showed him the verses and prose that -I had written under the empire of this exclusive -passion. He read and reread them with the frank -enthusiasm of friendship. Had I been willing to -accept his decision, I would have thought myself a -great poet. He soon knew the best pieces in my collection -by heart, and recited them to me with fervor, -in our walks to the old castle of Angers and in the -charming environs of the city. I resisted his desire -that they should be printed. I could make verses for -my own pleasure and for the relief of my troubled -soul, but it would not answer for me to seek the -renown of a poet. At that period, and among the -people with whom I lived, it would have cast great -discredit upon my profession.</p> - -<p class='c010'>At last the day came when he was allowed to make -his appearance at the château d’Ionis, which Caroline -had never left during the three months of her widowhood. -He received a letter from her and read me the -postscript. I was invited to accompany him in terms -at once ceremonious and affectionate.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_99'>99</span> - <h2 class='c005'>CHAPTER VI.<br> <span class='large'><span class='sc'>Conclusion.</span></span></h2> -</div> - -<p class='drop-capa0_0_6 c006'>We reached our destination on an evening in -December. The ground was covered with -snow, and the sun was setting in superbly shaded -violet clouds, but with an air of melancholy. I did -not wish to interfere with the first effusions of two -lovers’ hearts, and so ordered Bernard to precede me -to the château. Besides, I needed the sole companionship -of my thoughts for the first few moments. It was -not without a great emotion that I again beheld the -spot where I had lived centuries in the space of three -days.</p> - -<p class='c010'>I threw Baptiste the reins of my horse, and he proceeded -towards the stables, while I went in alone -through one of the small doors of the park.</p> - -<p class='c010'>This beautiful spot, stripped of its flowers and verdure, -had now a grander character. From the sombre -pines, frosty showers fell upon my head, and the -branches of the old lindens, clad in ice formed delicate -arcades of crystal, above the arbor of the alleys. One -might have thought them the naves of a gigantic -cathedral offering all the caprices of an unknown and -fantastic architecture. But I again found Spring in -the rotunda of the library. They had separated it from -the contiguous galleries by fitting the arches with -<span class='pageno' id='Page_100'>100</span>glass windows, so as to make a sort of temperate hothouse. -The waters of the fountain still murmured -amid exotics that were even more beautiful than those -I had seen before, and this flowing water, whilst without -all sources slept enchained in ice, delighted alike -the eye and ear.</p> - -<p class='c010'>It was with some difficulty that I decided to look at -the Naiad. I found her less beautiful than the memory -left me of her whose form and features she recalled. -Then, gradually, I began to admire and love it, as one -cherishes a portrait which in general appearance and -in some of the features at least, resembles a beloved -one. My feelings had been contained and over excited -for so long a time that I burst into tears and, overwhelmed -with emotion, remained seated on the spot -where I had beheld one whom I no longer hoped to -see.</p> - -<p class='c010'>The sound of a silken robe caused me to raise my -head, and I saw before me a very tall and slender -woman, but of most graceful mien, who regarded me -anxiously. For an instant I confounded her with my -vision, but the darkness which was rapidly advancing -prevented me from clearly distinguishing her face, and -besides a woman in panniers and furbelows so little -resembles a nymph of the renaissance, that my -illusions were quickly dispelled, and I arose to salute -her simply as a mortal.</p> - -<p class='c010'>She also bowed, hesitated for an instant to address -me, then decided to do so, and I trembled at the sound -of her voice which penetrated to the very core of my -being. ’Twas the silvery voice, the voice without its -equal upon earth, of the divinity. And I was dumb -and incapable of replying. As when in the presence -<span class='pageno' id='Page_101'>101</span>of my immortal nymph, I was too bewildered to understand -what she was saying.</p> - -<p class='c010'>She seemed greatly embarrassed by my silence, -and I made an effort to shake off this absurd stupor. -She asked me if I were not M. Just Nivières.</p> - -<p class='c010'>“Yes, madame,” I at last answered. “I beg of -you to pardon my preoccupation. I was a little indisposed, -I was dozing.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“No,” replied she with adorable sweetness, “you -were weeping! That was what drew me here from -the gallery where I was awaiting the signal of my -brother’s arrival.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“Your brother?”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“Yes, your friend, Bernard d’Aillane.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“So you are Mademoiselle d’Aillane?”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“Félicie d’Aillane, and I dare affirm your friend -also, although you do not know me and I am seeing -you for the first time. But the high opinion my -brother has of you and all that he has written about -you have caused me to feel a sincere interest in you. -So it was with real sorrow and anxiety that I heard -you sobbing. <i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Mon dieu!</span></i> I hope that you are not -grieving over any family affliction; if your worthy -parents of whom I have also heard so much good, -were in trouble, you would not be here.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“Thank God,” I replied, “I have no cause to distress -myself about any of those dear to me, and the -personal grief that I experienced just now was dispelled -by the sound of your voice, by the sweet words -you have spoken. But how does it happen that having -such a sister as you, Bernard should never have -mentioned it?”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“Bernard is absorbed by an affection of which I am -<span class='pageno' id='Page_102'>102</span>not in the least jealous, and that I very well understand, -for madame is a tender sister to me. But did -you not come with him, and how is it that I find you -here alone and unannounced?”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“Bernard went on before me.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“Ah! I understand. Well, let us leave them -together a little longer; they have so much to say to -each other, and their attachment is so noble, so -fraternal, and of such long standing. But come by the -fire in the library, for it is rather chilly here.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>I saw that she did not think it proper to remain -with me in the dark, and I followed her regretfully. -I feared to see her face, for her voice deluded me into -the belief that my immortal nymph was stopping to -converse in common language with me, on details that -concerned the world of the living.</p> - -<p class='c010'>There was a fire and light in the library, and I could -then see her features, which were marvelously beautiful -and which in a vague fashion recalled those that -I had thought well fixed in my mind. But while -scrutinizing them as closely as politeness would -permit, I realized that the three images of the Naiad, -the phantom and that of Mademoiselle d’Aillane were -so confused in my mind, that it was impossible for me -to separate them so as to render to each one the admiration -that was its due. It was the same type, of that -I was very sure; but I could no longer decide what -constituted the difference, and I perceived with fear -this uncertainty of my memory in regard to the -sublime apparition. I had brooded over it too much. -I had put too much faith in seeing it again. It no -longer appeared to me save through a cloud.</p> - -<p class='c010'>And then, after several moments, I forgot my -<span class='pageno' id='Page_103'>103</span>anguish in the sole contemplation of Mademoiselle -d’Aillane, beautiful as the purest and most elegant of -Diana’s nymphs, and as frankly affectionate with me -as a child who confides in a sympathetic face. There -was, so to speak, a shining purity about her, an adorable -expansion of heart without the least thought of -coquetry; and no trace whatever of the always rather -reserved manners that a young girl of quality was in -the habit of observing when conversing with a <i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">bourgeois</span></i>. -It seemed as if I were a relative, a friend of her -childhood with whom she was renewing her acquaintance -after a separation of several years. Her limpid -gaze was not at all like the concentrated fire of -Madame d’Ionis. It was a serene light like that of the -stars. Impressionable and nervous as I had become -in consequence of so many exciting vigils, I felt rejuvenated, -rested, and deliciously refreshed under this -benign influence. She conversed without art, and -without pretention, but with a natural distinction and -clearness of judgment which evinced a moral education -far above what was then regarded as sufficient for -women of her rank. She had none of their prejudices, -and it was with angelic good faith and even with a -certain generous childish enthusiasm that she accepted -the conquests of the philosophical mind that was -drawing us, without our knowledge, towards a new -era.</p> - -<p class='c010'>But above all she possessed an irresistible charm of -sweetness, and I at once succumbed to its influence -without a struggle. Without remembering that in the -secrecy of my soul, I had pronounced a sort of monastic -vow which consecrated me to the worship of an -impalpable ideal.</p> - -<p class='c010'><span class='pageno' id='Page_104'>104</span>She spoke openly of the joys and sorrows of her -family, of the part that I had played in the events of -these latter days, and of the gratitude that she considered -she owed me for the way in which I had -spoken to Bernard of her father’s honor.</p> - -<p class='c010'>“Since you know all these things then, you ought -to appreciate all it has cost me to take sides against -you.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“I know everything,” said she, “even about the -duel that you came near having with my brother. -<i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Hélas!</span></i> he was entirely in the wrong, but he is of a -nature that rises after committing a mistake, and his -esteem for you dates from that time. My father, -whose affairs have kept him in Paris all this time, will -soon be here, and longs to tell you that henceforth he -looks on you as one of his own children. You will -like him, I am sure; he is a man of superior mind and -of corresponding character.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>As she spoke thus, the noise of a carriage and the -barking of dogs without caused her to start from her -chair.</p> - -<p class='c010'>“It is he!” she cried, “I will wager it is he who -is coming! Come with me to meet him.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>I followed her, much excited. She had put the -candlestick in my hand and had run before me, so -slight and lissome was she, that no sculptor could -have conceived a purer ideal of nymph or goddess. I -was already accustomed to seeing this ideal creature, -costumed in the fashion of the day. Besides her -toilette was of an exquisite taste and simplicity. I -fancied I could even trace a symbolical resemblance in -the color of her changeable silk dress, which was -creamy white, with shadows of delicate green.</p> - -<p class='c010'><span class='pageno' id='Page_105'>105</span>“Here is M. Nivières,” said she, presenting me to -her father, when she had joyfully embraced him.</p> - -<p class='c010'>“Ah, ah!” he replied in a tone that seemed strange -to me, and that would have troubled me, had he not -at once come towards me, stretching out both hands -with a cordiality no less surprising, “do not be astonished -at my pleasure in seeing you, you are the friend -of my son, consequently my own, and I know your -value through him.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>Madame d’Ionis and Bernard now ran forward; -I found Caroline beautified by happiness. Some -moments afterwards we all met again at the table, with -the abbé Lamyre, who had arrived that morning, and -the good Zéphyrine, who had closed the eyes of the -dowager d’Ionis several weeks before, and who wore -mourning like everyone else in the house. The -d’Aillanes not being related to the d’Ionis, except by -marriage, could dispense with a formality that would -have seemed only an act of hypocrisy on their part.</p> - -<p class='c010'>The supper was not lively. They were forced to -abstain from gayety and expansiveness before the -servants, and Madame d’Ionis realized so well the -exigencies of her situation, that she restrained herself -without effort and kept her guests up to the same -pitch. The hardest person to silence was the abbé -Lamyre; he could not resist his habit of humming -two or three couplets, in the style of a philosophical -<i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">résumé</span></i>, during the conversation.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Notwithstanding this sort of constraint, joy and love -were in the air of this household, where no one could -reasonably regret M. d’Ionis, and where the contracted -ideas, and shallowness of the dowager’s heart had left -a very small vacancy. We inhaled a perfume of hope -<span class='pageno' id='Page_106'>106</span>and of delicate tenderness which penetrated my very -soul, and which I wondered did not sadden me—I, who -was betrothed to eternal solitude.</p> - -<p class='c010'>It was true that since my intimacy with Bernard I -had made rapid strides towards recovery. His character -was so enterprising that, in spite of myself, he had -snatched me from my mournful reflections; and in possessing -himself of my secret he had also released me -from the fatal influence which was drawing me to a -separation from all other ties.</p> - -<p class='c010'>“A secret without a confidant is a mortal illness,” -he had said, and he had listened to all my vagaries, -without appearing to perceive my madness; sometimes -he had seemed to share it, sometimes he had -skillfully suggested doubts that had won me over -to his way of thinking. I had come to think, a greater -part of the time, that were it not for the inexplicable -fact of the ring, my imagination alone was responsible -for all my fantastic adventures.</p> - -<p class='c010'>I found in M. d’Aillane all the superiority of heart -and mind that his children had spoken of. He evinced -a sympathy for me, to which I responded with all my -soul.</p> - -<p class='c010'>We separated as late as possible. As for myself, -when twelve o’clock struck and Madame d’Ionis gave -the signal for a general good evening, I experienced a -sensation of grief as if I had fallen from delicious -dreams into sombre reality. I had for so long a time -reversed the order of life, regarding it as a dream, and -dreams as waking, that the dread of being again alone -was actually a terrible shock, and thoroughly unnerved -me.</p> - -<p class='c010'>I certainly did not as yet wish to admit that I could -<span class='pageno' id='Page_107'>107</span>love another; but it was certain that without thinking -myself in love with Mademoiselle d’Aillane, I had an -extraordinarily friendly feeling for her. I had observed -her very carefully when she was not addressing me, -and the more familiar I grew with her beauty, which -was of an uncommon order, the more I was assured -that I again experienced the same sensations awakened -by the adorable phantom; only this was a gentler -fascination and imparted a wonderful sense of spiritual -bliss. That clear countenance inspired absolute confidence -and a sentiment of tranquil ardor resembling -faith.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Bernard, who had no more idea of going to sleep -than myself, talked with me until two o’clock in the -morning. We had lodged in the same room, no longer -“<i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">la chambre aux dames</span></i>” nor even the one where I -had been ill, but a pretty apartment decorated in the -style of Boucher, with the rosiest and gayest of -designs. There had been no more question of the -green ladies than if we had never heard them mentioned. -While Bernard was talking to me about his -dear Caroline, he asked me what opinion I had formed -of his dear Félicie. At first I did not know how to -answer him. I feared to say too much or too little. I -evaded the question by asking him, in my turn, why -he had spoken to me so little of her.</p> - -<p class='c010'>“Is it possible,” I said, “that you like her less -than she likes you?”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“I would be a strange animal,” he replied, “if I -did not adore my sister. But you were so taken up -with certain ideas, that you would not even have listened -to my praises of her. And then, situated as we -were at that time, my sister and myself, it would not -<span class='pageno' id='Page_108'>108</span>have looked very well for me to appear as if I were -proposing her to you.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“And how could you have had the appearance of -doing me such an honor.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“Ah! because a singular fact exists that I have -been many times on the point of mentioning to you -and that you must have certainly already remarked, -the surprising resemblance between Félicie and the -nymph of Jean Goujon whom you were so much in -love with as to bestow its features upon your phantom.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“Then I was not mistaken,” I exclaimed, “mademoiselle -is a beautiful counterpart of this statue.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“Beautiful! thank you for her. But you see that -you are impressed by this resemblance; and that is the -reason why I refrained from mentioning it beforehand.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“I understand, you feared suggesting pretensions—that -I cannot indulge in.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“I feared to be the means of your falling in love -with a young person who could not aspire to a union -with yourself; and that is all I feared. As long as -the state of Madame d’Ionis’ fortune is not known, we -must consider ourselves poor. Your father and mine -fear that her husband has left nothing, and that in -appointing her universal legatee, he has only made -her the victim of a bad joke. In that case we will -never accept the little fortune that she wishes to give -up to us, and to which our rights may be disputed, as -you well know. I shall marry her all the same, since -we love each other, but I will not allow her to bestow -the smallest piece of property upon me in this contract. -Then, my sister, without any dowry whatever—for my -wife will not be rich enough to give her one, and -<span class='pageno' id='Page_109'>109</span>Félicie will never permit her to inconvenience herself -on her account—is resolved to become a nun.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“A nun, she? Never! Bernard, you must never -consent to such a sacrifice.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“Why not, my dear friend?” said he, with a feeling -of sadness and pride that I could well understand. -“My sister has been brought up with this idea, and she -has always shown a taste for seclusion.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“You mustn’t think of such a thing! It is impossible -for one so accomplished not to condescend to -constitute the happiness of some honest man; it is -still more impossible that no such honest man should -be found who would beg her to bestow this happiness -upon him!”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“I do not say that such may not be the case. That -is a question that the future will solve, and should -Madame d’Ionis have some money, I would not put -any obstacles in the way of her giving my sister a -dowry, modest but sufficient for the simplicity of her -tastes. Only, we know nothing as yet, and in any -case it would come with very bad grace from me, to -say to you, ‘I have a charming sister, who embodies -your ideal.’ That would have been as much as to say, -‘Think about it.’ It would have been throwing a -girl at your head who was much too proud ever to -consent to enter any family richer than her own, by -means of a young poet’s exaltation. Now, what I -then thought, I still think, and I beg of you seriously -my dear friend, not to lay too much stress upon my -sister’s resemblance to the Naiad.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>I was silent for a moment; then feeling, in spite of -myself, that this warning troubled me more than I -could have believed, I said with brusque sincerity:</p> - -<p class='c010'><span class='pageno' id='Page_110'>110</span>“Why then, my dear Bernard, did you bring me -here?”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“Because I thought my sister had left. She was to -have rejoined my father at Tours, and he was not -expected here for a fortnight. Events have frustrated -my plans. I am none the less easy on my sister’s -account, knowing what kind of a man you are.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“Are you as easy on my account, Bernard?” said -I, in a reproachful tone.</p> - -<p class='c010'>“Yes,” he replied, with some emotion, “I am easy -because you have sufficient strength of mind to say to -yourself, this: A girl of heart and of worth has a -right to be sued for by a man whose heart is free, and -she would not feel much flattered some day to discover -that she only owed this distinction to a chance resemblance.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>I so well understood this answer that I added no -more, and I resolved not to look too much at Mademoiselle -d’Aillane, lest I should deceive myself. I -even determined to go away, lest I should end by -being too much disturbed by this fatal resemblance, -and my fears were justified on the following day.</p> - -<p class='c010'>I felt that I was falling frantically in love with -Mademoiselle d’Aillane, that the vision of the Naiad -was fading in her presence, and that Bernard perceived -the fact with anxiety.</p> - -<p class='c010'>I took my leave, pretending that my father had only -allowed me twenty-four hours liberty. I had decided -to open my heart to my parents, and to ask their permission -to offer my soul and life to Mademoiselle -d’Aillane. I did so, with the greatest sincerity. The -recital of my past sufferings made my father laugh and -my mother weep. However, when I had thoroughly -<span class='pageno' id='Page_111'>111</span>described the state of despair, into which at times I -had fallen, and which had made me contemplate the -idea of suicide with a species of rapture, my father -grew serious again, and cried, while he looked at my -mother:</p> - -<p class='c010'>“So, here is a child who has been a victim of monomania -under our very eyes, and we never suspected it! -And you thought, <i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">mamie</span></i>, that he was hiding his -flame for the beautiful d’Ionis who is so thoroughly -alive, while he was wasting away for the beautiful -d’Ionis who is dead, if it so be that she ever lived! -Truly strange things come to pass in poets’ brains, -and I was perfectly right to mistrust this devilish poetry -from the very first. Well, let us give thanks to -the beautiful d’Aillane who resembles the Naiad and -who has cured our madman. We must marry him at -any cost, and we must ask for her at once, before it is -known whether she will have a dowry, for should such -be the case she will consider herself too grand a lady -to marry a lawyer. Why the deuce didn’t Madame -d’Ionis confide the case of the liquidation to me? We -would know how to act better than this old Parisian -lawyer, who won’t get through with it in six months. -Do they ever really work in Paris? They mix themselves -up in politics and neglect their business.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>The following day, my father and I returned to -Ionis. Our request was submitted to M. d’Aillane, -who began by embracing me, after which he gave his -hand to my father and said, with an air of thoroughly -chivalric frankness:</p> - -<p class='c010'>“Yes, <em>and thank you</em>!”</p> - -<p class='c010'>I threw myself again into his arms and he added:</p> - -<p class='c010'>“Wait, however, until my daughter consents, for -<span class='pageno' id='Page_112'>112</span>above all I desire her happiness. As to myself, I give -her to you without knowing whether she will be rich -enough for you; for if she should be, I have decided -that you are noble enough for her. You are incurring -every risk. <i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Eh bien, mordieu!</span></i> I wish to do as much -and not fall behind the example you set me. You -have no ambition for money, and for my part I have -no prejudices in favor of nobility. So we both agree. -I have your word and you have mine. Only I insist -upon my daughter deciding the matter. And my dear -M. Nivières, you must allow your son to pay his own -addresses, for his love is so recent, that it depends -upon him to prove its sincerity. As to his character -and his talents, with those we are familiar, and there -can be no objections on that score.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>I was thus allowed to become a constant visitor at -the château d’Ionis, and this was, as regards the past, -the happiest time of my life. I loved, under the -ordinary conditions of life, a being above the ordinary -region of life, an angel of goodness, of sweetness, of -intelligence and of ideal beauty.</p> - -<p class='c010'>She did not leave me without hope and freely -expressed her esteem and sympathy for me, but when -I spoke of love, she seemed doubtful.</p> - -<p class='c010'>“Do not deceive yourself,” said she, “have you -never loved, before you met me, and more than you -loved me, a certain lady whose name my brother has -refused to tell me?”</p> - -<p class='c010'>One day she said to me:</p> - -<p class='c010'>“Do you not wear on your finger, a certain ring -that you regard as a talisman, and if I were to ask -you to throw it into the fountain, would you obey -me?”</p> - -<p class='c010'><span class='pageno' id='Page_113'>113</span>“Certainly not,” I exclaimed, “I will never part -with it, for it was you who gave it to me.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“I, what do you mean by that?”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“Yes, it was you, do not try to conceal it any -longer. It was you who enacted the role of the green -lady to please Madame d’Ionis, who wished through -you to pronounce her own ruin, and who thought she -had found in me the person ‘worthy of belief,’ whose -testimony her husband required. It was you who, -yielding to her idea, appeared before me in fantastical -guise, and prescribed my duty in conformity with your -delicacy and pride of soul.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“Well, yes, it was I!” she said. “It was I who -came near destroying your reason, and who repented -bitterly on learning too late, how much you had -suffered from this romantic adventure. Once before -they had tried you in a ghost scene, with which I had -nothing to do. When they saw how brave you were, -more courageous than the abbé Lamyre, upon whom -Caroline had played a similar trick, to amuse herself, -they thought they could treat you to an apparition, in -which there would be nothing very terrifying. I happened -to be here, secretly, as the dowager d’Ionis would -not willingly have suffered my presence. Caroline, -struck with my resemblance to the nymph of the fountain, -conceived the idea of arranging my hair and dressing -me in a similar style so that I should deliver my -oracle in due form. Although the dictum was not such -as she desired, it was nevertheless one that you have -obeyed religiously, in not forgetting the care of our -honor for a single moment. I left the next morning, -and they kept me in ignorance of the fact that you had -been seriously ill here, owing to this apparition. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_114'>114</span>After your quarrel with Bernard, I was at Angers, and -it was I who sent you the ring that I caused you to -find in your room. This episode was due to Madame -d’Ionis, who had two very old rings exactly alike, and -who had previously arranged everything to carry out -the romance. It was she who took it away from you -during your fever, fearing that you should be too -much excited by this appearance of reality, and preferring -that you should think it all a dream.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“And I never thought so, never! But how did it -happen that you regained possession of this ring that -was not your own?”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“Caroline had given it to me,” said she, blushing, -“because I thought it pretty.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>Then she hastened to add:</p> - -<p class='c010'>“When Bernard had won your confidence, I learned -at last by what sad experiences and virtuous deeds -you deserved to again behold the green lady. I then -resolved to be your sister and your friend, in order to -repair by the devotion of a life-time, an act of imprudence -into which I had allowed myself to be drawn, -and thus to compensate for the trouble I had caused -you. I never expected to please you as much by daylight, -as by the light of the moon. Well, since such -is the case, know that you have not been the only -unhappy one, and that”——</p> - -<p class='c010'>“Go on,” I exclaimed, falling at her feet.</p> - -<p class='c010'>“Well, well,” said she, blushing still more, and -lowering her voice, although we were alone by the -fountain, “know that I have been punished for my -temerity. On that day I was but a merry, unthinking -child, my part came very easily to me; and my <em>two -sisters</em>, Bernard, and the abbé Lamyre, who were -<span class='pageno' id='Page_115'>115</span>listening behind these rocks, thought that I displayed -a gravity of which they would not have deemed me -capable. The truth was that in looking at you, and -listening to you, I was suddenly seized with an -indescribable vertigo. To begin with, I imagined that -I was really dead. Destined for the cloister, I spoke -to you as a being already set apart from the world of -the living. I lost myself in my part, and I felt that I -was becoming interested in you. You addressed me -with a passion that penetrated my very soul. If you -could see my face, I also could see yours—and when I -reentered my convent, I feared the vows that I was -about to assume, and I felt that while I had tampered -with your liberty, I had yielded and lost my own.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>As she spoke thus to me, she grew animated. The -shrinking modesty of her first avowal had given place -to a burst of enthusiastic confidence, she entwined my -head in her beautiful, long, supple arms and kissed -my forehead saying:</p> - -<p class='c010'>“I had promised you solemnly that you should see -me again, and I was broken-hearted when I made it, -for I feared I could never keep it; and still, something -divine, a voice from heaven whispered in my ear—‘Hope, -for thou lovest!’”</p> - -<p class='c010'>We were united the following month. The settlement -of the affairs of Madame d’Ionis (who had now -become Madame d’Aillane) was not yet terminated, -when the Revolution broke out, which put an end to -all contesting on the part of her husband’s creditors, -until a new order of things should be established. -After the “Terror,” she found herself in easy circumstances, -but not wealthy; I then had the joy and pride -of being the sole support of my wife. The beautiful -<span class='pageno' id='Page_116'>116</span>château d’Ionis was sold, and the grounds cut up. -Some peasants, blinded by a stupid patriotism, had -broken the fountain, taking it for the bathing-place of -a queen.</p> - -<p class='c010'>One day they brought me the head and an arm of -the Naiad, which I bought of the mutilator and which -I still preserve religiously. But what no one had been -able to destroy, was my domestic happiness; and what -had withstood, and will continue to withstand all -political tempests, unchangeable and pure, is my love -for the most beautiful and best of women.</p> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c002'> - <div><span class='small'>FINIS.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c003'> -</div> -<div class='tnotes x-ebookmaker'> - -<div class='chapter ph2'> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c004'> - <div>TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES</div> - </div> -</div> - -</div> - - <ol class='ol_1 c002'> - <li>Silently corrected obvious typographical errors and variations in spelling. - - </li> - <li>Retained archaic, non-standard, and uncertain spellings as printed. - </li> - </ol> - -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin-top:4em'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE NAIAD ***</div> -<div style='text-align:left'> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Updated editions will replace the previous one—the old editions will -be renamed. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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