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第9章

the lily of the valley-第9章

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yielding; the round waist is inflexible and jealous。



You now know how she was made。 She had the foot of a well…bred woman;

the foot that walks little; is quickly tired; and delights the eye

when it peeps beneath the dress。 Though she was the mother of two

children; I have never met any woman so truly a young girl as she。 Her

whole air was one of simplicity; joined to a certain bashful

dreaminess which attracted others; just as a painter arrests our steps

before a figure into which his genius has conveyed a world of

sentiment。 If you recall the pure; wild fragrance of the heath we

gathered on our return from the Villa Diodati; the flower whose tints

of black and rose you praised so warmly; you can fancy how this woman

could be elegant though remote from the social world; natural in

expression; fastidious in all things which became part of herself;in

short; like the heath of mingled colors。 Her body had the freshness we

admire in the unfolding leaf; her spirit the clear conciseness of the

aboriginal mind; she was a child by feeling; grave through suffering;

the mistress of a household; yet a maiden too。 Therefore she charmed

artlessly and unconsciously; by her way of sitting down or rising; of

throwing in a word or keeping silence。 Though habitually collected;

watchful as the sentinel on whom the safety of others depends and who

looks for danger; there were moments when smiles would wreathe her

lips and betray the happy nature buried beneath the saddened bearing

that was the outcome of her life。 Her gift of attraction was

mysterious。 Instead of inspiring the gallant attentions which other

women seek; she made men dream; letting them see her virginal nature

of pure flame; her celestial visions; as we see the azure heavens

through rifts in the clouds。 This involuntary revelation of her being

made others thoughtful。 The rarity of her gestures; above all; the

rarity of her glancesfor; excepting her children; she seldom looked

at any onegave a strange solemnity to all she said and did when her

words or actions seemed to her to compromise her dignity。



On this particular morning Madame de Mortsauf wore a rose…colored gown

patterned in tiny stripes; a collar with a wide hem; a black belt; and

little boots of the same hue。 Her hair was simply twisted round her

head; and held in place by a tortoise…shell comb。 Such; my dear

Natalie; is the imperfect sketch I promised you。 But the constant

emanation of her soul upon her family; that nurturing essence shed in

floods around her as the sun emits its light; her inward nature; her

cheerfulness on days serene; her resignation on stormy ones;all

those variations of expression by which character is displayed depend;

like the effects in the sky; on unexpected and fugitive circumstances;

which have no connection with each other except the background against

which they rest; though all are necessarily mingled with the events of

this history;truly a household epic; as great to the eyes of a wise

man as a tragedy to the eyes of the crowd; an epic in which you will

feel an interest; not only for the part I took in it; but for the

likeness that it bears to the destinies of so vast a number of women。



Everything at Clochegourde bore signs of a truly English cleanliness。

The room in which the countess received us was panelled throughout and

painted in two shades of gray。 The mantelpiece was ornamented with a

clock inserted in a block of mahogany and surmounted with a tazza; and

two large vases of white porcelain with gold lines; which held bunches

of Cape heather。 A lamp was on a pier…table; and a backgammon board on

legs before the fireplace。 Two wide bands of cotton held back the

white cambric curtains; which had no fringe。 The furniture was covered

with gray cotton bound with a green braid; and the tapestry on the

countess's frame told why the upholstery was thus covered。 Such

simplicity rose to grandeur。 No apartment; among all that I have seen

since; has given me such fertile; such teeming impressions as those

that filled my mind in that salon of Clochegourde; calm and composed

as the life of its mistress; where the conventual regularity of her

occupations made itself felt。 The greater part of my ideas in science

or politics; even the boldest of them; were born in that room; as

perfumes emanate from flowers; there grew the mysterious plant that

cast upon my soul its fructifying pollen; there glowed the solar

warmth which developed my good and shrivelled my evil qualities。

Through the windows the eye took in the valley from the heights of

Pont…de…Ruan to the chateau d'Azay; following the windings of the

further shore; picturesquely varied by the towers of Frapesle; the

church; the village; and the old manor…house of Sache; whose venerable

pile looked down upon the meadows。



In harmony with this reposeful life; and without other excitements to

emotion than those arising in the family; this scene conveyed to the

soul its own serenity。 If I had met her there for the first time;

between the count and her two children; instead of seeing her

resplendent in a ball dress; I should not have ravished that delirious

kiss; which now filled me with remorse and with the fear of having

lost the future of my love。 No; in the gloom of my unhappy life I

should have bent my knee and kissed the hem of her garment; wetting it

with tears; and then I might have flung myself into the Indre。 But

having breathed the jasmine perfume of her skin and drunk the milk of

that cup of love; my soul had acquired the knowledge and the hope of

human joys; I would live and await the coming of happiness as the

savage awaits his hour of vengeance; I longed to climb those trees; to

creep among the vines; to float in the river; I wanted the

companionship of night and its silence; I needed lassitude of body; I

craved the heat of the sun to make the eating of the delicious apple

into which I had bitten perfect。 Had she asked of me the singing

flower; the riches buried by the comrades of Morgan the destroyer; I

would have sought them; to obtain those other riches and that mute

flower for which I longed。



When my dream; the dream into which this first contemplation of my

idol plunged me; came to an end and I heard her speaking of Monsieur

de Mortsauf; the thought came that a woman must belong to her husband;

and a raging curiosity possessed me to see the owner of this treasure。

Two emotions filled my mind; hatred and fear;hatred which allowed of

no obstacles and measured all without shrinking; and a vague; but real

fear of the struggle; of its issue; and above all of HER。



〃Here is Monsieur de Mortsauf;〃 she said。



I sprang to my feet like a startled horse。 Though the movement was

seen by Monsieur de Chessel and the countess; neither made any

observation; for a diversion was effected at this moment by the

entrance of a little girl; whom I took to be about six years old; who

came in exclaiming; 〃Here's papa!〃



〃Madeleine?〃 said her mother; gently。



The child at once held out her hand to Monsieur de Chessel; and looked

attentively at me after making a little bow with an air of

astonishment。



〃Are you more satisfied about her health?〃 asked Monsieur de Chessel。



〃She is better;〃 replied the countess; caressing the little head which

was already nestling in her lap。



The next question of Monsieur de Chessel let me know that Madeleine

was nine years old; I showed great surprise; and immediately the

clouds gathered on the mother's brow。 My companion threw me a

significant look;one of those which form the education of men of the

world。 I had stumbled no doubt upon some maternal wound the covering

of which should have been respected。 The sickly child; whose eyes were

pallid and whose skin was white as a porcelain vase with a light

within it; would probably not have lived in the atmosphere of a city。

Country air and her mother's brooding care had kept the life in that

frai

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