sons of the soil-第86章
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a turn of the road a man armed with a gun came from behind a bush。
〃General;〃 he said; 〃this is the third time I have had you at the end
of my barrel; and the third time that I give you your life。〃
〃Why do you want to kill me; Bonnebault?〃 said the general; without
showing the least emotion。
〃Faith; if I don't; somebody else will; but I; you see; I like the men
who served the Emperor; and I can't make up my mind to shoot you like
a partridge。 Don't question me; for I'll tell you nothing; but you've
got enemies; powerful enemies; cleverer than you; and they'll end by
crushing you。 I am to have a thousand crowns if I kill you; and then I
can marry Marie Tonsard。 Well; give me enough to buy a few acres of
land and a bit of a cottage; and I'll keep on saying; as I have done;
that I've found no chances。 That will give you time to sell your
property and get away; but make haste。 I'm an honest lad still; scamp
as I am; but another fellow won't spare you。〃
〃If I give you what you ask; will you tell me who offered you those
three thousand francs?〃 said the general。
〃I don't know myself; and the person who is urging me to do the thing
is some one I love too well to tell of。 Besides; even if you did know
it was Marie Tonsard; that wouldn't help you; Marie Tonsard would be
as silent as that wall; and I should deny every word I've said。〃
〃Come and see me to…morrow;〃 said the general。
〃Enough;〃 replied Bonnebault; 〃and if they begin to say I'm too
dilatory; I'll let you know in time。〃
A week after that singular conversation the whole arrondissement;
indeed the whole department; was covered with posters; advertising the
sale of Les Aigues at the office of Maitre Corbineau; the notary of
Soulanges。 All the lots were knocked down to Rigou; and the price paid
amounted to two millions five hundred thousand francs。 The next day
Rigou had the names changed; Monsieur Gaubertin took the woods; Rigou
and Soudry the vineyards and the farms。 The chateau and the park were
sold over again in small lots among the sons of the soil; the
peasantry;excepting the pavilion; its dependencies; and fifty
surrounding acres; which Monsieur Gaubertin retained as a gift to his
poetic and sentimental spouse。
*
Many years after these events; during the year 1837; one of the most
remarkable political writers of the day; Emile Blondet; reached the
last stages of a poverty which he had so far hidden beneath an outward
appearance of ease and elegance。 He was thinking of taking some
desperate step; realizing; as he did; that his writings; his mind; his
knowledge; his ability for the direction of affairs; had made him
nothing better than a mere functionary; mechanically serving the ends
of others; seeing that every avenue was closed to him and all places
taken; feeling that he had reached middle…life without fame and
without fortune; that fools and middle…class men of no training had
taken the places of the courtiers and incapables of the Restoration;
and that the government was reconstituted such as it was before 1830。
One evening; when he had come very near committing suicide (a folly he
had so often laughed at); while his mind travelled back over his
miserable existence calumniated and worn down with toil far more than
with the dissipations charged against him; the noble and beautiful
face of a woman rose before his eyes; like a statue rising pure and
unbroken amid the saddest ruins。 Just then the porter brought him a
letter sealed with black from the Comtesse de Montcornet; telling him
of the death of her husband; who had again taken service in the army
and commanded a division。 The count had left her his property; and she
had no children。 The letter; though dignified; showed Blondet very
plainly that the woman of forty whom he had loved in his youth offered
him a friendly hand and a large fortune。
A few days ago the marriage of the Comtesse de Montcornet with
Monsieur Blondet; appointed prefect in one of the departments; was
celebrated in Paris。 On their way to take possession of the
prefecture; they followed the road which led past what had formerly
been Les Aigues。 They stopped the carriage near the spot where the two
pavilions had once stood; wishing to see the places so full of tender
memories for each。 The country was no longer recognizable。 The
mysterious woods; the park avenues; all were cleared away; the
landscape looked like a tailor's pattern…card。 The sons of the soil
had taken possession of the earth as victors and conquerors。 It was
cut up into a thousand little lots; and the population had tripled
between Conches and Blangy。 The levelling and cultivation of the noble
park; once so carefully tended; so delightful in its beauty; threw
into isolated relief the pavilion of the Rendezvous; now the Villa
Buen…Retiro of Madame Isaure Gaubertin; it was the only building left
standing; and it commanded the whole landscape; or as we might better
call it; the stretch of cornfields which now constituted the
landscape。 The building seemed magnified into a chateau; so miserable
were the little houses which the peasants had built around it。
〃This is progress!〃 cried Emile。 〃It is a page out of Jean…Jacques'
'Social Compact'! and II am harnessed to the social machine that
works it! Good God! what will the kings be soon? More than that; what
will the nations themselves be fifty years hence under this state of
things?〃
〃But you love me; you are beside me。 I think the present delightful。
What do I care for such a distant future?〃 said his wife。
〃Oh yes! by your side; hurrah for the present!〃 cried the lover;
gayly; 〃and the devil take the future。〃
Then he signed to the coachman; and as the horses sprang forward along
the road; the wedded pair returned to the enjoyment of their
honeymoon。
1845。
End