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第61章

modeste mignon-第61章

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  you; demanded it。 What care I for all the women on earth;

  compared to you; what are they?



  The people with whom I pass my time; and who form the circle round

  the heiress; are so thoroughly bourgeois that they almost turn my

  stomach。 Pity me; imagine! I pass my evenings with notaries;

  notaresses; cashiers; provincial money…lendersah! what a change

  from my evenings in the rue de Grenelle。 The alleged fortune of

  the father; lately returned from China; has brought to Havre that

  indefatigable suitor; the grand equerry; hungry after the

  millions; which he wants; they say; to drain his marshes。 The king

  does not know what a fatal present he made the duke in those waste

  lands。 His Grace; who has not yet found out that the lady had only

  a small fortune; is jealous of ME; for La Briere is quietly making

  progress with his idol under cover of his friend; who serves as a

  blind。



  Notwithstanding Ernest's romantic ecstasies; I myself; a poet;

  think chiefly of the essential thing; and I have been making some

  inquiries which darken the prospects of our friend。 If my angel

  would like absolution for some of our little sins; she will try to

  find out the facts of the case by sending for Mongenod; the

  banker; and questioning him; with the dexterity that characterizes

  her; as to the father's fortune? Monsieur Mignon; formerly colonel

  of cavalry in the Imperial guard; has been for the last seven

  years a correspondent of the Mongenods。 It is said that he gives

  his daughter a 〃dot〃 of two hundred thousand francs; and before I

  make the offer on Ernest's behalf I am anxious to get the rights

  of the story。 As soon as the affair is arranged I shall return to

  Paris。 I know a way to settle everything to the advantage of our

  young lover;simply by the transmission of the father…in…law's

  title; and no one; I think; can more readily obtain that favor

  than Ernest; both on account of his own services and the influence

  which you and I and the duke can exert for him。 With his tastes;

  Ernest; who of course will step into my office when I go to Baden;

  will be perfectly happy in Paris with twenty…five thousand francs

  a year; a permanent place; and a wifeluckless fellow!



  Ah; dearest; how I long for the rue de Grenelle! Fifteen days of

  absence! when they do not kill love; they revive all the ardor of

  its earlier days; and you know; better than I; perhaps; the

  reasons that make my love eternal;my bones will love thee in the

  grave! Ah! I cannot bear this separation。 If I am forced to stay

  here another ten days; I shall make a flying visit of a few hours

  to Paris。



  Has the duke obtained for me the thing we wanted; and shall you;

  my dearest life; be ordered to drink the Baden waters next year?

  The billing and cooing of the 〃handsome disconsolate;〃 compared

  with the accents of our happy loveso true and changeless for now

  ten years!have given me a great contempt for marriage。 I had

  never seen the thing so near。 Ah; dearest! what the world calls a

  〃false step〃 brings two beings nearer together than the lawdoes

  it not?



The concluding idea served as a text for two pages of reminiscences

and aspirations a little too confidential for publication。



The evening before the day on which Canalis put the above epistle into

the post; Butscha; under the name of Jean Jacmin; had received a

letter from his fictitious cousin; Philoxene; and had mailed his

answer; which thus preceded the letter of the poet by about twelve

hours。 Terribly anxious for the last two weeks; and wounded by

Melchior's silence; the duchess herself dictated Philoxene's letter to

her cousin; and the moment she had read the answer; rather too

explicit for her quinquagenary vanity; she sent for the banker and

made close inquiries as to the exact fortune of Monsieur Mignon。

Finding herself betrayed and abandoned for the millions; Eleonore gave

way to a paroxysm of anger; hatred; and cold vindictiveness。 Philoxene

knocked at the door of the sumptuous room; and entering found her

mistress with her eyes full of tears;so unprecedented a phenomenon

in the fifteen years she had waited upon her that the woman stopped

short stupefied。



〃We expiate the happiness of ten years in ten minutes;〃 she heard the

duchess say。



〃A letter from Havre; madame。〃



Eleonore read the poet's prose without noticing the presence of

Philoxene; whose amazement became still greater when she saw the dawn

of fresh serenity on the duchess's face as she read further and

further into the letter。 Hold out a pole no thicker than a walking…

stick to a drowning man; and he will think it a high…road of safety。

The happy Eleonore believed in Canalis's good faith when she had read

through the four pages in which love and business; falsehood and

truth; jostled each other。 She who; a few moments earlier; had sent

for her husband to prevent Melchior's appointment while there was

still time; was now seized with a spirit of generosity that amounted

almost to the sublime。



〃Poor fellow!〃 she thought; 〃he has not had one faithless thought; he

loves me as he did on the first day; he tells me allPhiloxene!〃 she

cried; noticing her maid; who was standing near and pretending to

arrange the toilet…table。



〃Madame la duchesse?〃



〃A mirror; child!〃



Eleonore looked at herself; saw the fine razor…like lines traced on

her brow; which disappeared at a little distance; she sighed; and in

that sigh she felt she bade adieu to love。 A brave thought came into

her mind; a manly thought; outside of all the pettiness of women;a

thought which intoxicates for a moment; and which explains; perhaps;

the clemency of the Semiramis of Russia when she married her young and

beautiful rival to Momonoff。



〃Since he has not been faithless; he shall have the girl and her

millions;〃 she thought;〃provided Mademoiselle Mignon is as ugly as

he says she is。〃



Three raps; circumspectly given; announced the duke; and his wife went

herself to the door to let him in。



〃Ah! I see you are better; my dear;〃 he cried; with the counterfeit

joy that courtiers assume so readily; and by which fools are so

readily taken in。



〃My dear Henri;〃 she answered; 〃why is it you have not yet obtained

that appointment for Melchior;you who sacrificed so much to the king

in taking a ministry which you knew could only last one year。〃



The duke glanced at Philoxene; who showed him by an almost

imperceptible sign the letter from Havre on the dressing…table。



〃You would be terribly bored at Baden and come back at daggers drawn

with Melchior;〃 said the duke。



〃Pray why?〃



〃Why; you would always be together;〃 said the former diplomat; with

comic good…humor。



〃Oh; no;〃 she said; 〃I am going to marry him。〃



〃If we can believe d'Herouville; our dear Canalis stands in no need of

your help in that direction;〃 said the duke; smiling。 〃Yesterday

Grandlieu read me some passages from a letter the grand equerry had

written him。 No doubt they were dictated by the aunt for the express

purpose of their reaching you; for Mademoiselle d'Herouville; always

on the scent of a 'dot;' knows that Grandlieu and I play whist nearly

every evening。 That good little d'Herouville wants the Prince de

Cadignan to go down and give a royal hunt in Normandy; and endeavor to

persuade the king to be present; so as to turn the head of the damozel

when she sees herself the object of such a grand affair。 In short; two

words from Charles X。 would settle the matter。 D'Herouville says the

girl has incomparable beauty〃



〃Henri; let us go to Havre!〃 cried the duchess; interrupting him。



〃Under what pretext?〃 said her husband; gravely; he was one of the

confidants of Louis XVIII。



〃I never saw a hunt。〃



〃It would be all very well if the king went; but it is a terrible bore

to go so far; and he will not do it; I have just be

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