Chapter 56 26. Spiritual Love

"This family looks at things with a sort of madness," thought Madame Marshal. "They are all infatuated with the young priest, but he can only listen to what is said with his beautiful eyes." As for Julien, he found an almost perfect example of "aristocratic dignity" in the manners of the marshal's wife; the so-called "noble dignity" is not only meticulous etiquette, but also manifested as a lack of any enthusiasm. .Unexpected behavior, lack of self-discipline, almost as much as condescension, Mrs. Fivager would find it demeaning.In her eyes, even a slight display of emotion would be a "mental gaffe" that would damage the dignity of a superior person and should blush for it.Her greatest pleasure was talking about the King's latest hunt; her favorite book was the "Memoirs" of Duke Saint-Simon's account of the trivial affairs of the palace, especially the trivial chapters on genealogy.

With the help of the light, Julien knew where to sit to enjoy Madame Fivague's graceful and graceful appearance.He took his seat in advance, paying attention to turning the chair, so as to avoid meeting Mathilde face to face.His intentional dodge made the noble daughter very puzzled.One day, he left the blue couch and sat at the small table next to the armchair of the Marshal's wife.Julien looked under the brim of Madame Fivague's hat, and saw Mathilthe close at hand; the sight of those large eyes, which could control his fate, made him shudder.Then he woke up with a start, and instead of the obtuse form of the past, he mustered his tongue like a tongue, and he actually spoke happily.

Julien was addressing Madame Marshal, but with the intention of stimulating Mathilthe's nerves.Julien spoke so gaudyly that at last the wife of the marshal was puzzled. That's a no-brainer.If Julien wanted to add to the icing on the cake, and quoted a few words about German mystical philosophy, profound teachings, and Jesuit teachings, Madame Fivague would immediately classify him as a great man who can restore fashion and be worthy of great responsibility. The list of talents. "Look at his clumsy tongue, and talk with Madame Marshal for so long and so hard that I won't listen to him," Mademoiselle Lamour swore secretly.She did what she said, and in the second half of the time, she really didn't listen to it anymore, although her heart was very itchy.

At midnight she took the candlesticks and sent her mother to the bedroom; Madame Lamour went up to the landing and praised Julien.Madilte became even more angry, and she tossed and turned sleeplessly when she went to bed.Later, relying on this thought, I calmed down: "The thing I look down on, in the eyes of the marshal's wife, is actually a world-class talent!" For Julien, only by running around can the pain be relieved.Fifty-three love letters that Prince Korasov gave him as gifts were stored in folders made of rosompi.Julien's eyes occasionally fell on the folder, and he saw a note at the end of the first letter: "This first letter should be sent within a week after the first meeting."

"Oh! it's overdue," cried Julien. "It's been a long time since I've seen Madame Fivague." He immediately began copying out the first love letter.This text, all moralizing, is boring as hell.As luck would have it, Julien fell asleep on the second page. A few hours later, the strong sunlight woke him up, who was sleeping at his desk.The most uncomfortable moment in his daily life is waking up every morning and re-appreciating his misfortune.But today, he almost finished copying the letter with a smile. "Is there really a fool who writes such a letter?" He asked himself.He counted, and there are quite a few sentences in the nine-line long sentence. He saw that under the original letter, there was a note written in pencil:

This letter should be delivered in person: on a tall horse, in a black tie, and in a blue suit.When handing over to the porter, he had a sad face and gloomy eyes.If you meet a maid in the inner room, make a gesture of quietly wiping away tears.It is advisable to get close to the maid. All of this is done faithfully and faithfully. "It is very bold of me to do so," thought Julien as he came out of the Fivague house. "Krasov is a villain. It is not a small amount of courage to write a love letter to such a Sidley woman! She will go to extremes." Look down on me, but nothing makes me happier than that. In fact, only this kind of nonsense can interest me. Yes, let this annoying person called 'I' suffer It makes me happy to be ridiculed! According to my mind, I can even commit crimes just to distract myself."

For the past month, the happiest moment in Julien's life has been when he returns from riding a horse and sends the horse back to the shed.Kolasov had taken special care of him, and he had a thousand excuses for the lover who abandoned him, and he would not give any more glances.But the clatter of the horse's hooves, so familiar to Mathilde, and Julien's knocking on the door with the whip for the groom, several times attracted the daughter behind the curtains.The light gauze curtain, Julien could see through it.He glanced up from under the brim of his hat so that he could see her without meeting her gaze. "So," he thought to himself, "she can't see my eyes, so it doesn't count as me looking at her."

In the evening, Madame Fivague treated Julien as if she had not received his morning letter, which he handed to the porter at her house with a melancholy air, a philosophical text tinged with religious mystery. .The night before, by chance, Julien discovered a trick to make himself chattering and eloquent, that is, to sit in a seat that can look directly into Madil's big eyes! Miss Lamour, for her part, rose from the blue couch as soon as the Madame Marshal arrived: that meant abandoning the regulars.The Marquis de Conzenaud was greatly dismayed at her further attack on a whim.Seeing the obvious disappointment on Kuangzeneau's face, Julien's loss of love did not feel so painful to him.

This accident in his life lifted his spirits, eloquently, as if divine help.In the atrium of the heart that is as tall as a temple of morality, the idea of ​​​​saving face will also take advantage of the void; when the Marshal's wife got into the car and went back, she said to herself: "Madame La Moore is right, this young priest has his own excellence. In the first few days, I must have frightened him with the majesty of the marshal's wife. In fact, the people I met in this family were very shallow. A person's morality mostly depends on the help of old age. After the period. The difference between them, the boy will be able to see in the future. His letter to me is very well written. The words are earnest, and I am asked for advice in the letter; A feeling that even he didn't understand."

"However, that's how religious devotion begins in many men! What I see in him is that he writes very differently from other young men's letters which I have had occasion to read. From the young priest's note, You will not fail to see a tone of compassion, a deep and serious demeanor, and a conviction that can move people. Like Bishop Ma Xirong, he will preach and preach with eloquent effects."