Chapter 11 Nine

Finally, one morning after breakfast, M. Hubert took me to his daughter.When the door of her room opened, the fragrant hot air hit my face, almost suffocating me.This bedroom is furnished with simplicity and elegance, the walls and furniture are covered with Persian cloth on a white background, and the large Chinese vases are filled with fresh flowers, which are fragrant.African birds hopped in a golden cage and sang with soft, affectionate voices.The carpet is softer underfoot than moss in the March woods.I was so excited that my vision blurred from time to time; my feet bumped into each other awkwardly, I bumped into every piece of furniture and stopped.Edmee was lying on a bench, lazily playing with a fan inlaid with mother-of-pearl.I thought she was more beautiful than when I saw her, and she was very different. I was terrified and cold in the excitement.She held out her hand to me, and I wondered if I could kiss her hand in front of her father.I could not hear the words she said to me; I believed they were sincere.Then, as if exhausted, she threw her head back on the pillow and half closed her eyes.

"I have business to do," said the knight to me, "and keep her company; but don't let her talk much, for she is still very weak." The enjoinment was a mockery; Edmee feigned a doze, perhaps to conceal a little embarrassment; as for me, I could not resist the restraint, and it was difficult for me to be told to be silent. The knight opened a door in the inner apartment, turned back and closed it again; hearing him coughing now and then, I understood that there was only a wall separating his study from his daughter's boudoir.I am alone with her, even though she seems to be sleeping, I am still very happy.She can't see me, but I can look at her at will; her face is pale, as white as her muslin dress and satin high-heeled slippers embroidered with swans; old jewelry.I have never paid attention to what a woman is like; beauty has hitherto seemed to me to be youth and health with a masculine boldness.Edmee put on her riding clothes, and when I saw her for the first time she looked like this, which I could understand; now, when I look at her again, I can't imagine that I held this woman in the arms of Moprayan. .My thoughts began to catch a faint light from the outside, and places and situations, all of which made the second meeting alone very different from the first.

My queer and uneasy pleasure in looking at her was interrupted by the arrival of a maid, Miss Leblanc, as they called her, who acted as chambermaid in Edmee's boudoir and as valet in the drawing-room. female companion.Perhaps the mistress had bid her not to leave us; and, needless to say, she sat by the bench, and her long withered back hid my view from Edmee's handsome face; then she took her work out of her pocket, Start knitting leisurely.Meanwhile, the birds were chirping, the knight was coughing, Edmee was sleeping, or pretending to be, and I was at the other end of the suite, with my head bent over the engravings of a book I held upside down.

After a while, I noticed that Edmee was not asleep, and was talking in a low voice to her maid; I believe I saw the maid glance at me now and then, as if secretly looking.In order to avoid the embarrassment of this observation, but also out of my cunning instinct, which is not a layman, I buried my face in the book, and put the book on the table with snailed feet half against the wall, and I was in this posture as if I was dozing off. Or engrossed.So she raised her voice gradually, and I heard them talking about me. "It doesn't matter, the lady has asked for a very funny attendant."

"LeBlanc, what you say about a squire makes me laugh. Are there any squires now? You always thought you were staying with my grandmother. I tell you, he's my father's adopted son." "Of course, Mister Cavalier was quite right in adopting a son; but where the hell did he get such a man?" I glanced sideways, and saw Edmee snickering under the fan; she was amusing herself by gossiping with the old maid, who was reputed to be very humorous, and was given the right to speak freely.I saw my cousin making fun of me, which was a big disappointment. "He looks like a bear, he looks like a badger, he looks like a wolf, he looks like a squid, he just doesn't look human!" continued that LeBron. "What ugly hands! What ugly legs! Now he's a little cleaner, or Not presentable. When he came the other day in a kid's smock and leather leggings, he was handsome enough; it made one shudder!"

"You feel so?" said Edmee. "As for me, I prefer him in poacher's clothes. It suits his face and figure better." "He looks like a robber; can't the lady see it?" "You can tell." The way she said "you can see it" made me shudder, and somehow the impression of the kiss she had given me at Mopra Rock came back to my lips. "He would have combed his hair," continued the maid, "but he couldn't get him to consent to having powder on his head. St. John told me that when the powder puff came near his head, he rose up angrily and said, 'Ah! You can do anything but dust this powder. I don't want to cough and sneeze when I move my head. 'My God! How barbaric!'' St. John was the name of the valet.

"He was right, after all: if the fashion of the day forbade such absurd attire, it would be found ugly and out of place. You see, isn't it more beautiful to have thick black hair?" "This thick hair? It's like a mane! It's frightening." "Besides, children don't powder, and this boy is still a child." "A boy! Damn it! What a doll! How much does he eat for a meal, boy! It's a giant. Where did the fellow come from? Mr. Knight probably unhooked him from the coulter and brought him here." .His name is...what's his name?" "Strange, I told you his name was Bernard."

"Bernard! No surname?" "Not yet. What do you see?" "He slept soundly and long! Look at the fool! I was looking to see if he looked like Mr. Chevalier. Perhaps it was a delusion. Mr. Chevalier must have gotten carried away with some shepherdess one day." "Come on! LeBron, you've gone too far..." "Oh, my God! Mademoiselle, wasn't Mr. Cavalier just like other people when he was young? That doesn't prevent him from being well behaved when he's older." "Of course, you've seen a lot. But listen, don't laugh at the young man. Maybe you're right; my father wants him to be treated like a boy in the family."

"Oh, it's a pleasure for the lady! As for me, what's my business? I have no acquaintance with this gentleman." "Ah! If only you were thirty years younger! . . . " "Sir asked Miss, so he put this thief here with Miss?" "Do you doubt? Is there a better father than mine?" "Miss is good enough... There are many ladies who are not used to this." "Why? There's nothing unpleasant about the lad; when he grows up..." "He will always be horribly ugly." "He's not ugly at all, my dear LeBron; you're too old for that."

Their conversation was interrupted by the knight, who came looking for a book. "Miss LeBlanc is here?" he said very quietly. "I thought you were the only one talking to my son. So, have you talked together, Edmee? Did you tell him you would be his sister? Are you satisfied with her, Bernard?" " My answer would offend no one; only four or five incoherent sentences, mutilated out of shame.Mr. Mauprat returned to the study, and I sat down again, hoping that my cousin would immediately dismiss the maid and talk to me.They exchanged a few words in whispers; the maid stayed, and two hours passed, terribly long, and I dared not move from my chair.I believe Edmee was really asleep.When the dinner bell rang, her father came to see me again, and before leaving her apartment he said to her again:

"So, have you talked?" "Yes, my dear father," she replied, with a confidence that astonished me. Based on my cousin's behavior, I think she wants me, and now she's worried that I'm going to blame her.Hope revived when I recalled the way she had talked about me to Miss LeBlanc.I even thought that she was worried that my father would suspect that she was feigning extreme indifference only to draw me more securely into her arms when the time came.I am waiting in doubt.Days and nights passed without explanation, without secret letter reminding me to be patient.In the morning she went downstairs to the living room for an hour; in the evening she came to supper and played pique and chess with her father.She was so reserved at such times that I could not even exchange a glance with her; the rest of the day she was in her bedroom and out of reach.Several times, the knight saw me bored and living helplessly like a prisoner, so he said to me: ①A kind of card game played by two people. "Go and talk to Edmee, go upstairs to her room, and tell her I sent you." But it was in vain that I knocked at the door, and she heard me, of course, and recognized me by my heavy, hesitant steps.The door never opened to me; I was desperate and angry. I must interrupt the account of my personal impressions to tell you what happened at this period in the miserable family of Mauprat.John and Antoine did escape, but despite the pursuit of them, they could not be caught.All their property was confiscated, and the court ordered the auction of the Maupra Rock fiefdom.But before the day of the auction, Mr. Hubert suspended the prosecution.He announced the purchase; the creditors were satisfied, and the deeds of Moprayan's property fell into his hands. House Maupra's small guard, made up of lowly adventurers, met the same fate as their master.As we all know, the guards have long been reduced to few people.Two or three were killed; the rest had escaped; only one was in custody.The court pre-hears his case, and he sits in jail for everyone.Thus the absence of the pre-trial John and Antoine de Mauprat became a major problem, and their escape seemed confirmed, since the other fish pond on which Goucher's body was floating was drained and he could not be found. the corpses of the two men; and the knight, in defense of his honor, dreaded an insulting sentence, as if it would add to the loathsomeness of the name Mauprat.He used M. de La Marche and all his credit (in this province, especially because of his high reputation and reputation) to settle the case, and he got his wish.As for me, even though I certainly participated in more than one extortionate operation of my uncles, I was not so much reproached by public opinion.Amid the indignation my uncles aroused, people were happy to see me merely as a young prisoner, ill-treated by them, with good endowments.The knight's grandeur, determined to restore the family's reputation, must have exaggerated my merits a great deal, and made it widely known that I am a very gentle and intelligent person. On the day M. Hubert became the buyer of the fief, he came into my room early in the morning, accompanied by his daughter and the abbe, and showed me the certificate of his sacrifice (the mopra rock was worth about two hundred thousand livres), and he Declare to me that I not only own at once a small part of my inheritance, but also half the income of the fief.At the same time, the entire estate, including land and products, will pass to me by the will of the knight, on one condition: this is that I agree to receive an education commensurate with my status. The knight made these arrangements kindly and simply, partly in gratitude for what he had learned of my aid to Edmee, and partly for the dignity of the family; but he did not foresee my resistance to education.I can't tell you how much the word status offends me.I thought it especially to show that Edmee had done something to break his promise to me. "Uncle," I answered, hearing these commendable gifts in silence, "I appreciate all that you want to do for me; but it is not fit for me to accept. I don't need property. A man like me, only Need bread, a gun, a hunting dog, a first tavern on the edge of the woods. Since you are kind enough to be my protector, please pay me 1/8 of the income of the fief, but don't ask me to learn your boring Latin. A nobleman knows enough to shoot a wild duck and sign his name. I don't insist on being a lord of Mopra Rock, I have done enough as a slave there. You are a righteous man, I On my honor, I love you; but I don't like status. I never do things for profit, and I would rather remain ignorant than be favored by others to be wise. As for my cousin, I will never Nor would she agree to poach part of her property like this. I know that she is willing to sacrifice part of the dowry to avoid..." Edmee, who had been pale up to this point, and seemed indifferent, cast me a burning glance, and interrupted me confidently: "In order to avoid what? Please say so, Bernard." I saw that, despite her courage, she was very excited; for when she closed the fan, she broke it.When I answered her, there was probably the honest and sly look of a countryman in my eyes: "Cousin, so as not to keep the promise you made to me at Mopra Rock." She became paler than before, and a panic expression appeared on her face, but the contemptuous smile still couldn't be concealed. "What promise did you make to him, Edmee?" said the knight, turning to her innocently, while the parson gave me a surreptitious pinch of my arm, and I understood that my cousin's confessor knew our secret. . I shrugged my shoulders; and with contempt and pity for their anxiety, I smiled and said: "She promised me that she would always consider me her brother and friend. Don't you say so, Edmee? Do you think it can be justified in money?" She stood up abruptly, stretched out her hand to me, and said to me in an excited voice: "You are right, Bernard, you have a noble heart, and if I doubt for a moment, I cannot forgive myself." Seeing the tears in her eyes, I realized that I probably squeezed her hand, because she let out a soft cry, accompanied by a charming smile.The knight embraced me, and the abbe, agitated in his chair, repeated: "Beautiful! So noble! So beautiful! The boy needn't learn it from a book," he said to the knight. "God wrote His Word, and spread His Spirit into the hearts of children." "You see," said the knight with great emotion, "that this Mauprat will restore the honor of the family. Now, my dear Bernard, I will have no more business with you. I know what I must do, and you cannot prevent it." I do what I think I should do to restore the name of my family to you. I am sure that your lofty sentiments are the only guarantee of true restoration; there is another guarantee, and you will not refuse to try , such is your talent and wisdom. I hope you, out of love for us, will approve; but it is not time to talk about it. I respect your pride, and I will guarantee your life unconditionally. Come, Come with me, priest, to my agent in town. The carriage is ready. You, children, go to dinner together. Now, Bernard, give your arm to your cousin, or rather, to Your sister. Learn to behave gracefully, since it is your wish to be with her." "You're right, Uncle," I answered, taking Edmee's arm somewhat roughly, in order to go downstairs. She shivered, her cheeks flushed again, and a sweet smile played on her lips. As soon as the two of us sat alone at the dinner table, the understanding between us cooled down again.We were both embarrassed again; and if it were just the two of us, I'd get out of it by a sudden phrase I'd force myself to do when I was too shy with my timidity; but St. John was there, and he served We, make me have to keep my mouth shut on key issues.I made up my mind to talk about Patience, to ask Edmee how she got on so well with him, and what I should think of this so-called wizard.She told me briefly about the village philosopher, and that the Abbe Aubert had taken her to the Gazzot Tower.She had long been strongly impressed by the ascetic's intelligence, and it was always a great pleasure to talk to him.Patience, too, had a deep friendship for her, and lately he had changed his habits a little, and had often visited her and the abbe. As you can imagine, she had a hard time getting these explanations to me.I was impressed by her eulogy of Patience, her sympathy for his revolutionary views.It was the first time I had ever heard a farmer talked about like a man.Besides, I had always thought of the wizard of Garzo Towers as far below an ordinary peasant, and Edmee put him above most of the people she knew, in favor of him against the nobility.I have finally come to this conclusion: education is not as essential as the knights and priests would have me believe.I say: "I'm not as good a reader as Patience, and I hope you'll be as interested in my circle of society as his; but he doesn't appear much, cousin, because, since I've come here . . . " As we left the table, I was glad to be alone with her at last, and just as we were about to be more frank, we went into the drawing room and met M. de La Marche, who had just arrived, coming in by the door opposite. .I thought to myself, let him go to hell. M. de La Marche was a young lord, very fashionable.He loves new philosophy, is a passionate Voltairean, admires Franklin very much, is very honest, but not very intelligent, he wants to know the authority figures he admires, but does not know much; logic is quite poor, because in France As soon as the nation sets out to realize his views and political ideals, he feels that these views are not perfect, that these ideals are not good enough; ordinarily, he is full of good feelings, believes himself to be more trusting and fanciful than he really is; Class prejudice, far more sensitive to public opinion than he himself celebrates and flaunts: this is his entire image.He has a fine face, but I think he is overly vain, because I have a most ridiculous hostility towards him.I felt that he was too submissive to Edmee; I would blush to imitate him, and I thought only of his little attentions to her.We came to the garden, which was very large, and ran through it by the Indre, which was but a pretty brook.Along the way he became very cheerful; he caught a glimpse of a violet and was about to pick it to present to my cousin.When we came to the stream, we saw that the plank used to cross the place had been broken and washed away by the heavy rains of the previous days.Without asking Edmee's permission, I picked her up and calmly carried her across the river.The water was up to my belt, and I raised my arms so hard that she didn't soak a single ribbon.Monsieur de La Marche, not wanting to appear more refined than I, wet his fine clothes without hesitation, laughed a little forcedly, and followed me; We bumped into each other several times, staggered, and finally caught up with us.Edmee did not smile; I believe she tested my strength and courage without knowing it, and was terrified at the thought that she had made me love.She even got angry, and when I put her gently on the river bank, she said to me: ① Franklin (1706-1790), an American statesman who had close contacts with European statesmen, drafted the Federal Constitution in 1787. "Bernard, I beg you not to make the same joke again." "Oh, all right," I said to her, "you won't be annoyed when people do that." "He wouldn't joke like that," she added. "I believe so," I replied, "he dared not do it! Look how he got here... And I, I didn't mess with a single hair of yours. He plucked the violets with care; but believe me, if you meet When it comes to danger, you won't favor him." M. de La Marche flattered me on this feat.I had expected him to be jealous; not only did he seem unaware of it, but he laughed at the poor state of the suit.The heat was so hot that our clothes were dry before the walk was over; but Edmee was still sad and preoccupied.I think she tried to show the same affection as she did at the meal.I was deeply moved; for I was not only in love with her, but passionately in love with her.I can't make a distinction, I have two emotions united in me: passion and tenderness. The knight and the priest returned from supper.They were talking in low tones with M. de La Marche about the conclusion of my affairs, and I overheard a few words, understanding that they had just secured my life in the favorable conditions announced to me that morning.I was embarrassed by my inability to express gratitude naturally.This generosity made me uncomfortable, I didn't understand it, I felt suspicious, almost as a trap set by them to keep me away from my cousin.I'm not sensitive about the usefulness of the property.I have no civilized needs, and in me aristocratic prejudice is a matter of honor, never a social vanity.Seeing that they did not tell me publicly, I angrily made up my mind and pretended not to know. Edmee became exceedingly depressed.I noticed that her eyes were disturbed, and they turned to M. de La Marche and me in turn.Whenever I spoke to her, or even raised my voice to someone else, she would tremble and frown slightly, as if my voice caused her physical pain.She left immediately after dinner, her father following her anxiously.The abbe, seeing them go away, said to M. de La Marche: "Have you not noticed that Mademoiselle de Maupra has changed a lot lately?" "She was thinner," replied the major general, "but I think she came out more beautiful." "Yes, but I'm afraid she's more ill than she admits," went on the priest. "Her character has changed as well as her face; she's very melancholy." "Melancholy? But I don't think she's ever been happier than this morning; hasn't she, Monsieur Bernard? It's only after the walk that she complains of a migraine." "I tell you, she is very melancholy," continued the abbe. "At the moment her happiness does not make any sense; there is something queer and forced about her, which is not at all present in her usual manner. After a while, she sinks into melancholy again." I have never seen her so depressed, even during that turbulent night in the forest. Believe me, the excitement of that night has serious consequences." "She did witness a terrible scene at the Tower of Garzo," said M. de La Marche. "Besides, she was far from the hunting place, and the horses ran through the forest, which naturally tired and frightened her. But her Surprisingly daring! . . . Tell me, dear Monsieur Bernard, did you find her frightened when you met her in the forest?" "In the forest?" I said. "I didn't meet her in the forest." "No, you met her at Varennes," said the priest hastily. "By the way, Monsieur Bernard, would you like me to tell you, especially, about the affairs of your estate?" He dragged me out of the dining room and whispered to me: "It has nothing to do with business, and I beg you not to let anyone, not even M. de La Marche, suspect that Mademoiselle de Mauprat was staying for a while at the Rock of Mauprat..." "Why?" I asked, "wasn't she there under my protection? Didn't she get out innocently because of me? Didn't anyone in the area know that she was there for two hours?" "Nobody knew," he answered, "that the Mopra Rock was under fire from the besiegers when she came out, and none of its owners came back from their grave or exile to speak of it. You The more I know the world, the more I understand how important it is to a girl's reputation: it cannot be imagined that her reputation only flits in the shadow of danger. In the meantime, in the name of her father, and your friendship to her In the name of your noble and touching expression of friendship this morning, I ask you to do so!  …” "You are very tactful, Monsieur abbe," I interrupted him, "everything you say has a meaning behind it, which I, though rude, understand perfectly. Please tell my cousin and reassure her. Needless to say, I won't say it." By denying her virtue, I will not cause her to miss the marriage she desires. Please tell her that I only ask of her one thing, and that is to keep the promise of friendship she made to me at Mopra Rock." "Has this promise a strange solemnity in your eyes?" said the abbé; "but now, what doubts do you have?" I stared at him; he seemed disturbed, and I intended to disturb him, expecting him to convey my words to Edmee.I answer: "There is no doubt about it, except that I know that M. de La Marche will be afraid of parting if the experience at the Maupra Rock is exposed. If this gentleman should suspect Edmee and insult her on the eve of the wedding, I will be fine." I thought there was a very simple way to remedy all this." "In your opinion, what method is it?" "It's to provoke him and kill him." "I think you will do everything in your power to save the venerable M. Hubert from embarrassing difficulties and dire dangers." "I will take it upon myself to avenge my cousin, and spare him this trouble. It is my right, monsieur abbe; I know the duties of a nobleman as I should have learned Latin. You can tell her for me. Let her sleep in peace; I will keep my mouth shut, and if it does no good, I will fight a duel." "Bernard," said the abbe, in a mildly soft tone, "do you ever think that your cousin is in love with M. de La Marche?" "Then, there is one more reason." I became annoyed and said loudly, turning my back on him abruptly. The priest relayed this conversation to the penitent girl.The venerable priest's role was very awkward; he had already heard his confidantes from his confessions, and when he talked to me he could only give oblique hints.He hoped to use these subtle hints to make me understand that my stubbornness was a crime, and lead me to give up my plan openly.He speculates too much about me; so many virtues are beyond my powers, as well as my wits.