In an incredibly short space of time the open quadrangle presented a brilliant picture; the dashing guardsmen were dismounting; the maids and lackeys3 had quickly descended4 from their perches5 in the caleches and coaches; and the gentlemen of the household were dusting their wide hats and lace-trimmed coats. The halberdiers, ranging themselves in line, made a prismatic grouping beneath the low eaves of the picturesque6 old inn. In the very middle of the court-yard stood a coach, resplendent in painted panels and emblazoned with ducal arms. About this coach, as soon as the four horses which drew the vehicle were brought to a standstill, cavaliers, footmen, and maids swarmed7 with effusive8 zeal9. One of the footmen made a rush for the door: another let down the steps; one cavalier was already presenting an outstretched, deferential10 hand, while still another held forth11 an arm, as rigid12 as a post, for the use of the occupants of the ducal carriage.
Three ladies were seated within. Large and roomy as was the vehicle, their voluminous draperies and the paraphernalia14 of their belongings15 seemed completely to fill the wide, deep seats. The ladies were the Duchesse de Chaulnes, Madame de Kerman, and Madame de Sévigné. The faces of the Duchesse and of Madame de Kerman were invisible, being still covered with their masks, which, both as a matter of habit and of precaution against the sun's rays, they had religiously worn during the long day's journey. But Madame de Sévigné had torn hers off; she was holding it in her hand, as if glad to be relieved from its confinement16.
All three ladies were in the highest possible spirits, Madame de
Sévigné obviously being the leader of the jests and the laughter.
They were in a mood to find everything amusing and delightful17. Even after they had left the coach and were carefully picking their way over the rough stones—walking on their high-heeled "mules18" at best, was always a dangerous performance—their laughter and gayety continued in undiminished exuberance19. Madame de Sévigné's keen sense of humor found so many things to ridicule20. Could anything, for example, be more comical than the spectacle they presented as they walked, in state, with their long trains and high-heeled slippers21, up these absurd little turret22 steps, feeling their way as carefully as if they were each a pickpocket23 or an assassin? The long line behind of maids carrying their muffs, and of lackeys with the muff-dogs, and of pages holding their trains, and the grinning innkeeper, bursting with pride and courtesying as if he had St. Vitus's dance, all this crowd coiling round the rude spiral stairway—it was enough to make one die of laughter. Such state in such savage24 surroundings!—they and their patch-boxes, and towering head-gears and trains, and dogs and fans, all crowded into a place fit only for peasants!
When they reached their bedchambers the ridicule was turned into a condescending25 admiration26; they found their rooms unexpectedly clean and airy. The furniture was all antique, of interesting design, and though rude, really astonishingly comfortable. Beds and dressing-tables, mostly of Henry III's time, were elaborately canopied27 in the hideous28 crude draperies of that primitive29 epoch30. How different were the elegant shapes and brocades of their own time! Fortunately their women had suitable hangings and draperies with them, as well, of course, as any amount of linen31 and any number of mattresses32. The settees and benches would do very well, with the aid of their own hassocks and cushions, and, after all, it was only for a night, they reminded the other.
The toilet, after the heat and exposure of the day, was necessarily a long one. The Duchesse and Madame de Kerman had their faces to make up—all the paint had run, and not a patch was in its place. Hair, also, of this later de Maintenon period, with its elaborate artistic33 ranges of curls, to say nothing of the care that must be given to the coif and the "follette," these were matters that demanded the utmost nicety of arrangement.
In an hour, however, the three ladies reassembled, in the panelled lower room—in "la Chambre de la Pucelle." In spite of the care her two companions had given to repairing the damages caused by their journey, of the three, Madame de Sévigné looked by far the freshest and youngest. She still wore her hair in the loosely flowing de Montespan fashion; a style which, though now out of date, was one that exactly suited her fair skin, her candid34 brow, and her brilliant eyes. These latter, when one examined them closely, were found to be of different colors; but this peculiarity35, which might have been a serious defect in any other countenance36, in Madame de Sévigné's brilliant face was perhaps one cause of its extraordinarily37 luminous13 quality. Not one feature was perfect in that fascinatingly mobile face: the chin was a trifle too long for a woman's chin; the lips, that broke into such delicious curves when she laughed, when at rest betrayed the firmness of her wit and the almost masculine quality of her reasoning judgment38. Even her arms and hands and her shoulders were "mal taillés" as her contemporaries would have told you. But what a charm in those irregular features! What a seductiveness in the ensemble39 of that not too-well-proportioned figure! What an indescribable radiance seemed to emanate40 from the entire personality of this most captivating of women!
As she moved about the low room, dark with the trembling shadows of light that flowed from the bunches of candles in the sconces, Madame de Sévigné's clear complexion41, and her unpowdered chestnut42 curls, seemed to spot the room with light. Her companions, though dressed in the very height of the fashion, were yet not half as catching43 to the eye. Neither their minute waists, nor their elaborate underskirts and trains, nor their tall coffered coifs (the duchesse's was not unlike a bishop's mitre, studded as it was with ruby-headed pins), nor the correctness of these ladies' carefully placed patches, nor yet their painted necks and tinted44 eyebrows45, could charm as did the unmodish figure of Madame de Sévigné—a figure so indifferently clad, and yet one so replete46 with its distinction of innate47 elegance48 and the subtle charm of her individuality.
With the entrance of these ladies dinner was served at once. The talk flowed on; it was, however, more or less restrained by the presence of the always too curious lackeys, of the bustling49 innkeeper, and the gentlemen of the household in attendance on the party. As a spectacle, the little room had never boasted before of such an assemblage of fashion and greatness. Never before had the air under the rafters been so loaded with scents50 and perfumes—these ladies seeming, indeed, to breathe out odors. Never before had there been grouped there such splendor51 of toilet, nor had such courtly accents been heard, nor such finished laughter. The fire and the candlelight were in competition which should best light up the tall transparent52 caps, the lace fichus, the brocade bodices, and the long trains. The little muff-dogs, released from their prisons, since the muffs were laid aside at dinner time, blinked at the fire, curling their minute bodies—clipped lion-fashion—about the huge andirons, as they snored to kill time, knowing their own dinner would come only when their mistresses had done.
After the dessert had been served the ladies withdrew; they were preceded by the ever-bowing innkeeper, who assured them, in his most reverential tones, that they would find the room opening on the other court-yard even warmer and more comfortable than the one they were in. In spite of the walk across the paved court-yard and the enormous height of their heels, always a fact to be remembered, the ladies voted to make the change, since by that means they could be assured the more entire seclusion53. Mild as was the May air, Madame de Kerman's hand-glass hanging at her side was quickly lifted in the very middle of the open court-yard; she had scarcely passed the door when she had felt one of her patches blowing off.
"I caught it just in time, dear duchesse," she cried, as she stood quite still, replacing it with a fresh one picked from her patch-box, as the others passed her.
"The very best patch-maker I have found lives in the rue54 St. Denis, at the sign of La Perle des Mouches; have you discovered him, dear friend?" said the duchesse, as they walked on toward the low door beneath the galleries.
"No, dear duchesse, I fear I have not even looked for him—the science of patches I have always found so much harder than the science of living!" gayly answered Madame de Sévigné.
Madame de Kerman had now re joined them, and all three passed into la
Chambre des Marmousets.
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1
imposing
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| adj.使人难忘的，壮丽的，堂皇的，雄伟的 | |
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cavalcade
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| n.车队等的行列 | |
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3
lackeys
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| n.听差( lackey的名词复数 )；男仆（通常穿制服）；卑躬屈膝的人；被待为奴仆的人 | |
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4
descended
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| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
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perches
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| 栖息处( perch的名词复数 )； 栖枝； 高处； 鲈鱼 | |
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6
picturesque
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| adj.美丽如画的，（语言）生动的，绘声绘色的 | |
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7
swarmed
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| 密集( swarm的过去式和过去分词 )； 云集； 成群地移动； 蜜蜂或其他飞行昆虫成群地飞来飞去 | |
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8
effusive
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| adj.热情洋溢的；感情(过多)流露的 | |
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9
zeal
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| n.热心，热情，热忱 | |
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10
deferential
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| adj. 敬意的，恭敬的 | |
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11
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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12
rigid
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| adj.严格的，死板的；刚硬的，僵硬的 | |
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13
luminous
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| adj.发光的，发亮的；光明的；明白易懂的；有启发的 | |
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14
paraphernalia
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| n.装备；随身用品 | |
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15
belongings
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| n.私人物品，私人财物 | |
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16
confinement
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| n.幽禁，拘留，监禁；分娩；限制，局限 | |
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17
delightful
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| adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的 | |
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18
mules
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| 骡( mule的名词复数 )； 拖鞋； 顽固的人； 越境运毒者 | |
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19
exuberance
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| n.丰富；繁荣 | |
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20
ridicule
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| v.讥讽，挖苦；n.嘲弄 | |
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21
slippers
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| n. 拖鞋 | |
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22
turret
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| n.塔楼，角塔 | |
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23
pickpocket
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| n.扒手；v.扒窃 | |
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24
savage
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| adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人 | |
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25
condescending
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| adj.谦逊的,故意屈尊的 | |
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26
admiration
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| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 | |
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27
canopied
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| adj. 遮有天篷的 | |
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28
hideous
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| adj.丑陋的，可憎的，可怕的，恐怖的 | |
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29
primitive
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| adj.原始的；简单的；n.原(始)人，原始事物 | |
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30
epoch
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| n.(新)时代；历元 | |
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31
linen
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| n.亚麻布，亚麻线，亚麻制品；adj.亚麻布制的，亚麻的 | |
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32
mattresses
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| 褥垫，床垫( mattress的名词复数 ) | |
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33
artistic
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| adj.艺术(家)的，美术(家)的；善于艺术创作的 | |
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34
candid
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| adj.公正的，正直的；坦率的 | |
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35
peculiarity
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| n.独特性，特色；特殊的东西；怪癖 | |
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36
countenance
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| n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同 | |
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37
extraordinarily
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| adv.格外地；极端地 | |
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38
judgment
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| n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见 | |
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39
ensemble
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| n.合奏(唱)组；全套服装；整体，总效果 | |
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40
emanate
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| v.发自，来自，出自 | |
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41
complexion
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| n.肤色；情况，局面；气质，性格 | |
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42
chestnut
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| n.栗树，栗子 | |
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43
catching
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| adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住 | |
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44
tinted
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| adj. 带色彩的 动词tint的过去式和过去分词 | |
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45
eyebrows
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| 眉毛( eyebrow的名词复数 ) | |
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46
replete
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| adj.饱满的，塞满的；n.贮蜜蚁 | |
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47
innate
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| adj.天生的，固有的，天赋的 | |
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48
elegance
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| n.优雅；优美，雅致；精致，巧妙 | |
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49
bustling
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| adj.喧闹的 | |
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50
scents
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| n.香水( scent的名词复数 )；气味；（动物的）臭迹；（尤指狗的）嗅觉 | |
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51
splendor
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| n.光彩；壮丽，华丽；显赫，辉煌 | |
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52
transparent
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| adj.明显的，无疑的；透明的 | |
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53
seclusion
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| n.隐遁，隔离 | |
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54
rue
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| n.懊悔，芸香，后悔；v.后悔，悲伤，懊悔 | |
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