It was a month ago they had exchanged their vows1 and since then they had seen each other every day, either at the Amour peintre or at the studio in the Place de Thionville. Their meetings had been very tender, but at the same time characterized by a certain reserve that checked their expansiveness,—a reserve due to the staid and virtuous2 temper of the lover, a theist and a good citizen, who, while ready to make his beloved mistress his own before the law or with God alone for witness according as circumstances demanded, would do nothing save publicly and in the light of day. élodie knew the resolution to be right and honourable3; but, despairing of a marriage that seemed impossible from every point of view and loath4 to outrage5 the prejudices of society, she contemplated6 in her inmost heart a liaison7 that could be kept a secret till the lapse8 of time gave it sanction. She hoped one day to overcome the scruples9 of a lover she could have wished less scrupulous10, and meantime, unwilling11 to postpone12 some necessary confidences as to the past, she had asked him to meet her for a lover's talk in a lonely corner of the gardens near the Carthusian Priory.
She threw him a tender look, took his hand frankly13, invited him to share the bench and speaking slowly and thoughtfully:
"I esteem14 you too well, évariste, to hide anything from you. I believe myself worthy15 of you; I should not be so were I not to tell you everything. Hear me and be my judge. I have no act to reproach myself with that is degrading or base, or even merely selfish. I have only been weak and credulous16.... Do not forget, dear évariste, the difficult circumstances in which I found myself. You know how it was with me; I had lost my mother, my father, still a young man, thought only of his own amusement and neglected me. I had a feeling heart, nature has dowered me with a loving temper and a generous soul; it was true she had not denied me a firm will and a sound judgment18, but in those days what ruled my conduct was passion, not reason. Alas19! it would be the same again to-day, if the two were not in harmony; I should be driven to give myself to you, beloved, heart and soul, and for ever!"
She expressed herself in firm, well-balanced phrases. She had well thought over what she would say, having long ago made up her mind to this confession20 for several reasons—because she was naturally candid21, because she found pleasure in following Rousseau's example, and because, as she told herself reasonably enough:
"One day évariste must fathom22 a secret which is known to others as well as myself. A frank avowal23 is best. It is unforced and therefore to my credit, and only tells him what some time or other he would discover to my shame."
Soft-hearted as she was and amenable24 to nature's promptings, she did not feel herself to be very much to blame, and this made her confession the easier; besides which, she had no intention of telling more than was absolutely requisite25.
Gamelin had taken her request quite literally27 when élodie asked him to be her judge. Primed at once by nature and the education of books for the exercise of domestic justice, he sat ready to receive élodie's admissions.
As she still hesitated, he motioned to her to proceed. Then she began speaking very simply:
"A young man, who with many defects of character combined some good qualities, and only showed the latter, found me to his taste and courted me with a perseverance28 that was surprising in such a case; he was in the flower of his youth, full of charm and the idol29 of a bevy30 of charming women who made no attempt to hide their adoration31. It was not his good looks nor even his brilliance32 that appealed to me.... He touched my heart by the tokens of true love he gave me, and I do think he loved me truly. He was tender, impassioned. I asked no pledge save of his heart, and alas! his heart was fickle33.... I blame no one but myself; it is my confession I am making, not his. I lay nothing to his charge, for indeed he is become a stranger to me. Ah! believe me, évariste, I swear it, he is no more to me than if he had never existed."
She had finished, but Gamelin vouchsafed34 no answer. He folded his arms, a steadfast35, sombre look settling in his eyes. His mistress and his sister Julie were running together in his thoughts. Julie too had hearkened to a lover; but, unlike, altogether unlike, he thought, the unhappy élodie, she had let him have his will and carry her off, not misled by the promptings of a tender heart, but to enjoy, far from her home and friends, the sweets of luxury and pleasure. He was a stern moralist; he had condemned37 his sister and he was half inclined to condemn36 his mistress.
élodie resumed in a very pleading voice:
"I was full of Jean-Jacques' philosophy; I believed men were naturally honest and honourable. My misfortune was to have encountered a lover who was not formed in the school of nature and natural morality, and whom social prejudice, ambition, self-love, a false point of honour had made selfish and treacherous38."
"You do not know him."
"Tell me his name."
She had foreseen the question and was firmly resolved not to answer it.
She gave her reasons:
Then, as he still pressed her:
"In the sacred name of our love, I refuse to tell you anything to give you a definite notion of this stranger. I will not give your jealousy42 a shape to feed on; I will not bring a harassing43 shadow between you and me. I have not forgotten the man's name, but I will never let you know it."
Gamelin insisted on knowing the name of the seducer,—that was the word he employed all through, for he felt no doubt élodie had been seduced44, cajoled, trifled with. He could not so much as conceive any other possibility,—that she had obeyed an overmastering desire, an irresistible45 craving46, listened to the tempter's voice in the shape of her own flesh and blood; he could not find it credible47 that the fair victim, a creature of hot passion and a fond heart, had offered herself a willing sacrifice; to satisfy his ideal, she must needs have been overborne by force or fraud, constrained48 by sheer violence, caught in snares49 spread about her steps on every side. He questioned her in guarded terms, but with a close, searching, embarrassing persistency50. He asked her how the liaison began, if it was long or short, tranquil51 or troubled, under what circumstances it was broken off. And his enquiries came back again and again to the means the fellow had used to cajole her, as if these must surely have been extraordinary and unheard of. But all his cross-examination was in vain. She kept her own counsel with a gentle, deprecatory obstinacy52, her lips tightly pressed together and tears welling in her eyes.
Presently, however, évariste having asked where the man was now, she told him:
"He has left the Kingdom—France, I mean," she corrected herself in an instant.
"An émigré!" ejaculated Gamelin.
She looked at him, speechless, at once reassured53 and disheartened to see him create in his own mind a truth in accordance with his political passions and of his own motion give his jealousy a Jacobin complexion54.
In actual fact élodie's lover was a little lawyer's clerk, a very pretty lad, half Adonis, half guttersnipe, whom she had adored and the thought of whom, though three years had gone by since, still thrilled her nerves. Rich old women were his particular game, and he deserted55 élodie for a woman of the world of a certain age who could and did recompense his merits. Having, after the abolition56 of offices, attained57 a post in the Mairie of Paris, he was now a sansculotte dragoon and the hanger-on of a ci-devant Countess.
"A noble! an émigré!" muttered Gamelin, whom she took good care not to undeceive, never having been desirous he should know the whole truth. "And he deserted you like a dastard58?"
She nodded in answer. He clasped her to his heart:
"Dear victim of the vile59 corruption60 of monarchies61, my love shall avenge62 his villainy! Heaven grant, I may meet the scoundrel! I shall not fail to know him!"
She turned away, at one and the same time saddened and smiling,—and disappointed. She would fain have had him wiser in the lore63 of love, with more of the natural man about him, more perhaps even of the brute64. She felt he forgave so readily only because his imagination was cold and the secret she had revealed awoke in him none of the mental pictures that torture sensuous65 natures,—in a word, that he saw her seduction solely66 under a moral and social aspect.
They had risen, and while they walked up and down the shady avenues of the gardens, he informed her that he only esteemed67 her the more because she had suffered wrong, élodie entertained no such high claims; however, take him as he was, she loved him, and admired the brilliant artistic68 genius she divined in him.
As they left the Luxembourg, they came upon crowds thronging69 the Rue17 de l'égalité and the whole neighbourhood of the Théatre de la Nation. There was nothing to surprise them in this; for several days great excitement had prevailed in the most patriotic70 Sections; denunciations were rife71 against the Orleans faction72 and the Brissotin plotters, who were conspiring73, it was said, to bring about the ruin of Paris and the massacre74 of good Republicans. Gamelin himself a short time back had signed a petition from the Commune demanding the expulsion of the Twenty-one.
Just before passing under the arcade75, joining the theatre to the neighbouring house, they had to find their way through a group of citizens en carmagnole who were listening to a harangue76 from a young soldier mounted on the top of the gallery. He looked as beautiful as the Eros of Praxiteles in his helmet of panther-skin. This fascinating warrior77 was charging the People's Friend with indolence:
Hardly had élodie cast eyes on the orator80 before she turned rapidly to évariste and begged him to get her away. The crowd, she declared, frightened her and she was afraid of fainting in the crush.
That same morning early the citoyen Brotteaux had made the citoyenne Gamelin the magnificent present of a capon. It would have been an act of indiscretion for him to mention how he had come by it; as a fact, he had it of a Dame82 de la Halle at the Pointe Eustache for whom he sometimes acted as amanuensis, and as everybody knows, these "Ladies of the Market" cherished Royalist sympathies and were in correspondence with the émigrés. The citoyenne Gamelin had received the gift with heartfelt gratitude83. Such dainties were scarce ever seen then; victuals84 grew dearer every day. The people feared a famine; the aristocrats85, they said, wished it, and the "corner" makers86 were at work to bring it about.
The citoyen Brotteaux, being invited to eat his share of the capon at the midday dinner, appeared in due course and congratulated his hostess on the rich aroma87 of cooking that assailed88 his nostrils89. Indeed a noble smell of rich, savoury broth90 filled the painter's studio.
"You are very obliging, sir," replied the good dame. "To prepare the digestion91 for your capon, I have made a vegetable soup with a slice of fat bacon and a big beef bone. There's nothing like a marrowbone, sir, to give soup a flavour."
"The maxim92 does you honour, citoyenne," returned the old man. "And you will be doing wisely to put back again to-morrow and the day after, all the week, in fact, to put back again, I say, this precious bone in the pot, which it will continue to flavour. The wise woman of Panzoust always did so; she used to make a soup of green cabbages with a rind of rusty93 bacon and an old savorados. That is what in her country, which is also mine, they call the medullary bone, the most tasty and most succulent of all bones."
"This lady you speak of, sir," remarked the citoyenne Gamelin, "was she not rather a saving soul, to make the same bone serve so many times over?"
At that moment, évariste Gamelin returned, agitated95 by the confession he had heard and determined96 to know who was élodie's betrayer, to avenge at one and the same time the Republic's wrong and his own on the miscreant97.
After the usual greetings had been exchanged, the citoyen Brotteaux resumed the thread of his discourse98:
"It is seldom those who make a trade of foretelling99 the future grow rich. Their impostures are too soon found out and their trickery renders them odious100. But indeed we should be bound to detest101 them much worse if they prophesied102 truly. A man's life would be intolerable if he knew what is to befall him. He would be aware of calamities103 to come and suffer their pains in advance, while he would get no joy of present blessings104 whose end he would foresee. Ignorance is a necessary condition of human happiness, and it must be owned that in most cases we fulfil it well. We know almost nothing about ourselves; absolutely nothing about our neighbours. Ignorance constitutes our peace of mind; self-deception our felicity."
The citoyenne Gamelin set the soup on the table, said the Benedicite and seated her son and her guest at the board. She stood up herself to eat, declining the chair the citoyen Brotteaux offered her beside him; she said she knew what good manners required of a woman.
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1
vows
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| 誓言( vow的名词复数 )； 郑重宣布，许愿 | |
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2
virtuous
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| adj.有品德的，善良的，贞洁的，有效力的 | |
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honourable
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| adj.可敬的；荣誉的，光荣的 | |
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loath
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| adj.不愿意的；勉强的 | |
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outrage
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| n.暴行，侮辱，愤怒；vt.凌辱，激怒 | |
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contemplated
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| adj. 预期的 动词contemplate的过去分词形式 | |
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7
liaison
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| n.联系，（未婚男女间的）暖昧关系，私通 | |
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lapse
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| n.过失，流逝，失效，抛弃信仰，间隔；vi.堕落，停止，失效，流逝；vt.使失效 | |
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9
scruples
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| n.良心上的不安( scruple的名词复数 )；顾虑，顾忌v.感到于心不安，有顾忌( scruple的第三人称单数 ) | |
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10
scrupulous
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| adj.审慎的，小心翼翼的，完全的，纯粹的 | |
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unwilling
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| adj.不情愿的 | |
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postpone
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| v.延期，推迟 | |
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frankly
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| adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说 | |
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14
esteem
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| n.尊敬，尊重；vt.尊重，敬重；把…看作 | |
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15
worthy
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| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
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16
credulous
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| adj.轻信的，易信的 | |
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rue
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| n.懊悔，芸香，后悔；v.后悔，悲伤，懊悔 | |
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18
judgment
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| n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见 | |
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19
alas
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| int.唉(表示悲伤、忧愁、恐惧等) | |
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confession
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| n.自白，供认，承认 | |
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21
candid
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| adj.公正的，正直的；坦率的 | |
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22
fathom
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| v.领悟，彻底了解 | |
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23
avowal
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| n.公开宣称，坦白承认 | |
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24
amenable
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| adj.经得起检验的；顺从的；对负有义务的 | |
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25
requisite
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| adj.需要的，必不可少的；n.必需品 | |
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26
Forsaken
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| adj. 被遗忘的, 被抛弃的 动词forsake的过去分词 | |
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27
literally
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| adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实 | |
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28
perseverance
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| n.坚持不懈，不屈不挠 | |
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29
idol
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| n.偶像，红人，宠儿 | |
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30
bevy
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| n.一群 | |
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adoration
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| n.爱慕，崇拜 | |
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brilliance
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| n.光辉，辉煌，壮丽，（卓越的）才华，才智 | |
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33
fickle
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| adj.(爱情或友谊上)易变的，不坚定的 | |
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34
vouchsafed
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| v.给予，赐予( vouchsafe的过去式和过去分词 )；允诺 | |
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steadfast
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| adj.固定的，不变的，不动摇的；忠实的；坚贞不移的 | |
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36
condemn
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| vt.谴责，指责；宣判(罪犯)，判刑 | |
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condemned
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| adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词 | |
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38
treacherous
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| adj.不可靠的，有暗藏的危险的；adj.背叛的，背信弃义的 | |
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39
softened
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| （使）变软( soften的过去式和过去分词 )； 缓解打击； 缓和； 安慰 | |
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seducer
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| n.诱惑者,骗子,玩弄女性的人 | |
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41
beseech
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| v.祈求，恳求 | |
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42
jealousy
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| n.妒忌，嫉妒，猜忌 | |
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43
harassing
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| v.侵扰，骚扰( harass的现在分词 )；不断攻击（敌人） | |
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44
seduced
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| 诱奸( seduce的过去式和过去分词 )； 勾引； 诱使堕落； 使入迷 | |
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45
irresistible
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| adj.非常诱人的，无法拒绝的，无法抗拒的 | |
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46
craving
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| n.渴望,热望 | |
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47
credible
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| adj.可信任的，可靠的 | |
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48
constrained
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| adj.束缚的,节制的 | |
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49
snares
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| n.陷阱( snare的名词复数 )；圈套；诱人遭受失败（丢脸、损失等）的东西；诱惑物v.用罗网捕捉，诱陷，陷害( snare的第三人称单数 ) | |
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50
persistency
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| n. 坚持(余辉, 时间常数) | |
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51
tranquil
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| adj. 安静的, 宁静的, 稳定的, 不变的 | |
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52
obstinacy
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| n.顽固；（病痛等）难治 | |
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53
reassured
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| adj.使消除疑虑的；使放心的v.再保证，恢复信心( reassure的过去式和过去分词) | |
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54
complexion
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| n.肤色；情况，局面；气质，性格 | |
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55
deserted
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| adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的 | |
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56
abolition
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| n.废除，取消 | |
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57
attained
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| （通常经过努力）实现( attain的过去式和过去分词 )； 达到； 获得； 达到（某年龄、水平、状况） | |
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58
dastard
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| n.卑怯之人，懦夫；adj.怯懦的，畏缩的 | |
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59
vile
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| adj.卑鄙的，可耻的，邪恶的；坏透的 | |
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60
corruption
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| n.腐败，堕落，贪污 | |
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61
monarchies
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| n. 君主政体, 君主国, 君主政治 | |
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62
avenge
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| v.为...复仇，为...报仇 | |
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63
lore
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| n.传说；学问，经验，知识 | |
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64
brute
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| n.野兽，兽性 | |
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65
sensuous
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| adj.激发美感的；感官的，感觉上的 | |
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66
solely
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| adv.仅仅，唯一地 | |
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67
esteemed
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| adj.受人尊敬的v.尊敬( esteem的过去式和过去分词 )；敬重；认为；以为 | |
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68
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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thronging
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| v.成群，挤满( throng的现在分词 ) | |
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70
patriotic
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| adj.爱国的，有爱国心的 | |
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71
rife
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| adj.(指坏事情)充斥的，流行的，普遍的 | |
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72
faction
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| n.宗派，小集团；派别；派系斗争 | |
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73
conspiring
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| 密谋( conspire的现在分词 )； 搞阴谋； （事件等）巧合； 共同导致 | |
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74
massacre
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| n.残杀，大屠杀；v.残杀，集体屠杀 | |
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75
arcade
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| n.拱廊；(一侧或两侧有商店的)通道 | |
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76
harangue
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| n.慷慨冗长的训话，言辞激烈的讲话 | |
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77
warrior
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| n.勇士，武士，斗士 | |
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78
fetters
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| n.脚镣( fetter的名词复数 )；束缚v.给…上脚镣，束缚( fetter的第三人称单数 ) | |
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bind
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| vt.捆，包扎；装订；约束；使凝固；vi.变硬 | |
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orator
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| n.演说者，演讲者，雄辩家 | |
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fidelity
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| n.忠诚，忠实；精确 | |
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82
dame
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| n.女士 | |
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83
gratitude
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| adj.感激，感谢 | |
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84
victuals
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| n.食物；食品 | |
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85
aristocrats
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| n.贵族( aristocrat的名词复数 ) | |
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makers
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| n.制造者，制造商（maker的复数形式） | |
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aroma
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| n.香气，芬芳，芳香 | |
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88
assailed
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| v.攻击( assail的过去式和过去分词 )；困扰；质问；毅然应对 | |
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89
nostrils
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| 鼻孔( nostril的名词复数 ) | |
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90
broth
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| n.原(汁)汤(鱼汤、肉汤、菜汤等) | |
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digestion
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| n.消化，吸收 | |
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maxim
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| n.格言，箴言 | |
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rusty
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| adj.生锈的；锈色的；荒废了的 | |
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albeit
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| conj.即使；纵使；虽然 | |
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agitated
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| adj.被鼓动的，不安的 | |
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determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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miscreant
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| n.恶棍 | |
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discourse
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| n.论文，演说；谈话；话语；vi.讲述，著述 | |
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99
foretelling
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| v.预言，预示( foretell的现在分词 ) | |
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100
odious
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| adj.可憎的，讨厌的 | |
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101
detest
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| vt.痛恨，憎恶 | |
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102
prophesied
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| v.预告，预言( prophesy的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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103
calamities
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| n.灾祸，灾难( calamity的名词复数 )；不幸之事 | |
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104
blessings
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| n.（上帝的）祝福( blessing的名词复数 )；好事；福分；因祸得福 | |
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