Madame Worms-Clavelin looked out of the carriage window: she had nearly arrived. In front of her the pointed28 tops of the poplars which fringe the river rose at the end of the avenue. Once more the surroundings were varied29 and bustling30. High walls and zigzag31 roof-ridges followed one another uninterruptedly. The cab stopped in front of a large modern house, evidently built with special regard to economy and even stinginess, in defiance32 of all considerations of art or beauty. Yet the effect was neat and pleasant on the whole. It was pierced with narrow windows, among which one could distinguish those of the chapel by the leaden tracery that bound the window-panes. On its dull, plain fa?ade one was discreetly33 reminded of the traditions of French religious art by means of triangular34 dormer windows set in the woodwork of the roof and capped with trefoils. On the pediment of the front door an204 ampulla was carved, typifying the phial in which was contained the blood of the Saviour35 that Joseph of Arimath?a had carried away in a glove. This was the escutcheon of the Sisters of the Precious Blood, a confraternity founded in 1829 by Madame Marie Latreille, which received state recognition in 1868, thanks to the goodwill36 of the Empress Eugénie. The Sisters of the Precious Blood devoted37 themselves to the training of young girls.
Jumping from the carriage, Madame Worms-Clavelin rang at the door, which was carefully and circumspectly38 half opened for her. Then she went into the parlour, while the sister who attended to the turnstile gave notice through the wicket that Mademoiselle de Clavelin was wanted to come and see her mother. The parlour was only furnished with horsehair chairs. In a niche39 on the whitewashed40 wall there stood a figure of the Holy Virgin41, painted in pale colours. There was a certain air of archness about the figure, which stood erect42, with the feet hidden and the hands extended. This large, cold, white room carried with it a suggestion of peace, order and rectitude. One could feel in it a secret power, a social force that remained unseen.
Madame Worms-Clavelin sniffed43 the air of this parlour with a solemn sense of satisfaction, though205 it was damp, and suffused44 with the stale smell of cooking. Her own girlhood had been spent in the noisy little schools of Montmartre, amidst daubs of ink and lumps of sweetmeats, and in the perpetual interchange of offensive words and vulgar gestures. She therefore appreciated very highly the austerity of an aristocratic and religious education. In order that her daughter might be admitted into a famous convent, she had had her baptized, for she thought to herself, “Jeanne will then be better bred and she will have a chance of making a better marriage.”
Jeanne had accordingly been baptized at the age of eleven and with the utmost secrecy45, because they were then under a radical46 administration. Since then the Church and the Republic had become more reconciled to each other, but in order to avoid displeasing47 the bigots of the department, Madame Worms-Clavelin still concealed48 the fact that her daughter was being educated in a nunnery. Somehow, however, the secret leaked out, and now and then the clerical organ of the department published a paragraph which M. Lacarelle, counsel to the prefecture, blue-pencilled and sent to M. Worms-Clavelin. For instance, M. Worms-Clavelin read:
“Is it a fact that the Jewish persecutor49 whom the freemasons have placed at the head of our departmental administration, in order that he may oppose the cause of206 God among the faithful, has actually sent his daughter to be educated in a convent?”
M. Worms-Clavelin shrugged50 his shoulders and threw the paper into the waste-paper basket. Two days later the Catholic editor inserted another paragraph, as, after reading the first, one would have prophesied51 his doing.
“I asked whether our Jewish préfet, Worms-Clavelin, was really having his daughter educated in a convent. And now that this freemason has, for good reasons of his own, avoided giving me any answer, I will myself reply to my own question. After having had his daughter baptized, this dishonourable Jew sent his daughter to a Catholic place of education.
“Mademoiselle Worms-Clavelin is at Neuilly-sur-Seine, being educated by the Sisters of the Precious Blood.
“A lay, atheistic53, homicidal education is good enough for the people who maintain them! Would that our people’s eyes were opened to discern on which side are the Tartuffes!”
M. Lacarelle, the counsel to the prefecture, first blue-pencilled the paragraph and then placed the open sheet on the préfet’s desk. M. Worms-Clavelin threw it into his waste-paper basket and warned the meddlesome54 papers not to engage in discussions of that sort. Hence this little episode was soon forgotten and fell into the bottomless pit of oblivion, into that black darkness of night which,207 after one outburst of excitement, swallows up the shame and the honour, the scandals and the glories of an administration. In view of the wealth and power of the Church, Madame Worms-Clavelin had stuck energetically to her point that Jeanne should be left to these nuns55 who would train the young girl in good principles and good manners.
She modestly sat down, hiding her feet under her dress, like the red, white and blue Virgin of the niche, and holding in her finger-tips by the string the box of chocolates she had brought for Jeanne.
A tall girl, looking very lanky56 in her black dress with the red girdle of the Middle School, burst into the room.
“Good morning, mamma!”
Madame Worms-Clavelin looked her up and down with a curious mixture of motherly solicitude57 and horse-dealer’s curiosity. Drawing her close, she glanced at her teeth, made her stand upright; looked at her figure, her shoulders and her back, and seemed pleased.
“Heavens! how tall you are!” she exclaimed. “You have such long arms!...”
“Don’t worry me about them, mamma! As it is, I never know what to do with them.”
She sat down and clasped her red hands across208 her knees. She replied with a graceful air of boredom58 to the questions which her mother asked about her health, and listened wearily to her instructions about healthy habits and to her advice in the matter of cod-liver oil. Then she asked:
“And how is papa?”
Madame Worms-Clavelin was almost astonished whenever anyone asked her about her husband, not because she was herself indifferent to him, but because she felt it was impossible to say anything new about this firm, unchangeable, stolid59 man, who was never ill and who never said or did anything original.
“Your father? What could happen to him? We have a very good position and no wish to change it.”
All the same, she thought it would soon be advisable to look out for a suitable sinecure60, either in the treasury61, or, perhaps rather, in the Council of State. At the thought her beautiful eyes grew dim with reverie.
Her daughter asked what she was thinking about.
“I was thinking that one day we might return to Paris. I like Paris for my part, but there we should hardly count.”
“Yet papa has great abilities. Sister Sainte-Marie-des-Anges209 said so once in class. She said: ‘Mademoiselle de Clavelin, your father has shown great administrative62 talents.’”
Madame Worms-Clavelin shook her head. “One wants so much money to live in style in Paris.”
“You like Paris, mamma, but for my part I like the country best.”
“You know nothing about it, pet.”
“But, mamma, one doesn’t care only for what one knows.”
“There is, perhaps, some truth in what you say.”
“You haven’t heard, mamma?... I have won the prize for history composition. Madame de Saint-Joseph said I was the only one who had treated the subject thoroughly63.”
Madame Worms-Clavelin asked gently:
“What subject?”
“The Pragmatic Sanction.”
Madame Worms-Clavelin asked, this time with an accent of real surprise:
“What is that?”
“It was one of Charles VII’s mistakes. It was, indeed, the greatest mistake he ever made.”
Madame Worms-Clavelin found this answer by no means enlightening. But since she took no210 interest in the history of the Middle Ages, she was willing to let the matter drop. But Jeanne, who was full of her subject, went on in all seriousness:
“Yes, mamma. It was the greatest crime of that reign64, a flagrant violation65 of the rights of the Holy See, a criminal robbery of the inheritance of St. Peter. But happily the error was set right by Francis I. And whilst we are on this subject, mamma, do you know we have found out that Alice’s governess was an old wanton?...”
Madame Worms-Clavelin begged her daughter anxiously and earnestly not to join her young friends in research work of this kind. Then she flew into a rage:
Jeanne looked at her in mysterious silence. Then she said suddenly:
“Mamma, I must tell you that my drawers are in such a state that they are a positive sight. You know you have never been overwhelmingly interested in the question of linen68. I don’t say this as a reproach, for one person goes in for linen, another for dresses, another for jewels. You, mamma, have always gone in for jewels. For my part it’s linen that I’m mad about.... And211 besides, we’ve just had a nine days’ prayer. I prayed hard both for you and for papa, I can tell you! And, then, I’ve earned four thousand nine hundred and thirty-seven days of indulgence.”
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1
civic
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| adj.城市的，都市的，市民的，公民的 | |
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stunted
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| adj.矮小的；发育迟缓的 | |
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chapel
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| n.小教堂，殡仪馆 | |
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crouches
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| n.蹲着的姿势( crouch的名词复数 )v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的第三人称单数 ) | |
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dwarfish
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| a.像侏儒的，矮小的 | |
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scorched
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| 烧焦，烤焦( scorch的过去式和过去分词 )； 使（植物）枯萎，把…晒枯； 高速行驶； 枯焦 | |
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melancholy
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| n.忧郁，愁思；adj.令人感伤（沮丧）的，忧郁的 | |
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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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everlasting
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| adj.永恒的，持久的，无止境的 | |
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pall
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| v.覆盖，使平淡无味；n.柩衣，棺罩；棺材；帷幕 | |
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11
rumbled
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| 发出隆隆声，发出辘辘声( rumble的过去式和过去分词 )； 轰鸣着缓慢行进； 发现…的真相； 看穿（阴谋） | |
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12
solitude
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| n. 孤独; 独居,荒僻之地,幽静的地方 | |
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13
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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graceful
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| adj.优美的，优雅的；得体的 | |
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mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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amplitude
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| n.广大；充足；振幅 | |
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17
canopies
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| （宝座或床等上面的）华盖( canopy的名词复数 )； （飞行器上的）座舱罩； 任何悬于上空的覆盖物； 森林中天棚似的树荫 | |
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18
slate
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| n.板岩，石板，石片，石板色，候选人名单；adj.暗蓝灰色的，含板岩的；vt.用石板覆盖，痛打，提名，预订 | |
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19
fowls
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| 鸟( fowl的名词复数 )； 禽肉； 既不是这； 非驴非马 | |
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chapels
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| n.小教堂， （医院、监狱等的）附属礼拜堂( chapel的名词复数 )；（在小教堂和附属礼拜堂举行的）礼拜仪式 | |
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asylums
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| n.避难所( asylum的名词复数 )；庇护；政治避难；精神病院 | |
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severely
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| adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地 | |
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23
plunged
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| v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
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24
deserted
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| adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的 | |
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maker
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| n.制造者，制造商 | |
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ornaments
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| n.装饰( ornament的名词复数 )；点缀；装饰品；首饰v.装饰，点缀，美化( ornament的第三人称单数 ) | |
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marshes
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| n.沼泽，湿地( marsh的名词复数 ) | |
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pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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varied
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| adj.多样的，多变化的 | |
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bustling
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| adj.喧闹的 | |
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zigzag
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| n.曲折，之字形；adj.曲折的，锯齿形的；adv.曲折地，成锯齿形地；vt.使曲折；vi.曲折前行 | |
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defiance
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| n.挑战，挑衅，蔑视，违抗 | |
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discreetly
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| ad.(言行)审慎地，慎重地 | |
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triangular
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| adj.三角（形）的，三者间的 | |
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saviour
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| n.拯救者，救星 | |
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goodwill
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| n.善意，亲善，信誉，声誉 | |
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devoted
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| adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的 | |
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circumspectly
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| adv.慎重地，留心地 | |
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niche
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| n.壁龛；合适的职务(环境、位置等) | |
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40
whitewashed
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| 粉饰，美化，掩饰( whitewash的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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41
virgin
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| n.处女，未婚女子；adj.未经使用的；未经开发的 | |
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erect
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| n./v.树立，建立，使竖立；adj.直立的，垂直的 | |
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43
sniffed
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| v.以鼻吸气，嗅，闻( sniff的过去式和过去分词 )；抽鼻子（尤指哭泣、患感冒等时出声地用鼻子吸气）；抱怨，不以为然地说 | |
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44
suffused
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| v.（指颜色、水气等）弥漫于，布满( suffuse的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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45
secrecy
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| n.秘密，保密，隐蔽 | |
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46
radical
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| n.激进份子，原子团，根号；adj.根本的，激进的，彻底的 | |
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47
displeasing
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| 不愉快的，令人发火的 | |
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48
concealed
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| a.隐藏的，隐蔽的 | |
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49
persecutor
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| n. 迫害者 | |
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50
shrugged
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| vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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51
prophesied
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| v.预告，预言( prophesy的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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52
sincerity
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| n.真诚，诚意；真实 | |
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53
atheistic
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| adj.无神论者的 | |
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54
meddlesome
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| adj.爱管闲事的 | |
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nuns
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| n.（通常指基督教的）修女， （佛教的）尼姑( nun的名词复数 ) | |
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56
lanky
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| adj.瘦长的 | |
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solicitude
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| n.焦虑 | |
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boredom
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| n.厌烦，厌倦，乏味，无聊 | |
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stolid
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| adj.无动于衷的，感情麻木的 | |
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sinecure
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| n.闲差事，挂名职务 | |
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61
treasury
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| n.宝库；国库，金库；文库 | |
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62
administrative
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| adj.行政的，管理的 | |
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thoroughly
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| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
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64
reign
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| n.统治时期，统治，支配，盛行；v.占优势 | |
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65
violation
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| n.违反(行为)，违背(行为)，侵犯 | |
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perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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heed
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| v.注意，留意；n.注意，留心 | |
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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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