Coster de Saint-Victor had not resumed the use of powder; he wore his hair in long, flowing curls, without comb or queue. It was jet-black like his eyelashes, which shaded eyes of a deep sapphire1 blue, which, according to the expression he chose to give them, were at times gentle and again full of commanding power. His complexion2, which was now rather pale owing to his recent loss of blood, was of a rich creamy white; his nose straight, clear-cut and irreproachable3; his firm, red lips disclosed magnificent teeth; and the rest of the body, which, thanks to the fashion then in vogue4, was clad to display it to the best advantage, was modelled on the lines of Antinous.
The two young people looked at each other for a moment in silence.
"You heard?" asked Aurélie.
"He will sup with me, and it is your fault."
"How so?"
"You made me open the door."
"Of course!"
"Really?"
"But to him whom you love?"
"Ah! for him I would be charming," replied Aurélie.
"And suppose," said Coster, "that I could find a way to prevent his supping with you?"
"And?"
"Who would sup with you in his place?"
"What a question. The man who kept him away."
[Pg 271]
"And then you would not be cross?"
"Oh, no!"
"Give me a pledge."
The beautiful courtesan held up her cheek to him, and he pressed a kiss upon it. Just then the bell rang again.
"Ah! this time I warn you that if it is he who has taken it into his stupid head to return, I shall go away," said Coster de Saint-Victor.
Suzette appeared.
"Shall I open the door, madame?" she asked timidly.
"Certainly, open it."
Suzette opened it. A man carrying a large flat basket on his head came in, saying: "Supper for citizen Barras."
"You hear?" asked Aurélie.
"Yes," replied the incroyable; "but, on the word of Coster de Saint-Victor, he shall not eat it."
"Shall I set the table just the same?" asked Suzette.
Aurélie followed him with her eyes as far as the door, then, when it had closed behind him, she cried: "My toilet, Suzette, and make me look more beautiful than you ever did before."
"And for which of the two does madame wish to look beautiful?"
"I do not know myself; but, in the meantime, make me as beautiful as possible for myself."
We have already described the costume of the fashionable ladies of the day, and Aurélie was one of them. A member of a good family of Provence, and playing the part which we have outlined, we have thought it best to leave her the name by which she was known at the time of which we write, and which appears in the police records. Her story was like that of nearly all the women of her class, for whom the Thermidorean reaction was a triumph. A young girl without fortune, she was led astray by a young nobleman, who induced her to leave her home, and who[Pg 272] took her to Paris, then emigrated, enlisted9 in Condé's army, and was killed. She remained alone without other means of support than her beauty and her youth. Picked up by one of the farmers of the public revenues, she soon regained10 more luxury than she had lost. But the time came when the office of farmer of the revenue was suppressed. The beautiful Aurélie's protector was one of twenty-seven persons who were executed with Lavoisier on the 8th of May, 1794. At his death he left her a large sum of money, of which she had hitherto used only the interest; so that, without being wealthy, the beautiful Aurélie was beyond the reach of want.
Barras, hearing of her beauty and refinement11, called upon her, and, after a suitable probation12, was accepted as her lover. He was then a handsome man of forty, belonging to a noble family of Provence—a nobility that has been questioned, although those who remember the old saying, "Old as the rocks of Provence, and noble as the Barras," will not doubt the justice of the claim.
At the age of eighteen, Barras was a subaltern in the regiment13 of Languedoc, but left it to rejoin his uncle, who was governor of the "Ile de France." He was nearly lost in a shipwreck14 off the coast of Coromandel; but managing by good luck to seize the helm at the right moment, and showing great presence of mind and sound judgment15, he reached an island inhabited by savages16, where he and his companions remained a month. They were finally rescued and taken to Pondicherry. He returned to Paris in 1788, where a great future awaited him.
At the time when the States-General assembled, Barras, following Mirabeau's example, showed no hesitation17; he presented himself as a candidate for the Tiers-Etat, and was accepted. On the 14th of July he was noticed among the crowd that took the Bastille. As a member of the Convention, he voted the death of the king, and was sent to Toulon, after that city was recaptured from the English. His despatch18 to the Convention is well known.
[Pg 273]
When Barras returned to the Convention, he took an active part on all great occasions when the interests of the Revolution were at stake, and he was particularly prominent on the 9th Thermidor. So much so, that, when the new Convention was proposed, he was naturally elected as one of the directors.
We have told his age, and testified as to his personal charm. He was a man about five feet six, with a fine head of hair, which he powdered to conceal20 his premature21 grayness. He had remarkably22 fine eyes, a straight nose, and full lips which set off a sympathetic mouth. Without adopting the exaggerated fashions of the jeunesse dorée, he followed them to a degree of elegance23 suited to his years.
As for the beautiful Aurélie de Saint-Amour, she had just completed her twenty-first year, entering at the same time upon her majority, and the true period of a woman's beauty, which is in our opinion from her twenty-first year to her thirty-fifth. Her disposition24 was at once extremely refined, extremely sensual, and extremely impressionable. She possessed25 the attributes of flower, fruit, and woman—perfume, savor26, and pleasure.
She was tall, which at first sight made her seem slender, but thanks to the style of dress then in vogue, it was not difficult to see that she was slender after the fashion of Jean Goujon's Diana. She was fair with those deep brown tints27 which are to be seen in the hair of Titian's Magdalen. When she wore her hair in the Greek style, with bands of blue velvet28, she was superb; but when, toward the end of a dinner, she loosened her hair, letting it fall over her shoulders and framing her cheeks in an aureole, enhancing their fresh camilla tints and peachy down-like surface, and contrasting sharply with her black eyebrows29, blue eyes, red lips, and pearly teeth, and when a spray of brilliant diamonds hung from each ear—then she was dazzling.
Now this luxuriant beauty had developed only within the last two years. To her first lover, the only man she had[Pg 274] ever loved, she had given the young girl, full of hesitations30, who yields, but does not entirely31 surrender herself. Then all at once she felt the sap of life mounting and growing within her; her eyes opened, her nostrils32 distended33; she exhaled34 at every pore that love of second youth which succeeds adolescence35, which turns its gaze upon herself, and which seeks some object upon which to lavish36 the pent-up wealth of treasure within. It was then that necessity compelled her to sell rather than to give herself; but even then she looked forward to the time when she should be rich and free to enter upon that liberty of heart and person which is the dignity of every woman.
Two or three times at evening parties at the H?tel Thélusson, at the Opéra, or at the Comédie Fran?aise, she had noticed Coster de Saint-Victor as he paid his court to the most beautiful and distinguished37 ladies of the period; and each time her heart seemed to leap in her bosom38 and fly to him. She felt within herself that some day, if she would make advances, this man would belong to her, or rather she to him. And so thoroughly39 was she convinced of this, that (thanks to the secret voice which oftentimes gives us hints of what the future will bring forth) she was content to wait without much impatience40, certain that one day the object of her dreams would pass near enough to her, or she to him, to join them each to each other by the irresistible41 law that binds42 steel to magnet.
At last, on the evening when she opened her window to watch the street brawl43, she recognized in the thick of the fray44 the handsome figure which had haunted her solitary45 nights; and, in spite of herself, she cried out: "Citizen in the green coat, take care!"
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1
sapphire
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| n.青玉，蓝宝石；adj.天蓝色的 | |
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2
complexion
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| n.肤色；情况，局面；气质，性格 | |
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3
irreproachable
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| adj.不可指责的，无过失的 | |
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4
Vogue
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| n.时髦，时尚；adj.流行的 | |
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5
alas
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| int.唉(表示悲伤、忧愁、恐惧等) | |
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6
vexed
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| adj.争论不休的；（指问题等）棘手的；争论不休的问题；烦恼的v.使烦恼( vex的过去式和过去分词 )；使苦恼；使生气；详细讨论 | |
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7
amiable
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| adj.和蔼可亲的，友善的，亲切的 | |
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8
darting
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| v.投掷，投射( dart的现在分词 )；向前冲，飞奔 | |
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9
enlisted
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| adj.应募入伍的v.（使）入伍， （使）参军( enlist的过去式和过去分词 )；获得（帮助或支持） | |
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10
regained
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| 复得( regain的过去式和过去分词 )； 赢回； 重回； 复至某地 | |
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11
refinement
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| n.文雅；高尚；精美；精制；精炼 | |
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12
probation
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| n.缓刑(期)，(以观后效的)察看；试用(期) | |
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13
regiment
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| n.团，多数，管理；v.组织，编成团，统制 | |
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14
shipwreck
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| n.船舶失事，海难 | |
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15
judgment
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| n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见 | |
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16
savages
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| 未开化的人，野蛮人( savage的名词复数 ) | |
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17
hesitation
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| n.犹豫，踌躇 | |
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18
despatch
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| n./v.(dispatch)派遣；发送；n.急件；新闻报道 | |
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19
demolish
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| v.拆毁(建筑物等)，推翻(计划、制度等) | |
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20
conceal
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| v.隐藏，隐瞒，隐蔽 | |
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21
premature
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| adj.比预期时间早的；不成熟的，仓促的 | |
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22
remarkably
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| ad.不同寻常地，相当地 | |
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23
elegance
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| n.优雅；优美，雅致；精致，巧妙 | |
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24
disposition
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| n.性情，性格；意向，倾向；排列，部署 | |
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25
possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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26
savor
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| vt.品尝，欣赏；n.味道，风味；情趣，趣味 | |
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27
tints
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| 色彩( tint的名词复数 )； 带白的颜色； （淡色）染发剂； 痕迹 | |
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28
velvet
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| n.丝绒，天鹅绒；adj.丝绒制的，柔软的 | |
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29
eyebrows
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| 眉毛( eyebrow的名词复数 ) | |
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30
hesitations
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| n.犹豫( hesitation的名词复数 )；踌躇；犹豫（之事或行为）；口吃 | |
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31
entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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32
nostrils
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| 鼻孔( nostril的名词复数 ) | |
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33
distended
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| v.（使）膨胀，肿胀( distend的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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34
exhaled
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| v.呼出，发散出( exhale的过去式和过去分词 )；吐出（肺中的空气、烟等），呼气 | |
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35
adolescence
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| n.青春期，青少年 | |
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36
lavish
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| adj.无节制的；浪费的；vt.慷慨地给予，挥霍 | |
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37
distinguished
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| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
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38
bosom
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| n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的 | |
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39
thoroughly
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| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
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40
impatience
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| n.不耐烦，急躁 | |
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41
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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42
binds
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| v.约束( bind的第三人称单数 )；装订；捆绑；（用长布条）缠绕 | |
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43
brawl
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| n.大声争吵，喧嚷；v.吵架，对骂 | |
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44
fray
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| v.争吵；打斗；磨损，磨破；n.吵架；打斗 | |
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45
solitary
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| adj.孤独的，独立的，荒凉的；n.隐士 | |
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