And yet, sometimes, just when the most jovial13 of smiles overspread the young man's features, when his voice was heard giving utterance15 to some bright and witty16 remark, a cloud would suddenly pass across his brow, and a sigh would escape from his lips at least, if not from his heart. The sigh was for Nanon; the cloud was the memory of the past casting its shadow over the present.
Madame de Cambes had remarked these moments of melancholy17; she had sounded the depths of Canolles' heart, and it seemed to her that she could not leave him thus abandoned to his own resources. Between an old love which was not altogether extinct, and a new passion which might spring up in his heart, it was possible that his surplus ardor18, which was formerly19 expended20 upon the proper performance of his military duties and the functions of his responsible position, might tend to check the growth of the pure flame which she sought to inspire. Moreover she simply desired to gain time until the memory of so many romantic adventures should fade away, after keeping the curiosity of all the courtiers of the princess on the qui vive. Perhaps Madame de Cambes was injudicious; perhaps, if she had made no concealment21 of her love, it would have created less sensation, or the sensation would have been less long-lived.
But Lenet was the one who followed the progress of this mysterious passion with the most attention and success. For some time his observant eye had detected its existence without feeling sure of its object; nor had he been able to guess its precise situation, whether it was or was not reciprocated22. But Madame de Cambes, sometimes tremulous and hesitating, sometimes firm and determined23, and almost always indifferent to the pleasures which those about her enjoyed, seemed to him to be stricken to the heart in very truth. Her warlike ardor had suddenly died away; she was neither tremulous nor hesitating nor firm nor determined; she was pensive24, smiled for no apparent motive25, wept without cause, as if her lips and her eyes responded to the vagaries26 of her thought, the contrary impulses of her mind. This transformation27 had been noticeable for six or seven days only, and it was six or seven days since Canolles was taken prisoner. Therefore there was little doubt that Canolles was the object of her love.
Lenet, be it understood, was quite ready to further a passion which might some day result in enrolling28 so gallant29 a warrior30 among the partisans31 of Madame la Princesse.
Monsieur de La Rochefoucauld was perhaps farther advanced than Lenet in the exploration of Madame de Cambes' heart. But the language of his gestures and his eyes, as well as of his mouth, was so closely confined to what he chose to permit them to say, that no one could say whether he himself loved or hated Madame de Cambes. As to Canolles, he did not mention his name or look at him, or take any more notice of him than if he had not existed. For the rest, he assumed a more warlike attitude than ever, posing constantly as a hero,—a pretension32 in which he was justified33 to some extent by his undeniable courage, and his equally undeniable military skill; day by day he attributed increased importance to his position as lieutenant34 to the generalissimo. Monsieur de Bouillon, on the other hand, a cold, mysterious, calculating personage, whose political ends were admirably served by attacks of gout, which sometimes came so in the nick of time that people were tempted35 to question their reality, was forever negotiating, and concealed his real thoughts as much as possible, being unable to realize the tremendous distance that lay between Mazarin and Richelieu, and being always fearful for his head which he was very near losing upon the same scaffold with Cinq-Mars, and saved only by giving up Sedan, his own city, and renouncing36 in fact, if not in name, his rank as a sovereign prince.
The city itself was carried away by the flood of dissipation and profligacy37 which poured in upon it from all sides. Between two fires, with death and ruin of one sort or another staring them in the face, the Bordelais were never sure of the morrow, and they felt the need of doing what they could to sweeten their precarious38 existence, which could count the future only by seconds.
They remembered La Rochelle and its demolition39 by Louis XIII., and the profound admiration40 of Anne of Austria for that exploit. Why did not Bordeaux afford the hatred41 and ambition of that princess an opportunity to duplicate the fate of La Rochelle?
They constantly forgot that the man who imposed his levelling instrument upon all heads and walls that seemed to him too high was dead, and that Cardinal42 de Mazarin was hardly equal to the shadow of Cardinal de Richelieu.
So it was that every one let himself go with the tide, Canolles with the rest. It is no less true that there were times when he was inclined to doubt everything, and in his fits of scepticism he doubted the love of Madame de Cambes, as he doubted everything else. At such times Nanon's image would once more fill a large space in his heart, in absence more affectionate and devoted43 than ever. At such times, if Nanon had appeared before him in the flesh, the inconstant creature would have fallen at her feet.
While his thoughts and emotions were in this incoherent state, which only those hearts can understand that have at some time hesitated between two loves, Canolles received the viscountess's letter. We need not say that every other thought instantly disappeared. After reading the letter he could not understand how he could ever have dreamed of loving any other than Madame de Cambes, and after reading it a second time he was sure that he had never loved any other than her.
He passed one of those feverish44, restless nights which do not bring exhaustion45 in their train, because happiness furnishes a counterpoise to insomnia46. Although he had hardly closed his eyes during the night, he rose with the dawn.
Every one knows how a lover passes the hours preceding a meeting with his beloved,—in looking at his watch, running aimlessly hither and thither47, and jostling his dearest friends without recognizing them. Canolles performed every mad feat14 that his state of mind demanded.
At the precise moment (it was the twentieth time he had entered the church) he went to the confessional, the door of which stood open. Through the small window filtered the last rays of the setting sun; the whole interior of the religious edifice48 was lighted up by that mysterious light, so sweet to those who pray, and those who love. Canolles would have given a year of his life rather than lose a single hope at that moment.
He looked around to make sure that the church was deserted49, and when he was convinced that there was no one to see him, entered the confessional and closed the door behind him.
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1
caressed
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| 爱抚或抚摸…( caress的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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bestowed
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| 赠给，授予( bestow的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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passionate
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| adj.热情的，热烈的，激昂的，易动情的，易怒的，性情暴躁的 | |
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exterior
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| adj.外部的，外在的；表面的 | |
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concealed
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| a.隐藏的，隐蔽的 | |
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virtue
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| n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力 | |
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relegated
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| v.使降级( relegate的过去式和过去分词 )；使降职；转移；把…归类 | |
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remorse
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| n.痛恨，悔恨，自责 | |
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ennui
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| n.怠倦，无聊 | |
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tangible
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| adj.有形的，可触摸的，确凿的，实际的 | |
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reminders
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| n.令人回忆起…的东西( reminder的名词复数 )；提醒…的东西；（告知该做某事的）通知单；提示信 | |
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unbearable
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| adj.不能容忍的；忍受不住的 | |
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jovial
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| adj.快乐的，好交际的 | |
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feat
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| n.功绩；武艺，技艺；adj.灵巧的，漂亮的，合适的 | |
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utterance
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| n.用言语表达，话语，言语 | |
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witty
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| adj.机智的，风趣的 | |
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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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ardor
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| n.热情，狂热 | |
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formerly
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| adv.从前，以前 | |
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expended
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| v.花费( expend的过去式和过去分词 )；使用（钱等）做某事；用光；耗尽 | |
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concealment
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| n.隐藏, 掩盖，隐瞒 | |
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reciprocated
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| v.报答，酬答( reciprocate的过去式和过去分词 )；（机器的部件）直线往复运动 | |
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determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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pensive
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| a.沉思的,哀思的,忧沉的 | |
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motive
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| n.动机，目的；adv.发动的，运动的 | |
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vagaries
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| n.奇想( vagary的名词复数 )；异想天开；异常行为；难以预测的情况 | |
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transformation
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| n.变化；改造；转变 | |
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enrolling
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| v.招收( enrol的现在分词 )；吸收；入学；加入；[亦作enrol]( enroll的现在分词 )；登记，招收，使入伍（或入会、入学等），参加，成为成员；记入名册；卷起，包起 | |
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gallant
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| adj.英勇的，豪侠的；(向女人)献殷勤的 | |
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warrior
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| n.勇士，武士，斗士 | |
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partisans
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| 游击队员( partisan的名词复数 )； 党人； 党羽； 帮伙 | |
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pretension
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| n.要求；自命，自称；自负 | |
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justified
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| a.正当的，有理的 | |
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lieutenant
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| n.陆军中尉，海军上尉；代理官员，副职官员 | |
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tempted
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| v.怂恿（某人）干不正当的事；冒…的险（tempt的过去分词） | |
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renouncing
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| v.声明放弃( renounce的现在分词 )；宣布放弃；宣布与…决裂；宣布摒弃 | |
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profligacy
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| n.放荡，不检点，肆意挥霍 | |
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precarious
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| adj.不安定的，靠不住的；根据不足的 | |
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demolition
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| n.破坏,毁坏,毁坏之遗迹 | |
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40
admiration
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| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 | |
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41
hatred
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| n.憎恶，憎恨，仇恨 | |
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42
cardinal
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| n.(天主教的)红衣主教；adj.首要的，基本的 | |
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43
devoted
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| adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的 | |
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feverish
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| adj.发烧的，狂热的，兴奋的 | |
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45
exhaustion
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| n.耗尽枯竭，疲惫，筋疲力尽，竭尽，详尽无遗的论述 | |
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46
insomnia
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| n.失眠，失眠症 | |
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47
thither
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| adv.向那里；adj.在那边的，对岸的 | |
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48
edifice
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| n.宏伟的建筑物(如宫殿，教室) | |
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49
deserted
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| adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的 | |
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