CHAPTER 40. TWO AMBITIONS THAT WISH TO PASS FOR TWO LOVES.

 When Jeanne returned to her pretty little house in the faubourg, it was still early; so she took a pen and wrote a few rapid lines, enclosed them in a perfumed envelope, and rang the bell. “Take this letter to Monseigneur the Cardinal¹ de Rohan,” said she.

 

In five minutes the man returned.

 

“Well,” said Madame de la Motte, impatiently, “why are you not gone?”

 

“Just as I left the house, madame, his eminence² came to the door. I told him I was about to go to his hotel with a letter from you; he read it, and is now waiting to come in.”

 

“Let him enter,” said the countess.

 

Jeanne had been thinking all the way home of the beautiful necklace, and wishing it was hers. It would be a fortune in itself.

 

The cardinal entered. He also was full of desires and ambitions, which he wished to hide under the mask of love.

 

“Ah, dear Jeanne,” said he, “you have really become so necessary to me that I have been gloomy all day knowing you to be so far off. But you have returned from Versailles?”

 

“As you see, monseigneur.”

 

“And content?”

 

“Enchanted.”

 

“The queen received you, then?”

 

“I was introduced immediately on my arrival.”

 

“You were fortunate. I suppose, from your triumphant³ air, that she spoke⁴ to you.”

 

“I passed three hours in her majesty’s cabinet.”

 

“Three hours! You are really an enchantress whom no one can resist. But perhaps you exaggerate. Three hours!” he repeated; “how many things a clever woman like you might say in three hours!”

 

“Oh, I assure you, monseigneur, that I did not waste my time.”

 

“I dare say that in the whole three hours you did not once think of me.”

 

“Ungrateful man!”

 

“Really!” cried the cardinal.

 

“I did more than think of you; I spoke of you.”

 

“Spoke of me! to whom?” asked the prelate, in a voice from which all his power over himself could not banish⁵ some emotion.

 

“To whom should it be but to the queen?”

 

“Ah, dear countess, tell me about it. I interest myself so much in all that concerns you, that I should like to hear the most minute details.”

 

Jeanne smiled. She knew what interested the cardinal as well as he did himself. Then she related to him all the circumstances which had so fortunately made her, from a stranger, almost the friend and confidant of the queen.

 

Scarcely had she finished, when the servant entered to announce supper.

 

Jeanne invited the cardinal to accompany her.

 

He gave her his arm, and they went in together.

 

During supper, the cardinal continued to drink in long draughts⁶ of love and hope from the recitals⁷ which Jeanne kept making to him from time to time. He remarked also, with surprise, that, instead of making herself sought like a woman that knows that you have need of her, she had thrown off all her former pride, and only seemed anxious to please him. She did the honors of her table as if she had all her life mixed in the highest circles; there was neither awkwardness nor embarrassment⁸.

 

“Countess,” said he at length, “there are two women in you.”

 

“How so?”

 

“One of yesterday, and another of to-day.”

 

“And which does your excellency prefer?”

 

“I do not know, but at least the one of this evening is a Circe—a something irresistible⁹.”

 

“And which you will not attempt to resist, I hope, prince as you are.”

 

The cardinal imprinted¹⁰ a long kiss on her hand.

1 cardinal   

n.(天主教的)红衣主教；adj.首要的，基本的

参考例句：

• This is a matter of cardinal significance.这是非常重要的事。
• The Cardinal coloured with vexation. 红衣主教感到恼火，脸涨得通红。

2 eminence   

n.卓越，显赫；高地，高处；名家

参考例句：

• He is a statesman of great eminence.他是个声名显赫的政治家。
• Many of the pilots were to achieve eminence in the aeronautical world.这些飞行员中很多人将会在航空界声名显赫。

3 triumphant   

adj.胜利的，成功的；狂欢的，喜悦的

参考例句：

• The army made a triumphant entry into the enemy's capital.部队胜利地进入了敌方首都。
• There was a positively triumphant note in her voice.她的声音里带有一种极为得意的语气。

4 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

5 banish   

vt.放逐，驱逐；消除，排除

参考例句：

• The doctor advised her to banish fear and anxiety.医生劝她消除恐惧和忧虑。
• He tried to banish gloom from his thought.他试图驱除心中的忧愁。

6 draughts   

n. <英>国际跳棋

参考例句：

• Seal (up) the window to prevent draughts. 把窗户封起来以防风。
• I will play at draughts with him. 我跟他下一盘棋吧！

7 recitals   

n.独唱会( recital的名词复数 )；独奏会；小型音乐会、舞蹈表演会等；一系列事件等的详述

参考例句：

• His recitals have earned him recognition as a talented performer. 他的演奏会使他赢得了天才演奏家的赞誉。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Her teachers love her playing, and encourage her to recitals. 她的老师欣赏她的演奏，并鼓励她举办独奏会。 来自互联网

8 embarrassment   

n.尴尬；使人为难的人(事物)；障碍；窘迫

参考例句：

• She could have died away with embarrassment.她窘迫得要死。
• Coughing at a concert can be a real embarrassment.在音乐会上咳嗽真会使人难堪。

9 irresistible   

adj.非常诱人的，无法拒绝的，无法抗拒的

参考例句：

• The wheel of history rolls forward with an irresistible force.历史车轮滚滚向前，势不可挡。
• She saw an irresistible skirt in the store window.她看见商店的橱窗里有一条叫人着迷的裙子。

10 imprinted   

v.盖印（imprint的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• The terrible scenes were indelibly imprinted on his mind. 那些恐怖场面深深地铭刻在他的心中。
• The scene was imprinted on my mind. 那个场面铭刻在我的心中。 来自《简明英汉词典》