Half a dupe, half duping, The first deceived
perhaps by her deceit And fair words, as all
these philosophers. Philosophers they say?
Mark this, Diego, The devil can cite scripture1
for his purpose. Oh, what a goodly outside
falsehood hath!
MASSINGER.
[This motto is printed in the French editions as prose. The last two lines are taken from The Merchant of Venice , Act I, Scene III, where Antonio says: “Mark you this, Bassanio, The devil,” etc. The ascription to Massinger need not be taken too seriously. Compare Scarlet2 and Black , Chapter XLVI.— C. K. S. M.]
This fatuous3 invasion by the Commander almost plunged4 Octave back in his misanthropy of overnight. His disgust with the rest of mankind had risen to a climax5 when his servant appeared carrying a stout6 volume very carefully wrapped in English tissue paper. The seal it bore had been beautifully engraved7, but the blazon8 itself was somewhat repellent: sable9, two bones in saltire. Octave, whose taste was perfect, admired the accuracy of outline of this pair of tibias and the perfection of the engraver’s skill. “It is the School of Pikler,” he said to himself; “this must be one of my cousin, the devout10 Madame de C———‘s follies11.” This suspicion proved unfounded when he saw inside the parcel a magnificent copy of the Bible, bound by Thouvenin. “Devout Catholics do not give one the Bible,” said Octave as he opened the accompanying letter; but he sought in vain for the signature; there was none, and he tossed the letter unread into the grate. A moment later, his servant, old Saint–Jacques, entered the room with an air of cunning. “Who sent me this parcel?” said Octave. “It is a mystery, they are trying to keep it secret from M. le Vicomte; but it was simply old Perrin who left it with the porter and made off like a pickpocket12.” “And who is old Perrin?” “One of Madame la Marquise de Bonnivet’s servants whom she pretended to dismiss and now uses for secret errands.” “Do you mean that people suspect Madame de Bonnivet of a love-affair?” “Good heavens, no, Sir. The secret errands are for the new religion. It is a Bible, perhaps, that Madame la Marquise has sent to Monsieur as a great secret. Monsieur perhaps recognized the writing of Madame Rouvier, Madame la Marquise’s confidential13 maid.” Octave looked in the grate and made the man give him back the letter which had fallen behind the fire and was not burned. He saw with surprise that the writer knew quite well that he read Helvetius, Bentham, Bayle and other bad books. “The most spotless virtue14 would not be safe,” he said to himself; “as soon as people form a sect15, they stoop to the use of intrigue16 and employ spies. It is evidently since the Bill of Indemnity17 was introduced that I have become worthy18 that people should take an interest in my salvation19 and the influence that I may one day wield20.”
Throughout that day, the conversation of the Marquis de Malivert, the Commander and two or three trusted friends who were invited to dine Was an almost incessant21 allusion22, in distinctly bad taste, to Octave’s marriage and to his new position. Being still affected23 by the spiritual crisis through which he had passed during the night, he was less frigid24 than usual. His mother thought him paler, and he made it his duty, if not to be gay, at least to appear to be occupying himself only with ideas that gave rise to pleasing pictures; he set himself to the task with so much energy that he succeeded in taking in every one in the room. Nothing could deter25 him, not even the Commander’s pleasantries touching26 the prodigious27 effect produced by two millions on the mind of a philosopher. Octave took advantage of his feigned28 bewilderment to say that, were he a Prince, he would not marry before he was twenty-six, this being the age at which his father had married. “It is evident that the fellow is nourishing the secret ambition of becoming a Bishop29 or a Cardinal,” said the Commander as soon as Octave had left the room; “his birth and sound doctrine30 will carry him to the Hat.” This speech, which made Madame de Malivert smile, caused the Marquis great uneasiness. “You may say what you please,” he replied to his wife’s smile, “my son’s only intimate relations are with churchmen or young scholars of the same way of thinking, and, a thing that is quite unknown in my family, he shews a marked dislike for officers of his own age.” “There is something strange about that young man,” M. de Soubirane went on. At this reflexion it was Madame de Mal?vert’s turn to sigh.
Octave, overcome by the boredom31 with which the obligation to talk had filled him, left this group of old people and went at an early hour to the Gymnase: he could not endure the wit of M. Scribe’s amusing plays. “Still,” he told himself, “nothing else has had so genuine a success, and to despise a thing without knowing it is an absurdity32 too common in our society for me to acquire any credit by avoiding it.” It was in vain that he prolonged the experiment through two of the most charming sketches33 given at the Theatre de Madame. The wittiest34 and most amusing lines seemed to him to be tainted35 with vulgarity, and the handing over of the key in the second act of Le Mariage de Raison drove him from the theatre. He entered a restaurant and, faithful to the mystery which enveloped36 all his actions, called for candles and a plate of soup: when the soup was put before him, he locked the door, read with interest two newspapers which he had bought outside, burned them with the greatest care in the grate, paid his bill and left. He went home and changed his clothes, and found himself almost eager that evening to put in an appearance at Madame de Bonnivet’s. “How can I be certain,” he wondered, “that that wicked Duchesse d’Ancre was not slandering37 Mademoiselle de Zohiloff? My uncle is convinced that my head has been turned by those two millions.” This idea, which had been suggested to Octave by something of no importance that he had read in one of his newspapers, restored his happiness. He thought still of Armance, but as of his only friend, or rather the only person who was almost a friend to him.
He was far from imagining himself to be in love, he had a horror of that sentiment. He had sworn to himself a thousand times in the last four years that he would never love. This obligation to refrain from love was the mainspring of his whole conduct and the chief occupation of his life. This evening, his soul strengthened by virtue and misery38, and become merely virtue and strength, felt simply the fear of having too lightly condemned39 a friend .
On reaching Madame de Bonnivet’s drawing-room, Octave did not once look at Armance; but throughout the evening his eyes did not miss a single one of her movements. He began, upon entering the room, by paying marked attention to the Duchesse d’Ancre; he spoke40 to her with a deference41 so profound that the lady had the pleasure of supposing him to be converted to the respect due to her rank. “Now that he has the prospect42 of becoming rich, this philosopher is one of us,” she murmured to Madame de la Ronze.
Octave wished to make certain of the extent of this woman’s perversity43; if he found that she was really wicked, that would be to some extent an admission that Mademoiselle de Zohiloff was innocent. He observed that the feeling of hatred44 alone retained some animation45 in the withered46 heart of Madame d’Ancre; whereas, on the other hand, only things that were generous and noble inspired her with revulsion. One would have said that she felt the need to be avenged47 on them. Ignoble48 and base sentiments, but ignobility49 clothed in the most elegant expressions, had alone the privilege of making the Duchesse’s little eyes sparkle.
Octave was thinking of how to free himself from the interest with which she was listening to him when he heard Madame de Bonnivet call for her chessmen. These were a little masterpiece of carved ivory which M. l’Abbé Dubois had brought from Canton. Octave seized the opportunity to leave Madame d’Ancre, and asked his cousin to entrust50 him with the key of the desk in which her fear of her servants’ clumsiness made her keep these magnificent chessmen. Armance was no longer in the room; she had gone out a few moments earlier with Méry de Tersan, her bosom51 friend; had not Octave asked for the key of the desk, the absence of Mademoiselle de Zohiloff would have given rise to unfavourable comment, and on her return she might perhaps have had to endure several hostile glances, perfectly52 restrained, but distinctly harsh. Armance was penniless; she was only eighteen, and Madame de Bonnivet was thirty and more; she was still quite a beautiful woman, but Armance, too, was beautiful.
The two friends had stopped by the chimneypiece of a large boudoir that opened out of the drawing-room. Armance had wished to shew Méry a portrait of Lord Byron a proof of which Mr. Phillips, the English painter, had recently sent to her aunt. Octave could hear quite distinctly as he passed along the passage by the door of the boudoir: “What can you expect? He is like all the rest! A soul that I thought so noble overpowered by the prospect of two millions!” The accent in which these flattering words, that I thought so noble , were uttered, fell on Octave like a bolt from the blue; he stood rooted to the ground. When he moved on, his tread was so light that the sharpest ear could not have caught it. As he passed again by the boudoir with the chessmen in his hand, he stopped for a moment; immediately he blushed at his indiscretion and returned to the drawing-room. The words which he had just overheard were by no means decisive in a world in which envy is capable of assuming every imaginable form; but the accent of candour and honesty in which they had been uttered echoed in his heart. That was not the tone of envy.
Having handed the Chinese chessmen to his cousin, Octave felt that he needed time for reflexion; he took up a position in a corner of the room behind a whist-table, and there his imagination repeated to him a score of times the sound of the words he had just overheard. This profound and delicious meditation53 had long absorbed him, when the voice of Armance came to his ear. He had not yet thought what means to employ to regain54 his cousin’s esteem55; he was still lost in ecstatic enjoyment56 of the bliss57 of having forfeited58 it. As he rejoined the group that surrounded Madame de Bonni-vet, and came away from the remote corner occupied by the tranquil59 whist-players, Armance noticed the expression in his eyes; they rested upon her with that sort of tenderness and weariness which, after intense joys, makes the eyes seem almost incapable60 of unduly61 rapid movements.
Octave was not to find happiness a second time that evening; he could not address a single word to Armance. “Nothing could be harder than to justify62 myself,” he said to himself while pretending to be listening to the exhortations63 of the Duchesse d’Ancre who, being with him the last to leave the drawing-room, insisted upon taking him home. The night was cold and dry with a brilliant moon; on reaching home, Octave called for his horse and rode for some miles along the new boulevard. On his return, about three o’clock in the morning, without knowing what he was doing or why, he passed before the H?tel de Bonnivet,
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1
scripture
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| n.经文，圣书，手稿；Scripture:(常用复数)《圣经》，《圣经》中的一段 | |
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2
scarlet
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| n.深红色，绯红色，红衣；adj.绯红色的 | |
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3
fatuous
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| adj.愚昧的；昏庸的 | |
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4
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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5
climax
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| n.顶点；高潮；v.(使)达到顶点 | |
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7
engraved
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| v.在（硬物）上雕刻（字，画等）( engrave的过去式和过去分词 )；将某事物深深印在（记忆或头脑中） | |
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8
blazon
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| n.纹章，装饰；精确描绘；v.广布；宣布 | |
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9
sable
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| n.黑貂；adj.黑色的 | |
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10
devout
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| adj.虔诚的，虔敬的，衷心的 (n.devoutness) | |
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11
follies
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| 罪恶，时事讽刺剧； 愚蠢，蠢笨，愚蠢的行为、思想或做法( folly的名词复数 ) | |
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12
pickpocket
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| n.扒手；v.扒窃 | |
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13
confidential
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| adj.秘（机）密的，表示信任的，担任机密工作的 | |
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14
virtue
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| n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力 | |
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15
sect
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| n.派别，宗教，学派，派系 | |
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16
intrigue
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| vt.激起兴趣，迷住；vi.耍阴谋；n.阴谋，密谋 | |
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17
indemnity
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| n.赔偿，赔款，补偿金 | |
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18
worthy
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| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
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19
salvation
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| n.（尤指基督）救世，超度，拯救，解困 | |
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20
wield
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| vt.行使，运用，支配；挥，使用(武器等) | |
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21
incessant
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| adj.不停的，连续的 | |
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22
allusion
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| n.暗示，间接提示 | |
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23
affected
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| adj.不自然的，假装的 | |
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24
frigid
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| adj.寒冷的，凛冽的；冷淡的；拘禁的 | |
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25
deter
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| vt.阻止，使不敢，吓住 | |
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26
touching
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| adj.动人的，使人感伤的 | |
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27
prodigious
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| adj.惊人的，奇妙的；异常的；巨大的；庞大的 | |
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28
feigned
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| a.假装的，不真诚的 | |
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29
bishop
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| n.主教，（国际象棋）象 | |
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30
doctrine
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| n.教义；主义；学说 | |
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31
boredom
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| n.厌烦，厌倦，乏味，无聊 | |
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32
absurdity
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| n.荒谬，愚蠢；谬论 | |
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33
sketches
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| n.草图( sketch的名词复数 )；素描；速写；梗概 | |
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34
wittiest
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| 机智的，言辞巧妙的，情趣横生的( witty的最高级 ) | |
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tainted
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| adj.腐坏的；污染的；沾污的；感染的v.使变质( taint的过去式和过去分词 )；使污染；败坏；被污染，腐坏，败坏 | |
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36
enveloped
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| v.包围，笼罩，包住( envelop的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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37
slandering
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| [法]口头诽谤行为 | |
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misery
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| n.痛苦，苦恼，苦难；悲惨的境遇，贫苦 | |
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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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40
spoke
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| 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 | |
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41
deference
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| n.尊重，顺从；敬意 | |
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42
prospect
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| n.前景，前途；景色，视野 | |
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43
perversity
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| n.任性；刚愎自用 | |
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44
hatred
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| n.憎恶，憎恨，仇恨 | |
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45
animation
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| n.活泼，兴奋，卡通片／动画片的制作 | |
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46
withered
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| adj. 枯萎的，干瘪的，（人身体的部分器官）因病萎缩的或未发育良好的 动词wither的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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47
avenged
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| v.为…复仇，报…之仇( avenge的过去式和过去分词 )；为…报复 | |
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48
ignoble
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| adj.不光彩的，卑鄙的；可耻的 | |
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ignobility
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| 无能，无力； 无才能； 无能为力 | |
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50
entrust
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| v.信赖，信托，交托 | |
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51
bosom
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| n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的 | |
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52
perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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53
meditation
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| n.熟虑，（尤指宗教的）默想，沉思，（pl.）冥想录 | |
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54
regain
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| vt.重新获得，收复，恢复 | |
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55
esteem
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| n.尊敬，尊重；vt.尊重，敬重；把…看作 | |
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56
enjoyment
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| n.乐趣；享有；享用 | |
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57
bliss
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| n.狂喜，福佑，天赐的福 | |
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58
forfeited
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| （因违反协议、犯规、受罚等）丧失，失去( forfeit的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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59
tranquil
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| adj. 安静的, 宁静的, 稳定的, 不变的 | |
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60
incapable
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| adj.无能力的，不能做某事的 | |
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61
unduly
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| adv.过度地，不适当地 | |
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62
justify
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| vt.证明…正当(或有理)，为…辩护 | |
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exhortations
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| n.敦促( exhortation的名词复数 )；极力推荐；（正式的）演讲；（宗教仪式中的）劝诫 | |
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