Beset1 by a thousand fears and anxieties, Blanche had failed to notice that Aunt Medea was no longer the same.
The change, it is true, had been gradual; it had not struck the servants, but it was none the less positive and real, and it betrayed itself in numberless trifles.
For example, though the poor dependent still retained her humble3, resigned manner; she had lost, little by little, the servile fear that had showed itself in her every movement. She no longer trembled when anyone addressed her, and there was occasionally a ring of independence in her voice.
If visitors were present, she no longer kept herself modestly in the background, but drew forward her chair and took part in the conversation. At table, she allowed her preferences and her dislikes to appear. On two or three occasions she had ventured to differ from her niece in opinion, and had even been so bold as to question the propriety4 of some of her orders.
Once Mme. Blanche, on going out, asked Aunt Medea to accompany her; but the latter declared she had a cold, and remained at home.
And, on the following Sunday, although Blanche did not wish to attend vespers, Aunt Medea declared her intention of going; and as it rained, she requested the coachman to harness the horses to the carriage, which was done.
All this was nothing, in appearance; in reality, it was monstrous5, amazing. It was quite plain that the humble relative was becoming bold, even audacious, in her demands.
As this departure, which her niece had just announced so gayly, had never been discussed before her, she was greatly surprised.
“What! you are going away,” she repeated; “you are leaving Courtornieu?”
“And without regret.”
“To go where, pray?”
“To Paris. We shall reside there; that is decided6. That is the place for my husband. His name, his fortune, his talents, the favor of the King, assure him a high position there. He will repurchase the Hotel de Sairmeuse, and furnish it magnificently. We shall have a princely establishment.”
All the torments7 of envy were visible upon Aunt Medea’s countenance8.
“‘And what is to become of me?” she asked, in plaintive9 tones.
“You, aunt! You will remain here; you will be mistress of the chateau10. A trustworthy person must remain to watch over my poor father. You will be happy and contented11 here, I hope.”
But no; Aunt Medea did not seem satisfied.
“I shall never have courage to stay all alone in this great chateau,” she whined12.
“You foolish woman! will you not have the servants, the gardeners, and the concierge13 to protect you?”
“That makes no difference. I am afraid of insane people. When the marquis began to rave14 and howl this evening, I felt as if I should go mad myself.”
Blanche shrugged15 her shoulders.
“What do you wish, then?” she asked, in a still more sarcastic16 manner.
“I thought — I wondered — if you would not take me with you.”
“To Paris! You are crazy, I do believe. What would you do there?”
“Blanche, I entreat17 you, I beseech18 you, to do so!”
“Impossible, aunt; impossible!”
Aunt Medea seemed to be in despair.
“And what if I should tell you that I cannot remain here — that I dare not — that I should die!”
A flush of impatience19 dyed the cheek of Mme. Blanche.
“You weary me beyond endurance,” she said, rudely.
And with a gesture that increased the harshness of her words, she added:
“If Courtornieu displeases20 you so much, there is nothing to prevent you from seeking a home more to your taste. You are free and of age.”
Aunt Medea turned very pale, and she bit her lips until the blood came.
“That is to say,” she said, at last, “you permit me to take my choice between dying of fear at Courtornieu and ending my days in a hospital. Thanks, my niece, thanks. That is like you. I expected nothing less of you. Thanks!”
She raised her head, and a dangerous light gleamed in her eyes. There was the hiss21 of a serpent in the voice in which she continued:
“Very well! this decides me. I entreated22 you, and you brutally23 refused to heed24 my prayer, now I command and I say: ‘I will go!’ Yes, I intend to go with you to Paris — and I shall go. Ah! it surprises you to hear poor, meek25, much-abused Aunt Medea speak in this way. I have endured in silence for a long time, but I have rebelled at last. My life in this house has been a hell. It is true that you have given me shelter — that you have fed and lodged26 me; but you have taken my entire life in exchange. What servant ever endured what I have endured? Have you ever treated one of your maids as you have treated me, your own flesh and blood? And I have had no wages; on the contrary, I was expected to be grateful since I lived by your tolerance27. Ah! you have made me pay dearly for the crime of being poor. How you have insulted me — humiliated28 me — trampled29 me under foot!”
She paused.
The bitter rancor30 which had been accumulating for years fairly choked her; but after a moment she resumed, in a tone of intense irony31:
“You ask me what would I do in Paris? I, too, would enjoy myself. What will you do, yourself? You will go to Court, to balls, and to the play, will you not? Very well, I will accompany you. I will attend these fetes. I will have handsome toilets, I— poor Aunt Medea — who have never seen myself in anything but shabby black woollen dresses. Have you ever thought of giving me the pleasure of possessing a handsome dress? Yes, twice a year, perhaps, you have given me a black silk, recommending me to take good care of it. But it was not for my sake that you went to this expense. It was for your own sake; and in order that your poor relation should do honor to your generosity32. You dressed me in it, as you sew gold lace upon the clothing of your lackeys33, through vanity. And I endured all this; I made myself insignificant34 and humble; buffeted35 upon one cheek, I offered the other. I must live — I must have food. And you, Blanche, how often, to make me subservient36 to your will, have you said to me: ‘You will do thus-and-so, if you desire to remain at Courtornieu?’ And I obeyed — I was forced to obey, since I knew not where to go. Ah! you have abused me in every way; but now my turn has come!”
Blanche was so amazed that she could not articulate a syllable37. At last, in a scarcely audible voice, she faltered38:
“I do not understand you, aunt; I do not understand you.”
The poor dependent shrugged her shoulders, as her niece had done a few moments before.
“In that case,” said she, slowly, “I may as well tell you that since you have, against my will, made me your accomplice39, we must share everything in common. I share the danger; I will share the pleasure. What if all should be discovered? Do you ever think of that? Yes; and that is why you are seeking diversion. Very well! I also desire diversion. I shall go to Paris with you.”
By a terrible effort Blanche had succeeded in regaining40 her self-possession, in some measure at least.
“And if I should say no?” she responded, coldly.
“But you will not say no.”
“And why, if you please?”
“Because ——”
“Will you go to the authorities and denounce me?”
Aunt Medea shook her head.
“I am not such a fool,” she retorted. “I should only compromise myself. No, I shall not do that; but I might, perhaps, tell your husband what happened at the Borderie.”
Blanche shuddered41. No threat was capable of moving her like that.
“You shall accompany us, aunt,” said she; “I promise it.”
Then she added, gently:
“But it is unnecessary to threaten me. You have been cruel, aunt, and at the same time, unjust. If you have been unhappy in our house, you alone are to blame. Why have you said nothing? I attributed your complaisance42 to your affection for me. How was I to know that a woman as quiet and modest as yourself longed for fine apparel. Confess that it was impossible. Had I known — But rest easy, aunt; I will atone43 for my neglect.”
And as Aunt Medea, having obtained all she desired, stammered44 an excuse:
“Nonsense!” Blanche exclaimed; “let us forget this foolish quarrel. You forgive me, do you not?”
And the two ladies embraced each other with the greatest effusion, like two friends united after a misunderstanding. But Aunt Medea was as far from being deceived by this mock reconciliation45 as the clearsighted Blanche.
“It will be best for me to keep on the qui vive,” thought the humble relative. “God only knows with what intense joy my dear niece would send me to join Marie-Anne.”
Perhaps a similar thought flitted through the mind of Mme. Blanche.
She felt as a convict might feel on seeing his most execrated46 enemy, perhaps the man who had betrayed him, fastened to the other end of his chain.
“I am bound now and forever to this dangerous and perfidious47 creature,” she thought. “I am no longer my own mistress; I belong to her. When she commands, I must obey. I must be the slave of her every caprice — and she has forty years of humiliation48 and servitude to avenge49.”
The prospect50 of such a life made her tremble; and she racked her brain to discover some way of freeing herself from her detested51 companion.
Would it be possible to inspire Aunt Medea with a desire to live independently in her own house, served by her own servants?
Might she succeed in persuading this silly old woman, who still longed for finery and ball-dresses, to marry? A handsome marriage-portion will always attract a husband.
But, in either case, Blanche would require money — a large sum of money, for whose use she would be accountable to no one.
This conviction made her resolve to take possession of about two hundred and fifty thousand francs, in bank-notes and coin, belonging to her father.
This sum represented the savings52 of the Marquis de Courtornieu during the past three years. No one knew he had laid it aside, except his daughter; and now that he had lost his reason, Blanche, who knew where the hoard53 was concealed54, could take it for her own use without the slightest danger.
“With this,” she thought, “I can at any moment enrich Aunt Medea without having recourse to Martial55.”
After this little scene there was a constant interchange of delicate attentions and touching56 devotion between the two ladies. It was “my dearest little aunt,” and “my dearly beloved niece,” from morning until night; and the gossips of the neighborhood, who had often commented upon the haughty57 disdain58 which Mme. Blanche displayed in her treatment of her relative, would have found abundant food for comment had they known that Aunt Medea was protected from the possibility of cold by a mantle59 lined with costly60 fur, exactly like the marquise’s own, and that she made the journey, not in the large Berlin, with the servants, but in the post-chaise with the Marquis and Marquise de Sairmeuse.
The change was so marked that even Martial remarked it, and as soon as he found himself alone with his wife, he exclaimed, in a tone of good-natured raillery:
“What is the meaning of all this devotion? We shall finish by encasing this precious aunt in cotton, shall we not?”
Blanche trembled, and flushed a little.
“I love good Aunt Medea so much!” said she. “I never can forget all the affection and devotion she lavished61 upon me when I was so unhappy.”
It was such a plausible62 explanation that Martial took no further notice of the matter, for his mind just then was fully63 occupied.
The agent, whom he had sent to Paris in advance, to purchase, if possible, the Hotel de Sairmeuse, had written him to make all possible haste, as there was some difficulty about concluding the bargain.
“Plague take the fellow!” said the marquis, angrily, on receiving this news. “He is quite stupid enough to let this opportunity, for which we have been waiting ten years, slip through his fingers. I shall find no pleasure in Paris if I cannot own our old residence.”
He was so impatient to reach Paris that, on the second day of their journey, he declared if he were alone he would travel all night.
“Do so now,” said Blanche, graciously; “I do not feel fatigued64 in the least, and a night of travel does not appall65 me.”
They did travel all night, and the next day, about nine o’clock, they alighted at the Hotel Meurice.
Martial scarcely took time to eat his breakfast.
“I must go and see my agent at once,” he said, as he hurried off. “I will soon be back.”
He reappeared in about two hours, pleased and radiant.
“My agent was a simpleton,” he exclaimed. “He was afraid to write me that a man, upon whom the conclusion of the sale depends, demands a bonus of fifty thousand francs. He shall have it in welcome.”
Then, in a tone of gallantry, which he always used in addressing his wife, he said:
“It only remains66 for me to sign the paper; but I will not do so unless the house suits you. If you are not too tired, I would like you to visit it at once. Time presses, and we have many competitors.”
This visit was, of course, one of pure form; but Mme. Blanche would have been hard to please if she had not been satisfied with this mansion67, one of the most magnificent in Paris, with an entrance on the Rue2 de Crenelle, and large gardens shaded with superb trees, and extending to the Rue de Varennes.
Unfortunately, this superb dwelling68 had not been occupied for several years, and required many repairs.
“It will take at least six months to restore it,” said Martial; “perhaps more. It is true that they might in three months, perhaps, render a portion of it very comfortable.”
“It would be living in one’s own house, at least,” approved Blanche, divining her husband’s wishes.
“Ah! then you agree with me! In that case, you may rest assured that I will expedite matters as much as possible.”
In spite, or rather by reason of his immense fortune, the Marquis de Sairmeuse knew that a person is never so well, nor so quickly served, as when he serves himself, so he resolved to take the matter into his own hands. He conferred with architects, interviewed contractors69, and hurried on the workmen.
As soon as he was up in the morning he started out without waiting for breakfast, and seldom returned until dinner.
Although Blanche was compelled to pass most of her time within doors, on account of the bad weather, she was not inclined to complain. Her journey, the unaccustomed sights and sounds of Paris, the novelty of life in a hotel, all combined to distract her thoughts from herself. She forgot her fears; a sort of haze70 enveloped71 the terrible scene at the Borderie; the clamors of conscience sank into faint whispers.
The past seemed fading away, and she was beginning to entertain hopes of a new and better life, when one day a servant entered, and said:
“There is a man below who wishes to speak with Madame.”
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beset
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| v.镶嵌；困扰，包围 | |
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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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humble
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| adj.谦卑的，恭顺的；地位低下的；v.降低，贬低 | |
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propriety
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| n.正当行为；正当；适当 | |
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monstrous
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| adj.巨大的；恐怖的；可耻的，丢脸的 | |
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decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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torments
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| （肉体或精神上的）折磨，痛苦( torment的名词复数 )； 造成痛苦的事物[人] | |
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countenance
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| n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同 | |
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plaintive
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| adj.可怜的，伤心的 | |
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chateau
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| n.城堡，别墅 | |
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contented
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| adj.满意的，安心的，知足的 | |
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whined
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| v.哀号( whine的过去式和过去分词 )；哀诉，诉怨 | |
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concierge
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| n.管理员；门房 | |
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rave
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| vi.胡言乱语；热衷谈论；n.热情赞扬 | |
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15
shrugged
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| vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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sarcastic
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| adj.讥讽的，讽刺的，嘲弄的 | |
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entreat
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| v.恳求，恳请 | |
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beseech
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| v.祈求，恳求 | |
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impatience
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| n.不耐烦，急躁 | |
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displeases
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| 冒犯，使生气，使不愉快( displease的第三人称单数 ) | |
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hiss
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| v.发出嘶嘶声；发嘘声表示不满 | |
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entreated
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| 恳求，乞求( entreat的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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brutally
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| adv.残忍地，野蛮地，冷酷无情地 | |
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heed
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| v.注意，留意；n.注意，留心 | |
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meek
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| adj.温顺的，逆来顺受的 | |
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lodged
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| v.存放( lodge的过去式和过去分词 )；暂住；埋入；（权利、权威等）归属 | |
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tolerance
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| n.宽容；容忍，忍受；耐药力；公差 | |
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humiliated
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| 感到羞愧的 | |
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trampled
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| 踩( trample的过去式和过去分词 )； 践踏； 无视； 侵犯 | |
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rancor
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| n.深仇，积怨 | |
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irony
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| n.反语，冷嘲；具有讽刺意味的事，嘲弄 | |
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generosity
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| n.大度，慷慨，慷慨的行为 | |
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lackeys
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| n.听差( lackey的名词复数 )；男仆（通常穿制服）；卑躬屈膝的人；被待为奴仆的人 | |
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insignificant
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| adj.无关紧要的，可忽略的，无意义的 | |
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buffeted
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| 反复敲打( buffet的过去式和过去分词 )； 连续猛击； 打来打去； 推来搡去 | |
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subservient
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| adj.卑屈的，阿谀的 | |
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syllable
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| n.音节；vt.分音节 | |
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faltered
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| （嗓音）颤抖( falter的过去式和过去分词 )； 支吾其词； 蹒跚； 摇晃 | |
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accomplice
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| n.从犯，帮凶，同谋 | |
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regaining
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| 复得( regain的现在分词 )； 赢回； 重回； 复至某地 | |
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41
shuddered
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| v.战栗( shudder的过去式和过去分词 )；发抖；（机器、车辆等）突然震动；颤动 | |
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complaisance
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| n.彬彬有礼，殷勤，柔顺 | |
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atone
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| v.赎罪，补偿 | |
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stammered
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| v.结巴地说出( stammer的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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reconciliation
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| n.和解，和谐，一致 | |
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46
execrated
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| v.憎恶( execrate的过去式和过去分词 )；厌恶；诅咒；咒骂 | |
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47
perfidious
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| adj.不忠的，背信弃义的 | |
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humiliation
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| n.羞辱 | |
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49
avenge
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| v.为...复仇，为...报仇 | |
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50
prospect
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| n.前景，前途；景色，视野 | |
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51
detested
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| v.憎恶，嫌恶，痛恨( detest的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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savings
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| n.存款，储蓄 | |
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53
hoard
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| n./v.窖藏，贮存，囤积 | |
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54
concealed
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| a.隐藏的，隐蔽的 | |
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55
martial
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| adj.战争的，军事的，尚武的，威武的 | |
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56
touching
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| adj.动人的，使人感伤的 | |
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haughty
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| adj.傲慢的，高傲的 | |
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disdain
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| n.鄙视，轻视；v.轻视，鄙视，不屑 | |
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59
mantle
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| n.斗篷，覆罩之物，罩子；v.罩住，覆盖，脸红 | |
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60
costly
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| adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的 | |
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61
lavished
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| v.过分给予，滥施( lavish的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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62
plausible
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| adj.似真实的，似乎有理的，似乎可信的 | |
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fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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fatigued
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| adj. 疲乏的 | |
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appall
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| vt.使惊骇，使大吃一惊 | |
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66
remains
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| n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹 | |
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67
mansion
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| n.大厦，大楼；宅第 | |
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68
dwelling
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| n.住宅，住所，寓所 | |
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contractors
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| n.（建筑、监造中的）承包人( contractor的名词复数 ) | |
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haze
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| n.霾，烟雾；懵懂，迷糊；vi.(over)变模糊 | |
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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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