Iremarked
before
,
her
health
therefrom
took
a
sustenance
and
vigour
which
,
previously
to
the
event
of
her
aunt’s
death
and
her
dismissal
,
had
almost
recreated
her
whole
frame
.
It
has
taken
me
several
minutes
to
write
these
last
sentences
;
but
I
had
thought
all
their
purport
during
the
brief
interval
of
descending
the
stairs
from
Frances’
room
.
Just
as
I
was
opening
the
outer
door
,
I
remembered
the
twenty
francs
which
I
had
not
restored
;
I
paused
:
impossible
to
carry
them
away
with
me
;
difficult
to
force
them
back
on
their
original
owner
;
I
had
now
seen
her
in
her
own
humble
abode
,
witnessed
the
dignity
of
her
poverty
,
the
pride
of
order
,
the
fastidious
care
of
conservatism
,
obvious
in
the
arrangement
and
economy
of
her
little
home
;
I
was
sure
she
would
not
suffer
herself
to
be
excused
paying
her
debts
;
I
was
certain
the
favour
of
indemnity
would
be
accepted
from
no
hand
,
perhaps
least
of
all
from
mine
:
yet
these
four
five-franc
pieces
were
a
burden
to
my
self-respect
,
and
I
must
get
rid
of
them
.
An
expedient
—
a
clumsy
one
no
doubt
,
but
the
best
I
could
devise-suggested
itself
to
me
.
I
darted
up
the
stairs
,
knocked
,
re-entered
the
room
as
if
in
haste
:
—
“
Mademoiselle
,
I
have
forgotten
one
of
my
gloves
;
I
must
have
left
it
here
.
”
She
instantly
rose
to
seek
it
;
as
she
turned
her
back
,
I
—
being
now
at
the
hearth
—
noiselessly
lifted
a
little
vase
,
one
of
a
set
of
china
ornaments
,
as
old-fashioned
as
the
tea-cups
—
slipped
the
money
under
it
,
then
saying
—
“
Oh
here
is
my
glove
!
I
had
dropped
it
within
the
fender
;
good
evening
,
mademoiselle
,
”
I
made
my
second
exit
.
Brief
as
my
impromptu
return
had
been
,
it
had
afforded
me
time
to
pick
up
a
heart-ache
;
I
remarked
that
Frances
had
already
removed
the
red
embers
of
her
cheerful
little
fire
from
the
grate
:
forced
to
calculate
every
item
,
to
save
in
every
detail
,
she
had
instantly
on
my
departure
retrenched
a
luxury
too
expensive
to
be
enjoyed
alone
.
“
I
am
glad
it
is
not
yet
winter
,
”
thought
I
;
“
but
in
two
months
more
come
the
winds
and
rains
of
November
;
would
to
God
that
before
then
I
could
earn
the
right
,
and
the
power
,
to
shovel
coals
into
that
grate
ad
libitum
!
”
Already
the
pavement
was
drying
;
a
balmy
and
fresh
breeze
stirred
the
air
,
purified
by
lightning
;
I
felt
the
West
behind
me
,
where
spread
a
sky
like
opal
;
azure
immingled
with
crimson
:
the
enlarged
sun
,
glorious
in
Tyrian
tints
,
dipped
his
brim
already
;
stepping
,
as
I
was
,
eastward
,
I
faced
a
vast
bank
of
clouds
,
but
also
I
had
before
me
the
arch
of
an
evening
rainbow
;
a
perfect
rainbow
—
high
,
wide
,
vivid
.
I
looked
long
;
my
eye
drank
in
the
scene
,
and
I
suppose
my
brain
must
have
absorbed
it
;
for
that
night
,
after
lying
awake
in
pleasant
fever
a
long
time
,
watching
the
silent
sheet-lightning
,
which
still
played
among
the
retreating
clouds
,
and
flashed
silvery
over
the
stars
,
I
at
last
fell
asleep
;
and
then
in
a
dream
were
reproduced
the
setting
sun
,
the
bank
of
clouds
,
the
mighty
rainbow
.
I
stood
,
methought
,
on
a
terrace
;
I
leaned
over
a
parapeted
wall
;
there
was
space
below
me
,
depth
I
could
not
fathom
,
but
hearing
an
endless
dash
of
waves
,
I
believed
it
to
be
the
sea
;
sea
spread
to
the
horizon
;
sea
of
changeful
green
and
intense
blue
:
all
was
soft
in
the
distance
;
all
vapour-veiled
.
A
spark
of
gold
glistened
on
the
line
between
water
and
air
,
floated
up
,
approached
,
enlarged
,
changed
;
the
object
hung
midway
between
heaven
and
earth
,
under
the
arch
of
the
rainbow
;
the
soft
but
dusk
clouds
diffused
behind
.
It
hovered
as
on
wings
;
pearly
,
fleecy
,
gleaming
air
streamed
like
raiment
round
it
;
light
,
tinted
with
carnation
,
coloured
what
seemed
face
and
limbs
;
a
large
star
shone
with
still
lustre
on
an
angel’s
forehead
;
an
upraised
arm
and
hand
,
glancing
like
a
ray
,
pointed
to
the
bow
overhead
,
and
a
voice
in
my
heart
whispered
—
“
Hope
smiles
on
Effort
!
”
CHAPTER
XX
.
A
COMPETENCY
was
what
I
wanted
;
a
competency
it
was
now
my
aim
and
resolve
to
secure
;
but
never
had
I
been
farther
from
the
mark
.
With
August
the
school-year
(
l’annee
scolaire
)
closed
,
the
examinations
concluded
,
the
prizes
were
adjudged
,
the
schools
dispersed
,
the
gates
of
all
colleges
,
the
doors
of
all
pensionnats
shut
,
not
to
be
reopened
till
the
beginning
or
middle
of
October
.
The
last
day
of
August
was
at
hand
,
and
what
was
my
position
?
Had
I
advanced
a
step
since
the
commencement
of
the
past
quarter
?
On
the
contrary
,
I
had
receded
one
.
By
renouncing
my
engagement
as
English
master
in
Mdlle
.
Reuter’s
establishment
,
I
had
voluntarily
cut
off
20l
.
from
my
yearly
income
;
I
had
diminished
my
60l
.
per
annum
to
40l
.
,
and
even
that
sum
I
now
held
by
a
very
precarious
tenure
.
It
is
some
time
since
I
made
any
reference
to
M
.
Pelet
.
The
moonlight
walk
is
,
I
think
,
the
last
incident
recorded
in
this
narrative
where
that
gentleman
cuts
any
conspicuous
figure
:
the
fact
is
,
since
that
event
,
a
change
had
come
over
the
spirit
of
our
intercourse
.
He
,
indeed
,
ignorant
that
the
still
hour
,
a
cloudless
moon
,
and
an
open
lattice
,
had
revealed
to
me
the
secret
of
his
selfish
love
and
false
friendship
,
would
have
continued
smooth
and
complaisant
as
ever
;
but
I
grew
spiny
as
a
porcupine
,
and
inflexible
as
a
blackthorn
cudgel
;
I
never
had
a
smile
for
his
raillery
,
never
a
moment
for
his
society
;
his
invitations
to
take
coffee
with
him
in
his
parlour
were
invariably
rejected
,
and
very
stiffly
and
sternly
rejected
too
;
his
jesting
allusions
to
the
directress
(
which
he
still
continued
)
were
heard
with
a
grim
calm
very
different
from
the
petulant
pleasure
they
were
formerly
wont
to
excite
.
For
a
long
time
Pelet
bore
with
my
frigid
demeanour
very
patiently
;
he
even
increased
his
attentions
;
but
finding
that
even
a
cringing
politeness
failed
to
thaw
or
move
me
,
he
at
last
altered
too
;
in
his
turn
he
cooled
;
his
invitations
ceased
;
his
countenance
became
suspicious
and
overcast
,
and
I
read
in
the
perplexed
yet
brooding
aspect
of
his
brow
,
a
constant
examination
and
comparison
of
premises
,
and
an
anxious
endeavour
to
draw
thence
some
explanatory
inference
.
Ere
long
,
I
fancy
,
he
succeeded
,
for
he
was
not
without
penetration
;
perhaps
,
too
,
Mdlle
.
Zoraide
might
have
aided
him
in
the
solution
of
the
enigma
;
at
any
rate
I
soon
found
that
the
uncertainty
of
doubt
had
vanished
from
his
manner
;
renouncing
all
pretence
of
friendship
and
cordiality
,
he
adopted
a
reserved
,
formal
,
but
still
scrupulously
polite
deportment
.
This
was
the
point
to
which
I
had
wished
to
bring
him
,
and
I
was
now
again
comparatively
at
my
ease
.
I
did
not
,
it
is
true
,
like
my
position
in
his
house
;
but
being
freed
from
the
annoyance
of
false
professions
and
double-dealing
I
could
endure
it
,
especially
as
no
heroic
sentiment
of
hatred
or
jealousy
of
the
director
distracted
my
philosophical
soul
;
he
had
not
,
I
found
,
wounded
me
in
a
very
tender
point
,
the
wound
was
so
soon
and
so
radically
healed
,
leaving
only
a
sense
of
contempt
for
the
treacherous
fashion
in
which
it
had
been
inflicted
,
and
a
lasting
mistrust
of
the
hand
which
I
had
detected
attempting
to
stab
in
the
dark
.
This
state
of
things
continued
till
about
the
middle
of
July
,
and
then
there
was
a
little
change
;
Pelet
came
home
one
night
,
an
hour
after
his
usual
time
,
in
a
state
of
unequivocal
intoxication
,
a
thing
anomalous
with
him
;
for
if
he
had
some
of
the
worst
faults
of
his
countrymen
,
he
had
also
one
at
least
of
their
virtues
,
i.e.
sobriety
.
So
drunk
,
however
,
was
he
upon
this
occasion
,
that
after
having
roused
the
whole
establishment
(
except
the
pupils
,
whose
dormitory
being
over
the
classes
in
a
building
apart
from
the
dwelling-house
,
was
consequently
out
of
the
reach
of
disturbance
)
by
violently
ringing
the
hall-bell
and
ordering
lunch
to
be
brought
in
immediately
,
for
he
imagined
it
was
noon
,
whereas
the
city
bells
had
just
tolled
midnight
;
after
having
furiously
rated
the
servants
for
their
want
of
punctuality
,
and
gone
near
to
chastise
his
poor
old
mother
,
who
advised
him
to
go
to
bed
,
he
began
raving
dreadfully
about
“
le
maudit
Anglais
,
Creemsvort
.
”
I
had
not
yet
retired
;
some
German
books
I
had
got
hold
of
had
kept
me
up
late
;
I
heard
the
uproar
below
,
and
could
distinguish
the
director’s
voice
exalted
in
a
manner
as
appalling
as
it
was
unusual
.
Opening
my
door
a
little
,
I
became
aware
of
a
demand
on
his
part
for
“
Creemsvort
”
to
be
brought
down
to
him
that
he
might
cut
his
throat
on
the
hall-table
and
wash
his
honour
,
which
he
affirmed
to
be
in
a
dirty
condition
,
in
infernal
British
blood
.
“
He
is
either
mad
or
drunk
,
”
thought
I
,
“
and
in
either
case
the
old
woman
and
the
servants
will
be
the
better
of
a
man’s
assistance
,
”
so
I
descended
straight
to
the
hall
.
I
found
him
staggering
about
,
his
eyes
in
a
fine
frenzy
rolling
—
a
pretty
sight
he
was
,
a
just
medium
between
the
fool
and
the
lunatic
.
“
Come
,
M
.
Pelet
,
”
said
I
,
“
you
had
better
go
to
bed
,
”
and
I
took
hold
of
his
arm
.
His
excitement
,
of
course
,
increased
greatly
at
sight
and
touch
of
the
individual
for
whose
blood
he
had
been
making
application
:
he
struggled
and
struck
with
fury
—
but
a
drunken
man
is
no
match
for
a
sober
one
;
and
,
even
in
his
normal
state
,
Pelet’s
worn
out
frame
could
not
have
stood
against
my
sound
one
.
I
got
him
up-stairs
,
and
,
in
process
of
time
,
to
bed
.
During
the
operation
he
did
not
fail
to
utter
comminations
which
,
though
broken
,
had
a
sense
in
them
;
while
stigmatizing
me
as
the
treacherous
spawn
of
a
perfidious
country
,
he
,
in
the
same
breath
,
anathematized
Zoraide
Reuter
;
he
termed
her
“
femme
sotte
et
vicieuse
,
”
who
,
in
a
fit
of
lewd
caprice
,
had
thrown
herself
away
on
an
unprincipled
adventurer
;
directing
the
point
of
the
last
appellation
by
a
furious
blow
,
obliquely
aimed
at
me
.
I
left
him
in
the
act
of
bounding
elastically
out
of
the
bed
into
which
I
had
tucked
him
;
but
,
as
I
took
the
precaution
of
turning
the
key
in
the
door
behind
me
,
I
retired
to
my
own
room
,
assured
of
his
safe
custody
till
the
morning
,
and
free
to
draw
undisturbed
conclusions
from
the
scene
I
had
just
witnessed
.
Now
,
it
was
precisely
about
this
time
that
the
directress
,
stung
by
my
coldness
,
bewitched
by
my
scorn
,
and
excited
by
the
preference
she
suspected
me
of
cherishing
for
another
,
had
fallen
into
a
snare
of
her
own
laying
—
was
herself
caught
in
the
meshes
of
the
very
passion
with
which
she
wished
to
entangle
me
.
Conscious
of
the
state
of
things
in
that
quarter
,
I
gathered
,
from
the
condition
in
which
I
saw
my
employer
,
that
his
lady-love
had
betrayed
the
alienation
of
her
affections
—
inclinations
,
rather
,
I
would
say
;
affection
is
a
word
at
once
too
warm
and
too
pure
for
the
subject
—
had
let
him
see
that
the
cavity
of
her
hollow
heart
,
emptied
of
his
image
,
was
now
occupied
by
that
of
his
usher
.
It
was
not
without
some
surprise
that
I
found
myself
obliged
to
entertain
this
view
of
the
case
;
Pelet
,
with
his
old-established
school
,
was
so
convenient
,
so
profitable
a
match
—
Zoraide
was
so
calculating
,
so
interested
a
woman
—
I
wondered
mere
personal
preference
could
,
in
her
mind
,
have
prevailed
for
a
moment
over
worldly
advantage
:
yet
,
it
was
evident
,
from
what
Pelet
said
,
that
,
not
only
had
she
repulsed
him
,
but
had
even
let
slip
expressions
of
partiality
for
me
.
One
of
his
drunken
exclamations
was
,
“
And
the
jade
doats
on
your
youth
,
you
raw
blockhead
!
and
talks
of
your
noble
deportment
,
as
she
calls
your
accursed
English
formality
—
and
your
pure
morals
,
forsooth
!
des
moeurs
de
Caton
a-t-elle
dit
—
sotte
!
”
Hers
,
I
thought
,
must
be
a
curious
soul
,
where
in
spite
of
a
strong
,
natural
tendency
to
estimate
unduly
advantages
of
wealth
and
station
,
the
sardonic
disdain
of
a
fortuneless
subordinate
had
wrought
a
deeper
impression
than
could
be
imprinted
by
the
most
flattering
assiduities
of
a
prosperous
chef
d'institution
.
I
smiled
inwardly
;
and
strange
to
say
,
though
my
amour
propre
was
excited
not
disagreeably
by
the
conquest
,
my
better
feelings
remained
untouched
.
Next
day
,
when
I
saw
the
directress
,
and
when
she
made
an
excuse
to
meet
me
in
the
corridor
,
and
besought
my
notice
by
a
demeanour
and
look
subdued
to
Helot
humility
,
I
could
not
love
,
I
could
scarcely
pity
her
.
To
answer
briefly
and
dryly
some
interesting
inquiry
about
my
health
—
to
pass
her
by
with
a
stern
bow
—
was
all
I
could
;
her
presence
and
manner
had
then
,
and
for
some
time
previously
and
consequently
,
a
singular
effect
upon
me
:
they
sealed
up
all
that
was
good
,
elicited
all
that
was
noxious
in
my
nature
;
sometimes
they
enervated
my
senses
,
but
they
always
hardened
my
heart
.
I
was
aware
of
the
detriment
done
,
and
quarrelled
with
myself
for
the
change
.
I
had
ever
hated
a
tyrant
;
and
,
behold
,
the
possession
of
a
slave
,
self-given
,
went
near
to
transform
me
into
what
I
abhorred
!
There
was
at
once
a
sort
of
low
gratification
in
receiving
this
luscious
incense
from
an
attractive
and
still
young
worshipper
;
and
an
irritating
sense
of
degradation
in
the
very
experience
of
the
pleasure
.
When
she
stole
about
me
with
the
soft
step
of
a
slave
,
I
felt
at
once
barbarous
and
sensual
as
a
pasha
.
I
endured
her
homage
sometimes
;
sometimes
I
rebuked
it
.
My
indifference
or
harshness
served
equally
to
increase
the
evil
I
desired
to
check
.
“
Que
le
dedain
lui
sied
bien
!
”
I
once
overheard
her
say
to
her
mother
:
“
il
est
beau
comme
Apollon
quand
il
sourit
de
son
air
hautain
.
”
And
the
jolly
old
dame
laughed
,
and
said
she
thought
her
daughter
was
bewitched
,
for
I
had
no
point
of
a
handsome
man
about
me
,
except
being
straight
and
without
deformity
.
“
Pour
moi
,
”
she
continued
,
“
il
me
fait
tout
l’effet
d’un
chat-huant
,
avec
ses
besicles
.
”
Worthy
old
girl
!
I
could
have
gone
and
kissed
her
had
she
not
been
a
little
too
old
,
too
fat
,
and
too
red-faced
;
her
sensible
,
truthful
words
seemed
so
wholesome
,
contrasted
with
the
morbid
illusions
of
her
daughter
.
When
Pelet
awoke
on
the
morning
after
his
frenzy
fit
,
he
retained
no
recollection
of
what
had
happened
the
previous
night
,
and
his
mother
fortunately
had
the
discretion
to
refrain
from
informing
him
that
I
had
been
a
witness
of
his
degradation
.
He
did
not
again
have
recourse
to
wine
for
curing
his
griefs
,
but
even
in
his
sober
mood
he
soon
showed
that
the
iron
of
jealousy
had
entered
into
his
soul
.
A
thorough
Frenchman
,
the
national
characteristic
of
ferocity
had
not
been
omitted
by
nature
in
compounding
the
ingredients
of
his
character
;
it
had
appeared
first
in
his
access
of
drunken
wrath
,
when
some
of
his
demonstrations
of
hatred
to
my
person
were
of
a
truly
fiendish
character
,
and
now
it
was
more
covertly
betrayed
by
momentary
contractions
of
the
features
,
and
flashes
of
fierceness
in
his
light
blue
eyes
,
when
their
glance
chanced
to
encounter
mine
.
He
absolutely
avoided
speaking
to
me
;
I
was
now
spared
even
the
falsehood
of
his
politeness
.
In
this
state
of
our
mutual
relations
,
my
soul
rebelled
sometimes
almost
ungovernably
,
against
living
in
the
house
and
discharging
the
service
of
such
a
man
;
but
who
is
free
from
the
constraint
of
circumstances
?
At
that
time
,
I
was
not
:
I
used
to
rise
each
morning
eager
to
shake
off
his
yoke
,
and
go
out
with
my
portmanteau
under
my
arm
,
if
a
beggar
,
at
least
a
freeman
;
and
in
the
evening
,
when
I
came
back
from
the
pensionnat
de
demoiselles
,
a
certain
pleasant
voice
in
my
ear
;
a
certain
face
,
so
intelligent
,
yet
so
docile
,
so
reflective
,
yet
so
soft
,
in
my
eyes
;
a
certain
cast
of
character
,
at
once
proud
and
pliant
,
sensitive
and
sagacious
,
serious
and
ardent
,
in
my
head
;
a
certain
tone
of
feeling
,
fervid
and
modest
,
refined
and
practical
,
pure
and
powerful
,
delighting
and
troubling
my
memory
—
visions
of
new
ties
I
longed
to
contract
,
of
new
duties
I
longed
to
undertake
,
had
taken
the
rover
and
the
rebel
out
of
me
,
and
had
shown
endurance
of
my
hated
lot
in
the
light
of
a
Spartan
virtue
.
But
Pelet’s
fury
subsided
;
a
fortnight
sufficed
for
its
rise
,
progress
,
and
extinction
:
in
that
space
of
time
the
dismissal
of
the
obnoxious
teacher
had
been
effected
in
the
neighbouring
house
,
and
in
the
same
interval
I
had
declared
my
resolution
to
follow
and
find
out
my
pupil
,
and
upon
my
application
for
her
address
being
refused
,
I
had
summarily
resigned
my
own
post
.
This
last
act
seemed
at
once
to
restore
Mdlle
.
Reuter
to
her
senses
;
her
sagacity
,
her
judgment
,
so
long
misled
by
a
fascinating
delusion
,
struck
again
into
the
right
track
the
moment
that
delusion
vanished
.
By
the
right
track
,
I
do
not
mean
the
steep
and
difficult
path
of
principle
—
in
that
path
she
never
trod
;
but
the
plain
highway
of
common
sense
,
from
which
she
had
of
late
widely
diverged
.
When
there
she
carefully
sought
,
and
having
found
,
industriously
pursued
the
trail
of
her
old
suitor
,
M
.
Pelet
.
She
soon
overtook
him
.
What
arts
she
employed
to
soothe
and
blind
him
I
know
not
,
but
she
succeeded
both
in
allaying
his
wrath
,
and
hoodwinking
his
discernment
,
as
was
soon
proved
by
the
alteration
in
his
mien
and
manner
;
she
must
have
managed
to
convince
him
that
I
neither
was
,
nor
ever
had
been
,
a
rival
of
his
,
for
the
fortnight
of
fury
against
me
terminated
in
a
fit
of
exceeding
graciousness
and
amenity
,
not
unmixed
with
a
dash
of
exulting
self-complacency
,
more
ludicrous
than
irritating
.
Pelet’s
bachelor’s
life
had
been
passed
in
proper
French
style
with
due
disregard
to
moral
restraint
,
and
I
thought
his
married
life
promised
to
be
very
French
also
.
He
often
boasted
to
me
what
a
terror
he
had
been
to
certain
husbands
of
his
acquaintance
;
I
perceived
it
would
not
now
be
difficult
to
pay
him
back
in
his
own
coin
.
The
crisis
drew
on
.
No
sooner
had
the
holidays
commenced
than
note
of
preparation
for
some
momentous
event
sounded
all
through
the
premises
of
Pelet
:
painters
,
polishers
,
and
upholsterers
were
immediately
set
to
work
,
and
there
was
talk
of
“
la
chambre
de
Madame
,
”
“
le
salon
de
Madame
.
”
Not
deeming
it
probable
that
the
old
duenna
at
present
graced
with
that
title
in
our
house
,
had
inspired
her
son
with
such
enthusiasm
of
filial
piety
,
as
to
induce
him
to
fit
up
apartments
expressly
for
her
use
,
I
concluded
,
in
common
with
the
cook
,
the
two
housemaids
,
and
the
kitchen-scullion
,
that
a
new
and
more
juvenile
Madame
was
destined
to
be
the
tenant
of
these
gay
chambers
.
Presently
official
announcement
of
the
coming
event
was
put
forth
.
In
another
week’s
time
M
.
Francois
Pelet
,
directeur
,
and
Mdlle
.
Zoraide
Reuter
,
directrice
,
were
to
be
joined
together
in
the
bands
of
matrimony
.
Monsieur
,
in
person
,
heralded
the
fact
to
me
;
terminating
his
communication
by
an
obliging
expression
of
his
desire
that
I
should
continue
,
as
heretofore
,
his
ablest
assistant
and
most
trusted
friend
;
and
a
proposition
to
raise
my
salary
by
an
additional
two
hundred
francs
per
annum
.
I
thanked
him
,
gave
no
conclusive
answer
at
the
time
,
and
,
when
he
had
left
me
,
threw
off
my
blouse
,
put
on
my
coat
,
and
set
out
on
a
long
walk
outside
the
Porte
de
Flandre
,
in
order
,
as
I
thought
,
to
cool
my
blood
,
calm
my
nerves
,
and
shake
my
disarranged
ideas
into
some
order
.
In
fact
,
I
had
just
received
what
was
virtually
my
dismissal
.
I
could
not
conceal
,
I
did
not
desire
to
conceal
from
myself
the
conviction
that
,
being
now
certain
that
Mdlle
.
Reuter
was
destined
to
become
Madame
Pelet
it
would
not
do
for
me
to
remain
a
dependent
dweller
in
the
house
which
was
soon
to
be
hers
.
Her
present
demeanour
towards
me
was
deficient
neither
in
dignity
nor
propriety
;
but
I
knew
her
former
feeling
was
unchanged
.
Decorum
now
repressed
,
and
Policy
masked
it
,
but
Opportunity
would
be
too
strong
for
either
of
these
—
Temptation
would
shiver
their
restraints
.
I
was
no
pope
—
I
could
not
boast
infallibility
:
in
short
,
if
I
stayed
,
the
probability
was
that
,
in
three
months’
time
,
a
practical
modern
French
novel
would
be
in
full
process
of
concoction
under
the
roof
of
the
unsuspecting
Pelet
.
Now
,
modern
French
novels
are
not
to
my
taste
,
either
practically
or
theoretically
.
Limited
as
had
yet
been
my
experience
of
life
,
I
had
once
had
the
opportunity
of
contemplating
,
near
at
hand
,
an
example
of
the
results
produced
by
a
course
of
interesting
and
romantic
domestic
treachery
.
No
golden
halo
of
fiction
was
about
this
example
,
I
saw
it
bare
and
real
,
and
it
was
very
loathsome
.
I
saw
a
mind
degraded
by
the
practice
of
mean
subterfuge
,
by
the
habit
of
perfidious
deception
,
and
a
body
depraved
by
the
infectious
influence
of
the
vice-polluted
soul
.
I
had
suffered
much
from
the
forced
and
prolonged
view
of
this
spectacle
;
those
sufferings
I
did
not
now
regret
,
for
their
simple
recollection
acted
as
a
most
wholesome
antidote
to
temptation
.
They
had
inscribed
on
my
reason
the
conviction
that
unlawful
pleasure
,
trenching
on
another’s
rights
,
is
delusive
and
envenomed
pleasure
—
its
hollowness
disappoints
at
the
time
,
its
poison
cruelly
tortures
afterwards
,
its
effects
deprave
for
ever
.
From
all
this
resulted
the
conclusion
that
I
must
leave
Pelet’s
,
and
that
instantly
;
“
but
,
”
said
Prudence
,
“
you
know
not
where
to
go
,
nor
how
to
live
;
”
and
then
the
dream
of
true
love
came
over
me
:
Frances
Henri
seemed
to
stand
at
my
side
;
her
slender
waist
to
invite
my
arm
;
her
hand
to
court
my
hand
;
I
felt
it
was
made
to
nestle
in
mine
;
I
could
not
relinquish
my
right
to
it
,
nor
could
I
withdraw
my
eyes
for
ever
from
hers
,
where
I
saw
so
much
happiness
,
such
a
correspondence
of
heart
with
heart
;
over
whose
expression
I
had
such
influence
;
where
I
could
kindle
bliss
,
infuse
awe
,
stir
deep
delight
,
rouse
sparkling
spirit
,
and
sometimes
waken
pleasurable
dread
.
My
hopes
to
will
and
possess
,
my
resolutions
to
merit
and
rise
,
rose
in
array
against
me
;
and
here
I
was
about
to
plunge
into
the
gulf
of
absolute
destitution
;
“
and
all
this
,
”
suggested
an
inward
voice
,
“
because
you
fear
an
evil
which
may
never
happen
!
”
“
It
will
happen
;
you
know
it
will
,
”
answered
that
stubborn
monitor
,
Conscience
.
“
Do
what
you
feel
is
right
;
obey
me
,
and
even
in
the
sloughs
of
want
I
will
plant
for
you
firm
footing
.
”
And
then
,
as
I
walked
fast
along
the
road
,
there
rose
upon
me
a
strange
,
inly-felt
idea
of
some
Great
Being
,
unseen
,
but
all
present
,
who
in
His
beneficence
desired
only
my
welfare
,
and
now
watched
the
struggle
of
good
and
evil
in
my
heart
,
and
waited
to
see
whether
I
should
obey
His
voice
,
heard
in
the
whispers
of
my
conscience
,
or
lend
an
ear
to
the
sophisms
by
which
His
enemy
and
mine
—
the
Spirit
of
Evil
—
sought
to
lead
me
astray
.
Rough
and
steep
was
the
path
indicated
by
divine
suggestion
;
mossy
and
declining
the
green
way
along
which
Temptation
strewed
flowers
;
but
whereas
,
methought
,
the
Deity
of
Love
,
the
Friend
of
all
that
exists
,
would
smile
well-pleased
were
I
to
gird
up
my
loins
and
address
myself
to
the
rude
ascent
;
so
,
on
the
other
hand
,
each
inclination
to
the
velvet
declivity
seemed
to
kindle
a
gleam
of
triumph
on
the
brow
of
the
man-hating
,
God-defying
demon
.
Sharp
and
short
I
turned
round
;
fast
I
retraced
my
steps
;
in
half
an
hour
I
was
again
at
M
.
Pelet’s
:
I
sought
him
in
his
study
;
brief
parley
,
concise
explanation
sufficed
;
my
manner
proved
that
I
was
resolved
;
he
,
perhaps
,
at
heart
approved
my
decision
.
After
twenty
minutes’
conversation
,
I
re-entered
my
own
room
,
self-deprived
of
the
means
of
living
,
self-sentenced
to
leave
my
present
home
,
with
the
short
notice
of
a
week
in
which
to
provide
another
.
CHAPTER
XXI
.
DIRECTLY
as
I
closed
the
door
,
I
saw
laid
on
the
table
two
letters
;
my
thought
was
,
that
they
were
notes
of
invitation
from
the
friends
of
some
of
my
pupils
;
I
had
received
such
marks
of
attention
occasionally
,
and
with
me
,
who
had
no
friends
,
correspondence
of
more
interest
was
out
of
the
question
;
the
postman’s
arrival
had
never
yet
been
an
event
of
interest
to
me
since
I
came
to
Brussels
.
I
laid
my
hand
carelessly
on
the
documents
,
and
coldly
and
slowly
glancing
at
them
,
I
prepared
to
break
the
seals
;
my
eye
was
arrested
and
my
hand
too
;
I
saw
what
excited
me
,
as
if
I
had
found
a
vivid
picture
where
I
expected
only
to
discover
a
blank
page
:
on
one
cover
was
an
English
postmark
;
on
the
other
,
a
lady’s
clear
,
fine
autograph
;
the
last
I
opened
first
:
—
“
MONSIEUR
,
“
I
found
out
what
you
had
done
the
very
morning
after
your
visit
to
me
;
you
might
be
sure
I
should
dust
the
china
,
every
day
;
and
,
as
no
one
but
you
had
been
in
my
room
for
a
week
,
and
as
fairy-money
is
not
current
in
Brussels
,
I
could
not
doubt
who
left
the
twenty
francs
on
the
chimney-piece
.
I
thought
I
heard
you
stir
the
vase
when
I
was
stooping
to
look
for
your
glove
under
the
table
,
and
I
wondered
you
should
imagine
it
had
got
into
such
a
little
cup
.
Now
,
monsieur
,
the
money
is
not
mine
,
and
I
shall
not
keep
it
;
I
will
not
send
it
in
this
note
because
it
might
be
lost
—
besides
,
it
is
heavy
;
but
I
will
restore
it
to
you
the
first
time
I
see
you
,
and
you
must
make
no
difficulties
about
taking
it
;
because
,
in
the
first
place
,
I
am
sure
,
monsieur
,
you
can
understand
that
one
likes
to
pay
one’s
debts
;
that
it
is
satisfactory
to
owe
no
man
anything
;
and
,
in
the
second
place
,
I
can
now
very
well
afford
to
be
honest
,
as
I
am
provided
with
a
situation
.
This
last
circumstance
is
,
indeed
,
the
reason
of
my
writing
to
you
,
for
it
is
pleasant
to
communicate
good
news
;
and
,
in
these
days
,
I
have
only
my
master
to
whom
I
can
tell
anything
.
“
A
week
ago
,
monsieur
,
I
was
sent
for
by
a
Mrs.
Wharton
,
an
English
lady
;
her
eldest
daughter
was
going
to
be
married
,
and
some
rich
relation
having
made
her
a
present
of
a
veil
and
dress
in
costly
old
lace
,
as
precious
,
they
said
,
almost
as
jewels
,
but
a
little
damaged
by
time
,
I
was
commissioned
to
put
them
in
repair
.
I
had
to
do
it
at
the
house
;
they
gave
me
,
besides
,
some
embroidery
to
complete
,
and
nearly
a
week
elapsed
before
I
had
finished
everything
.
While
I
worked
,
Miss
Wharton
often
came
into
the
room
and
sat
with
me
,
and
so
did
Mrs.
Wharton
;
they
made
me
talk
English
;
asked
how
I
had
learned
to
speak
it
so
well
;
then
they
inquired
what
I
knew
besides
—
what
books
I
had
read
;
soon
they
seemed
to
make
a
sort
of
wonder
of
me
,
considering
me
no
doubt
as
a
learned
grisette
.
One
afternoon
,
Mrs.
Wharton
brought
in
a
Parisian
lady
to
test
the
accuracy
of
my
knowledge
of
French
;
the
result
of
it
was
that
,
owing
probably
in
a
great
degree
to
the
mother’s
and
daughter’s
good
humour
about
the
marriage
,
which
inclined
them
to
do
beneficent
deeds
,
and
partly
,
I
think
,
because
they
are
naturally
benevolent
people
,
they
decided
that
the
wish
I
had
expressed
to
do
something
more
than
mend
lace
was
a
very
legitimate
one
;
and
the
same
day
they
took
me
in
their
carriage
to
Mrs.
D.‘s
,
who
is
the
directress
of
the
first
English
school
at
Brussels
.
It
seems
she
happened
to
be
in
want
of
a
French
lady
to
give
lessons
in
geography
,
history
,
grammar
,
and
composition
,
in
the
French
language
.
Mrs.
Wharton
recommended
me
very
warmly
;
and
,
as
two
of
her
younger
daughters
are
pupils
in
the
house
,
her
patronage
availed
to
get
me
the
place
.
It
was
settled
that
I
am
to
attend
six
hours
daily
(
for
,
happily
,
it
was
not
required
that
I
should
live
in
the
house
;
I
should
have
been
sorry
to
leave
my
lodgings
)
,
and
,
for
this
,
Mrs.
D
.
will
give
me
twelve
hundred
francs
per
annum
.
“
You
see
,
therefore
,
monsieur
,
that
I
am
now
rich
;
richer
almost
than
I
ever
hoped
to
be
:
I
feel
thankful
for
it
,
especially
as
my
sight
was
beginning
to
be
injured
by
constant
working
at
fine
lace
;
and
I
was
getting
,
too
,
very
weary
of
sitting
up
late
at
nights
,
and
yet
not
being
able
to
find
time
for
reading
or
study
.
I
began
to
fear
that
I
should
fall
ill
,
and
be
unable
to
pay
my
way
;
this
fear
is
now
,
in
a
great
measure
,
removed
;
and
,
in
truth
,
monsieur
,
I
am
very
grateful
to
God
for
the
relief
;
and
I
feel
it
necessary
,
almost
,
to
speak
of
my
happiness
to
some
one
who
is
kind-hearted
enough
to
derive
joy
from
seeing
others
joyful
.
I
could
not
,
therefore
,
resist
the
temptation
of
writing
to
you
;
I
argued
with
myself
it
is
very
pleasant
for
me
to
write
,
and
it
will
not
be
exactly
painful
,
though
it
may
be
tiresome
to
monsieur
to
read
.
Do
not
be
too
angry
with
my
circumlocution
and
inelegancies
of
expression
,
and
,
believe
me
“
Your
attached
pupil
,
“
F
.
E
.
HENRI
.
”
Having
read
this
letter
,
I
mused
on
its
contents
for
a
few
moments
—
whether
with
sentiments
pleasurable
or
otherwise
I
will
hereafter
note
—
and
then
took
up
the
other
.
It
was
directed
in
a
hand
to
me
unknown
—
small
,
and
rather
neat
;
neither
masculine
nor
exactly
feminine
;
the
seal
bore
a
coat
of
arms
,
concerning
which
I
could
only
decipher
that
it
was
not
that
of
the
Seacombe
family
,
consequently
the
epistle
could
be
from
none
of
my
almost
forgotten
,
and
certainly
quite
forgetting
patrician
relations
.
From
whom
,
then
,
was
it
?
I
removed
the
envelope
;
the
note
folded
within
ran
as
follows
:
“
I
have
no
doubt
in
the
world
that
you
are
doing
well
in
that
greasy
Flanders
;
living
probably
on
the
fat
of
the
unctuous
land
;
sitting
like
a
black-haired
,
tawny-skinned
,
long-nosed
Israelite
by
the
flesh-pots
of
Egypt
;
or
like
a
rascally
son
of
Levi
near
the
brass
cauldrons
of
the
sanctuary
,
and
every
now
and
then
plunging
in
a
consecrated
hook
,
and
drawing
out
of
the
sea
of
broth
the
fattest
of
heave-shoulders
and
the
fleshiest
of
wave-breasts
.
I
know
this
,
because
you
never
write
to
any
one
in
England
.
Thankless
dog
that
you
are
!
I
,
by
the
sovereign
efficacy
of
my
recommendation
,
got
you
the
place
where
you
are
now
living
in
clover
,
and
yet
not
a
word
of
gratitude
,
or
even
acknowledgment
,
have
you
ever
offered
in
return
;
but
I
am
coming
to
see
you
,
and
small
conception
can
you
,
with
your
addled
aristocratic
brains
,
form
of
the
sort
of
moral
kicking
I
have
,
ready
packed
in
my
carpet-bag
,
destined
to
be
presented
to
you
immediately
on
my
arrival
.
“
Meantime
I
know
all
about
your
affairs
,
and
have
just
got
information
,
by
Brown’s
last
letter
,
that
you
are
said
to
be
on
the
point
of
forming
an
advantageous
match
with
a
pursy
,
little
Belgian
schoolmistress
—
a
Mdlle
.
Zenobie
,
or
some
such
name
.
Won’t
I
have
a
look
at
her
when
I
come
over
!
And
this
you
may
rely
on
:
if
she
pleases
my
taste
,
or
if
I
think
it
worth
while
in
a
pecuniary
point
of
view
,
I’ll
pounce
on
your
prize
and
bear
her
away
triumphant
in
spite
of
your
teeth
.
Yet
I
don’t
like
dumpies
either
,
and
Brown
says
she
is
little
and
stout
—
the
better
fitted
for
a
wiry
,
starved-looking
chap
like
you
.
“
Be
on
the
look-out
,
for
you
know
neither
the
day
nor
hour
when
your
—
—
”
(
I
don’t
wish
to
blaspheme
,
so
I’ll
leave
a
blank
)
—
cometh
.
“
Yours
truly
,
“
HUNSDEN
YORKE
HUNSDEN
.
”
“
Humph
!
”
said
I
;
and
ere
I
laid
the
letter
down
,
I
again
glanced
at
the
small
,
neat
handwriting
,
not
a
bit
like
that
of
a
mercantile
man
,
nor
,
indeed
,
of
any
man
except
Hunsden
himself
.
They
talk
of
affinities
between
the
autograph
and
the
character
:
what
affinity
was
there
here
?
I
recalled
the
writer’s
peculiar
face
and
certain
traits
I
suspected
,
rather
than
knew
,
to
appertain
to
his
nature
,
and
I
answered
,
“
A
great
deal
.
”
Hunsden
,
then
,
was
coming
to
Brussels
,
and
coming
I
knew
not
when
;
coming
charged
with
the
expectation
of
finding
me
on
the
summit
of
prosperity
,
about
to
be
married
,
to
step
into
a
warm
nest
,
to
lie
comfortably
down
by
the
side
of
a
snug
,
well-fed
little
mate
.
“
I
wish
him
joy
of
the
fidelity
of
the
picture
he
has
painted
,
”
thought
I
.
“
What
will
he
say
when
,
instead
of
a
pair
of
plump
turtle
doves
,
billing
and
cooing
in
a
bower
of
roses
,
he
finds
a
single
lean
cormorant
,
standing
mateless
and
shelterless
on
poverty’s
bleak
cliff
?
Oh
,
confound
him
!
Let
him
come
,
and
let
him
laugh
at
the
contrast
between
rumour
and
fact
.
Were
he
the
devil
himself
,
instead
of
being
merely
very
like
him
,
I’d
not
condescend
to
get
out
of
his
way
,
or
to
forge
a
smile
or
a
cheerful
word
wherewith
to
avert
his
sarcasm
.
”
Then
I
recurred
to
the
other
letter
:
that
struck
a
chord
whose
sound
I
could
not
deaden
by
thrusting
my
fingers
into
my
ears
,
for
it
vibrated
within
;
and
though
its
swell
might
be
exquisite
music
,
its
cadence
was
a
groan
.
That
Frances
was
relieved
from
the
pressure
of
want
,
that
the
curse
of
excessive
labour
was
taken
off
her
,
filled
me
with
happiness
;
that
her
first
thought
in
prosperity
should
be
to
augment
her
joy
by
sharing
it
with
me
,
met
and
satisfied
the
wish
of
my
heart
.
Two
results
of
her
letter
were
then
pleasant
,
sweet
as
two
draughts
of
nectar
;
but
applying
my
lips
for
the
third
time
to
the
cup
,
and
they
were
excoriated
as
with
vinegar
and
gall
.
Two
persons
whose
desires
are
moderate
may
live
well
enough
in
Brussels
on
an
income
which
would
scarcely
afford
a
respectable
maintenance
for
one
in
London
:
and
that
,
not
because
the
necessaries
of
life
are
so
much
dearer
in
the
latter
capital
,
or
taxes
so
much
higher
than
in
the
former
,
but
because
the
English
surpass
in
folly
all
the
nations
on
God’s
earth
,
and
are
more
abject
slaves
to
custom
,
to
opinion
,
to
the
desire
to
keep
up
a
certain
appearance
,
than
the
Italians
are
to
priestcraft
,
the
French
to
vain-glory
,
the
Russians
to
their
Czar
,
or
the
Germans
to
black
beer
.
I
have
seen
a
degree
of
sense
in
the
modest
arrangement
of
one
homely
Belgian
household
,
that
might
put
to
shame
the
elegance
,
the
superfluities
,
the
luxuries
,
the
strained
refinements
of
a
hundred
genteel
English
mansions
.
In
Belgium
,
provided
you
can
make
money
,
you
may
save
it
;
this
is
scarcely
possible
in
England
;
ostentation
there
lavishes
in
a
month
what
industry
has
earned
in
a
year
.
More
shame
to
all
classes
in
that
most
bountiful
and
beggarly
country
for
their
servile
following
of
Fashion
;
I
could
write
a
chapter
or
two
on
this
subject
,
but
must
forbear
,
at
least
for
the
present
.
Had
I
retained
my
60l
.
per
annum
I
could
,
now
that
Frances
was
in
possession
of
50l
.
,
have
gone
straight
to
her
this
very
evening
,
and
spoken
out
the
words
which
,
repressed
,
kept
fretting
my
heart
with
fever
;
our
united
income
would
,
as
we
should
have
managed
it
,
have
sufficed
well
for
our
mutual
support
;
since
we
lived
in
a
country
where
economy
was
not
confounded
with
meanness
,
where
frugality
in
dress
,
food
,
and
furniture
,
was
not
synonymous
with
vulgarity
in
these
various
points
.
But
the
placeless
usher
,
bare
of
resource
,
and
unsupported
by
connections
,
must
not
think
of
this
;
such
a
sentiment
as
love
,
such
a
word
as
marriage
,
were
misplaced
in
his
heart
,
and
on
his
lips
.
Now
for
the
first
time
did
I
truly
feel
what
it
was
to
be
poor
;
now
did
the
sacrifice
I
had
made
in
casting
from
me
the
means
of
living
put
on
a
new
aspect
;
instead
of
a
correct
,
just
,
honourable
act
,
it
seemed
a
deed
at
once
light
and
fanatical
;
I
took
several
turns
in
my
room
,
under
the
goading
influence
of
most
poignant
remorse
;
I
walked
a
quarter
of
an
hour
from
the
wall
to
the
window
;
and
at
the
window
,
self-reproach
seemed
to
face
me
;
at
the
wall
,
self-disdain
:
all
at
once
out
spoke
Conscience
:
—
“
Down
,
stupid
tormenters
!
”
cried
she
;
“
the
man
has
done
his
duty
;
you
shall
not
bait
him
thus
by
thoughts
of
what
might
have
been
;
he
relinquished
a
temporary
and
contingent
good
to
avoid
a
permanent
and
certain
evil
he
did
well
.
Let
him
reflect
now
,
and
when
your
blinding
dust
and
deafening
hum
subside
,
he
will
discover
a
path
.
”
I
sat
down
;
I
propped
my
forehead
on
both
my
hands
;
I
thought
and
thought
an
hour
—
two
hours
;
vainly
.
I
seemed
like
one
sealed
in
a
subterranean
vault
,
who
gazes
at
utter
blackness
;
at
blackness
ensured
by
yard-thick
stone
walls
around
,
and
by
piles
of
building
above
,
expecting
light
to
penetrate
through
granite
,
and
through
cement
firm
as
granite
.
But
there
are
chinks
,
or
there
may
be
chinks
,
in
the
best
adjusted
masonry
;
there
was
a
chink
in
my
cavernous
cell
;
for
,
eventually
,
I
saw
,
or
seemed
to
see
,
a
ray
—
pallid
,
indeed
,
and
cold
,
and
doubtful
,
but
still
a
ray
,
for
it
showed
that
narrow
path
which
conscience
had
promised
after
two
,
three
hours’
torturing
research
in
brain
and
memory
,
I
disinterred
certain
remains
of
circumstances
,
and
conceived
a
hope
that
by
putting
them
together
an
expedient
might
be
framed
,
and
a
resource
discovered
.
The
circumstances
were
briefly
these
:
Some
three
months
ago
M
.
Pelet
had
,
on
the
occasion
of
his
fete
,
given
the
boys
a
treat
,
which
treat
consisted
in
a
party
of
pleasure
to
a
certain
place
of
public
resort
in
the
outskirts
of
Brussels
,
of
which
I
do
not
at
this
moment
remember
the
name
,
but
near
it
were
several
of
those
lakelets
called
etangs
;
and
there
was
one
etang
,
larger
than
the
rest
,
where
on
holidays
people
were
accustomed
to
amuse
themselves
by
rowing
round
it
in
little
boats
.
The
boys
having
eaten
an
unlimited
quantity
of
“
gaufres
,
”
and
drank
several
bottles
of
Louvain
beer
,
amid
the
shades
of
a
garden
made
and
provided
for
such
crams
,
petitioned
the
director
for
leave
to
take
a
row
on
the
etang
.
Half
a
dozen
of
the
eldest
succeeded
in
obtaining
leave
,
and
I
was
commissioned
to
accompany
them
as
surveillant
.
Among
the
half
dozen
happened
to
be
a
certain
Jean
Baptiste
Vandenhuten
,
a
most
ponderous
young
Flamand
,
not
tall
,
but
even
now
,
at
the
early
age
of
sixteen
,
possessing
a
breadth
and
depth
of
personal
development
truly
national
.
It
chanced
that
Jean
was
the
first
lad
to
step
into
the
boat
;
he
stumbled
,
rolled
to
one
side
,
the
boat
revolted
at
his
weight
and
capsized
.
Vandenhuten
sank
like
lead
,
rose
,
sank
again
.
My
coat
and
waistcoat
were
off
in
an
instant
;
I
had
not
been
brought
up
at
Eton
and
boated
and
bathed
and
swam
there
ten
long
years
for
nothing
;
it
was
a
natural
and
easy
act
for
me
to
leap
to
the
rescue
.
The
lads
and
the
boatmen
yelled
;
they
thought
there
would
be
two
deaths
by
drowning
instead
of
one
;
but
as
Jean
rose
the
third
time
,
I
clutched
him
by
one
leg
and
the
collar
,
and
in
three
minutes
more
both
he
and
I
were
safe
landed
.
To
speak
heaven’s
truth
,
my
merit
in
the
action
was
small
indeed
,
for
I
had
run
no
risk
,
and
subsequently
did
not
even
catch
cold
from
the
wetting
;
but
when
M
.
and
Madame
Vandenhuten
,
of
whom
Jean
Baptiste
was
the
sole
hope
,
came
to
hear
of
the
exploit
,
they
seemed
to
think
I
had
evinced
a
bravery
and
devotion
which
no
thanks
could
sufficiently
repay
.
Madame
,
in
particular
,
was
“
certain
I
must
have
dearly
loved
their
sweet
son
,
or
I
would
not
thus
have
hazarded
my
own
life
to
save
his
.
”
Monsieur
,
an
honest-looking
,
though
phlegmatic
man
,
said
very
little
,
but
he
would
not
suffer
me
to
leave
the
room
,
till
I
had
promised
that
in
case
I
ever
stood
in
need
of
help
I
would
,
by
applying
to
him
,
give
him
a
chance
of
discharging
the
obligation
under
which
he
affirmed
I
had
laid
him
.
These
words
,
then
,
were
my
glimmer
of
light
;
it
was
here
I
found
my
sole
outlet
;
and
in
truth
,
though
the
cold
light
roused
,
it
did
not
cheer
me
;
nor
did
the
outlet
seem
such
as
I
should
like
to
pass
through
.
Right
I
had
none
to
M
.
Vandenhuten’s
good
offices
;
it
was
not
on
the
ground
of
merit
I
could
apply
to
him
;
no
,
I
must
stand
on
that
of
necessity
:
I
had
no
work
;
I
wanted
work
;
my
best
chance
of
obtaining
it
lay
in
securing
his
recommendation
.
This
I
knew
could
be
had
by
asking
for
it
;
not
to
ask
,
because
the
request
revolted
my
pride
and
contradicted
my
habits
,
would
,
I
felt
,
be
an
indulgence
of
false
and
indolent
fastidiousness
.
I
might
repent
the
omission
all
my
life
;
I
would
not
then
be
guilty
of
it
.
That
evening
I
went
to
M
.
Vandenhuten’s
;
but
I
had
bent
the
bow
and
adjusted
the
shaft
in
vain
;
the
string
broke
.
I
rang
the
bell
at
the
great
door
(
it
was
a
large
,
handsome
house
in
an
expensive
part
of
the
town
)
;
a
manservant
opened
;
I
asked
for
M
.
Vandenhuten
;
M
.
Vandenhuten
and
family
were
all
out
of
town
—
gone
to
Ostend
—
did
not
know
when
they
would
be
back
.
I
left
my
card
,
and
retraced
my
steps
.
CHAPTER
XXII
A
WEEK
is
gone
;
le
jour
des
noces
arrived
;
the
marriage
was
solemnized
at
St.
Jacques
;
Mdlle
.
Zoraide
became
Madame
Pelet
,
née
Reuter
;
and
,
in
about
an
hour
after
this
transformation
,
“
the
happy
pair
,
”
as
newspapers
phrase
it
,
were
on
their
way
to
Paris
;
where
,
according
to
previous
arrangement
,
the
honeymoon
was
to
be
spent
.
The
next
day
I
quitted
the
pensionnat
.
Myself
and
my
chattels
(
some
books
and
clothes
)
were
soon
transferred
to
a
modest
lodging
I
had
hired
in
a
street
not
far
off
.
In
half
an
hour
my
clothes
were
arranged
in
a
commode
,
my
books
on
a
shelf
,
and
the
“
flitting
”
was
effected
.
I
should
not
have
been
unhappy
that
day
had
not
one
pang
tortured
me
—
a
longing
to
go
to
the
Rue
Notre
Dame
aux
Neiges
,
resisted
,
yet
irritated
by
an
inward
resolve
to
avoid
that
street
till
such
time
as
the
mist
of
doubt
should
clear
from
my
prospects
.
It
was
a
sweet
September
evening
—
very
mild
,
very
still
;
I
had
nothing
to
do
;
at
that
hour
I
knew
Frances
would
be
equally
released
from
occupation
;
I
thought
she
might
possibly
be
wishing
for
her
master
,
I
knew
I
wished
for
my
pupil
.
Imagination
began
with
her
low
whispers
,
infusing
into
my
soul
the
soft
tale
of
pleasures
that
might
be
.
“
You
will
find
her
reading
or
writing
,
”
said
she
;
“
you
can
take
your
seat
at
her
side
;
you
need
not
startle
her
peace
by
undue
excitement
;
you
need
not
embarrass
her
manner
by
unusual
action
or
language
.
Be
as
you
always
are
;
look
over
what
she
has
written
;
listen
while
she
reads
;
chide
her
,
or
quietly
approve
;
you
know
the
effect
of
either
system
;
you
know
her
smile
when
pleased
,
you
know
the
play
of
her
looks
when
roused
;
you
have
the
secret
of
awakening
what
expression
you
will
,
and
you
can
choose
amongst
that
pleasant
variety
.
With
you
she
will
sit
silent
as
long
as
it
suits
you
to
talk
alone
;
you
can
hold
her
under
a
potent
spell
:
intelligent
as
she
is
,
eloquent
as
she
can
be
,
you
can
seal
her
lips
,
and
veil
her
bright
countenance
with
diffidence
;
yet
,
you
know
,
she
is
not
all
monotonous
mildness
;
you
have
seen
,
with
a
sort
of
strange
pleasure
,
revolt
,
scorn
,
austerity
,
bitterness
,
lay
energetic
claim
to
a
place
in
her
feelings
and
physiognomy
;
you
know
that
few
could
rule
her
as
you
do
;
you
know
she
might
break
,
but
never
bend
under
the
hand
of
Tyranny
and
Injustice
,
but
Reason
and
Affection
can
guide
her
by
a
sign
.
Try
their
influence
now
.
Go
—
they
are
not
passions
;
you
may
handle
them
safely
.
”
“
I
will
not
go
was
my
answer
to
the
sweet
temptress
.
A
man
is
master
of
himself
to
a
certain
point
,
but
not
beyond
it
.
Could
I
seek
Frances
to-night
,
could
I
sit
with
her
alone
in
a
quiet
room
,
and
address
her
only
in
the
language
of
Reason
and
Affection
?
”
“
No
,
”
was
the
brief
,
fervent
reply
of
that
Love
which
had
conquered
and
now
controlled
me
.
Time
seemed
to
stagnate
;
the
sun
would
not
go
down
;
my
watch
ticked
,
but
I
thought
the
hands
were
paralyzed
.
“
What
a
hot
evening
!
”
I
cried
,
throwing
open
the
lattice
;
for
,
indeed
,
I
had
seldom
felt
so
feverish
.
Hearing
a
step
ascending
the
common
stair
,
I
wondered
whether
the
“
locataire
,
”
now
mounting
to
his
apartments
,
were
as
unsettled
in
mind
and
condition
as
I
was
,
or
whether
he
lived
in
the
calm
of
certain
resources
,
and
in
the
freedom
of
unfettered
feelings
.
What
!
was
he
coming
in
person
to
solve
the
problem
hardly
proposed
in
inaudible
thought
?
He
had
actually
knocked
at
the
door
—
at
my
door
;
a
smart
,
prompt
rap
;
and
,
almost
before
I
could
invite
him
in
,
he
was
over
the
threshold
,
and
had
closed
the
door
behind
him
.
“
And
how
are
you
?
”
asked
an
indifferent
,
quiet
voice
,
in
the
English
language
;
while
my
visitor
,
without
any
sort
of
bustle
or
introduction
,
put
his
hat
on
the
table
,
and
his
gloves
into
his
hat
,
and
drawing
the
only
armchair
the
room
afforded
a
little
forward
,
seated
himself
tranquilly
therein
.
“
Can’t
you
speak
?
”
he
inquired
in
a
few
moments
,
in
a
tone
whose
nonchalance
seemed
to
intimate
that
it
was
much
the
same
thing
whether
I
answered
or
not
.
The
fact
is
,
I
found
it
desirable
to
have
recourse
to
my
good
friends
“
les
besicles
;
”
not
exactly
to
ascertain
the
identity
of
my
visitor
—
for
I
already
knew
him
,
confound
his
impudence
!
but
to
see
how
he
looked
—
to
get
a
clear
notion
of
his
mien
and
countenance
.
I
wiped
the
glasses
very
deliberately
,
and
put
them
on
quite
as
deliberately
;
adjusting
them
so
as
not
to
hurt
the
bridge
of
my
nose
or
get
entangled
in
my
short
tufts
of
dun
hair
.
I
was
sitting
in
the
window-seat
,
with
my
back
to
the
light
,
and
I
had
him
vis-à-vis
;
a
position
he
would
much
rather
have
had
reversed
;
for
,
at
any
time
,
he
preferred
scrutinizing
to
being
scrutinized
.
Yes
,
it
was
he
,
and
no
mistake
,
with
his
six
feet
of
length
arranged
in
a
sitting
attitude
;
with
his
dark
travelling
surtout
with
its
velvet
collar
,
his
gray
pantaloons
,
his
black
stock
,
and
his
face
,
the
most
original
one
Nature
ever
modelled
,
yet
the
least
obtrusively
so
;
not
one
feature
that
could
be
termed
marked
or
odd
,
yet
the
effect
of
the
whole
unique
.
There
is
no
use
in
attempting
to
describe
what
is
indescribable
.
Being
in
no
hurry
to
address
him
,
I
sat
and
stared
at
my
ease
.
“
Oh
,
that’s
your
game
—
is
it
?
”
said
he
at
last
.
“
Well
,
we’ll
see
which
is
soonest
tired
.
”
And
he
slowly
drew
out
a
fine
cigar-case
,
picked
one
to
his
taste
,
lit
it
,
took
a
book
from
the
shelf
convenient
to
his
hand
,
then
leaning
back
,
proceeded
to
smoke
and
read
as
tranquilly
as
if
he
had
been
in
his
own
room
,
in
Grove-street
,
X
—
-shire
,
England
.
I
knew
he
was
capable
of
continuing
in
that
attitude
till
midnight
,
if
he
conceived
the
whim
,
so
I
rose
,
and
taking
the
book
from
his
hand
,
I
said
,
—
“
You
did
not
ask
for
it
,
and
you
shall
not
have
it
.
”
“
It
is
silly
and
dull
,
”
he
observed
,
“
so
I
have
not
lost
much
;
”
then
the
spell
being
broken
,
he
went
on
:
“
I
thought
you
lived
at
Pelet’s
;
I
went
there
this
afternoon
expecting
to
be
starved
to
death
by
sitting
in
a
boarding-school
drawing-room
,
and
they
told
me
you
were
gone
,
had
departed
this
morning
;
you
had
left
your
address
behind
you
though
,
which
I
wondered
at
;
it
was
a
more
practical
and
sensible
precaution
than
I
should
have
imagined
you
capable
of
.
Why
did
you
leave
?
”
“
Because
M
.
Pelet
has
just
married
the
lady
whom
you
and
Mr.
Brown
assigned
to
me
as
my
wife
.
”
“
Oh
,
indeed
!
”
replied
Hunsden
with
a
short
laugh
;
“
so
you’ve
lost
both
your
wife
and
your
place
?
”
“
Precisely
so
.
”
I
saw
him
give
a
quick
,
covert
glance
all
round
my
room
;
he
marked
its
narrow
limits
,
its
scanty
furniture
:
in
an
instant
he
had
comprehended
the
state
of
matters
—
had
absolved
me
from
the
crime
of
prosperity
.
A
curious
effect
this
discovery
wrought
in
his
strange
mind
;
I
am
morally
certain
that
if
he
had
found
me
installed
in
a
handsome
parlour
,
lounging
on
a
soft
couch
,
with
a
pretty
,
wealthy
wife
at
my
side
,
he
would
have
hated
me
;
a
brief
,
cold
,
haughty
visit
,
would
in
such
a
case
have
been
the
extreme
limit
of
his
civilities
,
and
never
would
he
have
come
near
me
more
,
so
long
as
the
tide
of
fortune
bore
me
smoothly
on
its
surface
;
but
the
painted
furniture
,
the
bare
walls
,
the
cheerless
solitude
of
my
room
relaxed
his
rigid
pride
,
and
I
know
not
what
softening
change
had
taken
place
both
in
his
voice
and
look
ere
he
spoke
again
.
“
You
have
got
another
place
?
”
“
No.
”
“
You
are
in
the
way
of
getting
one
?
”
“
No.
”
“
That
is
bad
;
have
you
applied
to
Brown
?
”
“
No
,
indeed
.
”
“
You
had
better
;
he
often
has
it
in
his
power
to
give
useful
information
in
such
matters
.
”
“
He
served
me
once
very
well
;
I
have
no
claim
on
him
,
and
am
not
in
the
humour
to
bother
him
again
.
”
“
Oh
,
if
you’re
bashful
,
and
dread
being
intrusive
,
you
need
only
commission
me
.
I
shall
see
him
to-night
;
I
can
put
in
a
word
.
”
“
I
beg
you
will
not
,
Mr.
Hunsden
;
I
am
in
your
debt
already
;
you
did
me
an
important
service
when
I
was
at
X
—
—
;
got
me
out
of
a
den
where
I
was
dying
:
that
service
I
have
never
repaid
,
and
at
present
I
decline
positively
adding
another
item
to
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