Eugène Sue

“ Madame de Hansfeld looked at her husband with amazement.
"Sir, take care, your brain wanders!"
"I tell you that three times you have attempted to assassinate me, madame!"
"I?"
"You, madame! You remember the pavilion at Trieste; the lone auberge, on the road to Geneva; and then the last attempt that was made but two days ago against my life?"
"I—I? Why, it is impossible that you can say this seriously, sir?" exclaimed Paula. "For what motive should I commit so black a crime? It is horrible! for surely nothing in my conduct could have authorised such terrible suspicions." ”

“ There are two ways of regarding one's wife—either as a mistress passionately adored, or as a highly valued friend. For a long while my heart cherished you as the former of these endearing relations; faults on my part, I will not attempt to deny, have deprived me of the inestimable privilege of ranking as your lover, leaving me but the cold shadow of my former happiness under the title of your friend. To pass from the ardent lover to the sober reality of friendship is a bitter struggle, when she we love, though bound by wedded ties, is charming and captivating as a mistress. ”

“ Whether I am faithful to you or not, in no degree affects your consideration with society. But that I, who have sacrificed every thing for you, should be exposed to fresh ridicule!—I tell you," continued M. de Brévannes, rising from his chair, his teeth clenched, and his hands compressed with rage,—"that at the very supposition I can no longer command myself!" and as though unable to master the boiling rage which shook his frame and inflamed every feature, he commenced rapidly pacing the room.
"You speak truly, Charles," said Bertha, sorrowfully, "our jealousy is not the same. ”

“ Unquestionably M. de Brévannes, enraged, will circulate the most atrocious calumnies respecting you. What then? They are but calumnies—it is true M. de Morville may be afflicted at them, believe in them, and smile scornfully when he reflects on the ideal and romantic love he had for you; what then? During the long life in store for you with the prince whom you do not love, and who loves not you, you may repeat boastingly every day,—I have done my duty."
"Accursed be thou—demon sent from hell!" exclaimed Madame de Hansfeld, wildly, "leave me, leave me! ”

“ Devoted entirely to this sad and pure love, I would never again have seen M. de Morville; but, at least, I should have known that he loved me as I love him. Human nature is so fantastical, that the reasons which opposed themselves to this love being happy would, perhaps, have assured its permanency; but if M. de Brévannes speaks, misery—misery for me! Then contempt would succeed to the adoration now in the heart of M. de Morville; and he, so frank, so noble, would not then find sufficient disdain to overwhelm me. ”

“ Paula, if you love me let us fly, or I die!"
"Alas! De Morville, and can you believe that you are suffering alone? Suffer—oh, no! I may now defy a life of torments; I can die; I have been loved, as I have dreamed of being loved—loved with madness, loved without calculation, scruple, or remorse—loved with such blindness that you do not even suspect the enormity of the sacrifices you offer to me, the depth of the abyss into which you would precipitate us." ”

“ When Madame de Hansfeld's thoughts dwelt on De Morville, in a moment these sinister words appeared before her in letters of flame,—
If I were a widow!
And she dared not confess to herself that she would have been satisfied had one of the attempts of Iris succeeded.
We have already said that nothing is more fatal than to familiarise the thought and simple supposition, which, when realised, would become crime. How monstrous soever they appear at first, by degrees the mind admits them the more easily, as they the more and more incessantly flatter the interests they subserve. ”

“ I would a thousand times prefer being the victim of a jest to risking a frivolous reply to the expression of a sentiment for which a right-minded man should always shew himself grateful. If there is one thing I pretend to it is frankness, and I have never committed a base or mean action, I have never considered as vain and trifling the engagements of two hearts which are exchanged—engagements in which a woman almost always places her whole happiness in the honour, her future at the mercy, of a man,—engagements in which the woman risks all, the man nothing. ”

“ Her look has in it something sombre, enthusiastic, and proud, which contrasts with the habitual placidity of her countenance."
"I confess that there seems to me something sinister in Madame de Hansfeld's look; handsome as are her eyes, yet they are almost diabolic in expression."
"Peste! this becomes interesting!" cried M. de Brévannes; "the princess is the real heroine of a modern romance. After all I have heard of her countenance, I dare not ask you as to her mind. It is the custom to magnify certain miraculous qualities at the expense of the most marked imperfections." ”

“ I shook with fear as much as with surprise,—and you are not on your knees before me with supplicating hands, but stand as you are, calm and contemptuous—do you not know, madame, that there are judges and a scaffold?"
Paula at this moment trembled; until then she had only suffered by the singularities of M. de Hansfeld, only in his displays of anger, or rather desperate griefs. He had reproached her vaguely, and her reproaches were half averted by her recollections, but never had he brought against her, until this moment, an accusation so decided and so terrible. ”

“ When we left Italy his mother was becoming very anxious about his absence."
"He is dead," said Madame de Hansfeld, with desperate calmness.
"Raphael dead!" exclaimed Iris, with feigned astonishment.
"Charles de Brévannes killed him."
"And your aunt is ignorant of this?"
"Listen—the hour is come to disclose every thing to you. I had been, as you know, brought up with Raphael. When a child, I loved him as a brother; as a young girl, as my betrothed husband; or, rather, these two sentiments united themselves into one. ”

“ The time was past when Bertha would have received these reproaches with floods of bitter tears; on the contrary, her heart smote her for finding such ready consolation in the hope and prospect of finding Arnold as usual awaiting her arrival at her father's humble but happy home. Banishing from her mind all recollection of the unkindness she had just experienced, Bertha hastened with eager delight to refresh her worn and wearied spirits in the society of the two persons dearest to her upon earth. ”

“ They were still laughing at one of the last smart comments of this domino, when, looking towards a young man who was passing through the corridor with great haste to enter the "crush-room," this female said,—
"Good evening, Fierval! whither so fast? you appear in great haste. Are you seeking the lovely Princess de Hansfeld, to whom you pay such constant attention? You will lose your time, I can assure you. She is not the woman to come to an Opera-ball—her virtue is of the old-fashioned sort; and you will all but singe your wings in the flame, like delicate butterflies." ”

“ And why should our intimacy ever fail you? The charm of friendship with honest folk is in its certainty; who can come between us and our amity? Is it not based on services rendered—reciprocity of services? Is it not equally dear to my daughter, you, and me? And then, indeed, the sad reasons which make us find in our intimacy a kind of refuge against cruel thoughts will always exist: for you, they are your wife's crimes; for Bertha, the cruel conduct of her husband ”

“ Her heart—simple and good, noble and confiding—was unable to resist the unrelenting will of a man, whose energetic protestations had flattered and won her; and in her guileless vanity, the young girl asked herself, with a certain degree of pride, if M. de Brévannes must not have loved her to excess, when he pursued his suit with such unrelaxing tenacity.
Poor Bertha, alas! confounded the proud obstinacy of an uncontrollable temper, which could not endure opposition, with the self-denial, the devoted persistence, of intense passion. ”

“ He departed with Osorio for Venice, breathing threats of revenge and fury for your feigned falsehood! And the very being who, believing himself assured of your heart's warmest affections, had but a short time since ruthlessly and pitilessly trampled your love beneath his feet, and remorselessly left you to pine and die in anguish at his desertion, became all at once influenced by his former wild and ungovernable passion, directly he found himself on the point of losing you, and being rejected for another! ”

“ De Brévannes was really amazed at this new language, and looked at Bertha with irritation mingled with surprise.
"What do you say, madame?" he exclaimed. "Do you wish to make me understand that you are capable of such indignity as to forget what I have done for you? Take care, madame, take care; do not sport with such ideas, they are too serious; reflect well that self-love is a thousand times more irritable and more ardent for vengeance than love itself. ”

“ Your husband deceives you for the wife of a man whom you hate. You cannot help this. This man kills them both! Are you his accomplice? Who or what prevents you from marrying M. de Morville? In what way even could he ever suspect you of having been mixed up in this machination? On the contrary, as I tell you, the interest and sympathies of the world would be with you."
"You are mad; M. de Brévannes would hardly go to such an extremity if he believed himself beloved by me; and he would not surely dare to offer me his hand,—stained, imbrued with my husband's blood?" ”

“ Tell me, is this prince young or old?"
"No one knows," said Fierval; "some declare that he is kept from society for fear his whims should excite laughter."
"And others assert that he has so profound a contempt for the world, or so much love for science, that he never leaves the house."
"The devil!" said M. de Brévannes; "then this German must be a very mysterious personage—as a husband he must be very agreeable. Does any one know who plays the cavalier to the princess?"
"No one!" said Fierval.
"Every body!" exclaimed the domino.
"That's the same thing," resumed M. de Brévannes. ”

“ I shudder; yet what happiness must it be, then, for you to hear that I am utterly indifferent to your mad passion? On my word, sir, you are really too fortunate, henceforth you have every thing to preserve you from the temptation of being in love with me; for you have not only the knowledge of my indifference, but also the strongest motives that can decide a man. Only permit me to observe that among the obstacles that seemed to cross your love for me so insurmountably, you might have reckoned my marriage with the Prince de Hansfeld ”

“ Thus, in case I could arrange to receive you, it would be only—and I beg you to remark it—only for the sake of Madame de Brévannes; and I say this most frankly to you, sir."
"It is always thus; women never have a more intimate friend than her whose husband they are delighted to carry off. She has betrayed herself," said De Brévannes to himself; and then he added aloud, "You must see, madame, how happy I should be with any and every thing that could make my friendship with you more intimate. ”

“ This was an odious remark, and betrayed the secret and homicidal thought of Paula.
"I obeyed you," replied Iris, bitterly, "because I expected with impatience your order to do so, and if you had not given me that order I should have told you all without your commands."
"What says she?"
"I do not abuse myself; whilst I am working your happiness, I am hastening my own misery. When you marry M. de Morville, I should become to you merely an object of contempt and horror. ”

“ I will therefore reply, No, my heart is not free; I love, and love without hope.
"Shall I be understood, when I say that in thus replying, I believe I fully appreciate the sentiment which is expressed towards me, and by which I am as much touched as honoured?
"Admitting the reality of the sentiment which is expressed, I am absolved from any presumption by this well-known truth, To be loved does not prove that we deserve to be loved. But as for myself I have always thought that those who loved deserved always as much respect as admiration.
"LEON DE MORVILLE." ”

“ He drank eagerly, and almost instantly the unfortunate animal fell on the ground, trembled in every limb, and died after a few moments' agony."
"Oh, I understand—how horrible!" exclaimed Pierre Raimond.
Bertha looked at her father with surprise. "What do you mean, my dear father?" she said. Then, as if suddenly enlightened by a moment's reflection, she added, horror-struck, "No, no, it is impossible, Monsieur Arnold—impossible! a woman is incapable of a crime so frightful!" ”

“ And, frequently urged by the fatal excitement of her overweening attachment, Iris would even form the most violent and unbounded wishes. In the excess of her wild and ungovernable fondness for her mistress, she would desire to see her wretched and miserable, in order to obtain the unspeakable happiness of consoling and succouring her—of devoting to her each hour of the day and night, the better to prove the full power and extent of her ruling passion. ”

“ My own infidelity and unkindness have naturally chilled your affections towards myself, and I have no claim even to inquire who is the fortunate object who engrosses them. Nothing could be at once more positively unjust, as well as absurd, than for me to hope or expect that, at your young age, your heart should remain dead and insensible to love."
Bertha gazed on her husband with stupor. ”

“ I arrived at Venice. My admiration for the arts had, until then, occupied my whole existence; the passionate love with which they inspired me sufficed to occupy my heart. At Venice chance threw me in the society of a female, whose influence was destined to be so baneful to me. This woman, whom I married, was named Paula Monti."
"Was she handsome?" asked Bertha.
"Exceedingly!—but of a serious style of beauty. Strange contrast! I have always been weak and timid, and yet became enamoured of a woman of energetic and masculine character. ”

“ If the disposition of De Brévannes be borne in mind,—if his unmoveable obstinacy, his pride, his headstrong passion to succeed in whatever he undertook, be not forgotten,—if his will, his obstinacy, his vanity called into play by a deep and enthusiastic love, against which he had struggled for two years, be remembered, we may conceive with what passionate desire he sought to be beloved by Madame de Hansfeld, a woman so attractive, so envied, so respected. ”

“ Horrible, horrible! with every appearance of happiness, if wealth be happiness! For ever linked to a man who so often, alas! compels me to regret the fate of Raphael!
"Poor Raphael, to die so young! Alas! in provoking M. de Brévannes, he yielded to a feeling of just and courageous despair; and yet his murderer, on his side, and not unreasonably, invoked the right of legitimate defence.
"It is true, Raphael no longer suffers, but I suffer daily; every instant of my life is a punishment! ”

“ Sometimes in spite of myself, I examined distrustfully the meat that was placed before me, and then, blushing with fear at this fresh insult to Paula, I left the table suddenly.
"In this trying and painful struggle my health became weaker, my temper soured, whilst Paula became more and more reserved towards me."
"Oh! what a life! what a life!" exclaimed Bertha, as she wiped away her tears.
"Alas!" said M. de Hansfeld, "that was nothing. We quitted Trieste at the end of autumn; my wife wished to pass the winter at Geneva, and then come to France. ”

“ There is for me a singular charm in confidences so vague, and yet so exact, made to an unknown individual, who appreciates the state of my heart with such infinite delicacy. I have been struck with what you tell me as to the happiness of loving even without hope, even as one loves God for God's sake, and of finding in the sole devotion to the adored object a pure and unutterable felicity. ”

“ Die—if such be your wish—your death would be a benefit both to the world and me. Since I have heard the prince's accusations and your subsequent confessions, I feel as though surrounded by an atmosphere of crimes and treachery, which terrifies and oppresses my mind with the fearful apprehension of becoming myself infected with its black wickedness, and I shudder, lest in time I might become as guilty as yourself ”

“ The passion I experience is too powerful, too vast, to descend even to the falsehoods to which we should both be reduced, if we sought the pleasures of a vulgar love. No, no, to belong to him in the open gaze of day, in the face of the world, to bear his name nobly and proudly—or bury my unhappy love in the depths of my heart. ”

“ After a few moments' reflection, Paula said to Iris, in a decided tone,—
"Give me paper and a pen."
"What are you going to do?"
"Appoint a meeting with M. de Brévannes, at which you shall be present."
"Can you think of such a thing, godmother? What, write and leave a letter of yours in the hands of such a man! What imprudence! But he does not know your writing?"
"No."
"Suppose I write for you."
"You are right; write to him: The day after to-morrow, at ten o'clock, in the Jardin des Plantes, beneath the cedar in the labyrinth. Have you written it?"
"Yes, godmother." ”