George Sand

“ Poor Moors!" muttered the marquis. "Alas!" he added, as if warned by a melancholy glance from Lucilio, "France has done no better; the Regent treated them just the same way!"
"Finding myself alone in the world," continued Mercedes, "without a sou, and deprived of all I loved, I tried to follow my poor father; they prevented me. I was pretty. The commander of the galley wanted me for a slave. But God unloosed the tempest, and they had to give all their thought to struggling against it. Several vessels sank, thousands of Moors perished with their persecutors. ”

“ Bring the candle nearer, Adamas, and let me look! Why, my friends! O Lord God in Heaven! Jovelin! Adamas! Look at this! I am not dreaming, am I? It is the handwriting of my darling brother! every letter is his! And this blood——Ah! my friends! that is a very cruel thing to see. But—where did you get this, Mario?"
"Read, read, monsieur," cried Adamas, "make sure that you are right."
"I cannot," said the marquis, turning deathly pale; "my heart fails me! ”

“ The marquis rallied her good-humoredly and called attention to her absurdities, to enforce his precepts upon Mario, who was much given to mockery and who made merry over the housekeeper's foibles in a way to mortify her exceedingly.
She would go away in a rage, and Mario, laughing uproariously, and forgetting that it was the hour for stately demeanor, would leap on the marquis's knees, and kiss and fondle him; nor would the old man have the courage to forbid him; for he too enjoyed it, nor was anything sweeter to him than to have his child play with him as with a playmate of his own age. ”

“ The marquis, with all his cosmetics washed off, was a handsome old man, and the tranquillity of his conscience imparted a venerable air to his face as he lay asleep. While his wig reposed on the table, and his garments, stuffed to conceal the hollows that age had made in his shoulders and his legs, lay scattered about on chairs, the angular outlines of his great body, shrunken to half its size, could be traced under a lodier or coverlet of white satin, with coats-of-arms in silver purl in relief at the four corners. ”

“ Thereupon D'Alvimar stooped to pick up his pebble.
"No, no!" cried the gypsy, darting into the circle with the agility of a monkey, and placing his foot on D'Alvimar's token, without effacing any of the signs that surrounded it; "no, messire, you cannot interfere with destiny. It is above you as it is above me!"
"Certainly not," said Lauriane, putting her little cane between D'Alvimar and La Flèche. "The magician is master in his magic circle, and by disarranging your destiny, you may disarrange ours too." ”

“ It was a naked, gleaming dagger, lying on a black velvet cushion with gold fringe, and protected by a glass globe.
"What is it?" said the marquis at last. "You seem distraught. You are in check, messire, and I do not wish to beat you so easily. Something disturbs or annoys you. Are we too near that piece of furniture, would you like to move the table away from it?"
"No," replied D'Alvimar, "I am very comfortable; but I confess that there is something in that pretty stand which distracts my mind. Will you answer a single question, if it be not impertinent?" ”

“ Clindor had ridden ten leagues to procure the hat and the shoes. Adamas had arranged feathers and decorations and ornaments; and the costume, which was in most excellent taste, well cut and substantial enough to last several days without being made over, was a wonderful success.
Mario, beribboned and perfumed like the marquis, with his naturally curly hair, and over his left ear a rosette of white ribbons with a huge diamond in the centre and silver lace below, came forward with much grace. He was no more awkward than if he had been brought up as a gentleman. ”

“ Master Jovelin gave me his word not to leave him, and, moreover, I do not see that he incurs any risk in your château, now that the enemy has left it and we are charging upon him."
"I know that we are the ones who are in danger now, Adamas, and that is why I did not want you here, for you are old and broken, and besides, you never were a great warrior."
"It is true, monsieur, that I am not overfond of receiving blows, but I like to deal them when I can. I am no longer a young man; but if I am not quick of foot, I have a sharp eye, and I propose to see that you don't fall into any ambush. ”

“ I do not know the name of the man I killed—or allowed to be killed! But what do you know of the reasons that impelled me to that murder? How do you know that I was not wreaking a just vengeance? How do you know that that woman—whose name you do not know—was not my sister, and that while avenging the honor of my family, I did not take back the gold and jewels stolen by a seducer?"
"Hold your peace, monsieur! do not insult my brother's memory."
"You have yourself admitted that he was not rich; where did he obtain a thousand pistoles with which to elope with a woman?"
Bois-Doré was shaken. ”

“ When the old nobleman had donned his little cap of yellow leather striped with silver, with an inner lining of iron, and adorned with long plumes drooping over his shoulder; when he was arrayed in his short military cloak, his long sword, and his gorget of shining steel buckled beneath his lace ruff, Adamas could vow, without flattery, that he had an air of grandeur, especially as the excitement of the evening had caused his paint to disappear, so that he wore almost his natural face, by no means that of a popinjay. ”

“ This instrument, the tone of which was as sweet and veiled as the bag-pipes of our own minstrels of to-day are noisy and shrill, was much in vogue, and before Master Jovelin had concluded his prelude, he had taken possession not only of the attention but of the very soul of his hearers; for he performed marvellously on the sourdeline, and made it sing like a human voice.
D'Alvimar was a connoisseur, and beautiful music possessed the power of making his natural melancholy less bitter than usual. ”

“ The marquis embraced Lucilio, saying to him in an undertone:
"Ah! my poor friend! for a man who has suffered at the hands of the torturer, even to the very marrow of his bones, you are a sturdy swimmer! God, who knows that you live only to do good, has deigned to perform miracles in your person. Now go at once and change everything, and do you, Adamas, see that yonder little devil is thoroughly dried and warmed; he seems no more frightened than if he were just out of bed. ”

“ Villain! assassin! You promised that I should see Mario, who used to give me things to eat and play with me, and his mother, who kept me from being beaten! Mercedes! Mario! come to help me! Kill him! he is hurting me, he is shaking me, he is killing me, he is starving me to death! Damnation on him! death and blood and murder! The lash, the stake, the wheel, hell itself for the wicked!"
[18]
Man without tongue and of great heart,
Learning has triumphed over misery.
[19]
You do not give your heart away,
It will triumph over the devil.
[20] ”

“ If I may remain here a few days, and if I see no danger for Mario, I swear that I will tell the whole story; but I am afraid of the Spaniard, and I saw this old gentleman put his hand in his, after reproving him for his harshness toward us. I understood it all with my eyes; nobles are nobles, and we poor slaves cannot hope that the kindest-hearted of them all will take our part against their equals."
"Equality has nothing to do with it!" cried the marquis as soon as Lucilio had translated Mercedes's words for him in writing. ”

“ He who had endured imprisonment, exile and poverty, and had undergone martyrdom, appealed to himself to conquer the craving for happiness as he had conquered all the rest, and he always emerged tranquillized and triumphant from these meditations; but triumphant as one is after the torture: a blending of feverish excitement and prostration, on one side the heart, on the other the body; a life whose equilibrium is destroyed and in which the mind can no longer tell in what sort of a world it is.
And yet Lucilio exaggerated his misfortune to himself. ”

“ Mario was entertained by this sort of instruction, which gave him an opportunity to array himself in his finest clothes, look at himself in the mirrors and stalk proudly across the room. He was so clever and so graceful, that it cost him little trouble to learn that species of majestic ballet, in the most minute details of which he was carefully drilled, and his old father, who was much more of a child than he, knew how to make the lesson amusing. It was a complete course in pantomime, wherein the marquis, despite his years, was still an excellent performer. ”

“ As for Mario, he understood what was taking place; but controlled and, as it were, fascinated by Mercedes's glance, he took refuge in stolid silence.
"You see," said D'Alvimar to the marquis, "he hangs his head and conceals his shame. Well, I know all I wish to know about them, and I leave you in this respectable society. There is no danger that they will unclench their teeth before a Spaniard, and they evidently know that I am one. There is an instinctive aversion between that degraded race and ours, so unerring that they scent our approach as wild game scents the approach of the hunter. ”

“ I always speak for those of our people who can't make themselves understood."
"Ah! yes," said Guillaume, "you are the orator of the tribe; what is your name, Master Impertinent?"
"La Flèche, at your service. I have the honor to have been born a Frenchman, in the town of which I bear the name."
"The honor is on France's side, assuredly! Now, then, Master La Flèche, tell your comrades to let us go our way in peace. I have given you enough for a man who is travelling, and to make us swallow your dust is not the way to thank me for it. ”

“ I am not mistaken," replied the elf.
"Really?" said La Flèche. "If you are quite sure, speak, she-devil! So you think that this noble lord here present has some insult to avenge?"
"In blood!" replied Pilar, with the energy of a tragic actress.
"Alas!" said the marquis to Lauriane under his breath, "that is only too true, I doubt not! My poor brother, you know!" And he added, aloud: "I wish to question this little soothsayer myself."
"Do so, monseigneur," said La Flèche. "Listen, black fly! and speak truly to a gentleman who is of much more consequence than you!" ”

“ When Lauriane realized that he was talking about marriage, she was as surprised as her father.
She knew that the marquis was capable of anything, and instead of laughing at him she felt sorry for him. She had a warm friendship for him, and respect for his goodness of heart and loyalty. She felt that the poor old man would lay himself open to interminable taunts, if she should set the example, and that the friendly and kindly raillery of which he had hitherto been the object, would become stinging and cruel. ”

“ He made a pleasant impression at first, but then—very quickly too—people were disgusted by a touch of bitterness which he soon displayed; or else they distrusted a flavor of ambition which he inopportunely allowed to appear. He was neither Spanish enough nor Italian enough, or, perhaps, he was too much of both: one day as talkative, persuasive and supple as a young Venetian; the next day as haughty, obstinate and gloomy as an old Castilian. ”

“ The hand, straight, slender and white as a woman's, tranquilly grasps the hilt of a dagger hanging at his side. It holds it with remarkable grace; it is ready to strike. The impending movement is so admirably foreshadowed, that we can see in anticipation how the blow is to be dealt, downward, into his victim's heart. There is grandeur in that portrait, in the sense that the great artist has left his stamp upon it, but without attempting to disguise the moral wickedness of his model, which he makes to shine forth triumphantly through the appalling tranquillity of his features. ”

“ In that too, Lucilio was an admirable teacher. His delightful talent charmed the child and plunged him into blissful reveries. But this task, which would have absorbed all the rest, was thwarted to some extent by the marquis, who considered that a gentleman should not study an art to the point of becoming an artist, but should learn first what was called the profession of arms, then a little of everything; "the best possible subjects," he would say, "but not too much of anything; for a man who is very learned in one subject disdains all others, and ceases to be attractive." ”

“ The valets were dismissed, the doors closed, and Bois-Doré, kneeling at dear little Lauriane's feet, addressed her in these terms:
"Queen of youth and beauty, you see at your feet a loyal servant whom a most momentous event has filled with pleasure and embarrassment, with joy and grief, with hope and fear. When, two days since, I offered my heart, my name and my fortune to the most amiable of nymphs, I deemed myself unfettered by any other duty or attachment. ”