Alain

“ The medical career is so admirable when divested of all cupidity, it brings so much into play the better feelings of our nature, that it often ends by being a virtue after commencing as a profession, With Dr. Alain it was more than a virtue; it had become a passion for relieving the woes of the body and of the soul, which are often so closely linked! Where Alain brought life, he also took God with him, and made even Death resplendent with serenity and immortality. ”

“ The lawyer brought us to a room, begged us to be seated while he should hold a consultation with the doctor, and, slipping out of another door, left Alain and myself closeted together.
Truly he had done nothing to ingratiate himself; his every word had been steeped in unfriendliness, envy, and that contempt which (as it is born of anger) it is possible to support without humiliation. ”

“ Her lot and Alain de Rochebriant's can never unite; and whatever you may think of their whispered converse, Alain's heart at this moment is too filled with anxious troubles to leave one spot in it accessible even to a frivolous gallantry. It is for us to remove these troubles; and then, when he turns his eyes towards you, it will be with the gaze of one who beholds his happiness. You do not weep now, Valerie! ”

“ Give me Valerie; as to her dot,—be it so, Rochebriant,—it will pass to her children.”
“Alain! Alain! my friend! my son!—but if you fall.”
“Valerie will give you a nobler son.”
Duplessis moved away, sighing heavily; but he said no more in deprecation of Alain’s martial resolves.
A Frenchman, however practical, however worldly, however philosophical he may be, who does not sympathise with the follies of honour—who does not concede indulgence to the hot blood of youth when he says, “My country is insulted and her banner is unfurled,” may certainly be a man of excellent common sense ”

“ Somewhat, perhaps, but her general manner appears to me more the result of a sad and gloomy thoughtfulness, than mere pride.
Alain. Ah, well, I suppose, sir, that, like most young ladies of her age, she's a little bit in love.
Man. In love?
Alain. Yes, sir, Monsieur de Bevannes has been paying her great attention for some time past, and it would be a grand match, for, after Monsieur Laroque, he is the richest gentleman in the neighborhood, and of excellent family. Ah, sir, what a pity it is you are not rich. ”

“ You see, when Alain made terms with Louvier by which he obtained a very fair income, if prudently managed, I naturally wished that a man of so many claims to social distinction, and who represents the oldest branch of my family, should take his right place in our world of Paris. ”

“ You will only make yourself ridiculous; you will only squander money, of which you have none too much, and reap public mortification.”
“Ah, but there you make the common mistake, Mr. Romaine!” returned Alain. “You despise your adversary. Consider, if you please, how very disagreeable I could make myself if I chose. Consider the position of your protégé—an escaped prisoner! But I play a great game. I condemn such petty opportunities.”
At this Romaine and I exchanged a glance of triumph. It seemed manifest that Alain had as yet received no word of Clausel’s recapture and denunciation. ”

“ In the old gaining now suppressed, young men were the majority; in the days of your chivalrous forefathers it was the young nobles, not the old, who would stake their very mantles and swords on a cast of the die. And, naturally enough, mon cher; for is not youth the season of hope, and is not hope the goddess of gaming, whether at rouge-et-noir or the Bourse?"
Alain felt himself more and more behind his generation. The acute reasoning of Lemercier humbled his amour propre. At college Lemercier was never considered Alain's equal in ability or book-learning. ”

“ The point of the story is that M. de Mauseant spoke of you with gratitude, and drew your character in such a manner as greatly to affect your uncle’s views. Hard upon the back of which, in came your humble servant, and laid before him the direct proof of what we had been so long suspecting. There was no dubiety permitted. M. Alain’s expensive way of life, his clothes and mistresses, his dicing and racehorses, were all explained: he was in the pay of Buonaparte, a hired spy, and a man that held the strings of what I can only call a convolution of extremely fishy enterprises. ”

“ Handsome young men, with the lofty look of the old race, dressed with the punctilious care of person which is not foppery in men of birth, but seems part of the self-respect that appertains to the old chivalric point of honour. The horse of one of these cavaliers made a caracole which brought it nearly upon Alain as he was about to cross. The rider, checking his steed, lifted his hat to Alain and uttered a word of apology in the courtesy of ancient high-breeding, but still with condescension as to an inferior. ”

“ This interview is agitating to his lordship—it cannot be agreeable for you—and I suggest that it need not be further drawn out. It does not enter into the views of your uncle, the Count, that you should again sleep under this roof.”
As Alain turned and passed without a word or a sign from the apartment, I instantly followed. I suppose I must be at bottom possessed of some humanity; at least, this accumulated torture, this slow butchery of a man as by quarters of rock, had wholly changed my sympathies. At that moment I loathed both my uncle and the lawyer for their cold-blooded cruelty. ”

“ An intermediary was required, and Louvier volunteered to take that part on himself; nothing more natural nor more simple. By the way, Alain, you dine with Louvier to-morrow, do you not?—a dinner in honour of our rehabilitated kinsman. I and Raoul go."
"Yes, I shall be charmed to meet again a man who, whatever might be his errors in youth, on which," added Alain, slightly colouring, "it certainly does not become me to be severe, must have suffered the most poignant anguish a man of honour can undergo,—namely, honour suspected ”

“ Viscount Alain, though he scarce guesses it, is no longer in the field. Remains, Viscount Anne.”
“I see,” said I, “you give a very unfavourable impression of my uncle, the Count.”
“I had not meant it,” said he. “He has led a loose life—sadly loose—but he is a man it is impossible to know and not to admire; his courtesy is exquisite.”
“And so you think there is actually a chance for me?” I asked.
“Understand,” said he: “in saying as much as I have done, I travel quite beyond my brief. I have been clothed with no capacity to talk of wills, or heritages, or your cousin. ”

“ As for how I came to know your whereabouts, by an odd enough chance, it is again M. Alain we have to thank. I should tell you, he has for some time made it his business to keep M. de Kéroual informed of your career; with what purpose I leave you to judge. When he first brought the news of your—that you were serving Buonaparte, it seemed it might be the death of the old gentleman, so hot was his resentment. But from one thing to another, matters have a little changed. ”

“ There, placing the Marquis at ease on a divan and flinging himself on another, the Parisian exquisite ordered a valet, well dressed as himself, to bring coffee and liqueurs; and after vainly pressing one of his matchless cigars on his friend, indulged in his own Regalia.
“They are ten years old,” said Frederic, with a tone of compassion at Alain’s self-inflicted loss,—“ten years old. ”

“ My coupe is below, and the day is beautiful; come."
To the young Marquis, the gayety, the heartiness of his college friend were a cordial. How different from the dry counsels of the Count de Vandemar! Hope, though vaguely, entered into his heart. Willingly he accepted Frederic's invitation, and the young men were soon rapidly borne along the Champs Elysees. As briefly as he could Alain described the state of his affairs, the nature of his mortgages, and the result of his interview with M. Gandrin. ”

“ More than once Alaine had seen Father Bisset take from his pocket a paper which he studied carefully and then seemed lost in thought, a proceeding which brought forth jests from the rollicking voyageurs. [201] “An order for good living, is it, Jacques Bisset?” one would cry. “A letter from the king himself, very likely,” put in a big fellow with an immense voice to match his proportions. ”

“ He took her hand, and together they went on into the still forest and with one consent knelt there together.
[345] “The house was too narrow for me,” said Alaine, when they arose and faced each other. “I was too full of thanksgiving to give it utterance there. My Lendert! my Lendert! Are we dead and is this heaven?” She yielded her sweet body to his embrace. So thrilled with happiness she was that it seemed that the world must fade before her blurred vision. ”

“ We would best seize the opportunity while we may. I know your father would so desire it, and you tell me there is another working for his deliverance. We will trust God for that to be accomplished and get away when we can.”
“Ah, Father, how fortunate a day when I chanced upon you!” sighed Alaine.
He smiled as he remembered that François had said the same words a few minutes before. “One must sometimes dissemble when it is for good,” the old man told himself. “I am no longer a Jesuit, but I have not been one without learning that stratagem is often better than open rebellion.” ”

“ Alaine smiled. She feared François no longer. “And all these years you have been living in these woods?” she asked of Jeanne.
“In these woods; they are kinder than cities. [206] One can learn how to face open foes; it is those who approach us as friends that are most to be feared.”
Antoine nodded gravely. Alaine looked at him with some curiosity. Michelle had described him as a handsome young cavalier, gay and full of life; this serious, reticent old man did not answer to her description. ”

“ The eyes of the lady lighted up as the stranger’s accent bespoke her nationality, and she rapidly put her questions in French, and to these Alaine was able to reply clearly. “Poor little one, a refugee and a tool of enemies. Ah, me, how much wickedness there is in this world! Come see my husband; he is French, a Protestant and an émigré, so you may consult together and, companions in misery, may help each other. ”

“ Alaine nodded. “I remember the couplet which Papa Louis taught me,—
‘Plus a me frapper on s’amuse,
Tant plus de marteau on y use.’
But to tell you the truth, Pierre, I am not a patient being. I am full of indignation many times a day, and I wonder if I will ever be called a patient Huguenot. That anvil, it is because of Beza’s words that we have it for an emblem, is it not so? I like better the marigold myself.”
“And I like the anvil,” returned Pierre.
Alaine gave him a half-saucy look from under her long lashes. “Yes, you are more like an anvil,” she told him. ”

“ An’ you answer not these questions you will be sent to Canada, placed in a nunnery there till your cousin Étienne comes to claim you.”
“And if I refuse him.”
“You remain in the nunnery.”
Alaine pondered the situation gravely. “But why? What good are these questions? Alas! why do they distress a forlorn maid so sorely for the sake of such scant information as she can give?”
“Because—it is for France. Do you not love France, Alaine Hervieu, the dear place of your birth?”
She was silent a moment, then she said, slowly, “I love France.” ”

“ Alaine’s youthful appetite sufficed to cause her to consume a good supper. The talk around the table was cheerful, and there were no issues raised. “A strange position for a young French girl,” Alaine thought, “in company of these men, I who all my life have taken refuge by the side of my aunt or Michelle, and have never even taken a walk with any man save Gerard or Papa Louis, unless I except that one Sunday when I walked to church with Pierre as companion. What would my aunt say to my present situation? Allowed free converse with a young man? ”

“ Now, I hate the France that has persecuted you and the Jesuits who would curse you.”
Alaine heard this, then slept, awaking to hear, “The child Alaine must be returned to her friends. I ask that of you, Antoine and Jeanne. I am an old man, and of late I realize that I am not as strong as I used to be. If I am removed I leave her to your sacred charge. She must be taken to one of the English or Dutch settlements in New York. I was God’s instrument to save her from the pit digged for her, and I have guarded her from all the evil that I could. ”

“ Poor I may be without dishonour; live at another man’s cost I cannot do without baseness. It does not require to be ‘gentilhomme’ to feel that: it is enough to be a Frenchman. Come and see me when you can spare the time. There is my address. You are the only man in Paris to whom I shall be at home. Au revoir.” And breaking away from Lemercier’s clasp, the Marquis hurried off.
CHAPTER III.
Alain reached the house in which he lodged. Externally a fine house, it had been the hotel of a great family in the old regime. ”

“ He went of his own accord, so he told me, and, the good Pierre, he bade me try to comfort you. It may take a long time to effect his purpose. There is no reason for despair as yet. The vessels are slow in going and coming, and who knows what time and caution he must use in seeking your father? Even to-day a message may be on its way to you.”
Alaine plucked up courage, and with better heart went singing to her work. Michelle and Papa Louis were in the fields, and Gerard had just come to the pump to quench his thirst. “Even now he may be on his way to me,” Alaine repeated. ”