Manon

“ It seemed to me so impossible that Manon could have been unfaithful to me, that I feared to wrong her even by a suspicion. I adored her—that was certain; I had given her no greater proofs of my love than I had received of hers; why, then, should I accuse her of being less sincere and constant than myself? What reason could she have had for deceiving me? But three hours ago she had lavished her tenderest caresses upon me, and had welcomed mine with rapturous delight. I knew my own heart no better than I knew hers. "No! No!" I said again; "Manon cannot be false; it is impossible! ”

“ The blackness of the morning seemed to shut her up with her own thoughts, and Manon’s thoughts were many and varied as she pushed steadily along the road. The elements of life were mixed up with her thinking, and if, as the clever people tell us, ordinary thinking is but the glow thrown up by the emotions, then Manon’s thoughts were made of human stuff. ”

“ I said to her tenderly, "false and inconstant Manon! Where shall my reproaches begin? I see you pale and trembling before me, and I am still so readily moved by the slightest pain you suffer, that I dread to distress you too deeply by my rebukes. But, Manon, believe me, my heart is pierced with anguish at your disloyalty. Such blows as this can be dealt a lover with only one object—and that, his death! This is the third time, Manon; too well have I counted them for it to be possible that I should forget! Now the hour has come for you to consider, once and for all, what your choice is to be ”

“ Virtue had for a moment the ascendancy in my heart, and made me sensible of my shame and degradation. But this was soon over. For Manon I could have given up my hopes of heaven, and when I again found myself at her side, I wondered how I could for an instant have considered myself degraded by my passion for this enchanting girl.
"Manon was a creature of most extraordinary disposition. Never had mortal a greater contempt for money, and yet she was haunted by perpetual dread of wanting it. Her only desire was for pleasure and amusement. ”

“ Writing to her friend at Amiens on the 9th May 1774, Manon remarks: "Although the obscurity of my birth, name and position seem to preclude me from taking any interest in the Government, yet I feel that the common weal touches me in spite of it. My country is something to me, and the love I bear it is most unquestionable. How could it be otherwise, since nothing in the world is indifferent to me. I am something of a cosmopolitan, and a love of humanity unites me to everything that breathes. ”

“ She was extremely pretty; and I could have wished that she were beautiful enough to make me forswear honor and constancy in my turn. But hers were not those bright and melting eyes, that divinely moulded form, that complexion of love's own coloring—in a word, that inexhaustible wealth of charms which Nature had lavished upon the faithless Manon. ”

“ Manon and Marietta were transported beyond measure when they beheld the cup. Manon’s eyes glistened with delight, but Marietta turned and said: “I can neither take your heart nor your cup.”
Then Mother Manon was angry, and cried out: “But I accept both heart and cup. Oh, thou little fool, how long wilt thou despise thy good fortune! For whom dost thou tarry? Will a count of Provence make thee his bride, that thou scornest the Justice of Napoule? I know better how to look after my interests. Monsieur Hautmartin, I deem it an honor to call thee my son-in-law.” ”

“ Manon loves me; ah! do I not know it well? He must have menaced her, dagger in hand, to force her to desert me. What is there that he would not have done to tear so sweet a mistress from my arms? Can it be possible, just Heaven! that Manon has betrayed—has ceased to love me?"
As I repeatedly declared my intention of returning to Paris forthwith, and started to my feet again and again with that purpose in view, my father became convinced that, as long as my present transports of grief continued, nothing that he could say would have any effect in preventing me. ”

“ I am only too well satisfied and happy as long as my dearest Manon does not cast me out of her heart. But," added I, forgetting for the moment the actual state of affairs, "all-powerful Manon—you who can at pleasure mete out to me joy or sorrow—now that I have propitiated you by my submission and by these evidences of my repentance, may I not be suffered to tell you of the misery and anguish to which I am a prey? May I not learn from your lips what my doom is to be to-day, and whether my sentence of death is to be irrevocably pronounced by your passing this night in my rival's arms?" ”

“ Manon."
"No, Manon is not fitted intellectually for such knowledge as this."
"But you should fix on someone, for you are mortal after all. If you like, my father would give you the half of his immense fortune without your marrying me."
"Esther! what is it that you have said? Do you think that to possess you would be a disagreeable condition in my eyes?" ”

“ I first proposed this change to Manon. I knew the principles of her heart; she was frank and natural in all her sentiments, qualities which invariably predispose to virtue. I said to her that there was but one thing wanting to complete our happiness: 'it is,' said I, 'to invoke upon our union the benediction of Heaven. We have both of us hearts too sensitive and minds too refined, to continue voluntarily in the wilful violation of so sacred a duty. ”

“ Manon, Manon,' said I, sighing, 'it is too late to give me tears after the death-blow you have inflicted. You affect a sorrow which you cannot feel. The greatest of your misfortunes is no doubt my presence, which has been always an obstacle to your happiness. Open your eyes; look up and see who it is that is here; you will not throw away tears of tenderness upon an unhappy wretch whom you have betrayed and abandoned.'
"She kissed my hands without changing her position. 'Inconstant Manon,' said I again, 'ungrateful and faithless girl, where now are all your promises and your vows? ”

“ The unwearied object of my solicitude was to save Manon from every inconvenience. She felt this, and her gratitude, together with a lively sense of the singular position in which I had placed myself solely for her sake, rendered the dear creature so tender and impassioned, so attentive also to my most trifling wants, that it was between us a continual emulation of attentions and of love. I felt no regret at quitting Europe; on the contrary, the nearer we approached America, the more did I feel my heart expand and become tranquil. ”

“ I perceive too plainly that you are infinitely lovelier than ever: but I conjure you by all my past sufferings, dearest Manon, to tell me—can you in future be more faithful?'
"She gave me in reply such tender assurances of her repentance, and pledged her fidelity with such solemn protestations and vows, that I was inexpressibly affected. 'Beauteous Manon,' said I, with rather a profane mixture of amorous and theological expressions, 'you are too adorable for a created being. I feel my heart transported with triumphant rapture. It is folly to talk of liberty at St. Sulpice. ”

“ It played through the broken tracery of the windows and through the rents in the roof, making a soft and plaintive murmur like the rush of invisible wings. Manon opened her eyes, raised her head and smiled. Her face made Brent think of white light. He felt that he could trust Manon as very few women can be trusted; she had not the hard little soul of the modern girl; she would understand a man’s finer impulses ”

“ Deeply enamored as I was of Manon, she succeeded in persuading me that she felt no less tenderly toward me. So little restraint did we place upon our caresses, that we had not even patience to wait until we were alone to indulge in them. Our postilions and the inn-keepers along the road stole wondering glances at us; and their surprise at seeing such passionate love-making between two children of our age was very apparent. ”

“ Veuve Castener had helped at the Café de la Victoire before Manon’s marriage. Her very slowness made her loyal, for when she had grown fond of a person there was no time for her to grow tired. Friendship, like her petticoats, seemed to last with Veuve Castener for ever.
Manon was in a dilemma. Had she felt free to do so, she would have told her friend everything, for Marie Castener was to be trusted; but Manon held herself bound to keep Paul’s secret. He was at her mercy, and Manon had a sense of honour. ”

“ I found in his moderation a pledge of his sincerity: in a word, I no longer doubted my entire success. The promise alone of enabling me to see Manon filled me with gratitude, and I testified it in so earnest a manner, as to give him a favourable opinion of my heart and disposition; we shook hands warmly, and parted sworn friends, merely from mutual regard, and that natural feeling which prompts a man of kind and generous sentiments to esteem another of congenial mind. ”

“ Manon, concern for Manon's welfare, her imminent peril, and the prospect of being separated from her forever, agitated me so unspeakably that a film overspread my eyes and shut out all surrounding objects, until I scarcely knew where I was standing. I envied Synnelet his fate; for a speedy death seemed the only refuge I could hope to find from my woes. ”

“ Such being her appearance, she could not walk abroad with impunity; certainly not in the streets of Paris, where, from the ouvrier in his blouse to the flâneur on the Boulevards, every man looks upon a handsome woman as fair game for his flattering comments. Of course, in French fashion, Manon never went out unaccompanied. ”

“ We have been endowed with intelligence, with taste, and with fine feeling—and all, alas! to what end? While, on the other hand, how many ignoble souls, worthy of no better fate than ours, are to be seen in the enjoyment of every favor that fortune has to bestow!"
Bitter as were these reflections, they were cheerful in comparison with the fears that were agitating my mind with regard to the future. My heart was sick with dread of what might befall Manon. ”

“ The impression of this secluded spot, of the regulated contemplative life, of the religious services, where the full organ tones mingled with the soaring voices of the nuns as they chanted their anthems, filled the young devotee with rapture. In spite of her intense affection for her mother, Manon dreamed of taking the veil, though well aware that as an only child she would meet with the strongest opposition from her parents. In the meanwhile she assiduously applied herself to devotional exercises, and became a favourite with the nuns. ”

“ He told me, that although he had never seen Manon, he had heard of her; at least, if the person I was talking of was the same who had been the mistress of old G—— M——. I conjectured that he must have heard of the part I had acted in that transaction, and in order to conciliate him more and more by treating him with confidence, I told him everything that had occurred to Manon and myself. 'You see, sir,' said I, 'that all that can interest me in life, all that can command my affections, is in your hands. ”

“ Manon’s eyes held his.
“You wish to become a Frenchman?”
Brent smiled one of those human and half-whimsical smiles.
“Perhaps—I want to make a fresh start. I’m not the sort of man who makes money; I’m too easy-going. I have always liked the things that you can’t buy.”
“I know what you mean,” said Manon. “One can’t buy happiness, can one?”
Brent’s eyes lit up.
“Now—how did you find that out?”
“I don’t think I ever found it out, mon ami. It’s the sort of thing I always knew. I suppose my mother gave it me. And yet, half the world never finds it out, and dies grumbling.” ”

“ The next suitor that presented himself belonged to a different class; he was a promising young doctor from Provence, ambitious of rising in his profession, and looking out for a wife with some fortune. The preliminaries of this match had literally been all settled before Manon knew a word of the matter. As it is not customary in France for young men to visit at a house where there are young ladies, the girl was one day taken by her parents, as if casually—a shower of rain being the ostensible excuse—to the house of a certain lady, a distant relative, where they were hospitably entertained. ”

“ Weak as she was, Manon rose and, taking me by the hand, led me to the door.
"Let us flee together!" said she: "We have not a moment to lose! If Synnelet's body should chance to be found, there would not be time for us to make good our escape."
"But, dearest Manon," I asked in dismay, "where can we go? Do you know of any place of refuge? ”

“ My presence and the courteous attentions of Monsieur de T——— soon dissipated any lingering sadness that Manon may have felt.
"Let us forget all our past troubles, dear heart," I said to her on my return, "and begin a new life of greater happiness than we have ever known. Love is a kind master, after all. The pleasures which he gives us more than outweigh all the trials that Fortune can send."
Our supper was a scene of perfect joy. I was prouder and happier with Manon and my hundred pistoles than the richest Partisan [1] of Paris amid his heaps of gold. ”

“ We walked on until Manon's strength gave way, in spite of the fortitude and resolution by which she was sustained. We had then travelled a distance of about two leagues. In her matchless devotion she had steadily refused to stop any sooner, but at last, overcome with fatigue, she acknowledged that she could go no further. Night had already overtaken us when we threw ourselves upon the ground, in the midst of a vast plain, where not even a tree was to be seen under which to shelter ourselves. ”

“ The sight of Manon would have made me fling myself down from heaven itself; and I was amazed to think, when I found myself once more at her side, that I had been capable for one moment of regarding as shameful so justifiable an affection for so lovely an object.
Manon's character was a singular one. Never had a girl less attachment to money than she ”