Serge

“ Those who have lived with me a long time know that if I am hot-headed I have a good heart. They submit to my tyranny; but you who are a newcomer, how will you like it?”
“I shall do as the others do,” said Serge, simply. “I shall be led, and with pleasure. Think that I have lived for years without kindred, without ties—at random; and, believe me, any chain will be light and sweet which holds me to any one or anything. And then,” frankly added he, changing his tone and looking at Madame Desvarennes with tenderness, “if I did not do everything to please you I should be ungrateful.” ”

“ She would not have the continual murmur of their love-making in her ears, a murmur broken by the sound of kisses when they reached shady corners.
One evening, when Serge appeared in the little drawing-room of the Rue Saint-Dominique, he found Madame Desvarennes alone. She looked serious, as if same important business were pending. She stood before the fireplace; her hands crossed behind her back like a man. Apparently, she had sought to be alone. Cayrol, Jeanne, and Micheline were in the garden. Serge felt uneasy. He had a presentiment of trouble. ”

“ While speaking, she unfastened from her wrist a splendid bracelet with the inscription, Semper.
Serge frowned and looked stern. Micheline, lowering her eyes, and awed by the Englishwoman’s grandeur, timidly said:
“I accept it, Madame, as a token of friendship.”
“I think I recognize this bracelet, Madame,” observed Serge.
“Yes; you gave it to me,” replied Lady Harton, quietly. “Semper—I beg your pardon, Madame, we Poles all speak Latin—Semper means ‘Always!’ It is a great word. On your wife’s arm this bracelet will be well placed. Au revoir, dear Prince. I wish you every happiness.” ”

“ You know I would die to please you. If you have any anxieties or annoyances confide in me. I can relieve them. Who could resist me when you are in question?"
"I have none, Micheline," answered Serge, with the constrained manner of a man who is feigning. "Nothing but the regret of not having lived more for you."
"Is the future not in store for us?" ”

“ Is that what you desire?”
“And what can I do?” cried Serge, in despair. “Everything around me is giving way! Fortune, which has been my one aim in life, is escaping from me. The family which I have scorned is forsaking me. The friendship which I have betrayed overwhelms me. There is nothing left to me.”
“And my love, my devotion?” exclaimed Jeanne, passionately. “Do you think that I will leave you? We must go away. I asked you long ago. You resisted; the moment has now come. Be easy! Madame Desvarennes will pay and save your name. In exchange you will give her back her daughter. ”

“ Now Serge stood on the bridge beside his friend, so nervous with excitement that he could hardly speak. Every roaring tide rip and swirling eddy of those waters, every rock with its streamers of brown kelp, every beach and wooded point were like familiar faces to the young Russo-American, for just beyond them lay his home, that dear home from which he had been more than three years absent.
Suddenly he clutched Phil's arm, and pointed to a lofty snow-crowned peak looming high above the forest and bathed in rosy sunlight. "There's Mount Edgecumbe!" he cried ”

“ Lucio, with bad grace, was forced to stand aside and let him pass. Serge de Illyne remained standing because the other did not ask him to sit down. He was a tall young man, of almost statuesque figure, in modern attire. He was already in evening dress, with a stupendous orchid in the buttonhole and a peculiar waistcoat of pale green velvet, with oxidised silver buttons. Serge was of rare masculine beauty, with a very white complexion, large, dark eyes loaded with melting sweetness, a florid [125] mouth beneath the soft, light chestnut moustaches, and a round, white neck. ”

“ A season during the springtime of our youth. Then autumn would come, sad and harsh. Our illusions would vanish like the swallows in romances, and we should find, with alarm, that we had taken the dream of a day for eternal happiness! Forgive my speaking plain words of disenchantment,” added Serge, seeing Jeanne rising abruptly, “but our life is being settled at this moment. Reason alone should guide us.”
“And I beseech you to be guided only by your heart,” cried Mademoiselle de Cernay, seizing the hands of the Prince, and pressing them with her trembling fingers. ”

“ Serge, exasperated and stamping with rage, wanted to speak, but it was no easy matter interrupting Herzog. Besides, there was something in the latter's look which annoyed Serge. His glance seemed to be fathoming the depths of Panine's pockets, and the latter instinctively tightened his arms across his chest, so that Herzog might not see that his pocketbook was empty.
"What are you talking about?" asked Serge, at last, with a constrained smile.
"About things which must greatly interest you," said Herzog, familiarly. "Come, be sincere. ”

“ Pierre did not move, and looking Serge in the face, continued:
“The truth is unpleasant to you, still you must hear it. You act according to your fancies. Principles and morals, to which all men submit, are dead letters to you. ”

“ He had counted without considering Jeanne’s sanguine temperament, which would lead her to make any sacrifices to keep the man she adored.
“If you were rich, Serge,” she said, “I would not have made an effort to bring you back to me. But you are poor and I have a right to tell you that I love you. Life with you would be all devotedness and self-denial. Each pain endured would be a proof of love, and that is why I wish to suffer. Your life with mine would be neither sad nor humiliated; I would make it sweet by my tenderness, and bright by my happiness. ”

“ With a mischievous wink, Serge called Madame Desvarennes’s attention to the mayor’s solemn appearance as he was galloping with Micheline, also the comical positions of the rustics.
Micheline was smiling. She was enjoying herself. All this homely gayety, of which she was the cause, made her feel happy. She enjoyed the pleasure of those around her. With her compassionate eyes she thanked her mother in the distance for having prepared this fete in honor of her marriage. The clarionet, violin, and cornet sounded a last modulation, then the final cadence put an end to the bounds of the dances. ”

“ He did not find one, and in a threatening manner, he resumed:
"You must hold your tongue, otherwise—"
"Otherwise?" inquired Pierce, aggressively.
"What is the use of threats?" replied Serge, already calmed. "Excuse me; I know that you will not tell; if not for my sake at least for that of others."
"Yes, for others," said Pierre, passionately; "for others whom you have basely sacrificed, and who deserve all your respect and love; for Madame Desvarennes, whose high intelligence you have not been able to understand; for Micheline, whose tender heart you have not been able to appreciate. ”

“ Serge and Micheline never left each other. After an absence of eight days they had returned to Paris with Madame Desvarennes, and the hitherto dull mansion in the Rue Saint-Dominique was filled with joyful bustle. The splendid stables, formerly too large for the mistress’s three horses, were now insufficient for the service of the Prince. ”

“ Don’t try to make a comparison between my love for him and my affection for you. Be kind: instead of looking black at him, try to love him. I should be so happy to see you united, and to be able, without reservation, to think of you both with the same tenderness!”
“Ah! how you talk me over. How charming and caressing you can be when you like. And how happy Serge ought to be with a wife like you! It is always the way; men like him always get the best wives.”
“I don’t suppose, mamma, you came all the way from Paris to run down my husband to me.”
Madame Desvarennes became serious again. ”

“ Forgive my unjust words; you have done all in your power. You have had momentary weaknesses like all human beings. You must be helped, and may rely on me. I will speak to your husband to-morrow; he shall take you away. Lacking happiness, you must have peace. Go you are a brave heart, and if Heaven be just, you will be rewarded."
Serge heard the sound of a kiss. In an embrace, the mother had blessed her adopted daughter. Then the Prince saw Madame Desvarennes go slowly past him. And the silence was broken only by the sobs of Jeanne who was half lying on the sofa in the darkness. ”

“ The mayor, eager and respectful, followed her, making efforts to keep up with her without treading on her long train. It was,
"Excuse me, Madame la Princesse. If Madame la Princesse will do me the honor to give me her hand, it is our turn to cross."
They had just crossed. Serge suddenly found himself facing his mother- in-law. His face lit up, and he uttered a joyful exclamation. Micheline raised her eyes, and following her husband's look, perceived her mother. ”

“ Ignorant that Micheline had met Jeanne on her way to her mother, and had
gone to Cayrol, Serge thought he was abandoned by his only powerful ally.
He saw that he was lost and that his feigned resignation was useless.
Unable to control himself any longer, his face darkened with rage.
"She, too, against me! Well! I will defend myself alone!"
Turning toward Madame Desvarennes, he added:
"To begin with, what do you want with me?"
"I wish to ask you a question. We business folk when we fail, and cannot pay our way, throw blood on the blot and it disappears. ”

“ An air of joyful gravity lit up the municipal officer's face. He was enjoying the honor which the Princess had done him. His pretty young daughter, dressed, in her confirmation dress, which had been lengthened with a muslin flounce, a rose in her hair, and her hands encased in straw-colored one-button kid gloves, hardly dared raise her eyes to the Prince, and with burning cheeks, answered in monosyllables the few remarks Serge felt forced to address to her.
The orchestra bellowed, the floor shook; the two lines of dancers had advanced in a body. ”

“ Are you not tired?”
“Not more so than usual,” replied Micheline, looking round to follow the movements of her husband, who was trying to reach Jeanne.
“Why did you come to this party? It was unwise.”
“Serge wished me to come, and I did not care to let him come without me.”
“Eh! dear me!” exclaimed Madame Desvarennes. “Let him do what he likes. Men are savages. When you are ill it won’t hurt him.”
“I am not ill, and I won’t be,” resumed Micheline, warmly. “We are going away now.”
She motioned to Serge with her fan. Panine came to her. ”

“ She glanced at it, turned pale, and said to the secretary:
"Very well, let him wait!" She threw the card on the table. Serge came forward and read:
"Delbarre, sheriff's officer."
Haggard-looking and aghast, he turned to the mistress, as if seeking an explanation.
"Well!" she observed: "it is clear, he has come to arrest you."
Serge rushed to a cabinet, and opening a drawer, took forth some handfuls of gold and notes, which he crammed into his pockets.
"By the back stairs I shall have time to get away. It is my last chance!
Keep the man for five minutes only." ”

“ With your tastes, it is possible that in a brief time you may be short of money. Come and see me: I will put you into the way of business. Au revoir, Prince.”
And without giving Serge time to answer him, Herzog reached the boudoir where his daughter was waiting with impatience. Behind him came the Prince looking rather troubled. The financier’s words had awakened importunate ideas in his mind. Was it true that he had been duped by Madame Desvarennes, and that the latter, while affecting airs of greatness and generosity, had tied him like a noodle to her daughter’s apron-string? ”

“ Although her son-in-law and daughter were perfect toward her in their behavior, she became gloomy and dull, and but seldom went now to Cernay. She felt in the way, and uncomfortable. The smiling and superficial politeness of the visitors irritated her nerves. These people were too well bred to be rude toward Panine’s mother-in-law, but she felt that their politeness was forced. Under their affected nicety she detected irony. She began to hate them all.
Serge, sovereign lord of Cernay, was really happy. Every moment he experienced new pleasure in gratifying his taste for luxury. ”

“ Madame Desvarennes was roused at these words. Her rage had abated on her daughter’s account, but now it rose to a higher pitch.
“Ah! so this is it, is it?” she said. “You would like perfect liberty, I see! You make such very good use of it. You don’t like to hear remarks upon it. It is more convenient, in fact! You wish to be master in your own house? In your own house! But, in truth, what are you here to put on airs toward me? Scarcely more than a servant. A husband receiving wages from me!”
Serge, with flashing eyes, made a terrible movement. ”

“ There is no violence. We persuade; we fascinate; and the money flows into our coffers. What do I say? They beseech us to take it. We reign without contest. We are princes, too princes of finance. We have founded an aristocracy as proud and as powerful as the old one. Feudality of nobility no longer exists; it has given way to that of money."
Serge laughed. He saw what Herzog was driving at. ”

“ There are necessities to which one must submit; you do what you think is expected of you, and it must be right. Only grant me a favor.”
“A favor? To you?” replied Serge, troubled at the unexpected turn the interview was taking. “Speak, dear one; are you not at liberty to do as you like?”
“Well,” said Micheline, with a faint smile, “as you are so kindly disposed, promise that we shall leave for Paris this week. The season is far advancing. All your friends will have returned. ”