Valère

“ I should feel delighted if I saw Valère animated by a little more jealousy; his anxiety and impatience would then reassure my heart. Do you as yourself think it possible for any one to see a rival caressed and be as satisfied as he is ”

“ SCENE XIV.—ISABELLA, SGANARELLE, VALÈRE, ERGASTE. ISA. What! you bring Valère to me! What is your design? Are you taking his part against me? And do you wish, charmed by his rare merits, to compel me to love him, and endure his visits?
SGAN. No, my love; your affection is too dear to me for that; but he believes that my messages are untrue; he thinks that it is I who speak, and cunningly represent you as full of hatred for him, and of tenderness for me; I wish, therefore, from your own mouth, infallibly to cure him of a mistake which nourishes his love. ”

“ ASC. And I will be bound by it, Valère. (Exit Valère.)
FROS. He thinks you will help him as a brother.
SCENE III.—LUCILE, ASCANIO, MARINETTE, FROSINE. LUC. (Saying the first words to Marinette) . I have done it; it is thus I can revenge myself; if this step torments him, it will be a great consolation to me... Brother, you perceive a change in me; I am resolved to love Valère, after so much ill-usage; he shall become the object of my affection. ”

“ Valère was picked up by a Spanish captain, who adopted him; Mariane fell into the hands of a corsair, who kept her a captive for ten years, when she effected her escape; and Anselme wandered from place to place for ten years, when he settled in Paris, and intended to marry. At the expiration of sixteen years they all met in Paris at the house of Har'pagon, the miser. Valère was in love with Elise (2 syl.) , the miser's daughter, promised by Harpagon in marriage to Anselme; and Mariane, affianced to the miser's son Cléante (2 syl.) , was sought in marriage by Harpagon, the old father. ”

“ To resist him boldly would simply spoil everything. There are certain people who are only to be managed by indirect means, temperaments averse from all resistance, restive natures whom truth causes to rear, who always kick when we would lead them on the right road of reason, and who can only be led by a way opposed to that by which you wish them to go. Pretend to comply with his wishes; you are much more likely to succeed in the end, and ...
Eli. But this marriage, Valère? ”

“ SCENE IV. HARPAGON, CLÉANTE, VALÈRE, MASTER JACQUES.
Har. And you, my young dandy of a son to whom I have the kindness of forgiving what happened this morning, mind you don't receive her coldly, or show her a sour face.
Cle. Receive her coldly! And why should I?
Har. Why? why? We know pretty well the ways of children whose fathers marry again, and the looks they give to those we call stepmothers. But if you wish me to forget your last offence, I advise you, above all things, to receive her kindly, and, in short, to give her the heartiest welcome you can. ”

“ Valerest said: “Any man who does not like dogs is no fit mate for a woman.”
Valentine thought as above.{37}
“I really don’t see,” said Valerest bitterly, “why you are so sulky this evening.”
Sulky! Ye gods and little fishes, to be moved by a profound and sorrowful anger—and to be called ‘sulky’! O God of words and phrases, O Arbiter of tempers and distempers, to sit in silent dignity and resignation—and to be called ‘sulky’! Verily, what a petty thing one word can make of martyrdom! Wherefore Valentine raised his voice and said: “I am not sulky.”
“Well,” said Valerest, “you needn’t shout.” ”

“ Oh, if he hadn't been put there, I could have conquered this weakness—"
"Aileen, no! It is no weakness, it is strength."
Father Honoré withdrew his hand, that had been to the broken woman a silent benediction, and walked up and down the long room. "You would never have conquered; there was—there is no need to conquer. Such love is of God—trust it, my child; don't try any longer to thrust it forth from your heart, your life; for if you do, your life will be but a poor maimed thing, beneficial neither to yourself nor to others. ”

“ Then, being the only child, I should inherit all his wealth, and, as one might say, nothing less than the position of squire of the village. But you already know how firm is the resolution I have taken. Humble and unworthy though I be, I feel myself called to the priesthood, and the possessions of this world have but little power over my mind. If there is anything in me of the ardor of youth, and the vehemence of the passions proper to that age, it shall all be employed in nourishing an active and fecund charity. ”

“ Such is the whole line, but look at this one Valois and you see all the qualities of his race toned by a permanent sadness down to a good and even temper, not hopeful but still delighting in beauty and possessed as no other Valois had been of charity. Less passionate and therefore much less eager and useful than most of his race, yet the taint of madness never showed in him, nor the corresponding evil of cruelty, nor the uncreative luxury of his immediate ancestry. All the Valois were poets in their kind; his life by its every accident caused him to write. ”

“ That I should not know how to play even ombre fills him with astonishment.
"Your uncle has brought you up quite out of the world," he says to me, "cramming you with theology, and leaving you in the dark about everything else you ought to know. For the very reason that you are to be a priest, and can neither dance nor make love in society, it is necessary that you should know how to play ombre. ”

“ Enter Valeria, concealed under a long black stole, followed by Lucia and two female Attendants, who remain at the bottom of the stage whilst she comes forward.
CONJUROR.
Approach, great dame.
VALERIA.
Yes, in misfortunes so;
That is my eminence: and unto thee
I come, an anxious suitor, if that truly
Th' unseen mysterious powers with whom thou deal'st,
To human weal and woe alliance bear,
And may unto the care-rack'd mind foreshew
The path of awful fate that lies before it. ”

“ VALINGFORD. God speed, sir. Might a man crave a word or two with you? CITIZEN. God forbid else, sir; I pray you speak your pleasure. VALINGFORD. The gentleman that parted from you, was he not of Manchester, his father living there of good account? CITIZEN. Yes, marry is he, sir. Why do you ask? Belike you have had some acquaintance with him. VALINGFORD. I have been acquainted in times past, but, through his double dealing, I am growen weary of his company. For, be it spoken to you, he hath been acquainted with a poor millers daughter, and diverse times hath promist her marriage. ”

“ We will play it on a monstrous pipe organ, with the world's lungs for bellows and the world's breath to vibrate our reeds—and all paying tribute, night and day, year after year, all over the world, Wally, all over the world!
"God! What power shall be ours! What infinite power, such as, since time began, never yet lay in mortal hands! We shall be as gods, Waldron, you and I—and between us, we shall bring the human race wallowing to our feet in helpless bondage, in supreme abandon!" ”

“ LORD LANSDOWN,
Imitated Waller; [1] but as that poet has been much excelled since, a faint copy of a faint master must strike still less. It was fortunate for his lordship, that in an age when persecution raged so fiercely against lukewarm authors, he had an intimacy with the inquisitor-general: how else would such lines as these have escaped the Bathos? ”

“ Such, however, was the earnestness of his declamation, that I could not help believing him to be quite sincere to what he said, and asked him, not without anxiety, whether he had all his life been an Epicurean, or whether it was only of late that he had espoused that discipline.
“Valerius,” said he, “the question is not discreditable to your tender age and provincial education. To be born wise, Fate or Heaven has denied to the human race. It is their privilege to win wisdom for themselves; the fault is their own, if they do not die wise. ”

“ Do not suppose from this that the understanding of the reverend vicar is a limited one; his is a spirit uncultured, indeed, but clear and sagacious. At times I fancy that the good opinion I entertain of him may be due to the attention with which he listens to me; but, if this be not the case, it seems to me that he reasons on every subject with remarkable perspicacity, and that he knows how to unite an ardent love of our holy religion with an appreciation of all the good things that modern civilization has brought us. ”

“ I, who hold the unity, and who preach the truth, am teaching no new sect. On the contrary, sects and schisms and superstitions and heresies, I have alway, so far as in me lies, crushed and opposed: and, through God's help, will never cease to crush and oppose. ”

“ There never was in me any solid virtue—nothing but vain show and the pedantry of a student who has read pious books as one reads a novel, and on this foundation has based his foolish romance of a future devoted to converting the heathen, and to pious meditations. If there had been in me any solid virtue, I should have undeceived you in time, and neither you nor I would have sinned. True virtue is not so easily vanquished. ”

“ What! my heart's blood, scoundrel!
Val. Your blood, Sir, has not fallen into bad hands. My rank is high enough not to disgrace it, and there is nothing in all this for which reparation cannot be made.
Har. It is, indeed, my intention that you should restore what you have taken from me.
Val. Your honour, Sir, shall be fully satisfied.
Har. Honour is not the question in all this. But tell me what made you commit such a deed?
Val. Alas! do you ask it?
Har. Yes, I should rather think that I do.
Val. A god, Sir, who carries with him his excuses for all he makes people do: Love.
Har. Love? ”

“ I am about to become thy minister. Thou art a God of peace, and my first duty should be meekness. Thou makest the sun to shine on the just and the unjust, and pourest down upon all alike the fertilizing rain of thy inexhaustible goodness. Thou art our Father who dwellest in the heavens, and we should be perfect, even as thou art perfect, pardoning those who have offended us, and asking thee to pardon them, because they know not what they do. ”

“ Googe; I appreciate that. You must find it hard to see a stranger like myself preëmpting your special claim, as I fancy this one is."
"It used to be when I was a youngster; but, to tell the truth, I haven't cared for it much of late years. The city life spoils a man for this. I love that rush and hustle and rubbing-elbows with the world in general, getting knocked about—and knocking." He laughed merrily, significantly, and Father Honoré, catching his meaning at once, laughed too. ”

“ Like many others, with a swollen heart, set lips, and stern eyes, Waller reined in his horse, and would look round him from time to time, in places where the dead lay thicker than usual. Our now victorious army was marching in thousands over their fallen comrades, yet with them Waller felt himself alone, and a man possessed by one harassing thought. ”

“ King Charles of Valois bestows universal pardon and is willing to forget all wrongs. The English and [Pg i.465] French, having turned to contrition and repentance, are endeavouring to conclude a good and binding peace. The Maid herself has imposed conditions upon them. Conforming to her will, the English and French for one year or for two will wear a grey habit, with a little cross sewn upon it; on every Friday they will live on bread and water; they will dwell in unity with their wives and will seek no other women. ”

“ And he looked at the monarch, sitting with his face covered, and was satisfied. With faculties sharpened by a zeal too fervid for sympathy, he saw the fears of the proud but kindly soul, and rejoiced in them. Yet he permitted no delay.
“Go on, child! Look for the fair-faced god; he holds the battle in his hand.”
“I see him,—I see his white plumes nodding in a group of spears. Now he is at the main gate of the temple, and speaks. Hark! The earth is shaken by another roar,—from the street another great cry; and through the smoke, out of the gate, he leads his band. ”

“ What better place could be found for such a confession than this beautiful old church, which has seen so many lovers and has held the secrets of so many lives. Valerie, I believe I have loved you since the afternoon I first saw you. But since I have known you and have learnt your goodness that love has become doubly strong. ”

“ I try to appear gayer and more animated than I am by nature. As, in the village, half in jest, half by way of eulogy, I am called the saint, I endeavor, through modesty, to avoid the appearance of sanctity, or to soften and humanize its manifestations with the virtue of moderation, displaying a serene and decent cheerfulness which was never yet opposed to holiness nor to the saints. I confess, nevertheless, that the merry-making and the sports of these people, with their coarse jokes and boisterous mirth, weary me. ”

“ With the slanting of the afternoon shadows across the hoary face of the old sun-dial, on which were the monogram of François de Valois and his sister, these indolent people had all left their chambers and were now scattered in quest of diversion all over the house, the gardens, or the woods, riding, driving, making music, or making love, carrying on their banter, their friendships, their rivalries, their intrigues. ”