Véronique

“ Véronique listened, desperately expectant of what was coming, trying to guess, seeking to find some clue in Stéphane's eyes. He stood in front of her, looking at her as a man, in the hour of danger, looks at the woman he loves. ”

“ Honorine was smiling.
"Oh, please, please," Véronique entreated, "tell me the truth! It is terrible to hope more than one has a right to. Do tell me."
Honorine put her arm round Véronique's neck:
"Why, my poor, dear lady, would I have told you all this if my handsome François had been dead?"
"He is alive, he is alive?" cried Véronique, wildly.
"Why, of course he is and in the best of health! Oh, he's a fine, sturdy little chap, never fear, and so steady on his legs! And I have every right to be proud of him, because it's I who brought him up, your little François." ”

“ I thought Veronique prettier than before. Her behaviour, now free and now reserved, as the occasion demanded, shewed me that she was no new hand, and that she could have played the part of a princess in the best society. Nevertheless (so strange a thing is the heart of man) , I was sorry to find I liked her, and my only consolation was that her mother would come and take her away before the day was over. I had adored Rosalie, and my heart still bled at the thought of our parting. ”

“ Madame Graslin’s mother, seated on the iron bench which Veronique had formerly placed at the end of the terrace, studied every movement of her daughter; she watched her step in walking, and a few tears rolled from her eyes. Aware of the secret efforts of that superhuman courage, she knew that Veronique at that moment was suffering the tortures of a horrible agony, and only maintained herself erect by the exercise of her heroic will. ”

“ He bent towards Veronique:
“Will you be a queen, an empress, and soar above other women even as Vorski will dominate other men? Queen by right of gold and power even as you are already queen by right of beauty? Will you?... Vorski's slave, but mistress of all those over whom Vorski holds sway? Will you?... Understand me clearly; it is not a question of your making a single decision; you have to choose between two. There is, mark you, the alternative to your refusal. ”

“ Veronique had listened in silence. She broke out into a slight perspiration.
She shrugged her shoulders, however:
“Well? And then? If there's no one except ourselves on the island, what are you afraid of?”
“Them, of course! Them!”
Veronique lost her patience:
“But if everybody has gone!” she exclaimed.
Gertrude took fright:
“Speak low. Suppose they heard you!”
“But who?”
“They: the people of old.
“The people of old?”
“Yes, those who used to make sacrifices... the people who killed men and women... to please their gods.” ”

“ Nothing is sacred from one's maid. She knew all about Mr. Carruthers, of course. Poor old Véronique! I have a big, warm corner for her in my heart. Sometimes she treats me with the frigid respect one would pay to a queen, and at others I am almost her enfant, so tender and motherly she is to me. And she puts up with all my tempers and moods, and pets me like a baby just when I am the worst of all.
Lord Robert had left me reluctantly when the luncheon gong sounded. ”

“ Veronique folded up the letter and sat for a few minutes turning over the impressions which it aroused in her, painful impressions, like all those revived by the horrible days of her marriage. One in particular had survived and was still as powerful as at the time when she tried to escape it by taking refuge in the gloom of a convent. It was the impression, in fact the certainty, that all her misfortunes, the death of her father and the death of her son, were due to the fault which she had committed in loving Vorski. ”

“ Besides, above the head, the top of the post bore, after the ancient custom, a scroll with a plainly legible inscription. And this was the three initials, underlined with the flourish, of Veronique's maiden name, “V. d'H.”, Veronique d'Hergemont.
A spasm ran through her from head to foot. She drew herself up, turned on her heel and, reeling out of the cabin, fell on the grass in a dead faint.
Veronique was a tall, energetic, healthy woman, with a wonderfully balanced mind; and hitherto no trial had been able to affect her fine moral sanity or her splendid physical harmony. ”

“ In the sacred name of love, it must not be. Put Veronique from your thoughts; Vera claims them all. Even to-night she showed signs of relenting. Possibly in this fortnight she may learn to love you. You will be glad, then, that you were faithful. Even if she but bids you a last farewell, you will have the consciousness that you have done what is right and noble. Be absolutely true to Vera—absolutely faithful to Vera—for a fortnight. ”

“ Whether you like it or not, madame, you are Vorski's wife. And it is because of this undeniable fact that I am asking you, if you please, to consider yourself so today. Let us understand each other; if I do not aim at obtaining your love or even your friendship, I will not accept either that we should return to our former hostile relations. I do not want the scornful and distant wife that you have been. I want... I want a woman... a woman who will submit herself... who will be the devoted, attentive, faithful companion...”
“The slave,” murmured Veronique. ”

“ At the most tragic moment in life, when the mind is no more than a seething confusion, when the whole body is shaken by the tremor of anguish, a certain logic continues to connect our ideas: and Veronique wondered why she had not heard Honorine's voice and what could have delayed her coming. ”

“ That, in all human probability, is all it will amount to. Very well, then. Until that day comes, let me at least have the manhood not to insult Veronique by thinking of Vera in any other light than as a friend. I cannot help what has happened. But I can let the past be past. Ah, Veronique! What other woman could be loved like you!"
The next letter that Vera received from her uncle contained the following passage:
"Do you remember that tenor you brought here a few weeks ago? Nice little man, rather. He's done well for himself. He's to marry the great Veronique. ”

“ Veronique did not smile, but she pressed him against her and said:
“No, my poor dog, all's not well; on the contrary, all's as bad as it can be. No matter: we must live, mustn't we, and we mustn't go mad ourselves like the others?” ”

“ Veronique admired the boy, who had a charming face of a perfect oval, rather sunburned and brown but very regular in features, the forehead finely modelled, orange-colored eyes of extreme vivacity, black hair cut straight across the brow and allowed to hang down on either side of the face. ”

“ Men and women made their way down across the island. Véronique, who felt as though she were living in a nightmare world where events followed upon one another without logic and with no connected sequence, went back to Honorine, whose feeble condition had prevented her from attending her master's funeral. ”

“ When the rector went at last to Madame Graslin’s apartment, and saw the woman noted for her piety and for her intellect of whom he had heard speak, he could not restrain a gesture of amazement. Veronique had now reached the third phase of her life, that in which she was to rise into grandeur by the exercise of the highest virtues,—a phase in which she became another woman. To the Little Virgin of Titian, hidden at eleven years of age beneath a spotted mantle of small-pox, had succeeded a beautiful woman, noble and passionate ”

“ Vorski clapped his hands, while Véronique murmured:
"It's for me that he's risking his life. The monster must have told him, 'Your mother's fate depends on you. If you win, she's saved.' And he has sworn to win. He knows that I am watching him. He guesses that I am here. He hears me. Bless you, my darling!"
It was the last phase of the duel. Véronique trembled all over, exhausted by her emotion and by the too violent alternation of hope and anguish. Once again her son lost ground and once again he [Pg 228] leapt forward. ”

“ I admired the natural acuteness of young girls, who take their degrees in the art of love with so much ease and at such an early age. Annette, almost a child, knew more than a young man of twenty. I decided on giving her fifty sequins without letting Veronique see me, as I did not intend to be so liberal towards her. I took a roll of ducats and gave them to her as soon as she came.
She lay down beside me, and after a moment devoted to love she said that
Veronique was asleep, adding,—
"I heard all you said to my sister, and I am sure you love her." ”

“ It was on a Wednesday night that the struggling, artistic exile came back to London, with his resolutions all well in hand. On the afternoon following, he remembered an engagement which, if Vera had allowed him to remain at the seaside, he might have forgotten. He was to go round to Veronique's pretty little flat, and try songs. The great and successful Veronique had been pleased to be interested in the exile. No money would induce her to give singing-lessons, but she gave him for nothing what money would not purchase. ”

“ At this invitation Veronique put down the candle, and covered Annette’s beautiful body with kisses. The scene made me feel very happy.
“Come, Veronique,” said I, “you will die of cold; come and lie down.”
I made room for her, and soon there were three of us under the same sheet. I was in an ecstasy at this group, worthy of Aretin’s pencil. ”

“ Lat. hibernum, belonging to winter. Cp. Low Lat. vernachia (Ducange) .
Vernicle, sb. a copy of the handkerchief of St. Veronica, S2, PP, C; vernakylle, Cath.; vernacle, HD.—Church Lat. veronicula, also veronica from Veronica, the traditional name of the woman who wiped the Saviour’s face (the word being popularly connected with uera icon, true likeness) ; Veronica is a form of Bernice, the traditional name of the woman who was cured of an issue of blood. Bernice or Berenice is a Macedonian form of Φερενίκη, bearer of victory. See F. veronique in Cotg. ”

“ Vorski, from the moment when he became aware of this document, had interpreted the two lines in his own fashion. Being, in fact, unable at that time to dispose of Veronique, for whom he has vainly been hunting all over France, he temporizes with the decrees of destiny. The fourth woman to be tortured shall be a wife, but she shall be his first wife, Elfride. And this will not be absolutely contrary to the prophecy, which, if need be, can apply to the mother of Cain just as well as to the mother of Abel. ”

“ It is not this world. It is not a bit like this world. In a world as it should be, Veronica, you would undoubtedly have been blown up—if not altogether, at all events partially. What you have to do, Veronica, is, with a full heart, to praise Heaven that this is not a perfect world. If it were I doubt very much, Veronica, your being here. That you are here happy and thriving proves that all is not as it should be. The bull of this world, feeling he wants to toss somebody, does not sit upon himself, so to speak, till the wicked child comes by. ”

“ She was a close-fitted, neat little Frenchwoman. I explained who I was, and the grievous offence that I had committed in the matter of the stamp-paper and the summer-house door. It was pardoned at once dismissed as if it had been nothing. Mademoiselle had doubtless remarked that the weather was for once attempting to equal the summer brilliance that was a commonplace in her delightful native land. She had. I had therefore hoped to take Veronica out with me. Veronica's gipsy eyes gleamed. Mademoiselle informed me that Veronica would be free at twelve. ”

“ Well, between ourselves, I believe that there are none but in the calendar.
—Oh, Veronica, Veronica.
—Yes, sir, I believe it in my soul and conscience, and I can add another thing still. If, before they canonized all these saints, they had consulted their servant, perhaps they would not have found a single one of them.
—What! you, the pious Veronica, you say such things?
—One is pious and staid and everything you wish, but one sees what one sees. Monsieur Fortin was accustomed to say that no one is a great man to his valet de chambre; and I add, that no one is a saint to his cook. ”

“ Just as it is with yours now, Veronica. Oh yes, you needn't look at me so with your great eyes. I know exactly what you are thinking. You think that my trouble never can have been equal to yours. People always think that their own sorrows are the worst. I sat and sewed just as you do—early and late; my work was perfect; I had no rival. I knew that it was good, and I rejoiced over it in a half-hearted way; but what good did it do me after all? The thought that I was a hunchback, was always in my mind. ”

“ Veronica! Mr. Veronica! that sounds well," cried Dietrich, and he laughed aloud at the idea.
Veronica thought it no laughing matter, however. She pressed Gertrude's hand firmly and looked up with glowing eyes, as she said, "I can be one too, can't I mother; say?"
"You should not laugh, Dietrich," said his mother kindly. "Veronica can be exactly what you can be. If she works steadily, and does not grow tired and careless, but keeps on till her work is finished and well finished, she will be a lady as you will be a gentleman." ”

“ It would be so good for Veronica. The higher education could wait; let the higher ideals have a chance. Veronica would make the beds, dust the rooms. In the evening Veronica, her little basket by her side, would sit and sew while I talked, telling them things, and Robina moved softly to and fro about her work, the household fairy. The Little Mother, whenever strong enough, would come to us. We would hover round her, tending her with loving hands. The English farmer must know something, in spite of all that is said. Dick could arrange for lessons in practical farming. ”