登陆注册
4712900000001

第1章

It was at Homburg, several years ago, before the gaming had been suppressed. The evening was very warm, and all the world was gathered on the terrace of the Kursaal and the esplanade below it to listen to the excellent orchestra; or half the world, rather, for the crowd was equally dense in the gaming-rooms around the tables.

Everywhere the crowd was great. The night was perfect, the season was at its height, the open windows of the Kursaal sent long shafts of unnatural light into the dusky woods, and now and then, in the intervals of the music, one might almost hear the clink of the napoleons and the metallic call of the croupiers rise above the watching silence of the saloons. I had been strolling with a friend, and we at last prepared to sit down. Chairs, however, were scarce.

I had captured one, but it seemed no easy matter to find a mate for it. I was on the point of giving up in despair, and proposing an adjournment to the silken ottomans of the Kursaal, when I observed a young man lounging back on one of the objects of my quest, with his feet supported on the rounds of another. This was more than his share of luxury, and I promptly approached him. He evidently belonged to the race which has the credit of knowing best, at home and abroad, how to make itself comfortable; but something in his appearance suggested that his present attitude was the result of inadvertence rather than of egotism. He was staring at the conductor of the orchestra and listening intently to the music. His hands were locked round his long legs, and his mouth was half open, with rather a foolish air. "There are so few chairs," I said, "that I must beg you to surrender this second one." He started, stared, blushed, pushed the chair away with awkward alacrity, and murmured something about not having noticed that he had it.

"What an odd-looking youth!" said my companion, who had watched me, as I seated myself beside her.

"Yes, he is odd-looking; but what is odder still is that I have seen him before, that his face is familiar to me, and yet that I can't place him." The orchestra was playing the Prayer from Der Freischutz, but Weber's lovely music only deepened the blank of memory. Who the deuce was he? where, when, how, had I known him? It seemed extraordinary that a face should be at once so familiar and so strange. We had our backs turned to him, so that I could not look at him again. When the music ceased we left our places, and I went to consign my friend to her mamma on the terrace. In passing, I saw that my young man had departed; I concluded that he only strikingly resembled some one I knew. But who in the world was it he resembled?

The ladies went off to their lodgings, which were near by, and Iturned into the gaming-rooms and hovered about the circle at roulette. Gradually I filtered through to the inner edge, near the table, and, looking round, saw my puzzling friend stationed opposite to me. He was watching the game, with his hands in his pockets; but singularly enough, now that I observed him at my leisure, the look of familiarity quite faded from his face. What had made us call his appearance odd was his great length and leanness of limb, his long, white neck, his blue, prominent eyes, and his ingenuous, unconscious absorption in the scene before him. He was not handsome, certainly, but he looked peculiarly amiable and if his overt wonderment savoured a trifle of rurality, it was an agreeable contrast to the hard, inexpressive masks about him. He was the verdant offshoot, I said to myself, of some ancient, rigid stem; he had been brought up in the quietest of homes, and he was having his first glimpse of life. Iwas curious to see whether he would put anything on the table; he evidently felt the temptation, but he seemed paralysed by chronic embarrassment. He stood gazing at the chinking complexity of losses and gains, shaking his loose gold in his pocket, and every now and then passing his hand nervously over his eyes.

Most of the spectators were too attentive to the play to have many thoughts for each other; but before long I noticed a lady who evidently had an eye for her neighbours as well as for the table.

同类推荐
  • 新定诗格

    新定诗格

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 何氏虚劳心传

    何氏虚劳心传

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 吕氏杂记

    吕氏杂记

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 牡丹亭

    牡丹亭

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 平夏錄

    平夏錄

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
热门推荐
  • 黑吉他

    黑吉他

    再见。宝马调了个头冲上立交桥,速度不是很快。宝马车后面两个扁平椭圆形的尾灯,忽闪忽灭的,这让站在路边抽烟的狄安想起童年在外婆家的情景。夏天干旱的时候,在外婆家湘南小镇的夜晚里。总有很多统称“舅舅”的男人举着火把,走在无尽的田野里,走在无尽的黑夜里,疏通沟渠,一块田一块田地轮流地灌水。这个轮流灌水事儿,叫“放水”。一村男人轮流守夜,你家的田水满了,马上塞住入水口,然后扯开他家田的入水口,一直到天亮,全村人的田都灌溉了一遍。
  • 京师法律评论(第七卷)

    京师法律评论(第七卷)

    本书以“经济发展与法治保障”为研讨主题,探索经济发展的法治保障问题。经济与社会协调、健康、有序、和谐发展,发挥规划法、税法、金融法、企业法等的功能,共同促进社会协调发展,在追求经济增长的同时,也要关注与资源、环境的协调及人与自然和谐的可持续发展。
  • Familiar Studies of Men & Books

    Familiar Studies of Men & Books

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 夜烬沉香

    夜烬沉香

    沐沉香,一个自以为爹不疼娘不爱的可怜孩子,误打误撞走进丞相府,误打误撞成为丞相义女,又误打误撞成为陪嫁……可是,等等,为什么这一系列的“误打误撞”后,她竟然莫名其妙成了正牌王妃?谁能告诉她,为什么在这个地方,所有见过她的人都能轻易地接受她?谁能告诉她,眼前这个道貌岸然说着不近女色的臭男人为什么老是喜欢黏着她……所以,这是一个某腹黑王爷扮猪吃老虎的故事,准确来说,是一位英勇无双的王爷殿下“自我牺牲”收服“嚣张”小妖孽的故事!
  • T. Tembarom

    T. Tembarom

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 亚欧战火(第二次世界大战史丛书)

    亚欧战火(第二次世界大战史丛书)

    本书介绍了第二次世界大战之前的世界形势,包括共产主义的发展和法西斯势力的崛起。法西斯起于德国,而后很快的传到日本等一些其他的帝国主义国家。这些国家赤裸裸的展现了瓜分世界的野心。
  • 德古拉是我岳父

    德古拉是我岳父

    德古拉对我说:来碗牛肉面。科学怪人对我,说给我来一根红塔山。狼人对我说道,你能帮我看我的孩子吗?木乃伊对我说,教我如何撩妹吧。梅菲斯对我说,老公你快过来,教教我怎么斗地主。瓦拉德对我说,我看你天赋异禀,跟我学习黑魔法吧。李森一个小厨师,因为一场意外,穿越到了精灵旅社的世界,他在这里混的风生水起。一段温馨的故事,一段充满爱的故事。就此拉开序幕。。。。。
  • 五方帝三:青帝篇

    五方帝三:青帝篇

    何昭宇、白慕飞和白帝之间的恩怨情愁。他是傲睨天下、尊贵孤高的白帝,雄霸武林一方,未曾有过要不到的东西,更未曾为谁如此屈就,唯有何昭宇,这个为了所爱牺牲所有的人,能让他情牵意动,甚至不顾一切,毁誓下山。何昭宇苦,白慕飞苦,白帝也苦,这纠缠不清的缘,会让三人面临什么样的抉择呢?
  • 穿越兽世:蛮荒种田记

    穿越兽世:蛮荒种田记

    楚楚穿越了。穿到了原始蛮荒的兽人世界。被重新取名为“宓桑”。这里有疼爱她如珠如宝首领阿父和阿姆。有三个同样宠爱她的哥哥。还有一个最开始不太喜欢她的未婚夫(本文一对一,绝对甜宠!欢迎入坑!)
  • 觉悟

    觉悟

    大保同钟海仁是好朋友,发小,关系铁得不得了,一个包子分着吃,一根冰棒轮着唚,俗称“一对油盐坛子”。两人是上初中以后才关系热火起来的。小学六年,同班,但不同组,虽是熟识,少有来往。县城里的小学,生源固定,学生主要来自三类家庭。一类机关干部子弟,一类手工业和小商贩家庭,还有一类是农业户。县城是座古城,有四百多年历史了,格局十分周正。旧时的衙门正在县城中心地带。解放后改作了县政府(也叫县人委会),当地人还是习惯叫那里“衙门口”。衙门口当然是很气派,很庄肃的。门头高大,全用青砖垒成,两扇大门包了铁皮,铁皮上密密麻麻地凸现出拇指大小的圆形铁钉。铁皮铁钉都很老旧了。