登陆注册
5174600000006

第6章

Rosalie became in my eyes the most interesting being in Vendome.As Istudied her,I detected signs of an inmost thought,in spite of the blooming health that glowed in her dimpled face.There was in her soul some element of ruth or of hope;her manner suggested a secret,like the expression of devout souls who pray in excess,or of a girl who has killed her child and for ever hears its last cry.Nevertheless,she was simple and clumsy in her ways;her vacant smile had nothing criminal in it,and you would have pronounced her innocent only from seeing the large red and blue checked kerchief that covered her stalwart bust,tucked into the tight-laced bodice of a lilac-and white-striped gown.'No,'said I to myself,'I will not quit Vendome without knowing the whole history of la Grande Breteche.To achieve this end,I will make love to Rosalie if it proves necessary.'

'Rosalie!'said I one evening.

'Your servant,sir?'

'You are not married?'She started a little.

'Oh!there is no lack of men if ever I take a fancy to be miserable!'she replied,laughing.She got over her agitation at once;for every woman,from the highest lady to the inn-servant inclusive,has a native presence of mind.

'Yes;you are fresh and good-looking enough never to lack lovers!

But tell me,Rosalie,why did you become an inn-servant on leaving Madame de Merret?Did she not leave you some little annuity?'

'Oh yes,sir.But my place here is the best in all the town of Vendome.'

This reply was such an one as judges and attorneys call evasive.

Rosalie,as it seemed to me,held in this romantic affair the place of the middle square of the chess-board:she was at the very centre of the interest and of the truth;she appeared to me to be tied into the knot of it.It was not a case for ordinary love-making;this girl contained the last chapter of a romance,and from that moment all my attentions were devoted to Rosalie.By dint of studying the girl,Iobserved in her,as in every woman whom we make our ruling thought,a variety of good qualities;she was clean and neat;she was handsome,Ineed not say;she soon was possessed of every charm that desire can lend to a woman in whatever rank of life.A fortnight after the notary's visit,one evening,or rather one morning,in the small hours,I said to Rosalie:

'Come,tell me all you know about Madame de Merret.'

'Oh!'she said,'I will tell you;but keep the secret carefully.'

'All right,my child;I will keep all your secrets with a thief's honor,which is the most loyal known.'

'If it is all the same to you,'said she,'I would rather it should be with your own.'

Thereupon she set her head-kerchief straight,and settled herself to tell the tale;for there is no doubt a particular attitude of confidence and security is necessary to the telling of a narrative.

The best tales are told at a certain hour--just as we are all here at table.No one ever told a story well standing up,or fasting.

If I were to reproduce exactly Rosalie's diffuse eloquence,a whole volume would scarcely contain it.Now,as the event of which she gave me a confused account stands exactly midway between the notary's gossip and that of Madame Lepas,as precisely as the middle term of a rule-of-three sum stands between the first and third,I have only to relate it in as few words as may be.I shall therefore be brief.

The room at la Grande Breteche in which Madame de Merret slept was on the ground floor;a little cupboard in the wall,about four feet deep,served her to hang her dresses in.Three months before the evening of which I have to relate the events,Madame de Merret had been seriously ailing,so much so that her husband had left her to herself,and had his own bedroom on the first floor.By one of those accidents which it is impossible to foresee,he came in that evening two hours later than usual from the club,where he went to read the papers and talk politics with the residents in the neighborhood.His wife supposed him to have come in,to be in bed and asleep.But the invasion of France had been the subject of a very animated discussion;the game of billiards had waxed vehement;he had lost forty francs,an enormous sum at Vendome,where everybody is thrifty,and where social habits are restrained within the bounds of a simplicity worthy of all praise,and the foundation perhaps of a form of true happiness which no Parisian would care for.

For some time past Monsieur de Merret had been satisfied to ask Rosalie whether his wife was in bed;on the girl's replying always in the affirmative,he at once went to his own room,with the good faith that comes of habit and confidence.But this evening,on coming in,he took it into his head to go to see Madame de Merret,to tell her of his ill-luck,and perhaps to find consolation.During dinner he had observed that his wife was very becomingly dressed;he reflected as he came home from the club that his wife was certainly much better,that convalescence had improved her beauty,discovering it,as husbands discover everything,a little too late.Instead of calling Rosalie,who was in the kitchen at the moment watching the cook and the coachman playing a puzzling hand at cards,Monsieur de Merret made his way to his wife's room by the light of his lantern,which he set down at the lowest step of the stairs.His step,easy to recognize,rang under the vaulted passage.

At the instant when the gentleman turned the key to enter his wife's room,he fancied he heard the door shut of the closet of which I have spoken;but when he went in,Madame de Merret was alone,standing in front of the fireplace.The unsuspecting husband fancied that Rosalie was in the cupboard;nevertheless,a doubt,ringing in his ears like a peal of bells,put him on his guard;he looked at his wife,and read in her eyes an indescribably anxious and haunted expression.

'You are very late,'said she.--Her voice,usually so clear and sweet,struck him as being slightly husky.

Monsieur de Merret made no reply,for at this moment Rosalie came in.

同类推荐
  • 太上大通经注

    太上大通经注

    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。
  • 电白集

    电白集

    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。
  • 王家营志

    王家营志

    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。
  • 石屋清洪禅师语录

    石屋清洪禅师语录

    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。
  • 新缀白裘

    新缀白裘

    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
  • 挽红楼之黛玉绝爱

    挽红楼之黛玉绝爱

    发现一个本文的有声版——天方听书网,大家感兴趣的可以去听听~挽红楼系列红楼新文出炉:《挽红楼之玉亦狂》地址:【大声的吆喝次新文啦~~】《帝妃轻绝》沙发,板凳,地板都没人,亲们快去留个脚印先~~若说没奇缘,今生偏又遇着他。若说有奇缘,如何心事终虚化?只为三生石畔甘露恩,造历幻缘,续前缘。从此无限愁怨痴苦,魂断天涯。待红尘已成过往,方得识,灵水河畔,那一双执着而痴怨的晶眸,原来,曾有这样一个小仙童。采珠玑,窃仙魄,坠入凡尘,只为她。只知已泪尽报恩,岂知竟未了另一段风流公案。谁才是她此生,真正的冤家?情若飘渺,何苦自扰,爱既无根,何不绝爱?同样的黛玉,却是另一种人生,不再为金玉良缘耿耿于怀,不再为木石姻缘愁肠百结,重返人世,只为全新的生活。只为寻找真正的缘分。绝爱,断绝的是与纨绔宝玉间的缠绵纠葛,却是真正幸福的开始。……迄今为止,落花最喜欢的名著莫过于《红楼梦》,个人也对其中人物性格命运有很多看法,欢迎同样喜欢红楼的亲们和我交流,各抒己见。【红豆群】:59283575品红楼故事,说红楼人物,并不仅仅局限本文,红楼迷们皆可进。敲门砖:说出红楼中,亲觉得最适合作儿媳妇是哪一个…推荐自己的完结作品…《莲花祭》……“我想让你活着,想让你还像在那个冰冷的早晨一样,仇恨地看着我,说你必定会与我为敌,我宁愿你带着这种恨意报复我,哪怕最后我会败得伤痕累累,我也心甘情愿。”“…五年,十年,二十年,很多年之后,当你再想起我今天的话,你会为它的真实性而感到惊讶,你会觉得,我是世界上最言而有信的君主。”一段刻骨铭心的感情故事,一段莲花开落的苦涩童话,一本虐心的《莲花祭》,为您展现一个传奇女子的传奇经历,敬请众亲品读。顺便介绍一下该文的视频,供亲作茶余饭后的消遣?pstyle=1【强力推荐!】落花用了好久做出的视频——怀念红楼梦?pstyle=1喜欢红楼的朋友,千万去看看哦~~(注:与挽红楼无关,该文视频以后另作)…推荐作品……好友瑾瑜的转型力作,《倾歌天下》各位亲可以移步一观,多多投票收藏支持!~~…………
  • 国宝之谜

    国宝之谜

    中华民族有着几千年的悠久历史,古代人民用智慧创造了无数辉煌的瑰宝。经过岁月,的沉淀后,它们变成了现在人们所见、所闻的历代传世国宝。每一件国宝都是一个时代的缩影,背后是一个个不为人知的故事,散发着神秘而悠远的气息。 不同时代、不同的先民为人们留下了不同的具有各个时代特色的国宝,有些因为时代的久远、文字的缺失变得扑朔迷离。人们在欣赏它们的同时不禁忍不住想知道这些国宝的创造者是谁?它们都有什么奇异之处?在它们身上都发生过哪些奇事?现存的国宝目前状况如何?下落不明的国宝消失的原因是什么?现在又在哪里呢?只有清楚地知道了这些问题,才能够让人们更加了解国宝、珍惜国宝。
  • 带本英语书游世界

    带本英语书游世界

    本书章节分为 Chapter 1 万事俱备 Chapter 2 快乐出发 Chapter 3 平安到达 Chapter 4 享受美食 Chapter 5 遨游世界 Chapter 6 疯狂购物每个章节详细描写了相关旅游出行的细节,词汇补给、旅游应急句、实用情景对话帮助读者轻松出行。
  • 甜婚蜜令:爵少宠妻成瘾

    甜婚蜜令:爵少宠妻成瘾

    赵姝菡做梦也没想到,收到的快递居然是个人肉炸弹!只不过嘛,这个人还挺好看的……
  • 邻居姐姐是主播

    邻居姐姐是主播

    有一天,白洛泽家对面搬来了一个当主播的姐姐。随着他们关系的深入,许多麻烦事接踵而至……
  • 冰霜之主的复辟

    冰霜之主的复辟

    在遥远的极寒之处,冰霜魔神向他跪拜,翼可遮天的冰霜巨龙是他的坐骑,不计其数的雪族战士共同呼喊一个名字——冰霜之主!.................在这个危机四起的世界,有巨龙,大炮,魔法,巫术,军队...以及厮杀!当兵临城下之际,生死存亡之时。他蓦然回首,身后是无畏的雪族战士!他挥舞战旗大吼着:“雪族永不为奴!!!” 当我重临之时,誓要把这不洁的世界搅得天翻地覆!
  • 百草媚

    百草媚

    作品以南北朝时期徐、陶两医药世家的经历,表现了乱世中医药世家儿女的跌宕人生,充分展示了古代医者的智慧与坚韧。既有中医知识的弘扬,也有南北朝时期历史的乱象。作品注重情节跌宕和人物命运的起伏,故事引人入胜。作品获得第一届海峡两岸网络原创文学大赛优秀奖。
  • 狂妃权倾天下

    狂妃权倾天下

    她是相府嫡出的小姐,圣上特封的公主。却因从小体弱多病,又没有习武天赋,被父亲冷落。爹爹不疼,姨娘欺凌,姐妹算计,最终惨死在独门小院,身体差点就被炼成傀儡。她行踪诡异,杀伐果断,是世界杀手之王,却因一块血玉让她的灵魂穿越。杀手之王成为相府千金那日,风云变换,星象紊乱,护国神兽惶惶不安,国师开坛问卜不得其要却遭反噬。百姓传言天人下凡,故不可窥探也……她要的很简单,来去自如的世界,俯首称臣的众生,恩爱无双的男人。且看无能草包,如何扶摇九天。...--情节虚构,请勿模仿
  • 乐府阳春白雪

    乐府阳春白雪

    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。
  • 吸血鬼的访客

    吸血鬼的访客

    以不同的恐怖故事、不同的奇特情节、不同的诡异场面,扣人心弦,曾经紧紧的抓住了世界各地读者的好奇心,引发了恐怖小说爱好者更广阔怪异的想象空间。从《暮光之城》回归《德拉库拉》,布莱姆·斯托克塑造的吸血鬼形象铸就其不可颠覆的恐怖小说鼻祖地位。以其名字命名的布莱姆·斯托克奖,是恐怖小说之最高奖。