登陆注册
5419100000044

第44章

She knew all the genealogies of every noble house in Europe--princes, dukes, and counts--and could put her hand on the last descendants of Charlemagne in the direct line.No usurpation of title could escape the Princesse de Blamont-Chauvry.

Young men who wished to stand well at Court, ambitious men, and young married women paid her assiduous homage.Her salon set the tone of the Faubourg Saint-Germain.The words of this Talleyrand in petticoats were taken as final decrees.People came to consult her on questions of etiquette or usages, or to take lessons in good taste.And, in truth, no other old woman could put back her snuff-box in her pocket as the Princess could; while there was a precision and a grace about the movements of her skirts, when she sat down or crossed her feet, which drove the finest ladies of the young generation to despair.Her voice had remained in her head during one-third of her lifetime; but she could not prevent a descent into the membranes of the nose, which lent to it a peculiar expressiveness.She still retained a hundred and fifty thousand livres of her great fortune, for Napoleon had generously returned her woods to her; so that personally and in the matter of possessions she was a woman of no little consequence.

This curious antique, seated in a low chair by the fireside, was chatting with the Vidame de Pamiers, a contemporary ruin.The Vidame was a big, tall, and spare man, a seigneur of the old school, and had been a Commander of the Order of Malta.His neck had always been so tightly compressed by a strangulation stock, that his cheeks pouched over it a little, and he held his head high; to many people this would have given an air of self-sufficiency, but in the Vidame it was justified by a Voltairean wit.His wide prominent eyes seemed to see everything, and as a matter of fact there was not much that they had not seen.Altogether, his person was a perfect model of aristocratic outline, slim and slender, supple and agreeable.He seemed as if he could be pliant or rigid at will, and twist and bend, or rear his head like a snake.

The Duc de Navarreins was pacing up and down the room with the Duc de Grandlieu.Both were men of fifty-six or thereabouts, and still hale; both were short, corpulent, flourishing, somewhat florid-complexioned men with jaded eyes, and lower lips that had begun to hang already.But for an exquisite refinement of accent, an urbane courtesy, and an ease of manner that could change in a moment to insolence, a superficial observer might have taken them for a couple of bankers.Any such mistake would have been impossible, however, if the listener could have heard them converse, and seen them on their guard with men whom they feared, vapid and commonplace with their equals, slippery with the inferiors whom courtiers and statesmen know how to tame by a tactful word, or to humiliate with an unexpected phrase.

Such were the representatives of the great noblesse that determined to perish rather than submit to any change.It was a noblesse that deserved praise and blame in equal measure; a noblesse that will never be judged impartially until some poet shall arise to tell how joyfully the nobles obeyed the King though their heads fell under a Richelieu's axe, and how deeply they scorned the guillotine of '89 as a foul revenge.

Another noticeable trait in all the four was a thin voice that agreed peculiarly well with their ideas and bearing.Among themselves, at any rate, they were on terms of perfect equality.

None of them betrayed any sign of annoyance over the Duchess's escapade, but all of them had learned at Court to hide their feelings.

And here, lest critics should condemn the puerility of the opening of the forthcoming scene, it is perhaps as well to remind the reader that Locke, once happening to be in the company of several great lords, renowned no less for their wit than for their breeding and political consistency, wickedly amused himself by taking down their conversation by some shorthand process of his own; and afterwards, when he read it over to them to see what they could make of it, they all burst out laughing.And, in truth, the tinsel jargon which circulates among the upper ranks in every country yields mighty little gold to the crucible when washed in the ashes of literature or philosophy.In every rank of society (some few Parisian salons excepted) the curious observer finds folly a constant quantity beneath a more or less transparent varnish.Conversation with any substance in it is a rare exception, and boeotianism is current coin in every zone.

In the higher regions they must perforce talk more, but to make up for it they think the less.Thinking is a tiring exercise, and the rich like their lives to flow by easily and without effort.It is by comparing the fundamental matter of jests, as you rise in the social scale from the street-boy to the peer of France, that the observer arrives at a true comprehension of M.

de Talleyrand's maxim, "The manner is everything"; an elegant rendering of the legal axiom, "The form is of more consequence than the matter." In the eyes of the poet the advantage rests with the lower classes, for they seldom fail to give a certain character of rude poetry to their thoughts.Perhaps also this same observation may explain the sterility of the salons, their emptiness, their shallowness, and the repugnance felt by men of ability for bartering their ideas for such pitiful small change.

The Duke suddenly stopped as if some bright idea occurred to him, and remarked to his neighbour--"So you have sold Tornthon?"

同类推荐
  • 识小录

    识小录

    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。
  • 听歌二首

    听歌二首

    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。
  • The Children

    The Children

    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。
  • The Pool in the Desert

    The Pool in the Desert

    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。
  • 百字碑注

    百字碑注

    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。
热门推荐
  • 青山田园乐

    青山田园乐

    桃红复含宿雨,柳绿更带朝烟。花落家童未扫,莺啼山客犹眠。—王维·田园乐李虹从老家的山上摔下来变成了李家村又懒又馋的李红儿,而李红儿马上就要嫁给青山村的大龄剩男王大成。据听说,这王大成又丑又穷,人长的黑瘦黑瘦不说,家里还上有卧病在床的高堂,下有拖油瓶弟妹,嫁过去可能连饭都吃不饱。嫁或者不嫁?深思之后李虹决定,嫁!
  • 《案例。》系列(第5辑)

    《案例。》系列(第5辑)

    中国虽已成为名副其实的“世界工厂”,但我们却没有迎来管理上的重大突破,甚至连“更新”都鲜有,我们更多的是“狂热的跟从”,我们的竞争力来自于廉价的劳动力和消耗更多的资源,我们被“东芝人”嘲笑是“水果败子”——连种水果的都不是,因为我们只知道市场上需要什么水果,就去包装贩卖什么。过去,我们常常自豪于用了不到10年时间,就走过了西方发达国家100年的历程,但我们却不知道,也是在这样的过程中,我们忽略了支撑西方现代工业体系最初的管理起源。在高速成长的背后,可能掩藏着某一天忽然来到的破坏性崩溃,而这无疑是我们最不愿意看到的。
  • 假面

    假面

    学期中,小区搬来一对特殊的母女,女儿叫莫雅子,来自一个母亲有着病史的单亲家庭。雅子因优异的成绩成为学校重点补助的对象,但是她并不知道这所学校里学生的游戏规则——新生必须被管制。
  • 天幽我心

    天幽我心

    天幽,我这么爱你,为什么,到底是为什么啊!君涯,抱歉,我是天行者。
  • 宠婚撩人:娇妻不下嫁

    宠婚撩人:娇妻不下嫁

    【新文:重生甜妻:总裁,请矜持!】她遇到的他是一个结婚三年不回家的人。他们的感情就像隔着一个太平洋,林阑月受够了,递上一纸离婚协议书,将他甩了。 ”喂,你干什么,你回家睡你床上。”她无奈又气愤地说道。 “再吵,我就吻你。” “你混蛋。” “唔唔唔……”某人被强吻了。情节一 她望着他对和她长得一模一样的南凝,温柔之至。 不料她已经忘了曾经爱到骨子里的人,却一笑而过。 他狠心的把她推到在满是玻璃渣子的地面上。当他破落,蹲在无人的街口,暗黄的灯光,拉长他的影子,他怪自己,瞎了眼,引狼入室。当他望着远处走来纤细的身影……
  • 亲爱的,这世界上本没有对的人

    亲爱的,这世界上本没有对的人

    这本书,将为各位展现中国当代纷繁复杂的情感乱象一隅。最重要的,是给有情感困惑的年轻人,打开一扇窗户,帮助女性更懂爱情,学会经营婚姻,在爱与婚姻里收获幸福。这世界上,本没有对的人,也一定不存在完美爱人。今天的完美,如果放弃经营和制衡,就会变成明天的不完美,那么今天你眼里的“对”,也会成为明天的“错”。婚姻,是亲密结合的最高形态,但是一纸婚姻证书,不是意味着幸福生活的开始,而是意味着“学习幸福生活”的开始。爱需要盖章生效的笃定,更需要携手并行的勇气。
  • 无品太子妃

    无品太子妃

    一生一世一双人,本是虚幻,是为悲剧。当他历经繁华,而她,早已不再。
  • 自己就是一座金矿

    自己就是一座金矿

    潜意识决定命运,潜意识创造一切,潜意识改变一切。每个人体内都埋藏着一座巨大的潜能宝藏,激活并运用这座宝藏,人人都能创造生命的奇迹。《潜意识与第六感大全集》《心灵的力量大全集》《自己就是一座金矿大全集》,为你揭开了潜意识深处的图景,传授一套最简单高效的潜能开发工具,让你开启能量宝库,挖掘潜意识,激发正能量,操纵命运、愿望、财富及健康,步向幸福和成功。
  • 神仙食炁金柜妙录

    神仙食炁金柜妙录

    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。
  • 神医追妻记

    神医追妻记

    一朝睁眼,昔日的丑女草包不复存在,众人瞪大24k纯金眼,这哪里是草包明明就是一妖孽级别的变态……炼丹,修炼,时不时收神兽为小弟,混的风生水起。而某天,当某女发现自己的仇人很帅时“请问您缺老婆嘛?”“滚!”“得咧。”只见某女花痴笑地说道“看来是缺……”(男女双洁,1V1宠文)