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Page 45
"Oh! I accuse neither her mother nor yourself, of course; it is the
baroness who irritates me; she is unnatural! Julia is her grandchild after
all, and she rejoices--she positively rejoices--at the prospect of seeing
her a nun!"
"_Ma foi_, I declare to you that I am not far from rejoicing too. The
situation is too painful for Clotilde; it must be brought to an end; and
as I see no other possible solution--"
"But I beg your pardon; there might be another."
"And which?"
"She might marry."
"How likely! and marry--whom, pray?"
The count approached nearer to Lucan, looked him straight in the face, and
smiling with some embarrassment:
"Me!" he said.
"Repeat that!" said Lucan.
"_Mon cher_," rejoined the count, "you see that I am as red as a peony;
spare me. I have wished for a long time to broach that delicate question
to you, but my courage has failed me; since I have found it, at last,
don't deprive me of it."
"My dear friend," said Lucan, "allow me to recover a little first, for I
am falling from the clouds. What! you are in love with Julia?"
"To an extraordinary degree, my friend."
"No! there is something under that; you have discovered this means of
drawing us together, and you wish to sacrifice yourself for the peace of
the family."
"I swear to you that I am not thinking in the least of the peace of the
family; I am thinking wholly of my own, which is very much disturbed, for
I love that child with an energy of feeling that I never knew before. If I
don't marry her, I shall never console myself for the rest of my life."
"To that extent?" said Lucan, dumfounded.
"It is a terrible thing, _mon cher_," rejoined Monsieur de Moras. "I am
absolutely in love; when she looks at me, when I touch her hand, when her
dress rustles against me, I feel, as it were, a philter running through my
veins. I had heard of emotions of that kind, but I had never felt them. I
must confess that they delight me; but at the same time they distress me,
for I cannot conceal the fact to myself that there are a thousand chances
against one that my passion will not be reciprocated, and it really seems
as though my heart should wear mourning for it as long as it shall beat."
"What an adventure!" said Lucan, who had recovered all his gravity. "That
is a very serious matter; very annoying."
He walked a few steps about the parlor, absorbed in thoughts that seemed
of a rather somber character.
"Is Julia aware of your sentiments?" he said, suddenly.
"Most certainly not; I would not have taken the liberty of informing her
of them without first speaking to you. Will you be kind enough to act as
my ambassador to her mother?"
"Why, yes, with pleasure," said Lucan, with a shade of hesitation that did
not escape his friend.
"You think that is useless, don't you?" said the count with a forced
smile.
"Useless--why so?"
"In the first place, it is very late."
"It is somewhat late, no doubt. Things have gone very far; but I have
never had much confidence in the stability of Julia's ideas of her
vocation. Besides, in these restless imaginations, the sincerest
resolutions of to-day become readily the dislikes of the morrow."
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