He had no reason to feel very cheerful.He had quitted Vienna in order to betake himself to the Saxon Casino, where /roulette/ and /trente-et-quarante/ are played.His ill-luck would have it that he stopped on the way at Milan, and fell in with a circle of ill repute, where this most imprudent of men played and lost.There remained to him just enough cash to carry him to Saxon; but what can be accomplished in a casino when one has empty pockets? Before crossing the Splugen he had written to a petty Jew banker of his acquaintance for money.He counted but little on the compliance of this Hebrew, and this was why he paused five minutes to contemplate the Plessur, after which he retraced his steps.Twenty minutes later he was crossing a public square, ornamented with a pretty Gothic fountain, and seeing before him a cathedral, he hastened to enter it.
The cathedral of Chur possesses, among other curiosities, a painting by Albert Durer, a St.Lawrence on the gridiron, attributed to Holbein, a piece of the true cross, and some relics of St.Lucius and his sister Ernesta.Count Abel only accorded a wandering attention to either St.Lucius or St.Lawrence.Scarcely had he made his way into the nave of the building, when he beheld something that appeared to him far more interesting than paintings or relics.An English poet has said that at times there is revealed to us a glimpse of paradise in a woman's face, and it was such a rare blessing that was at this moment vouchsafed unto Count Larinski.He was not a romantic man, and yet he remained for some moments motionless, rooted to the spot in admiration.Was it a premonition of his destiny? The fact is that, in beholding for the first time Mlle.Antoinette Moriaz, for it was none other than she who thus riveted his attention, he experienced an inexplicable surprise, a thrilling of the heart, such as he never before had experienced.In his first impression of this charming girl he made one slight mistake.He divined at once that the man by whom she was accompanied, who had gray hair, a broad, open brow, vivacious eyes, shaded by beautiful, heavy eye-brows, belonged to some learned fraternity; but he imagined that this individual with a white cravat, who had evidently preserved his freshness of heart, although past sixty years of age, was the fortunate suitor of the beautiful girl by his side.
There are some women whom it is impossible not to gaze upon.Wherever Mlle.Antoinette Moriaz appeared she was the object of universal observation: first, because she was charming; and, then, because she had a way of her own of dressing and of arranging her hair, a peculiar movement of the head, a grace of carriage, which inevitably must attract notice.There were those who made so bold as to assert that she assumed certain little peculiarities solely for the purpose of attracting the chance observer.Do not believe a word of it.She was altogether indifferent to public opinion and consulted her own taste alone, which was certainly impregnated with a touch of audacity; but she did not seek to appear audacious--she merely acted according to her natural bent.Observing her from a distance, people were apt to fancy her affected, and somewhat inclined to be fantastic; but on approaching her, their minds were speedily disabused of this fancy.
The purity of her countenance, her air of refinement and thorough modesty, speedily dispelled any suspicious thoughts, and those who had for a moment harboured them would say mentally, "Pardon me, mademoiselle, I mistook." Such, at least, was the mental comment of Count Abel, as she passed close by him on leaving the church.Her father was telling her something that made her smile; this smile was that of a young girl just budding into womanhood, who has nothing yet to conceal from her guardian angel.Count Larinski left the church after her, and followed her with his eyes as she crossed the square.
On returning to the hotel he had a curiosity to satisfy.He questioned one of the /garcons/, who pointed out to him in the hotel register for travellers the following entry: "M.Moriaz, member of the Institute of France, and his daughter, from Paris, /en route/ for Saint Moritz.""And where then?" he asked himself; then dismissed the subject from his mind.
When he had dined, he repaired to the post-office to inquire for a letter he was expecting from Vienna.He found it, and returned to shut himself up in his chamber, where he tore open the envelope with a feverish hand.This letter, written in a more peculiar than felicitous French, was the reply of the Jew banker.It read as follows:
"M.LE COMTE:
"Although you both write and understand German very well, you do not like to read it, and therefore I write to you in French.It grieves me deeply not to have it in my power to satisfy your honoured demand.Business is very dull.It is impossible for me to advance you another florin, or even to renew your note, which falls due shortly.I am the father of a family; it pains me to be compelled to remind you of this.
"I wish to tell you quite freely what I think.I did believe in your gun, but I believe in it no longer, no one believes in it any more.When strong, it was too heavy; when you made it lighter, it was no longer strong.What came next? You know it burst.Beware how you further perfect it, or it will explode whenever it becomes aware that any one is looking at it.This accursed gun has eaten up the little you had, and some of my savings besides, although Ihave confidence that you will, at least, pay me the interest due on that.It grieves me to tell you so, M.de Comte, but all inventors are more or less crack-brained, and end in the hospital.
For the love of God, leave guns as they are, and invent nothing more, or you will go overboard, and there will be no one to fish you out."Abel Larinski paused at this place.He put his letter down on the table, and, turning round in his arm-chair, with a savage air, his eye fixed on a distant corner of the room, he fell to thus soliloquizing in a sepulchral voice:
