this is a public matter, and has reached my ears; for, as you may imagine, madame, your affairs have made a great stir, and there are few people who know nothing about them.""Yes," she said, smiling, "I know there has been a great deal of talk, and I am in every man's mouth.""Then," replied the doctor, "the crime you are accused of is poisoning.If you are guilty, as is believed, you cannot hope that God will pardon you unless you make known to your judges what the poison is, what is its composition and what its antidote, also the names of your accomplices.Madame, we must lay hands on all these evil-doers without exception; for if you spared them, they would be able to make use of your poison, and you would then be guilty of all the murders committed by them after your death, because you did not give them over to the judges during your life; thus one might say you survive yourself, for your crime survives you.You know, madame, that a sin in the moment of death is never pardoned, and that to get remission for your crimes, if crimes you have, they must die when you die: for if you slay them not, be very sure they will slay you.""Yes, I am sure of that," replied the marquise, after a moment of silent thought; "and though I will not admit that I am guilty, Ipromise, if I am guilty, to weigh your words.But one question, sir, and pray take heed that an answer is necessary.Is there not crime in this world that is beyond pardon? Are not some people guilty of sins so terrible and so numerous that the Church dares not pardon them, and if God, in His justice, takes account of them, He cannot for all His mercy pardon them? See, I begin with this question, because, if I am to have no hope, it is needless for me to confess.""I wish to think, madame," replied the doctor, in spite of himself half frightened at the marquise, "that this your first question is only put by way of a general thesis, and has nothing to do with your own state.I shall answer the question without any personal application.No, madame, in this life there are no unpardonable sinners, terrible and numerous howsoever their sins may be.This is an article of faith, and without holding it you could not die a good Catholic.Some doctors, it is true, have before now maintained the contrary, but they have been condemned as heretics.Only despair and final impenitence are unpardonable, and they are not sins of our life but in our death.""Sir," replied the marquise, "God has given me grace to be convinced by what you say, and I believe He will pardon all sins--that He has often exercised this power.Now all my trouble is that He may not deign to grant all His goodness to one so wretched as I am, a creature so unworthy of the favours already bestowed on her."The doctor reassured her as best he could, and began to examine her attentively as they conversed together."She was," he said, "a woman naturally courageous and fearless; naturally gentle and good; not easily excited; clever and penetrating, seeing things very clearly in her mind, and expressing herself well and in few but careful words;easily finding a way out of a difficulty, and choosing her line of conduct in the most embarrassing circumstances; light-minded and fickle; unstable, paying no attention if the same thing were said several times over.For this reason," continued the doctor, "I was obliged to alter what I had to say from time to time, keeping her but a short time to one subject, to which, however, I would return later, giving the matter a new appearance and disguising it a little.She spoke little and well, with no sign of learning and no affectation, always, mistress of herself, always composed and saying just what she intended to say.No one would have supposed from her face or from her conversation that she was so wicked as she must have been, judging by her public avowal of the parricide.It is surprising, therefore--and one must bow down before the judgment of God when He leaves mankind to himself--that a mind evidently of some grandeur, professing fearlessness in the most untoward and unexpected events, an immovable firmness and a resolution to await and to endure death if so it must be, should yet be so criminal as she was proved to be by the parricide to which she confessed before her judges.She had nothing in her face that would indicate such evil.She had very abundant chestnut hair, a rounded, well-shaped face, blue eyes very pretty and gentle, extraordinarily white skin, good nose, and no disagreeable feature.Still, there was nothing unusually attractive in the face: already she was a little wrinkled, and looked older than her age.Something made me ask at our first interview how old she was.'Monsieur,' she said, 'if I were to live till Sainte-Madeleine's day I should be forty-six.On her day I came into the world, and I bear her name.I was christened Marie-Madeleine.But near to the day as we now are, I shall not live so long: I must end to-day, or at latest to-morrow, and it will be a favour to give me the one day.For this kindness I rely on your word.' Anyone would have thought she was quite forty-eight.Though her face as a rule looked so gentle, whenever an unhappy thought crossed her mind she showed it by a contortion that frightened one at first, and from time to time I saw her face twitching with anger, scorn, or ill-will.
同类推荐
热门推荐
蜜恋百分百:男神99次说我爱你
容嘉锦是校园里金光闪闪的校草人物,一朝认识林苞,视线里渐渐被她塞满,满心满眼只有她了。林苞是草根出身的励志学生,浑身上下都是积极向上的正能量,被诬陷,背黑锅,被欺负......统统没关系,以前她是孤身一人,如今她的面前有他,为她遮风挡雨。嗯,他一不小心爱上了她。问:如果一直深爱兔子的老虎叼走了他深爱的兔子,请问那是要干什么?答:把它养在身边,宠她入骨。咬耳朵:跟孩子建立亲密关系的50种方法
如何获得孩子的信任?如何让孩子向你打开心扉?如何进入孩子的心灵?如何跟孩子建立一生的亲密关系?如何让你对孩子的管教立竿见影?本书是一本改善和完善亲子关系的指导书,主要告诉父母如何跟孩子建立亲密关系,以及如何运用亲密关系的影响让管教更有效。本书是作者多年来家庭教育研究心得的凝结,也是作者教育实践经验的总结。在书中,作者采用讲故事的形式,精心选择教育女儿的点滴琐事和身边发生的教育案例,阐述了“亲子说服术”的科学理念、本质规律和关键点,并向父母提供了跟孩子建立亲密关系的50个超级实用技巧。