登陆注册
12107900000014

第14章 PART ONE(13)

I have Romans,and Roman ladies[here occurs an illegible word],and the whole train.Madam Magloire has cleaned it all off;this summer she is going to have some small injuries repaired,and the whole revarnished,and my chamber will be a regular museum.

She has also found in a corner of the attic two wooden pier-tables of ancient fashion.They asked us two crowns of six francs each to regild them,but it is much better to give the money to the poor;and they are very ugly besides,and I should much prefer a round table of mahogany.

I am always very happy.

My brother is so good.

He gives all he has to the poor and sick.

We are very much cramped.

The country is trying in the winter,and we really must do something for those who are in need.

We are almost comfortably lighted and warmed.You see that these are great treats.

My brother has ways of his own.

When he talks,he says that a bishop ought to be so.

Just imagine!the door of our house is never fastened.Whoever chooses to enter finds himself at once in my brother's room.He fears nothing,even at night.

That is his sort of bravery,he says.

He does not wish me or Madame Magloire feel any fear for him.He exposes himself to all sorts of dangers,and he does not like to have us even seem to notice it.

One must know how to understand him.

He goes out in the rain,he walks in the water,he travels in winter.He fears neither suspicious roads nor dangerous encounters,nor night.

year he went quite alone into a country of robbers.

He would not take us.

He was absent for a fortnight.

On his return nothing had happened to him;he was thought to be dead,but was perfectly well,and said,'This is the way I have been robbed!'

And then he opened a trunk full of jewels,all the jewels of the cathedral of Embrun,which the thieves had given him.

When he returned on that occasion,I could not refrain from scolding him a little,taking care,however,not to speak except when the carriage was making a noise,so that no one might hear me.

At first I used to say to myself,'There are no dangers which will stop him;he is terrible.'

Now I have ended by getting used to it.I make a sign to Madam Magloire that she is not to oppose him.He risks himself as he sees fit.

I carry off Madam Magloire,I enter my chamber,I pray for him and fall asleep.

I am at ease,because I know that if anything were to happen to him,it would be the end of me.

I should go to the good God with my brother and my bishop.

It has cost Madam Magloire more trouble than it did me to accustom herself to what she terms his imprudences.

But now the habit has been acquired.

We pray together,we tremble together,and we fall asleep.

If the devil were to enter this house,he would be allowed to do so.

After all,what is there for us to fear in this house?

There is always some one with us who is stronger than we.

The devil may pass through it,but the good God dwells here.

This suffices me.

My brother has no longer any need of saying a word to me.

I understand him without his speaking,and we abandon ourselves to the care of Providence.

That is the way one has to do with a man who possesses grandeur of soul.

I have interrogated my brother with regard to the information which you desire on the subject of the Faux family.

You are aware that he knows everything,and that he has memories,because he is still a very good royalist.

They really are a very ancient Norman family of the generalship of Caen.

Five hundred years ago there was a Raoul de Faux,a Jean de Faux,and a Thomas de Faux,who were gentlemen,and one of whom was a seigneur de Rochefort.The last was Guy-Etienne-Alexandre,and was commander of a regiment,and something in the light horse of Bretagne.

His daughter,Marie-Louise,married Adrien-Charles de Gramont,son of the Duke Louis de Gramont,peer of France,colonel of the French guards,and lieutenant-general of the army.

It is written Faux,Fauq,and Faoucq.

Good Madame,recommend us to the prayers of your sainted relative,Monsieur the Cardinal.

As for your dear Sylvanie,she has done well in not wasting the few moments which she passes with you in writing to me.

She is well,works as you would wish,and loves me.

That is all that I desire.

The souvenir which she sent through you reached me safely,and it makes me very happy.

My health is not so very bad,and yet I grow thinner every day.

Farewell;my paper is at an end,and this forces me to leave you.

A thousand good wishes.

BAPTISTINE.

P.S.Your grand nephew is charming.

Do you know that he will soon be five years old?

Yesterday he saw some one riding by on horseback who had on knee-caps,and he said,'What has he got on his knees?'He is a charming child!

His little brother is dragging an old broom about the room,like a carriage,and saying,'Hu!'

As will be perceived from this letter,these two women understood how to mould themselves to the Bishop's ways with that special feminine genius which comprehends the man better than he comprehends himself.The Bishop of D——,in spite of the gentle and candid air which never deserted him,sometimes did things that were grand,bold,and magnificent,without seeming to have even a suspicion of the fact.They trembled,but they let him alone.

Sometimes Madame Magloire essayed a remonstrance in advance,but never at the time,nor afterwards.They never interfered with him by so much as a word or sign,in any action once entered upon.

At certain moments,without his having occasion to mention it,when he was not even conscious of it himself in all probability,so perfect was his simplicity,they vaguely felt that he was acting as a bishop;then they were nothing more than two shadows in the house.

They served him passively;and if obedience consisted in disappearing,they disappeared.They understood,with an admirable delicacy of instinct,that certain cares may be put under constraint.

Thus,even when believing him to be in peril,they understood,I will not say his thought,but his nature,to such a degree that they no longer watched over him.They confided him to God.

同类推荐
  • 燕京岁时记

    燕京岁时记

    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。
  • 燕台花事录

    燕台花事录

    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。
  • 弘明集

    弘明集

    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。
  • 太常寺观舞圣寿乐

    太常寺观舞圣寿乐

    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。
  • 蓼园词评

    蓼园词评

    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。
热门推荐
  • 万道天逆

    万道天逆

    车祸穿越,重生的李炎风,父亲被扣下乱臣之名,母亲为护年幼的李炎风而陨落,“乱臣之名莫须有!亡亲之仇吾必报!”掌杀剑练道法,脱乱臣之名报血海深仇!修通灵布阵域,阴阳之力转乾坤,踏上天界至高点,渡轮回万劫吾成神!……这一切的恩怨,由我手中的剑来解决吧。
  • 凡人修仙传:修真之路

    凡人修仙传:修真之路

    天魔一个被封印了五十万年的魔道修真者,异类转生到一只飞虎的身上,重新出现在修真界。天魔复出的第一个目标,就盯上一个仙道的修仙门派,莫非他以一个魔道的修仙者,却想坐上仙道修仙门派的掌门?修真界的第一异宝也出现了,这个异宝的出现,会给天魔带来什么样的遭遇呢?
  • 奏定学堂章程学务纲要

    奏定学堂章程学务纲要

    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。
  • 唐门闯异界

    唐门闯异界

    唐门三大高手之首唐毅附身到异界一名废物身上,炼药,炼器,炼武三炼一身,游异界,闯天下!
  • 唯世之倾世公主

    唯世之倾世公主

    那一年,她曼舞萧条,淡了桃花。那一年,她挥笔直下,醉了人家。本如花似锦的年纪,却倾尽自己,还了天下!神秘的末代大倾国度,一代公主,保国善将,明争暗斗,舍命设计,终是为情所惑,逃不过宿命,命中如何?又能奈何?城崩弃离,也不过如此。所以,万万别道爱我,因为我会当真。萧瑟浅唱,白雪送歌。你只叹对他恨之入骨,却不想他依旧待你如初,纵是万劫不复,粉身碎骨,只愿深情不被负。用我余生,换你半世快活。
  • 和美女一起上班的日子

    和美女一起上班的日子

    独自漂泊在外三年的莫然终于抵挡不住父母的威胁辞去现在了工作回到原来的城市,在一人西藏旅行的途中偶遇谜一般的女子阿洁,阿洁的纯洁、忧伤打动了莫然,让他有似曾相识的感觉,忍不住照顾阿洁和她相伴一起去西藏。在新的公司又遇到自己在梦中千百次梦到的女人薇安,薇安到底和莫然之间到底有着怎样的故事,莫然就这样的走进了薇安孤独而又忧伤的世界,当真正了解薇安后莫然发现原来薇安和阿洁竟然有如此相似之处,那么到底莫然会怎样的选择?
  • 千金方(家庭健康生活)

    千金方(家庭健康生活)

    《千金方(最新经典珍藏)》的作者孙思邈重视医德修养,强调“凡大医治病。必当安神定志,无欲无求,先发大慈恻隐之心,誓愿普救含灵之苦”。深刻影响了后世医学伦理学的发展。
  • tfboys之我永远只爱你一人

    tfboys之我永远只爱你一人

    一个不知身份的女生或是说女强人,再遇到三小只后,会变成生么样的人呐,敬请期待。不透漏剧情了
  • 高冷男神独宠萌系小喵

    高冷男神独宠萌系小喵

    喂,前面那个男生,源大神回过头:“有事,”“没事,听说,你很高冷,没关系,姐,能感化你”源大神。。。。。
  • TFboys你们是我的信仰

    TFboys你们是我的信仰

    我们同是四叶草,非常喜爱TFboys。一次意外的碰面,让我们和三小只成为了朋友,发生了许多好玩的事情……(注:故事纯属编造。)