登陆注册
14325700000017

第17章

Under his administration Cinq-Cygne became a sort of farm. The good man, who was far more of a close manager than a knight of the old nobility, had turned the park and gardens to profit, and used their two hundred acres of grass and woodland as pasturage for horses and fuel for the family. Thanks to his severe economy the countess, on coming of age, had recovered by his investments in the State funds a competent fortune. In 1798 she possessed about twenty thousand francs a year from those sources, on which, in fact, some dividends were still due, and twelve thousand francs a year from the rentals at Cinq-Cygne, which had lately been renewed at a notable increase. Monsieur and Madame d'Hauteserre had provided for their old age by the purchase of an annuity of three thousand francs in the Tontines Lafarge. That fragment of their former means did not enable them to live elsewhere than at Cinq-Cygne, and Laurence's first act on coming to her majority was to give them the use for life of the wing of the chateau which they occupied.

The Hauteserres, as niggardly for their ward as they were for themselves, laid up every year nearly the whole of their annuity for the benefit of their sons, and kept the young heiress on miserable fare. The whole cost of the Cinq-Cygne household never exceeded five thousand francs a year. But Laurence, who condescended to no details, was satisfied. Her guardian and his wife, unconsciously ruled by the imperceptible influence of her strong character, which was felt even in little things, had ended by admiring her whom they had known and treated as a child,--a sufficiently rare feeling. But in her manner, her deep voice, her commanding eye, Laurence held that inexplicable power which rules all men,--even when its strength is mere appearance.

To vulgar minds real depth is incomprehensible; it is perhaps for that reason that the populace is so prone to admire what it cannot understand. Monsieur and Madame d'Hauteserre, impressed by the habitual silence and erratic habits of the young girl, were constantly expecting some extraordinary thing of her.

Laurence, who did good intelligently and never allowed herself to be deceived, was held in the utmost respect by the peasantry although she was an aristocrat. Her sex, name, and great misfortunes, also the originality of her present life, contributed to give her authority over the inhabitants of the valley of Cinq-Cygne. She was sometimes absent for two days, attended by Gothard, but neither Monsieur nor Madame d'Hauteserre questioned her, on her return, as to the reasons of her absence. Please observe, however, that there was nothing odd or eccentric about Laurence. What she was and what she did was masked, as it were, by a feminine and even fragile appearance. Her heart was full of extreme sensibility, though her head contained a stoical firmness and the virile gift of resolution. Her clear-seeing eyes knew not how to weep; but no one would have imagined that the delicate white wrist with its tracery of blue veins could defy that of the boldest horseman. Her hand, so noble, so flexible, could handle gun or pistol with the ease of a practised marksman. She always wore when out of doors the coquettish little cap with visor and green veil which women wear on horseback. Her delicate fair face, thus protected, and her white throat tied with a black cravat, were never injured by her long rides in all weathers.

Under the Directory and at the beginning of the Consulate, Laurence had been able to escape the observation of others; but since the government had become a more settled thing, the new authorities, the prefect of the Aube, Malin's friends, and Malin himself had endeavored to undermine her in the community. Her preoccupying thought was the overthrow of Bonaparte, whose ambition and its triumphs excited the anger of her soul,--a cold, deliberate anger. The obscure and hidden enemy of a man at the pinnacle of glory, she kept her gaze upon him from the depths of her valley and her forests, with relentless fixity;there were times when she thought of killing him in the roads about Malmaison or Saint-Cloud. Plans for the execution of this idea may have been the cause of many of her past actions, but having been initiated, after the peace of Amiens, into the conspiracy of the men who expected to make the 18th Brumaire recoil upon the First Consul, she had thenceforth subordinated her faculties and her hatred to their vast and well laid scheme, which was to strike at Bonaparte externally by the vast coalition of Russia, Austria, and Prussia (vanquished at Austerlitz) and internally by the coalition of men politically opposed to each other, but united by their common hatred of a man whose death some of them were meditating, like Laurence herself, without shrinking from the word assassination. This young girl, so fragile to the eye, so powerful to those who knew her well, was at the present moment the faithful guide and assistant of the exiled gentlemen who came from England to take part in this deadly enterprise.

Fouche relied on the co-operation of the /emigres/ everywhere beyond the Rhine to lure the Duc d'Enghien into the plot. The presence of that prince in the Baden territory, not far from Strasburg, gave much weight later to the accusation. The great question of whether the prince really knew of the enterprise, and was waiting on the frontier to enter France on its success, is one of those secrets about which, as about several others, the house of Bourbon has maintained an unbroken silence. As the history of that period recedes into the past, impartial historians will declare the imprudence, to say the least, of the Duc d'Enghien in placing himself close to the frontier at a time when a vast conspiracy was about to break forth, the secret of which was undoubtedly known to every member of the Bourbon family.

同类推荐
  • 黄帝太乙八门逆顺生死诀

    黄帝太乙八门逆顺生死诀

    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。
  • 孙毅庵奏议

    孙毅庵奏议

    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。
  • 佛说救疾经一卷

    佛说救疾经一卷

    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。
  • A Personal Record

    A Personal Record

    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。
  • 顺中论

    顺中论

    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
  • 马超逆袭三国

    马超逆袭三国

    渭水河畔,西凉军因曹操‘抹书离间计’自相残杀时,主角夺舍西凉锦马超,面对重重杀机,主角亡命血战,转折,从此处开始!逃过死劫,马超还要如历史上那般,继续成为刘大耳的附庸,最终郁郁寡欢而死?不,这不是我要的人生,活着就是为了征服,整个天下都会成为我的战利品!注:本文非爽文,主角不是超人,前期做不到智虐诸葛亮、庞统、司马懿、贾诩、曹操等顶尖智者,他会获得胜利,也会伴有失败,他既能算计别人,也会遭人算计!主角是个运气不错的普通人,也是个成长潜力无极限的普通人,随着主角慢慢融入这个时代,也有一天,主角无论是谋略还是武艺,都能与顶尖古人比肩!
  • 若天还未黑

    若天还未黑

    因为还年轻不想错过你所以我在等,等你回来亦或是等我死心。
  • 半面妆珍娘

    半面妆珍娘

    来源于小说绘中,萧十一郎的《半面妆》中的珍娘。我喜欢,所以希望更多人都喜欢。我的珍娘,本就该配这世上最好的东西!
  • 武破仙惊

    武破仙惊

    百族林立,风云激荡,龙蛇起陆,天才并起,巨头出世,人族式微,大厦将倾。成仙之路起波澜,长生之说引纷争。武道极致,能否打开无上仙国?得见长生?
  • 青羽上仙

    青羽上仙

    千百年来,正道之中出了一个道法武功修炼的出神入化之人,此人手拿一把七星龙渊剑,诛妖邪、扶正道,魔教之人只要一听到他的名字都会望而生畏。此人道号青羽,世人都叫他青羽上仙。深夜,天虞山的望生涯之上,经常会看到那个孤独的身影,独自饮酒。一轮明月,高照山头,一个人在那举杯痛饮,似乎忘记世间一切。
  • 总裁大叔上瘾:纯情娇妻

    总裁大叔上瘾:纯情娇妻

    相恋七年的男友娶了别的女人,还设计让她做伴娘。一夜醉酒,却在陌生男人的房间醒来!没心没肺的二货闺蜜,卯足劲把她骗去做后妈。大叔不但英俊潇洒,还喜欢做游戏。
  • 我不是公主之恶魔的依恋

    我不是公主之恶魔的依恋

    我,一个普通的农村女孩,意外地成为了金氏家族的一员,一次无意之举竟得罪了阴晴不定、喜怒无常的恶魔。更糟糕的是,我被他抓住了把柄,从此贫乏的人生开始改写,开始了一段奇幻多彩的生活。再次迷路,邂逅同一个一个拥有神秘魔咒的忧郁少年,透露出迷人的笑容和充满柔情的眼神,在他浅笑的背后埋藏是心酸的等待还是温柔的守护……
  • 重生异世当军官

    重生异世当军官

    已经死去的人再睁眼变成十二岁的小丫头?偏偏还是个有着高科技的未来异时空,头疼如何隐藏身份的她惊喜发现自己带了个随身系统,可惜只给学习系统,学成之日便是系统离开之时,无所谓啦,先解决燃眉之急。好不容易功成名就偶然又打开了新世界的大门,一遍又一遍挑战自己的认知程度,南夏只想说,还有什么招都放出来吧!!!求点击收藏推荐评论!!!!
  • 福妻驾到

    福妻驾到

    现代饭店彪悍老板娘魂穿古代。不分是非的极品婆婆?三年未归生死不明的丈夫?心狠手辣的阴毒亲戚?贪婪而好色的地主老财?吃上顿没下顿的贫困宭境?不怕不怕,神仙相助,一技在手,天下我有!且看现代张悦娘,如何身带福气玩转古代,开面馆、收小弟、左纳财富,右傍美男,共绘幸福生活大好蓝图!!!!快本新书《天媒地聘》已经上架开始销售,只要3.99元即可将整本书抱回家,你还等什么哪,赶紧点击下面的直通车,享受乐乐精心为您准备的美食盛宴吧!)
  • 征服大女人

    征服大女人

    我家是单亲家庭,我爸有一个漂亮性感的女秘书,我觉得她想做我后妈,所以就想方设法破坏他们。然而我们却偷偷‘好’上了,终于有一天,我爸当场撞破了我们秘密……