登陆注册
14325700000045

第45章

Not lacking money, thanks to Michu, during their emigration, they had been able to travel and be received at foreign courts. Old d'Hauteserre and the abbe thought them rather haughty; but in their present position this may have been the sign of nobility of character.

They possessed all the eminent little marks of a careful education, to which they added a wonderful dexterity in bodily exercises. Their only dissimilarity was in the region of ideas. The youngest charmed others by his gaiety, the eldest by his melancholy; but the contrast, which was purely spiritual, was not at first observable.

"Ah, wife," whispered Michu in Marthe's ear, "how could one help devoting one's self to those young fellows?"Marthe, who admired them as a wife and mother, nodded her head prettily and pressed her husband's hand. The servants were allowed to kiss their new masters.

During their seven months' seclusion in the forest (which the young men had brought upon themselves) they had several times committed the imprudence of taking walks about their hiding-place, carefully guarded by Michu, his son, and Gothard. During these walks, taken usually on starlit nights, Laurence, reuniting the thread of their past and present lives, felt the utter impossibility of choosing between the brothers. A pure and equal love for each divided her heart. She fancied indeed that she had two hearts. On their side, the brothers dared not speak to themselves of their impending rivalry. Perhaps all three were trusting to time and accident. The condition of her mind on this subject acted no doubt upon Laurence as they entered the house, for she hesitated a moment, and then took an arm of each as she entered the salon followed by Monsieur and Madame d'Hauteserre, who were occupied with their sons. Just then a cheer burst from the servants, "Long live the Cinq-Cygne and the Simeuse families!"Laurence turned round, still between the brothers, and made a charming gesture of acknowledgement When these nine persons came to actually observe each other,--for in all meetings, even in the bosom of families, there comes a moment when friends observe those from whom they have been long parted,--the first glance which Adrien d'Hauteserre cast upon Laurence seemed to his mother and to the abbe to betray love. Adrien, the youngest of the d'Hauteserres, had a sweet and tender soul; his heart had remained adolescent in spite of the catastrophes which had nerved the man. Like many young heroes, kept virgin in spirit by perpetual peril, he was daunted by the timidities of youth. In this he was very different from his brother, a man of rough manners, a great hunter, an intrepid soldier, full of resolution, but coarse in fibre and without activity of mind or delicacy in matters of the heart. One was all soul, the other all action; and yet they both possessed in the same degree that sense of honor which is the vital essence of a gentleman. Dark, short, slim and wiry, Adrien d'Hauteserre gave an impression of strength;whereas Robert, who was tall, pale and fair, seemed weakly. Adrien, nervous in temperament, was stronger in soul; while his brother though lymphatic, was fonder of bodily exercise. Families often present these singularities of contrast, the causes of which it might be interesting to examine; but they are mentioned here merely to explain how it was that Adrien was not likely to find a rival in his brother. Robert's affection for Laurence was that of a relation, the respect of a noble for a girl of his own caste. In matters of sentiment the elder d'Hauteserre belonged to the class of men who consider woman as an appendage to man, limiting her sphere to the physical duties of maternity; demanding perfection in that respect, but regarding her mentally as of no account. To such men the admittance of woman as an actual sharer in society, in the body politic, in the family, meant the subversion of the social system. In these days we are so far removed from this theory of primitive people that almost all women, even those who do not desire the fatal emancipation offered by the new sects, will be shocked in merely hearing of it; but it must be owned that Robert d'Hauteserre had the misfortune to think in that way.

Robert was a man of the middle-ages, Adrien a man of to-day. These differences instead of hindering their affection had drawn its bonds the closer. On the first evening after the return of the young men these shades of character were caught and understood by the abbe, Mademoiselle Goujet, and Madame d'Hauteserre, who, while playing their boston, were secretly foreseeing the difficulties of the future.

At twenty-three years of age, having passed through the many reflections of a long solitude and the anguish of a defeated enterprise, Laurence had become a woman, and felt within her an absorbing desire for affection. She now put forth all her graces of her mind and was charming; she revealed the hidden beauties of her tender heart with the simple candor of a child. For the last thirteen years she had been a woman only through suffering; she longed to obtain amends for it, and she showed herself as loving and winning as she had been, up to this time, strong and great.

The four elders, who were the last to leave the salon that night, admitted to each other that they felt uneasy at the new position of this charming girl. What power might not passion have on a young woman of her character and with her nobility of soul? The twin brothers loved her with one and the same love and a blind devotion; which of the two would Laurence choose? To choose one was to kill the other.

同类推荐
  • 唐律疏议

    唐律疏议

    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。
  • 西归行仪

    西归行仪

    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。
  • The Country of the Pointed Firs

    The Country of the Pointed Firs

    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。
  • 上清诸真章奏

    上清诸真章奏

    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。
  • 净土全书

    净土全书

    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
  • 天使与恶魔之这萌宠不一般

    天使与恶魔之这萌宠不一般

    魔界四分五裂,锁阳不得不带走祖传下来的一颗蛋,没想到这颗蛋居然能自己破壳而出?!长得还挺招人疼的,只不过不像狗不像熊的要怎么养?锁阳郁闷了,为了千年魔王的唤醒仪式,自己来到人间寻找那七件唤醒仪式需要的物品,而在这期间,这只名叫加尔的萌宠一步一步的跟着成长……唤醒仪式的进行,锁阳在加尔的提醒下,一点一点想起曾经……加尔这时候……也成了一个可以说话的……锁阳要唤醒的,是谁?加尔一直不离不弃的和锁阳一起共患难,目的又是什么?为什么魔王要留给锁阳寻找七件物品的线索而不是其他人?锁阳和千年魔王又是什么关系?!加尔到底是谁?!!
  • 我是魂法师

    我是魂法师

    八百年前,人类和魔兽爆发一场大战。而后,一堵巨墙将这个世界分成了两半。
  • 鬼影迷案

    鬼影迷案

    一桩离奇的命案,引出一条条匪夷所思的线索。拨开迷雾,他将看到怎样的结局?阴谋?手段?内鬼?等待他的,还会有什么?
  • 精灵公社

    精灵公社

    目·奇泽F,四大魔法师雷神法师F字家传承弟子。古老的魔法之术雷电在他的身上辗转着命运的匪夷,【精灵公社】第二之家。灵魂交接处,他看到了自己。是什么人?为何会利用如此手段破坏自己身边的一切。相同的面容,失去的记忆随着时间的流失支离破碎的袭来。零碎的记忆找不到任何的根据,无法相信那是曾经的自己。否认,让目·奇泽F陷入奔溃边缘,龙凤传承。他的力量来自于龙凤爪下的雷电之珠。代表着自我的正义,毁灭一切所谓的黑暗。看失忆少年目·奇泽F再续魔法传奇的辉煌。
  • 网游之黄巾乱世

    网游之黄巾乱世

    写三国游戏,更是写游戏三国。看平凡屌丝少年,如何逆转命运,看落魄黄巾小贼,如何绝地反击。三国乱世,虚幻网游,潇洒走一遭,造反亦逍遥。最真切的三国网游,步步为营,没有爆棚的狗屎运,没有逆天的神属性,唯有不屈壮志心!
  • 紫极天耀

    紫极天耀

    从前她天真善良,总是认为父母说的一切都是对的,但是时间让她看透了一切,年龄又小的她,本应有个快乐的童年,被父母关怀,但她没有,她原本相信只要他够努力够听话乖巧,但她错了,在她父母眼里只有她姐姐才是最好的,不论她怎样都比不上·······一次机缘让时间重来,她重磅回归,不再是以前那个她,她脱离家族,不再被束缚,从此光芒万丈,是所有人所要仰视的存在·······
  • 控卫传说

    控卫传说

    有些二米以上高个子的人,认为篮球是一项专属于高个子的运动,没身高,就等于一切都没有!更有个别几人,甚至狂言,矮个子的人都打羽毛球,玩乒乓球吧,否时就是浪费时间!还说出了令人愤怒的,无身高不篮球!你信吗?身高如你我都是一样普通,却热爱篮球的人们,你们信吗?如果你不信,就请看用我用自己心血写下的一段传奇吧!愿用我微薄笔力,写心中故事,给你一点小感动,小欢笑,与小泪水,足矣!
  • 至强刀锋

    至强刀锋

    这是一个不为人知的远古年代,比三皇五帝更加久远。这里人族三帝争端不休,巫、妖、人、神、魔各族乱战,各种上古遗族浮现人间,批批天才越众而出。天下封神,三界血歌。这里讲述了一个沉睡万载的强者意念,战八荒、扫六合、席卷天下的传奇。这里演绎了一个破碎星球的最后残魂,练神功、泡美女、问鼎巅峰的佳话。
  • 他世遇他

    他世遇他

    “大人总是不够诚实,所以难以捕捉到心中至真至纯的感觉。”后来被某男恶评为“置身度外的人”,是时空的差异还是其他原因……回家与归途是同一个意思吗?穿越漫漫时空的“我”会走向何方?“我”忘不了一路上的风景,活过,爱过,痛过,它却仅仅是一个梦?是吗……
  • 宝髻经四法优波提舍

    宝髻经四法优波提舍

    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。