登陆注册
15339400000006

第6章

Rosalie became in my eyes the most interesting being in Vendome.As Istudied her,I detected signs of an inmost thought,in spite of the blooming health that glowed in her dimpled face.There was in her soul some element of ruth or of hope;her manner suggested a secret,like the expression of devout souls who pray in excess,or of a girl who has killed her child and for ever hears its last cry.Nevertheless,she was simple and clumsy in her ways;her vacant smile had nothing criminal in it,and you would have pronounced her innocent only from seeing the large red and blue checked kerchief that covered her stalwart bust,tucked into the tight-laced bodice of a lilac-and white-striped gown.'No,'said I to myself,'I will not quit Vendome without knowing the whole history of la Grande Breteche.To achieve this end,I will make love to Rosalie if it proves necessary.'

'Rosalie!'said I one evening.

'Your servant,sir?'

'You are not married?'She started a little.

'Oh!there is no lack of men if ever I take a fancy to be miserable!'she replied,laughing.She got over her agitation at once;for every woman,from the highest lady to the inn-servant inclusive,has a native presence of mind.

'Yes;you are fresh and good-looking enough never to lack lovers!

But tell me,Rosalie,why did you become an inn-servant on leaving Madame de Merret?Did she not leave you some little annuity?'

'Oh yes,sir.But my place here is the best in all the town of Vendome.'

This reply was such an one as judges and attorneys call evasive.

Rosalie,as it seemed to me,held in this romantic affair the place of the middle square of the chess-board:she was at the very centre of the interest and of the truth;she appeared to me to be tied into the knot of it.It was not a case for ordinary love-making;this girl contained the last chapter of a romance,and from that moment all my attentions were devoted to Rosalie.By dint of studying the girl,Iobserved in her,as in every woman whom we make our ruling thought,a variety of good qualities;she was clean and neat;she was handsome,Ineed not say;she soon was possessed of every charm that desire can lend to a woman in whatever rank of life.A fortnight after the notary's visit,one evening,or rather one morning,in the small hours,I said to Rosalie:

'Come,tell me all you know about Madame de Merret.'

'Oh!'she said,'I will tell you;but keep the secret carefully.'

'All right,my child;I will keep all your secrets with a thief's honor,which is the most loyal known.'

'If it is all the same to you,'said she,'I would rather it should be with your own.'

Thereupon she set her head-kerchief straight,and settled herself to tell the tale;for there is no doubt a particular attitude of confidence and security is necessary to the telling of a narrative.

The best tales are told at a certain hour--just as we are all here at table.No one ever told a story well standing up,or fasting.

If I were to reproduce exactly Rosalie's diffuse eloquence,a whole volume would scarcely contain it.Now,as the event of which she gave me a confused account stands exactly midway between the notary's gossip and that of Madame Lepas,as precisely as the middle term of a rule-of-three sum stands between the first and third,I have only to relate it in as few words as may be.I shall therefore be brief.

The room at la Grande Breteche in which Madame de Merret slept was on the ground floor;a little cupboard in the wall,about four feet deep,served her to hang her dresses in.Three months before the evening of which I have to relate the events,Madame de Merret had been seriously ailing,so much so that her husband had left her to herself,and had his own bedroom on the first floor.By one of those accidents which it is impossible to foresee,he came in that evening two hours later than usual from the club,where he went to read the papers and talk politics with the residents in the neighborhood.His wife supposed him to have come in,to be in bed and asleep.But the invasion of France had been the subject of a very animated discussion;the game of billiards had waxed vehement;he had lost forty francs,an enormous sum at Vendome,where everybody is thrifty,and where social habits are restrained within the bounds of a simplicity worthy of all praise,and the foundation perhaps of a form of true happiness which no Parisian would care for.

For some time past Monsieur de Merret had been satisfied to ask Rosalie whether his wife was in bed;on the girl's replying always in the affirmative,he at once went to his own room,with the good faith that comes of habit and confidence.But this evening,on coming in,he took it into his head to go to see Madame de Merret,to tell her of his ill-luck,and perhaps to find consolation.During dinner he had observed that his wife was very becomingly dressed;he reflected as he came home from the club that his wife was certainly much better,that convalescence had improved her beauty,discovering it,as husbands discover everything,a little too late.Instead of calling Rosalie,who was in the kitchen at the moment watching the cook and the coachman playing a puzzling hand at cards,Monsieur de Merret made his way to his wife's room by the light of his lantern,which he set down at the lowest step of the stairs.His step,easy to recognize,rang under the vaulted passage.

At the instant when the gentleman turned the key to enter his wife's room,he fancied he heard the door shut of the closet of which I have spoken;but when he went in,Madame de Merret was alone,standing in front of the fireplace.The unsuspecting husband fancied that Rosalie was in the cupboard;nevertheless,a doubt,ringing in his ears like a peal of bells,put him on his guard;he looked at his wife,and read in her eyes an indescribably anxious and haunted expression.

'You are very late,'said she.--Her voice,usually so clear and sweet,struck him as being slightly husky.

Monsieur de Merret made no reply,for at this moment Rosalie came in.

同类推荐
  • 筹河篇

    筹河篇

    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。
  • 竹叶亭杂记

    竹叶亭杂记

    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。
  • 女科要旨

    女科要旨

    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。
  • 淡水厅筑城案卷

    淡水厅筑城案卷

    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。
  • 东观汉记

    东观汉记

    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。
热门推荐
  • 狼性总裁,小娇妻别想逃

    狼性总裁,小娇妻别想逃

    他是她最爱的风哥哥,为了守住心中的挚爱,为了守住这份没有爱的婚姻,她甘愿没有自我,甘愿将所有的委屈一一咽下!当她被他的情人用刀抵住脖子的时候,他的情人凄惨决绝的质问道:“我和你老婆肚子里的孩子,你选一个吧。”却没想到换回他一句冷漠狠绝,“哪个我都不要!”她才终于看透了这个男人,脸上划过丝丝泪痕,笑的凄哀无比,转身从十九楼跳下、、、耳膜里传来一声虚无飘渺撕心裂肺的“馨儿!!!”醒来之后孩子没了、父母死了、家毁了!一切的矛头都指向自己深爱的男人!原来爱错一个人,付出的代价竟是这般大,大到她根本就承受不住,大到她想死!当危险一步步逼近的时候,她选择自己一个人下地狱,活着太累了,死了或许才是最好的解脱!再次醒来,她失忆!变成他的养女!面对他深请灼灼的目光,她朱唇轻启,清脆的声音里全是讥讽,“没想到啊,你勾.引未成年的手段真是高超呢!怎么?接下来是不是想亲吻我啊?”他原本浓情脉脉的眼眸里忽的全是哀伤之情,转身离去之际,那落寞孤独的背影深深的刺痛了她的心,这么高傲威风的男人原来可以脆弱到这种地步。疼痛无比的心,让她不想再欺骗自己,终于在那背影完全消失前,脱口而出,“如果说我也爱上你了,你相信吗?”她心里暗自嘲讽,真是好笑啊,居然爱上了自己的小爸,那个收养了自己的男人!男子怔愣了片刻,转过身子,深邃幽暗的眼眸里满是诧异与欣喜,当两人的唇瓣完全贴合在一起的时候,才发觉原来一切都是真的,才发觉世界可以变得那么美好、、、两人过着水乳相交的“幸”福生活,抵死纠缠、、、所谓好花不常开,好景不常在、、、知道真相的她发誓一定要亲手杀了这个禽.兽。在爱与恨的边缘彷徨,刀子落下,却不见血,他猩红的眼眸里满是情殇:你真这般希望我死?随着她的歇斯底里,手一重,被他捉住的手向前一拉,刀子深深的插进他的心脏,鲜血不断的涌出,他说我爱你。他兄弟嚎叫道:穆子馨,你会后悔的!她笑的泪流满面:我不姓穆!真相究竟是什么?什么又是真相?最终她后悔了,当真正的真相浮出水面的时候,她哭的肝肠寸断、撕心裂肺、、、
  • 武道邪公子

    武道邪公子

    心正之鬼可为神心邪之人可为鬼!这世界是一面镜子,有好人就会有坏人,有善良就会有邪恶,所以命运也只不过是来回穿梭于镜子两面罢了。少年廖凡游走于正邪之间,仍不忘初心,重情守诺。斗魂伴随,战戟在手,屠尽万恶又何妨!上天入地,踏碎凌霄也要让你灰飞烟灭!
  • 因为需要你的爱

    因为需要你的爱

    “爸,妈,救我!快点救我!”她不断呼喊求救,声音嘶哑,满头大汗与苍白的脸显得极为惊恐。路越来越窄,雨势越来越大。夜,越来越黑。身后的那个黑影就要追上来了,她心中顿时充满无边的恐惧。突然,身后传来一道阴森的狞笑声:“桀桀…雷夏颖,你跑不掉了!”......
  • 我们都不是醒着的

    我们都不是醒着的

    爱睡懒觉的人啊,当你睡着做着白日梦的时候,来到了一个上下颠倒错乱的世界,与永恒的一族建立生死契约,得到了不朽的力量,为着自己的正义和信念去战斗吧!我想要成功,我却很普通。因为有了你们,我不再普通,我就会成功!
  • 极品牧灵强少

    极品牧灵强少

    刘枫,平凡小人物,应届毕业生,无意中激活体内潜能,从此跨越式体验全新精彩人生。他会催眠,轻松掌控对方的言行举止;他会灵谕,让人听东说西,前言不搭后语;他会燃情,使人控制不住的豪情万丈,瞬间连**都不放在眼里;他会牧灵术,隐身幕后,支配万千社会名流,纵享尊贵人生;金钱,美女,权势……职场,商场,官场……刘枫的座右铭:世间一切疯狂事物,都应该受到疯狂的惩罚。标签:爽文,扮猪吃虎,逆袭,追美,创业,人性演变,由善到恶,人性对决,帮派对抗,幕后老大,灵源镜像,御牧双灵,各类身份高端、性情变0态大人物……
  • 赤色火焰

    赤色火焰

    【天谕同人衍生小说】那团火印在她的记忆里挥之不去,那红色出现在他的梦境中难以摆脱。他只是想一心悟道,领悟白帝留下的刃道奥义,命运却再三捉弄。她不明白守护时间秩序有什么意义,可她又不知走向何方。柳夷光、启极、帝都、狐族等,所有的一切交织在云垂大陆,掀起又一阵狂澜。
  • 网游之试剑江湖

    网游之试剑江湖

    决战江湖,腥风血雨!幻世中的荣誉殿堂玩家叶晖,离开游戏界几年之后再战江湖重临巅峰。
  • 王妃太彪悍:鬼帝hoid不住

    王妃太彪悍:鬼帝hoid不住

    现代第一佣兵女杀手夜觉奇葩穿越,好心地救了一个家伙,对他实施过''非礼''之后,竟然还赖着不走了。尼玛,他竟然是鬼帝哦。。。。。But,虽然他在别人眼中多厉害,多冷淡,但是,在她这里就只有乖乖的了。(啊哈哈哈哈哈。作者狂笑中)鬼帝宠她,那叫个一塌糊涂啊。。。。。
  • TFBOYS:超少年密码

    TFBOYS:超少年密码

    在2050年这个科技发达的时代,三个少年之间会发生什么科幻的事情……
  • 生肖徒

    生肖徒

    气分玄黄,人属阴阳.世人皆知身属对应的生肖属象,对其了解却仅限于婚丧或命途测算等,然而他们不知道的是,每个人的生肖其实仿如人之第二灵魂,一直陷于沉睡之中,或许终其一生都不曾唤醒.尘世之中,有这样一个家族,他们背负独特的使命和永世诅咒,却终于不堪重负,想通过隐世改变命运,然而,纷争的介入并在意人的意志,他们终归无法打破命运的枷锁,尘世开始浮现他们的身影......