The Last Cavalier: Being the Adventures of Count Sainte-Hermine in the Age of Napoleon. Alexandre Dumas

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СКАЧАТЬ de Sourdis helped Claire up from her knees, had her sit down next to her, and then questioned her, but these are the only words the mother got out of her daughter: “My dear mother, Hector told me a family secret that he believes he must hide from everyone except the girl he wants to make his wife. I am that girl. He solicits the favor of coming to ask your permission for a marriage we desire more than anything. He is free, he has an annual income of one hundred thousand francs, and we love each other. Think about it, Mother dear. But a refusal on your part would be a calamity for both of us!”

      Having spoken firmly but respectfully, Claire then bowed to her mother and started to walk away.

      “And if I say yes?” said Madame de Sourdis.

      “Oh, Mother,” cried Claire, throwing herself into her arms, “how good you are and how I love you!”

      “And now that I have reassured your heart,” Madame de Soudis said, “sit down and let us speak reasonably.”

      Madame de Sourdis seated herself on a sofa. Claire sat in front of her, on a cushion, and took her mother’s hands. “I’m all ears, Mother,” said Claire with a smile.

      “In times like ours,” said Madame de Sourdis, “it is absolutely necessary to belong to some party. I believe that Hector de Sainte-Hermine numbers himself among the Royalists. Yesterday, when I was chatting with your godfather Dr. Cabanis, a great man of science who also has good sense, he congratulated me on the friendship Madame Bonaparte has for me. He believes strongly that you should likewise become as close as possible to her daughter Hortense. In his opinion, that is where your future lies.

      “As you know, Cabanis is the First Consul’s personal doctor, and he is convinced the First Consul, in his genius, will not be content to stay where he is situated now. A man does not risk something like the 18th Brumaire just to sit in a consul’s armchair; he does it rather to rule from a throne. So those who attach themselves to Bonaparte’s star before the veil of the future is rent will be carried along with him in the whirlwind of his destiny; along with him they will rise.

      “The First Consul, we know, loves to bring great families, rich families, over to his side. In that regard, Sainte-Hermine leaves nothing to be desired. He has an income of one hundred thousand francs; his family goes back to the Crusades. His entire family, too, has died for the Royalist cause, so truly, he owes nothing more to their campaign. He is of an age that has allowed him to remain thus far outside of political events. Whereas his father and two brothers all gave their lives for old France, he has not yet pledged anything to any party. It is up to him, then, by accepting a position with the First Consul, to live for new France.

      “Please note that I am not making this step on his part a condition for your marriage. I would be more than pleased to see Hector join the side of the First Consul. If he refuses, however, it is because his conscience tells him that he must, and only God can judge the human conscience. Whichever path he chooses, he will be my daughter’s husband nonetheless, and no less will he be my beloved son-in-law.”

      “When might I write to him, Mother?” Claire asked.

      “Whenever you like, my child,” answered her mother.

      That very evening, Claire sent him a message, and the next day before noon, as soon as he could appropriately appear, Hector was knocking again at the front door.

      This time he was taken directly to see Madame de Sourdis, who welcomed him with open arms, like a mother. They were still holding each other tightly when Claire opened the door, and seeing them, she cried, “Oh, Mother. How happy I am!” Madame de Sourdis again opened her arms, so that she could embrace both of her children.

      The marriage was agreed upon. All that was left to discuss with the young Comte was the matter of his joining the First Consul’s administration.

      Hector, with Madame de Sourdis on his left and Claire on his right, was seated on the sofa with his future mother-in-law’s hand in his on one side and his fiancée’s on the other. Claire took it upon herself to explain to Hector the high opinion that Dr. Cabanis held of Bonaparte and to present Madame de Sourdis’s hope regarding Hector’s future. Hector kept his eyes fixed attentively on Claire as she tried to repeat word for word her mother’s reasoning on the matter.

      When she had finished, Hector bowed to Madame de Sourdis, and looking even more intently at Claire than he had while she was speaking, he said, “Claire, based on what I told you yesterday, and I am not sorry to have gone on at such length, put yourself in my place and answer your mother. Your answer will be my answer.”

      The girl thought for a moment and then threw herself into her mother’s arms. “Oh, Mother!” she cried, shaking her head. “He cannot. His brother’s blood flows between them.”

      Madame de Sourdis bowed her head. It was clear that she felt great disappointment. She had dreamed of a high rank in the army for her son-in-law; and for her daughter, a high position at the court.

      “Madame,” said Hector, “please don’t think that I am among those people who praise the old regime to the detriment of the current one, or that I am blind to the First Consul’s great qualities. I saw him the other day for the first time at Madame de Permon’s ball, and rather than feeling repulsed, I was attracted to him. I admire his campaign of ’96 and ’97 as a masterpiece of modern strategy and an exemplar of his military genius. I am less enthusiastic, I’ll admit, about his Egyptian campaign, which could have no happy outcome and was no more than a mask to cover his immense thirst for fame: Bonaparte fought and won where Marius and Pompey had also fought and won. By that, he hoped to awaken and amend ancient echoes that for centuries had repeated no names but those of Alexander and Caesar. How tempting. But it was an expensive fantasy that cost our country so much money and so many men! As for the most recent campaign, at Marengo, that was a campaign only for personal glory, undertaken to give a firm footing to the legitimacy of the 18th Brumaire and to force foreign governments to recognize the new French government. But, as everyone knows, Bonaparte was not a military genius. He was lucky, like a gambler who is about to lose and then draws two trump cards. And what trump cards they were! Kellermann and Desaix! The 18th Brumaire was no more than a conspiracy whose lucky success in the end barely justifies its author’s means. What if it had failed? What if his attempt to overthrow the established government had been ruled a rebellion, a crime of treason? Then in the Bonaparte family at least three heads would have rolled. Chance served him well when he returned from Alexandria, fortune was on his side at Marengo, and his boldness saved him in Saint-Cloud. But a temperate man, a man not blinded by passion, would never mistake three lightning flashes, however bright they might be, for the dawn of a great day. If I were completely free of my background, if my family had not stood firmly in the Royalist camp, I would have no objection to linking my own fortune to Bonaparte’s, although I consider him an illustrious adventurer who once fought a war for France and two other times for himself. Now, to prove to you that I am not prejudiced against him, I promise that the first time he does something great for France I shall come over to his side. For to my great astonishment, and although I owe my most recent loss to him, I do admire him in spite of his faults and in spite of myself. That is the kind of influence that those of a superior nature exert upon those lesser beings around them, and I feel that influence.”

      “I understand,” said Madame de Sourdis. “But will you at least permit one thing?”

      “It is not for me to permit,” said Hector, “but rather for you to order.”

      “Will you allow me to ask the First Consul and Madame Bonaparte for their assent to Claire’s marriage? Connected as I am to Madame Bonaparte, I can hardly do otherwise. It is simply a step that etiquette demands.”

      “Yes, СКАЧАТЬ