THE COMPLETE WORKS OF ÉMILE ZOLA. Эмиль Золя
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Название: THE COMPLETE WORKS OF ÉMILE ZOLA
Автор: Эмиль Золя
Издательство: Bookwire
Жанр: Языкознание
isbn: 9788027233410
isbn:
It was a pretty sheet of pink paper exhaling a slight smell of incense. Marius was about to return it to the book, but as he took it up he saw it was marked with the initial D and a cross in relief. He rapidly unfolded it and read as follows:
“Dear Soul, you whose salvation has been entrusted to me by the Lord, listen, I beg of you, to the scheme I have formed for your eternal happiness. I have never dared explain that scheme to you, verbally, fearing to give way to the adorable emotions that your righteousness creates within me.
“You cannot remain any longer in your brother’s house. It is a place of perdition; your brother is devoted to the abominable worship of modern idols. Come, come with me. We will find a solitary spot where I will place you in the hands of the Almighty.
“Perhaps my tears and trembling, have made you penetrate the secret of my heart. I love you as the Holy Church, our mother, loves the pure souls that come to her. I dream of you each night, I see you entwined in a celestial embrace, and we both rise to heaven exchanging angelic kisses.
“Ah! do not resist the voice that is calling you. Come. There is a superior religion which we do not reveal to the vulgar. That religion unites creatures together. It makes spouses, not martyrs.
“Bear in mind our conversations. Say to yourself that I love you, and come. I await you at my house. I shall have a post-chaise in an adjoining street.”
Marius was astounded after reading this. Abbé Donadéi actually suggested an elopement to Mademoiselle Claire. It is true his letter was pervaded with incense, with rakish, cloudy mysticism, which hid the brutal meaning of his thoughts beneath the devout and fondling sweetness of words; the sense was paraphrased, diluted in that odd style of expression which some Roman Catholic priests affect, but Abbé Donadéi had not been able to find a religious periphrasis for the post-chaise, and his hypocritical letter ended coarsely, by a gendarme-like offer which no one could misinterpret. The graceful abbé, to have cast aside the sly prudence that guided him in all his acts, must have been carried away by fierce desire.
The clerk read and re-read the letter, asking himself what he had better do. He felt indignant, his anger rose within him. But one anxiety restrained him. He was ignorant as to the harm that had been done, he did not know what Mademoiselle Claire thought, and he was afraid lest Donadéi, in the mysterious seclusion of the confessional, had not already succeeded in troubling the young girl’s heart. Before striking the priest he wanted to be sure that he would not, at the same time, strike his victim. For nothing in the world would he have run the risk of creating a scandal that would certainly have killed M. Martelly.
He resolved that if the abbé were to be the only one to suffer, to punish him in an original way. He took the prayer-book and went to Mademoiselle Claire in great alarm lest her face should display incriminating emotion.
CHAPTER XVII
IN WHICH SAUVAIRE MAKES UP HIS MIND TO HAVE HIS MONEY’S WORTH OF FUN
MADEMOISELLE CLAIRE MARTELLY was a tall, handsome girl of twenty-three, whom circumstances had thrown into devotion. She was to have married one of her cousins, who was accidentally drowned at Endoume during a pleasure trip. Despair had brought her nearer to God, and, little by little, she had tasted such sweetness in frequenting churches that she had fallen asleep, as it were, in the penetrating perfume of the incense, soothed by the murmuring voices of the priests.
Hers was not precisely a religious mind, it was a gentle and contemplative one, which religion had consoled, and which was grateful on that account. Perhaps, one of these days, there might be an awakening and she would return to the joys of the world. In the meanwhile she lived a rather retired, calm life, and her tastes were simple. Her brother, who was a freethinker and a Republican, of broad intellect and a kindly nature, allowed her to do as she pleased. He only took advantage of his position as head of the family, to protect her interests and assure her an independent position.
Marius found Mademoiselle Claire in a small drawingroom where she generally worked at baby-linen which she gave away to the poor. The young girl knew Marius and treated him affectionately, as a friend of the family. M. Martelly had often taken his clerk with him to an estate he owned near Estaque, and there Marius and Claire had become good friends. Brave hearts find each other out and are not long in coming to an understanding.
The beautiful devout on seeing the clerk enter, jumped up and held out her hand to him.
“Ah! It’s you, Marius,” she exclaimed gaily. “So you’re well again. So much the better. Heaven has granted my prayer.”
The young man felt very much touched at this friendly welcome. He gazed in the young girl’s eyes and found naught there but a pure flame and a look of calm virginity. That look appeared to him so tranquil and straightforward, that he felt as if relieved of a lump that had been choking him.
“I thank you,” he answered. “But I have not come to show you a ghost.”
And handing her the prayer-book, he added:
“Here is a mass-book which it appears you left behind you yesterday at Saint Victor.”
“Ah! yes,” said the young girl. “I was going to send and fetch it. How did it come into your hands?”
“A beadle just brought it.”
“A beadle!”
“Yes, from Abbé Donadéi.”
Claire took the book and placed it quietly on a piece of furniture without showing the least concern. Marius followed her anxiously with his eyes. If the slightest colour had risen to her cheeks, he would have thought all lost.
“By the way,” continued the young girl, sitting down, “I think you know M. Chastanier.”
“Yes,” answered Marius astonished.
“He is an excellent man, is he not?”
“Certainly, he has a good heart and a profoundly pious and upright mind.”
“My brother has sung his praises to me loudly; but in religious matters, you know, I do not place unlimited confidence in my brother.”
She smiled. Marius could not understand what she was coming to; only he found her so quiet and happy that he felt entirely reassured.
“I see Abbé Chastanier is a positive saint,” she continued, “and from tomorrow I shall entrust him with the care of directing my conscience.”
“Are you going to leave Abbé Donadéi?” exclaimed Marius, warmly.
The young girl again raised her head, surprised at the clerk’s tone of voice.
“Yes, I am leaving him,” she answered, very simply. “He is young and has the light mind of an Italian. Besides, I have learnt ugly things about him.”
She continued stitching quietly with her needle, there was not a tremor in her hands and her forehead remained white and pure. Then Marius withdrew, convinced that he could act without wounding this virgin conscience, and that while punishing Donadéi, he would punish СКАЧАТЬ