第 15 节
作者:莫再讲      更新:2024-08-29 08:48      字数:9322
  and cajoling him; and brought him to the kiosk。
  〃Do you suppose; my dear little papa; that our /Review/ is ever read
  abroad?〃
  〃It is but just started〃
  〃Well; I will wager that it is。〃
  〃It is hardly possible。〃
  〃Just go and find out; and note the names of any subscribers out of
  France。〃
  Two hours later Monsieur de Watteville said to his daughter:
  〃I was right; there is not one foreign subscriber as yet。 They hope to
  get some at Neufchatel; at Berne; and at Geneva。 One copy; is in fact;
  sent to Italy; but it is not paid forto a Milanese lady at her
  country house at Belgirate; on Lago Maggiore。
  〃What is her name?〃
  〃The Duchesse d'Argaiolo。〃
  〃Do you know her; papa?〃
  〃I have heard about her。 She was by birth a Princess Soderini; a
  Florentine; a very great lady; and quite as rich as her husband; who
  has one of the largest fortunes in Lombardy。 Their villa on the Lago
  Maggiore is one of the sights of Italy。〃
  Two days after; Mariette placed the following letter in Mademoiselle
  de Watteville's hand:
  Albert Savaron to Leopold Hannequin。
  〃Yes; 'tis so; my dear friend; I am at Besancon; while you thought
  I was traveling。 I would not tell you anything till success should
  begin; and now it is dawning。 Yes; my dear Leopold; after so many
  abortive undertakings; over which I have shed the best of my
  blood; have wasted so many efforts; spent so much courage; I have
  made up my mind to do as you have doneto start on a beaten path;
  on the highroad; as the longest but the safest。 I can see you jump
  with surprise in your lawyer's chair!
  〃But do not suppose that anything is changed in my personal life;
  of which you alone in the world know the secret; and that under
  the reservations /she/ insists on。 I did not tell you; my friend;
  but I was horribly weary of Paris。 The outcome of the first
  enterprise; on which I had founded all my hopes; and which came to
  a bad end in consequence of the utter rascality of my two
  partners; who combined to cheat and fleece meme; though
  everything was done by my energymade me give up the pursuit of a
  fortune after the loss of three years of my life。 One of these
  years was spent in the law courts; and perhaps I should have come
  worse out of the scrape if I had not been made to study law when I
  was twenty。
  〃I made up my mind to go into politics solely; to the end that I
  may some day find my name on a list for promotion to the Senate
  under the title of Comte Albert Savaron de Savarus; and so revive
  in France a good name now extinct in Belgiumthough indeed I am
  neither legitimate nor legitimized。〃
  〃Ah! I knew it! He is of noble birth!〃 exclaimed Rosalie; dropping the
  letter。
  〃You know how conscientiously I studied; how faithful and useful I
  was as an obscure journalist; and how excellent a secretary to the
  statesman who; on his part; was true to me in 1829。 Flung to the
  depths once more by the revolution of July just when my name was
  becoming known; at the very moment when; as Master of Appeals; I
  was about to find my place as a necessary wheel in the political
  machine; I committed the blunder of remaining faithful to the
  fallen; and fighting for them; without them。 Oh! why was I but
  three…and…thirty; and why did I not apply to you to make me
  eligible? I concealed from you all my devotedness and my dangers。
  What would you have? I was full of faith。 We should not have
  agreed。
  〃Ten months ago; when you saw me so gay and contented; writing my
  political articles; I was in despair; I foresaw my fate; at the
  age of thirty…seven; with two thousand francs for my whole
  fortune; without the smallest fame; just having failed in a noble
  undertaking; the founding; namely; of a daily paper answering only
  to a need of the future instead of appealing to the passions of
  the moment。 I did not know which way to turn; and I felt my own
  value! I wandered about; gloomy and hurt; through the lonely
  places of ParisParis which had slipped through my fingers
  thinking of my crushed ambitions; but never giving them up。 Oh;
  what frantic letters I wrote at that time to /her/; my second
  conscience; my other self! Sometimes I would say to myself; 'Why
  did I sketch so vast a programme of life? Why demand everything?
  Why not wait for happiness while devoting myself to some
  mechanical employment。'
  〃I then looked about me for some modest appointment by which I
  might live。 I was about to get the editorship of a paper under a
  manager who did not know much about it; a man of wealth and
  ambition; when I took fright。 'Would /she/ ever accept as her
  husband a man who had stooped so low?' I wondered。
  〃This reflection made me two…and…twenty again。 But; oh; my dear
  Leopold; how the soul is worn by these perplexities! What must not
  the caged eagles suffer; and imprisoned lions!They suffer what
  Napoleon suffered; not at Saint Helena; but on the Quay of the
  Tuileries; on the 10th of August; when he saw Louis XVI。 defending
  himself so badly while he could have quelled the insurrection; as
  he actually did; on the same spot; a little later; in Vendemiaire。
  Well; my life has been a torment of that kind; extending over four
  years。 How many a speech to the Chamber have I not delivered in
  the deserted alleys of the Bois de Boulogne! These wasted
  harangues have at any rate sharpened my tongue and accustomed my
  mind to formulate its ideas in words。 And while I was undergoing
  this secret torture; you were getting married; you had paid for
  your business; you were made law…clerk to the Maire of your
  district; after gaining a cross for a wound at Saint…Merri。
  〃Now; listen。 When I was a small boy and tortured cock…chafers;
  the poor insects had one form of struggle which used almost to put
  me in a fever。 It was when I saw them making repeated efforts to
  fly but without getting away; though they could spread their
  wings。 We used to say; 'They are marking time。' Now was this
  sympathy? Was it a vision of my own future?Oh! to spread my
  wings and yet be unable to fly! That has been my predicament since
  that fine undertaking by which I was disgusted; but which has now
  made four families rich。
  〃At last; seven months ago; I determined to make myself a name at
  the Paris Bar; seeing how many vacancies had been left by the
  promotion of several lawyers to eminent positions。 But when I
  remembered the rivalry I had seen among men of the press; and how
  difficult it is to achieve anything of any kind in Paris; the
  arena where so many champions meet; I came to a determination
  painful to myself; but certain in its results; and perhaps quicker
  than any other。 In the course of our conversations you had given
  me a picture of the society of Besancon; of the impossibility for
  a stranger to get on there; to produce the smallest effect; to get
  into society; or to succeed in any way whatever。 It was there that
  I determined to set up my flag; thinking; and rightly; that I
  should meet with no opposition; but find myself alone to canvass
  for the election。 The people of the Comte will not meet the
  outsider? The outsider will meet them! They refuse to admit him to
  their drawing…rooms; he will never go there! He never shows
  himself anywhere; not even in the streets! But there is one class
  that elects the deputiesthe commercial class。 I am going
  especially to study commercial questions; with which I am already
  familiar; I will gain their lawsuits; I will effect compromises; I
  will be the greatest pleader in Besancon。 By and by I will start a
  /Review/; in which I will defend the interests of the country;
  will create them; or preserve them; or resuscitate them。 When I
  shall have won a sufficient number of votes; my name will come out
  of the urn。 For a long time the unknown barrister will be treated
  with contempt; but some circumstance will arise to bring him to
  the frontsome unpaid defence; or a case which no other pleader
  will undertake。
  〃Well; my dear Leopold; I packed up my books in eleven cases; I
  bought such law…books as might prove useful; and I sent everything
  off; furniture and all; by carrier to Besancon。 I collected my
  diplomas; and I went to bid you good…bye。 The mail coach dropped
  me at Besancon; where; in three days' time; I chose a little set
  of rooms looking out over some gardens。 I sumptuously arranged the
  mysterious private room where I spend my nights and days; and
  where the portrait of my divinity reignsof her to whom my life
  is dedicate; who fills it wholly; who is the mainspring of my
  efforts; the secret of my courage; the cause of my talents。 Then;
  as soon as the furniture and books had come; I engaged an
  intelligent man…servant; and there I sat for five months like a
  hibernating marmot。
  〃My name had; however; been entered on the list of lawyers in the
  town。 At last I was called one day to defend an unhappy wretch at
  the Assizes; no doubt in order to hear me speak for once! One of
  the most influential merchants of Besancon was on the jury; he had
  a difficult task