第 7 节
作者:
津鸿一瞥 更新:2021-03-08 19:41 字数:9322
produced。 The moment I got into the light; however; I recognized the
beautifully turned form and sweet face of Adrienne de la Rocheaimard。
The poor girl was paler and thinner than when I had last seen her;
doubtless; I thought; the effects of her late illness; but I could not
conceal from myself the unpleasant fact that she was much less
expensively clad。 I say less expensively clad; though the expression is
scarcely just; for I had never seen her in attire that could properly be
called expensive at all; and; yet; the term mean would be equally
inapplicable to her present appearance。 It might be better to say that;
relieved by a faultless; even a fastidious neatness and grace; there was
an air of severe; perhaps of pinched economy in her present attire。 This
it was that had prevented our mistress from showing her fabrics as fine
as we; on the first demand。 Still I thought there was a slight flush on the
cheek of the poor girl; and a faint smile on her features; as she instantly
recognized us for old acquaintances。 For one; I own I was delighted at
finding her soft fingers again brushing over my own exquisite surface;
feeling as if one had been expressly designed for the other。 Then
Adrienne hesitated; she appeared desirous of speaking; and yet
abashed。 Her color went and came; until a deep rosy blush settled on
each cheek; and her tongue found utterance。
〃Would it suit you; madame;〃 she asked; as if dreading a repulse; 〃to
part with one of these?〃
〃Your pardon; mademoiselle; handkerchiefs of this quality are seldom
sold singly。〃
〃I feared as muchand yet I have occasion for only ONE。 It is to be
workedif it〃
The words came slowly; and they were spoken with difficulty。 At that
last uttered; the sound of the sweet girl's voice died entirely away。 I fear
it was the dullness of trade; rather than any considerations of
benevolence; that induced our mistress to depart from her rule。
〃The price of each handkerchief is five and twenty francs;
mademoiselle〃 she had offered the day before to sell us to the wife of
one of the richest agents de change in Paris; at a napoleon a piece〃the
price is five and twenty francs; if you take the dozen; but as you appear
to wish only ONE; rather than not oblige you; it may be had for eight
and twenty。〃
{agents de change = stockbrokers; napoleon = gold coin worth twenty
francs}
There was a strange mixture of sorrow and delight in the countenance of
Adrienne; but she did not hesitate; and; attracted by the odor of the eau
de cologne; she instantly pointed me out as the handkerchief she
selected。 Our mistress passed her scissors between me and my
neighbor of the cote gauche; and then she seemed instantly to regret her
own precipitation。 Before making the final separation from the piece;
she delivered herself of her doubts。
〃It is worth another franc; mademoiselle;〃 she said; 〃to cut a
handkerchief from the CENTRE of the piece。〃
The pain of Adrienne was now too manifest for concealment。 That she
ardently desired the handkerchief was beyond dispute; and yet there
existed some evident obstacle to her wishes。
〃I fear I have not so much money with me; madame〃 she said; pale as
death; for all sense of shame was lost in intense apprehension。 Still her
trembling hands did their duty; and her purse was produced。 A gold
napoleon promised well; but it had no fellow。 Seven more francs
appeared in single pieces。 Then two ten…sous were produced; after
which nothing remained but copper。 The purse was emptied; and the
reticule rummaged; the whole amounting to just twenty…eight francs
seven sous。
{sou = a small coin (5 centimes)20 sous equal one franc}
〃I have no more; madame;〃 said Adrienne; in a faint voice。
The woman; who had been trained in the school of suspicion; looked
intently at the other; for an instant; and then she swept the money into
her drawer; content with having extorted from this poor girl more than
she would have dared to ask of the wife of the agent de change。
Adrienne took me up and glided from the shop; as if she feared her
dear bought prize would yet be torn from her。 I confess my own delight
was so great that I did not fully appreciate; at the time; all the hardship
of the case。 It was enough to be liberated; to get into the fresh air; to be
about to fulfill my proper destiny。 I was tired of that sort of vegetation in
which I neither grew; nor was watered by tears; nor could I see those
stars on which I so much doated; and from which I had learned a
wisdom so profound。 The politics; too; were rendering our family
unpleasant; the cote droit was becoming superciliousit had always
been illogical; while the cote gauche was just beginning to discover that
it had made a revolution for other people。 Then it was happiness itself to
be with Adrienne; and when I felt the dear girl pressing me to her heart;
by an act of volition of which pocket…handkerchiefs are little suspected;
I threw up a fold of my gossamer…like texture; as if the air wafted me;
and brushed the first tear of happiness from her eye that she had shed in
months。
{revolution for other people = as he suggests frequently in this story;
Cooper believed that the promise of the July Revolution was betrayed;
and that the new government of King Louis Philippe proved little better
than the old reactionary one of King Charles X; in this he shared the
views of his friend the Marquis de Lafayette; the hero of the American
Revolution; who as head of the French National Guard had been one of
the leaders of the July Revolution in Paris}
The reader may be certain that my imagination was all alive to
conjecture the circumstances which had brought Adrienne de la
Rocheaimard to Paris; and why she had been so assiduous in searching
me out; in particular。 Could it be that the grateful girl still intended to
make her offering to the Duchesse de d'Angouleme? Ah! nothat
princess was in exile; while her sister was forming weak plots in behalf
of her son; which a double treachery was about to defeat。 I have
already hinted that pocket…handkerchiefs do not receive and
communicate ideas; by means of the organs in use among human beings。
They possess a clairvoyance that is always available under favorable
circumstances。 In their case the mesmeritic trance may be said to be
ever in existence; while in the performance of their proper functions。 It is
only while crowded into bales; or thrust into drawers for the vulgar
purposes of trade; that this instinct is dormant; a beneficent nature
scorning to exercise her benevolence for any but legitimate objects。 I
now mean legitimacy as connected with cause and effect; and nothing
political or dynastic。
{Duchesse d'Angouleme = Marie Therese Charlotte; the Dauphine;
Adrienne's patron; her sister = her sister…in…law Marie Caroline;
Duchesse de Berry; who led an unsuccessful revolt against the new
regime}
By virtue of this power; I had not long been held in the soft hand of
Adrienne; or pressed against her beating heart; without becoming the
master of all her thoughts; as well as her various causes of hope and
fear。 This knowledge did not burst upon me at once; it is true; as is
pretended to be the case with certain somnambules; for with me there is
no empiricismevery thing proceeds from cause to effect; and a little
time; with some progressive steps; was necessary to make me fully
acquainted with the whole。 The simplest things became the first
apparent; and others followed by a species of magnetic induction; which
I cannot now stop to explain。 When this tale is told; I propose to lecture
on the subject; to which all the editors in the country will receive the
usual free tickets; when the world cannot fail of knowing quite as much;
at least; as these meritorious public servants。
{somnambules = sleep walkers; editors = Cooper had very little respect
for the press}
The first fact that I learned; was the very important one that the
vicomtesse had lost all her usual means of support by the late revolution;
and the consequent exile of the dauphine。 This blow; so terrible to the
grandmother and her dependent child; had occurred; too; most
inopportunely; as to time。 A half year's pension was nearly due at the
moment the great change occurred; and the day of payment arrived and
passed; leaving these two females literally without twenty francs。 Had it
not been for the remains of the trousseau; both must have begged; or
perished of want。 The crisis called for decision; and fortunately the old
lady; who had already witnessed so many vicissitudes; had still sufficient
energy to direct their proceedings。 Paris was the best place in which to
dispose of her effects; and thither she and Adrienne came; without a
moment's delay。 The shops were first tried; but the shops; in the autumn
of 1830; offered indifferent resources for the seller。 Valuable effects
were there daily sold for a twentieth part of their original cost; and the
vicomtesse saw her little stores diminish daily; for the Mont de Piete
was obliged to regulate its own proceedings by the received current
values of the day。 Old age; vexation; and this last most cruel blow; did
not fail of effecting that which might have been