human
Well, my good Pierre, resumed the baroness,
gpt
Because?
human
Because she is beautiful as Sin!
gpt
Undoubtedly she is quite good-looking,
human
It really seems to me, he said to the latter,
gpt
In what way?
human
Her grandmother speaks of her as of a perverse creature! And what fault do they find with her after all? Her worship of her father's memory! It is excessive, I grant; but filial piety, even when exaggerated, is not a vice, that I know of. Her sentiments are exalted; what does it matter if they are generous? Is that a reason why she should be devoted to the infernal divinities and thrust out of the way to be forgotten?
gpt
But you are very strange, my friend, I assure you, said Lucan.
human
What is the matter with you? whom do you mean to blame? You are certainly aware that Julia proposes taking the vail wholly of her own accord; that her mother is distressed about it, and that she has spared no effort to dissuade her from that step. As to myself, I have no reason whatever to be fond of her; she has caused and is still causing me much grief; but you know well enough that I have ever been ready to greet her as my daughter, if she had deigned to return to us.
gpt
Oh! I accuse neither her mother nor yourself, of course; it is the baroness who irritates me; she is unnatural! Julia is her grandchild after all, and she rejoices--she positively rejoices--at the prospect of seeing her a nun!
human
But I beg your pardon; there might be another.
gpt
And which?
human
She might marry.
gpt
How likely! and marry--whom, pray?
human
Me!
gpt
Repeat that!
human
rejoined the count,
gpt
My dear friend, said Lucan,
human
To an extraordinary degree, my friend.
gpt
No! there is something under that; you have discovered this means of drawing us together, and you wish to sacrifice yourself for the peace of the family.
human
I swear to you that I am not thinking in the least of the peace of the family; I am thinking wholly of my own, which is very much disturbed, for I love that child with an energy of feeling that I never knew before. If I don't marry her, I shall never console myself for the rest of my life.
gpt
To that extent?
human
It is a terrible thing, _mon cher_, rejoined Monsieur de Moras.
gpt
I am absolutely in love; when she looks at me, when I touch her hand, when her dress rustles against me, I feel, as it were, a philter running through my veins. I had heard of emotions of that kind, but I had never felt them. I must confess that they delight me; but at the same time they distress me, for I cannot conceal the fact to myself that there are a thousand chances against one that my passion will not be reciprocated, and it really seems as though my heart should wear mourning for it as long as it shall beat.
human
What an adventure! said Lucan, who had recovered all his gravity.
gpt
That is a very serious matter; very annoying.
human
Is Julia aware of your sentiments?
gpt
Most certainly not; I would not have taken the liberty of informing her of them without first speaking to you. Will you be kind enough to act as my ambassador to her mother?
human
Why, yes, with pleasure,
gpt
You think that is useless, don't you?
human
Useless--why so?
gpt
In the first place, it is very late.
human
It is somewhat late, no doubt. Things have gone very far; but I have never had much confidence in the stability of Julia's ideas of her vocation. Besides, in these restless imaginations, the sincerest resolutions of to-day become readily the dislikes of the morrow.
gpt
But you doubt that--that I should succeed in pleasing her?
human
Why should you not please her? You are more than good-looking. You are thirty-two years old; she is sixteen. You are a little richer than she is. All that does very well.
gpt
Well, then, why do you hesitate to serve me?
human
I do not hesitate to serve you; only I see you very much in love; you are not accustomed to it, and I fear that a condition of things so novel for you might be urging you somewhat hastily to such a grave determination as marriage. A wife is not a mistress. In short, before taking an irrevocable step I would beg of you to think well and further over it.
gpt
My good friend, said the count,
human
I do not wish, and I believe quite sincerely that I cannot, do so. You know my ideas. Genuine passions always have the best of it, and I am not quite sure that honor itself is a very effective argument against them. As to setting up reason against them, it is worse than folly. Besides, come, Lucan, what is there so unreasonable in the simple fact of marrying a person I love? I don't see that it is absolutely necessary for a man not to love his wife--Well! can I rely upon you?
gpt
Completely so, said Lucan, taking his hand.
human
I raised my objections; now I am wholly at your service. I shall speak to Clotilde in a moment. She is going to see her daughter this afternoon. Come and dine with us to-night; but summon up all your courage, for, after all, success is very uncertain.