expressed a haughty pride in keeping with her hand, her chin, her

brows, and her beautiful figure. And--as a last diagnostic to guide
the judgment of a connoisseur--Natalie's pure voice, a most seductive

voice, had certain metallic tones. Softly as that brassy ring was
managed, and in spite of the grace with which its sounds ran through

the compass of the voice, that organ revealed the character of the
Duke of Alba, from whom the Casa-Reales were collaterally descended.

These indications were those of violent passions without tenderness,
sudden devotions, irreconcilable dislikes, a mind without

intelligence, and the desire to rule natural to persons who feel
themselves inferior to their pretensions.

These defects, born of temperament and constitution, were buried in
Natalie like ore in a mine, and would only appear under the shocks and

harsh treatment to which all characters are subjected in this world.
Meantime the grace and freshness of her youth, the distinction of her

manners, her sacredignorance, and the sweetness of a young girl, gave
a delicate glamour to her features which could not fail to mislead an

unthinking or superficial mind. Her mother had early taught her the
trick of agreeable talk which appears to imply superiority, replying

to arguments by clever jests, and attracting by the graceful
volubility beneath which a woman hides the subsoil of her mind, as

Nature disguises her barren strata beneath a wealth of ephemeral
vegetation. Natalie had the charm of children who have never known

what it is to suffer. She charmed by her frankness, and had none of
that solemn air which mothers impose on their daughters by laying down

a programme of behavior and language until the time comes when they
marry and are emancipated. She was gay and natural, like any young

girl who knows nothing of marriage, expects only pleasure from it,
replies to all objections with a jest, foresees no troubles, and

thinks she is acquiring the right to have her own way.
How could Paul, who loved as men love when desire increases love,

perceive in a girl of this nature whose beauty dazzled him, the woman,
such as she would probably be at thirty, when observers themselves

have been misled by these appearances? Besides, if happiness might
prove difficult to find in a marriage with such a girl, it was not

impossible. Through these embryo defects shone several fine qualities.
There is no good quality which, if properly developed by the hand of

an able master, will not stifle defects, especially in a young girl
who loves him. But to render ductile so intractable a woman, the iron

wrist, about which de Marsay had preached to Paul, was needful. The
Parisian dandy was right. Fear, inspired by love is an infallible

instrument by which to manage the minds of women. Whoso loves, fears;
whoso fears is nearer to affection than to hatred.

Had Paul the coolness, firmness, and judgment required for this
struggle, which an able husband ought not to let the wife suspect? Did

Natalie love Paul? Like most young girls, Natalie mistook for love the
first emotions of instinct and the pleasure she felt in Paul's

external appearance; but she knew nothing of the things of marriage
nor the demands of a home. To her, the Comte de Manerville, a rising

diplomatist, to whom the courts of Europe were known, and one of the
most elegant young men in Paris, could not seem, what perhaps he was,

an ordinary man, without moral force, timid, though brave in some
ways, energetic perhaps in adversity, but helpless against the

vexations and annoyances that hinder happiness. Would she, in after
years, have sufficient tact and insight to distinguish Paul's noble

qualities in the midst of his minor defects? Would she not magnify the
latter and forget the former, after the manner of young wives who know

nothing of life? There comes a time when wives will pardon defects in
the husband who spares her annoyances, considering annoyances in the

same category as misfortunes. What conciliating power, what wise
experience would uphold and enlighten the home of this young pair?

Paul and his wife would doubtless think they loved when they had
really not advanced beyond the endearments and compliments of the

honeymoon. Would Paul in that early period yield to the tyranny of his
wife, instead of establishing his empire? Could Paul say, "No?" All

was peril to a man so weak where even a strong man ran some risks.
The subject of this Study is not the transition of a bachelor into a

married man,--a picture which, if broadlycomposed, would not lack the
attraction which the inner struggles of our nature and feelings give

to the commonest situations in life. The events and the ideas which
led to the marriage of Paul with Natalie Evangelista are an

introduction to our real subject, which is to sketch the great comedy
that precedes, in France, all conjugal pairing. This Scene, until now

singularly neglected by our dramatic authors, although it offers novel
resources to their wit, controlled Paul's future life and was now

awaited by Madame Evangelista with feelings of terror. We mean the
discussion which takes place on the subject of the marriage contract

in all families, whether noble or bourgeois, for human passions are as
keenly excited by small interests as by large ones. These comedies,

played before a notary, all resemble, more or less, the one we shall
now relate, the interest of which will be far less in the pages of

this book than in the memories of married persons.
CHAPTER III

THE MARRIAGE CONTRACT--FIRST DAY
At the beginning of the winter of 1822, Paul de Manerville made a

formal request, through his great-aunt, the Baronne de Maulincour, for
the hand of Mademoiselle Natalie Evangelista. Though the baroness

never stayed more than two months in Medoc, she remained on this
occasion till the last of October, in order to assist her nephew

through the affair and play the part of a mother to him. After
conveying the first suggestions to Madame Evangelista the experienced

old woman returned to inform Paul of the results of the overture.
"My child," she said, "the affair is won. In talking of property, I

found that Madame Evangelista gives nothing of her own to her
daughter. Mademoiselle Natalie's dowry is her patrimony. Marry her, my

dear boy. Men who have a name and an estate to transmit, a family to
continue, must, sooner or later, end in marriage. I wish I could see

my dear Auguste taking that course. You can now carry on the marriage
without me; I have nothing to give you but my blessing, and women as

old as I are out of place at a wedding. I leave for Paris to-morrow.
When you present your wife in society I shall be able to see her and

assist her far more to the purpose than now. If you had had no house
in Paris I would gladly have arranged the second floor of mine for

you."
"Dear aunt," said Paul, "I thank you heartily. But what do you mean

when you say that the mother gives nothing of her own, and that the
daughter's dowry is her patrimony?"

"The mother, my dear boy, is a sly cat, who takes advantage of her
daughter's beauty to impose conditions and allow you only that which

she cannot prevent you from having; namely, the daughter's fortune
from her father. We old people know the importance of inquiring

closely, What has he? What has she? I advise you therefore to give
particular instructions to your notary. The marriage contract, my dear

child, is the most sacred of all duties. If your father and your
mother had not made their bed properly you might now be sleeping

without sheets. You will have children, they are the commonest result
of marriage, and you must think of them. Consult Maitre Mathias our

old notary."
Madame de Maulincour departed, having plunged Paul into a state of

extreme perplexity. His mother-in-law a sly cat! Must he struggle for
his interests in the marriage contract? Was it necessary to defend

them? Who was likely to attack them?
He followed the advice of his aunt and confided the drawing-up of the

marriage contract to Maitre Mathias. But these threatened discussions
oppressed him, and he went to see Madame Evangelista and announce his

intentions in a state of rather livelyagitation. Like all timid men,
he shrank from allowing the distrust his aunt had put into his mind to

be seen; in fact, he considered it insulting. To avoid even a slight
jar with a person so imposing to his mind as his future mother-in-law,

he proceeded to state his intentions with the circumlocution natural
to persons who dare not face a difficulty.

"Madame," he said, choosing a moment when Natalie was absent from the
room, "you know, of course, what a family notary is. Mine is a worthy

old man, to whom it would be a sincere grief if he were not entrusted
with the drawing of my marriage contract."

"Why, of course!" said Madame Evangelista, interrupting him, "but are
not marriage contracts always made by agreement of the notaries of

both families?"
The time that Paul took to reply to this question was occupied by

Madame Evangelista in asking herself, "What is he thinking of?" for
women possess in an eminent degree the art of reading thoughts from

the play of countenance. She divined the instigations of the great-
aunt in the embarrassed glance and the agitated tone of voice which