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An Old Maid-Part11_Honore de Balzac(1799-1850)_Translated Works(翻译文学)-第2页

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"Certainly," replied the abbe, gravely. The worthy man, who cherished

his niece, always allowed her to tear him from his meditations with



angelic patience.

"Then if I remain unmarried,--supposing that I do,--God wills it?"



"Yes, my child," replied the abbe.

"And yet, as nothing prevents me from marrying to-morrow if I choose,



His will can be destroyed by mine?"

"That would be true if we knew what was really the will of God,"



replied the former prior of the Sorbonne. "Observe, my daughter, that

you put in an IF."



The poor woman, who expected to draw her uncle into a matrimonial

discussion by an argument ad omnipotentem, was stupefied; but persons



of obtuse mind have the terrible logic of children, which consists in

turning from answer to question,--a logic that is frequently



embarrassing.

"But, uncle, God did not make women intending them not to marry;



otherwise they ought all to stay unmarried; if not, they ought all to

marry. There's great injustice in the distribution of parts."



"Daughter," said the worthy abbe, "you are blaming the Church, which

declares celibacy to be the better way to God."



"But if the Church is right, and all the world were good Catholics,

wouldn't the human race come to an end, uncle?"



"You have too much mind, Rose; you don't need so much to be happy."

That remark brought a smile of satisfaction to the lips of the poor



woman, and confirmed her in the good opinion she was beginning to

acquire about herself. That is how the world, our friends, and our



enemies are the accomplices of our defects!

At this moment the conversation was interrupted by the successive



arrival of the guests. On these ceremonial days, friendly

familiarities were exchanged between the servants of the house and the



company. Mariette remarked to the chief-justice as he passed the

kitchen:--



"Ah, Monsieur du Ronceret, I've cooked the cauliflowers au gratin

expressly for you, for mademoiselle knows how you like them; and she



said to me: 'Now don't forget, Mariette, for Monsieur du Ronceret is

coming.'"



"That good Mademoiselle Cormon!" ejaculated the chief legal authority

of the town. "Mariette, did you steep them in gravy instead of soup-



stock? it is much richer."

The chief-justice was not above entering the chamber of council where



Mariette held court; he cast the eye of a gastronome around it, and

offered the advice of a past master in cookery.



"Good-day, madame," said Josette to Madame Granson, who courted the

maid. "Mademoiselle has thought of you, and there's fish for dinner."



As for the Chevalier de Valois, he remarked to Mariette, in the easy

tone of a great seigneur who condescends to be familiar:--



"Well, my dear cordon-bleu, to whom I should give the cross of the

Legion of honor, is there some little dainty for which I had better



reserve myself?"

"Yes, yes, Monsieur de Valois,--a hare sent from Prebaudet; weighs



fourteen pounds."

Du Bousquier was not invited. Mademoiselle Cormon, faithful to the



system which we know of, treated that fifty-year-old suitor extremely

ill, although she felt inexplicable sentiments towards him in the



depths of her heart. She had refused him; yet at times she repented;

and a presentiment that she should yet marry him, together with a



terror at the idea which prevented her from wishing for the marriage,

assailed her. Her mind, stimulated by these feelings, was much



occupied by du Bousquier. Without being aware of it, she was

influenced by the herculean form of the republican. Madame Granson and



the Chevalier de Valois, although they could not explain to themselves

Mademoiselle Cormon's inconsistencies, had detected her naive glances



in that direction, the meaning of which seemed clear enough to make

them both resolve to ruin the hopes of the already rejected purveyor,



--hopes which it was evident he still indulged.

Two guests, whose functions excused them, kept the dinner waiting. One



was Monsieur du Coudrai, the recorder of mortgages; the other Monsieur

Choisnel, former bailiff to the house of Esgrignon, and now the notary



of the upper aristocracy, by whom he was received with a distinction

due to his virtues; he was also a man of considerablewealth. When the



two belated guests arrived, Jacquelin said to them as he saw them

about to enter the salon:--






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