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Modeste Mignon-Part26_Honore de Balzac(1799-1850)_Translated Works(翻译文学)-第2页

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calculating effects, wished to make the most of the probable



excitement which his arrival would case in Havre, and which would of

course echo up to the Mignons. Therefore, in his role of a man needing



rest, he did not leave the house. La Briere went twice to walk past

the Chalet, though always with a sense of despair, for he feared to



displease Modeste, and the future seemed to him dark with clouds. The

two friends came down to dinner on Monday dressed for the momentous



visit. La Briere wore the same clothes he had so carefully selected

for the famous Sunday; but he now felt like the satellite of planet,



and resigned himself to the uncertainties of his situation. Canalis,

on the other hand, had carefully attended to his black coat, his



orders, and all those little drawing-room elegancies, which his

intimacy with the Duchesse de Chaulieu and the fashionable world of



the faubourg had brought to perfection. He had gone into the minutiae

of dandyism, while poor La Briere was about to present himself with



the negligence of a man without hope. Germain, as he waited at dinner

could not help smiling to himself at the contrast. After the second



course, however, the valet came in with a diplomatic, that is to say,

uneasy air.



"Does Monsieur le baron know," he said to Canalis in a low voice,

"that Monsieur the grand equerry is coming to Graville to get cured of



the same illness which has brought Monsieur de La Briere and Monsieur

le baron to the sea-shore?"



"What, the little Duc d'Herouville?"

"Yes, monsieur."



"Is he coming for Mademoiselle de La Bastie?" asked La Briere,

coloring.



"So it appears, monsieur."

"We are cheated!" cried Canalis looking at La Briere.



"Ah!" retorted Ernest quickly, "that is the first time you have said,

'we' since we left Paris: it has been 'I' all along."



"You understood me," cried Canalis, with a burst of laughter. "But we

are not in a position to struggle against a ducal coronet, nor the



duke's title, nor against the waste lands which the Council of State

have just granted, on my report, to the house of Herouville."



"His grace," said La Briere, with a spice of malice that was

nevertheless serious, "will furnish you with compensation in the



person of his sister."

At this instant, the Comte de La Bastie was announced; the two young



men rose at once, and La Briere hastened forward to present Canalis.

"I wished to return the visit that you paid me in Paris," said the



count to the young lawyer, "and I knew that by coming here I should

have the double pleasure of greeting one of our great living poets."



"Great!--Monsieur," replied the poet, smiling, "no one can be great in

a century prefaced by the reign of a Napoleon. We are a tribe of



would-be great poets; besides, second-rate talent imitates genius

nowadays, and renders real distinction impossible."



"Is that the reason why you have thrown yourself into politics?" asked

the count.



"It is the same thing in that sphere," said the poet; "there are no

statesmen in these days, only men who handle events more or less. Look



at it, monsieur; under the system of government that we derive from

the Charter, which makes a tax-list of more importance than a coat-of-



arms, there is absolutely nothing solid except that which you went to

seek in China,--wealth."



Satisfied with himself and with the impression he was making on the

prospective father-in-law, Canalis turned to Germain.



"Serve the coffee in the salon," he said, inviting Monsieur de La

Bastie to leave the dining-room.



"I thank you for this visit, monsieur le comte," said La Briere; "it

saves me from the embarrassment of presenting my friend to you in your



own house. You have a heart, and you have also a quick mind."

"Bah! the ready wit of Provence, that is all," said Charles Mignon.



"Ah, do you come from Provence?" cried Canalis.

"You must pardon my friend," said La Briere; "he has not studied, as I



have, the history of La Bastie."

At the word FRIEND Canalis threw a searching glance at Ernest.



"If your health will allow," said the count to the poet, "I shall hope

to receive you this evening under my roof; it will be a day to mark,



as the old writer said 'albo notanda lapillo.' Though we cannot duly




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