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The Lily of the Valley-Part23_Honore de Balzac(1799-1850)_Translated Works(翻译文学)-第2页

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will of course dower her, according to custom. My conscience is easy;

I have all but accomplished my task. And you?" she said.



I explained to her the mission on which the king had sent me, and

showed her how her wise counsel had borne fruit. Was she endowed with



second sight thus to foretell events?

"Did I not write it to you?" she answered. "For you and for my



children alone I possess a remarkablefaculty, of which I have spoken

only to my confessor, Monsieur de la Berge; he explains it by divine



intervention. Often, after deep meditation induced by fears about the

health of my children, my eyes close to the things of earth and see



into another region; if Jacques and Madeleine there appear to me as

two luminous figures they are sure to have good health for a certain



period of time; if wrapped in mist they are equally sure to fall ill

soon after. As for you, I not only see you brilliantly illuminated,



but I hear a voice which explains to me without words, by some mental

communication, what you ought to do. Does any law forbid me to use



this wonderful gift for my children and for you?" she asked, falling

into a reverie. Then, after a pause, she added, "Perhaps God wills to



take the place of their father."

"Let me believe that my obedience is due to none but you," I cried.



She gave me one of her exquisitely gracious smiles, which so exalted

my heart that I should not have felt a death-blow if given at that



moment.

"As soon as the king returns to Paris, go there; leave Clochegourde,"



she said. "It may be degrading to beg for places and favors, but it

would be ridiculous to be out of the way of receiving them. Great



changes will soon take place. The king needs capable and trustworthy

men; don't fail him. It is well for you to enter young into the



affairs of the nation and learn your way; for statesmen, like actors,

have a routine business to acquire, which genius does not reveal, it



must be learnt. My father heard the Duc de Choiseul say this. Think of

me," she said, after a pause; "let me enjoy the pleasures of



superiority in a soul that is all my own; for are you not my son?"

"Your son?" I said, sullenly.



"Yes, my son!" she cried, mocking me; "is not that a good place in my

heart?"



The bell rang for dinner; she took my arm and leaned contentedly upon

it.



"You have grown," she said, as we went up the steps. When we reached

the portico she shook my arm a little, as if my looks were



importunate; for though her eyes were lowered she knew that I saw only

her. Then she said, with a charming air of pretended impatience, full



of grace and coquetry, "Come, why don't you look at our dear valley?"

She turned, held her white silk sun-shade over our heads and drew



Jacques closely to her side. The motion of her head as she looked

towards the Indre, the punt, the meadows, showed me that in my absence



she had come to many an understanding with those misty horizons and

their vaporous outline. Nature was a mantle which sheltered her



thoughts. She now knew what the nightingale was sighing the livelong

night, what the songster of the sedges hymned with his plaintive note.



At eight o'clock that evening I was witness of a scene which touched

me deeply, and which I had never yet witnessed, for in my former



visits I had played backgammon with the count while his wife took the

children into the dining-room before their bedtime. The bell rang



twice, and all the servants of the household entered the room.

"You are now our guest and must submit to convent rule," said the



countess, leading me by the hand with that air of innocent gaiety

which distinguishes women who are naturally pious.



The count followed. Masters, children, and servants knelt down, all

taking their regular places. It was Madeleine's turn to read the



prayers. The dear child said them in her childish voice, the ingenuous

tones of which rose clear in the harmonious silence of the country,



and gave to the words the candor of holy innocence, the grace of

angels. It was the most affecting prayer I ever heard. Nature replied






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