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The Marriage Contract-Part3_Honore de Balzac(1799-1850)_Translated Works(翻译文学)-第2页

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awaiting the consent of either party. Their fortunes, so it was said,

agreed as well as their persons. Paul had the same habits of luxury



and elegance in the midst of which Natalie had been brought up. He had

just arranged for himself a house such as no other man in Bordeaux



could have offered her. Accustomed to Parisian expenses and the

caprices of Parisian women, he alone was fitted to meet the pecuniary



difficulties which were likely to follow this marriage with a girl who

was as much of a Creole and a great lady as her mother. Where they



themselves, remarked the marriageable men, would have been ruined, the

Comte de Manerville, rich as he was, could evade disaster. In short,



the marriage was made. Persons in the highest royalist circles said a

few engaging words to Paul which flattered his vanity:--



"Every one gives you Mademoiselle Evangelista. If you marry her you

will do well. You could not find, even in Paris, a more delightful



girl. She is beautiful, graceful, elegant, and takes after the Casa-

Reales through her mother. You will make a charming couple; you have



the same tastes, the same desires in life, and you will certainly have

the most agreeable house in Bordeaux. Your wife need only bring her



night-cap; all is ready for her. You are fortunate indeed in such a

mother-in-law. A woman of intelligence, and very adroit, she will be a



great help to you in public life, to which you ought to aspire.

Besides, she has sacrificed everything to her daughter, whom she



adores, and Natalie will, no doubt, prove a good wife, for she loves

her mother. You must soon bring the matter to a conclusion."



"That is all very well," replied Paul, who, in spite of his love, was

desirous of keeping his freedom of action, "but I must be sure that



the conclusion shall be a happy one."

He now went frequently to Madame Evangelista's, partly to occupy his



vacant hours, which were harder for him to employ than for most men.

There alone he breathed the atmosphere of grandeur and luxury to which



he was accustomed.

At forty years of age, Madame Evangelista was beautiful, with the



beauty of those glorious summer sunsets which crown a cloudless day.

Her spotless reputation had given an endless topic of conversation to



the Bordeaux cliques; the curiosity of the women was all the more

lively because the widow gave signs of the temperament which makes a



Spanish woman and a Creole particularly noted. She had black eyes and

hair, the feet and form of a Spanish woman,--that swaying form the



movements of which have a name in Spain. Her face, still beautiful,

was particularly seductive for its Creole complexion, the vividness of



which can be described only by comparing it to muslin overlying

crimson, so equally is the whiteness suffused with color. Her figure,



which was full and rounded, attracted the eye by a grace which united

nonchalance with vivacity, strength with ease. She attracted and she



imposed, she seduced, but promised nothing. She was tall, which gave

her at times the air and carriage of a queen. Men were taken by her



conversation like birds in a snare; for she had by nature that genius

which necessity bestows on schemes; she advanced from concession to



concession, strengthening herself with what she gained to ask for

more, knowing well how to retreat with rapid steps when concessions



were demanded in return. Though ignorant of facts, she had known the

courts of Spain and Naples, the celebrated men of the two Americas,



many illustrious families of England and the continent, all of which

gave her so extensive an education superficially that it seemed



immense. She received her society with the grace and dignity which are

never learned, but which come to certain naturally fine spirits like a



second nature; assimilating choice things wherever they are met. If

her reputation for virtue was unexplained, it gave at any rate much



authority to her actions, her conversation, and her character.

Mother and daughter had a true friendship for each other, beyond the



filial and maternalsentiment. They suited one another, and their

perpetual contact had never produced the slightest jar. Consequently



many persons explained Madame Evangelista's actions by maternal love.

But although Natalie consoled her mother's persistent widowhood, she






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