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The Marriage Contract-Part12_Honore de Balzac(1799-1850)_Translated Works(翻译文学)-第2页

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party for several of the young men of Bordeaux,--a sort of farewell,



as it were, to his bachelor life. This hunting party was accepted by

society as a signal confirmation of public suspicion.



When this event occurred, Madame de Gyas, who had a daughter to marry,

thought it high time to sound the matter, and to condole, with joyful



heart, the blow received by the Evangelistas. Natalie and her mother

were somewhat surprised to see the lengthened face of the marquise,



and they asked at once if anything distressing had happened to her.

"Can it be," she replied, "that you are ignorant of the rumors that



are circulating? Though I think them false myself, I have come to

learn the truth in order to stop this gossip, at any rate among the



circle of my own friends. To be the dupes or the accomplices of such

an error is too false a position for true friends to occupy."



"But what is it? what has happened?" asked mother and daughter.

Madame de Gyas thereupon allowed herself the happiness of repeating



all the current gossip, not sparing her two friends a single stab.

Natalie and Madame Evangelista looked at each other and laughed, but



they fully understood the meaning of the tale and the motives of their

friend. The Spanish lady took her revenge very much as Celimene took



hers on Arsinoe.

"My dear, are you ignorant--you who know the provinces so well--can



you be ignorant of what a mother is capable when she has on her hands

a daughter whom she cannot marry for want of 'dot' and lovers, want of



beauty, want of mind, and, sometimes, want of everything? Why, a

mother in that position would rob a diligence or commit a murder, or



wait for a man at the corner of a street--she would sacrifice herself

twenty times over, if she was a mother at all. Now, as you and I both



know, there are many such in that situation in Bordeaux, and no doubt

they attribute to us their own thoughts and actions. Naturalists have



depicted the habits and customs of many ferocious animals, but they

have forgotten the mother and daughter in quest of a husband. Such



women are hyenas, going about, as the Psalmist says, seeking whom they

may devour, and adding to the instinct of the brute the intellect of



man, and the genius of woman. I can understand that those little

spiders, Mademoiselle de Belor, Mademoiselle de Trans, and others,



after working so long at their webs without catching a fly, without so

much as hearing a buzz, should be furious; I can even forgive their



spiteful speeches. But that you, who can marry your daughter when you

please, you, who are rich and titled, you who have nothing of the



provincial about you, whose daughter is clever and possesses fine

qualities, with beauty and the power to choose--that you, so



distinguished from the rest by your Parisian grace, should have paid

the least heed to this talk does really surprise me. Am I bound to



account to the public for the marriage stipulations which our notaries

think necessary under the political circumstances of my son-in-law's



future life? Has the mania for public discussion made its way into

families? Ought I to convoke in writing the fathers and mothers of the



province to come here and give their vote on the clauses of our

marriage contract?"



A torrent of epigram flowed over Bordeaux. Madame Evangelista was

about to leave the city, and could safely scan her friends and



enemies, caricature them and lash them as she pleased, with nothing to

fear in return. Accordingly, she now gave vent to her secret



observations and her latent dislikes as she sought for the reason why

this or that person denied the shining of the sun at mid-day.



"But, my dear," said the Marquise de Gyas, "this stay of the count at

Lanstrac, these parties given to young men under such circumstances--"



"Ah! my dear," said the great lady, interrupting the marquise, "do you

suppose that we adopt the pettiness of bourgeois customs? Is Count



Paul held in bonds like a man who might seek to get away? Think you we

ought to watch him with a squad of gendarmes lest some provincial



conspiracy should get him away from us?"

"Be assured, my dearest friend, that it gives me the greatest pleasure



to--"

Here her words were interrupted by a footman who entered the room to



announce Paul. Like many lovers, Paul thought it charming to ride

twelve miles to spend an hour with Natalie. He had left his friends



while hunting, and came in booted and spurred, and whip in hand.

"Dear Paul," said Natalie, "you don't know what an answer you are



giving to madame."

When Paul heard of the gossip that was current in Bordeaux, he laughed



instead of being angry.

"These worthy people have found out, perhaps, that there will be no



wedding festivities, according to provincial usages, no marriage at

mid-day in the church, and they are furious. Well, my dear mother," he



added, kissing her hand, "let us pacify them with a ball on the day




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