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The Secrets of the Princesse de Cadignan-Part3_Honore de Balzac(1799-1850)_Translated Works(翻译文学)-第2页

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justified your motto: Ars thesaurusque virtus, that punning device our

ancestors were always seeking, and yet you never appear in the Bois de



Boulogne! We live in times when virtue ought to show itself."

"If you read your works to that species of stout Laforet, whom you



seem to fancy, I would forgive you," said Blondet. "But, my dear

fellow, you are living on dry bread, materiallyspeaking; in the



matter of intellect you haven't even bread."

This friendly little warfare had been going on for several months



between Daniel and his friends, when Madame d'Espard asked Rastignac

and Blondet to induce d'Arthez to come and dine with her, telling them



that the Princesse de Cadignan had a great desire to see that

celebrated man. Such curiosities are to certain women what magic



lanterns are to children,--a pleasure to the eyes, but rather shallow

and full of disappointments. The more sentiments a man of talent



excites at a distance, the less he responds to them on nearer view;

the more brilliant fancy has pictured him, the duller he will seem in



reality. Consequently, disenchanted curiosity is often unjust.

Neither Blondet nor Rastignac could deceive d'Arthez; but they told



him, laughing, that they now offered him a most seductive opportunity

to polish up his heart and know the supreme fascinations which love



conferred on a Parisian great lady. The princess was evidently in love

with him; he had nothing to fear but everything to gain by accepting



the interview; it was quite impossible he could descend from the

pedestal on which madame de Cadignan had placed him. Neither Blondet



nor Rastignac saw any impropriety in attributing this love to the

princess; she whose past had given rise to so many anecdotes could



very well stand that lesser calumny. Together they began to relate to

d'Arthez the adventures of the Duchesse de Maufrigneuse: her first



affair with de Marsay; her second with d'Ajuda, whom she had, they

said, distracted from his wife, thus avenging Madame de Beausant; also



her later connection with young d'Esgrignon, who had travelled with

her in Italy, and had horribly compromised himself on her account;



after that they told him how unhappy she had been with a certain

celebrated ambassador, how happy with a Russian general, besides



becoming the Egeria of two ministers of Foreign affairs, and various

other anecdotes. D'Arthez replied that he knew a great deal more than



they could tell him about her through their poor friend, Michel

Chrestien, who adored her secretly for four years, and had well-nigh



gone mad about her.

"I have often accompanied him," said Daniel, "to the opera. He would



make me run through the streets as far as her horses that he might see

the princess through the window of her coupe."



"Well, there you have a topic all ready for you," said Blondet,

smiling. "This is the very woman you need; she'll initiate you most



gracefully into the mysteries of elegance; but take care! she has

wasted many fortunes. The beautiful Diane is one of those spendthrifts



who don't cost a penny, but for whom a man spends millions. Give

yourself up to her, body and soul, if you choose; but keep your money



in your hand, like the old fellow in Girodet's 'Deluge.'"

From the tenor of these remarks it was to be inferred that the



princess had the depth of a precipice, the grace of a queen, the

corruption of diplomatists, the mystery of a first initiation, and the



dangerous qualities of a siren. The two clever men of the world,

incapable of foreseeing the denouement of their joke, succeeded in



presenting Diane d'Uxelles as a consummatespecimen of the Parisian

woman, the cleverest of coquettes, the most enchanting mistress in the



world. Right or wrong, the woman whom they thus treated so lightly was

sacred to d'Arthez; his desire to meet her needed no spur; he



consented to do so at the first word, which was all the two friends

wanted of him.



Madame d'Espard went to see the princess as soon as she had received

this answer.



"My dear, do you feel yourself in full beauty and coquetry?" she said.

"If so, come and dine with me a few days hence, and I'll serve up






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