Cosmopolis -- Volume 4

pansion in the opulent and impulsive Venetian. That evening she had not even observed Alba's dreaminess, Dorsenne once gone, and it required that Hafner should call her attention to it. To the sc

ther's death was a very large fortune. So Hafner thought he would deserve

has been a little str

e Countess. "Young people are like t

t perhaps there is another cause for that sad

imed the moth

; "he just left five minutes ago, and you see she i

ght of it, I assure you. She would have told me; she tells me everything. We are two friends, almost two comrades, and she knows I shall leave her perfectly free to choose.... No, my old friend, I understand my daughte

he shook his head, turning his eyes with satisfaction upon his future son-in-law. "That is what comes of not watching one's children closely. One

ulous and that of his social interest made him perceive how absurd it would be to go into clerical society after having taken for a wife a millionaire converted the day before. To be just, it must be added that the Countess's dry champagne was not altogether ir

.... The one of the noble guard who used the telephone of the Vatican this winter to appoint rendezvous with Guilia Rezzonico without awakening the jealousy of Ugolino.... But it is

with visible irritation, which her patience, however, governed. "If

her," said the latter to the

er filled with gold pieces, which a faithful bequeathed to the Pope. And that poor, dear man was about to count them when the coffer slipped from his hand, and there was the entire treasure on the floor, and the Pope and a cardinal on all fours were scrambling for the napoleons, when a servant entered..

Alba to Fanny, who had risen

her, to whom I have

when she and the Prince were alone. Ardea, some

at the situation is

ee she will forbid me t

e lacking, and it is

ples which would preven

Fanny must

herself, seeing the you

is intoxicated

the work of Christianity, accomplished for yea

saw the dying woman receive the sacrament, and the ineffable joy of the benediction upon the fa

ou of Our Lord

resisted such a c

permission to be baptized, which request drew from the

should be a Catholic. However, it is necessary to remember that you might marry some one of another faith. Do not object. I am your father. I can foresee all. I know you will marry only according to the dictates of your heart. Wait then until it has spoken, to settle the question.... If you love a Catholic, you will then have occasion to pay a compliment to your betrothed by adopting his faith, of which he will be very sensible.... From n

e waited, hoping, sustained and directed meanwhile by Cardinal Guerillot, who later on was to baptize her and to obtain for her the favor of approaching the holy table for the first time at the Pope's mass. That prelate, one of the noblest figures of which the French bishopric has had cause to be proud, since Monseigneur Pie, was one of those

me." And he uttered those words with an accent whose conviction h

y's marriage from a supernatural standpoint. Many priests are thus capable of a naivete which, on careful analysis, is often in the right. But at the moment the antithesis between the authentic reality and that which they be

I remain here below. All my hope of the age is consummated. And like her I can add-the only thing which made me desire to remain awhile was to see

on of his last wish! He did not foresee that she whom he ingenuously termed his most beautiful flower was to become to him the principal cause of bitter sorrow. Poor, grand Cardinal! It was the final trial of his life, the supremely bitter drop in his chalice, to assist at the

e pleasantries, nor of relating her humiliating observations on the Prince's intoxication. No. She wished to ease her mind, on which rested a shade of sorrow. At the time of her betrothal, she had fancied she loved Ardea, for the emotion of her religious life at length freed had inspired her with gratitude for him who was,

e the proof of her future husband's deplorable character. Had she the right to form such bonds with such feelings? Would it be honorable to break, without further developments, the betrothal which ha

d Monsieur Guerillot, "but you are not pe

all traces which the little scene of the day before could have left in her friend's mind. Her efforts went very far. She would ask pardon of her fiance.... Pardon! For what? For having been wounded by him, wounded to the depths of her sensibility? She felt that the charity of judgmen

tread, that is my opinion, and if he does not spend his en

ere not unintelligible to him, as they would have been to Hafner. He thought that the latter had lectured his daug

found me respectful of that which my fathers respected. But times have changed, and certain fanaticisms are n

nerous child. The discord continued to be excessive between the world of ideas in which she moved and that

one remained. It sufficed the noble creature to sa

rs were working; she would have on her contract the same signature as a princess of the blood, who would be a princess herself and related to one of the most glorious aristocracies in the world. Such were the thoughts she would no doubt have through life, as she walked in the garden of the Palais Castagna, that historical garden in which is still to be seen a row of pear-trees, in the place where Sixte-Quint, near death,

as we took a few steps in the same direction, he pointed out to me the Palais Bonaparte, saying, 'We are also related to them.'.... Which means that a grand- nephew of the Emperor married a cousi

He is insolently triumphant. But no. ....He will succeed.... If it be true that his fortune is one immen

ll cause them to meditate on the words uttered by one of my friends: 'One can not doubt the

nd Montfanon bought to v

oward Ardea and Hafner rendered in evitable. He retired, I know not for how many days, to the convent of Mount Olivet, near Sienna, where he has a friend, one Abbe de Negro, of whom he always speaks as of a saint. I lear

delight in her eyes. "I did not know what present to off

re dusty, more littered than ever with pamphlets, in which he still was, with his face more wrinkled, more wan and more proud, peering

e, one of Monsieur de Mo

her gent

them, without giving it up. Then he began a speech, which reproduced the details given by Montfanon himself. "Ah, it is very authentic. There is an indistinct but undeniable signature. I have compared it wit

llustrious family. And it was for one of the descendants that I was commissio

, in English. "Dorsenne told me that Monsi

, with the same gentleness, but with reproach in her accent: "Two thousand francs, Monsieur Ribalta

he repeated. "Four hundred francs! You wish to have this book for four hundred fran

a volume which is worth it, and which I propose to take to the Palais Savorelli one of these days.... Ha, ha! It must be one of the very last, for the Baron has bought them all." In uttering, those enigmatical words, he opened the cup board which formed the lower part of the chest, and took from one of the shelves a book wrapped in a newspaper. He then unfolded the journal, and, holding the volume in his enormous hand with his dirty nails, he disclosed the title to the two young girl

h four hund

the title of the work, and again speaking in English; "it is one of

of those who have written it, by speculating on the fear you hoped it would inspire. Mad

er," said Ribalta, wrapping up his volume again;

anny and she had left the shop and reenter

at infamous work is very impertinent. My father?.... You do not know his scrupulousness in business. It

hand with a deeper tenderness. When Alba found herself that evening with her friend Dorsenne, who again dined at Ma

ved lately. The old leaguer believes everything, you know, when a Hafner is in the question.... I am more skeptical in the ba

was ac

is none the less true that he ruin

the case, it is clear to you that

inister corner in this affair is the suicide of one Schroeder, a brave citizen of Vienna, who knew our Baron intimately, and who invested, on the advice of his exce

her hands. "And Fanny might hav

t assured, she shall not have the volume. I will go to that anarchist of a Riba

ted to render any one a service. He had not told his little friend an untruth when he promised her to buy the dangerous work, and the following morni

o prefer one volume to the other. It was to bargain, no doubt. Ha, ha! But she had to pay t

.... Never, do you hear, never any more will Monsieur de Montfanon and I set foot in your shop, nor Monseigneur Guerillot, nor any of the persons of my acquaintance. I w

off the weight of melancholy which that visit to the

is mission to the Contessina, he was singularly moved. There was no one there but the

ould speak with him in a corner of the salon. "I need your advi

orsenne. "Fanny has b

ok!" said Alba, changi

rl; the other thing

thing?" ques

he marriage. Well, it seems this personage did not think himself sufficiently well-paid for his complicity. He demanded of the Baron a large sum, with whi

ked Dorsenne, shaking his h

tinued Alba, "last nigh

rrible scene with his

n increase of do

did not pause. Perhaps he had drunk a little more than he could stand, which has of late become common with him. But, you see, the poor child

aimed Dorsenne. "So the enga

h she thinks true, that they have a common interest in avoiding all scandal, and arranging matters. But it rests with the poor little one. Mamma wished me to go, this afterno

r life alone with her father, now that her ill

most dolorous of all moral tragedies knit and unknit the most often in silence. It was in the afternoon, toward six o'clock, that a servant came to announce Mademoiselle Hafner's visit to the Contessina, busy at that moment reading for the tenth time the 'Eglogue Mondaine,' that delicate story by Dorsenne. When Fanny ente

am to see you!

w to tell an untruth. "I have had pain, that is all." Looki

me to bid

shall you spend your summer?"-"We shall go to Piove, as usual," was Alba's answer. "Perhaps Dorsenne will be there, and the Maitlands will surely be." A third pause ensued. They gazed at one another, and, without uttering another word, they distinctly read one another's hearts. The martyrdom they suffered was so s