homme à l'oreille cassée. English
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CHAPTER VI.
A YOUNG GIRL'S CAPRICE.
Clementine had a fresh young heart. Before knowing Leon, she had lovedbut one person--her mother. No cousins of either sex, nor uncles, noraunts, nor grandfathers, nor grandmothers, had dissipated, by dividingit among themselves, that little treasure of affection whichwell-constituted children bring into the world. The grandmother,Clementine Pichon, was married at Nancy in January, 1814, and died threemonths later in the suburbs of Toulon, during her first confinement. Thegrandfather, M. Langevin, a sub-commissary of the first class, beingleft a widower, with a daughter in the cradle, devoted himself tobringing up his child. He gave her, in 1835, to M. Sambucco, anestimable and agreeable man, of Italian extraction, born in France, andKing's counsel in the court of Marseilles. In 1838 M. Sambucco, who wasa man of considerable independence, because he had resources of his own,in some manner highly honorable to himself, incurred the ill-will of theKeeper of the Seals. He was therefore appointed Advocate-General toMartinique, and after some days of hesitation, accepted the transfer tothat remote situation. But old M. Langevin did not easily consolehimself for the departure of his daughter: he died two years laterwithout having embraced the little Clementine, to whom it was intendedthat he should be godfather. M. Sambucco, his son-in-law, lost his lifein 1843, during an earthquake. The papers of the colony and of themetropolis related at the time how he had fallen a victim to hisdevotion to others. After this fearful misfortune, the young widowhastened to recross the sea with her daughter. She settled inFontainebleau, in order that the child might live in a healthyatmosphere. Fontainebleau is one of the healthiest places in France. IfMme. Sambucco had been as good a manager as she was mother, she wouldhave left Clementine a respectable fortune, but she regulated heraffairs badly and got herself under heavy embarrassments. A neighboringnotary relieved her of a round sum; and two farms which she had paiddearly for, brought her almost nothing. In short, she no longer knewwhat her situation was, and began to lose all control of it, when asister of her husband, an old maid, pinched and pious, expressed adesire to live with her and use their resources in common. The arrivalof this long-toothed spinster strangely frightened the littleClementine, who hid herself under the furniture and nestled among hermother's skirts; but it was the salvation of the house. Mlle. Sambuccowas not one of the most spirituelle nor one of the most romantic ofwomen, but she was Order incarnated. She reduced the expenses, handledthe resources herself, sold the two farms in 1847, bought somethree-per-cents. in 1848, and restored stable equilibrium in the budget.Thanks to the talents and activity of this female steward, the gentleand improvident widow had nothing to do but to fondle her child.Clementine learned to honor the virtues of her aunt, but she adored hermother. When she had the affliction of losing her, she found herselfalone in the world, leaning on Mlle. Sambucco, like a young plant on aprop of dry wood. It was then that her friendship for Leon glimmeredwith a vague ray of love; and young Renault profited by the necessityfor expansion which filled this youthful soul.
During the three long years that Leon spent away from her, Clementinescarcely knew that she was alone. She loved and felt that she was lovedin return; she had faith in the future, and an inner life of tendernessand timid hope; and this noble and gentle heart required nothing more.
But what completely astonished her betrothed, her aunt and herself, andstrangely subverted all the best accredited theories respecting thefeminine heart,--what, indeed, reason would have refused to credit hadit not been established by facts, was that the day when she again metthe husband of her choice, an hour after she had thrown herself intoLeon's arms with a grace so full of trust, Clementine was so abruptlyinvaded by a new sentiment which was not love, nor friendship, nor fear,but transcended them all and spoke with master tones in her heart.
From the instant when Leon had shown her the figure of the Colonel, shehad been seized by an actual passion for this nameless mummy. It wasnothing like what she felt towards young Renault, but it was acombination of interest, compassion and respectful sympathy.
If any one had recounted some famous feat of arms, or some romantichistory of which the Colonel had been the hero, this impression wouldhave been natural, or, at least, explicable. But she knew nothing of himexcept that he had been condemned as a spy by a council of war, and yetshe dreamed of him the very night after Leon's return.
This inexplicable prepossession at first manifested itself in areligious form. She caused a mass to be said for the repose of theColonel's soul, and urged Leon to make preparations for the funeral,herself selecting the ground in which he was to be interred. Thesevarious cares never caused her to omit her daily visit to the walnutbox, or the respectful bending of the knee before the body, or thesisterly or filial kiss which she regularly placed upon its forehead.The Renault family soon became uneasy about such strange symptoms, andhastened the interment of the attractive unknown, in order to relievethemselves of him as soon as possible. But the day before the one fixedfor the ceremony, Clementine changed her mind.
"By what right could they shut in the tomb a man who, possibly, was notdead? The theories of the learned Doctor Meiser were not such that onecould reject them without examination. The matter was at least worthy ofa few days' reflection. Was it not possible to submit the Colonel's bodyto some experiments? Professor Hirtz, of Berlin, had promised to sendsome valuable documents concerning the life and death of thisunfortunate officer: nothing ought to be undertaken before they werereceived; some one ought to write to Berlin to hasten the sending ofthese papers."
Leon sighed, but yielded uncomplainingly to this new caprice, and wroteto M. Hirtz.
Clementine found an ally in this second campaign in Doctor Martout.Though he was but an average practitioner and disdained the acquisitionof practice far too much, M. Martout was not deficient in knowledge. Hehad long been studying five or six great questions in physiology, suchas reanimation, spontaneous generation and the topics connected withthem. A regular correspondence kept him posted in all recentdiscoveries; he was the friend of M. Pouchet, of Rouen; and knew alsothe celebrated Karl Nibor, who has carried the use of the microscopeinto researches so wide and so profound. M. Martout had desiccated andresuscitated thousands of little worms, rotifers and tardigrades; heheld that life is nothing but organization in action, and that the ideaof reviving a desiccated man has nothing absurd about it. He gavehimself up to long meditations when Professor Hirtz sent from Berlin thefollowing document, the original of which is filed among the manuscriptsof the Humboldt collection.