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cousin betty-第109部分

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〃You answer for the result?〃

〃Leave it all to me;〃 said the woman; 〃your vengeance is simmering。〃

She looked at the clock; it was six。

〃Your avenger is dressing; the fires are lighted at the /Rocher de
Cancale/; the horses are pawing the ground; my irons are getting hot。
Oh; I know your Madame Marneffe by heart! Everything is ready。 And
there are some boluses in the rat…trap; I will tell you to…morrow
morning if the mouse is poisoned。 I believe she will be; good evening;
my son。〃

〃Good…bye; madame。〃

〃Do you know English?〃

〃Yes。〃

〃Well; my son; thou shalt be King。 That is to say; you shall come into
your inheritance;〃 said the dreadful old witch; foreseen by
Shakespeare; and who seemed to know her Shakespeare。

She left Hulot amazed at the door of his study。

〃The consultation is for to…morrow!〃 said she; with the gracious air
of a regular client。

She saw two persons coming; and wished to pass in their eyes a
pinchbeck countess。

〃What impudence!〃 thought Hulot; bowing to his pretended client。



Baron Montes de Montejanos was a /lion/; but a lion not accounted for。
Fashionable Paris; Paris of the turf and of the town; admired the
ineffable waistcoats of this foreign gentleman; his spotless patent…
leather boots; his incomparable sticks; his much…coveted horses; and
the negro servants who rode the horses and who were entirely slaves
and most consumedly thrashed。

His fortune was well known; he had a credit account up to seven
hundred thousand francs in the great banking house of du Tillet; but
he was always seen alone。 When he went to 〃first nights;〃 he was in a
stall。 He frequented no drawing…rooms。 He had never given his arm to a
girl on the streets。 His name would not be coupled with that of any
pretty woman of the world。 To pass his time he played whist at the
Jockey…Club。 The world was reduced to calumny; or; which it thought
funnier; to laughing at his peculiarities; he went by the name of
Combabus。

Bixiou; Leon de Lora; Lousteau; Florine; Mademoiselle Heloise
Brisetout; and Nathan; supping one evening with the notorious
Carabine; with a large party of /lions/ and /lionesses/; had invented
this name with an excessively burlesque explanation。 Massol; as being
on the Council of State; and Claude Vignon; erewhile Professor of
Greek; had related to the ignorant damsels the famous anecdote;
preserved in Rollin's /Ancient History/; concerning Combabus; that
voluntary Abelard who was placed in charge of the wife of a King of
Assyria; Persia; Bactria; Mesopotamia; and other geographical
divisions peculiar to old Professor du Bocage; who continued the work
of d'Anville; the creator of the East of antiquity。 This nickname;
which gave Carabine's guests laughter for a quarter of an hour; gave
rise to a series of over…free jests; to which the Academy could not
award the Montyon prize; but among which the name was taken up; to
rest thenceforth on the curly mane of the handsome Baron; called by
Josepha the splendid Brazilianas one might say a splendid
/Catoxantha/。

Carabine; the loveliest of her tribe; whose delicate beauty and
amusing wit had snatched the sceptre of the Thirteenth Arrondissement
from the hands of Mademoiselle Turquet; better known by the name of
MalagaMademoiselle Seraphine Sinet (this was her real name) was to
du Tillet the banker what Josepha Mirah was to the Duc d'Herouville。

Now; on the morning of the very day when Madame de Saint…Esteve had
prophesied success to Victorin; Carabine had said to du Tillet at
about seven o'clock:

〃If you want to be very nice; you will give me a dinner at the /Rocher
de Cancale/ and bring Combabus。 We want to know; once for all; whether
he has a mistress。I bet that he has; and I should like to win。〃

〃He is still at the Hotel des Princes; I will call;〃 replied du
Tillet。 〃We will have some fun。 Ask all the youngstersthe youngster
Bixiou; the youngster Lora; in short; all the clan。〃

At half…past seven that evening; in the handsomest room of the
restaurant where all Europe has dined; a splendid silver service was
spread; made on purpose for entertainments where vanity pays the bill
in bank…notes。 A flood of light fell in ripples on the chased rims;
waiters; whom a provincial might have taken for diplomatists but for
their age; stood solemnly; as knowing themselves to be overpaid。

Five guests had arrived; and were waiting for nine more。 These were
first and foremost Bixiou; still flourishing in 1843; the salt of
every intellectual dish; always supplied with fresh wita phenomenon
as rare in Paris as virtue is; Leon de Lora; the greatest living
painter of landscape and the sea who has this great advantage over all
his rivals; that he has never fallen below his first successes。 The
courtesans could never dispense with these two kings of ready wit。 No
supper; no dinner; was possible without them。

Seraphine Sinet; /dite/ Carabine; as the mistress /en titre/ of the
Amphitryon; was one of the first to arrive; and the brilliant lighting
showed off her shoulders; unrivaled in Paris; her throat; as round as
if turned in a lathe; without a crease; her saucy face; and dress of
satin brocade in two shades of blue; trimmed with Honiton lace enough
to have fed a whole village for a month。

Pretty Jenny Cadine; not acting that evening; came in a dress of
incredible splendor; her portrait is too well known to need any
description。 A party is always a Longchamps of evening dress for these
ladies; each anxious to win the prize for her millionaire by thus
announcing to her rivals:

〃This is the price I am worth!〃

A third woman; evidently at the initial stage of her career; gazed;
almost shamefaced; at the luxury of her two established and wealthy
companions。 Simply dressed in white cashmere trimmed with blue; her
head had been dressed with real flowers by a coiffeur of the old…
fashioned school; whose awkward hands had unconsciously given the
charm of ineptitude to her fair hair。 Still unaccustomed to any
finery; she showed the timidityto use a hackneyed phrase
inseparable from a first appearance。 She had come from Valognes to
find in Paris some use for her distracting youthfulness; her innocence
that might have stirred the senses of a dying man; and her beauty;
worthy to hold its own with any that Normandy has ever supplied to the
theatres of the capital。 The lines of that unblemished face were the
ideal of angelic purity。 Her milk…white skin reflected the light like
a mirror。 The delicate pink in her cheeks might have been laid on with
a brush。 She was called Cydalise; and; as will be seen; she was an
important pawn in the game played by Ma'ame Nourrisson to defeat
Madame Marneffe。

〃Your arm is not a match for your name; my child;〃 said Jenny Cadine;
to whom Carabine had introduced this masterpiece of sixteen; having
brought her with her。

And; in fact; Cydalise displayed to public admiration a fine pair of
arms; smooth and satiny; but red with healthy young blood。

〃What do you want for her?〃 said Jenny Cadine; in an undertone to
Carabine。

〃A fortune。〃

〃What are you going to do with her?〃

〃WellMadame Combabus!〃

〃And what are you to get 
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