Pierre and Jean

llowing up the reality. At the outset of all his trials of some new career the hopes of rapidly acquired riches kept up his efforts and c

dred thousand francs a year. And he calculated with great exactitude what his certain profits must be. He would go out in the morning to visit his patients; at the very moderate average of ten a day, at twenty francs each, that would mount up to seventy-two thousand francs a year at least, or even seventy-five thousand; for ten patients was certainly below the mark. In the afternoon he would be at

e richer than his brother, richer and more famous; and satisfied with himself, for he would owe his fortune solely to his own exertions; and liberal to his old parents, who would be justly proud of his fame. He would not marry, would not burden his life with a w

ine our actions. Any time these three weeks he might and ought to have come to this decisio

with scorn. Then he inspected them with a lofty air, measuring the height of the rooms, sketching the plan in his note-book, with the passages, the arrangement of th

sses and scribbled two hundred notes, he got h

him! Why? They were never wont to be so punctual. He was nettled and put

ou know we have to be at the lawyer's at two

in the middle of the table to the cutlet which had been kept for him. It was cold and dry, probably the least tempting of them all. He thought that

e had interrupted, was taken up aga

on horseback and select one or two interesting cases to defend and make a mark in court. I would be a sort of amateur lawyer, and very select. Thank God you are out of

was peeling a

, a cutter on the build of our pilot-boats. I wou

ong man it was a powerful lever. They, to be sure, were rare. If Jean were a really superior man, now that he could never want he might prove it. But then he must work a hundred times harder than he would have done in other circum

ouldn't I dissect

d shrugged h

beasts of burden, but men. If you are born poor you must work; well, so much the worse; and y

eplied h

t nothing on earth but learning and intell

were immediately full of the circumstances under which the crime had been committed, and absorbed by the interesting horror, the attractive mystery of crime, which, however commonplace, shamefu

e sne

. "It really was hardly worth while

o the lawyer's?"

plied dryly. "My presenc

l authority, had put forward some opinions and uttered some reflections on crime and criminals. Now he spoke no more; bu

stairs, he at last found, in the Boulevard Francois, a pretty set of rooms; a spacious entresol with two doors on two different streets, two drawing-rooms

ncs-pulled him up; the first quarter must be paid in ad

his long delay in deciding on a profession, by forfeiting his attempts and beginning fresh courses of study. So he went away, promising to send his answer within two days, an

shall repay him, very likely before the end of the year. It i

to sit in the public gardens; and he remained a long time on a bench, without an idea

e, without suffering so acutely from the vacuity of his existence and from

et-money, he would have taken a carriage for a long drive in the country, along by the farm-ditches shaded by beech and elm trees; but he had to think twice of the cost of a glass of beer or a postage-stamp, and such an indulgence was ou

if I only

like the sting of a wasp; but he drove it out indignantly, not

ings with long hair, and they were making little mounds of sand with the grea

ierre when we pry into every corner of

ttle creatures and watch them grow up with complacent curiosity. A longing for marriage breathed on his soul. A man is not so lost when he is not alone. At any rate, h

oon as the month's allowance was spent, and renewed or replaced by another the following month. And yet there must be some very kind, gentle, and comfo

ot seem to prefer Jean? Without confessing it to himself too bluntly, this preference had a great deal to do with his low opinion of the widow's intellect; for, though he loved his brother, he could not help thin

ours of weakness and exhaustion when a woman's presence, a woman's kiss, the touch of a hand, the rustle of a petticoat, a soft look out of black or blue eyes, seem the one thing ne

ould she say to him? Nothing, probably. But what did that matter? He would hold her hand for

re drinking and smoking with their elbows on the oak tables; the book-keeper in her desk

e girl rose eagerly, and

monsieur-ho

well;

. How scarce you

le time to myself. I a

that-I was out of sorts last week and I w

k. And

too, since you are

yed permission. Then, sitting down opposite each other, they talked for a while. Every now and then she took his

re oftener? I like you

common, smacking of low life. A woman, he told himself, should app

he ask

ith a handsome fair man, wearing

is my b

y good-

u thin

looks like a man wh

's length when he was alone, which he drove from him for fear of the torment it brought upon his soul, rise to his lips at this moment?

d his leg

of mine. He had just come into a lega

ovetous blue eyes

im that? His grandm

friend of

ssible! And you-did

w him very

utes; then, with an odd s

yours, to have friends of this pattern. My

why; and he asked with pinched lips:

n a stolid, i

mean he has bette

c piece on the t

the phrase: "No wonder

e fancied, no doubt, that Jean was Marechal's son. The agitation which came over him at the notion of this suspicion cast at his mother was so violent that he stood st

ng before. "It will not look well." Had he had the same thought, the same suspicion as this baggage? Hanging his head over the gla

s the most simple and natural thing in the world; but that he should leave the whole of it to one alone-of course people would wonder, and whisper, and end by smiling. How was it that he had not foreseen this, that his father had not

en, all who knew them-would not they repeat the abominable thing, l

like in face, manner, figure, or intelligence, would now strike every eye and every mind.

ut him on his guard against the frightful da

to the poor, and to tell all friends or acquaintances who had heard of the bequest that the will contained cl

ed to dine with them in honour of the good news. Vermouth and absinthe had been served to whet their appetites, and every one had been at once put into good spirits. Captain Beausire, a funny little man who had become quite round by dint of being rolled about at sea, and whose ideas also seemed to have been worn round, like the pebbles of

me; since I have left the sea, in this way I give myself an artificial roll or two every day before dinner; I add a little pitching after my coffe

g but stomach-in which the rest of his body seemed to have got stowed away; the flabby paunch of men who spend their lives sitting, and who have neither thighs, nor chest, nor arms, nor

gazing at her son Jean with sparkling eyes;

and francs a year. In the sound of his laugh, in the fuller voice with which he spoke, in his way of looking at th

d man was about to offer his arm to

Everything is f

sed with flags, and was flanked by four high dishes, one containing a pyramid of splendid peaches; the second, a monumental cake gorged with whipped cream and covered with pinnacl

he sat down. "We are celebratin

on, after which every guest was ill for a fortnight. Mme. Rosemilly, Jean, and his mother were planning an excursion to breakfast at Saint Jouin, from which they promised themselves the greatest pleasure; and Pierre was only sorry that he had not dined alone in some pot-house by the sea, so as to escape all this noise and laughter and glee

d above all, off the coasts of China and Japan, where the fish are as queer-looking as the natives. And he described the appearance of these fishes-their goggle gold eyes, thei

ering to himself: "True enough, the N

ait on them, and the fun rose with the number of glasses of wine they drank. When the cork of the first champagne-bottle was drawn with a

fractious every moment

erhaps a greater

drinking, set his full glass dow

hy

health, of heaviness, giddiness, frequent and

miss you, while the glass of wine is d

what

makes the circulation sluggish, and leads the way to the

ke before the wind. He looked at his son with fixed, uneasy

usire e

yourself; it all plays the devil with your precious health. Well, all I can say is, I have done all these thin

ered with s

the day when-when they come back no more to say to the cautious doctor: 'You were right.' When I see my father doing wha

nce it cannot hurt him. Think of what an occasion it is for him, for all of us. You wi

s he shrugged

e pleases. I ha

bles mounting from its depths in hurried succession to die on the surface. He looked at it with the suspicious eye of a fox smelling at a dead hen and suspecting a

may drink it; but do not take too

it regretfully, with longing and with fear; then he smelt it, tasted it, drank it in sips, swallowing them slow

And he read, he knew, the precise thought which lurked in that look, the indignant thought of this sim

d and went on w

e off harassed him, a craving to be away from these peop

ectured again, and he was wondering by what device or trick he could possess himself of it without exciting Pierre's remark. A ruse occurred to him, the simplest possible. He took up the bottle with an air of indifference, and holding it by the neck, stretched his arm across

ps the tall crystal funnel where the bubbles were dancing in the living, translucent fluid. He let the wine s

throughout his flesh, like a warm and comforting tide, bringing pleasure with it. He felt better now, less impatient, less annoyed, and his determination to speak

propose a toast. Having bow

o be said that Fortune was blind, but I believe that she is only short-sighted or tricksy, and that she has lately bought a goo

der Roland rose to reply. After clearing his throat, for

d my son. I shall never forget your behaviou

of tears, and he sat down,

laughing, spok

who have given me such a touching evidence of their affection. But it is not by words that I can prove my gratitude

moved, murmured:

usire c

lly, speak on beha

slightly touched with sadness, she said: "I w

cent meditation, as after prayer. Beausire, w

turning to Father Roland: "And who was this Marechal,

drink, began to whimper, a

ys together-he dined with us every evening-and would treat us to the play-I need

wered: "Yes; he was

remembered the remainder of the evening. They had coffee, then liqueurs, and they laughed and joked a great deal. At