Strong as Death

ays, and that seems a long time to me. My daughter occupies muc

's note, then, opening the drawer of a writing-desk, he deposited it on a heap of othe

then she visited him, and sat for an hour or two in the armchair in which she had posed, while he worked. But, as she had some fear of the critic

n beforehand, and always seemed pe

e hour. He knew the evenings that she did not go out, and would call then to have a cup of tea with her, feeling himself very much at home even near the folds of her robe, so tenderly and so surely settled in that ripe affection, so fixed

familiarity, for human intercourse, which dwells dormant in every human heart, and which every old bachelor carries from door to door to his friends, where he installs something of h

hter of the house; and he was already feeling bored, and even a little offended because they had not

t was three o'clock in the afternoon. He decided to go immedia

summoned by the soun

f weather is

ine, Mo

ar

Mons

oat, blue jac

ore his clothes, his manner of walking, his comfortable proportions encased in a white waistcoat, his high gray felt

old that she was dressing for a drive in the B

red about in studied disorder. There were little antique boxes of chased gold, miniature snuff-boxes, ivory statuettes, objects in dull silver, quite modern, of an exaggerated severity, in which English taste appeared: a diminutive kitchen stove, and upon it a cat drinking from a pan, a cigar

on some anniversary; he lifted it, handled it, examining

Deux Mondes lay there also, somewhat worn, with turned-down pages, as if it had been read and re-read many times; other publications lay near it, some of them uncut: the Arts modernes, which is bought

nded to her during her receptions. A few books were on that, also, familiar books, index to the heart and mind of a woman: Musset, Manon Lescaut, Werther; and, to s

one to admire the curious gold and silver workmanship on the back. Bertin took it up and looked at his own reflection. For some years he had been growing terribly old i

pened be

Monsieur Bertin

, little one;

ell; an

saying 'thou' to me

t would really

nse

d. You make m

why,

are neither young e

inter

son as that I wil

where the waves of hair began to ripple, a

e down immediately, and to ask you whether y

ainly. You

e Duchesse d

ell; I

llow me to go an

go, my

s entered, veiled, ready to set fort

y more. What are you

ouble you just at thi

word "Olivier!" she expressed all h

world," he said, touched by the

inished and settled, the Countes

d then make a tour of the Bois. We must show

ed them under th

iage departed, the pawing of the horses making a resonant

e Madeleine all the gaiety of the springtime s

baskets on the benches to run and play with their brethren, the street urchins; the dogs appeared in a great hurry to go somewh

y! How good it is to liv

ant blue in the daughter, a little faded in the mother, fixed upon him a look so similar that he expected to hear them make the same replies. And he was surprised to discover, as he made them laugh and talk, that before him were two very distinct women, one who had lived and one who was about to live. No, he did not foresee what would become of that c

d that she preferred him still, this woman who had remained s

ance, she divined it, and he thought he coul

ured: "Oh, yes, wha

pace toward the Invalides, crossed the Seine, and reached the Avenue des Champs-Elysee

eyes. Occasionally, when the Duchess and the Countess acknowledged a salutation with a short movement of the head, she would ask

avy landaus, the solemn eight-spring vehicles, passed one another over and over again, distanced suddenly by a rapid victoria, drawn by a single trotter, bearing along at a reckless pace, through all that rolling throng, bourge

lady?" Anne

t which reply the Duchess and

walk, there was an incessant exchange of salutations, smiles, and friendly words, as the wheels touched. The procession seemed now like the gliding of a flotilla in which were seated very well-bred ladies and gentlem

lovely Madame Mandeliere agai

an apparent indifference to this indisputable glory, her large dark eyes, her low brow

l, all the sam

praise other women. She shrugged her

of rivalry suddenly awoke, ventured to

hink her beautiful?

s if she had bee

elighted, burs

n in Paris have been swooning at the feet of that negress! I believ

with brown eyes, whose grace and beauty had served for five or six years as the theme f

ted no greater ent

d, "she is no

n the daily discussions of these two rivals, felt a sudden i

er or not, she is charming; and I only ho

only after they have passed the thirtieth year.

autiful only after maturing, when the expression

ated that men of the world were wise in paying but little attention to young girls in their first season, a

speaks as an artist. The youthful countenance is v

face that was losing, little by little, the undecided grace of youth,

proved, by glance and gesture, as if they two were allied against some danger, and must defend themselves against some false and menacing opinion. Annette hardly heard them, she was so engrossed in looking about her

their names, without thinking of anything beyond the mere sound of the syllables, though sometimes they awoke in her an echo of respect and admiration, when she realized that she had seen them often in the newspapers or heard stories concerning them.

allow anything but privat

in; "and then what becomes of our

signified "Don't talk a

ate drive for cabs-that o

e full tide of democracy. But, if you wish to see this place free from any mingling of the

and fair Amazons, that club where everyone knows everyone else by their Christian names, their pet names, their fami

often at that hour

is no more charmi

n horseback in

es

afternoon yo

es

hen do y

ertainment suited to my tastes. As I paint the portraits of beautiful wo

!" murmured Annette, with

iation, which seemed to say: "Ah! you ar

der its chill. For some seconds it caused the tender leaves to tremble on the trees, and garments on shoulders. All the women, with a movement almost simultaneous, drew up ove

the silvery jingle of the harness, under

the Countess of Bertin, with

going to

set you down t

at will be ver

invite us to breakfa

your

apher of gowns and mantles," often received at breakfast or at dinner the beautiful persons whose feature he had reproduced, a

he day after to-morrow suit you, my de

never thinks of me when he has his little partie

nsider the artist's home almos

e landau-the Duchess, Annette

om the carriage, "and I will have prepa

a desire for luxury

like soldiers at the passing of an officer; mounted the broad stairway, meeting another brigade of servants in knee-breeches, pushed open a door, feeling himself suddenly as alert as a y

f apron falling over the front of the body, one arm in the air, with the hand thrown backward, and in the other hand, enormous

off faces and necks; others, seated on a square divan that ran along the four sides of the hall, watch

te at home, shook ha

" cried the Ba

said Bertin, passing into the d

oolboy ready for play. As soon as he stood before his adversary he attacked him with great ardor, and in ten minutes he had touched him ele

the baths of his twentieth year, when he used to plunge head first into the Sei

ne here?" inq

es

Rocdiane, and Landa; make has

, and there was a contin

e who from seven o'clock in the evening know not what to do and dine at the c

he banker Liverdy, a vigorous and h

fine form t

e surprising things to

Amaury Maldant, a thin little bald-headed man

makes me bring forth a few leaves-half a dozen at most

eye could not guess their age; clubmen, horsemen, swordsmen, whose incessant exercise had given them bodies of

ce he had lived so much in the gaming-houses), married, but separated from his wife, who paid him an annuity, a director of Belgian and Portuguese banks, carried b

rried and the father of two children, found it difficult to dine at home three times a week; he

ose who as yet have none, of those who never will

, glided from anecdotes to reminiscences, from remini

ised. The banker Liverdy indicated his flames by their first names. He would say: "I was at that time the best of friends with the wife of a diplomat. Now, one evening when I was leaving

erved, was accustomed to

content myself

e excited at the idea of all the pretty creatures that walked the streets and al

he younger members of the club called them, acquired re

re indiscreet, and forgot the society women

never grows old, the only one where, at fifty, if he is sound and well prese

urs, applauded him enthusiastically, and mentione

to know exactly what women were worth, murmu

me, my dear fellow

oofs don

suffic

ste for them, still knows how to distinguish a man of thirty from a man of sixty? Pshaw! what nonsense! She has seen and known too many of them. Now, I'll wager that, down in the bottom of her heart, she actually prefers an old banker to a youn

n to deliberate how to spend the evening, Bertin mentioning the Cirque, Rocdiane the Hippodrome, Maldant the

t the club to-day, it

Shall we listen for ten

ree

ery of the musicians. Four gentlemen, ensconced in armchairs, were waiting there already, in easy a

his desk with his b

an opium-eater adores

d mind indescribably. His imagination ran riot, made drunk by melody, and carried him along through sweet dreams and charming reveries. With close

Bois, the crowd of carriages around him, and facing him in the landau the Countess and her daughter. He heard their v

which three times he began again, as the rolling of the vessel seems

y, again at the table of strange hotels. During the whole execution of the symphony they accompanied him, as i

which dispelled this vapor of a dream, and he perceived, dozing around him, his f

do now?" he asked, af

here a little longer," r

too," sa

in r

home," he said. "I

o go, fearing the end of the evening around the baccara

e of those nights that put artists in that condition of cerebral activity

acile production, when ideas seem to descend in

happiness of bringing forth their work in joy. Nothing existed any more for him in such hours of work except the piece of canvas on which was born an image under the caress of his brush; and he experienced, in these crises of p

me de Guilleroy's sake, as she was a refined epicure; and in spite of stron

get intoxicated," p

a first time," replied

tudio, felt stirred by that light gaiety

nch Mothers, were to take Annette home before going to the meeting; but Bertin offered

he longest way

Park?" asked Bertin. "It is a very pretty pl

should l

serves as a sign and an entrance to that exquisite jewel of a park, displaying in the hea

roups of children crawl in the sand, run about, or jump the rope under the indolent eyes of nurses or the anxious watchfulness of mothers. Two enormous trees, rounded into domes, like monuments of leaves, the gigantic hor

sunshine and the spray thrown over the smooth turf. White statues on their pedestals seemed happy in the midst of the green freshness. A little marble boy was drawing from his f

supported an ivy; a tombstone bore an inscription. The stone shafts erected on the lawns hardly suggest better the Acropolis than this elegant little park recalled wild forests. It is the charming and artificial pl

ng in their appropriate setting. "It is a park made for toilettes," he would say; "Badly dressed people are

e avenues, his eye distracted by the mo

ing at a tiny boy with blond curls, who was looking a

ure she felt in seeing those living dolls, decked out in

hildren, the nurses, and the mothers. The larger children drew from her li

murmured, "That is delicious!" thinking that he must make an exquisite picture, with one corner

e little ones?

ore t

her arms, to hug and kiss them-the natural and tender longing of a future mot

at she desired to have fine horses, which she knew almost as well as a horse-dealer, for a part of the farm at Roncieres was devoted to breeding; but she ap

m as porcelain birds, and they passed before a young woman sitting in a chair, with an open boo

sing, she had gone to the land of Dreams, carried away by a phrase or a word that had bewitched her heart

d. "How beautiful to dr

ed her again without her perceiving them, so attenti

er to Annette, "would it bore you ver

! Quite the

ng lady who is roaming

there, in

ll have an open book on your knee, and you will t

, in

wh

questions, looked at the ducks swimming after some bread thrown to them by a lady, and s

Roncieres, spoke of her grandmother, to whom she read aloud a

d been. All that she had said, all the doings, the trifling everyday

it down,"

, and the two swans came floating tow

fulness, and which suddenly return, one knows not why. They surged up rapidly, of all sorts, and s

a perfume. How many times a woman's draperies had thrown to him in passing, with the evaporating breath of some essence, a host of forgotten events. At the bottom of old perfume-bottles he had often found bits of his former existence; and all wandering odors-of

estnut blossoms that thus reani

ersons he had met, perhaps one might have resembled some one he had known, and, althou

ce, even a hand-organ in the street playing some old air, which had suddenly made him

ngible, almost irritating! What was there n

ittle cool; we mus

and resumed

itting on benches, for whom a

lives, their occupations, surprised that they should come to lounge in

ears. It seemed to him that a fly was humming in hi

observing his dr

e matter? Y

other? Not her mother with her present voice but with her voic

tertain me very much; you are very char

d this strange echo of a voice once so fa

alking,"

wh

achers have taught yo

mble with astonishment. Of course there were differences in their tones, the resemblance of which he had not remarked immediately, and which were in some ways so dissimilar that he had not confounded them at all; but these differences rendered all the more striking this sudden reproduction of the maternal speech. H

n, and found, as their eyes met, a little of the shy hesitation with

nd the park, passing always before the s

She wished to know all about them, asked questions with eager curiosity, seeming to fill her feminin

arates the two gates of the outer boulevard, B

id, "we mus

y toward the Boul

ette at her home he proceeded

he benches, so agile did he feel. Paris seemed radiant to him, more beautiful tha

r and more comprehensive, when one feels a keener joy in seeing and feeling, as if an all-powerful hand had brightened all the co

sing things: "And I said that there were moments

to him, and he conceived a new way of expressing life, truer and more original; and suddenly he was se

ardor that had burned in his blood began to cool. He felt tired

realized that his house was empty and his studio deserted. Then, looking around him, he fancied he saw pass by him the shadow of a woman whose presence was sweet. For a long time he had forgotten the

e, where she had come so often, innumerable reminders of her, her gestures, words, and kisses. He recalle

life, he saw and felt only walls within reach of his hand and voice. Not having any woman in his home, and not being able to meet the one he loved except with the precautions of a thief, he had been compelled to spend his leisure time in public places where one finds or purchases the

liberty; now he regretted them once more, as if he were again beginning to love her. And this return of tenderness invaded his heart so suddenly, almost without reason, because the weather was fine, and p

think after the fashion of a young lover, exalting her in his heart, and feeling himself exalted in his desire for

sherbes he was seized with a fear of not finding her, which would forc

home?" the servant's answer, "Ye

d of the smaller drawing-room where the two ladies were working, under the p

ow fortunate!" excl

feel very lone

ice of

expecting

aps-I ne

ray knitting-work that mother and daughter were swiftly

that?"

erle

the p

of c

very

very

, where everything else charms the eye. If not for your poor, you really

with a shrug of her shoulders. "Why, everyo

without seeing that frightful gray stuff dragged over the prettiest gowns an

ss spread out her knitting on a silk-covered ch

are right-

their hair and complexions, extending to their skirts and their moving fingers. They watched their work with that a

in, borne by ancient columns of gilded wood, shed upon the hangings

barely seat himself, but which he had always preferred when tal

Nane this afternoon in th

She resembles you very strongly. When she pronounces certain phra

already said t

suffering that day, even-the recollection of his desolate home, still, silent, and cold, whatever the weather, whatever fi

alled beside her forever, in the habits of her household and under the sweet influence of her presence. In looking at her he felt his heart full of old things revived, of which he wished to speak. Certainly, he still loved her very

quilt for the poor, the needles, and the ball of wool, which would roll under a sofa at the end of a long, unwound thread, he looked at the tim

heard in the next room, and a serva

ur de M

nds with the Inspector of Fine Arts he had a great desire

was a whisper of scandal about the Marquis de Rocdiane. He looked a

s to the clock and saw that

bed, my child," she

l, kissed her mother on the cheeks, gave her hand to the two gentlemen, and d

al?" her mother demanded,

ered insufficient, had discovered a sure if singular means to double it. The Marquise, whom he had had watched, had been surprised in f

gaze, her idle hands holding the

did not wish to speak of it to anyone, that the story was an odious falsehood, one of those shameful lies which people of their world ought neither to listen to nor repeat. He appeared grea

respects, no one could justly accuse him or even suspect him of any really unworthy action.

I heard this story just before I came here, in

ou? A woman, no d

it was the Marq

further, retorted: "That do

r work again. Presently Olivier said in a calmer v

ever about it, having heard it m

er dangerous; and he was just beginning to say that he must pay a visit at the Corbelle

come, and despairing now of

scandal that is running all over town thi

ocdiane surprised his wife in a criminal situation

re, placing one hand on Guilleroy's shoulder, repeated in a gentle

lightly a doubtful and possibly compromising thing, pleaded his ignora

onvinced, during the next five minutes, that all the whispered scandals were lies; that the women did not have the lovers ascribed to them; that the

o him, led him to talk on his favorite subjects, and opened the sluices of his eloquence. The Count

the tea-table, on which the boiling water steamed in a pr

from the Russians, then offered a cup to Musadieu, another to Bertin, following this wit

assortment of syrups, liqueurs, and glasses; he mixed himse

at the clock, the hands of which approached midnight. The Countess noticed his glances, understood that he wished to speak to her alone, and, with that ability of a clever woman of the world to change by indescribable shades of tone the whole at

low of ideas; and, without asking himself the re

ned him at the threshold of the ante-chamber to make some trifling explanation, while Musadieu, assisted by a footman, put on his topcoat. As Madame de Guilleroy continued to talk to Bertin

him, and the Countess said to th

It is not yet midnight

ler drawing-room togeth

imal set my teeth on

, pr

away from m

ot ver

t, but he i

ou jea

g jealous to fi

he smoothed the folds of her robe with his fingers as he told her of t

d gently laid her hand on his white locks, wh

uch to live always

retired to rest, asleep, no doubt, in so

marriage is the only thing

rmured, full of pity for

th a tenderness touched with sadness, less ardently than a short time before,

ntess with a smile, running her fingers lightly over O

it. Everything

ned lest she h

ly, you know," she said. "I have always

that i

ad between her hands, kissed him slowly and tenderly on the forehead, with long kisses that seemed as if they n

ffice to realize the desire that had possessed him since morning; and now that he was alone with his mistress, now that he felt on his brow the touch of her hands, and, against his cheek, through the folds of her skirt, the warmth of her body, he felt the

the Countess. "Why, we see

ght breakfast with him, in some suburb of Par

. She assured him that she would try to do it as soon as her husband should go to Ronces; but that it

when shall I see

rsday, at three o'clock, if you are free; and I believe

exac

aro

od-

y, my f

g of all that he had come to say, and his mind was still full of unsaid thi

repeated, tak

y, my f

ove

which a woman shows a man, in a sing

repeated for the third tim