'I
am condemning you to a cheerless and melancholy youth,' he
sometimes said to me, 'but it will not last forever--patience,
patience!' Did he really love me? I think so. But his affection
showed itself in a strange manner. Sometimes his voice was so
tender that my heart was touched. At others there was a look of
hatred in his eyes which terrified me. Occasionally he was severe
almost to brutality, and then the next moment he would implore me
to forgive him, order the carriage, take me with him to his
jewellers', and insist upon me accepting some costly ornaments.
Madame Leon declares that my jewels are worth more than twenty
thousand francs. At times I wondered if his capricious affection
and sternness were really intended for myself. It often seemed to
me that I was only a shadow--the phantom of some absent person, in
his eyes. It is certain that he often requested me to dress
myself or to arrange my hair in a certain fashion, to wear such
and such a color, or to use a particular perfume which he gave me.
Frequently, when I was moving about the house, he suddenly
exclaimed: 'Marguerite! I entreat you, remain just where you are!'
"I obeyed him, but the illusion had already vanished. A sob or an
oath would come from his lips, and then in an angry voice he would
bid me leave the room."
The magistrate did not raise his eyes from his talismanic ring; it
might have been supposed that it had fascinated him.
Pages:
221
222
223
224
225
226
227
228
229
230
231
232
233
234
235
236
237
238
239
240
241
242
243
244
245