And he
who was so terrible in appearance, he who twirled his ferocious
mustaches in such a threatening manner, he who swore horribly
enough to make an old hussar blush, became more submissive than a
child, and more timid than a lamb when he was beside his wife. He
trembled when she turned her pale blue eyes upon him in a certain
fashion. And woe to him if he ventured to rebel. She suppressed
his pocket-money, and during these penitential seasons he was
reduced to the necessity of asking his friends to lend him twenty-
franc pieces, which he generally forgot to return.
Madame de Fondege was, as a rule, most imperious, envious, and
spiteful in disposition; but on coming to the Hotel de Chalusse
she had provided herself with any amount of sweetness and
sensibility, and when she entered the room, she held her
handkerchief to her lips as if to stifle her sobs. The General
led her toward Mademoiselle Marguerite, and, in a semi-solemn,
semi-sentimental tone, he exclaimed: "Dear Athenais, this is the
daughter of my best and oldest friend. I know your heart--I know
that she will find in you a second mother."
Mademoiselle Marguerite stood speechless and rigid. Persuaded
that Madame de Fondege was about to throw her arms round her neck
and kiss her, she was imposing the most terrible constraint upon
herself, in order to conceal her horror and aversion. But she was
unnecessarily alarmed. The hypocrisy of the General's wife was
superior to that of Madame Leon.
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