Volume V Part 18 (1/2)
As Jeanne and Julien were driving hos which the Fourvilles had lent theiant is,” said Jeanne, almost to herself
”Yes,” answered Julien; ”but he makes too much show of his affection, sometimes, before people”
A week after their visit to the Fourvilles, they called on the Couteliers, ere supposed to be the highest family in the province, and whose estate lay near Cany The new chateau, built in the reign of Louis XIV, lay in a nificent park, entirely surrounded by walls, and the ruins of the old chateau could be seen frorounds
A liveried servant showed the visitors into a large, handsome room In the middle of the floor an enormous Sevres vase stood on a pedestal, into which a crystal case had been let containing the king's autograph letter, offering this gift to the Marquis Leopold Herve Joseph Germer de Varneville, de Rollebosc de Coutelier Jeanne and Julien were looking at this royal present when theher hair powdered
The ht her rank constrained her to be aht up all over his head, and a haughtiness in his voice, in all his movements, in his every attitude which plainly showed the esteem in which he held himself They were people who had a strict etiquette for everything, and whose feelings seemed always stilted, like their words
They both talked on without waiting for an answer, smiled with an air of indifference, and behaved as if they were acco a duty i the smaller nobles of the province with such politeness Jeanne and Julien tried to h they felt ill at ease, and when the time came to conclude their visit they hardly kne to retire, though they did not want to stay any longer However, the marquise, herself, ended the visit naturally and si an audience
”I don't think ill call on anyone else, unless you want to,” said Julien, as they were going back ”The Fourvilles are quite as reed with him
Dark, dreary December passed sloay Everyone stayed at hohts were too full of Paul for her ever to feel dull She would hold hi him with those passionate kisses whichthe baby's face to his father:
”Why don't you kiss him?” she would say ”You hardly seem to love him”
Julien would just touch the infant's s his body as far away as possible, as if he were afraid of the little hands touching hio quickly out of the roousted him
The mayor, the doctor, and the cure came to dinner occasionally, and sometimes the Fourvilles, who had become very intimate with Jeanne and her husband The comte seemed to worshi+p Paul He nursed the child on his knees from the time he entered Les Peuples to the ti him the whole afternoon, and it was marvelous to see how delicately and tenderly he touched hie hands He would tickle the child's nose with the ends of his long moustaches, and then suddenly cover his face with kisses alreat trouble of his life that he had no children
March was bright, dry, and alain proposed that they should all four go for so weary evenings and the dull, reed to it at once It took her a week to -habit, and then they commenced their rides
They always rode two and two, the co the way, and the comte and Jeanne about a hundred feet behind The latter couple talked easily and quietly as they rode along, for, each attracted by the other's straightforays and kindly heart, they had become fast friends Julien and the cohter, and looked in each other's eyes to read there the things their lips did not utter, and often they would break into a gallop, as if impelled by a desire to escape alone to so irritated Gilberte Her sharp tones would be borne on the breeze to the ears of the couple loitering behind, and the comte would say to Jeanne, with a sht side thishoan to spur her mare, and then pull her in with sudden jerks on the rein
”Take care, or she'll run aith you,” said Julien two or three ti to do with you,” she replied, in such cold, hard tones that the clear words rang out over the fields as if they were actually floating in the air
The mare reared, kicked, and foamed at the mouth and the comte cried out anxiously:
”Do take care what you are doing, Gilberte!”
Then, in a fit of defiance, for she was in one of those obstinate ht her whip heavily down between the anis for a moment, then, with a tremendous bound, set off over the plain at the top of her speed First she crossed aup the wet heavy soil behind her, and going at such a speed that in a few uish the co: ”Mada down over his powerful steed, galloped after his wife He encouraged his steed with voice and hand, urged it on hip and spur, and it sees, and raised it froround at every leap it took The horse went at an inconceivable speed, keeping a straight line regardless of all obstacles; and Jeanne could see the two outlines of the husband and wife diether, like two birds chasing each other till they are lost to sight beyond the horizon
Julien walked his horse up to his wife, rily: ”She is mad to-day” And they both went off after their friends, ere hidden in a dip in the plain In about a quarter of an hour they saw the back, and soon they ca red, hot and triu his wife's horse The comtesse was very pale; her features looked drawn and contracted, and she leant on her husband's shoulder as if she were going to faint That day Jeanne understood, for the first tih the following month the comtesse was merrier than she had ever been before She cahing and ju up to kiss Jeanne She seemed to have found some unknown source of happiness, and her husband si her about with his eyes and seeking every pretext for touching her hand or her dress