United States or Madagascar ? Vote for the TOP Country of the Week !
Do I know her?" "Of course you do, Monsieur le Cure; there are few you know so well. It is Mademoiselle Vincart." "Reine?" The Abbe flung away the pruning-knife and branch that he was cutting, and gazed at Claudet with a stupefied air. At the same time, his jovial face became shadowed, and his mouth assumed an expression of consternation.
The deceased had the devil in his boots. He could see neither a deer nor a pretty girl without flying in pursuit. Ah, yes! Many a trick has he played them talk of your miracles, forsooth! well, Claudet was his favorite, and Monsieur de Buxieres has told me, over and over again, that he would make him his heir, and I shall be very much astonished if we do not find a will."
I tried to be pleasant with Claudet, and received from both only rebuffs and insolence." "Oh! as to Claudet," resumed she, impulsively, "he is excusable. You can not expect he will be very gracious in his reception of the person who has supplanted him " "Supplanted? I do not understand." "What!" exclaimed Reine, "have they not told you anything, then? That is wrong.
Claudet was astonished, and opened his great, fierce brown eyes with amazement. The proposal seemed so incredible that he thought he must be dreaming, and mistrusted what he heard. "What! You offer me half the inheritance?" faltered he. "Yes; and I am ready to give you a certified deed of relinquishment as soon as you wish " Claudet interrupted him with a violent shrug of the shoulders.
She then drew near to Claudet; gave him her hand in comrade fashion, and saluted Julien: "Good-morning, Monsieur de Buxieres, I am very glad to see you here. Was it Claudet who brought you, or did you come of your own accord?"
Angry at having to submit to these inquiries in the presence of the coachman who had brought him from Langres, Julien completely lost control of his temper. "Do you require me to show my papers?" he inquired, in a haughty, ironical tone of voice. Manette, foreseeing a disturbance, hastened to interpose, in her hypocritical, honeyed voice: "Leave off, Claudet, let Monsieur alone.
She then drew near to Claudet; gave him her hand in comrade fashion, and saluted Julien: "Good-morning, Monsieur de Buxieres, I am very glad to see you here. Was it Claudet who brought you, or did you come of your own accord?"
"No;" she returned, "but I foresee that my words will give you pain, my poor Claudet, and I prefer you should hear them without being annoyed by the farm-people passing to and fro." "Explain yourself!" he exclaimed, impetuously. "For heaven's sake, don't keep me in suspense!" "Listen, Claudet. When you asked my hand in marriage, I answered yes, without taking time to reflect.
He was partly reassured, but some points had still to be cleared up. "But still," said he, "you are lamenting his loss." A melancholy smile flitted for an instant over Reine's pure, rosy lips. "Are you jealous of my tears?" said she, softly. "Oh, yes!" he exclaimed, with sudden exultation, "I love you so entirely that I can not help envying Claudet his share in your affections!
A few days afterward, during the unpleasant coolness of one of those mornings, white with dew, which are the peculiar privilege of the mountain-gorges in Langres, the bells of Vivey tolled for the dead, announcing the celebration of a mass in memory of Claudet. The grand chasserot having been a universal favorite with every one in the neighborhood, the church was crowded.
Word Of The Day