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Even his manner of walking, which was not that of youth and health, repelled me; as for his glance, it might be said that he had none. I do not know what to think of a man whose eyes have nothing to say. These are the signs which led to an unfavorable opinion of Mercanson, an opinion which was unfortunately correct.
That thought, sincere enough on my part, had great weight with a woman of lofty devotion whose soul was as pious as it was ardent. It was probably the only consideration that induced Madame Pierson to permit me to see her. I was preparing to go to see her one day when some one knocked at my door and I saw Mercanson enter, that priest I had met in the garden on the occasion of my first visit.
"Sir, you are becoming violent! I think Madame Pierson is seriously ill; she will not be able to see you this week." Another bow, and he retired. It was clear that his visit concealed some mystery: either Madame Pierson did not wish to see me, and I could not explain why; or Mercanson had interfered on his own responsibility.
"Sir, I am afraid of no one, and I have told you what you ought to know." "You have told me what you think I ought to know, but not what you know. Madame Pierson is not sick, I am sure of it." "How do you know?" "The servant told me so. Why has she closed her door against me, and why did she send you to tell me of it?" Mercanson saw a peasant passing.
She showed me how she had changed her coiffure which had displeased me, and told me how she had passed the day arranging her hair to suit my taste; how she had taken down a villainous black picture-frame that had offended my eye; how she had renewed the flowers; she recounted all she had done since she had known me, how she had seen me suffer and how she had suffered herself; how she had thought of leaving the country, of fleeing from her love; how she had employed every precaution against me; how she had sought advice from her aunt, from Mercanson and from the cure; how she had vowed to herself that she would die rather than yield, and how all that had been dissipated by a single word of mine, a glance, an incident; and with every confession a kiss.
"Monsieur, I am afraid of no one, and I have told you what you ought to know." "You have told me what you think I ought to know, but not what you know. Madame Pierson is not sick; I am sure of it." "How do you know?" "The servant told me so. Why has she closed her door against me, and why did she send you to tell me of it?" Mercanson saw a peasant passing.
"Sir, you are becoming violent! I think Madame Pierson is seriously ill; she will not be able to see you this week." Another bow, and he retired. It was clear that his visit concealed some mystery: either Madame Pierson did not wish to see me, and I could not explain why; or Mercanson had interfered on his own responsibility.
I left her precipitately, and rushed out to find Mercanson. I was told that he had gone out, and I entered his house to wait for him. I sat in the corner of the room on a priest's chair before a dirty black table. I was becoming impatient when I recalled my duel on account of my first mistress. "I received a wound from a bullet and am still a fool," I said to myself. "What have I come to do here?
When we reached the end of the garden walk, a large young man with a pale face, clad in a kind of black cassock, suddenly appeared at the railing. He entered without knocking and bowed to Madame Pierson; it seemed to me that his face, which I considered a bad omen, darkened a little when he saw me. He was a priest I had often seen in the village, and his name was Mercanson; he came from St.
If they say that I ill-treat her, it is for me to prove the contrary by my conduct with her, and not by violence. It would be as ridiculous to seek a quarrel with Mercanson as to leave the country on account of gossip. No, we must not leave the country; that would be a bad move; that would be to say to all the world that there is truth in its idle rumors, and to give excuse to the gossips.
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