Father Goriot HonorĂ© de Balzac (love books to read .TXT) đ
- Author: Honoré de Balzac
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Sylvie took him by the arm, supported him upstairs, and flung him just as he was, like a package, across the bed.
âPoor young fellow!â said Mme. Couture, putting back EugĂšneâs hair that had fallen over his eyes; âhe is like a young girl, he does not know what dissipation is.â
âWell, I can tell you this, I know,â said Mme. Vauquer, âI have taken lodgers these thirty years, and a good many have passed through my hands, as the saying is, but I have never seen a nicer nor a more aristocratic looking young man than M. EugĂšne. How handsome he looks sleeping! Just let his head rest on your shoulder, Mme. Couture. Pshaw! he falls over towards Mlle. Victorine. Thereâs a special providence for young things. A little more, and he would have broken his head against the knob of the chair. Theyâd make a pretty pair those two would!â
âHush, my good neighbor,â cried Mme. Couture, âyou are saying such thingsâ ââ
âPooh!â put in Mme. Vauquer, âhe does not hear.â âHere, Sylvie! come and help me to dress. I shall put on my best stays.â
âWhat! your best stays just after dinner, madame?â said Sylvie. âNo, you can get someone else to lace you. I am not going to be your murderer. Itâs a rash thing to do, and might cost you your life.â
âI donât care, I must do honor to M. Vautrin.â
âAre you so fond of your heirs as all that?â
âCome, Sylvie, donât argue,â said the widow, as she left the room.
âAt her age, too!â said the cook to Victorine, pointing to her mistress as she spoke.
Mme. Couture and her ward were left in the dining-room, and EugĂšne slept on Victorineâs shoulder. The sound of Christopheâs snoring echoed through the silent house; EugĂšneâs quiet breathing seemed all the quieter by force of contrast, he was sleeping as peacefully as a child. Victorine was very happy; she was free to perform one of those acts of charity which form an innocent outlet for all the overflowing sentiments of a womanâs nature; he was so close to her that she could feel the throbbing of his heart; there was a look of almost maternal protection and conscious pride in Victorineâs face. Among the countless thoughts that crowded up in her young innocent heart, there was a wild flutter of joy at this close contact.
âPoor, dear child!â said Mme. Couture, squeezing her hand.
The old lady looked at the girl. Victorineâs innocent, pathetic face, so radiant with the new happiness that had befallen her, called to mind some naive work of medieval art, when the painter neglected the accessories, reserving all the magic of his brush for the quiet, austere outlines and ivory tints of the face, which seems to have caught something of the golden glory of heaven.
âAfter all, he only took two glasses, mamma,â said Victorine, passing her fingers through EugĂšneâs hair.
âIndeed, if he had been a dissipated young man, child, he would have carried his wine like the rest of them. His drowsiness does him credit.â
There was a sound of wheels outside in the street.
âThere is M. Vautrin, mamma,â said the girl. âJust take M. EugĂšne. I would rather not have that man see me like this; there are some ways of looking at you that seem to sully your soul and make you feel as though you had nothing on.â
âOh, no, you are wrong!â said Mme. Couture. âM. Vautrin is a worthy man; he reminds me a little of my late husband, poor dear M. Couture, rough but kindhearted; his bark is worse than his bite.â
Vautrin came in while she was speaking; he did not make a sound, but looked for a while at the picture of the two young facesâ âthe lamplight falling full upon them seemed to caress them.
âWell,â he remarked, folding his arms, âhere is a picture! It would have suggested some pleasing pages to Bernardin de Saint-Pierre (good soul), who wrote Paul et Virginie. Youth is very charming, Mme. Couture!â âSleep on, poor boy,â he added, looking at EugĂšne, âluck sometimes comes while you are sleeping.â âThere is something touching and attractive to me about this young man, madame,â he continued; âI know that his nature is in harmony with his face. Just look, the head of a cherub on an angelâs shoulder! He deserves to be loved. If I were a woman, I would die (noâ ânot such a fool), I would live for him.â He bent lower and spoke in the widowâs ear. âWhen I see those two together, madame, I cannot help thinking that Providence meant them for each other; He works by secret ways, and tries the reins and the heart,â he said in a loud voice. âAnd when I see you, my children, thus united by a like purity and by all human affections, I say to myself that it is quite impossible that the future should separate you. God is just.ââ âHe turned to Victorine. âIt seems to me,â he said, âthat I have seen the line of success in your hand. Let me look at it, Mlle. Victorine; I am well up in palmistry, and I have told fortunes many a time. Come, now, donât be frightened. Ah! what do I see? Upon my word, you will be one of the richest heiresses in Paris before very long. You will heap riches on the man who loves you. Your father will want you to go and live with him. You will marry a young and handsome man with a title, and he will idolize you.â
The heavy footsteps of the coquettish widow, who was coming down the stairs, interrupted Vautrinâs fortune-telling. âHere is Mamma Vauquerre, fair as a starr-r-r, dressed within an inch of her life.â âArenât we a trifle pinched for room?â he inquired, with his arm round the lady; âwe
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