rentals at Cinq-Cygne, which had lately
been renewed at a notable increase. Monsieur and Madame d'Hauteserre
had provided for their old age by the purchase of an annuity of three
thousand francs in the Tontines Lafarge. That fragment of their former
means did not enable them to live elsewhere than at Cinq-Cygne, and
Laurence's first act on coming to her majority was to give them the use
for life of the wing of the chateau which they occupied.
The Hauteserres, as niggardly for their ward as they were for
themselves, laid up every year nearly the whole of their annuity for the
benefit of their sons, and kept the young heiress on miserable fare.
The whole cost of the Cinq-Cygne household never exceeded five thousand
francs a year. But Laurence, who condescended to no details, was
satisfied. Her guardian and his wife, unconsciously ruled by the
imperceptible influence of her strong character, which was felt even in
little things, had ended by admiring her whom they had known and treated
as a child,—a sufficiently rare feeling. But in her manner, her deep
voice, her commanding eye, Laurence held that inexplicable power which
rules all men,—even when its strength is mere appearance. To vulgar
minds real depth is incomprehensible; it is perhaps for that reason that
the populace is so prone to admire what it cannot understand. Monsieur
and Madame d'Hauteserre, impressed by the habitual silence and erratic
habits of the young girl, were constantly expecting some extraordinary
thing of her.
Laurence, who did good intelligently and never allowed herself to be
deceived, was held in the utmost respect by the peasantry although
she was an aristocrat. Her sex, name, and great misfortunes, also the
originality of her present life, contributed to give her authority over
the inhabitants of the valley of Cinq-Cygne. She was sometimes absent
for two days, attended by Gothard, but neither Monsieur nor Madame
d'Hauteserre questioned her, on her return, as to the reasons of
her absence. Please observe, however, that there was nothing odd or
eccentric about Laurence. What she was and what she did was masked, as
it were, by a feminine and even fragile appearance. Her heart was full
of extreme sensibility, though her head contained a stoical firmness
and the virile gift of resolution. Her clear-seeing eyes knew not how to
weep; but no one would have imagined that the delicate white wrist with
its tracery of blue veins could defy that of the boldest horseman. Her
hand, so noble, so flexible, could handle gun or pistol with the ease of
a practised marksman. She always wore when out of doors the coquettish
little cap with visor and green veil which women wear on horseback. Her
delicate fair face, thus protected, and her white throat tied with a
black cravat, were never injured by her long rides in all weathers.
Under the Directory and at the beginning of the Consulate, Laurence had
been able to escape the observation of others; but since the government
had become a more settled thing, the new authorities, the prefect of the
Aube, Malin's friends, and Malin himself had endeavored to undermine
her in the community. Her preoccupying thought was the overthrow of
Bonaparte, whose ambition and its triumphs excited the anger of her
soul,—a cold, deliberate anger. The obscure and hidden enemy of a man
at the pinnacle of glory, she kept her gaze upon him from the depths
of her valley and her forests, with relentless fixity; there were
times when she thought of killing him in the roads about Malmaison or
Saint-Cloud. Plans for the execution of this idea may have been the
cause of many of her past actions, but having been initiated, after the
peace of Amiens, into the conspiracy of the men who expected to make
the 18th Brumaire recoil upon the First Consul, she had thenceforth
subordinated her faculties and her hatred to their vast and well
laid scheme, which was to strike at Bonaparte externally by the vast
coalition of Russia, Austria, and Prussia
been renewed at a notable increase. Monsieur and Madame d'Hauteserre
had provided for their old age by the purchase of an annuity of three
thousand francs in the Tontines Lafarge. That fragment of their former
means did not enable them to live elsewhere than at Cinq-Cygne, and
Laurence's first act on coming to her majority was to give them the use
for life of the wing of the chateau which they occupied.
The Hauteserres, as niggardly for their ward as they were for
themselves, laid up every year nearly the whole of their annuity for the
benefit of their sons, and kept the young heiress on miserable fare.
The whole cost of the Cinq-Cygne household never exceeded five thousand
francs a year. But Laurence, who condescended to no details, was
satisfied. Her guardian and his wife, unconsciously ruled by the
imperceptible influence of her strong character, which was felt even in
little things, had ended by admiring her whom they had known and treated
as a child,—a sufficiently rare feeling. But in her manner, her deep
voice, her commanding eye, Laurence held that inexplicable power which
rules all men,—even when its strength is mere appearance. To vulgar
minds real depth is incomprehensible; it is perhaps for that reason that
the populace is so prone to admire what it cannot understand. Monsieur
and Madame d'Hauteserre, impressed by the habitual silence and erratic
habits of the young girl, were constantly expecting some extraordinary
thing of her.
Laurence, who did good intelligently and never allowed herself to be
deceived, was held in the utmost respect by the peasantry although
she was an aristocrat. Her sex, name, and great misfortunes, also the
originality of her present life, contributed to give her authority over
the inhabitants of the valley of Cinq-Cygne. She was sometimes absent
for two days, attended by Gothard, but neither Monsieur nor Madame
d'Hauteserre questioned her, on her return, as to the reasons of
her absence. Please observe, however, that there was nothing odd or
eccentric about Laurence. What she was and what she did was masked, as
it were, by a feminine and even fragile appearance. Her heart was full
of extreme sensibility, though her head contained a stoical firmness
and the virile gift of resolution. Her clear-seeing eyes knew not how to
weep; but no one would have imagined that the delicate white wrist with
its tracery of blue veins could defy that of the boldest horseman. Her
hand, so noble, so flexible, could handle gun or pistol with the ease of
a practised marksman. She always wore when out of doors the coquettish
little cap with visor and green veil which women wear on horseback. Her
delicate fair face, thus protected, and her white throat tied with a
black cravat, were never injured by her long rides in all weathers.
Under the Directory and at the beginning of the Consulate, Laurence had
been able to escape the observation of others; but since the government
had become a more settled thing, the new authorities, the prefect of the
Aube, Malin's friends, and Malin himself had endeavored to undermine
her in the community. Her preoccupying thought was the overthrow of
Bonaparte, whose ambition and its triumphs excited the anger of her
soul,—a cold, deliberate anger. The obscure and hidden enemy of a man
at the pinnacle of glory, she kept her gaze upon him from the depths
of her valley and her forests, with relentless fixity; there were
times when she thought of killing him in the roads about Malmaison or
Saint-Cloud. Plans for the execution of this idea may have been the
cause of many of her past actions, but having been initiated, after the
peace of Amiens, into the conspiracy of the men who expected to make
the 18th Brumaire recoil upon the First Consul, she had thenceforth
subordinated her faculties and her hatred to their vast and well
laid scheme, which was to strike at Bonaparte externally by the vast
coalition of Russia, Austria, and Prussia
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