FRENCH NOVELISTS, 527 



on his death-bed, commanded his two sons, Exupere and Fulgence, 

 to the care of the Count. Laviteal had been firmly attached to re- 

 vealed religion, and had given his sons a saintly education. Exupere 

 repaired to an uncle in America, and settled down into the peaceful 

 and industrious existence of a manufacturer. Fulgence became the 

 secretary of Juviessy. Everything around Exupere tended to 

 strengthen and confirm his religious impressions ; the ironical sallies 

 of Juviessy and Salicetta soon dissipated those of Fulgence. Young, 

 susceptible, and enthusiastic, he looked upon things through the 

 prism of the imagination, but raillery pierced him to the soul. His 

 susceptible heart was soon won by the beauty and gentleness of Ste- 

 phane, the femme de chambre of Salicetta, who happened to be a per- 

 son of breeding and education above her station. They loved with 

 all the ardour of youthful passion. Salicetta, who had been en- 

 tangling Fulgence in the mazes of a flirtation, discovered their at- 

 tachment, and in a fit of jealousy, orders Stephane to quit her house. 

 Fulgence follows her to the humble roof of her father, a village 

 schoolmaster, declares his attachment, and his intention of join- 

 ing the army of Napoleon, in order to be able to offer her a position 

 jn society, worthy of her merits. The resolution was soon put in prac- 

 tice. Fulgence soon distinguished himself ; but as Colonel Laviteal 

 he was a being very different from the unsophisticated Fulgence, the 

 secretary. In vain his brother Exupere reminds him of the religious 

 precepts inculcated by their father, in vain Stephane reminds him 

 of his plighted troth. The gay Colonel was an infidel, and a man of 

 the world, too much occupied with the dissipation of the times to give 

 heed to what reminded him of the inexperience of his youth. The 

 glories of the empire had passed away, and the peaceful sloth of the 

 restoration left him at liberty to pursue the career of pleasure. He 

 again met Salicetta, and was again fascinated by her coquetry and 

 beauty. He becomes her acknowledged admirer, and her constant 

 attendant in the round of dissipation. On his return home from ac- 

 companying her to the opera, he observed, 



" reclining on a stone bench opposite his door, a female with her head 

 wrapped in a black veil and her garments drenched with the rain that had 

 been falling at intervals. He drew a piece of money from his pocket and 

 placed it upon the bench, the female rejected the proffered alms with a 

 sudden motion ; she drew aside her veil, and exclaimed, ' I am not as yet 

 a beggar* * * * he recoiled as he recognized Stephane. 



" ' Stephane, you must come with me to my apartments.' 



" ( Never, unless with the title of your wife.' 



" ' What brings you here in this plight, what have you to ask of me?' 



" ' Can you ask me such a question, have I not received a letter from 

 you that has almost driven me to distraction. Unable to endure uncertainty, 

 I have sought to know the truth, however cruel it may be. Have you 

 ceased to love me, Fulgence ? have you resolved upon abandoning me ? 

 speak, speak !' 



" ' Listen to me, Stephane when I first saw you I was young and inex- 

 perienced ; sympathizing in the same illusions and sorrows, we loved each 

 other, and I combatted with ardour the passion which seemed to cool my 

 affection for you ; for you I quitted the house of the Count de Juviessy and 

 embraced the career of arms. In the enthusiasm of passion, I promised : 



" ' No more, I understand you are going to tell me that you now 



