Her Lover (Belle du Seigneur) by Albert Cohen

Author:Albert Cohen [Cohen, Albert]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Tags: Romance, French Literature, Classics
ISBN: 9780141188300
Publisher: Penguin UK
Published: 1968-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 54

Perched on a ladder with a lantern in one hand, the tiny creature examined herself in the mirror on the wall, made faces at her reflection, then rouged her lips, powdered her square face, smoothed her large soot-black eyebrows, licked her finger and with it wet her beauty spot, smiled at herself, finally climbed down, and ran towards the far end of the cellar, along walls oozing with damp and bristling with long nails. When she reached the prone man, she struck an elegant pose with one hand on hip and, smiling clever smiles, hummed a tune. He shuddered, sat up, leaned against the wall, and passed one hand over his blood-soaked forehead.

'May God guard you in the coming week,' she sang softly in a contralto voice. 'And tell me, kind sir, what is your name and how good the family from which you came?'

As he stared at her without answering, fascinated by her head, which was supported by no visible neck, she shrugged her shoulders and turned away. Sweeping her short train behind her with a flourish, she began walking to and fro impulsively, perched on her high-heeled dancing-shoes, making the flounces of her yellow satin dress flare, and cooling herself furiously with a fan made of feathers.

'Not that I care, you know, I have absolutely no wish to get married,' she said. She had come close to him again and was still fanning herself in a jangle of charms and armlets. 'But, really, the ingratitude! Apart from the fact that I got dressed up like this for your benefit, it was I who saw you through the ventilator looking dead, you could have been shamming or perhaps you weren't, and it was I who ran and told my uncles, and they went out when the blond beasts had gone, rushed out at once to bring you in here, and bring you they did! And so here you are, quite safe! This is my father's house. He was a wealthy antiques dealer and I am his only heir, but I shall marry a famous doctor so that I can wave my fan in the best drawing-rooms! I shall bewitch him by singing songs which tell how he will find sweet bliss in my cradling arms! Of course my sister is beautiful too, but I'm not afraid of competition because she's blind and anyway her brain isn't quite what it should be! And in any case the doctor will get a double dowry, because my back's not straight! You shall see my sister presently! She is still asleep in a cellar which she has all to herself! She is very beautiful, and I'm proud of her even though I'm quite tiny! But no one must look upon her! She is sacred! Ambivalent! My feelings are ambivalent! I know a lot of words! Ask me any difficult word and I'll tell you what it means! I know explanations for everything! With just one glance I can tell you what a

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