Mademoiselle de Malepeire by Fanny Reybaud, by Barbara Basbanes Richter

Author:Barbara Basbanes Richter
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Bancroft Press

Chapter Five

“I always thought it was some projectile that made that damage!” murmured dom Gérusac as he tapped on his snuffbox.

“Her father should have killed her,” I whispered, transported by a secret fury.

Monsieur de Champaubert continued. “Everything I’ve just told you happened in less than a minute. The abbat had the presence of mind to immediately throw himself into the hallway. He literally ran over us as he escaped. I got up, but overcome with dizziness, I was like a man rolling down a precipice. My faculties were momentarily suspended. In truth, I don’t know how I just now recalled this scene to which I bore silent witness.

“Once the abbat disappeared, all was quiet. Mademoiselle de Malepeire pressed one hand against the chimney. She was very pale, but she neither lowered her head nor her gaze.”

“‘Did this man enter by some sham?’ the baron finally asked her hoarsely.”

“‘No, sir,’ she answered fearlessly. ‘The moment has come to tell all…to declare all the feelings in my heart…I will do it with courage…’”

“Yet her boldness weakened, and it was in a less assured tone that she spoke. Involuntarily lowering her head, she said: ‘I gave my heart and my love to a man who, according to generally held beliefs, is not my—’”

“‘This peasant? You love him?’ the baron violently interrupted.”

“‘Yes,’ she responded. ‘And nothing can separate us…We are united… He is my lover…and I am his.’”

“‘She’s lying! She’s lying! Don’t believe her!’ screamed the baroness, coming out of her stupor and throwing herself between her husband and daughter. ‘This is a moment of delirious folly…How can she be saying this? How did this happen? She never left me…never! When could she have possibly been seduced? There! She’s lying. She doesn’t even know that man.’”

“‘I spoke the truth!’ Mademoiselle de Malepeire responded as she lifted her eyes to the sky with a strange, passionate enthusiasm. ‘I love this young man because he possesses all the virtues of his humble condition: simplicity, good nature, austerity…Yes, I love him!’ she exalted. ‘Poverty doesn’t scare me if I’m with him. His robust arms are used to work. I’ll share the bread he laboriously earns. When I brought him here this evening, it was to tell him that I had resolved to flee with him tonight. You pushed me to these extremes. To escape from this awful misfortune—to be married despite myself—I called him to my aid, to be placed under his protection.’”

“‘She’s crazy! My poor child is crazy!’ cried the baroness, flinging her arms in despair.”

“The baron turned towards me and, with a self-control more terrifying than bursts of the most terrible anger, he said, ‘I will kill that miserable wretch.’”

“‘And who will restore my honor?’ cried Mademoiselle de Malepeire with a savage energy. ‘Who will make an honest woman out of a guilty girl?’”

“The old gentleman raised his hand as if to strike the girl’s face and to leave a withering, eternal mark, but he did not touch her.”

“‘Go. I consent to his marrying you!’ he said to her.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.