Valentine by George Sand

Author:George Sand
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
Publisher: Chicago Review Press
Published: 1995-05-14T16:00:00+00:00

XXI

The dancing in the park at Raimbault was very lively. The peasants, for whose benefit arbors of foliage had been arranged, sang and drank and proclaimed the newly-married couple the handsomest, most fortunate and most honorable in the country. The countess, who was anything but popular, had been very lavish in her preparations for the festival, in order to have done at once, in a single day, with all the affability which another would have distributed throughout a lifetime. She had the most profound contempt for the canaille, and declared that, if you only gave them plenty to eat and drink, you could walk on their stomachs without a sign of revolt from them. And the saddest part of it is that Madame de Raimbault was not altogether wrong.

The Marquise de Raimbault was delighted with this opportunity to revive her popularity. She was not very susceptible to the hardships of the poor, but she was no more indifferent in that regard than in regard to the misfortunes of her friends; and, thanks to her fondness for gossip and her disposition to be familiar, she had acquired that reputation for kindness of heart which the poor award with so little reason, alas! to those who, although they do no good, at all events do no harm. As the two ladies passed, one after the other, the shrewd minds of the village whispered to one another under the foliage :

“That one despises us, but she entertains us; the other doesn’t entertain us, but she speaks to us.”

And they were content with both. The only one who was really loved was Valentine, because she did not confine herself to a friendly word and smile, to being generous to them and helping them, but shared their sorrows and their joys ; they felt that her kindness was not induced by any selfish interest, or by policy. They had seen her weep over their misfortunes; they had found in her heart genuine sympathy; they were more attached than men of coarse mould commonly are to those of higher station. Many of them knew the story of her intercourse with her sister at the farm, but they kept her secret so religiously that they hardly dared mention Louise’s name under their breaths.

Valentine walked from one table to another and strove to smile in answer to their good wishes, but their merriment vanished when she had passed, for they noticed that she seemed depressed and ill; they even went so far as to cast malevolent glances at Monsieur de Lansac.

Athénaïs and her wedding-party dropped into the midst of the festivities, and there was an instant change in the aspect of affairs. Her elegant costume and her husband’s affable bearing attracted all eyes. The dancing, which was beginning to flag, became animated once more. Valentine, having embraced her young friend, retired again with her nurse. Madame de Raimbault, being intensely bored, went to her room to rest; Monsieur de Lansac, who always had important letters to write, even on his wedding-day, went to prepare his day’s mail.

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