LAbbe Constantin, vol 3 | Page 7

marriage, it was because his interviews with these two
girls had not caused him any emotion or any agitation. He had smiled
in speaking thus, but a few minutes after he smiled no more. This
emotion, this agitation, he had suddenly learned to know them. Jean did
not deceive himself; he acknowledged the depth of the wound; it had

penetrated to his very heart's core.
Jean, however, did not abandon himself to this emotion. He said to
himself:
"Yes, it is serious, very serious, but I shall recover from it."
He sought an excuse for his madness; he laid the blame on
circumstances. For ten days this delightful girl had been too much with
him, too much with him alone! How could he resist such a temptation?
He was intoxicated with her charm, with her grace and beauty. But the
next day a troop of visitors would arrive at Longueval, and there would
be an end of this dangerous intimacy. He would have courage; he
would keep at a distance; he would lose himself in the crowd, would
see Bettina less often and less familiarly. To see her no more was a
thought he could not support! He wished to remain Bettina's friend,
since he could be nothing but her friend; for there was another thought
which scarcely entered the mind of Jean. This thought did not appear
extravagant to him; it appeared monstrous. In the whole world there
was not a more honorable man than Jean, and he felt for Bettina's
money horror, positively horror.
From the 25th of June the crowd had been in possession of Longueval.
Mrs. Norton arrived with her son, Daniel Norton; and Mrs. Turner with
her son, Philip Turner. Both of them, the young Philip and the young
Daniel, formed a part of the famous brotherhood of the thirty-four.
They were old friends, Bettina had treated them as such, and had
declared to them, with perfect frankness, that they were losing their
time. However, they were not discouraged, and formed the centre of a
little court which was always very eager and assiduous around Bettina.
Paul de Lavardens had made his appearance on this scene, and had very
rapidly become everybody's friend. He had received the brilliant and
complicated education of a young man destined for pleasure. As soon
as it was a question only of amusement, riding, croquet, lawn-tennis,
polo, dancing, charades, and theatricals, he was ready for everything.
He excelled in everything. His superiority was evident, unquestionable.
Paul became, in a short time, by general consent, the director and

organizer of the fetes at Longueval.
Bettina had not a moment of hesitation. Jean introduced Paul de
Lavardens, and the latter had scarcely concluded the customary little
compliment when Miss Percival, leaning toward her sister, whispered
in her ear:
"The thirty-fifth!"
However, she received Paul very kindly, so kindly that for several days
he had the weakness to misunderstand her. He believed that it was his
personal graces which had obtained for him this very flattering and
cordial reception. It was a great mistake. Paul de Lavardens had been
introduced by Jean; he was the friend of Jean. In Bettina's eyes, therein
lay all his merit.
Mrs. Scott's castle was open house; people were not invited for one
evening only, but for every evening, and Paul, with enthusiasm, came
every evening! His dream was at last realized; he had, found Paris at
Longueval.
But Paul was neither blind nor a fool. No doubt he was, on Miss
Percival's part, the object of very particular attention and favor. It
pleased her to talk long, very long, alone with him. But what was the
eternal, the inexhaustible subject of their conversations? Jean, again
Jean, and always Jean!
Paul was thoughtless, dissipated, frivolous, but he became in earnest
when Jean was in question; he knew how to appreciate him, he knew
how to love him. Nothing to him was sweeter, nothing was easier, than
to say of the friend of his childhood all the good that he thought of him,
and as he saw that Bettina listened with great pleasure, Paul gave free
rein to his eloquence.
Only--and he was quite right--Paul wished one evening to reap the
benefit of his chivalrous conduct. He had just been talking for a quarter
of an hour with Bettina. The conversation finished, he went to look for
Jean at the other end of the drawing-room, and said to him:

"You left the field open to me, and I have made a bold stroke for Miss
Percival."
"Well, you have no reason to be discontented with the result of the
enterprise. You are the best friends in the world."
"Yes, certainly, pretty well, but not quite satisfactory. There is nothing
more amiable or more charming than Miss Percival, and really it is
very