The Principal DeputyO! how this spring of love resembleth The uncertain glory of anApril day, Which now shows all the beauty of the sun, And byand by a cloud takes all away!

　　The Two Gentlemen of VeronaOne evening as the sun set, sitting by his mistress, at the end of theorchard, safe from disturbance, he was deep in thought. 'Will such delicious moments,' he was wondering, 'last for ever?' His thoughts were absorbed in the difficulty of adopting a profession, he was deploring thisgreat and distressing problem which puts an end to boyhood and spoilsthe opening years of manhood when one has no money.

　　'Ah!' he cried, 'Napoleon was indeed the man sent by God to help theyouth of France! Who is to take his place? What will the poor wretchesdo without him, even those who are richer than I, who have just the fewcrowns needed to procure them a good education, and not enoughmoney to purchase a man at twenty and launch themselves in a career!

　　Whatever happens,' he added with deep sigh, 'that fatal memory will forever prevent us from being happy!'

　　He saw Madame de Renal frown suddenly; she assumed a cold, disdainful air; this line of thought seemed to her worthy of a servant.

　　Brought up in the idea that she was extremely rich, it seemed to her athing to be taken for granted that Julien was also. She loved him a thousand times more than life itself, and money to her meant nothing.

　　Julien was far from guessing what was in her mind. This frownbrought him back to earth. He had presence of mind enough to arrangehis sentence and to make it plain to the noble lady, seated so close besidehim on the bank of verdure, that the words he had just uttered weresome that he had heard during his expedition to his friend the timbermerchant. This was the reasoning of the impious.

　　 'Very well! Don't mix any more with such people,' said Madame deRenal, still preserving a trace of that glacial air which had suddenlytaken the place of an expression of the tenderest affection.

　　This frown, or rather his remorse for his imprudence, was the firstcheck administered to the illusion that was bearing Julien away. He saidto himself: 'She is good and kind, her feeling for me is strong, but she hasbeen brought up in the enemy's camp. They are bound to be speciallyafraid of that class of men of spirit who, after a good education, have notenough money to enter upon a career. What would become of thesenobles, if it were granted us to fight them with equal weapons? Myself,for instance, as Mayor of Verrieres, well intentioned, honest as M. deRenal is at heart, how I should deal with the vicar, M. Valenod and alltheir rascalities! How justice should triumph in Verrieres. It is not theirtalents that would prove an obstacle. They are endlessly feeling theirway.'

　　Julien's happiness was, that day, on the point of becoming permanent.

　　What our hero lacked was the courage to be sincere. He needed the courage to give battle, but on the spot; Madame de Renal had been surprisedby his speech, because the men whom she was in the habit of meetingwere always saying that the return of Robespierre was made possible especially by these young men of the lower orders, who had been too welleducated. Madame de Renal's cold manner persisted for some time, andseemed to Julien to be marked. This was because the fear of having saidto him indirectly something unpleasant followed her repugnance at hisunfortunate speech. This distress was clearly shown on her pure countenance; so simple when she was happy and away from bores.

　　Julien no longer dared give himself up freely to his dreams. More calmand less amorous, he decided that it was imprudent in him to go to Madame de Renal in her room. It would be better if she came to him; if aservant saw her moving about the house, there would be a score of possible reasons to account for her action.

　　But this arrangement also had its drawbacks. Julien had received fromFouque certain books for which he, as a student of divinity, could neverhave asked a bookseller. He ventured to open them only at night. Oftenhe would have been just as well pleased not to be interrupted by an assignation, the tension of waiting for which, even before the little scene inthe orchard, would have left him incapable of reading.

　　He was indebted to Madame de Renal for an entirely new understanding of the books he read. He had ventured to ply her with questions as to all sorts of little things ignorance of which seriously handicaps the intelligence of a young man born outside the ranks of society, whatever natural genius one may choose to attribute to him.

　　This education in love, given by an extremely ignorant woman, was ablessing. Julien was at once enabled to see society as it is today. His mindwas not perplexed by accounts of what it was in the past, two thousandyears ago, or sixty years ago merel............