A Man of SpiritThe prefect riding along on his horse thought to himself, Whyshould I not be a minister, head of the Cabinet, a duke? This ishow I would wage war … In that way I would have innovatorsput in chains.

　　Le GlobeNo argument is sufficient to destroy the mastery acquired by ten yearsof pleasant fancies. The Marquis thought it unreasonable to be angry, butcould not bring himself to forgive. 'If this Julien could die by accident,'

　　he said to himself at times … Thus it was that his sorrowful imaginationfound some relief in pursuing the most absurd chimeras. They paralysedthe influence of the wise counsels of the abbe Pirard. A month passed inthis way without the slightest advance in the negotiations.

　　In this family affair, as in affairs of politics, the Marquis had brilliantflashes of insight which would leave him enthusiastic for three days onend. At such times a plan of conduct would not please him because itwas backed by sound reasons; the reasons found favour in his sight onlyin so far as they supported his favourite plan. For three days, he wouldlabour with all the ardour and enthusiasm of a poet, to bring matters to acertain position; on the fourth, he no longer gave it a thought.

　　At first Julien was disconcerted by the dilatoriness of the Marquis; but,after some weeks, he began to discern that M. de La Mole had, in dealingwith this affair, no definite plan.

　　Madame de La Mole and the rest of the household thought that Julienhad gone into the country to look after the estates; he was in hiding inthe abbe Pirard's presbytery, and saw Mathilde almost every day; she,each morning, went to spend an hour with her father, but sometimesthey remained for weeks on end without mentioning the matter that wasoccupying all their thoughts.

　　 'I do not wish to know where that man is,' the Marquis said to her oneday; 'send him this letter.' Mathilde read:

　　'The estates in Languedoc bring in 20,600 francs. I give 10,600 francs tomy daughter, and 10,000 francs to M. Julien Sorel. I make over the estatesthemselves, that is to say. Tell the lawyer to draft two separate deeds ofgift, and to bring me them tomorrow; after which, no further relationsbetween us. Ah! Sir, how was I to expect such a thing as this?

　　'LE MARQUIS DE LA MOLE'

　　'I thank you very much,' said Mathilde gaily. 'We are going to settle inthe Chateau d'Aiguillon, between Agen and Marmande. They say thatthe country there is as beautiful as Italy.'

　　This donation came as a great surprise to Julien. He was no longer thesevere, cold man that we have known. The destiny of his child absorbedall his thoughts in anticipation. This unexpected fortune, quite considerable for so poor a man, made him ambitious. He now saw, settled on hiswife or himself, an income of 30,600 francs. As for Mathilde, all her sentiments were absorbed in one of adoration of her husband, for thus it wasthat her pride always named Julien. Her great, her sole ambition was tohave her marriage recognised. She spent her time in exaggerating thehigh degree of prudence that she had shown in uniting her destiny withthat of a superior man. Personal merit was in fashion in her brain.

　　Their almost continuous separation, the multiplicity of business, thelittle time that they had to talk of love, now completed the good effect ofthe wise policy adopted by Julien in the past.

　　Finally Mathilde grew impatient at seeing so little of the man whomshe had now come to love sincerely.

　　In a moment of ill humour she wrote to her father, and began her letterlike Othello:

　　'That I have preferred Julien to the attractions which society offered tothe daughter of M. le Marquis de La Mole, my choice of him sufficientlyproves. These pleasures of reputation and petty vanity are nothing tome. It will soon be six weeks that I have lived apart from my husband.

　　That is enough to prove my respect for you. Before next Thursday, I shallleave the paternal roof. Your generosity has made us rich. No one knowsmy secret save the estimable abbe Pirard. I shall go to him; he will marryus, and an hour after the ceremony we shall be on our way to Languedoc, and shall never appear again in Paris save by your order. But whatpierces me to the heart is that all this will furnish a savoury anecdote at my expense, and at yours. May not the epigrams of a foolish public oblige our excellent Norbert to seek a quarrel with Julien? In that event, Iknow him, I should have no control over him. We should find in hisheart the plebeian in revolt. I implore you on my knees, O my father,come and attend our wedding, in M. Pirard's church, next Thursday. Thepoint of the malicious anecdote will be blunted, and the life of your onlyson, my husband's life will be made safe,' etc., etc.

　　This letter plunged the Marquis in a strange embarrassment. He mustnow at length make up his mind. AH his little habits, all his commonplace friends had lost their influence.

　　In these strange circumstances, the salient features of his character,stamped upon it by the events of his younger days, resumed their fullsway. The troubles of the Emigration had made him a man of imagination. After he had enjoyed for two years an immense fortune and all thedistinctions of the Court, 1790 had cast him into the fearful hardships ofthe Emigration. This hard school had changed the heart of a man of twoand twenty. Actually he was encamped amid his present wealth ratherthan dominated by it. But this same imagination which had preservedhis soul from the gangrene of gold, had left him a prey to an insane passion for seeing his daughter adorned with a fine-sounding title.

　　During the six weeks that had just elapsed, urged at one moment by acaprice, the Marquis had decided to enrich Julien; poverty seemed tohim ignoble, dishonouring to himself, M. de La Mole, impossible in thehusband of his daughter; he showered money upon him. Next day, hisimagination taking another direction, it seemed to him that Julien wouldhear the silent voice of this generosity in the matter of money, change hisname, retire to America, write to Mathilde that he was dead to her. M. deLa Mole imagined this letter as written, and traced its effect on hisdaughter's character …On the day on which he was awakened from these youthful dreams byMathilde's real letter, after having long thought of killing Julien or ofmaking him ............