Page:Novels of Honoré de Balzac Volume 23.djvu/243

 she went to mass every morning, for she firmly believed that her dreams were a favor from God. Alarmed at the ravages caused by this lovesickness, on Ursule’s birthday the doctor promised to take her to Toulon to see the departure of the Algerian expedition, without informing Savinien, who was to take part in it. The justice of the peace and the curé kept secret the object of the doctor’s journey, which appeared to be undertaken for Ursule’s health, and which very much puzzled the Minoret heirs. After having seen Savinien once more, in midshipman’s uniform, after having boarded the admiral’s beautiful vessel, to which the minister had recommended young Portenduère, Ursule, at her lover’s entreaty, went to breathe the air of Nice, and traveled down the coast of the Mediterranean as far as Genoa, where she learnt of the arrival of the fleet before Algiers and of the good news of the landing. The doctor would have liked to continue this journey through Italy, as much to distract Ursule as in some degree to finish her education by enlarging her ideas by the comparison of customs and country, and by the charms of the land where dwell the masterpieces of art, and where so many civilizations have left their brilliant traces; but the news of the resistance opposed by the throne to the electors of the famous Chamber of 1830 recalled the doctor to France, where he brought back his ward in a state of blooming health, and enriched by a charming little model of the vessel upon which Savinien was serving.