Page:Novels of Honoré de Balzac Volume 23.djvu/289

 presence was awakening remorse in this somewhat primitive, almost gross nature, which up till now had never done anything illegal. Perhaps this remorse pricked him all the more because he had additional property legitimately acquired. He doubtless attributed this emotion to Ursule’s presence alone, fancying that, if once the young girl disappeared, these tiresome troubles would also vanish. In short, perhaps crime has its doctrine of perfection. A beginning of evil must have its end, a first wound calls for the blow that kills. It may be that theft leads inevitably to murder. Minoret had committed the robbery without the least reflection, so rapidly had events succeeded each other; reflection came afterward. Now, if you have thoroughly grasped this man’s physiognomy and appearance, you will understand the amazing effect that thought would produce upon him. Remorse is more than a thought, it springs from a feeling that is no more hidden than love, and that exercises the same tyranny. But, just as Minoret had not reflected in the least in seizing the fortune destined for Ursule, so he mechanically wished to drive her from Nemours when he felt himself injured by the sight of this deluded innocence. Following his character of an imbecile, he never thought at all of the consequences, but went from peril to peril, prompted by his covetous instinct like a wild animal which does not foresee any cunning of the hunter and relies upon its own speed and strength. Very soon, the rich bourgeois who used to meet at the house of