Page:Novels of Honoré de Balzac Volume 23.djvu/66

 so much also had the incidents of the Revolution told upon him. Twice he had been imprisoned for twice refusing to take an oath, and twice, as he expressed it, had he said his In Manus. He was middle-sized, neither fat nor thin. His face, deeply wrinkled, hollow and colorless, at once attracted attention by the profound tranquillity of the lines and the purity of the contour, which appeared to be bordered with light. The face of a chaste man with an indescribable radiance. Brown eyes with glowing pupils, animated this irregular face which was surmounted by an immense forehead. His glance exercised inexplicable influence by a gentleness which did not exclude strength. The arches over his eyes were like two vaults shaded by great grizzly eyebrows which were not at all alarming. As he had lost many of his teeth, his mouth was out of shape and his cheeks fallen in; but these ravages were not without charm, and the friendly wrinkles seemed to smile upon one. Without being the least gouty, he had such sensitive feet and walked with so much difficulty that he wore Orleans calfskin shoes in all weathers. He considered the fashion of wearing trousers ill suited to a priest and always appeared clothed in coarse black woolen stockings knitted by his housekeeper, and cloth breeches. He never went out in a cassock, but in a brown frock coat, and he adhered to the three-cornered hat, bravely worn through the worst times. This noble, handsome old man, whose face was always beautiful by the serenity of a blameless