Page:The Count of Monte-Cristo (1887 Volume 3).djvu/52

32 At that instant, the little side-door leading from the waste ground to the street was noiselessly opened, and a tall, powerful young man, dressed in a common gray blouse and velvet cap, but whose carefully arranged hair, beard and mustaches, all of the glossiest black, but ill accorded with his plebeian attire, after casting a rapid glance around him, in order to assure himself he was unobserved, entered by this door, and carefully closing it after him, proceeded with a hurried step toward the iron gate.

At the sight of him she expected, though probably not under such a costume, the girl started in terror, and was about to retreat. But the eye of love had already seen, even through the narrow chinks of the wooden palisades, the movement of the white robe and of the blue sash. Pressing his lips to the planks, he exclaimed:

"Fear nothing, Valentine—it is I!" Again the girl returned, saying as she did so:

"And wherefore come you so late to-day? It is almost the dinner-hour, and I have been compelled to exercise my utmost skill to get rid of my step-mother's spying as well as the espionage of my maid, and of the troublesome society of my brother, under pretense of coming hither to work at my embroidery, which, I fear, I am in no hurry to finish. So pray excuse yourself as well as you can for having made me wait, and, after that, tell me why I see you in so singular a dress, that at first I did not recognize you."

"Dearest Valentine," said the young man, "the difference between our stations makes me fear to speak of my love, but yet I cannot find myself in your presence without longing to tell you how I adore you, so that the echo of my own words may linger in my heart when I see you no longer. Now, I thank you for chiding me, for it leaves me a hope, that if not expecting me, at least I was in your thoughts. You asked me the cause of my being late, as also why I come thus disguised. I will explain both. I have chosen a trade."

"A trade! Oh, Maximilian, how can you jest at a time when we have such deep cause for uneasiness?"

"Heaven keep me from jesting with that which is far dearer to me than life itself! Tired out with ranging fields and scaling walls, and seriously alarmed at the idea suggested by yourself, that your father would very likely have me sent to prison as a thief, which would compromise the honor of the whole French army, alarmed too, at the possibility of being seen always prowling around this spot where there is no citadel to besiege and no blockhouse to defend; from a captain of Spahis I have become a gardener, and, consequently, adopted the costume of my calling."