Page:The Granite Monthly Volume 6.djvu/188

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��THE GRANITE MONTHLY.

��carve out, and when one has been brought up in the midst of a revolu- tion, the watchword of which is 'au- dacity !' one doubts nothing and does prodigies. In moments of political excitement, if a young man wishes to distinguish himself, he can astonish the world. This is the reign of enthu- siasm and the era of heroes ; but at forty, one looks at these things in a different light."

"At forty, one is no longer capable of heroic acts of devotion then?"

"At forty, one knows too much. Heroism comes only from two sources, the healthy ignorance of youth, or the supreme forgetfulness of all human in- terests. In order to sacrifice at one blow all earthly joys, one must either not know them or despise them, be a child or a Christian."

After this reply Lucrecia did not dare to descend from the high plane to which he had carried the conversa- tion, to personal questions. In place of finding this man out, the more she searched the more undecided she be- came whether to admire or contemn him. He was unlike any type which her imagination had ever created. Meanwhile he had made an impression so deep that all the ideal characters to whom for twenty years she had been faithful were effaced.

At this mom.nt her curiosity was excited to the highest degree. She felt a terrible fever of excitement in her veins. With a sudden ar.d invol- untary gesture she motioned Marcel to follow her into a neighboring room. "What ! monsieur," she cried in an angry tone, as if to protest against the dizziness which was overcoming her, "what ! is there nothing true, nothing beautiful, nothing good in the world ! Nobil ty of heart, you say, is a question of age ! Devotion belongs only to youth or old age ! But there are Frenchmen who were at Saint Helena—"

She interrupted herself, and did not finish this burning torrent ; but her audacity quickly returned.

��"What do you think of the insur- gents?" she asked brusquely.

"Madame, greatness is no longer where you seek it. You are many cen- turies behind our civilization. The people who are killed are useless to others. Life quickly teaches that to one who will open his eves."

A sudden and violent anger, a hatred, and a terrible desire for revenge came over Lucrecia, who lest all con- trol of herself.

"Yes. you are right ! It is easier to let others be killed, and to use their dead bodies as stepping stones to power, is it not so?" replied she in a trembling voice. " Monsieur Capellani, I see you have passed the age when one has a heart, and that you under- stand, only too well, our modern civil- ization !" And with a swift movement she pulled out the red ribbon which decorated his button -hole. Scarcely had she done this rude act than the minister clasped her passionately in his arms.

How did it happen that Lucrecia did not tear herself awav, indignant and furious? How did it happen that she diil not cry out in teniMe anger? But with a ringing in her brain and a mist before her eyes, she allowed her- self to fall into Capellani's arms, and received his ardent kisses without an effort to get away. A minute passed there, a minute which seemed like a dream, when an hour later she found herself alone in her chamber.

Never had the idea of such a weak- ness occurred to her ; never had she thought that she could, in an instant, forget all her promises, and losing all control of herself, fall under the power of an unknown force. When they used to speak of the power of the passions over our feeble hearts, she would smile contemptuously ; but this evening an abyss yawned before her, and the terror which seized her was so much the greater as the cause of it was new.

The night which followed was one of agony. While she accused and cursed herself, and could not find

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