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.He cannot have had such an idea.You must havemisunderstood. Ah, Father, I understood only too well.I am lost whatever I do.Ican but choose between misery and shame.Either my lover remainsburied alive, or I render myself unfit to live.I cannot let him perish,and I cannot save him.Father All-things tried to calm her with these sweet words: First, my daughter, never use the word lover .It has somethingworldly about it which might offend God.Say my husband , foreven though he isn t yet, you regard him as such, and nothing couldbe more respectable. Secondly, although he is your husband by intention and in yourhopes, he isn t your husband yet.So you wouldn t be committingadultery, which is an enormous sin that one must always avoid as faras possible. Thirdly, when the intentions are pure, no blame or maliceattaches to the action.And nothing could be purer than wanting tofree your husband. Fourthly, there are marvellous examples in holy antiquity whichyou can use to guide your conduct.St Augustine records that duringthe proconsulship of Septimius Acindynus, in the year 340 of oursalvation, a poor man, unable to render unto Caesar that which wasdue unto Caesar, was condemned to death, as is just, despite themaxim: Where there is nothing, the king s rights are as nothing. At issue was a pound of gold.The condemned man had a wife uponwhom God had bestowed both beauty and prudence.A rich old manpromised to give the lady a pound of gold, and even more, on condi-tion that he might commit this foul sin with her.The lady did notthink she was doing anything wrong in saving her husband s life.St Augustine is most approving of her generous submission.It istrue that the wealthy dotard deceived her, and perhaps her husbandwas hanged just the same.But she had done everything in her powerto save his life. You may rest assured, my daughter, that when a Jesuit quotesSt Augustine at you, the saint must be right.* Not that I am advisingyou to do it.You are a sensible girl: it is to be assumed that you will The Ingenu 237seek to be of use to your husband.Monseigneur de Saint-Pouange isa man of integrity: he will not deceive you.That s all I can say.I willpray to God for you, and I hope that everything will turn out to Hisgreater glory.Fair Saint-Yves, no less alarmed by what the Jesuit had said thanby what the under-secretary had proposed, returned to her friendquite distraught.She was tempted to look to death as a means ofescape from the horror of leaving her adored lover in dreadful captiv-ity or from the shame of setting him free at the cost of her mostprecious possession, and of that which should belong only to thesame unfortunate lover.CHAPTER 17She succumbs out of virtueShe begged her friend to kill her.But this woman, no less indulgentthan the Jesuit, spoke to her yet more plainly: I m afraid , she said, that this is the way things are mostly donehere at court, for all its agreeable sophistication and renown.Themost inconsequential of posts, as well as the most sought after, haveoften been filled only at the price being asked of you now.Listen.You have become my friend, and I trust you.I can honestly tell youthat if I had been a stickler like you, my husband would not now havethe benefit of the small post which brings him in a living.He knowsit, and far from being upset about it, he regards me as his bene-factress and himself as my creation.Do you think the prestige andwealth of those who have held positions of authority in the prov-inces, or even in the army, have all been due entirely to the servicethey have given? There are some who owe it all to their lady wives.The high ranks in the military have been sought with lovemaking,and the post has gone to the husband of the fairest. Your situation is much more promising.It is a matter of settingyour lover free and marrying him.It is a sacred duty which you haveto carry out.No one blamed the beauties and the fine ladies I mtalking about.People will applaud you.They will say you permittedyourself a moment of weakness only from an excess of virtue. Ah, some virtue! cried the fair Saint-Yves. What a maze of 238 The Ingenuiniquities! What a place! And how I am learning about the ways ofmen! A Father La Chaise and a ridiculous magistrate have my loverput in prison, my family persecutes me, and the only hand extendedto me in my hour of need is a hand intent on my dishonour.OneJesuit has ruined a brave man.Another Jesuit wants to ruin me.Allaround me nothing but snares and pitfalls, and I on the verge ofperdition! Either I must kill myself or I must speak to the King.I willthrow myself at his feet as he passes on his way to Mass or to thetheatre. They won t let you near him, her good friend told her. And ifyou did have the misfortune to speak, Monseigneur de Louvois andthe reverend Father La Chaise could have you locked away in aconvent for the rest of your days.While this good woman was thus adding to the confusion in herdespairing soul and thrusting the dagger yet deeper into her heart,along came a messenger from M.de Saint-Pouange with a letter andtwo lovely pendant earrings.Saint-Yves tearfully refused them, buther friend took charge of them.As soon as the messenger had gone, our confidante read the letter,in which the two friends were invited to a little supper that evening.Saint-Yves vowed that she would not go.The devout lady wanted totry the diamond earrings on her.Saint-Yves could not bear the ideaand refused all day long.At the last, thinking only of her lover,overwhelmed, dragged against her will, not knowing where she wasbeing taken, she allowed herself to be conducted to the fatefulsupper.Nothing had been able to induce her to wear the pendantearrings.The confidante brought them along and forcibly put themon her just before they sat down to eat.Saint-Yves was so embar-rassed and agitated that she allowed herself to be teased, and themaster of the house thought this augured very well.Towards the endof the meal the confidante discreetly withdrew.Saint-Yves s patronthen showed her the rescission of the lettre de cachet, a deed of giftfor a considerable sum of money, and a commission for a company inthe army.And he was fulsome in his promises. Ah, how I would love you, Saint-Yves told him, if you did notwant to be loved quite so much!Finally, after long resistance, after much sobbing and protestingand weeping, worn out by the struggle, utterly at a loss, and grownquite faint and limp, she was obliged to yield.Her one resource The Ingenu 239was to promise herself that she would think only of the Ingenu whilethe cruel man mercilessly enjoyed that to which necessity hadreduced her.CHAPTER 18She delivers her lover and a JansenistAt daybreak she hastened to Paris, armed with the ministerial order.It is difficult to depict how she felt during this journey.Imagine avirtuous and noble soul, humiliated by her shame, intoxicated withlove and tenderness, racked with remorse at having betrayed herlover, and full of pleasure at delivering the one she adores [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
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.He cannot have had such an idea.You must havemisunderstood. Ah, Father, I understood only too well.I am lost whatever I do.Ican but choose between misery and shame.Either my lover remainsburied alive, or I render myself unfit to live.I cannot let him perish,and I cannot save him.Father All-things tried to calm her with these sweet words: First, my daughter, never use the word lover .It has somethingworldly about it which might offend God.Say my husband , foreven though he isn t yet, you regard him as such, and nothing couldbe more respectable. Secondly, although he is your husband by intention and in yourhopes, he isn t your husband yet.So you wouldn t be committingadultery, which is an enormous sin that one must always avoid as faras possible. Thirdly, when the intentions are pure, no blame or maliceattaches to the action.And nothing could be purer than wanting tofree your husband. Fourthly, there are marvellous examples in holy antiquity whichyou can use to guide your conduct.St Augustine records that duringthe proconsulship of Septimius Acindynus, in the year 340 of oursalvation, a poor man, unable to render unto Caesar that which wasdue unto Caesar, was condemned to death, as is just, despite themaxim: Where there is nothing, the king s rights are as nothing. At issue was a pound of gold.The condemned man had a wife uponwhom God had bestowed both beauty and prudence.A rich old manpromised to give the lady a pound of gold, and even more, on condi-tion that he might commit this foul sin with her.The lady did notthink she was doing anything wrong in saving her husband s life.St Augustine is most approving of her generous submission.It istrue that the wealthy dotard deceived her, and perhaps her husbandwas hanged just the same.But she had done everything in her powerto save his life. You may rest assured, my daughter, that when a Jesuit quotesSt Augustine at you, the saint must be right.* Not that I am advisingyou to do it.You are a sensible girl: it is to be assumed that you will The Ingenu 237seek to be of use to your husband.Monseigneur de Saint-Pouange isa man of integrity: he will not deceive you.That s all I can say.I willpray to God for you, and I hope that everything will turn out to Hisgreater glory.Fair Saint-Yves, no less alarmed by what the Jesuit had said thanby what the under-secretary had proposed, returned to her friendquite distraught.She was tempted to look to death as a means ofescape from the horror of leaving her adored lover in dreadful captiv-ity or from the shame of setting him free at the cost of her mostprecious possession, and of that which should belong only to thesame unfortunate lover.CHAPTER 17She succumbs out of virtueShe begged her friend to kill her.But this woman, no less indulgentthan the Jesuit, spoke to her yet more plainly: I m afraid , she said, that this is the way things are mostly donehere at court, for all its agreeable sophistication and renown.Themost inconsequential of posts, as well as the most sought after, haveoften been filled only at the price being asked of you now.Listen.You have become my friend, and I trust you.I can honestly tell youthat if I had been a stickler like you, my husband would not now havethe benefit of the small post which brings him in a living.He knowsit, and far from being upset about it, he regards me as his bene-factress and himself as my creation.Do you think the prestige andwealth of those who have held positions of authority in the prov-inces, or even in the army, have all been due entirely to the servicethey have given? There are some who owe it all to their lady wives.The high ranks in the military have been sought with lovemaking,and the post has gone to the husband of the fairest. Your situation is much more promising.It is a matter of settingyour lover free and marrying him.It is a sacred duty which you haveto carry out.No one blamed the beauties and the fine ladies I mtalking about.People will applaud you.They will say you permittedyourself a moment of weakness only from an excess of virtue. Ah, some virtue! cried the fair Saint-Yves. What a maze of 238 The Ingenuiniquities! What a place! And how I am learning about the ways ofmen! A Father La Chaise and a ridiculous magistrate have my loverput in prison, my family persecutes me, and the only hand extendedto me in my hour of need is a hand intent on my dishonour.OneJesuit has ruined a brave man.Another Jesuit wants to ruin me.Allaround me nothing but snares and pitfalls, and I on the verge ofperdition! Either I must kill myself or I must speak to the King.I willthrow myself at his feet as he passes on his way to Mass or to thetheatre. They won t let you near him, her good friend told her. And ifyou did have the misfortune to speak, Monseigneur de Louvois andthe reverend Father La Chaise could have you locked away in aconvent for the rest of your days.While this good woman was thus adding to the confusion in herdespairing soul and thrusting the dagger yet deeper into her heart,along came a messenger from M.de Saint-Pouange with a letter andtwo lovely pendant earrings.Saint-Yves tearfully refused them, buther friend took charge of them.As soon as the messenger had gone, our confidante read the letter,in which the two friends were invited to a little supper that evening.Saint-Yves vowed that she would not go.The devout lady wanted totry the diamond earrings on her.Saint-Yves could not bear the ideaand refused all day long.At the last, thinking only of her lover,overwhelmed, dragged against her will, not knowing where she wasbeing taken, she allowed herself to be conducted to the fatefulsupper.Nothing had been able to induce her to wear the pendantearrings.The confidante brought them along and forcibly put themon her just before they sat down to eat.Saint-Yves was so embar-rassed and agitated that she allowed herself to be teased, and themaster of the house thought this augured very well.Towards the endof the meal the confidante discreetly withdrew.Saint-Yves s patronthen showed her the rescission of the lettre de cachet, a deed of giftfor a considerable sum of money, and a commission for a company inthe army.And he was fulsome in his promises. Ah, how I would love you, Saint-Yves told him, if you did notwant to be loved quite so much!Finally, after long resistance, after much sobbing and protestingand weeping, worn out by the struggle, utterly at a loss, and grownquite faint and limp, she was obliged to yield.Her one resource The Ingenu 239was to promise herself that she would think only of the Ingenu whilethe cruel man mercilessly enjoyed that to which necessity hadreduced her.CHAPTER 18She delivers her lover and a JansenistAt daybreak she hastened to Paris, armed with the ministerial order.It is difficult to depict how she felt during this journey.Imagine avirtuous and noble soul, humiliated by her shame, intoxicated withlove and tenderness, racked with remorse at having betrayed herlover, and full of pleasure at delivering the one she adores [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]