His Masterpiece, Emile Zola [read ebook pdf .TXT] 📗

General Who Has

A Silver Chin. What A Good Joke!'

 

So Far They Had Gone No Further Than Chumming Like Old Friends. He Was

Almost As New To Life As She,  Having Had Nothing But Chance

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Adventures,  And Living In An Ideal World Of His Own,  Fanciful Amid

Romantic Amours. To See Each Other In Secret Like This,  From Pure

Friendship,  Without Anything More Tender Passing Between Them Than A

Cordial Shake Of The Hand At Her Arrival,  And Another One When She

Left,  Seemed To Them Quite Natural. Still For Her Part She Scented

That He Was Shy,  And At Times She Looked At Him Fixedly,  With The

Wondering Perturbation Of Unconscious Passion. But As Yet Nothing

Ardent Or Agitating Spoilt The Pleasure They Felt In Being Together.

Their Hands Remained Cool; They Spoke Cheerfully On All Subjects; They

Sometimes Argued Like Friends,  Who Feel Sure They Will Not Fall Out.

Only,  This Friendship Grew So Keen That They Could No Longer Live

Without Seeing One Another.

 

The Moment Christine Came,  Claude Took The Key From Outside The Door.

She Herself Insisted Upon This,  Lest Somebody Might Disturb Them.

After A Few Visits She Had Taken Absolute Possession Of The Studio.

She Seemed To Be At Home There. She Was Tormented By A Desire To Make

The Place A Little More Tidy,  For Such Disorder Worried Her And Made

Her Uncomfortable. But It Was Not An Easy Matter. The Painter Had

Strictly Forbidden Madame Joseph To Sweep Up Things,  Lest The Dust

Should Get On The Fresh Paint. So,  On The First Occasions When His

Companion Attempted To Clean Up A Bit,  He Watched Her With Anxious

Entreating Eyes. What Was The Good Of Changing The Place Of Things?

Didn't It Suffice To Have Them At Hand? However,  She Exhibited Such

Gay Determination,  She Seemed So Happy At Playing The Housewife,  That

He Let Her Have Her Own Way At Last. And Now,  The Moment She Had

Arrived And Taken Off Her Gloves,  She Pinned Up Her Dress To Avoid

Soiling It,  And Set The Big Studio In Order In The Twinkling Of An

Eye. There Was No Longer A Pile Of Cinders Before The Stove; The

Screen Hid The Bedstead And The Washstand; The Couch Was Brushed,  The

Wardrobe Polished; The Deal Table Was Cleared Of The Crockery,  And Had

Not A Stain Of Paint; And Above The Chairs,  Which Were Symmetrically

Arranged,  And The Spanned Easels Propped Against The Walls,  The Big

Cuckoo Clock,  With Full-Blown Pink Flowers On Its Dial,  Seemed To Tick

More Sonorously. Altogether It Was Magnificent; One Would Not Have

Recognised The Place. He,  Stupefied,  Watched Her Trotting To And Fro,

Twisting About And Singing As She Went. Was This Then The Lazybones

Who Had Such Dreadful Headaches At The Least Bit Of Work? But She

Laughed; At Headwork,  Yes; But Exertion With Her Hands And Feet Did

Her Good,  Seemed To Straighten Her Like A Young Sapling. She

Confessed,  Even As She Would Have Confessed Some Depraved Taste,  Her

Liking For Lowly Household Cares; A Liking Which Had Greatly Worried

Her Mother,  Whose Educational Ideal Consisted Of Accomplishments,  And

Who Would Have Made Her A Governess With Soft Hands,  Touching Nothing

Vulgar. How Christine Had Been Chided Indeed Whenever She Was Caught,

As A Little Girl,  Sweeping,  Dusting,  And Playing Delightedly At Being

Cook! Even Nowadays,  If She Had Been Able To Indulge In A Bout With

The Dust At Madame Vanzade's,  She Would Have Felt Less Bored. But What

Would They Have Said To That? She Would No Longer Have Been Considered

A Lady. And So She Came To Satisfy Her Longings At The Quai De

Bourbon,  Panting With The Exercise,  All Aglow,  Her Eyes Glistening

With A Woman's Delight At Biting Into Forbidden Fruit.

 

Claude By This Time Grew Conscious Of Having A Woman's Care Around

Him. In Order To Make Her Sit Down And Chat Quietly,  He Would Ask Her

Now And Then To Sew A Torn Cuff Or Coat-Tail. She Herself Had Offered

To Look Over His Linen; But It Was No Longer With The Ardour Of A

Housewife,  Eager To Be Up And Doing. First Of All,  She Hardly Knew How

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To Work; She Held Her Needle Like A Girl Brought Up In Contempt Of

Sewing. Besides,  The Enforced Quiescence And The Attention That Had To

Be Given To Such Work,  The Small Stitches Which Had To Be Looked To

One By One,  Exasperated Her. Thus The Studio Was Bright With

Cleanliness Like A Drawing-Room,  But Claude Himself Remained In Rags,

And They Both Joked About It,  Thinking It Great Fun.

 

How Happy Were Those Months That They Spent Together,  Those Four

Months Of Frost And Rain Whiled Away In The Studio,  Where The Red-Hot

Stove Roared Like An Organ-Pipe! The Winter Seemed To Isolate Them

From The World Still More. When The Snow Covered The Adjacent Roofs,

When The Sparrows Fluttered Against The Window,  They Smiled At Feeling

Warm And Cosy,  At Being Lost,  As It Were,  Amidst The Great Silent

City. But They Did Not Always Confine Themselves To That One Little

Nook,  For She Allowed Him At Last To See Her Home. For A Long While

She Had Insisted Upon Going Away By Herself,  Feeling Ashamed Of Being

Seen In The Streets On A Man's Arm. Then,  One Day When The Rain Fell

All Of A Sudden,  She Was Obliged To Let Him Come Downstairs With An

Umbrella. The Rain Having Ceased Almost Immediately,  She Sent Him Back

When They Reached The Other Side Of The Pont Louis-Philippe. They Only

Remained A Few Moments Beside The Parapet,  Looking At The Mail,  And

Happy At Being Together In The Open Air. Down Below,  Large Barges,

Moored Against The Quay,  And Full Of Apples,  Were Ranged Four Rows

Deep,  So Close Together That The Planks Thrown Across Them Made A

Continuous Path For The Women And Children Running To And Fro. They

Were Amused By The Sight Of All That Fruit,  Those Enormous Piles

Littering The Banks,  The Round Baskets Which Were Carried Hither And

Thither,  While A Strong Odour,  Suggestive Of Cider In Fermentation,

Mingled With The Moist Gusts From The River.

 

A Week Later,  When The Sun Again Showed Itself,  And Claude Extolled

The Solitude Of The Quays Round The Isle Saint Louis,  Christine

Consented To Take A Walk. They Strolled Up The Quai De Bourbon And The

Quai D'anjou,  Pausing At Every Few Steps And Growing Interested In The

Various Scenes Of River Life; The Dredger Whose Buckets Grated Against

Their Chains,  The Floating Wash-House,  Which Resounded With The Hubbub

Of A Quarrel,  And The Steam Cranes Busy Unloading The Lighters. She

Did Not Cease To Wonder At One Thought Which Came To Her. Was It

Possible That Yonder Quai Des Ormes,  So Full Of Life Across The

Stream,  That This Quai Henri Iv.,  With Its Broad Embankment And Lower

Shore,  Where Bands Of Children And Dogs Rolled Over In The Sand,  That

This Panorama Of An Active,  Densely-Populated Capital Was The Same

Accursed Scene That Had Appeared To Her For A Moment In A Gory Flash

On The Night Of Her Arrival? They Went Round The Point Of The Island,

Strolling More Leisurely Still To Enjoy The Solitude And Tranquillity

Which The Old Historic Mansions Seem To Have Implanted There. They

Watched The Water Seething Between The Wooden Piles Of The Estacade,

And Returned By Way Of The Quai De Bethune And The Quai D'orleans,

Instinctively Drawn Closer To Each Other By The Widening Of The

Stream,  Keeping Elbow To Elbow At Sight Of The Vast Flow,  With Their

Eyes Fixed On The Distant Halle Aux Vins And The Jardin Des Plantes.

In The Pale Sky,  The Cupolas Of The Public Buildings Assumed A Bluish

Hue. When They Reached The Pont St. Louis,  Claude Had To Point Out

Notre-Dame By Name,  For Christine Did Not Recognise The Edifice From

The Rear,  Where It Looked Like A Colossal Creature Crouching Down

Between Its Flying Buttresses,  Which Suggested Sprawling Paws,  While

Above Its Long Leviathan Spine Its Towers Rose Like A Double Head.

Their Real Find That Day,  However,  Was At The Western Point Of The

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Island,  That Point Like The Prow Of A Ship Always Riding At Anchor,

Afloat Between Two Swift Currents,  In Sight Of Paris,  But Ever Unable

To Get Into Port. They Went Down Some Very Steep Steps There,  And

Discovered A Solitary Bank Planted With Lofty Trees. It Was A Charming

Refuge--A Hermitage In The Midst Of A Crowd. Paris Was Rumbling Around

Them,  On The Quays,  On The Bridges,  While They At The Water's Edge

Tasted The Delight Of Being Alone,  Ignored By The Whole World. From

That Day Forth That Bank Became A Little Rustic Coign Of Theirs,  A

Favourite Open-Air Resort,  Where They Took Advantage Of The Sunny

Hours,  When The Great Heat Of The Studio,  Where The Red-Hot Stove Kept

Roaring,  Oppressed Them Too Much,  Filling Their Hands With A Fever Of

Which They Were Afraid.

 

Nevertheless,  Christine Had So Far Objected To Be Accompanied Farther

Than The Mail. At The Quai Des Ormes She Always Bade Claude Go Back,

As If Paris,  With Her Crowds And Possible Encounters,  Began At The

Long Stretch Of Quays Which She Had To Traverse On Her Way Home. But

Passy Was So Far Off,  And She Felt So Dull At Having To Go Such A

Distance Alone,  That Gradually She Gave Way. She Began By Allowing

Claude To See Her As Far As The Hotel De Ville; Then As Far As The

Pont-Neuf; At Last As Far As The Tuileries. She Forgot The Danger;

They Walked Arm In Arm Like A Young Married Couple; And That

Constantly Repeated Promenade,  That Leisurely Journey Over The

Self-Same Ground By The River Side,  Acquired An Infinite Charm,  Full

Of A Happiness Such As Could Scarcely Be Surpassed In After-Times.

They Truly Belonged To Each Other,  Though They Had Not Erred. It

Seemed As If The Very Soul Of The Great City,  Rising From The River,

Wrapped Them Around With All The Love That Had Throbbed Behind The

Grey Stone Walls Through The Long Lapse Of Ages.

 

Since The Nipping Colds Of December,  Christine Only Came In The

Afternoon,  And It Was About Four O'clock,  When The Sun Was Sinking,

That Claude Escorted Her Back On His Arm. On Days When The Sky Was

Clear,  They Could See The Long Line Of Quays Stretching Away Into

Space Directly They Had Crossed The Pont Louis-Philippe. From One