The Storyteller

New Zealand Tablet, 9 February 1911, Page 223

The Storyteller

SHORN 'lt must be done, Gustavo,' exclaimed the Countess, tapping her son's shoulder playfitfly, as she leant against the easy chair in which he reclined. ' 'When your cousin arrives (at least allowing her a little time to know you), propose tc? her as soon as possible. You have no rival in this town) except the Marquis de Santa Herminia; none of the other young men would presume to aspire to her hand. Supposing the Marquis should take a fancy to Marie —which is not at all unlikely certainly would bo a formidable rival. So, my dear Gustavo, you must be first in the field. He is very rich, noble, and a handsome young fellow. But for the present you need not trouble about him; he is no way related to Marie, while you, her cousin, may visit at her house at any hour of the day, from the moment of her arrival. Visit at her house! Why, we shall go to the station to meet her, and so begin to lay siege to her heart from the very first minute.' . 'For heaven's sake do not jest about it, mother,' said Gustave. 'I do not know my cousin, except through her letters to you, and they show me plainly enough that there will be no sympathy between us. "True, one cannot guess by her letters whether she is ugly or pretty, but, even if she were a beauty, would, you like to place me in a ridiculous position by marrying an imbecile ' And what leads you to suppose she is an imbecile, Gustave?' ' Why, yourself, mother— her own letters. Have you not said over and over she must be half silly? She hardly ever writes to you except on spiritual subjects. She is making a _ retreat, or such and such a novena she ha* had herself inscribed as a member of the f St. Vincent- dePaul Society that she may visit and succor the poor, or that she has been attending a mission in the cathedral which has caused some wonderful conversions!' ',.','■- 'That is only the result of the kind of education her parents have given her. Just fancy keeping her in a convent school till she was eighteen! Who but they could think of educating a girl of her position in such a manner ' And yet you wish that I, who have travelled over half the world, spent so much time at the principal centres of culture and modern civilisation, and mixed in the society of the loveliest, most distinguished and enlightened women, I who have enlarged my mind by the most profound scientific studies, and perfected my artistic and literary studies by visiting the museums of the chief capitals of Europe, should now marry a woman who has neither culture nor education, a woman whose mind is clouded by ignorance and vulgar fanaticism ? In fine, a devotee. Horror of horrors, mother! A most repulsive type of girl to my mind._ Do you wish to make me the laughing stock of good society?' ' That is precisely what I want to avoid, my son—putting you, or rather both of us, in a ridiculous light, not only before good society, but in the eyes of the whole country. And can you not see why? If you do not marry money, how otherwise are we to sustain the lustre of our house, not alone according to our rank, but with common decency?' Gustave was thinking deeply. He was weary of hearing this terrible truth which he scarcely dared breathe to himself, and which had given him many sleepless nights lately. ' Your marriage with Marie,' continued the Countess, ' is the only way I see out of our difficulties — ruin. . Do you wish to retire to an obscure little town, and live humbly on the produce of one of our few farms? And even there shall we not be still what we are and always have been, the illustrious Count and Countess of Cumbres Azules! Now!, do you wish to be made ridiculous before the whole world Certainly not,' exclaimed Gustave vehemently. For this worldly young man thought it ignoble to live honestly on the product of his farms, while he had no scruple about marrying without love and solely for his own interest. 'Well, then, said his mother, ' I see no other solution of the difficulty. You must marry your cousin, no matter what it cost you.' . ' It is a terrible sacrifice, mother.' 'I know it is, my poor son. It is terrible, but also remember it is indispensable. No other girl in the town, or in the whole country round, has such a large fortune as your cousin; she is extremely rich and an only child. When her parents die, her dollars may be counted by millions. 1 So it seems to me you ought to think the matter over, or rather, I should say, do not hesitate a moment,' said the Countess, rather bitterly. >••••■ Gustave yielded at last. He agreed with his mother, there was no other way out of the difficulty. He must sacrifice himself, but at what a price! Immolate his youth, his elegance, his brilliant scientific, literary, and artistic education in marrying such a woman—a devotee^ How could he, _ without blushing, present such a wife to* the society which he and his mother frequented? Oh, it was simply horrible! He, V the cultured and fastidious Gustave, shuddered at the thought of this thing. But it was absolutely necessary; the state of his funds at that moment demanded the sacrifice. He

must, at any price, and promptly, restore the brilliancy of the gilded and proud escutcheon of the nuble Counts of Cumbres Azules, considerably deteriorated by the luxurious and extravagant tastes of mother and son. The sacrifice was then inevitable, however painful it might be. ■jc Marie arrived, and it cost the egotistical young man no small humiliation to confess he had been entirely mistaken in his preconceived ideas of his cousin, for like all vain people he was exceedingly tenacious of his opinions. Whether he liked it or not, he had to admit, and that without reserve, that Marie was not the kind of girl he had imagined her to be. She was very beautiful, tall, slight, witty, courteous and affable to all. She dressed with exquisite taste, and yet with great simplicity. She spoke and wrote three or four languages fluently; played the piano and sang like an angel. Of literature and art, as well as the fundamental principles of certain sciences, she had a varied and wide knowledge. In fine, she was a highly cultured girl, with a calm, clear outlook on life. And yet, strange to say, this young girl, gifted with so many, exceptionally brilliant qualities, was a devotee! — a fanatic in the extreme. She went to church and received the Sacraments frequently, firmly believed all the teachings of the Catholic faithwithout even excluding its most vulgar tenets, as Gustave designated them. Such beliefs were for the ignorant or people of diseased minds. How was this to be explained? Gustavo gave up trying to solve the problem. On various occasions he tried to fathom the young girl's mind with respect to questions on religious subjects, provoking her to discussions in which he always came out only second best. It could not happen otherwise, for this vain young infidel had gained all his knowledge from impious books, and was absolutely ignorant of the fundamental truths of religion. His cousin, on the contrary, was thoroughly well instructed in the dogmas of Catholic teaching, and was able to support her arguments with solid, clear reasoning which reduced Gustave's assertions to dust. But, though disconcerted, he would never yield, and generally backed out of the disputes ignominiously, not, however, without discharging a few blank cartridges while retreating. In discuss'ons on ordinary subjects Marie willingly yielded to her cousin, but when there was a question of religion she was. implacable. She knew her adversary thoroughly now and gave him no quarter. Yet so great was his vanity, coupled with blind ignorance, that he could not see when he was beaten. Marie's gifts, moral, physical, and intellectual, were as nothing to this cultured young genius but still they were not quite to be ignored. Perhaps he would be able to endure her little peculiarities, it might be worth the trouble. How audacious she was to argue with him, and about such vulgar trifles! However, time was passing all too swiftly and he had not much more to lose.

And so our hero at last decided to honor his cousin by asking'- her to be his wife. He railed at fate for having treated him so badly, but what was he to do? He felt quite confident that his proposal would be accepted. How astonished Mario would be! He could almost picture her surprise when he, the spoiled favorite of society, the elegant, learned young Count, would ask her to marry him! At last the moment arrived. Marie listened to Gustaye's proposal smilingly, without evincing the least surprise. _ He insisted on an immediate answer, but the young girl, still smiling, only made a jest of his proposal. Were they not cousins? How could she think that Gustave was formally making her an offer of his hand? Gustave was pleased and flattered. It was just as he Tiad conjectured; his cousin had never even dreamt that he could think of marrying her, a simple, shy girl. It spoke much for her humility and modesty, arid her appreciation of his merits gave him entire satisfaction. But as Marie still continued in the same incredulous state of mind he resolved to bring matters to a conclusion. One evening he asked his mother to accompany him to his cousin's in order to make a formal proposal to her parentsfor her hand. Dressed in the extreme of fashion, and smiling with satisfaction, the heir of Cumbres Azules arrived at his cousin's house. "What a surprise the dear little girl was about to experience 1 ' Are my aunt and uncle at home?' 1 The master is out, sir, but the mistress and the young lady are in the blue boudoir. Shall I announce you' sir?' asked the man, bowing respectfully. 'Thanks, no, Luis; you know how much at home we are in this house,' said the Countess, as she and her son passed through the hall and went upstairs. Gustave walked beside his mother with that erect, self-confident, smiling air of a man sure of success and conquest. As they entered the outer drawing-room, from which the blue boudoir was curtained off by a heavy portiere, they distinctly heard Marie's mother saying the following words to her daughter: 'You see, dearest, you must give him a decided answer. The Marquis de Herminia is an excellent Catholic and a perfect gentlemanand, to be frank with you, neither your father nor I object in the least to calling him our son-in-law.' Gustave and his mother exchanged frightened glances when they heard those words. They hardly dared breathe, and fortunately their footsteps were unheard on the rich' thick carpet. The voice continued: ' > .#

'Well, Marie, what do you think of this proposal?' ' I—-the1 —-the truth is, dear mamma, I have no objection; that is, if you and papa think well of it,' Marie answered in. a sweet, trembling voice. "Thanks be to God, my daughter!' exclaimed her mother. ' What a weight your words have taken from my heart! My father and.l feared you loved your cousin. ' For heaven's sake, mamma! i love a man of that type! No, not even if I were mad!' 'But, dear, you would not give him a decided answer when he proposed to you.' 'So he says, mamma, because his consummate vanity will not allow him to see that I took it all as a jest. Do you think that 1 would for a moment dream of giving a serious answer to one who, like him, considers marriage a miserable speculation, a matter of business? Why, he thinks he is conferring on me an extraordinary favor in asking me to marry him! He looks on me as a silly fanatic, while' he believes himself to be a very enlightened person indeed. But, dearest mamma, he is nothing of the kind. Like all men of his stamp, he is really ignorant and vulgar— vulgar—in his affectation of elegance, in. his superficial knowledge, and even in his impiety. When I met him first he wished to impress on me that he was an infidel to be feared —but I soon found him to be completely harmless —for no one with even a very limited understanding and only a little education could fail to see through his false reasoning and ignorance of the topics on which he spoke with so much confidence. His is just the style for a club orator or gratuitous contributor to an irreligious periodical.' . The concentrated pride and indignation of seven generations of Cumbres Azules revolted in Gustavo's breast when these words reached his ears. They were the only true ones he had ever heard respecting his personal character during his life. The blood rushed to his face, his head reeled, and so great was the shock his self-conceit received that he would have fallen had he not clutched at the back of a chair for support. At that moment the servant man appeared at the door and said 'Why has not your ladyship passed in? ' The ladies are in the blue room. But whatever is the matter with the Count?' he added, drawing nearer. 'la he ill?' On hearing the man's exclamation, Marie and her mother exchanged glances which plainly said: ' The Countess and Gustave have heard all!' and then hurried out to meet their visitors. 'lt is nothing, absolutely nothing, he is only a little nervous,' explained the Countess, endeavoring, like" Gustave, to smile. Marie hastened to the outer door of the room, and, calling to her maid, said in a voice of delicately veiled ' sarcasm : ' Juana, make a good strong restorative and bring it up quickly ; the Count Gustave does not. feel very well. — • Donahoe's Magazine.