Honorine | Page 2

as a Madonna, and two silent

children--silent because sleep has fallen on them--the French
Ambassador and his wife, a secretary to the Embassy who believes
himself to be crushed and mischievous; finally, two Parisians, who
have come to take leave of the Consul's wife at a splendid dinner, and
you will have the picture presented by the terrace of the villa about the
middle of May--a picture in which the predominant figure was that of a
celebrated woman, on whom all eyes centered now and again, the
heroine of this improvised festival.
One of the two Frenchmen was the famous landscape painter, Leon de
Lora; the other a well known critic Claude Vignon. They had both
come with this lady, one of the glories of the fair sex, Mademoiselle
des Touches, known in the literary world by the name of Camille
Maupin.
Mademoiselle des Touches had been to Florence on business. With the
charming kindness of which she is prodigal, she had brought with her
Leon de Lora to show him Italy, and had gone on as far as Rome that
he might see the Campagna. She had come by Simplon, and was
returning by the Cornice road to Marseilles. She had stopped at Genoa,
again on the landscape painter's account. The Consul-General had, of
course, wished to do the honors of Genoa, before the arrival of the
Court, to a woman whose wealth, name, and position recommend her
no less than her talents. Camille Maupin, who knew her Genoa down to
its smallest chapels, had left her landscape painter to the care of the
diplomate and the two Genoese marquises, and was miserly of her
minutes. Though the ambassador was a distinguished man of letters, the
celebrated lady had refused to yield to his advances, dreading what the
English call an exhibition; but she had drawn in the claws of her
refusals when it was proposed that they should spend a farewell day at
the Consul's villa. Leon de Lora had told Camille that her presence at
the villa was the only return he could make to the Ambassador and his
wife, the two Genoese noblemen, the Consul and his wife. So
Mademoiselle des Touches had sacrificed one of those days of perfect
freedom, which are not always to be had in Paris by those on whom the
world has its eye.

Now, the meeting being accounted for, it is easy to understand that
etiquette had been banished, as well as a great many women even of the
highest rank, who were curious to know whether Camille Maupin's
manly talent impaired her grace as a pretty woman, and to see, in a
word, whether the trousers showed below her petticoats. After dinner
till nine o'clock, when a collation was served, though the conversation
had been gay and grave by turns, and constantly enlivened by Leon de
Lora's sallies--for he is considered the most roguish wit of Paris
to-day--and by the good taste which will surprise no one after the list of
guests, literature had scarcely been mentioned. However, the butterfly
flittings of this French tilting match were certain to come to it, were it
only to flutter over this essentially French subject. But before coming
to the turn in the conversation which led the Consul-General to speak,
it will not be out of place to give some account of him and his family.
This diplomate, a man of four-and-thirty, who had been married about
six years, was the living portrait of Lord Byron. The familiarity of that
face makes a description of the Consul's unnecessary. It may, however,
be noted that there was no affectation in his dreamy expression. Lord
Byron was a poet, and the Consul was poetical; women know and
recognize the difference, which explains without justifying some of
their attachments. His handsome face, thrown into relief by a delightful
nature, had captivated a Genoese heiress. A Genoese heiress! the
expression might raise a smile at Genoa, where, in consequence of the
inability of daughters to inherit, a woman is rarely rich; but Onorina
Pedrotti, the only child of a banker without heirs male, was an
exception. Notwithstanding all the flattering advances prompted by a
spontaneous passion, the Consul-General had not seemed to wish to
marry. Nevertheless, after living in the town for two years, and after
certain steps taken by the Ambassador during his visits to the Genoese
Court, the marriage was decided on. The young man withdrew his
former refusal, less on account of the touching affection of Onorina
Pedrotti than by reason of an unknown incident, one of those crises of
private life which are so instantly buried under the daily tide of
interests that, at a subsequent date, the most natural actions seem
inexplicable.

This involution of causes sometimes affects the most serious events of
history.