LAbbe Constantin | Page 7

masters of the castle of Longueval. The Abbe had still about a mile
to walk before reaching the first houses of Souvigny, and was passing
the park of Lavardens when he heard, above his head, voices calling to
him:
"Monsieur le Cure, Monsieur le Cure."
At this spot adjoining the wall, a long alley of limetrees bordered the
terrace, and the Abbe, raising his head, perceived Madame de
Lavardens, and her son Paul.
"Where are you going, Monsieur le Cure?" asked the Countess.
"To Souvigny, to the Tribunal, to learn--"

"Stay here--Monsieur de Larnac is coming after the sale to tell me the
result."
The Abbe Constantin joined them on the terrace.
Gertrude de Lannilis, Countess de Lavardens, had been very
unfortunate. At eighteen she had been guilty of a folly, the only one of
her life, but that one--irreparable. She had married for love, in a burst
of enthusiasm and exaltation, M. de Lavardens, one of the most
fascinating and brilliant men of his time. He did not love her, and only
married her from necessity; he had devoured his patrimonial fortune to
the very last farthing, and for two or three years had supported himself
by various expedients. Mademoiselle de Lannilis knew all that, and had
no illusions on these points, but she said to herself:
"I will love him so much, that he will end by loving me."
Hence all her misfortunes. Her existence might have been tolerable, if
she had not loved her husband so much; but she loved him too much.
She had only succeeded in wearying him by her importunities and
tenderness. He returned to his former life, which had been most
irregular. Fifteen years had passed thus, in a long martyrdom,
supported by Madame de Lavardens with all the appearance of passive
resignation. Nothing ever could distract her from, or cure her of, the
love which was destroying her.
M. de Lavardens died in 1869; he left a son fourteen years of age, in
whom were already visible all the defects and all the good qualities of
his father. Without being seriously affected, the fortune of Madame de
Lavardens was slightly compromised, slightly diminished. Madame de
Lavardens sold her mansion in Paris, retired to the country, where she
lived with strict economy, and devoted herself to the education of her
son.
But here again grief and disappointment awaited her. Paul de
Lavardens was intelligent, amiable, and affectionate, but thoroughly
rebellious against any constraint, and any species of work. He drove to
despair three or four tutors who vainly endeavored to force something

serious into his head, went up to the military college of Saint-Cyr,
failed at the examination, and began to devour in Paris, with all the
haste and folly possible, 200,000 or 300,000 francs.
That done, he enlisted in the first regiment of the Chasseurs d'Afrique,
had in the very beginning of his military career the good fortune to
make one of an expeditionary column sent into the Sahara,
distinguished himself, soon became quartermaster, and at the end of
three years was about to be appointed sub-lieutenant, when he was
captivated by a young person who played the 'Fille de Madame Angot',
at the theatre in Algiers.
Paul had finished his time, he quitted the service, and went to Paris
with his charmer . . . . then it was a dancer . . . . then it was an
actress . . . . then a circus-rider. He tried life in every form. He led the
brilliant and miserable existence of the unoccupied.
But it was only three or four months that he passed in Paris each year.
His mother made him an allowance Of 30,000 francs, and had declared
to him that never, while she lived, should he have another penny before
his marriage. He knew his mother, he knew he must consider her words
as serious. Thus, wishing to make a good figure in Paris, and lead a
merry life, he spent his 30,000 francs in three months, and then docilely
returned to Lavardens, where he was "out at grass." He spent his time
hunting, fishing, and riding with the officers of the artillery regiment
quartered at Souvigny. The little provincial milliners and grisettes
replaced, without rendering him obvious of, the little singers and
actresses of Paris. By searching for them, one may still find grisettes in
country towns, and Paul de Lavardens sought assiduously.
As soon as the Cure had reached Madame de Lavardens, she said:
"Without waiting for Monsieur de Larnac, I can tell you the names of
the purchasers of the domain of Longueval. I am quite easy on the
subject, and have no doubt of the success of our plan. In order to avoid
any foolish disputes, we have agreed among ourselves, that is, among
our neighbors,