Modeste Mignon | Page 8

from the armchair in
which she was seated, for the reason that both eyes were covered with

the yellow film produced by cataract. Madame Mignon may be
sketched in one sentence. Her august countenance of the mother of a
family attracted instant notice as that of one whose irreproachable life
defies the assaults of destiny, which nevertheless makes her the target
of its arrows and a member of the unnumbered tribe of Niobes. Her
blonde wig, carefully curled and well arranged upon her head, became
the cold white face which resembled that of some burgomaster's wife
painted by Hals or Mirevelt. The extreme neatness of her dress, the
velvet boots, the lace collar, the shawl evenly folded and put on, all
bore testimony to the solicitous care which Modeste bestowed upon her
mother.
When silence was, as the notary had predicted, restored in the pretty
salon, Modeste, sitting beside her mother, for whom she was
embroidering a kerchief, became for an instant the centre of
observation. This curiosity, barely veiled by the commonplace
salutations and inquiries of the visitors, would have revealed even to an
indifferent person the existence of the domestic plot to which Modeste
was expected to fall a victim; but Gobenheim, more than indifferent,
noticed nothing, and proceeded to light the candles on the card-table.
The behavior of Dumay made the whole scene terrifying to Butscha, to
the Latournelles, and above all to Madame Dumay, who knew her
husband to be capable of firing a pistol at Modeste's lover as coolly as
though he were a mad dog.
After dinner that day the cashier had gone to walk followed by two
magnificent Pyrenees hounds, whom he suspected of betraying him,
and therefore left in charge of a farmer, a former tenant of Monsieur
Mignon. On his return, just before the arrival of the Latournelles, he
had taken his pistols from his bed's head and placed them on the
chimney-piece, concealing this action from Modeste. The young girl
took no notice whatever of these preparations, singular as they were.
Though short, thick-set, pockmarked, and speaking always in a low
voice as if listening to himself, this Breton, a former lieutenant in the
Guard, showed the evidence of such resolution, such sang-froid on his
face that throughout life, even in the army, no one had ever ventured to

trifle with him. His little eyes, of a calm blue, were like bits of steel.
His ways, the look on his face, his speech, his carriage, were all in
keeping with the short name of Dumay. His physical strength,
well-known to every one, put him above all danger of attack. He was
able to kill a man with a blow of his fist, and had performed that feat at
Bautzen, where he found himself, unarmed, face to face with a Saxon at
the rear of his company. At the present moment the usually firm yet
gentle expression of the man's face had risen to a sort of tragic
sublimity; his lips were pale as the rest of his face, indicating a tumult
within him mastered by his Breton will; a slight sweat, which every one
noticed and guessed to be cold, moistened his brow. The notary knew
but too well that these signs might result in a drama before the criminal
courts. In fact the cashier was playing a part in connection with
Modeste Mignon, which involved to his mind sentiments of honor and
loyalty of far greater importance than mere social laws; and his present
conduct proceeded from one of those compacts which, in case disaster
came of it, could be judged only in a higher court than one of earth. The
majority of dramas lie really in the ideas which we make to ourselves
about things. Events which seem to us dramatic are nothing more than
subjects which our souls convert into tragedy or comedy according to
the bent of our characters.
Madame Latournelle and Madame Dumay, who were appointed to
watch Modeste, had a certain assumed stiffness of demeanor and a
quiver in their voices, which the suspected party did not notice, so
absorbed was she in her embroidery. Modeste laid each thread of cotton
with a precision that would have made an ordinary workwoman
desperate. Her face expressed the pleasure she took in the smooth
petals of the flower she was working. The dwarf, seated between his
mistress and Gobenheim, restrained his emotion, trying to find means
to approach Modeste and whisper a word of warning in her ear.
By taking a position in front of Madame Mignon, Madame Latournelle,
with the diabolical intelligence of conscientious duty, had isolated
Modeste. Madame Mignon, whose blindness always made her silent,
was even paler than usual, showing plainly that she was aware of the
test to which her daughter was about to