Sister Anne (Novels of Paul de Kock, Volume X)Kock, Paul de
General
Sister Anne (Novels of Paul de Kock, Volume X)
Kock, Paul de
French fiction -- Translations into English
He went into the garden and found Madame Chambertin, who remembered the
last pyrotechnic display and was waiting for monsieur le baron for the
second performance. Madame asked nothing better than to go again to the
little summer-house, where they could see so well, and where they had
such comfortable seats; which latter would be most essential, as she had
urged her husband to make the display last as long as possible.
Bombs were set off, and rockets, and transparencies. But when the moment
arrived for the closing piece, Monsieur Chambertin said to the company
assembled in the garden:
"Turn toward the summer-house, and look at what comes next; that's where
the surprise is to be."
Everybody turned in that direction, Monsieur Chambertin gave the signal,
the walls of the summer-house fell away as if by magic, leaving the roof
supported by four pillars, and a lighted match instantly set fire to
four Bengal-lights, which had been secretly placed inside, together with
a transparency on which were these words: _To Baron Potoski, from his
grateful friend Chambertin_.
This was the surprise which Monsieur Chambertin had been mysteriously
preparing for several days; but he did not expect the surprise that his
friend the baron had in reserve for him: the explosion and the
demolition of the summer-house had taken place so suddenly, that the
couple inside had not even had time to cease their conversation, and it
seemed to all the company to be exceedingly animated.
The men laughed, the ladies bit their lips to avoid imitating them.
Ménard, who was in the rear of the crowd, called out:
"Pray explain the transparency!"
And Monsieur Chambertin was struck dumb.
All this was the affair of a minute; Dubourg required no longer time to
realize what remained for him to do. He had not a sou, he had found a
creditor, he could expect nothing from his friend Chambertin except a
horsewhipping or a sword-thrust; so it behooved him to leave the house
instanter.
The Bengal-lights had gone out; Madame Chambertin had fainted, which was
the best thing that she could do. Dubourg took advantage of the smoke
which succeeded the bright light; he jumped down into the garden, lost
himself in the crowd about the summer-house, seized Ménard, who came
running after him, dragged him into a dark path, and ordered him to hold
his tongue at the risk of being murdered.
At the end of the path was a little gate leading into the fields;
Dubourg opened it and pushed Ménard through, who had no idea where he
was, and fancied that their friend Chambertin's house had caught fire.
His companion locked the little gate and threw away the key.
"Come," he said, "forward at the double-quick! We have drunk the cup of
pleasure, now we must put ourselves on a strict diet; it will do us
good. Now is the time for us to say: _Non est beatus qui cupida
possidet, sed qui negata non cupit._"
"Amen!" said Ménard, as he trotted along by his side.
XVI
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account