The Bashful Lover (Novels of Paul de Kock Volume XIX)Kock, Paul de
General
The Bashful Lover (Novels of Paul de Kock Volume XIX)
Kock, Paul de
French fiction -- Translations into English
Daréna returned, arrayed in the latest fashion; he had donned a part of
the purchases he had made that morning without untying his purse
strings, and with the money received from Poterne he had bought what he
still lacked. So that his costume was beyond reproach, and he wore it
with as much ease and unconstraint as he displayed in his old coat.
Chérubin admired Daréna’s elegant appearance and the grace with which he
wore his clothes. Monfréville made similar reflections, regretting that
a man possessed of so many advantages sometimes descended so low and
frequented such wretched company.
“Here I am, at your service,” said Daréna. “We must take Marquis
Chérubin somewhere. I can’t make up my mind to say ‘Grandvilain’;
indeed, the name doesn’t fit our young friend at all, and if he takes my
advice, he will be content with Chérubin alone, which is a most gallant
name.”
“What!” murmured Jasmin, “is monsieur going to drop his father’s name? I
tell you, I object!”
Nobody paid any heed to the old servant, and Daréna continued:
“First of all, our friend must see everything in Paris that deserves to
be seen. That will take time; for a shrewd observer there is a great
deal to see.”
“And then,” said Monfréville, “Chérubin will do well to give a few hours
every day to the masters who are quite indispensable; for his education
is far too incomplete for him to go into society.”
Monsieur Gérondif’s fork stopped in the act of conveying food to his
mouth, and he cried:
“Who says that my pupil’s education is incomplete? He will surely know
as much as I do very soon.”
“Come, come, learned Master André, don’t get excited,” said Daréna, with
a laugh; “I have no doubt that you are very strong in the dead
languages,--and in the art of carving a chicken; yes, you’re very good
at that. But can you teach our friend music, dancing, riding, fencing,
boxing?”
“Boxing?” muttered Jasmin, with an air of stupefaction.
“Yes, boxing, and all the fashionable sciences which a young man of rank
and fortune must know, unless he wishes to be laughed at.”
“Trust me,” said Monfréville, taking Chérubin’s arm; “my father was a
friend of yours, and even without that, your youth and innocence would
be sufficient to awaken my interest and to arouse in me a wish to make
an accomplished gentleman of you.”
“And to begin with,” said Daréna, “a short ride in the saddle; there is
nothing pleasanter in the morning. Do you know anything about riding?”
“Oh! I can ride very well, and I’m not afraid,” Chérubin replied; “at
the village I used to ride all our neighbors’ horses.”
“Good! there’s a livery stable close by where there are some very good
horses; let us go there and hire, pending the time when you have horses
in your stable--another indispensable thing.”
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