The Bath Keepers; Or, Paris in Those Days, v.1: (Novels of Paul de Kock Volume VII)Kock, Paul de
General
The Bath Keepers; Or, Paris in Those Days, v.1: (Novels of Paul de Kock Volume VII)
Kock, Paul de
French fiction -- Translations into English
Was it her pride that was flattered, or her self-esteem?
No; the sweet child did not as yet know either of those sentiments.
It was something sweeter, more tender, which had found its way into her
heart with the fiery glances of the handsome cavalier, and against which
she had not known how to defend herself, for she was unaware of the
danger; it had not occurred to her that it was wrong to glance
occasionally at a comely youth who kept his eyes constantly fixed on
her.
When she learned that the comely youth was Comte Léodgard de Marvejols,
the girl had felt perhaps a secret thrill of terror; but it had not
lasted--the young man's glances had soon dispelled it.
Bathilde occupied a room that looked on a yard behind the house. It was
impossible for her to see from her window anything that took place in
the street. But since her mother had been absent, the girl had enjoyed
more liberty; so long as she avoided the baths, a place which it would
have been imprudent for her to frequent, she was free to range over the
whole first floor at her pleasure. Knowing that his daughter was in the
house, Landry asked nothing more.
On the day following the Fire of Saint-Jean, Bathilde, although she did
not know why, could not keep still. She went in and out, from one room
to another, arranging the furniture, or rather disarranging it, in order
to have an excuse for putting it to rights again.
In her peregrinations she visited most frequently a room at the front of
the house, which Dame Ragonde used as a linen closet; it was the room
with the balcony. Bathilde had put aside the curtain and glanced into
the street from time to time, without opening the window. She had soon
discovered the young seigneur of the preceding night walking back and
forth in front of the baths, and stopping frequently to scrutinize the
house from top to bottom.
Bathilde had felt the blood rush to her cheeks, although no one could
have seen her put aside the curtain. She had left the window, but had
returned to it a moment later.
"He is there!" she said to herself, trembling with excitement; "he is
still there! Mon Dieu! why does he keep looking at our house?"
The little innocent guessed well enough why he did it; but there are
things which we do not choose to admit at once, even to ourselves,
especially when they give us pleasure; we are much less ceremonious with
those that make us unhappy.
The next day, Bathilde did not fail to go early to the linen closet; she
resumed her manœuvres of the day before, and looked into the street
after cautiously raising a corner of the curtain.
This lasted four days, during which she saw the handsome cavalier almost
always in the street, gazing sadly at the windows, with his hand to his
heart, and probably sighing; she did not hear the sigh, but she divined
it.
On the fifth day, she no longer had the heart to keep the window closed,
and yet she did not wish to appear on the balcony without a reason for
going there.
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