The Paris Sketch Book of Mr. M. A. TitmarshThackeray, William Makepeace
General
The Paris Sketch Book of Mr. M. A. Titmarsh
Thackeray, William Makepeace
Paris (France) -- Description and travel
“As I entered into the garden, I stepped a little on one side, to make
way for a person whom I saw before me. He was a young man of surprising
beauty, and attired in a foreign costume. Although dressed in the large
black robe which the superiors of our order wear, he had, underneath, a
short jacket of fine cloth, fastened round the waist by a leathern
belt, and a buckle of silver, after the manner of the old German
students. Like them, he wore, instead of the sandals of our monks,
short tight boots; and over the collar of his shirt, which fell on his
shoulders, and was as white as snow, hung, in rich golden curls, the
most beautiful hair I ever saw. He was tall, and his elegant posture
seemed to reveal to me that he was in the habit of commanding. With
much respect, and yet uncertain, I half saluted him. He did not return
my salute; but he smiled on me with so benevolent an air, and at the
same time, his eyes severe and blue, looked towards me with an
expression of such compassionate tenderness, that his features have
never since then passed away from my recollection. I stopped, hoping he
would speak to me, and persuading myself, from the majesty of his
aspect, that he had the power to protect me; but the monk, who was
walking behind me, and who did not seem to remark him in the least,
forced him brutally to step aside from the walk, and pushed me so
rudely as almost to cause me to fall. Not wishing to engage in a
quarrel with this coarse monk, I moved away; but, after having taken a
few steps in the garden, I looked back, and saw the unknown still
gazing on me with looks of the tenderest solicitude. The sun shone full
upon him, and made his hair look radiant. He sighed, and lifted his
fine eyes to heaven, as if to invoke its justice in my favor, and to
call it to bear witness to my misery; he turned slowly towards the
sanctuary, entered into the quire, and was lost, presently, in the
shade. I longed to return, spite of the monk, to follow this noble
stranger, and to tell him my afflictions; but who was he, that I
imagined he would listen to them, and cause them to cease? I felt, even
while his softness drew me towards him, that he still inspired me with
a kind of fear; for I saw in his physiognomy as much austerity as
sweetness.”
Who was he?—we shall see that. He was somebody very mysterious indeed;
but our author has taken care, after the manner of her sex, to make a
very pretty fellow of him, and to dress him in the most becoming
costumes possible.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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