Besides the white rabbit, Aurore greatly admired General Murat
(especially when he wore his uniform) and was quite convinced he was a
fairy prince. Her mother made her a uniform too, not like the general's,
of course, but an exact copy of her father's. It consisted of a white
cashmere vest with sleeves fastened by gold buttons, over which was a
loose pelisse, trimmed with black fur, while the breeches were of yellow
cashmere embroidered with gold. The boots of red morocco had spurs
attached; at her side hung a sabre and round her waist was a sash of
crimson silk cords. In this guise Aurore was presented by Murat to his
friends, but though she was intensely proud of her uniform, the little
aide-de-camp found the fur and the gold very hot and heavy, and was
always thankful to change it for the black silk dress and black mantilla
worn by Spanish children. One does not know in which costume she must
have looked most strange.
Murat, who was a good-natured man, grew very fond of the child, and one
evening when he returned from hunting he went up to the rooms in the
palace occupied by the Dupins bearing in his arms a tiny fawn. Aurore
was sound asleep, for it was nearly midnight, but, followed by her
father and mother, the general entered the room and laid the fawn beside
her on the pillow. The child half-opened her eyes, and seeing the little
head close to her face, put her arm round its neck and dozed off again.
The next morning when she woke up, she found Murat standing by her bed,
for M. Dupin had told him what a pretty picture the two made, and he
wished to see it. The poor little creature--probably not more than a few
days old--had been chased by dogs the previous evening, and though it
had escaped unhurt, which was a marvel, was absolutely worn out, and had
settled itself comfortably to sleep like a kitten. It lay curled up on
Aurore's chest, with its head on the pillow and her arms still remained
round its neck. At the sound of voices she awoke, and rubbed her cheek
against the nose of her bedfellow, who, feeling warm and comfortable and
sure of a friend, licked her hands gratefully. But the little thing
pined for its mother, and though Aurore did her very best to replace
her, it was too late, and early one morning Madame Dupin found the fawn
quite dead under the pile of coverings Aurore had spread over it. She
dared not tell the child what had happened, so she said it had run away
in the night, and was now quite happy with its family in the woods. All
of which Aurore believed.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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