CHAPTER VIII
He wears the rose of youth upon his cheek. SHAKESPEARE
We now return to Valancourt, who, it may be remembered, remainedat Tholouse, some time after the departure of Emily, restless andmiserable. Each morrow that approached, he designed should carryhim from thence; yet to-morrow and to-morrow came, and still saw himlingering in the scene of his former happiness. He could not immediatelytear himself from the spot, where he had been accustomed to conversewith Emily, or from the objects they had viewed together, which appearedto him memorials of her affection, as well as a kind of surety for itsfaithfulness; and, next to the pain of bidding her adieu, was that ofleaving the scenes which so powerfully awakened her image. Sometimes hehad bribed a servant, who had been left in the care of Madame Montoni'schateau, to permit him to visit the gardens, and there he would wander,for hours together, rapt in a melancholy, not unpleasing. The terrace,and the pavilion at the end of it, where he had taken leave of Emily, onthe eve of her departure from Tholouse, were his most favourite haunts.There, as he walked, or leaned from the window of the building, he wouldendeavour to recollect all she had said, on that night; to catch thetones of her voice, as they faintly vibrated on his memory, and toremember the exact expression of her countenance, which sometimes camesuddenly to his fancy, like a vision; that beautiful countenance, whichawakened, as by instantaneous magic, all the tenderness of his heart,and seemed to tell with irresistible eloquence--that he had lost herforever! At these moments, his hurried steps would have discovered to aspectator the despair of his heart. The character of Montoni, such ashe had received from hints, and such as his fears represented it, wouldrise to his view, together with all the dangers it seemed to threatento Emily and to his love. He blamed himself, that he had not urged thesemore forcibly to her, while it might have been in his power to detainher, and that he had suffered an absurd and criminal delicacy, as hetermed it, to conquer so soon the reasonable arguments he had opposed tothis journey. Any evil, that might have attended their marriage, seemedso inferior to those, which now threatened their love, or even to thesufferings, that absence occasioned, that he wondered how he could haveceased to urge his suit, till he had convinced her of its propriety; andhe would certainly now have followed her to Italy, if he could have beenspared from his regiment for so long a journey. His regiment, indeed,soon reminded him, that he had other duties to attend, than those oflove.
A short time after his arrival at his brother's house, he was summonedto join his brother officers, and he accompanied a battalion to Paris;where a scene of novelty and gaiety opened upon him, such as, till then,he had only a faint idea of. But gaiety disgusted, and company fatigued,his sick mind; and he became an object of unceasing raillery to hiscompanions, from whom, whenever he could steal an opportunity, heescaped, to think of Emily. The scenes around him, however, and thecompany with whom he was obliged to mingle, engaged his attention,though they failed to amuse his fancy, and thus gradually weakened thehabit of yielding to lamentation, till it appeared less a duty to hislove to indulge it. Among his brother-officers were many, who addedto the ordinary character of a French soldier's gaiety some of thosefascinating qualities, which too frequently throw a veil over folly, andsometimes even soften the features of vice into smiles. To these menthe reserved and thoughtful manners of Valancourt were a kind of tacitcensure on their own, for which they rallied him when present, andplotted against him when absent; they gloried in the thought of reducinghim to their own level, and, considering it to be a spirited frolic,determined to accomplish it.
Valancourt was a stranger to the gradual progress of scheme andintrigue, against which he could not be on his guard. He had not beenaccustomed to receive ridicule, and he could ill endure its sting; heresented it, and this only drew upon him a louder laugh. To escape fromsuch scenes, he fled into solitude, and there the image of Emily methim, and revived the pangs of love and despair. He then sought to renewthose tasteful studies, which had been the delight of his early years;but his mind had lost the tranquillity, which is necessary for theirenjoyment. To forget himself and the grief and anxiety, which the ideaof her recalled, he would quit his solitude, and again mingle in thecrowd--glad of a temporary relief, and rejoicing to snatch amusement forthe moment.
Thus passed weeks after weeks, time gradually softening his sorrow, andhabit strengthening his desire of amusement, till the scenes around himseemed to awaken into a new character, and Valancourt, to have fallenamong them from the clouds.
His figure and address made him a welcome visitor, wherever he had beenintroduced, and he soon frequented the most gay and fashionable circlesof Paris. Among these, was the assembly of the Countess Lacleur, a womanof eminent beauty and captivating manners. She had passed the spring ofyouth, but her wit prolonged the triumph of its reign, and they mutuallyassisted the fame of each other; for those, who were charmed by herloveliness, spoke with enthusiasm of her talents; and others, whoadmired her playful imagination, declared, that her personal graces wereunrivalled. But her imagination was merely playful, and her wit, if suchit could be called, was brilliant, rather than just; it dazzled, and itsfallacy escaped the detection of the moment; for the accents, in whichshe pronounced it, and the smile, that accompanied them, were a spellupon the judgment of the auditors. Her petits soupers were the mosttasteful of any in Paris, and were frequented by many of the secondclass of literati. She was fond of music, was herself a scientificperformer, and had frequently concerts at her house. Valancourt, whopassionately loved music, and who sometimes assisted at these concerts,admired her execution, but remembered with a sigh the eloquentsimplicity of Emily's songs and the natural expression of her manner,which waited not to be approved by the judgment, but found their way atonce to the heart.
Madame La Comtesse had often deep play at her house, which she affectedto restrain, but secretly encouraged; and it was well known among herfriends, that the splendour of her establishment was chiefly suppliedfrom the profits of her tables. But her petits soupers were the mostcharming imaginable! Here were all the delicacies of the four quartersof the world, all the wit and the lighter efforts of genius, all thegraces of conversation--the smiles of beauty, and the charm of music;and Valancourt passed his pleasantest, as well as most dangerous hoursin these parties.
His brother, who remained with his family in Gascony, had contentedhimself with giving him letters of introduction to such of hisrelations, residing at Paris, as the latter was not already known to.All these were persons of some distinction; and, as neither the person,mind, or manners of Valancourt the younger threatened to disgrace theiralliance, they received him with as much kindness as their nature,hardened by uninterrupted prosperity, would admit of; but theirattentions did not extend to acts of real friendship; for they were toomuch occupied by their own pursuits, to feel any interest in his; andthus he was set down in the midst of Paris, in the pride of youth, withan open, unsuspicious temper and ardent affections, without one friend,to warn him of the dangers, to which he was exposed. Emily, who, hadshe been present, would have saved him from these evils by awakeninghis heart, and engaging him in worthy pursuits, now only increasedhis danger;--it was to lose the grief, which the remembrance of heroccasioned, that he first sought amusement; and for this end he pursuedit, till habit made it an object of abstract interest.
There was also a Marchioness Champfort, a young widow, at whoseassemblies he passed much of his time. She was handsome, still moreartful, gay and fond of intrigue. The society, which she drew round her,was less elegant and more vicious, than that of the Countess Lacleur:but, as she had address enough to throw a veil, though but a slightone, over the worst part of her character, she was still visited by manypersons of what is called distinction. Valancourt was introduced to herparties by two of his brother officers, whose late ridicule he had nowforgiven so far, that he could sometimes join in the laugh, which amention of his former manners would renew.
The gaiety of the most splendid court in Europe, the magnificence ofthe pal
aces, entertainments, and equipages, that surrounded him--allconspired to dazzle his imagination, and re-animate his spirits, andthe example and maxims of his military associates to delude his mind.Emily's image, indeed, still lived there; but it was no longer thefriend, the monitor, that saved him from himself, and to which heretired to weep the sweet, yet melancholy, tears of tenderness. Whenhe had recourse to it, it assumed a countenance of mild reproach, thatwrung his soul, and called forth tears of unmixed misery; his onlyescape from which was to forget the object of it, and he endeavoured,therefore, to think of Emily as seldom as he could.
Thus dangerously circumstanced was Valancourt, at the time, when Emilywas suffering at Venice, from the persecuting addresses of Count Morano,and the unjust authority of Montoni; at which period we leave him.