all about it. I became weary of ranging fields and scaling walls,
and seriously alarmed at the idea suggested by you, that if caught
hovering about here your father would very likely have me sent to
prison as a thief. That would compromise the honor of the French
army, to say nothing of the fact that the continual presence of a
captain of Spahis in a place where no warlike projects could be
supposed to account for it might well create surprise; so I have
become a gardener, and, consequently, adopted the costume of my
calling."
"What excessive nonsense you talk, Maximilian!"
"Nonsense? Pray do not call what I consider the wisest action of
my life by such a name. Consider, by becoming a gardener I
effectually screen our meetings from all suspicion or danger."
"I beseech of you, Maximilian, to cease trifling, and tell me
what you really mean."
"Simply, that having ascertained that the piece of ground on
which I stand was to let, I made application for it, was readily
accepted by the proprietor, and am now master of this fine crop of
lucerne. Think of that, Valentine! There is nothing now to prevent
my building myself a little hut on my plantation, and residing not
twenty yards from you. Only imagine what happiness that would
afford me. I can scarcely contain myself at the bare idea. Such
felicity seems above all price — as a thing impossible and
unattainable. But would you believe that I purchase all this
delight, joy, and happiness, for which I would cheerfully have
surrendered ten years of my life, at the small cost of 500 francs
per annum, paid quarterly? Henceforth we have nothing to fear. I am
on my own ground, and have an undoubted right to place a ladder
against the wall, and to look over when I please, without having
any apprehensions of being taken off by the police as a suspicious
character. I may also enjoy the precious privilege of assuring you
of my fond, faithful, and unalterable affection, whenever you visit
your favorite bower, unless, indeed, it offends your pride toyour favorite bower, unless, indeed, it offends your pride to
listen to professions of love from the lips of a poor workingman,
clad in a blouse and cap." A faint cry of mingled pleasure and
surprise escaped from the lips of Valentine, who almost instantly
said, in a saddened tone, as though some envious cloud darkened the
joy which illumined her heart, "Alas, no, Maximilian, this must not
be, for many reasons. We should presume too much on our own
strength, and, like others, perhaps, be led astray by our blind
confidence in each other's prudence."
"How can you for an instant entertain so unworthy a thought,
dear Valentine? Have I not, from the first blessed hour of our
acquaintance, schooled all my words and actions to your sentiments
and ideas? And you have, I am sure, the fullest confidence in my
honor. When you spoke to me of experiencing a vague and indefinite
sense of coming danger, I placed myself blindly and devotedly at
your service, asking no other reward than the pleasure of being
useful to you; and have I ever since, by word or look, given you
cause of regret for having selected me from the numbers that would
willingly have sacrificed their lives for you? You told me, my dear
Valentine, that you were engaged to M. d'Epinay, and that your
father was resolved upon completing the match, and that from his
will there was no appeal, as M. de Villefort was never known to
change a determination once formed. I kept in the background, as
you wished, and waited, not for the decision of your heart or my
own, but hoping that providence would graciously interpose in our
behalf, and order events in our favor. But what cared I for delays
or difficulties, Valentine, as long as you confessed that you loved
me, and took pity on me? If you will only repeat that avowal now
and then, I can endure anything."
"Ah, Maximilian, that is the very thing that makes you so bold,
and which renders me at once so happy and unhappy, that I
frequently ask myself whether it is better for me to endure thefrequently ask myself whether it is better for me to endure the
harshness of my mother-in-law, and her blind preference for her own
child, or to be, as I now am, insensible to any pleasure save such
as I find in these meetings, so fraught with danger to both."
"I will not admit that word," returned the young man; "it is at
once cruel and unjust. Is it possible to find a more submissive
slave than myself? You have permitted me to converse with you from
time to time, Valentine, but forbidden my ever following you in
your walks or elsewhere — have I not obeyed? And since I found
means to enter this enclosure to exchange a few words with you
through this gate — to be close to you without really seeing you —
have I ever asked so much as to touch the hem of your gown or tried
to pass this barrier which is but a trifle to one of my youth and
strength? Never has a complaint or a murmur escaped me. I have been
bound by my promises as rigidly as any knight of olden times. Come,
come, dearest Valentine, confess that what I say is true, lest I be
tempted to call you unjust."
"It is true," said Valentine, as she passed the end of her
slender fingers through a small opening in the planks, and
permitted Maximilian to press his lips to them, "and you are a true
and faithful friend; but still you acted from motives of
self-interest, my dear Maximilian, for you well knew that from the
moment in which you had manifested an opposite spirit all would
have been ended between us. You promised to bestow on me the
friendly affection of a brother. For I have no friend but yourself
upon earth, who am neglected and forgotten by my father, harassed
and persecuted by my mother-in-law, and left to the sole
companionship of a paralyzed and speechless old man, whose withered
hand can no longer press mine, and who can speak to me with the eye
alone, although there still lingers in his heart the warmest
tenderness for his poor grandchild. Oh, how bitter a fate is mine,
to serve either as a victim or an enemy to all who are stronger