to serve either as a victim or an enemy to all who are stronger
than myself, while my only friend and supporter is a living corpse!
Indeed, indeed, Maximilian, I am very miserable, and if you love me
it must be out of pity."
"Valentine," replied the young man, deeply affected, "I will not
say you are all I love in the world, for I dearly prize my sister
and brother-in-law; but my affection for them is calm and tranquil,
in no manner resembling what I feel for you. When I think of you my
heart beats fast, the blood burns in my veins, and I can hardly
breathe; but I solemnly promise you to restrain all this ardor,
this fervor and intensity of feeling, until you yourself shall
require me to render them available in serving or assisting you. M.
Franz is not expected to return home for a year to come, I am told;
in that time many favorable and unforeseen chances may befriend us.
Let us, then, hope for the best; hope is so sweet a comforter.
Meanwhile, Valentine, while reproaching me with selfishness, think
a little what you have been to me — the beautiful but cold
resemblance of a marble Venus. What promise of future reward have
you made me for all the submission and obedience I have evinced? —
none whatever. What granted me? — scarcely more. You tell me of M.
Franz d'Epinay, your betrothed lover, and you shrink from the idea
of being his wife; but tell me, Valentine, is there no other sorrow
in your heart? You see me devoted to you, body and soul, my life
and each warm drop that circles round my heart are consecrated to
your service; you know full well that my existence is bound up in
yours — that were I to lose you I would not outlive the hour of
such crushing misery; yet you speak with calmness of the prospect
of your being the wife of another! Oh, Valentine, were I in your
place, and did I feel conscious, as you do, of being worshipped,
adored, with such a love as mine, a hundred times at least should I
have passed my hand between these iron bars, and said, `Take thishave passed my hand between these iron bars, and said, `Take this
hand, dearest Maximilian, and believe that, living or dead, I am
yours — yours only, and forever!'" The poor girl made no reply, but
her lover could plainly hear her sobs and tears. A rapid change
took place in the young man's feelings. "Dearest, dearest
Valentine," exclaimed he, "forgive me if I have offended you, and
forget the words I spoke if they have unwittingly caused you
pain."
"No, Maximilian, I am not offended," answered she, "but do you
not see what a poor, helpless being I am, almost a stranger and an
outcast in my father's house, where even he is seldom seen; whose
will has been thwarted, and spirits broken, from the age of ten
years, beneath the iron rod so sternly held over me; oppressed,
mortified, and persecuted, day by day, hour by hour, minute by
minute, no person has cared for, even observed my sufferings, nor
have I ever breathed one word on the subject save to yourself.
Outwardly and in the eyes of the world, I am surrounded by kindness
and affection; but the reverse is the case. The general remark is,
`Oh, it cannot be expected that one of so stern a character as M.
Villefort could lavish the tenderness some fathers do on their
daughters. What though she has lost her own mother at a tender age,
she has had the happiness to find a second mother in Madame de
Villefort.' The world, however, is mistaken; my father abandons me
from utter indifference, while my mother-in-law detests me with a
hatred so much the more terrible because it is veiled beneath a
continual smile."
"Hate you, sweet Valentine," exclaimed the young man; "how is it
possible for any one to do that?"
"Alas," replied the weeping girl, "I am obliged to own that my
mother-in-law's aversion to me arises from a very natural source —
her overweening love for her own child, my brother Edward."
"But why should it?"
"I do not know; but, though unwilling to introduce money matters
into our present conversation, I will just say this much — that herinto our present conversation, I will just say this much — that her
extreme dislike to me has its origin there; and I much fear she
envies me the fortune I enjoy in right of my mother, and which will
be more than doubled at the death of M. and Mme. de Saint-Meran,
whose sole heiress I am. Madame de Villefort has nothing of her
own, and hates me for being so richly endowed. Alas, how gladly
would I exchange the half of this wealth for the happiness of at
least sharing my father's love. God knows, I would prefer
sacrificing the whole, so that it would obtain me a happy and
affectionate home."
"Poor Valentine!"
"I seem to myself as though living a life of bondage, yet at the
same time am so conscious of my own weakness that I fear to break
the restraint in which I am held, lest I fall utterly helpless.
Then, too, my father is not a person whose orders may be infringed
with impunity; protected as he is by his high position and firmly
established reputation for talent and unswerving integrity, no one
could oppose him; he is all-powerful even with the king; he would
crush you at a word. Dear Maximilian, believe me when I assure you
that if I do not attempt to resist my father's commands it is more
on your account than my own."
"But why, Valentine, do you persist in anticipating the worst, —
why picture so gloomy a future?"
"Because I judge it from the past."
"Still, consider that although I may not be, strictly speaking,
what is termed an illustrious match for you, I am, for many
reasons, not altogether so much beneath your alliance. The days
when such distinctions were so nicely weighed and considered no
longer exist in France, and the first families of the monarchy have
intermarried with those of the empire. The aristocracy of the lance
has allied itself with the nobility of the cannon. Now I belong to
this last-named class; and certainly my prospects of military
preferment are most encouraging as well as certain. My fortune,
though small, is free and unfettered, and the memory of my late