Chapter: CHAPTER VIII



 He wears the rose of youth upon his cheek.
     SHAKESPEARE

We now return to Valancourt, who, it may be remembered, remained
at Tholouse, some time after the departure of Emily, restless and
miserable. Each morrow that approached, he designed should carry
him from thence; yet to-morrow and to-morrow came, and still saw him
lingering in the scene of his former happiness. He could not immediately
tear himself from the spot, where he had been accustomed to converse
with Emily, or from the objects they had viewed together, which appeared
to him memorials of her affection, as well as a kind of surety for its
faithfulness; and, next to the pain of bidding her adieu, was that of
leaving the scenes which so powerfully awakened her image. Sometimes he
had bribed a servant, who had been left in the care of Madame Montoni's
chateau, 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, on
the eve of her departure from Tholouse, were his most favourite haunts.
There, as he walked, or leaned from the window of the building, he would
endeavour to recollect all she had said, on that night; to catch the
tones of her voice, as they faintly vibrated on his memory, and to
remember the exact expression of her countenance, which sometimes came
suddenly to his fancy, like a vision; that beautiful countenance, which
awakened, as by instantaneous magic, all the tenderness of his heart,
and seemed to tell with irresistible eloquence--that he had lost her
forever! At these moments, his hurried steps would have discovered to a
spectator the despair of his heart. The character of Montoni, such as
he had received from hints, and such as his fears represented it, would
rise to his view, together with all the dangers it seemed to threaten
to Emily and to his love. He blamed himself, that he had not urged these
more forcibly to her, while it might have been in his power to detain
her, and that he had suffered an absurd and criminal delicacy, as he
termed it, to conquer so soon the reasonable arguments he had opposed to
this journey. Any evil, that might have attended their marriage, seemed
so inferior to those, which now threatened their love, or even to the
sufferings, that absence occasioned, that he wondered how he could have
ceased to urge his suit, till he had convinced her of its propriety; and
he would certainly now have followed her to Italy, if he could have been
spared from his regiment for so long a journey. His regiment, indeed,
soon reminded him, that he had other duties to attend, than those of
love.

A short time after his arrival at his brother's house, he was summoned
to 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 his
companions, from whom, whenever he could steal an opportunity, he
escaped, to think of Emily. The scenes around him, however, and the
company with whom he was obliged to mingle, engaged his attention,
though they failed to amuse his fancy, and thus gradually weakened the
habit of yielding to lamentation, till it appeared less a duty to his
love to indulge it. Among his brother-officers were many, who added
to the ordinary character of a French soldier's gaiety some of those
fascinating qualities, which too frequently throw a veil over folly, and
sometimes even soften the features of vice into smiles. To these men
the reserved and thoughtful manners of Valancourt were a kind of tacit
censure on their own, for which they rallied him when present, and
plotted against him when absent; they gloried in the thought of reducing
him 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 and
intrigue, against which he could not be on his guard. He had not been
accustomed to receive ridicule, and he could ill endure its sting; he
resented it, and this only drew upon him a louder laugh. To escape from
such scenes, he fled into solitude, and there the image of Emily met
him, and revived the pangs of love and despair. He then sought to renew
those tasteful studies, which had been the delight of his early years;
but his mind had lost the tranquillity, which is necessary for their
enjoyment. To forget himself and the grief and anxiety, which the idea
of her recalled, he would quit his solitude, and again mingle in the
crowd--glad of a temporary relief, and rejoicing to snatch amusement for
the moment.

Thus passed weeks after weeks, time gradually softening his sorrow, and
habit strengthening his desire of amusement, till the scenes around him
seemed to awaken into a new character, and Valancourt, to have fallen
among them from the clouds.

His figure and address made him a welcome visitor, wherever he had been
introduced, and he soon frequented the most gay and fashionable circles
of Paris. Among these, was the assembly of the Countess Lacleur, a woman
of eminent beauty and captivating manners. She had passed the spring of
youth, but her wit prolonged the triumph of its reign, and they mutually
assisted the fame of each other; for those, who were charmed by her
loveliness, spoke with enthusiasm of her talents; and others, who
admired her playful imagination, declared, that her personal graces were
unrivalled. But her imagination was merely playful, and her wit, if such
it could be called, was brilliant, rather than just; it dazzled, and its
fallacy escaped the detection of the moment; for the accents, in which
she pronounced it, and the smile, that accompanied them, were a spell
upon the judgment of the auditors. Her petits soupers were the most
tasteful of any in Paris, and were frequented by many of the second
class of literati. She was fond of music, was herself a scientific
performer, and had frequently concerts at her house. Valancourt, who
passionately loved music, and who sometimes assisted at these concerts,
admired her execution, but remembered with a sigh the eloquent
simplicity of Emily's songs and the natural expression of her manner,
which waited not to be approved by the judgment, but found their way at
once to the heart.

Madame La Comtesse had often deep play at her house, which she affected
to restrain, but secretly encouraged; and it was well known among her
friends, that the splendour of her establishment was chiefly supplied
from the profits of her tables. But her petits soupers were the most
charming imaginable! Here were all the delicacies of the four quarters
of the world, all the wit and the lighter efforts of genius, all the
graces of conversation--the smiles of beauty, and the charm of music;
and Valancourt passed his pleasantest, as well as most dangerous hours
in these parties.

His brother, who remained with his family in Gascony, had contented
himself with giving him letters of introduction to such of his
relations, 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 their
alliance, they received him with as much kindness as their nature,
hardened by uninterrupted prosperity, would admit of; but their
attentions did not extend to acts of real friendship; for they were too
much occupied by their own pursuits, to feel any interest in his; and
thus he was set down in the midst of Paris, in the pride of youth, with
an open, unsuspicious temper and ardent affections, without one friend,
to warn him of the dangers, to which he was exposed. Emily, who, had
she been present, would have saved him from these evils by awakening
his heart, and engaging him in worthy pursuits, now only increased
his danger;--it was to lose the grief, which the remembrance of her
occasioned, that he first sought amusement; and for this end he pursued
it, till habit made it an object of abstract interest.

There was also a Marchioness Champfort, a young widow, at whose
assemblies he passed much of his time. She was handsome, still more
artful, 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 slight
one, over the worst part of her character, she was still visited by many
persons of what is called distinction. Valancourt was introduced to her
parties by two of his brother officers, whose late ridicule he had now
forgiven so far, that he could sometimes join in the laugh, which a
mention of his former manners would renew.

The gaiety of the most splendid court in Europe, the magnificence of
the palaces, entertainments, and equipages, that surrounded him--all
conspired to dazzle his imagination, and re-animate his spirits, and
the example and maxims of his military associates to delude his mind.
Emily's image, indeed, still lived there; but it was no longer the
friend, the monitor, that saved him from himself, and to which he
retired to weep the sweet, yet melancholy, tears of tenderness. When
he had recourse to it, it assumed a countenance of mild reproach, that
wrung his soul, and called forth tears of unmixed misery; his only
escape 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 Emily
was suffering at Venice, from the persecuting addresses of Count Morano,
and the unjust authority of Montoni; at which period we leave him.

 It's been a while since we checked in on Valancourt, so let's see how our guy is doing. Last time we saw him, he was all broken-hearted in Tholouse over Em. Well, he's found an interesting way to cope with heartbreak--namely, by partying it up in Paris with a certain Countess Lacleur. Ahem, Valancourt is spending a little more time at the Countess's parties than fulfilling his duties as a soldier. There's also a Marchioness Champfort who seems to be spending plenty of time with Emily's beau. Man, Valancourt is in some trouble. Let's hope he can make it through the temptations and hold out for Em.

