①见《圣经·路加福音》第七章，第四十四至四十八节。 .8

She shrugged her shoulders in a way which said:

'Sorry, but I did all I could.'

'Nanine!' called Marguerite, ' show she Count a light!'

We heard the door open and close.

'At last!' exclaimed Marguerite as she reappeared, 'he's gone; that young man gets terribly on my nerves.'

'My dear girl, 'said Prudence, 'you really are too unkind to him, he's so good to you, so thoughtful. On your mantelpiece, there's yet another watch that he's given you, and it will have set him back at least a thousand ecus, I'll be bound.'

And Madame Duvernoy, who had been moving towards the mantelpiece, was now playing with the bauble as she spoke, and casting covetouslooks at it.

'My dear, ' said Marguerite, sitting down at her piano, 'when I weigh in one hand what he gives me and, in the other, the things he says to me, I conclude that I let him have his visits very cheaply.'

'The poor boy is in love with you.'

'If I had to listen to everybody who is in love with me, I wouldn't have the time to eat my dinner.'

And she ran her fingers over the piano, after which she turned and said to us:

'Would you like anything? I'd love a little punch.'

'And I could eat a nice piece of chicken, ' said Prudence. 'Shall we have supper?'

'That's it, let's go out for supper, ' said Gaston.

'No, we'll have supper here.'

She rang. Nanine appeared.

'Send out for supper.'

'What shall I order?'

'Anything you like, but be quick, as quick as you can.'

Nanine went out.

'How lovely!' said Marguerite, skipping like a child, 'we are going to have supper. How boring that idiotic Count is!'

The more I saw of this woman, the more enchanted I was. She was entrancingly beautiful. Even her thinness became her.

I was lost in contemplation.

I would be hard put to explain what was going on inside me. I was full of indulgence for the life she led, full of admiration for her beauty. Proof of her disinterestedness was provided by the fact that she could turn down a fashionable and wealthy young man who was only too ready to ruin himself for her, and this, in my eyes, acquitted her of all past faults.

There was in this woman something approaching candour.

She was visibly still in the virgin stage of vice. Her confident bearing, her supple waist, her pink, flared nostrils, her large eyes faintly ringed with blue, all pointed to one of those passionate natures which give out a bouquet of sensuality, just as flasks from the Orient, however tightly sealed they might be, allow the fragrance of the fluids they contain to escape.

In short, either because it was her nature or else an effect of her state of health, her eyes flickered intermittently with flashes of desires which, if spoken, would have been a heaven- sent relevation to any man she loved. But those who had loved Marguerite were beyond counting, and those whom she had loved had not yet begun to be counted.

In other words, one could detect in this girl a virgin who had been turned into a courtesan by the merest accident of chance, and a courtesan whom the merest accident of chance could have turned into the most loving, the most pure of virgins. Marguerite still had something of a proud spirit and an urge to imdependence ?two sentiments which, when violated, are quite capable of achieving the same results as maidenly modesty. I said nothing. It was as though my soul had flowed completely into my heart, and my heart into my eyes.

'So, ' she went on suddenly, 'it was you who came for news of me when I was ill?'

'Yes.'

'You know, that is really quite sublime! And what can I do to thank you?'

'Allow me to come and call on you from time to time.'

'Come as often as you like, between five and six, and from eleven to midnight. I say, Gaston, do play the Invitation to the Waltz!'

'Why?'

'Firstly because I should like it, and secondly because I can never manage to play it when I'm by myself.'

'What do you find difficult with it?'

'The third part, the passage with the sharps.'

Gaston got to his feet, sat down at the piano and began to play Weber's splendid melody, the music of which lay open of the stand.

Marguerite, with on hand resting on the piano, looked at the score, her eyes following each note which she accompanied in a soft singing voice and, when Gaston reached the passage which she had mentioned, she hummed it and played it with her fingers on the back of the piano:

'Re, mi, re, doh, re, fa, mi, re...that's the part I can't get. Again.'

Gaston played it again, after which Marguerite said to him:

'Now let me try.'

She took his place and played in turn; but still her stubborn fingers tripped over one or other of the notes which we have just mentioned.

'It's inconceivable, ' she said with a quite childlike ring in her voice, 'that I can't manage to play this passage! You won't believe it, but sometimes I sit up working on it until two in the morning! And when I think that fool of a Count can play it without music, and admirably well at that, then I do believe that's why I get so cross with him.'

And she began again, and still with the same result.

'The hell with Weber, music and pianos!' she said, flinging the score to the other end of the room. 'Would anybody believe that I simply can't play eight sharps in a row?'

And she crossed her arms, glaring at us and stamping her foot.

The blood rushed to her cheeks and a small cough parted her lips.

'Come now, ' said Prudence, who had removed her hat and was smoothing her hair in a mirror, 'you'll only get angry an make yourself ill. Let's have supper. It's much the best thing: I'm absolutely starving.'

Marguerite rang again, then she turned back to the piano and began quietly crooning a squalid song ?without making any mistakes in the accompaniment.

Gaston knew the song, and they truned it into a sort of duet.

'I really wish you wouldn't sing such vulgar rubbish, ' I said to Marguerite casually, making it sound like a request.

'Oh, how innocent you are!' she said, smiling and holding out her hand to me.

'It's not for my sake but yours.'

Marguerite made a gesture which meant: 'Oh! it's a long time since I had anything to do with innocence.'

At this juncture, Nanine appeared.

'Is supper ready?' asked Marguerite.

'Yes, madame, in just a moment.'

'By the by, ' Prudence said to me, 'you haven't seen round the apartment. Come, I'll show you.'

As you know, the drawing-room was a marvel.

Marguerite came with us for a few steps, then she called Gaston and went with him into the dining-room to see if supper was ready.

'Hullo!' cried Prudence loudly, looking at the contents of a shelf from which she picked up a Dresden figurine, 'I didn't know you had this little chap!'

'Which one?'

'The shepherd boy holding a cage with a bird in it.'

'You can have it if you like it.'

'Oh! but I couldn't deprive you of him.'

'I wanted to give it to my maid, I think it's hideous. But since you like it, take it.'

Prudence saw only the gift and not the manner in which it was given. She put her shepherd boy to one side, and led me into the dressing-room where she showed me two miniatures which made a pair and said:

'That's Count de G who was madly in love with Marguerite. He's the one who made her name. Do you know him?'

'No. And who's this?' I asked, pointing to the other miniature.

'That's the young Vicomte de L. He had to go away.'

'Why?'

'Because he was just about ruined. Now there was somebody who really loved Marguerite!'

'And I imagine she loved him very much?'

'She's such a funny girl, you never know where you are with her. The evening of the day he went away, she went to the theatre as usual, and yet she had cried when he said goodbye.'

Just then Nanine appeared, and announced that supper was served.

When we went into the dining- room, Marguerite was leaning against one wall and Gaston, who was holding both her hands, was whispering to her.

'You're mad, ' Marguerite was saying to him, 'you know perfectly well that I don't want anything to do with you. You can't wait two years after getting to know a woman like me before asking to be her lover. Women like me give ourselves at once or never. Come, gentlemen, let's eat!'

And, slipping out of Gaston's grasp, Marguerite sat him on her right, me on her left, and then said to Nanine:

'Before you sit down, go to the kitchen and tell them they're not to answer the door if anyone rings.'

This order was given at one in the morning.

We laughed, we drank, we ate a great deal at that supperparty. Within minutes, the merriment had sunk to the lowest level, and witticisms of the kind which certain smart circles find so amusing and never fail to defile the lips of those who utter them, erupted periodically to be greeted with loud acclamations by Nanine, Prudence and Marguerite. Gaston was enjoying himself unreservedly: he was a young man whose heart was in the right place, but his mind had been a little warped by the kind of people he had mixed with in his early days. At one point, I had opted to steel myself, to make my heart and my thoughts immune to the spectacle before my eyes, and to contribute my share to the jollity which seemed to be a dish on the menu. But, little by little, I cut myself off from the uproar, my glass had stayed full and I had grown almost sad as I watched this beautiful creature of twenty drink, talk like a stevedore, and laugh all the louder as what was said became more shocking.

But the merriment, this way of talking and drinking which seemed to me to be in the other guests the effects of dissoluteness, habit and duress, appeared with Marguerite to be a need to forget, a restlessness, a nervous reaction. With each glass of champagne, her cheeks took on a feverish flush, and a cough, which had been nothing at the start of supper, eventually became sufficiently troublesome to force her head against the back of her chair and make her hold her chest with both hands each time the coughing seized her.

I felt the pain which these daily excesses must have inflicted upon so frail a constitution.

At length happened a thing which I had foreseen and dreaded. Towards the end of supper, Marguerite was taken with a fit of coughing much stronger than any she had had while I had been there. It was as though her chest was being torn to pieces from the inside. The poor girl turned purple, closed her eyes with the pain, and put her lips to a serviette which turned red with a splash of blood. Then she got up and ran into her dressing-room.

'What's up with Marguerite?' asked Gaston.

'What's up with her is that she's been laughing too much and is spitting blood, ' said Prudence. 'Oh, it won't be anything, it happens every day. She'll come back. Let's just leave her alone. She prefers it that way.'

For my part, I could bear it no longer and, to the great astonishment of Prudence and Nanine who called me back, I went in to join Marguerite.

“晚上好，亲爱的加斯东，”玛格丽特对我的同伴说，“看到您很高兴，在杂耍剧院，您为什么不到我包厢里来？” “我怕有点冒昧。”

“作为朋友来说，永远也谈不上冒昧。”玛格丽特着重地说了朋友这两个字，仿佛她要使在场的人了解，尽管她接待加斯东的样子很亲热，但加斯东不论过去和现在都只不过是一个朋友而已。

“那么，您允许我向您介绍阿尔芒·迪瓦尔先生吗？”

“我已经答应普律当丝给我介绍了。”

“不过，夫人，”我弯了弯腰，好不容易讲了一句勉强听得清的话，“我有幸早已被人介绍给您过了。”

从玛格丽特迷人的眼睛里似乎看得出她在回忆，但是她一点儿也想不起来，或者是，看起来似乎她想不起来。

“夫人，”接着我又说，“我很感激您已经忘记了第一次的介绍，因为那时我很可笑，一定惹您生气了。那是两年前，在喜剧歌剧院，跟我在一起的是欧内斯特·德……”

“唷！我记起来了！”玛格丽特微笑着说，“那时候不是您可笑，而是我爱捉弄人，就像现在一样，不过我现在比过去好些了。您已经原谅我了吧，先生？”

她把手递给我，我吻了一下。

“真是这样，”她又说，“您想象得到我的脾气有多坏，我老是喜欢捉弄初次见面的人，使他们难堪，这样做其实是很傻的。我的医生对我说，这是因为我有些神经质，并且总是觉得不舒服的缘故，请相信我医生的话吧。”

“但是现在看来您的身体很健康。”

“啊！我生过一场大病。”

“这我知道。”

“是谁对您说的？”

“您生病大家都知道，我经常来打听您的病情，后来我很高兴地知道您的病好了。”

“我从来没有收到过您的名片。”

“我从来不留名片。”

“据说在我生病的时候，有一个青年每天都来打听我的病情，但一直不愿留下姓名，这个年轻人难道就是您吗？”

“就是我。”

“那么，您不仅宽宏大量，而且心肠挺好。”她向我望了一眼。女人们在给一个男人作评价感到用语言不足以表达时，常用这种眼光来补充。随后她转身向N伯爵说：“伯爵，换了您就不会这样做了吧。”

“我认识您才不过两个月呀，”伯爵辩解说。

“而这位先生认识我才不过五分钟呢，您尽讲些蠢话。”

女人们对她们不喜欢的人是冷酷无情的。

伯爵满脸通红，咬着嘴唇。

我有些可怜他，看来他似乎像我一样爱上了她，而玛格丽特毫不掩饰的生硬态度一定使他很难堪，尤其是在两个陌生人面前。

“我们进来的时候，您正在弹琴，”我想把话扯开去，就说道，“请您把我当老朋友看待，继续弹下去好吗？”

“啊！”她一面对我们做手势要我们坐下，一面倒在长沙发上说，“加斯东知道我弹些什么。如果我只是跟伯爵在一起弹弹倒还凑合，但是我可不愿意让你们两位遭这份罪。”

“您对我居然这么偏爱？”N伯爵聊以解嘲地微笑着说。

“您这就错怪我了；我指的仅仅是这一件事罢了。”

这个可怜的青年注定只能一言不发了，他简直像哀求似地向那个姑娘望了一眼。

“那么，普律当丝，”她接着说，“我托您的事办好了吗？”

“办好了。”

“那好，过一会儿告诉我好了。我们有些事要谈谈，在我没有跟您谈之前，您先别走呀。”

“我们也许来得不是时候，”于是我说，“现在我们，还不如说是我，已经得到了第二次介绍，这样就可以把第一次介绍忘掉。我们，加斯东和我，少陪了。”

“根本不是这么回事；这话不是说给你们听的，恰恰相反，我倒希望你们留下来。”

伯爵掏出一块非常精致的表，看了看时间。

“是我去俱乐部的时间了，”他说。

玛格丽特一声也不吭。

于是伯爵离开了壁炉，走到她面前说：

“再见，夫人。”

玛格丽特站了起来。

“再见，亲爱的伯爵，您这就走吗？”

“是的，恐怕我使您感到讨厌了。”

“今天您也并不比往常更使我讨厌。什么时候再能见到您啊？”

“等您愿意的时候。”

“那么就再见吧！”

您得承认，她这一招可真厉害！

幸好伯爵受过良好的教育，又很有涵养。他只是握着玛格丽特漫不经心地向他伸过去的手吻了吻，向我们行了个礼就走了。

在他正要踏出房门的时候，他望了望普律当丝。

普律当丝耸了耸肩膀，那副神气似乎在说：

“您要我怎么办呢，我能做的事我都做了。”

“纳尼娜！”玛格丽特大声嚷道，“替伯爵照个亮。”

我们听到开门和关门的声音。

“总算走了！”玛格丽特嚷着回进来，“这个年轻人使我浑身难受。”

“亲爱的孩子，”普律当丝说，“您对他真是太狠心了，他对您有多好，有多体贴。您看壁炉架上还有他送给您的一块表，我可以肯定这块表至少花了他三千个法郎。”

迪韦尔诺瓦夫人走近壁炉，拿起她刚讲到的那件首饰把玩着，并用贪婪的眼光盯着它。

“亲爱的，”玛格丽特坐到钢琴前说，“我把他送给我的东西放在天平的这一边，把他对我说的话放在另一边，这样一称，我觉得接受他来访还是太便宜了他。”

“这个可怜的青年爱您。”

“如果一定要我听所有爱我的人说话，我也许连吃饭的工夫也没有了。”

接着她随手弹了一会，然后转身对我们说：

“你们想吃点什么吗？我呢，我很想喝一点儿潘趣酒①。”

①潘趣酒：一种用烧酒或果子酒掺上糖、红茶、柠檬等的英国式饮料。

“而我，我很想来一点儿鸡，”普律当丝说，“我们吃夜宵好不好？”

“好啊，我们出去吃夜宵，”加斯东说。

“不，我们就在这里吃。”

她拉了铃，纳尼娜进来了。

“吩咐准备夜宵！”

“吃些什么呢？”

“随您的便，但是要快，马上就要。”

纳尼娜出去了。

“好啦，”玛格丽特像个孩子似的跳着说，“我们要吃夜宵啦。那个笨蛋伯爵真讨厌！”

这个女人我越看越入迷。她美得令人心醉。甚至连她的瘦削也成了一种风韵。

我陷入了遐想。

我究竟怎么啦？连我自己也说不清楚，我对她的生活满怀同情，对她的美貌赞赏不已。她不愿接受一个漂亮、富有、准备为她倾家荡产的年轻人，这种冷漠的神态使我原谅了她过去所有的过失。

在这个女人身上，有某种单纯的东西。

可以看出她虽然过着放荡的生活，但内心还是纯洁的。她举止稳重，体态婀娜，玫瑰色的鼻翅微微张翕着，大大的眼睛四周有一圈淡蓝色，表明她是一种天性热情的人，在这样的人周围，总是散发着一股逗人情欲的香味；就像一些东方的香水瓶一样，不管盖子盖得多严，里面香水的味儿仍然不免要泄漏出来。

不知是由于她的气质，还是由于她疾病的症状，在这个女人的眼里不时闪烁着一种希冀的光芒，这种现象对她曾经爱过的人来说，也许等于是一种天启。但是那些爱过玛格丽特的人是不计其数的，而被她爱过的人则还没有计算呢。