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第58节

the village rector-第58节

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to here on earth; the less I may have to dread the wrath of God in the
heavenly kingdom to which I am going。 My father; who had great
confidence in me; commended to my care (now twenty years ago) a son of
this parish; in whom he had seen a great desire to improve himself; an
aptitude for study; and fine characteristics。 I mean the unfortunate
Jean…Francois Tascheron; who thenceforth attached himself to me as his
benefactress。 How did the affection I felt for him become a guilty
one? I think myself excused from explaining this。 Perhaps it could be
shown that the purest sentiments by which we act in this world were
insensibly diverted from their course by untold sacrifices; by reasons
arising from our human frailty; by many causes which might appear to
dismiss the evil of my sin。 But even if the noblest affections moved
me; was I less guilty? Rather let me confess that I; who by education;
by position in the world; might consider myself superior to the youth
my father confided to me; and from whom I was separated by the natural
delicacy of our sex;I listened; fatally; to the promptings of the
devil。 I soon found myself too much the mother of that young man to be
insensible to his mute and delicate admiration。 He alone; he first;
recognized my true value。 But perhaps a horrible calculation entered
my mind。 I thought how discreet a youth would be who owed his all to
me; and whom the chances of life had put so far away from me; though
we were born equals。 I made even my reputation for benevolence; my
pious occupations; a cloak to screen my conduct。 Alas!and this is
doubtless one of my greatest sinsI hid my passion under cover of the
altar。 The most virtuous of my actionsthe love I bore my mother; the
acts of devotion which were sincere and true in the midst of my wrong…
doingall; all were made to serve the ends of a desperate passion;
and were links in the chain that held me。 My poor beloved mother; who
hears me now; was for a long time; ignorantly; an accomplice in my
sin。 When her eyes were opened; too many dangerous facts existed not
to give her mother's heart the strength to be silent。 Silence with her
has been the highest virtue。 Her love for her daughter has gone beyond
her love to God。 Ah! I here discharge her solemnly from the heavy
burden of secrecy which she has borne。 She shall end her days without
compelling either eyes or brow to lie。 Let her motherhood stand clear
of blame; let that noble; sacred old age; crowned with virtue; shine
with its natural lustre; freed of that link which bound her indirectly
to infamy!〃

Tears checked the dying woman's voice for an instant; Aline gave her
salts to inhale。

〃There is no one who has not been better to me than I deserve;〃 she
went on;〃even the devoted servant who does this last service; she
has feigned ignorance of what she knew; but at least she was in the
secret of the penances by which I have destroyed the flesh that
sinned。 I here beg pardon of the world for the long deception to which
I have been led by the terrible logic of society。 Jean…Francois
Tascheron was not as guilty as he seemed。 Ah! you who hear me; I
implore you to remember his youth; and the madness excited in him
partly by the remorse that seized upon me; partly by involuntary
seductions。 More than that! it was a sense of honor; though a mistaken
honor; which caused the most awful of these evils。 Neither of us could
endure our perpetual deceit。 He appealed; unhappy man; to my own right
feeling; he sought to make our fatal love as little wounding to others
as it could be。 We meant to hide ourselves away forever。 Thus I was
the cause; the sole cause; of his crime。 Driven by necessity; the
unhappy man; guilty of too much devotion to an idol; chose from all
evil acts the one which might be hereafter reparable。 I knew nothing
of it till the moment of execution。 At that moment the hand of God
threw down that scaffolding of false contrivancesI heard the cries;
they echo in my ears! I divined the struggle; which I could not stop;
I; the cause of it! Tascheron was maddened; I swear it。〃

Here Veronique turned her eyes upon Monsieur de Grandville; and a sob
was heard to issue from Denise Tascheron's breast。

〃He lost his mind when he saw what he thought his happiness destroyed
by unforeseen circumstances。 The unhappy man; misled by his love; went
headlong from a delinquent act to crimefrom robbery to a double
murder。 He left my mother's house an innocent man; he returned a
guilty one。 I alone knew that there was neither premeditation nor any
of the aggravating circumstances on which he was sentenced to death。 A
hundred times I thought of betraying myself to save him; a hundred
times a horrible and necessary restraint stopped the words upon my
lips。 Undoubtedly; my presence near the scene had contributed to give
him the odious; infamous; ignoble courage of a murderer。 Were it not
for me; he would have fled。 I had formed that soul; trained that mind;
enlarged that heart; I knew it; he was incapable of cowardice or
meanness。 Do justice to that involuntarily guilty arm; do justice to
him; whom God; in his mercy; has allowed to sleep in his quiet grave;
where you have wept for him; suspecting; it may be; the extenuating
truth。 Punish; curse the guilty creature before you! Horrified by the
crime when once committed; I did my best to hide my share in it。
Trusted by my fatherI; who was childlessto lead a child to God; I
led him to the scaffold! Ah! punish me; curse me; the hour has come!〃

Saying these words; her eyes shone with the stoic pride of a savage。
The archbishop; standing behind her; and as if protecting her with the
pastoral cross; abandoned his impassible demeanor and covered his eyes
with his right hand。 A muffled cry was heard; as though some one were
dying。 Two persons; Gerard and Roubaud; received and carried away in
their arms; Denise Tascheron; unconscious。 That sight seemed for an
instant to quench the fire in Veronique's eyes; she was evidently
uneasy; but soon her self…control and serenity of martyrdom resumed
their sway。

〃You now know;〃 she continued; 〃that I deserve neither praise or
blessing for my conduct here。 I have led in sight of Heaven; a secret
life of bitter penance which Heaven will estimate。 My life before men
has been an immense reparation for the evils I have caused; I have
marked my repentance ineffaceably on the earth; it will last almost
eternally here below。 It is written on those fertile fields; in the
prosperous village; in the rivulets brought from the mountains to
water the plain once barren and fruitless; now green and fertile。 Not
a tree will be cut for a hundred years to come but the people of this
region will know of the remorse that made it grow。 My repentant soul
will still live here among you。 What you will owe to its efforts; to a
fortune honorably acquired; is the heritage of its repentance;the
repentance of her who caused the crime。 All has been repaired so far
as society is concerned; but I am still responsible for that life;
crushed in its bud;a life confided to me and for which I am now
required to render an account。〃

The flame of her eyes was veiled in tears。

〃There is here; before me; a man;〃 she continued; 〃who; because he did
his duty strictly; has been to me an object of hatred which I thought
eternal。 He was the first inflictor of my punishment。 My feet were
still too deep in blood; I was too near the deed; not to hate justice。
So long as that root of anger lay in my heart; I knew there was still
a lingering remnant of condemnable passion。 I had nothing to forgive
that man; I have only had to purify that corner of my heart where Evil
lurked。 However hard it may have been to win that victory; it is won。〃

Monsieur de Grandville turned a face to Veronique that was bathed in
tears。 Human justice seemed at that moment to feel remorse。 When the
confessing woman raised her head as if to continue; she met the
agonizing look of old man Grossetete; who stretched his supplicating
hands to her as if to say; 〃Enough; enough!〃 At the same instant a
sound of tears and sobs was heard。 Moved by such sympathy; unable to
bear the balm of this general pardon; she was seized with faintness。
Seeing that her daughter's vital force was gone at last; the old
mother summoned the vigor of her youth to carry her away。

〃Christians;〃 said the archbishop; 〃you have heard the confession of
that penitent woman; it confirms the sentence of human justice。 You
ought to see in this fresh reason to join your prayers to those of the
Church which offers to God the holy sacrifice of the mass; to implore
his mercy in favor of so deep a repentance。〃

The services went on。 Veronique; lying on the bed; followed them with
a look of such inward contentment that she seemed; to every eye; no
longer the same woman。 On her face was the candid and virtuous
expression of the pure young girl such as she had been in her parents'
home。 The dawn of eternal life was already whitening her brow and
glorifying her face with its celestial tints。 Doubtless she heard the
mystic harmonies; and gathered strength to live from her desire to
unite herself once more with God in the last communion

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