menu_book Chapter 1

part one nineteen o eight brother you ask me if i have ever loved yes my story's a strange and terrible one and though i am sixty-six years of age i scarcely dare even now to disturb the ashes of that memory to you i can refuse nothing but i should not relate such a tale to any less experienced mind so strange were the circumstances of my story that i can scarcely believe myself to have ever actually been a party to them for more than three years i remained the victim of a most singular and diabolical illusion poor country priest though i was i led every night in a dream would to god it had been all a dream a most worldly life a damning life a life of sardanapalus one single look too freely cast upon a woman well-nigh caused me to lose my soul but finally by the grace of god and the assistance of my patron saint i succeeded in casting out the evil spirit that possessed me my daily life was long interwoven with a nocturnal life of a totally different character by day i was a priest of the lord occupied with prayer and sacred things by night from the instant that i closed my eyes i became a young nobleman a fine connoisseur in women dogs and horses gambling drinking and blaspheming

and when i awoke at early daybreak it seemed to me on the other hand that i had been sleeping and had only dreamed that i was a priest of this somnambulistic life there now remains to me only the recollection of certain scenes and words which i cannot banish from my memory but although i never actually left the walls of my presbytery one would think to hear me speak that i were a man who weary of all worldly pleasures had become a religious seeking to end a tempestuous life in the service of god rather than a humble seminarist who has grown old in this obscure curacy situated in the depths of the woods and even isolated from the life of the century yes i have loved as none in the world ever loved with an insensate and furious passion so violent that i am astonished it did not cause my heart to burst asunder ah what nights what nights from my earliest childhood i had felt a vocation to the priesthood so that all my studies were directed with that idea in view up to the age of twenty-four my life had been only a prolonged novitiate having completed my course of theology i successively received all the minor orders and my superiors judged me worthy despite my youth to pass the last awful degree my ordination was fixed for easter week

i had never gone into the world my world was confined by the walls of the college and the seminary i knew in a vague sort of a way that there was something called woman but i never permitted my thoughts to dwell on such a subject and i lived in a state of perfect innocence twice a year only i saw my infirm and aged mother and in those visits were comprised my sole relations with the outer world i regretted nothing i felt not the least hesitation at taking the last irrevocable step i was filled with joy and impatience never did a betrothed lover count the slow hours with more feverish ardour i slept only to dream that i was saying mass i believed there could be nothing in the world more delightful than to be a priest i would have refused to be a king or a poet in preference my ambition could conceive of no loftier aim i tell you this in order to show you that what happened to me could not have happened in the natural order of things and to enable you to understand that i was the victim of an inexplicable fascination

at last the great day came i walked to the church with a step so light that i fancied myself sustained in air or that i had wings upon my shoulders i believed myself an angel and wondered at the sombre and thoughtful faces of my companions for there were several of us i had passed all the night in prayer and was in a condition well-nigh bordering on ecstasy the bishop a venerable old man seemed to me god the father leaning over his eternity and i beheld heaven through the vault of the temple you well know the details of that ceremony the benediction the communion under both forms the anointing of the palms of the hands with the oil of catechumens and then the holy sacrifice offered in concert with the bishop ah truly spake job when he declared that the imprudent man is one who hath not made a covenant with his eyes i accidentally lifted my head which until then i had kept down and beheld before me so close that it seemed that i could have touched her

although she was actually a considerable distance from me and on the further side of the sanctuary railing a young woman of extraordinary beauty and attired with royal magnificence it seemed as though scales had suddenly fallen from my eyes i felt like a blind man who unexpectedly recovers his sight the bishop so radiantly glorious but an instant before suddenly vanished away the tapers paled upon their golden candlesticks like stars in the dawn and a vast darkness seemed to fill the whole church the charming creature appeared in bright relief against the background of that darkness like some angelic revelation she seemed herself radiant and radiating light rather than receiving it i lowered my eyelids firmly resolved not to again open them that i might not be influenced by external objects for distraction had gradually taken possession of me until i hardly knew what i was doing in another minute nevertheless i reopened my eyes for through my eyelashes i still beheld her all sparkling with prismatic colours and surrounded with such a penumbra as one beholds in gazing at the sun oh how beautiful she was

the greatest painters who followed ideal beauty into heaven itself and thence brought back to earth the true portrait of the madonna never in their delineations even approached that wildly beautiful reality which i saw before me neither the verses of the poet nor the palette of the artist could convey any conception of her she was rather tall with the form and bearing of a goddess her hair of a soft blond hue was parted in the midst and flowed back over her temples in two rivers of rippling gold she seemed a diademed queen her forehead bluish-white in its transparency extended its calm breadth above the arches of her eyebrows which by a strange singularity were almost black and admirably relieved the effect of sea-green eyes of unsustainable vivacity and brilliancy what eyes with a single flash they could have decided a man's destiny they had a life a limpidity an ardour a human light which i have never seen in human eyes they shot forth rays like arrows which i could distinctly see enter my heart

i know not if the fire which illumined them came from heaven or from hell but assuredly it came from one or the other that woman was either an angel or a demon perhaps both assuredly she never sprang from the flank of eve our common mother teeth of the most lustrous pearl gleamed in her ruddy smile and at every inflection of her lips little dimples appeared in the satiny rose of her adorable cheeks there was a delicacy and pride in the regal outline of her nostrils bespeaking noble blood agate gleams played over the smooth lustrous skin of her half-bare shoulders and strings of great blonde pearls almost equal to her neck in beauty of colour descended upon her bosom from time to time she elevated her head with the undulating grace of a startled serpent or peacock thereby imparting a quivering motion to the high lace ruff which surrounded it like a silver trellis-work she wore a robe of orange-red velvet and from her wide ermine-lined sleeves there peeped forth patrician hands of infinite delicacy and so ideally transparent that like the fingers of aurora they permitted the light to shine through them

all these details i can recollect at this moment as plainly as though they were of yesterday for notwithstanding i was greatly troubled at the time nothing escaped me the faintest touch of shading the little dark speck at the point of the chin the imperceptible down at the corners of the lips the velvety floss upon the brow the quivering shadows of the eyelashes upon the cheeks i could notice everything with astonishing lucidity of perception and gazing i felt opening within me gates that had until then remained closed vents long obstructed became all clear permitting glimpses of unfamiliar perspectives within life suddenly made itself visible to me under a totally novel aspect i felt as though i had just been born into a new world and a new order of things a frightful anguish commenced to torture my heart as with red-hot pincers every successive minute seemed to me at once but a second and yet a century

meanwhile the ceremony was proceeding and i shortly found myself transported far from that world of which my newly-born desires were furiously besieging the entrance nevertheless i answered yes when i wished to say no though all within me protested against the violence done to my soul by my tongue some occult power seemed to force the words from my throat against my will thus it is perhaps that so many young girls walk to the altar firmly resolved to refuse in a startling manner the husband imposed upon them and that yet not one ever fulfils her intention thus it is doubtless that so many poor novices take the veil though they have resolved to tear it into shreds at the moment when called upon to utter the vows one dares not thus cause so great a scandal to all present nor deceive the expectation of so many people all those eyes all those wills seem to weigh down upon you like a cope of lead and moreover measures have been so well taken everything has been so thoroughly arranged beforehand and after a fashion so evidently irrevocable that the will yields to the weight of circumstances and utterly breaks down as the ceremony proceeded the features of the fair unknown changed their expression hluc had at first been one of caressing tenderness it changed to an air of disdain and of mortification as though it not having been able to make itself understood

with an effort of will sufficient to have uprooted a mountain i strove to cry out that i would not be a priest but i could not speak my tongue seemed nailed to my palate and i found it impossible to express my will by the least syllable of negation though fully awake i felt like one under the influence of a nightmare who vainly strives to shriek out the one word upon which life depends she seemed conscious of the martyrdom i was undergoing and as though to encourage me she gave me a look replete with divinest promise her eyes were a poem their every glance was a song she said to me if thou wilt be mine i shall make thee happier than god himself in his paradise the angels themselves will be jealous of thee tear off that funeral shroud in which thou art about to wrap thyself i am beauty i am youth i am life come to me together we shall be love can jehovah offer thee aught in exchange our lives will flow on like a dream in one eternal kiss

fling forth the wine of that chalice and thou art free i will conduct thee to the unknown isles thou shalt sleep in my bosom upon a bed of massy gold under a silver pavilion for i love thee and would take thee away from thy god before whom so many noble hearts pour forth floods of love which never reach even the steps of his throne these words seemed to float to my ears in a rhythm of infinite sweetness for her look was actually sonorous and the utterances of her eyes were re-echoed in the depths of my heart as though living lips had breathed them into my life i felt myself willing to renounce god and yet my tongue mechanically fulfilled all the formalities of the ceremony the fair one gave me another look so beseeching so despairing that keen blades seemed to pierce my heart and i felt my bosom transfixed by more swords than those of our lady of sorrows all was consummated i had become a priest

never was deeper anguish painted on human face than upon hers the maiden who beholds her affianced lover suddenly fall dead at her side the mother bending over the empty cradle of her child eve seated at the threshold of the gate of paradise the miser who finds a stone substituted for his stolen treasure the poet who accidentally permits the only manuscript of his finest work to fall into the fire could not wear a look so despairing so inconsolable all the blood had abandoned her charming face leaving it whiter than marble her beautiful arms hung lifelessly on either side of her body as though their muscles had suddenly relaxed and she sought the support of a pillar for her yielding limbs almost betrayed her as for myself i staggered toward the door of the church livid as death my forehead bathed with a sweat bloodier than that of calvary i felt as though i were being strangled the vault seemed to have flattened down upon my shoulders and it seemed to me that my head alone sustained the whole weight of the dome as i was about to cross the threshold a hand suddenly caught mine-a woman's hand i had never till then touched the hand of any woman it was cold as a serpent's skin and yet its impress remained upon my wrist burnt there as though branded by a glowing iron

it was she unhappy man unhappy man what hast thou done she exclaimed in a low voice and immediately disappeared in the crowd the aged bishop passed by he cast a severe and scrutinizing look upon me my face presented the wildest aspect imaginable i blushed and turned pale alternately dazzling lights flashed before my eyes a companion took pity on me he seized my arm and led me out i could not possibly have found my way back to the seminary unassisted At the corner of a street, while the young priest's attention was momentarily turned in another direction, a negro page, fantastically garbed, approached me, and without pausing on his way slipped into my hand a little pocketbook with gold-embroidered corners, at the same time giving me a sign to hide it. i concealed it in my sleeve and there kept it until i found myself alone in my cell then i opened the clasp there were only two leaves within bearing the words clarimonde at the concini palace so little acquainted was i at that time with the things of this world that i had never heard of clarimonde celebrated as she was and i had no idea as to where the concini palace was situated

i hazarded a thousand conjectures each more extravagant than the last but in truth i cared little whether she were a great lady or a courtesan so that i could but see her once more my love although the growth of a single hour had taken imperishable root i did not even dream of attempting to tear it up so fully was i convinced such a thing would be impossible that woman had completely taken possession of me One look from her had sufficed to change my very nature. She had breathed her will into my life, and I no longer lived in myself, but I in her and for her. I gave myself up to a thousand extravagancies. I kissed the place upon my hand which she had touched, and I repeated her name

over and over again for hours in succession. I only needed to close my eyes in order to see her distinctly, as though she were actually present, and I reiterated to myself the words she had uttered in my ear at the church porch, Unhappy man, unhappy man, what hast thou done? I comprehended at last the full horror of my situation, and the funereal and awful restraints of the state into which I had just entered became clearly revealed to me. To be a priest,

that is, to be chaste, to never love, to observe no distinction of sex or age, to turn from the sight of all beauty, to put out one's own eyes, to hide forever crouching in the chill shadows of some church or cloister, to visit none but the dying, to watch by unknown corpses, and ever bear about with one the black soutane as a garb of mourning for oneself, so that your very dress might serve as a pool for your coffin. And I felt life rising within me, like a subterranean lake,

expanding and overflowing. My blood leapt fiercely through my arteries. My long-restrained youth suddenly burst into active being, like the aloe which blooms but once in a hundred years, and then bursts into blossom with a clap of thunder. What could I do in order to see Clarimonde once more. I had no pretext to offer for desiring to leave the seminary, not knowing any person in the city. I would not even be able to remain there but a short time,

and was only waiting my assignment to the curacy which I must thereafter occupy. I tried to remove the bars of the window, but it was at a fearful height from the ground, and I found that as I had no ladder it would be useless to think of escaping thus. And furthermore, I could descend thence only by night in any event, and afterward, how should I be able to find my way through the inextricable labyrinth of streets? All these difficulties,

which to many would have appeared altogether insignificant, were gigantic to me, a poor seminarist who had fallen in love only the day before for the first time, without experience, without money, without attire. Ah! cried I to myself in my blindness. Were I not a priest, I could have seen her every day. I might have been her lover, her spouse. Instead of being wrapped in this dismal shroud of mine, I would have had garments of silk and velvet, golden

chains, a sword, and fair plumes like other handsome young cavaliers. My hair, instead of being dishonoured by the tonsure, would flow down upon my neck in waving curls. I would have a fine waxed moustache. I would be a gallant. But one hour passed before an altar. A few hastily articulated words had for ever cut me off from the number of the living, and I had myself sealed down the stone of my own tomb. I had with my own hand bolted the gate of my prison.

I went to the window. The sky was beautifully blue. The trees had donned their spring robes. Nature seemed to be making parade of an ironical joy. The place was filled with people, some going, others coming. Young beau and young beauties were sauntering in couples toward the groves and gardens. Merry youths passed by, cheerily trolling refrains of drinking songs. It was all a picture of vivacity, life animation gaiety which formed a bitter contrast with my mourning and my solitude on the steps of the gate sat a young mother playing with her child she kissed its little rosy mouth still impelled with drops of milk and performed in order to amuse it

a thousand little puerilities such as only mothers know how to invent the father standing at a little distance smiled gently upon the charming group and with folded arms seemed to hug his joy to his heart i could not endure that spectacle i closed the window with violence and flung myself on my bed my heart filled with frightful hate and jealousy and gnawed my fingers and my bed-covers like a tiger that has passed ten days without food I know not how long I remained in this condition, but at last, while writhing on the bed in a fit of spasmodic fury, I suddenly perceived the Abbe Serapion, who was standing erect in the centre of the room, watching me attentively. Filled with shame of myself, I let my head fall upon my breast

and covered my face with my hands. Romuald, my friend, something very extraordinary is transpiring within you, observed Saurabhion, after a few moments' silence. Your conduct is altogether inexplicable. You, always so quiet, so pious, so gentle. You, to rage in your cell like a wild beast. Take heed, brother. Do not listen to the suggestions of the devil, the evil spirit, furious that you have consecrated yourself for ever to the Lord. It's prowling around you like

a ravening wolf, and making a last effort to obtain possession of you. Instead of allowing yourself to be conquered, my dear Romald, make to yourself a cuirass of prayers, a buckle of mortifications, and combat the enemy like a valiant man. You will then assuredly overcome him. Virtue must be proved by temptation, and gold comes forth purer from the hands of the assayer. fear not never allow yourself to become discouraged the most watchful and steadfast souls are at moments liable to such temptation pray fast meditate and the evil spirit will depart from you

the words of the abb sarapion restored me to myself and i became a little more calm i came he continued to tell you that you have been appointed to the curacy of the priest who had charge of it has just died and monseigneur the bishop has ordered me to have you installed there at once be ready therefore to start to-morrow i responded with an inclination of the head and the abb retired i opened my missal and commenced reading some prayers but the letters became confused and blurred under my eyes the thread of the ideas entangled itself hopelessly in my brain and the volume at last fell from my hands without my being aware of it to leave to-morrow without having been able to see her again to add yet another barrier to the many already interposed between us to lose for ever all hope of being able to meet her except indeed through a miracle even to write to her alas would be impossible for by whom could i dispatch my letter with my sacred character of priest to whom could i dare unbosom myself in whom could i confide

i became a prey to the bitterest anxiety then suddenly recurred to me the words of the abb serapion regarding the artifices of the devil and the strange character of the adventure the supernatural beauty of clarimonde the phosphoric light of her eyes the burning imprint of her hand the agony into which she had thrown me the sudden change wrought within me when all my piety vanished in a single instant these and other things clearly testified to the work of the evil one and perhaps that satiny hand was but the glove which concealed his claws filled with terror at these fancies i again picked up the missile which had slipped from my knees and fallen upon the floor and once more gave myself up to prayer next morning sir arpion came to take me away two mules freighted with our miserable valises awaited us at the gate he mounted one and i the other as well as i knew how

as we passed along the streets of the city i gazed attentively at all the windows and balconies in the hope of seeing clarimonde but it was yet early in the morning and the city had hardly opened its eyes mine sought to penetrate the blinds and window-curtains of all the palaces before which we were passing sarpillon doubtless attributed this curiosity to my admiration of the architecture for he slackened the pace of his animal in order to give me time to look around me at last we passed the city gates and commenced to mount the hill beyond when we arrived at its summit i turned to take a last look at the place where clarimonde dwelt the shadow of a great cloud hung over all the city the contrasting colours of its blue and red roofs were lost in the uniform half-tint through which here and there floated upward like white flakes of foam the smoke of freshly kindled fires by a singular optical effect one edifice which surpassed in height all the neighbouring buildings that were still dimly veiled by the vapours towered up fair and lustrous with the gilding of a solitary beam of sunlight although actually more than a league away it seemed quite near

the smallest details of its architecture were plainly distinguishable the turrets the platforms the window casements and even the swallow-tailed weather-vanes what is that palace i see over there all lighted up by the sun i asked he shaded his eyes with his hand and having looked in the direction indicated replied it is the ancient palace which the prince concini has given to the courtesan clarimonde awful things are done there at that instant i know not yet whether it was a reality or an illusion i fancied i saw gliding along the terrace a shapely white figure which gleamed for a moment in passing and less quickly vanished it was clarimonde oh did she know that at that very hour all feverish and restless from the height of the rugged road which separated me from her and which alas i could never more descend i was directing my eyes upon the palace where she dwelt and which a mocking beam of sunlight seemed to bring nigh to me as though inviting me to enter therein as its lord

undoubtedly she must have known it for her soul was too sympathetically united with mine not to have felt its least emotional thrill and that subtle sympathy it must have been which prompted her to climb although clad only in her night-dress to the summit of the terrace amid the icy dews of the morning the shadow gained the palace and the scene became to the eye only a motionless ocean of roofs and gables amid which one mountainous undulation was distinctly visible serapion urged his mule forward my own at once followed at the same gate and a sharp angle in the road at last hid the city of serapion for ever from my eyes as i was destined never to return thither at the close of a weary three days journey through dismal country fields we caught sight of the cock upon the steeple of the church which i was to take charge of peeping above the trees and after having followed some winding roads fringed with thatched cottages and little gardens we found ourselves in front of the faade which certainly possessed few features of magnificence a porch ornament with some mouldings and two or three pillars rudely hewn from sandstone a tiled roof with counterforts of the same sandstone as the pillars that was all

to the left lay the cemetery overgrown with high weeds and having a great iron cross rising up in its centre to the right stood the presbytery under the shadow of the church it was a house of the most extreme simplicity and frigid cleanliness we entered the enclosure a few chickens were picking up some oats scattered upon the ground accustomed seemingly to the black habit of ecclesiastics they showed no fear of our presence and scarcely troubled themselves to get out of our way a hoarse wheezy barking fell upon our ears and we saw an aged dog running toward us it was my predecessor's dog he had dull bleared eyes grizzled hair and every mark of the greatest age to which a dog can possibly attain i patted him gently and he proceeded at once to march along beside me with an air of satisfaction unspeakable a very old woman who had been the housekeeper of the former cure also came to meet us and after having invited me into a little black parlour asked whether i intended to retain her i replied that i would take care of her and the dog and the chickens and all the furniture her master had bequeathed her at his death at this she became fairly transported with joy and the abbe sarpion at once paid her the price which she asked for her little property as soon as my installation was over the abbe sarpion returned to the seminary

i was therefore left alone with no one but myself to look to for aid or counsel the thought of clarimonde again began to haunt me and in spite of all my endeavours to banish it i always found at present in my meditations one evening while promenading in my little garden along the walks bordered with box plants i fancied that i saw through the elm trees the figure of a woman who followed my every movement and that i beheld two sea-green eyes gleaming through the foliage but it was only an illusion and on going round to the other side of the garden i could find nothing except a footprint on the sanded walk a footprint so small that it seemed to have been made by the foot of a child the garden was enclosed by very high walls i searched every nook and corner of it but could discover no one there i have never succeeded in fully accounting for this circumstance which after all was nothing compared with the strange things which happened to me afterward for a whole year i lived thus filling all the duties of my calling with the most scrupulous exactitude praying and fasting exhorting and lending ghostly aid to the sick and bestowing alms even to the extent of frequently depriving myself of the very necessaries of life

but i felt a great aridness within me and the sources of grace seemed closed against me i never found that happiness which should spring from the fulfilment of a holy mission my thoughts were far away and the words of clarimonde were ever upon my lips like an involuntary refrain oh brother meditate well on this through having but once lifted my eyes to look upon a woman through one fault apparently so venial i have for years remained a victim to the most miserable agonies and the happiness of my life has been destroyed for ever i will not longer dwell upon those defeats or on those inward victories invariably followed by yet more terrible falls but will at once proceed to the facts of my story one night my door-bell was long and violently rung the aged housekeeper arose and opened to the stranger and the figure of a man whose complexion was deeply bronzed and who was richly clad in a foreign costume with a poniard at his girdle appeared under the rays of barbara's lantern her first impulse was one of terror but the stranger reassured her and stated that he desired to see me at once on matters relating to my holy calling barbara invited him upstairs where i was on the point of retiring

the stranger told me that his mistress a very noble lady was lying at the point of death and desired to see a priest i replied that i was prepared to follow him and took with me the sacred articles necessary for extreme unction and descended in all haste two horses black as the night itself stood without the gate pouring the ground with impatience and veiling their chests with long streams of smoky vapour exhaled from their nostrils he held the stirrup and aided me to mount upon one then merely laying his hand upon the pommel of the saddle he vaulted on the other pressed the animal's sides with his knees and loosened the rein the horse bounded forward with the velocity of an arrow mine of which the stranger held the bridle also started off at a swift gallop keeping up with his companion we devoured the road the ground flowed backward beneath us in a long streaked line of pale grey and the black silhouettes of the trees seemed fleeing by us on either side like an army en route we passed through a forest so profoundly gloomy that i felt my flesh creep in the chill darkness with superstitious fear

the showers of bright sparks which flew from the stony road under the iron-shod feet of our horses remained glowing in our wake like a fiery trail and had any one at that hour of the night beheld us both my guide and myself he must have taken us for two spectres riding upon nightmares which fires ever and anon flitted across the road before us and the night-birds shrieked fearsomely in the depth of the woods beyond where we beheld at intervals glow the phosphorescent eyes of wild cats the manes of the horses became more and more disavoured the sweat streamed over their flanks and their breath came through their nostrils hard and fast but when he found them slacking pace the guide reanimated them by uttering a strange guttural unearthly cry and the gallop recommenced with fury at last the whirlwind race ceased a huge black mass pierced through with many bright points of light suddenly rose before us the hoofs of our horses echoed louder upon a strong wooden drawbridge and we rode under a great vaulted archway which darkly yawned between two enormous towers some great excitement evidently reigned in the castle servants with torches were crossing the courtyard in every direction and above lights were ascending and descending from landing to landing

i obtained a confused glimpse of vast masses of architecture columns arcades flights of steps stairways a royal voluptuousness and elfin magnificence of construction worthy of fairyland a negro page the same who had before brought me the tablet from clarimonde and whom i instantly recognised approached to aid me in dismounting and the major-domo attired in black velvet with a gold chain about his neck advanced to meet me supporting himself upon an ivory cane large tears were falling from his eyes and streaming over his cheeks and white beard too late he cried sorrowfully shaking his venerable head too late sir priest but if you have not been able to save the soul come at least to watch by the poor body he took my arm and conducted me to the death-chamber i wept not less bitterly than he for i had learned that the dead one was none other than that clarimonde whom i had so deeply and so wildly loved a prie-dieu stood at the foot of the bed a bluish flame flickering in a bronze pattern filled all the room with a wan deceptive light here and there bringing out in the darkness at intervals some projection of furniture or cornice

in a chiselled urn upon the table there was a faded white rose whose leaves excepting one that still held had all fallen like odorous tears to the foot of the vase a broken black mask a fan and disguises of every variety which were lying on the arm-chairs bore witness that death had entered suddenly and unannounced into that sumptuous dwelling without daring to cast my eyes upon the bed i knelt down and commenced to repeat the psalms for the dead with exceeding fervour thanking god that he had placed the tomb between me and the memory of this woman so that i might thereafter be able to utter her name in my prayers as a name for ever sanctified by death but my fervour gradually weakened and i fell insensibly into a reverie that chamber bore no semblance to a chamber of death in lieu of the fetid and cadaverous odours which i had been accustomed to breathe during such funereal vigils a languorous vapour of oriental perfume i know not what amorous odour of woman softly floated through the tepid air that pale light seemed rather a twilight gloom contrived for voluptuous pleasure than a substitute for the yellow flickering watchtapers which shined by the side of corpses

i thought upon the strange destiny which enabled me to meet clarimonde again at the very moment when she was lost to me for ever and a sigh of regretful anguish escaped from my breast then it seemed to me that some one behind me had also sighed and i turned round to look it was only an echo but in that moment my eyes fell upon the bed of death which they had till then avoided the red damask curtains decorated with large flowers worked in embroidery and looped up with gold bullion permitted me to behold the fair dead lying at full length with hands joined upon her bosom she was covered with a linen wrapping of dazzling whiteness which formed a strong contrast with the gloomy purple of the hangings and was of so fine a texture that it concealed nothing of her body's charming form and allowed the eye to follow those beautiful outlines undulating like the neck of a swan which even death had not robbed of their supple grace she seemed an alabaster statue executed by some skilful sculptor to place upon the tomb of a queen or rather perhaps like a slumbering maiden over whom the silent snow had woven a spotless veil part one of clarumonde