The Jew Part 16

"'If they were prejudices, you would be right, but you cannot call respected traditions prejudices. It is to put our faith in danger."

"'What is faith?'

"'The definition is unintelligible to those who do not feel the need of it.'

"'It is easy to recognize, in listening to you, the teachings of your first fanatical masters.'

"'I do not dream of shaking off the teachings of childhood. They have made me a member of G.o.d's chosen people. Leave me my convictions.'

"'Keep them, if you will. Your whims will depart of themselves. All I ask is that you keep them to yourself. Actual society is tolerant, but it does not like fanaticism, for that always denotes a narrow mind or an unhealthy state. Truly none of us forgets that he is a Jew, but it is unnecessary and injurious for one to be perpetually clothed in his Judaism.'

"The life of my guardian conformed in all things to his principles. He was guided by cold reason, sometimes also by pa.s.sion, which he knew well how to bridle, but never by sentiment, of which he was either dest.i.tute, or from which he strove to deliver himself. I know not if he was fashioned thus by nature or by education, but each one of his steps was regulated by self-interest. He put calculation above all things. He loved his daughter, but in his own way; he had disposed of her, as he thought, excellently, and had brought her up to conform to his ideas.

"A terrible despot under a benign form, he had a conservative instinct to undertake nothing that was not certain to succeed. Fighting against obstacles, where to draw back would have been an avowal of his weakness, he almost always succeeded where other men failed.

"He now endeavoured to widen the circle of my acquaintances. In spite of my distaste to pushing myself on in this way, he did not cease to preach to me that I must take men by storm. He often took me to visit people who were odious to him; for these he reserved his most gracious smiles, his most cordial protestations. He turned a deaf ear to all offensive allusions, and did not appear to notice the indifference of this one nor the ostensible malevolence of another. He had such control over himself that things which completely upset me did not seem to make the least impression on him. He contented himself with biting his lips and smiling. But afterward the reaction was violent, and the more his irritation had been restrained the more violent was his hatred when he had taken off the mask. Reason, which always predominated with him, was the only thing which kept him from pa.s.sing the bounds prescribed by prudence.

"From the first year of my sojourn in Warsaw he initiated me into the world of speculators, where one must know how to defend one's self in order not to be crushed. Every day I felt myself less adapted to such a life. What shocked me most was the continual lying; hardly any one thought of speaking the truth. I adopted a different line of conduct,--an audacious frankness.

"Men, who always judge others by themselves, imagined that I played an easy part, and that I acted thus by calculation. I succeeded well enough in business, but in the midst of rogues of all kinds I pa.s.sed equally for a rogue, an impostor of a new school who played with truth.

I acquired the reputation of being a good actor. This troubled me a little, but it gave me the measure of men of our epoch who have for their motto: '_Mundus vult decipi ergo decipiatur_.'

"Mathilde, in these early days, was my only consolation. You already know that I loved her; you know that our love resembled a flower concealed in the gra.s.s. For her, at least, I was neither a knave nor a comedian. A sentiment clearer than reason gave her confidence in my words. Our conversations were not like those of lovers. By an inexplicable mystery Mathilde's heart had not been chilled by her education. Many things were not alluded to in our discussions, which almost always took place in the presence of her governess. I did not like to let her know my opinion of her father, for whom she bore a lively affection, which it was not my wish to disturb. I also loved him in spite of his perversity. Some allusions from Mathilde made me understand that he also had suffered in his youth.

"My guardian knew how to gratify his desires without infringing the strictest propriety or the most severe decorum. It was known, perhaps, but no one ever saw the least impropriety in his conduct.

"For a year he spoke to me no more of religion. At the end of that period, accidentally, perhaps, rather than by deliberation, he renewed the conversation. No doubt he wished to know if my prolonged sojourn in Warsaw had modified my ideas and calmed my enthusiasm. Finding me absolutely unchanged, he abruptly changed the subject.

"Some days after, he mentioned to me houses where I ought to pay frequent visits, hoping that the influence of those I met at them would act on my sentiments and ideas. He recommended to me a family very important among the Israelites. This family was descended from the tribe of Levi, and numbered several members living together in perfect harmony, although one remained a Jew, another had embraced Protestantism, and a third had become a Catholic. My cousin approved this family as a model of indifference in religious matters. Pleasing to him, the spectacle scandalized me.

"The melancholy which reigned in Mathilde's soul I discovered also more or less developed in most of the women of her race, who can be divided into two categories: frivolous women without principle, and women obliged to conceal their n.o.ble instincts, knowing them forbidden."

The entire day was pa.s.sed in conversation which gave Ivas much to think of, and although the friends rode on their donkeys, and two days had pa.s.sed since their departure, they were yet not far from Genoa.

Night found them in a little village on the sea-sh.o.r.e, near hills crowned with cypress, palms, and orange trees; the huts were covered with ivy and surrounded by myrtle and laurels.

They sought a lodging, and engaged one in a narrow street whose houses were built over ancient arches sunk in the middle of a hillock. In the distance a travelling-carriage without horses announced a hotel.

"What a meeting!" cried Ivas. "Unless the Italian carriages resemble each other like drops of water, I swear that is the one which carried Monsieur and Madame Segel from Genoa."

Jacob stopped short at the same moment. He recognized Mathilde's husband standing at the door of the inn near a woman who, from her height and figure, bore no resemblance to his wife.

"It is a hallucination! It is not possible!" exclaimed the Jew.

"There is no doubt. It is Segel; it is he!" said Ivas.

Jacob's heart beat violently.

"Yet," added he, as if to explain the reality, "they should be far from here, even supposing some accident had happened to their carriage. It is singular.--Yes, it is Henri--perhaps she is ill, she--Let us seek another inn. It will be awkward for all. Ivas, go and a.s.sure yourself of this thing."

The Jew seated himself near a cafe bearing the motto, _Del Gran Colombo_. A quarter of an hour later the messenger returned. He seemed surprised.

"Well, how is it?" asked Jacob.

"Very strange. It is he, but--it is not she."

"You dream! Your eyes deceived you, without doubt."

"No, I never forget a face. This one is a young Italian, fresh and gay.

Impossible to compare her with Madame Mathilde: she is heaven, this one the earth."

"Then the man cannot be Henri!"

"Certainly it is he."

"Are they alone together?"

"All alone, like turtle-doves. Madame or mademoiselle eats peaches, throws side glances at Segel, laughs and sings."

"I must see it with my own eyes," said Jacob.

The friends approached the inn, and Jacob soon a.s.sured himself that it was Henri, accompanied by an unknown woman with all the fascinations of an opera-dancer.

He was about leaving when Henri Segel saw him, saluted him gayly, and drew near.

"Is that you?" cried he. "You have caught me in _flagrante delicti_.

Poor Mathilde is sick. She returned to Genoa after having accompanied me as far as Nervi. She will remain there quietly for a fortnight. As for myself, I needed distraction, and, by chance, I met an old acquaintance, la Signora Gigante, a French opera-dancer, who is the best of company. Bored and wearied as I am by the monotony of life, I seized this occasion to enjoy myself. One must laugh sometimes. Gigante is as simple-hearted and gay as a child. You have no idea how amusing she is. She has drawn me from the monotony of my existence."

He confessed all this naturally and without embarra.s.sment.

Jacob, stupefied, could hardly believe his ears, and knew not what to reply.

"Mathilde," added the husband, "as you know, is the most beautiful and accomplished of women; but such ideal creatures are fatiguing. It is not always agreeable to talk of serious things in a solemn tone. A man occupied as I am needs sometimes to breathe easily. Gigante is an admirable clown in petticoats. Come, come, you will sup with us. You will laugh! You will be amused, I a.s.sure you."

Jacob felt a great wrath grow in him. He laughed savagely.

"I accept willingly," said he ironically; "life is made only for amus.e.m.e.nt."

Gigante, no longer able to repress her curiosity, drew near in order to ascertain who the two strangers were that examined her with so much curiosity. Her attention was bestowed princ.i.p.ally on Jacob, as Ivas, poorly clad, promised little. She tripped toward them singing, and the refrain echoed in the street in bursts of gayety.

"Je suis seule depuis longtemps, Seule, seulette.

Eh, je suis veuve en mon printemps, Veuve et fillette; Pas d'espoir d'horizon vermeil Pour moi seulette, Il manque a mon ciel ton soleil, Veuve et fillette."

Segel began to laugh on hearing this couplet, which she accompanied with very expressive gestures. Without finishing the song she began to sing another, the melancholy words of which clashed with the joyous air.

"Elle a perdu son tourtereau, Pauvre tourterelle!