Imagens da página
PDF
ePub

him in silence, but she was pale || ble to conciliate her, and half irre

solute whether he should condescend so far, he went to his wife's apartment. He entered it rather suddenly, and at the moment that he did so, Adelaide thrust something into her bosom with so much

and trembling. Madame le Clerc, a lady who was in the carriage with her, rallied her upon her fright; she made no reply, and Madame le Clerc engaging Dorval, who had come into the coach, in conversation upon different sub-quickness that he could not per

jects, nothing more was said about it.

ceive what it was. Her confusion and agitation, however, raised a suspicion in his mind, that it was either a picture or a letter; but the blameless tenor of her life, her reserve and retired habits, were so direct a contradiction to the idea, that she was engaged in any intrigue, that Dorval knew not what to think. The hour which he passed with her was spent in mutual con

The circumstance, however, made an impression upon the heart of Dorval, and the tender looks which he cast from time to time upon Adelaide, mortified Madame le Clerc not a little, that lady flattering herself that she was the sole sovereign of his affections. The connection gratified both her interest and her vanity; she had ta-straint. Dorval longed to quesken a great deal of trouble to at- tion her about what he had seen, tach him, and the idea of his break- but pride, and the dread of aping her chains was insupportable:pearing absurdly suspicious, prebut that he should desert her for vented him. his wife, and that wife such a poor spiritless creature, it was not to be borne; and she resolved to use every means in her power to destroy the interest which she was fearful Adelaide had excited.

She did not, however, find this task so easy as she had flattered herself it would prove: Dorval was not void either of humanity or reflection; he could not believe the suggestions of the artful Madame le Clerc, that Adelaide's alarm was affected, and his conscience told him, that if it was real, it was more than he deserved. He looked back upon his conduct to her during the time they had been united, and in spite of all the palliations which vanity and self-love suggested for it, he could not help owning, that he had been to blame.

Halfinclined to take a little trou

[ocr errors]

Half inclined to be jealous, and half angry with himself for feeling so, he hastened from Adelaide to the house of Madame le Clerc, to whom he related what he had seen. Nothing could have happened more fortunately for her views, though she was too politic to betray the satisfaction it gave her, and while she appeared to exculpate Madame Dorval, she took care to express herself in such a manner as to strengthen the suspicions of Dorval. At last, when she had raised his jealousy to a proper pitch, she told him, that she possessed the means of learning, through a sure channel, whether his suspicions were just or not; but he must have patience, as it was impossible to get him this information immediately.

Dorval, who was naturally of a

at that moment justified all his suspicions: she turned pale as death, and appeared nearly fainting. This

enraged husband.. "Unfortunate woman!" cried he, "you have no cause to fear for your personal safety, wronged as I have been, guilty as you are!".

"How!" interrupted Adelaide, in a tone of astonishment, "guilty!" "Yes, dare you deny it? Dare you say, that you do not carry about your person the portrait of a lover?"

"It is true that I do wear the portrait of one whom I love, but it is also true, that he is not my lover; on the contrary, he is unconscious of my affection."

very jealous disposition, passed a fortnight in the greatest anxiety; the circumstance dwelt upon his mind, and he more than once ask-sight softened, in some degree, her ed Madame le Clerc, whether she had discovered any thing. At last, she told him one morning, with a countenance of well-dissembled || sorrow, that his suspicions were too just: Madame Dorval had an attachment, but who the object of it was, she could not discover. She had learned, however, that Adelaide always wore round her neck the portrait of this happy unknown; she had been seen to contemplate it for a considerable time together, to kiss it, and to bathe it with her tears Madame le Clerc was going on, but the storm which her information raised frightened her into silence in truth, if he had been himself the best and fondest of husbands, he could not have been more enraged at discovering this supposed alienation of his wife's affections. "The base ingrate!" cried he, "this then is the reason she gives herself up so much to retirement; she refuses the pleasures suitable to her age and condition, that she may feed her guilty passion: but I will instantly unmask her; the vile hypocrite shall feel the power of an injured husband."

These words restored all the rage of Dorval: "Give me," cried he in a voice of thunder, "give me instantly this detested portrait!" and scarcely allowing her time to disengage it from her neck, he snatched it from her hand; but no sooner had he cast his eyes upon it, than he exclaimed, in a tone of wonder and delight, "It is not possible! my eyes must deceive me!" A glance at his Adelaide, however, convinced him that they did not: her glowing blush, the melting expression of her beautiful eyes, would, at that moment, have revealed to him the state of her heart, had it been possible for him to doubt it after the unquestionable evidence of her tenderness and fidelity which he held in

With these words he rushed from the grasp of Madame le Clerc, who, terrified at his violence, vainly tried to hold him, and hastened back to his own house. He found his wife at her toilet; he had not patience to wait till she had finished dress-is hand, for it was his own poring, but hastily dismissing her attendants, he demanded, in a stern tone, the portrait which she wore next her heart.

trait which the wronged and innocent Adelaide had worn next her heart.

Never before did Dorval enjoy The countenance of Adelaide | such delicious moments as those

which succeeded this discovery. He drew from his wife the only secret of her pure and affectionate heart: frightened by the despotic tone which he assumed in the beginning of their marriage, Adelaide saw in him only an imperious master; and the terror which he had inspired was so great, that even when he relaxed in his strictness, and suffered himself to appear such as he really was, she could not immediately shake off a sense of restraint, which gave to her manners the reserve and coldness that had so soon chilled his affection. But Dorval was too amiable, when he appeared in his natural character, to be long view-united them in the firmest manner. ed with indifference by a young and susceptible female, who thought it her duty to love him. Adelaide wept in secret for the loss of his heart, but she did not abandon the hope of one day recovering it, and this hope supported her spirits. She had a genius for taking likenesses, and she availed herself of this talent, which her husband knew nothing of, to procure a portrait of him, the possession of which sola-deavour, which should most readily ced many an hour. When Ma- yield to the wish and opinion of dame le Clerc heard Dorval relate the other.

the circumstance of Adelaide's concealing something in her bosom, she directly concluded, that the neglected young wife consoled herself with the attentions of a gal|| lant; and she hoped, by bribing the woman of Madame Dorval, to learn the particulars of an intrigue, which her own depraved heart made her readily suppose existed. She was, however, disappointed in discovering the object of Adelaide's preference: all that she could ascertain was what she had related to Dorval; but from these circumstances she had no doubt of being able to separate them, and the very means which she took to do it, re

Become wise by experience, Dorval from that moment trusted to the love of his wife as the surest means of preserving his authority as à husband; but though he was fond of believing that he possessed it, he gradually forgot to exercise it. In less than a year afterwards, Madame Dorval made him a father, and from that time it seemed to be their mutual en

PLATE 3.-A LIGHT PHAETON WITH PATENT MOVEABLE

AXLES.

THE plate which accompanies the important improvement in them the present article, represents one by the application of Mr. Ackerof the most elegant, and, at the mann's Patent Moveable Axles, is same time, one of the safest vehi-likely to bring them again into facles of the kind ever constructed. The accidents so frequently occurring to phactons upon the old construction, were so frequent, and generally so inevitable, as to have led to their almost total disuse; but

shion with gentlemen who are fond of the exercise of driving their own horses with perfect security.

Independent of the other beauties of the vehicle represented, its peculiar shortness and compact

[merged small][graphic][ocr errors][ocr errors]

LI

CR. T

« AnteriorContinuar »