MADEMOISELLE DE MAUPIN
VOLUME TWO
BY
THÉOPHILE GAUTIER
THE REALISTS
PRINTED BY
GEORGE BARRIE & SONS, PHILADELPHIA
1897
Chapter XII —Her supple, yielding body shaped itself to mine like wax and tookits whole exterior outline as exactly as possible:—water would nothave found its way more scrupulously into every irregularity in theline.—Thus glued to my side, she produced the effect of the doublestroke that painters give to the shadow side of their picture in layingon their color.
THIS EDITION OF
MADEMOISELLE DE MAUPIN
HAS BEEN COMPLETELY TRANSLATED
BY
I. G. BURNHAM
THE ETCHINGS ARE BY
FRANÇOIS-XAVIER LE SUEUR
AND DRAWINGS BY
ÉDOUARD TOUDOUZE
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
MADEMOISELLE DE MAUPIN — VOLUME II
IN THE RUSTIC CABIN Fronts.
D'ALBERT WATCHES THÉODORE
AT THE HOTEL DU LION-ROUGE
BEFORE THE REHEARSAL
AN EMBARRASSING SITUATION
AT THE WINDOW OF THE CHATEAU
THE DUEL
ARRIVAL IN THE TOWN OF C——
D'ALBERT'S SURPRISE
THE REALIZATION
IX
That is the fact.—I love a man, Silvio.—I tried for a long while todeceive myself; I gave a different name to the sentiment I felt, Iclothed it in the guise of pure, disinterested friendship; I believedthat it was nothing more than the admiration I have for all beautifulpersons and all beautiful things; I walked for several days through thedeceitful, laughing paths that wander about every new-born passion;but I realize now in what a deep and terrible slough I have becomeinvolved. There is no way of concealing the truth from myself longer;I have examined myself carefully, I have coolly considered all thecircumstances; I have gone to the bottom of the most trivial details;I have searched every corner of my heart with the assurance due to thehabit of studying one's self; I blush to think it and to write it; butthe fact, alas! is only too certain.—I love this young man, not withthe affection of a friend, but with love;—yes, with love.
You, whom I have loved so dearly, Silvio, my dear, my only friendand companion, have never made me feel anything of the sort, andyet, if there ever was under heaven a close, warm friendship, ifever two hearts, although utterly different, understood each otherperfectly, ours was that friendship and ours those two hearts. Howmany swiftly-flying hours have we passed together! what endlessconversations, always too soon ended! how many things we have said toeach other that no one ever said before!—We had, each in the other'sheart, the window that Momus would have opened in man's side. How proudI was to be your friend, although younger than