Verne The Flight To France

1. Auflage 2014
ISBN: 978-3-8496-4636-3
Verlag: Jazzybee Verlag
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: 6 - ePub Watermark

E-Book, Englisch, 229 Seiten

Natalis Delpierre, a Captain in the French Army, is going to see his sister Irma, who lives in Prussia in the service of Madame Keller and her son Jean. When the war between France and Germany breaks out in 1792, Natalis, Irma and several others need to flee to their home country while Jean joins the Prussian Army. But when he battles his superior officer because of a woman, he also needs to flee fast ...

Autoren/Hrsg.

Verne, Jules

Weitere Mitwirkende

Roux, Georges

Leseproben

Chapter VI.

I HAD a good master.“Would I do him credit?I did not know.To learn to read at one-and-thirty is not easy.You should have the brain of a child, the soft wax that will take any impression you put upon it; and my brain was as hard as the skull which covered it.

I set resolutely to work, however, and in truth I had to learn quickly.All the vowels were settled in the first lesson.M.Jean showed a patience for which I was grateful.To fix these letters in my memory he made me draw them in pencil ten times, twenty times, a hundred times, one after the other.In this way I learned to write as well as to read.I recommend this method to scholars of my age.

Zeal and attention did not fail him.I would have stuck at my alphabet all night if the servant had not come and told me supper was ready.I went up to my room, which was near my sister’s, and I washed my hands and came down.

Supper took us but half an hour.As we were not going to M.de Lauranay’s till a little later I asked permission to go outside.This was granted me, and on the steps I gave myself the pleasure of smoking what we Picards call the pipe of tranquillity.

That done I went in.Mme.Keller and her son were ready.Irma having something to do in the house, did not go with us.We started.Mme.Keller asked me for my arm.I offered it, rather clumsily perhaps.No matter!I was proud to feel the excellent lady leaning on me.It was an honor and a pleasure at the same time.

We had not far to walk.M.de Lauranay lived at the upper end of the road.His was a beautiful house, bright in color and attractive in look, with a bed of flowers in front, two large beech-trees at each side, and a large garden behind with shrubbery and lawn.The house showed that the owner was in easy circumstances.And M.de Lauranay was comfortably well off.

Just as we entered, Mme.Keller told me that Mlle, de Lauranay was not M.de Lauranay’s daughter, but his granddaughter.I was, therefore, not surprised at their difference in age.

M.de Lauranay was then seventy years old.He was a man of tall stature whom age had not yet bent.His hair was gray rather than white, and it bordered a fine, noble-looking face.His eyes looked at you with a very gentle expression.In his manners you could easily recognize the man of quality.Nothing could be pleasanter than his address.

The “de “in his name unaccompanied by a title showed that he belonged to that class between the nobility and the shop-keeper class, which had not despised manufacture or commerce.If personally he had not been engaged in business his grandfather and father had been.And if he found a fortune ready to his hand we can not blame him for it.

The family of De Lauranay was of Lorraine origin, and Protestant in religion, like that of M.Keller.His ancestors had left France after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, but not with the intention of remaining abroad.They intended to return to their country as soon as it returned to more liberal ideas.M.de Lauranay lived at Belzingen, in this corner of Prussia, because he had inherited from his uncle certain estates that he could not profitably sell.He would have preferred to sell them and return to Lorraine, but unfortunately no opportunity presented itself.M.Keller, the father, could only get offers at a low price, for money is not plentiful in Germany; and, rather than part with them at a loss, M.de Lauranay thought it best to keep them.

The business relations between M.Keller and M.de Lauranay led to friendship between their families.This had lasted for twenty years.Never had a cloud obscured an intimacy founded on a resemblance of tastes and habits.

M.de Lauranay had lost his wife when he was young; and his son the Kellers hardly knew.He was married in France, and came only once or twice to Belzingen.His father went to see him every year, and thus had the pleasure of passing a few months in France.

The son had a daughter who cost her mother her life, and, much afflicted at the loss, he soon died.His daughter hardly knew him, for she was but five years old when she was left an orphan.Her only relation was her grandfather, who did not fail in his duty.

He sought out the child, brought her back to Germany, and devoted himself entirely to her education.In this he was helped by Mme.Keller, who took a great liking to the child, and treated her as if she had been her mother.That M.de Lauranay was glad to be on terms of friendship with a lady like Mme.Keller I need not say.

My sister Irma, as may be supposed, cordially helped her mistress.Often I know she nursed the little girl on her lap, or got her to sleep in her arms, and that not only with the approbation but with the thanks of her grandfather.To be brief, the little girl became a charming young woman, whom I at the moment looked at with much discretion, for I did not want to embarrass her in any way.

She was born in 1772, and was thus twenty years of age.She was tall for a lady, fair, with dark-blue eyes and a charming face, and a figure full of grace and ease, and not at all like the rest of the feminine population of Belzingen.I admired her straightforward, gentle look, not more serious than it ought to be, and her happy expression.She was the possessor of many gifts as agreeable to herself as to others.She could play the harpsichord very prettily, excusing herself at not being proficient at it, though to a quartermaster like me she seemed to be perfect at it; and she painted beautiful bouquets of flowers on paper screens.

It is not to be wondered at that M.Jean Keller fell in love with this young lady, or that Mlle, de Lauranay took notes of all that was good and amiable in the young man, nor that the families saw with pleasure the growth of the intimacy between the young people.They had, in fact, agreed to let matters take their course.And if the marriage had not taken place it was on account of an excess of delicacy on M.Jean’s part  —  a delicacy which all will appreciate who have their hearts in the right place.

It will not have been forgotten that the position of the Kellers was seriously threatened.Before his marriage M.Jean wished that the lawsuit on which his future depended should come to an end.If he won it, all the better.He would bring Mlle, de Lauranay a fortune.But if he lost the suit he would have...