Laura by George Sand Read Free Book Online Page A

few miserable gemstones with which the pettiest Indian rajah would not deign to decorate his slaves’ toes or noses. Let us leave that, and tell me if my daughter is married.
    She is not, I replied impetuously, and she will not yet be, if you consult her true inclination.
    My Uncle Nasias took my lantern, which he had placed next to us on the bench, and raised it to my face as I had done to his a few moments earlier. His face was not precisely menacing as mine had been; it was rather mocking, but with an expression of icy irony, implacable, upsetting. As he took his time contemplating me, I also had the leisure to examine him in my anxiety.
    In my childhood memories, Laura’s father was a fat, blond, rosy-faced man, with a gentle, cheery face; the onemy eyes now beheld was thin, olive-complexioned, of a type that was at once energetic and cunning. On his chin he wore a small, very black beard that looked rather like a goat’s, and his eyes had acquired a satanic expression. He wore a tall hat of fine, jet-black fur and a robe of gold brocade, embroidered with incomparable richness. A magnificent Indian cashmere encircled his waist, and a yataghan covered with gemstones glittered at his side. I do not know if the Eastern sun, the great exhaustion of his journeys, the habitual great dangers and the necessity of a life mingled with cunning and audacity had transformed him to this extent, or if my memories were completely inaccurate: it was impossible for me to recognise him, and I was still in some doubt as to whether I was dealing with a bold impostor.
    This suspicion gave me the strength to bear his keen gaze with a pride that suddenly seemed to satisfy him. He replaced the lantern on the bench and said to me calmly:
    I see that you are an honest boy and that you have never sought to seduce my daughter. I see also that you are naive, sentimental, and that, if you love her, it is not at all from ambition; but, from what you say, you are in love and you would very much like to see me break the marriage to which I have consented for her. Embed this in your mind, my dear nephew, that, if I did break it, it would not be to your benefit, for you are only a child, and I do not find in your face any special energy which promises a brilliant destiny. So answer me disinterestedly, as you have nothing better to do, and with sincerity, since chance has caused you to be born an honest man: what of this other fellow Walter, of whom my brother-in-lawTungstenius and his cousin Lisbeth wrote to me in such glowing terms?
    Walter, I replied without hesitation, is the most worthy boy in the world. He is frank, loyal and his conduct is irreproachable. He has intelligence, learning and the ambition to distinguish himself in practical science.
    And has he a profession?
    He will have one in six months’ time.
    Very good, replied my Uncle Nasias, he is the son- in-law who suits me; but he will have the goodness to wait until he actually has the title of his employment. I am not a man to change my mind, and I am going immediately to tell him so and make his acquaintance. As for you, make haste to forget Laura, and, if you wish in a short space of time to become bold, intelligent, rich and active, prepare yourself to follow me. I am leaving again in a few days, and it is entirely up to you whether I take you along with me. Now let us go and see if the family will recognise me and give me a better welcome than yours.
    I did not feel brave enough to follow him. I was shattered by fatigue. I was far from liking my Uncle Nasias and he seemed not at all favourable towards my hopes; but Laura’s marriage had been delayed, and it seemed to me that in six months, immense events could surface and change the look of things.
    When I awoke, with the first glimmers of dawn, I was surprised to see Nasias in my room, stretched out in my old leather armchair, and so profoundly asleep that I had the leisure to attend to my toilet before he had opened his eyes. He