"In all probability Jacob will never return."
"No matter, he is crossed off my list."
"Against whom, then, are your batteries directed?"
"Against Henri first. Failing him, Sofronof."
"I wish to talk of this Muscovite. Under his polished exterior I can discern the Tartar; his fortune is problematic, and his character is amiable enough in society to be disagreeable in private life. I do not like him. He is a cold-blooded animal. Why do you not repulse him?"
"Alas! It may be necessary to take him as a last resort."
"Henri gives us very little hope. He will not divorce Mathilde, and she obstinately lives on. She is not consumptive; her physician has told me so. Her malady is only ennui and weakness. She may live for years."
"Never fear. Henri becomes more amorous each day. He has no secrets from me, and he has decided to divorce her; but, can you believe it, mamma, she does not wish it. As she loves, I thought the idea would please her; but no. She has I know not what strange notions of the sanctity of marriage, the marital tie, and marriage vows, such ridiculous ideas! The English governess, who often hears the conversation of the lovers, has related to me these sentimental scenes. It is a Platonic love taken from some old romance, and not from the romances of to-day,--a mystical and unintelligible love. What fools they are to refuse their own happiness! Mathilde has even told me of her theories. I adroitly led the conversation to the subject. Poor woman! I could scarcely keep from laughing in her face. Henri seeks his own desires and mine. He dreads only the explanation with his father-in-law."
"If you have gone so far with Henri, I must hesitate no longer," said the mother. "We cannot wait in this suspense until the judgment day."
"These Russians, Bavorof and Sofronof, have played me a villanous trick in forcing Jacob's flight. He would have been of great use to us. Henri counted on his presence when he put the question of divorce before his father-in-law, for Samuel would be disposed to consent on condition that Mathilde would marry Jacob immediately after the rupture. No Jacob, no divorce. We counted on him, and now he is gone."