"I was passionately fond of women, too. Like yourself, my dear Alfred, I was for some time a fickle creature; I ran from one conquest to another, forgetting on the morrow the fair one who had charmed me the day before; that time was the happiest in my life, but it was brief; my heart, in reality easily moved, longed to be attached by other than trivial bonds. But I was born jealous; that cruel sentiment had already made me unhappy with women whom I hardly loved; it was to be feared therefore that it would assume still greater proportions with one whom I adored. That is why my parents induced me to contract, at twenty-three years, what is called a marriage of reason. Although I was not madly in love with her, I married Céline de Colleville, your mother, my dear Alfred. A year after our wedding, she brought you into the world. Your birth and your mother’s virtues had made my happiness secure; every day I felt that my attachment to Céline increased, and I thanked my parents for the choice that they had made for me; but a year after your birth, I lost my wife. You were too young for me to seek comfort from you; but the war, which had broken out again, recalled me to the field, and there I found distraction from my grief.
"More than five years had passed since the death of your mother, my memory of whom was still as sweet as that which recalls to our hearts a friend from whom fate has parted us. A severe wound, which was certain to be a long time in healing, caused me to quit the service, I had paid my debt to my country, and I was determined to devote myself to my son. Meanwhile, to reëstablish my health, which had become precarious since my wound, the doctors ordered me to travel in the South. You were too young for me to take you with me, so I left you in reliable hands and went to Toulouse, to Marseilles, and lastly to Bordeaux.
"I had been in the latter city for some time; my health was entirely restored, and I was even on the point of returning to Paris, when one day I was presented to Monsieur de Montfort, an ex-naval officer, very wealthy, who was a widower, and had an only child, a daughter, then seventeen years old. Adèle was her name. It would be hard for me to describe all her charms, all her attractions. Adèle was pretty, rather than beautiful; but it was impossible to resist the charms of her face, the sweetness of her expression, the enchanting tone of her voice. I fell madly in love with her, and from the moment that I saw her, I felt that the happiness of my life henceforth depended upon her.
"Monsieur de Montfort was far from having in his manner that charm, that gentleness which attracted everybody to his daughter. He was a man with a stern glance and a harsh manner; his eyes shot fire when they were inflamed by anger; he had retained the brusque, peremptory tone common to the naval officer, which he seemed to think that no one should resist. However, Monsieur de Montfort received me very well; he was almost cordial with me; and whether it was my fortune, my rank, or the wounds which I had received for my country, that led him to regard me with interest, he manifested considerable friendliness for me and urged me to come often to his house.
"This permission was most precious to me; to be with Adèle was already my only wish; determined to marry her if her father would bestow her hand upon me, I was most desirous to please her; she seemed to take pleasure in seeing me, and to have some friendly feeling for me; I flattered myself that that feeling of amity would become love; but I was distressed to observe in her a melancholy which nothing could overcome; only in her father’s presence, before whom it was easy to see that she always trembled, would Adèle try to be cheerful and to take some part in the amusements of the company.
"I was never able to be alone with Adèle; only before other people was I allowed to see her, to speak with her, to try to make her understand all the love that she had inspired in me; she seemed to be afraid to answer me, and I saw that she shuddered at the slightest glance which Monsieur de Montfort cast upon us.
"Burning with the desire to make my happiness secure, I had been on visiting terms at Monsieur de Montfort’s hardly a fortnight, when I declared to him my love for his daughter.
"‘I had guessed it’; he replied, with his usual abruptness; ‘and if this love of yours had not seemed to me a suitable thing, you may be sure that I should not have allowed you to come to my house so often. I know your family; you are wealthy and well-behaved; you have a son by your first wife, but your fortune is more than sufficient to bring up other children too, and I am sure that Adèle will love your son. You are satisfactory to me as a son-in-law, and I give you my daughter’s hand.’
"I was happy beyond words. Monsieur de Montfort added: ‘I confess that I am not sorry to marry my daughter early. I am not of the proper temperament to be always watching a girl. My Adèle is virtuous, but she is pretty. Several young men have seemed to be very much in love with her already, but they did not suit me; I propose that my son-in-law shall be agreeable to me, first of all.’
"‘But suppose that one of them had pleased Adèle?’ I said.