CHAPTER XV 181
I almost expected a rebuff for this hardly well-timed question , but , on the contrary , waking out of his scowling abstraction , he turned his eyes towards me , and the shade seemed to clear off his brow . " Oh , I had forgotten Celine ! Well , to resume . When I saw my charmer thus come in accompanied by a cavalier , I seemed to hear a hiss , and the green snake of jealousy , rising on undulating coils from the moonlit balcony , glided within my waistcoat , and ate its way in two minutes to my heart ' s core . Strange !" he exclaimed , suddenly starting again from the point . " Strange that I should choose you for the confidant of all this , young lady ; passing strange that you should listen to me quietly , as if it were the most usual thing in the world for a man like me to tell stories of his opera-mistresses to a quaint , inexperienced girl like you ! But the last singularity explains the first , as I intimated once before : you , with your gravity , considerateness , and caution were made to be the recipient of secrets . Besides , I know what sort of a mind I have placed in communication with my own : I know it is one not liable to take infection : it is a peculiar mind : it is a unique one . Happily I do not mean to harm it : but , if I did , it would not take harm from me . The more you and I converse , the better ; for while I cannot blight you , you may refresh me ." After this digression he proceeded -
" I remained in the balcony . ' They will come to her boudoir , no doubt ,' thought I : ' let me prepare an ambush .' So putting my hand in through the open window , I drew the curtain over it , leaving only an opening through which I could take observations ; then I closed the casement , all but a chink just wide enough to furnish an outlet to lovers ' whispered vows : then I stole back to my chair ; and as I resumed it the pair came in . My eye was quickly at the aperture . Celine ' s chamber-maid entered , lit a lamp , left it on the table , and withdrew . The couple were thus revealed to me clearly : both removed their cloaks , and there was ' the Varens ,' shining in satin and jewels , -- my gifts of course , -- and there was her companion in an officer ' s uniform ; and I knew him for a young roue of a vicomte -- a brainless and vicious youth whom I had sometimes met in society , and had never thought of hating because I despised him so absolutely . On recognising him , the fang of the snake Jealousy was instantly broken ; because at the same moment my love for Celine sank under an extinguisher . A woman who could betray me for such a rival was not worth contending for ; she deserved