The Comedie Humaine Volume 3

Author : Julius Chambers
Publisher :
ISBN 13 : 9781331578581
Total Pages : 380 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (785 download)

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Download or read book The Human Comedy, Vol. 3 of 3 written by Julius Chambers and published by . This book was released on 2015-07-17 with total page 380 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Excerpt from The Human Comedy, Vol. 3 of 3: Being the Best Novels From the "Comedie Humaine" Of Honore De Balzac On the 22d of January, 1793, about eight o'clock in the evening, an old lady was walking down the steep incline which ends in front of the church of Saint Laurent in Paris. It had snowed so hard all day that her footsteps were scarcely audible. The streets were deserted, and the feeling of fear which silence naturally inspires was increased by the remembrance of the terror under which France then groaned. The old lady had met no one on the way, and her eyesight, which had long been failing, did not allow of her distinguishing in the lamplight the few passers-by, scattered here and there like shadows along the immense vista of the faubourg. She went on bravely alone through the solitude, as if her age were a talisman to preserve her from all harm. When she had passed the Rue des Morts, she thought she could distinguish the firm heavy tread of a man walking behind her. She fancied it was not the first time that she had heard the sound. She was afraid, thinking that she was being followed, so she tried to walk faster than before, in order to reach a shop window in which the lights were bright enough for her to test the truth of her suspicions. As soon as she found herself in the gleam of light which streamed out horizontally from the shop, she turned her head suddenly and perceived a human form in the mist. This indistinct glimpse was enough; a feeling of terror fell upon her; she tottered for a moment under it, for now she felt certain that this stranger had accompanied her from the first step she had taken outside her own house. Her desire to escape from this spy gave her strength; incapable of reasoning, she walked twice as fast as before, as though it were possible for her to distance a man necessarily much more active than she. After running for some minutes she reached a pastry-cook's shop, went in and fell, rather than sat down, on a chair which was standing before the counter. As her hand rattled upon the latch a young woman seated at her embroidery raised her eyes from her work, looked through the square pane of glass, and recognized the old-fashioned violet silk mantle which enveloped the old lady; then she hurriedly opened a drawer, as if to take out something that she had been keeping there for her. Not only did this movement and the expression of the young woman's face betray her desire to get rid of the stranger as soon as possible, as a person whom she did not want to see, but she even let a gesture of impatience escape her when she found the drawer empty. Then, without looking at the lady, she went out hastily from behind the counter into the back part of the shop and called her husband; he appeared at once. "Wherever have you put - ?" she asked, mysteriously, glancing in the direction of the old lady, and not finishing the sentence. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works."