Guy de Maupassant - The Colonel's Nieces

Crossing the threshold of his aunt's parlor, Gaston was fully prepared to receive a lecture. He realized that he richly deserved the worst scolding of his life. He was therefore utterly surprised when his aunt kissed him, almost affectionately, upon his forehead, exclaiming, “At last! The prodigal son has remembered his old home, and has felt the need to rest a little and breathe the air of our forests!”

“I have come especially to see you, dear aunt Athena. It has been so long since we have seen each other.”

“The doors of Saski Castle are always open to you, nephew.”

“And you see that I have not forgotten.”

“Is Paris really so splendid that you can no longer tear yourself away from it?”

“Oh, yes! Once you have lived in Paris, you no longer wish to leave it.”

“Is that true?”

“It's exactly as I have told you.”

“In that case, dear Gaston, I would like to put that to the test. I am going back with you to France whenever you have another attack of the traveling mood.”

If lightning had struck the Count, he could not have been more overwhelmed. He stared at his aunt in disbelief but saw that she was dead serious. What was more, she smiled! It looked a little unnatural on her, because he had never seen his aunt smile.

“Are you really Considering a visit to Paris, dearest Aunt? You can see that I am very surprised, but let me assure you that it is a happy surprise and I shall be honored to show you this most beautiful of all cities.”

“Tell me about it. It interests me.”

And Gaston told her, painting all the enchantments of Paris in glowing colors, leaving out a detail here and there when he was sure that this would not particularly interest his stern maiden aunt. But in all the glowing pictures he painted he did not mention Julia with a single word, or a single allusion. He was delighted about her interest in the city, and he hoped that the bitter pill of one hundred and fifty thousand francs would go down easily.

“Wouldn't it be better to confess?” he asked himself. “Oh, well, I am going to be here for quite a few days, and I am not in that much of a hurry,” and they talked and talked till dinner was announced.

This was the day that the Count would roll from one big surprise right into another. Just before the majordomo opened the wide doors leading to the dining hall, a ravishing beauty, dressed in mourning, entered the parlor. Gaston's eyes popped out. The girl was obviously at home in these surroundings and when Aunt Athena introduced her, she answered Gaston's enthusiastic greetings with a gracious nod.

“Her Ladyship Wilhelmina Soustbacka, grand-daughter of one of my dearest friends whom we had the misfortune to lose several months ago.”

The sad memory clouded the beautiful dark eyes of the lovely child. Tali, gracious and of noble bearing, this sad beauty, who could not possibly have been more than eighteen years old, startled Gaston. And Paris had made him blase and jaded! He had seldom seen such desirable beauty.

Dinner was pleasant. Gaston put his beat foot forward, his aunt was in an excellent mood, the young cheered up the house and made it feel and look comfortable. Gaston could have listened to the music of her golden voice forever.

He decided not to talk about leaving yet, and the two weeks flew by Without Gaston having mentioned the first word of his famous confession. But the matter was becoming very urgent and his aunt gave him the opportunity to talk about it, when she said. “I would like to know, Gaston, in what state your finances are. I understand that life in Paris is very expensive, but it seems to me that you have spent very little in comparison.”

“That is because I have a lot of debts.”

“What? A Saski has debts?!”

“What do you expect? Even when one is a Saski… you have to pay when you have debts, and if you cannot pay, you must borrow.”

“And exactly how much do you owe?”

Gaston told her the entire story of the debt and talked about it for a long time, explaining the temptations of the big city. When he had finished his story, Aunt Athena put on her most formal expression and she told him that she would pay under one condition: That he remain at Saski Castle till next spring, and then accompany her to Paris.

“Then you were serious about going to Paris?”

“Of course I was. And now I am more determined than ever, after all the beautiful things I have heard.”

What could he do?

Gaston thought about Julia, but he also thought about the money he owed Don Jose. The two thoughts were of equal importance to him, and it would have been impossible to say which one would have won the battle in his mind if it weren't for Wilhelmina's reflection in one of the mirrored doors.

“Your wish is my command dear aunt,” he said.

“In that case, nephew, give a list of your debts to my majordomo, and he will take care of them.”

“Look, Aunt Athena,” said Gaston, who was no longer listening to what the old woman said, “how beautiful your young friend is.”

Athena looked at the young girl. “Poor child,” she said. “Yes, she is beautiful, but this beauty which seems to delight you so much is a terrible gift of fate.”

“Why?”

“Because the enormous fortune to which she should have fallen heir was squandered away by scoundrels who had her grandmother's confidence. When the old woman died, it turned out that the Soustbacka fortune no longer existed. I intend to take her with me to Paris, and I trust that you will help us find a position for her as a companion to some lady of influence.”

“I'll be delighted.”

From now on Gaston looked upon Wilhelmina in an entirely different way. She was destined to go down at least one step on the social scale, and she no longer belonged to his own class. In other words, as far as Gaston was concerned, the beautiful young damsel had become fair game. That next morning, during breakfast, he paid quite a lot of attention-as well as daring compliments-to the luscious Wilhelmina. His aunt did not seem to notice his difference in attitude.

The young girl wanted to go riding that morning, and Gaston offered to accompany her. She was very charming, but still she had the reserved attitude of the upper classes and it made it a little difficult for Gaston to be direct about his wishes. The end result of that morning's riding was that Gaston's imagination was highly inflamed, he became more and more passionate, he fell desperately in love, and his ardor knew no bounds. His ecstasy found an echo, even though at this point it was merely platonic. Because Wilhelmina dreamed of marrying, Gaston, obviously, did no such thing. With his aunt's ideas… and a girl without a fortune… ridiculous! But as his mistress… that was something entirely different.

He gained ground rapidly. So much, in fact, that one day the young girl allowed him to kiss her. Once, twice… and more.

“Go ahead,” she seemed to say, and Gaston did not have to be invited twice.

They held secret meetings in the gallery where all Gaston's ancestors sternly stared down from their portraits. They met behind the heavy tapestries, passing deliciously forbidden moments together.

One day, Wilhelmina reclined a little bit too far on a divan which was at the feet of an imposing statue of Count Stanislas Saski. And under the very eyes of this iron-clad warrior of bygone times, Gaston collected Lady Wilhelmina's cherry, removing her innocence and, he thought, smoothing the path of making her his mistress.

But, alas! He had forgotten about Countess Athena. She had watched the proceedings from behind one of the tapestries and, just at the moment when Gaston retracted his limp, bloodstained tool, she popped from behind the curtains. Memories from days gone by hardened her features. Forgotten were the promises she had extracted from her nephew. She could identify too closely with poor Wilhelmina. Her face was contorted, her yellow teeth seemed twice as big, and her eyes were blazing. She looked like the bogey man which scares little children so much.