登陆注册
20055000000009

第9章

The girl, in great embarrassment, turned her head away, glancing from the ocean to the sky; but Kalonay seated himself coolly on the broad balustrade of the terrace with his hands on his hips, and his heels resting on the marble tiling, and clicked the soles of his boots together.

"Oh, I have had my bad days, too, Father," he said. He turned his head on one side, and pressed his lips together, looking down.

"Unstable as water--that is quite possible," he said, with an air of consideration; "but spoiled by good fortune--oh, no, that is not fair. Do you call it good fortune, sir," he laughed, "to be an exile at twenty-eight? Is it good fortune to be too poor to pay your debts, and too lazy to work; to be the last of a great name, and to have no chance to add to the glory of it, and no means to keep its dignity fresh and secure? Do you fancy I like to see myself drifting farther and farther away from the old standards and the old traditions; to have English brewers and German Jew bankers taking the place I should have, buying titles with their earnings and snubbing me because I can only hunt when someone gives me a mount, and because I choose to take a purse instead of a cup when we shoot at Monte Carlo?""What child's talk is this?" interrupted the priest, angrily.

"A thousand horses cannot make a man noble, nor was poverty ever ignoble. You talk like a weak boy. Every word you say is your own condemnation. Why should you complain? Your bed is of your own making. The other prodigal was forced to herd with the swine--you have chosen to herd with them."The girl straightened herself and half rose from her chair.

"You are boring Miss Carson with my delinquencies," said the Prince, sternly. His face was flushed, and he did not look either at the girl or at the priest.

"But the prodigal's father?" said Miss Carson, smiling at the older man. "Did he stand over him and upbraid him? You remember, he went to meet him when he was yet a great way off.

That was it, was it not, Father?"

"Of course he did," cried Kalonay, laughing like a boy, and slipping lightly to the terrace. "He met him half way and gave him the best he had." He stepped to Miss Carson's side and the two young people moved away smiling, and the priest, seeing that they were about to escape him, cried eagerly, "But that prodigal had repented. This one----""Let's run," cried the Prince. "He will get the best of us if we stay. He always gets the best of me. He has been abusing me that way for two weeks now, and he is always sorry afterward. Let us leave him alone to his sorrow and remorse."Kalonay walked across the terrace with Miss Carson, bending above her with what would have seemed to an outsider almost a proprietary right. She did not appear to notice it, but looked at him frankly and listened to what he had to say with interest. He was speaking rapidly, and as he spoke he glanced shyly at her as though seeking her approbation, and not boldly, as he was accustomed to do when he talked with either men or women. To look at her with admiration was such a cheap form of appreciation, and one so distasteful to her, that had he known it, Kalonay's averted eyes were more of a compliment than any words he could have spoken. His companions who had seen him with other women knew that his manner to her was not his usual manner, and that he gave her something he did not give to the others; that he was more discreet and less ready, and less at ease.

The Prince Kalonay had first met Miss Carson and her mother by chance in Paris, at the rooms of Father Paul, where they had each gone on the same errand, and since that meeting his whole manner toward the two worlds in which he lived had altered so strangely that mere acquaintances noticed the change.

同类推荐
热门推荐
  • 一生阴阳路

    一生阴阳路

    我是招魂师,无论你相信不相信这个世界上有没有鬼,我都会带你体验,灵异圈的世界。欢迎阅读长篇灵异小说《一生阴阳路》
  • 给经理人每天看的心理学

    给经理人每天看的心理学

    本书通俗简练的语言,结合实例,从现实生活的各个方面——情绪心理学、成功心理学、目标心理学、社交心理学、管理心理学等,指出常见的心理困惑并提供防治建议,总结性地阐述了现代人常见不良心理、心理障碍及防治策略。
  • 终极三国孙尚香的彼岸花

    终极三国孙尚香的彼岸花

    宇宙中有两种人,别误会,我说的不是男人跟女人,我说的是有特殊能力的异能行者跟没有特殊能力的普通人,我们称之为麻瓜。而在某个象限中,这里有十二个平行时空,在金时空,异能行者的的能力高低叫战力指数,铁时空叫异能指数,银时空叫武力指数,铜时空叫毁灭指数。故事就是发生在银时空,我们的女主角某天醒来突然变成银时空的孙尚香。
  • 迷糊萌妻的暖心总裁

    迷糊萌妻的暖心总裁

    他俯身看着蹲在角落哭泣的她,递上了一张纸。她接过纸,几番糟蹋之后,抽泣着问道:“还有么……?”“你抬头看看我是谁。”他淡淡的语气,她抬头泪眼朦胧地看了一会儿,迅速低下头:“呜呜呜不认识!”“再看!”“大叔,你好眼熟……”某男的嘴角抽搐了……
  • 原罪之光

    原罪之光

    “我们每个人都满负罪恶,旧大陆因此沉沦。仁慈的女神引导我们来到新大陆,赐予我们新生!”——《圣典.序章》从崔斯特走出思尔镇的那刻起,一段冒险和救赎的史诗就此展开!.
  • 穿越做小太监

    穿越做小太监

    混混刘旭在一次打架中死亡,醒来后发现自己穿越了。随后为了泡妞学武功,争做世界第2人,所有人都的听我的,逆我者死!泡妞是我的想法,当武林盟主是我的目标!学会天下所有武功,在皇宫创建了自己的地盘(东厂)。自诩:皇上的东西是我的,我的东西就不一定是皇上的。情节虚构,请勿模仿!
  • 暮光之审判

    暮光之审判

    即使已化作尘埃的荣光,停息着宁静闪耀。正翩然降下的晦涩黑暗,畏惧着狂乱侵蚀。波澜起伏着的径流之水,凝固着自然之姿。燃烧着希望的炽热火焰,停息着慷慨激昂。寂寥而荒远的无垠之原,宽广着深沉之乐。葱郁着朦胧的境域之森,繁茂着勃勃生机。缭绕着轻灵的自由之风,纺织着世界之韵。跃动在天际的浩瀚之雷,弹奏着罡正和谐。夜晚描绘着满溢的梦想,白昼怀抱着闪耀的希望。颓败的花朵,是血染的记忆。恸哭的心灵,被铭刻的苦难。纵使掌握一切,也应学会谦卑,
  • 无色

    无色

    女子陆月雪被清仪道长收为弟子,她资质出众,对任何道法都能迅速融会贯通。后遇见了神秘的年轻人冷无忌,她浑然不知两人前世原本是情根深种却又身负血海深仇的恋人。正道与魔道、恋人与仇人,重重矛盾埋藏在两人中间。本书的人物形象丰满生动:魔道中人有多情重诺的一面,正道中人也有狡诈贪利的一面,充分描写出人性的复杂,同时作品写情笔触浓艳,将人物之间的爱恨纠葛描写得回肠荡气。
  • 逾期久候

    逾期久候

    她本以为她很幸福,她拥有很多人羡慕不来的东西,闻名的家世,从小到大的好姐妹,青梅竹马的好朋友,和在她八岁那年进入她家的他。她本以为自己拥有了一切,直到那个女人闯入她平静的生活,揭开了他的秘密。她才知道那些所谓的暧昧都是利用,为了达到他的目的而不折手段。此去经年之后,她失去了一切,朋友的背叛,青梅竹马离开,心里唯一剩下的执念又是什么?当恨与爱折磨着自己的时候,阴谋忽然降临,一步步揭开那些真相之后,等待着她的又是什么………
  • 纪丰润张学士马江战事本末

    纪丰润张学士马江战事本末

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。