"Kiss your aunt!" he said.
I obeyed him.
My aunt at that time was a very handsome young woman of twenty-two to
twenty-four, a brunette with great black, almond-shaped eyes, and fine
features on a perfect oval face. She placed me on her knees and covered
me with kisses, lavishing on me the most tender expressions, among which
she mingled words of a foreign language which sounded like music, so
sweet and harmonious was her voice. I conceived a great affection for
her. My uncle let me do just as I liked, and allowed no hindrances to be
put in my way. Thus it happened that at the end of my holidays I did not
want to return to school again, and should certainly have succeeded in
getting my way, if it had not been that Barbassou-Pasha's ship was
waiting for him at Toulon.
You may imagine with what joy I returned to Férouzat the next year. My
uncle welcomed me with the same delight, and betook himself to the same
examination of my physical structure. When his anxieties were satisfied,
he said to me-"Kiss your aunt!"
I kissed my aunt: but, as I kissed her, I was rather surprised to find
her very much altered. She had become fair and pink-complexioned. A
certain firm and youthful plumpness, which suited her remarkably well,
gave her the appearance of a girl of eighteen. Being more bashful than
at our former interview, she tendered me her fresh cheeks with a blush.
I noticed also that her accent had undergone a modification, and now
very much resembled the accent of one of my school-fellows who was
Dutch. As I expressed my surprise at these changes, my uncle informed me
that they had just returned from Java. This explanation sufficed for me,
I did not ask any more questions, and henceforth I accustomed myself
every year to the various metamorphoses of my aunt. The metamorphosis
which pleased me the least was that which she contracted after a voyage
to Bourbon, from which she returned a mulattress, but without ceasing
still to be remarkably handsome. My uncle, it should be mentioned, was
always very good to her, and I have never known a happier household.
Unfortunately Barbassou-Pasha, being engaged in important affairs,
stayed away three years, and when I returned to Férouzat, he kissed me
and received me by himself. When I asked after my aunt, he told me that
he was a widower. As this misfortune did not appear to affect him very
seriously, I made up my mind to treat it with the same indifference that
he did.