All this will serve to explain to you how it is that my aunt, as an
heiress of great wealth, possesses in her own right a very large
independent fortune in the Crimea.
We have now been living together for a fortnight, and during this time
Férouzat has been completely transformed. My aunt Eudoxia is certainly
very meublante, as my uncle calls it, and she has brought into the
house quite an attractive element of brightness. She has naturally
introduced into our circle a certain amount of etiquette, which does
not, however, encroach upon the liberties of country life, or disturb
that easy-going elegance which forms one of the charms of existence
among well-bred people. The Countess of Monteclaro, as might well have
been foreseen, having already been intimately acquainted with Doctor
Morand, begins to take a most friendly interest in Mademoiselle
Geneviève. As a consequence, Geneviève and the children spend almost all
their time at the château. In the evenings we have gatherings to which
all the young people of the neighbourhood are invited; my aunt, who is
an excellent musician, organises concerts, and we generally finish up
with a dance.
These worldly recreations afford me a clearer insight into the
analytical details of my oriental life, which is now more than ever
enveloped in the profoundest mystery. I have invented a story of
important botanical studies upon the flora of Provence, in order to
justify certain daily excursions which naturally terminate in El-Nouzha.
It is well-known, moreover, that I sometimes visit His Excellency
Mohammed-Azis, but with the discretion which respect for a great
misfortune naturally entails. The exiled minister is no longer even
discussed among us; everybody knows that "he shuts himself up like a
bear in his den," and there is an end of it.
My aunt is the perfection of a woman. Nothing can be more delightful
than our conversations. Her manner partakes both of the indulgence of a
mother and of the unrestrained intimacy of a friend. She still remembers
the child she used to dance upon her knees; and, although I had for a
long while forgotten her very existence, my present affection for her is
none the less sincere because it is of such recent growth. I must
confess that, after my confined existence at school and college, I am
delighted with these pleasures of home life, to which I was until lately
quite a stranger.
My aunt, as you may guess, is acquainted with my uncle's famous plan for
the future, and knows Anna Campbell, the Pasha's god-daughter. You
should hear her chaff him anent this god-fathership, on the strength of
which she claims that the captain has returned to the bosom of the
Church without knowing it. She tells me that Anna is a charming girl.
Thus petted and entertained, I live in other respects very much as I
like, and sometimes pass the whole day in the library. I should add that
my aunt, who is as sharp as a weasel, makes her own comments upon my
frequent absences from the château.