She reckoned on
the charms of habit to keep him by her; she was always ready to open
her salons and display the luxury of her dinners and suppers for his
friends, and to further his projects. She desired to be for him what
Madame de Pompadour was to Louis XV. All actresses envied Florine's
position, and some journalists envied that of Raoul.
Those to whom the inclination of the human mind towards chance,
opposition, and contrasts is known, will readily understand that after
ten years of this lawless Bohemian life, full of ups and downs, of
fetes and sheriffs, of orgies and forced sobrieties, Raoul was
attracted to the idea of another love,--to the gentle, harmonious
house and presence of a great lady, just as the Comtesse Felix
instinctively desired to introduce the torture of great emotions into
a life made monotonous by happiness. This law of life is the law of
all arts, which exist only by contrasts. A work done without this
incentive is the loftiest expression of genius, just as the cloister
is the highest expression of the Christian life.
On returning to his lodging from Lady Dudley's ball, Raoul found a
note from Florine, brought by her maid, which an invincible sleepiness
prevented him from reading at that moment. He fell asleep, dreaming of
a gentle love that his life had so far lacked. Some hours later he
opened the note, and found in it important news, which neither
Rastignac nor de Marsay had allowed to transpire.
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