The Professor Read online

  CHAPTER X.

  NEXT day the morning hours seemed to pass very slowly at M. Pelet's; Iwanted the afternoon to come that I might go again to the neighbouringpensionnat and give my first lesson within its pleasant precincts; forpleasant they appeared to me. At noon the hour of recreation arrived; atone o'clock we had lunch; this got on the time, and at last St. Gudule'sdeep bell, tolling slowly two, marked the moment for which I had beenwaiting.

  At the foot of the narrow back-stairs that descended from my room, I metM. Pelet.

  "Comme vous avez l'air rayonnant!" said he. "Je ne vous ai jamais vuaussi gai. Que s'est-il donc passe?"

  "Apparemment que j'aime les changements," replied I.

  "Ah! je comprends--c'est cela--soyez sage seulement. Vous etes bienjeune--trop jeune pour le role que vous allez jouer; il faut prendregarde--savez-vous?"

  "Mais quel danger y a-t-il?"

  "Je n'en sais rien--ne vous laissez pas aller a de vivesimpressions--voila tout."

  I laughed: a sentiment of exquisite pleasure played over my nerves atthe thought that "vives impressions" were likely to be created; it wasthe deadness, the sameness of life's daily ongoings that had hithertobeen my bane; my blouse-clad "eleves" in the boys' seminary neverstirred in me any "vives impressions" except it might be occasionallysome of anger. I broke from M. Pelet, and as I strode down the passagehe followed me with one of his laughs--a very French, rakish, mockingsound.

  Again I stood at the neighbouring door, and soon was re-admitted intothe cheerful passage with its clear dove-colour imitation marble walls.I followed the portress, and descending a step, and making a turn, Ifound myself in a sort of corridor; a side-door opened, Mdlle. Reuter'slittle figure, as graceful as it was plump, appeared. I could now seeher dress in full daylight; a neat, simple mousseline-laine gown fittedher compact round shape to perfection--delicate little collar andmanchettes of lace, trim Parisian brodequins showed her neck, wrists,and feet, to complete advantage; but how grave was her face as shecame suddenly upon me! Solicitude and business were in her eye--on herforehead; she looked almost stern. Her "Bon jour, monsieur," was quitepolite, but so orderly, so commonplace, it spread directly a cool, damptowel over my "vives impressions." The servant turned back when hermistress appeared, and I walked slowly along the corridor, side by sidewith Mdlle. Reuter.

  "Monsieur will give a lesson in the first class to-day," said she;"dictation or reading will perhaps be the best thing to begin with, forthose are the easiest forms of communicating instruction in a foreignlanguage; and, at the first, a master naturally feels a littleunsettled."

  She was quite right, as I had found from experience; it only remainedfor me to acquiesce. We proceeded now in silence. The corridorterminated in a hall, large, lofty, and square; a glass door on one sideshowed within a long narrow refectory, with tables, an armoire, andtwo lamps; it was empty; large glass doors, in front, opened on theplayground and garden; a broad staircase ascended spirally on theopposite side; the remaining wall showed a pair of great folding-doors,now closed, and admitting, doubtless, to the classes.

  Mdlle. Reuter turned her eye laterally on me, to ascertain, probably,whether I was collected enough to be ushered into her sanctum sanctorum.I suppose she judged me to be in a tolerable state of self-government,for she opened the door, and I followed her through. A rustling sound ofuprising greeted our entrance; without looking to the right or left, Iwalked straight up the lane between two sets of benches and desks,and took possession of the empty chair and isolated desk raised on anestrade, of one step high, so as to command one division the otherdivision being under the surveillance of a maitresse similarly elevated.At the back of the estrade, and attached to a moveable partitiondividing this schoolroom from another beyond, was a large tableau ofwood painted black and varnished; a thick crayon of white chalk lay onmy desk for the convenience of elucidating any grammatical or verbalobscurity which might occur in my lessons by writing it upon thetableau; a wet sponge appeared beside the chalk, to enable me to effacethe marks when they had served the purpose intended.

  I carefully and deliberately made these observations before allowingmyself to take one glance at the benches before me; having handled thecrayon, looked back at the tableau, fingered the sponge in order toascertain that it was in a right state of moisture, I found myself coolenough to admit of looking calmly up and gazing deliberately round me.

  And first I observed that Mdlle. Reuter had already glided away, shewas nowhere visible; a maitresse or teacher, the one who occupied thecorresponding estrade to my own, alone remained to keep guard over me;she was a little in the shade, and, with my short sight, I could onlysee that she was of a thin bony figure and rather tallowy complexion,and that her attitude, as she sat, partook equally of listlessness andaffectation. More obvious, more prominent, shone on by the full light ofthe large window, were the occupants of the benches just before me, ofwhom some were girls of fourteen, fifteen, sixteen, some young womenfrom eighteen (as it appeared to me) up to twenty; the most modestattire, the simplest fashion of wearing the hair, were apparent in all;and good features, ruddy, blooming complexions, large and brillianteyes, forms full, even to solidity, seemed to abound. I did not bearthe first view like a stoic; I was dazzled, my eyes fell, and in a voicesomewhat too low I murmured--

  "Prenez vos cahiers de dictee, mesdemoiselles."

  Not so had I bid the boys at Pelet's take their reading-books. Arustle followed, and an opening of desks; behind the lifted lids whichmomentarily screened the heads bent down to search for exercise-books, Iheard tittering and whispers.

  "Eulalie, je suis prete a pleuer de rire," observed one.

  "Comme il a rougi en parlant!"

  "Oui, c'est un veritable blanc-bec."

  "Tais-toi, Hortense--il nous ecoute."

  And now the lids sank and the heads reappeared; I had marked three, thewhisperers, and I did not scruple to take a very steady look at them asthey emerged from their temporary eclipse. It is astonishing what easeand courage their little phrases of flippancy had given me; the idea bywhich I had been awed was that the youthful beings before me, with theirdark nun-like robes and softly braided hair, were a kind of half-angels.The light titter, the giddy whisper, had already in some measurerelieved my mind of that fond and oppressive fancy.

  The three I allude to were just in front, within half a yard of myestrade, and were among the most womanly-looking present. Their namesI knew afterwards, and may as well mention now; they were Eulalie,Hortense, Caroline. Eulalie was tall, and very finely shaped: she wasfair, and her features were those of a Low Country Madonna; many a"figure de Vierge" have I seen in Dutch pictures exactly resemblinghers; there were no angles in her shape or in her face, all was curveand roundness--neither thought, sentiment, nor passion disturbed by lineor flush the equality of her pale, clear skin; her noble bust heavedwith her regular breathing, her eyes moved a little--by these evidencesof life alone could I have distinguished her from some large handsomefigure moulded in wax. Hortense was of middle size and stout, herform was ungraceful, her face striking, more alive and brilliant thanEulalie's, her hair was dark brown, her complexion richly coloured;there were frolic and mischief in her eye: consistency and good senseshe might possess, but none of her features betokened those qualities.

  Caroline was little, though evidently full grown; raven-black hair,very dark eyes, absolutely regular features, with a colourless olivecomplexion, clear as to the face and sallow about the neck, formed inher that assemblage of points whose union many persons regard as theperfection of beauty. How, with the tintless pallor of her skin and theclassic straightness of her lineaments, she managed to look sensual, Idon't know. I think her lips and eyes contrived the affair betweenthem, and the result left no uncertainty on the beholder's mind. She wassensual now, and in ten years' time she would be coarse--promise plainwas written in her face of much future folly.

  If I looked at these girls with little scruple, they looked at mewith still less. Eulalie raised her unmoved eye
to mine, and seemed toexpect, passively but securely, an impromptu tribute to her majesticcharms. Hortense regarded me boldly, and giggled at the same time, whileshe said, with an air of impudent freedom--

  "Dictez-nous quelquechose de facile pour commencer, monsieur."

  Caroline shook her loose ringlets of abundant but somewhat coarse hairover her rolling black eyes; parting her lips, as full as those of ahot-blooded Maroon, she showed her well-set teeth sparkling betweenthem, and treated me at the same time to a smile "de sa facon."Beautiful as Pauline Borghese, she looked at the moment scarcely purerthan Lucrece de Borgia. Caroline was of noble family. I heard herlady-mother's character afterwards, and then I ceased to wonder at theprecocious accomplishments of the daughter. These three, I at once saw,deemed themselves the queens of the school, and conceived that by theirsplendour they threw all the rest into the shade. In less than fiveminutes they had thus revealed to me their characters, and in less thanfive minutes I had buckled on a breast-plate of steely indifference, andlet down a visor of impassible austerity.

  "Take your pens and commence writing," said I, in as dry and trite avoice as if I had been addressing only Jules Vanderkelkov and Co.

  The dictee now commenced. My three belles interrupted me perpetuallywith little silly questions and uncalled-for remarks, to some of which Imade no answer, and to others replied very quietly and briefly. "Commentdit-on point et virgule en Anglais, monsieur?"

  "Semi-colon, mademoiselle."

  "Semi-collong? Ah, comme c'est drole!" (giggle.)

  "J'ai une si mauvaise plume--impossible d'ecrire!"

  "Mais, monsieur--je ne sais pas suivre--vous allez si vite."

  "Je n'ai rien compris, moi!"

  Here a general murmur arose, and the teacher, opening her lips for thefirst time, ejaculated--

  "Silence, mesdemoiselles!"

  No silence followed--on the contrary, the three ladies in front began totalk more loudly.

  "C'est si difficile, l'Anglais!"

  "Je deteste la dictee."

  "Quel ennui d'ecrire quelquechose que l'on ne comprend pas!"

  Some of those behind laughed: a degree of confusion began to pervade theclass; it was necessary to take prompt measures.

  "Donnez-moi votre cahier," said I to Eulalie in an abrupt tone; andbending over, I took it before she had time to give it.

  "Et vous, mademoiselle--donnez-moi le votre," continued I, more mildly,addressing a little pale, plain looking girl who sat in the first row ofthe other division, and whom I had remarked as being at once the ugliestand the most attentive in the room; she rose up, walked over to me, anddelivered her book with a grave, modest curtsey. I glanced over thetwo dictations; Eulalie's was slurred, blotted, and full of sillymistakes--Sylvie's (such was the name of the ugly little girl) wasclearly written, it contained no error against sense, and but fewfaults of orthography. I coolly read aloud both exercises, marking thefaults--then I looked at Eulalie:

  "C'est honteux!" said I, and I deliberately tore her dictation in fourparts, and presented her with the fragments. I returned Sylvie her bookwith a smile, saying--

  "C'est bien--je suis content de vous."

  Sylvie looked calmly pleased, Eulalie swelled like an incensed turkey,but the mutiny was quelled: the conceited coquetry and futile flirtationof the first bench were exchanged for a taciturn sullenness, much moreconvenient to me, and the rest of my lesson passed without interruption.

  A bell clanging out in the yard announced the moment for the cessationof school labours. I heard our own bell at the same time, and that of acertain public college immediately after. Order dissolved instantly; upstarted every pupil, I hastened to seize my hat, bow to the maitresse,and quit the room before the tide of externats should pour from theinner class, where I knew near a hundred were prisoned, and whose risingtumult I already heard.

  I had scarcely crossed the hall and gained the corridor, when Mdlle.Reuter came again upon me.

  "Step in here a moment," said she, and she held open the door ofthe side room from whence she had issued on my arrival; it was aSALLE-A-MANGER, as appeared from the beaufet and the armoire vitree,filled with glass and china, which formed part of its furniture. Ere shehad closed the door on me and herself, the corridor was already filledwith day-pupils, tearing down their cloaks, bonnets, and cabas fromthe wooden pegs on which they were suspended; the shrill voice of amaitresse was heard at intervals vainly endeavouring to enforce somesort of order; vainly, I say: discipline there was none in these roughranks, and yet this was considered one of the best-conducted schools inBrussels.

  "Well, you have given your first lesson," began Mdlle. Reuter in themost calm, equable voice, as though quite unconscious of the chaos fromwhich we were separated only by a single wall.

  "Were you satisfied with your pupils, or did any circumstance in theirconduct give you cause for complaint? Conceal nothing from me, repose inme entire confidence."

  Happily, I felt in myself complete power to manage my pupils withoutaid; the enchantment, the golden haze which had dazzled my perspicuityat first, had been a good deal dissipated. I cannot say I was chagrinedor downcast by the contrast which the reality of a pensionnat dedemoiselles presented to my vague ideal of the same community; I wasonly enlightened and amused; consequently, I felt in no disposition tocomplain to Mdlle. Reuter, and I received her considerate invitation toconfidence with a smile.

  "A thousand thanks, mademoiselle, all has gone very smoothly."

  She looked more than doubtful.

  "Et les trois demoiselles du premier banc?" said she.

  "Ah! tout va au mieux!" was my answer, and Mdlle. Reuter ceased toquestion me; but her eye--not large, not brilliant, not melting, orkindling, but astute, penetrating, practical, showed she was even withme; it let out a momentary gleam, which said plainly, "Be as close asyou like, I am not dependent on your candour; what you would conceal Ialready know."

  By a transition so quiet as to be scarcely perceptible, the directress'smanner changed; the anxious business-air passed from her face, and shebegan chatting about the weather and the town, and asking in neighbourlywise after M. and Madame Pelet. I answered all her little questions; sheprolonged her talk, I went on following its many little windings; shesat so long, said so much, varied so often the topics of discourse,that it was not difficult to perceive she had a particular aim in thusdetaining me. Her mere words could have afforded no clue to thisaim, but her countenance aided; while her lips uttered only affablecommonplaces, her eyes reverted continually to my face. Her glances werenot given in full, but out of the corners, so quietly, so stealthily,yet I think I lost not one. I watched her as keenly as she watched me;I perceived soon that she was feeling after my real character; she wassearching for salient points, and weak points, and eccentric points;she was applying now this test, now that, hoping in the end to find somechink, some niche, where she could put in her little firm foot and standupon my neck--mistress of my nature. Do not mistake me, reader, it wasno amorous influence she wished to gain--at that time it was only thepower of the politician to which she aspired; I was now installed as aprofessor in her establishment, and she wanted to know where her mindwas superior to mine--by what feeling or opinion she could lead me.

  I enjoyed the game much, and did not hasten its conclusion sometimes Igave her hopes, beginning a sentence rather weakly, when her shrewd eyewould light up--she thought she had me; having led her a little way, Idelighted to turn round and finish with sound, hard sense, whereat hercountenance would fall. At last a servant entered to announce dinner;the conflict being thus necessarily terminated, we parted without havinggained any advantage on either side: Mdlle. Reuter had not even givenme an opportunity of attacking her with feeling, and I had managed tobaffle her little schemes of craft. It was a regular drawn battle. Iagain held out my hand when I left the room, she gave me hers; it was asmall and white hand, but how cool! I met her eye too in full--obligingher to give me a straightforward look; this last test went againstme: it left her as
it found her--moderate, temperate, tranquil; me itdisappointed.

  "I am growing wiser," thought I, as I walked back to M. Pelet's. "Lookat this little woman; is she like the women of novelists and romancers?To read of female character as depicted in Poetry and Fiction, one wouldthink it was made up of sentiment, either for good or bad--here isa specimen, and a most sensible and respectable specimen, too, whosestaple ingredient is abstract reason. No Talleyrand was ever morepassionless than Zoraide Reuter!" So I thought then; I foundafterwards that blunt susceptibilities are very consistent with strongpropensities.