第235章

Monte Cristo summoned the Greek attendant, and bade her inquire whether it would be agreeable to her mistress to receive his visit.Haidee's only reply was to direct her servant by a sign to withdraw the tapestried curtain that hung before the door of her boudoir, the framework of the opening thus made serving as a sort of border to the graceful tableau presented by the young girl's picturesque attitude and appearance.As Monte Cristo approached, she leaned upon the elbow of the arm that held the narghile, and extending to him her other hand, said, with a smile of captivating sweetness, in the sonorous language spoken by the women of Athens and Sparta, "Why demand permission ere you enter? Are you no longer my master, or have I ceased to be your slave?" Monte Cristo returned her smile."Haidee,"said he, "you well know."

"Why do you address me so coldly -- so distantly?" asked the young Greek."Have I by any means displeased you? Oh, if so, punish me as you will; but do not -- do not speak to me in tones and manner so formal and constrained.""Haidee," replied the count, "you know that you are now in France, and are free.""Free to do what?" asked the young girl.

"Free to leave me."

"Leave you? Why should I leave you?"

"That is not for me to say; but we are now about to mix in society -- to visit and be visited.""I don't wish to see anybody but you."

"And should you see one whom you could prefer, I would not be so unjust" --"I have never seen any one I preferred to you, and I have never loved any one but you and my father.""My poor child," replied Monte Cristo, "that is merely because your father and myself are the only men who have ever talked to you.""I don't want anybody else to talk to me.My father said Iwas his `joy' -- you style me your `love,' -- and both of you have called me `my child.'""Do you remember your father, Haidee?" The young Greek smiled."He is here, and here," said she, touching her eyes and her heart."And where am I?" inquired Monte Cristo laughingly.

"You?" cried she, with tones of thrilling tenderness, "you are everywhere!" Monte Cristo took the delicate hand of the young girl in his, and was about to raise it to his lips, when the simple child of nature hastily withdrew it, and presented her cheek."You now understand, Haidee," said the count, "that from this moment you are absolutely free; that here you exercise unlimited sway, and are at liberty to lay aside or continue the costume of your country, as it may suit your inclination.Within this mansion you are absolute mistress of your actions, and may go abroad or remain in your apartments as may seem most agreeable to you.Acarriage waits your orders, and Ali and Myrtho will accompany you whithersoever you desire to go.There is but one favor I would entreat of you.""Speak."

"Guard carefully the secret of your birth.Make no allusion to the past; nor upon any occasion be induced to pronounce the names of your illustrious father or ill-fated mother.""I have already told you, my lord, that I shall see no one.""It is possible, Haidee, that so perfect a seclusion, though conformable with the habits and customs of the East, may not be practicable in Paris.Endeavor, then, to accustom yourself to our manner of living in these northern climes as you did to those of Rome, Florence, Milan, and Madrid; it may be useful to you one of these days, whether you remain here or return to the East." The young girl raised her tearful eyes towards Monte Cristo as she said with touching earnestness, "Whether we return to the East, you mean to say, my lord, do you not?""My child," returned Monte Cristo "you know full well that whenever we part, it will be no fault or wish of mine; the tree forsakes not the flower -- the flower falls from the tree.""My lord," replied Haidee, "I never will leave you, for I am sure I could not exist without you.""My poor girl, in ten years I shall be old, and you will be still young.""My father had a long white beard, but I loved him; he was sixty years old, but to me he was handsomer than all the fine youths I saw.""Then tell me, Haidee, do you believe you shall be able to accustom yourself to our present mode of life?""Shall I see you?"

"Every day."

"Then what do you fear, my lord?"

"You might find it dull."

"No, my lord.In the morning, I shall rejoice in the prospect of your coming, and in the evening dwell with delight on the happiness I have enjoyed in your presence;then too, when alone, I can call forth mighty pictures of the past, see vast horizons bounded only by the towering mountains of Pindus and Olympus.Oh, believe me, that when three great passions, such as sorrow, love, and gratitude fill the heart, ennui can find no place.""You are a worthy daughter of Epirus, Haidee, and your charming and poetical ideas prove well your descent from that race of goddesses who claim your country as their birthplace.Depend on my care to see that your youth is not blighted, or suffered to pass away in ungenial solitude; and of this be well assured, that if you love me as a father, Ilove you as a child."

"You are wrong, my lord.The love I have for you is very different from the love I had for my father.My father died, but I did not die.If you were to die, I should die too."The Count, with a smile of profound tenderness, extended his hand, and she carried it to her lips.Monte Cristo, thus attuned to the interview he proposed to hold with Morrel and his family, departed, murmuring as he went these lines of Pindar, "Youth is a flower of which love is the fruit; happy is he who, after having watched its silent growth, is permitted to gather and call it his own." The carriage was prepared according to orders, and stepping lightly into it, the count drove off at his usual rapid pace.