A Cardinal Sin.

by Eugene Sue.

CHAPTER I.

On a beautiful, bright morning of the month of May, 18--, a young girl of eighteen years or thereabouts, whose pale, melancholy face reflected only too plainly the wretchedness and privations of her daily life, was wending her way, timidly and with hesitating steps, through that populous quarter of the city known as the _Charnier des Innocents_, a dreary spot, princ.i.p.ally noted for its large number of public scribes, who make a precarious living by acting as secretaries to the ignorant people of the vicinity.

Two or three times she paused, undecided, before an open door; then, thinking perhaps that the writer was either too young or unprepossessing, she slowly resumed her search. She had reached the last of the row, and was on the point of retracing her steps, when her gaze fell on a venerable old man, whose benign countenance beamed kindly on her from his desk; and without further hesitation she resolutely entered the little shop.

Struck by the touching beauty and modest att.i.tude of the young girl, the scribe greeted her with paternal affability, and discreetly drawing the curtain over the dingy window, motioned her to a seat, while he sank back into his old leather-covered arm-chair and waited for her to speak.

The girl's pretty face flushed and she cast down her large, blue eyes in embarra.s.sment, while a painful silence followed. She was evidently agitated by a deep emotion, for her breast heaved visibly beneath the worn merino shawl she wore over her faded gingham dress, and her hands trembled slightly as she folded them on her lap.

"Why this embarra.s.sment, my dear child?" said the old man kindly. "Do you wish me to draw up a pet.i.tion, a request, or write a letter?"

"Yes, monsieur, I want a letter written," she replied in a low, soft voice, her face flushing still more painfully.

"Can you not write?"

She shook her head and cast down her eyes once more.

Fearing he had needlessly humiliated his client, the old man hastened to add:

"Poor child, do you suppose me capable of blaming your ignorance?"

"Monsieur!--" she began in protestation.

"Ah! believe me," he interrupted, "I feel a great deal of compa.s.sion for persons who, having no education, are forced to have recourse to men of my profession, to admit them into their confidence, and reveal their most secret and dearest thoughts! It is very painful, is it not?"

"Yes, indeed, monsieur!" exclaimed the girl, touched by these words.

"To be obliged to address myself to a stranger, to--"

Her eyes filled with tears and she paused in confusion.

"My dear child, pray recover your composure," entreated the scribe.

"You need fear neither indiscretion nor ridicule with me. The confidence reposed in me by persons whom chance or misfortune has deprived of the benefits of education, has always been considered as sacred to me."

"Oh! thank you, monsieur; you relieve me of half my grief by understanding and excusing my embarra.s.sment," said Mariette, gratefully. "Oh! yes," she went on with a sigh, "it is very cruel to know neither how to read nor write; but alas! it is not my fault."

"Ah! my poor child, like many others who come to me, it is the want of opportunity, and not the absence of good will, which has deprived you of knowledge. Some are forced to a.s.sume the care of younger brothers and sisters while the parents work; others are sent out as apprentices at an early age--"

"I was placed as an apprentice at the age of nine," sighed Mariette, "and until that time I was retained at home to care for a little brother, who died shortly before my parents."

"Poor child, your story is similar to those of your companions that come to me. But why did you not try to gain some education when you had finished your apprenticeship?"

"Where would I find the time, monsieur? I work almost day and night to provide for my G.o.dmother and myself--"

"Time, alas! is the bread of the poor!" broke in the old man; "they must starve to death or live in ignorance."

He paused for a moment, then asked with renewed interest: "You speak of your G.o.dmother; have you no other relative?"

"No, Monsieur," replied the girl sadly.

"But forgive me, I am taking up your time uselessly instead of coming to the purpose of my visit."

"My time could not be better employed than in listening to you, my child; for I am sure you are a good and honest girl. Now let us see about the letter. Will you merely state what you wish to write, or do you prefer to dictate to me?"

"I prefer to dictate the letter."

"Very well, I am ready," declared the old man, adjusting his gla.s.ses and bending over his desk that he might not increase his pretty client's confusion.

With down-cast eyes, and after a moment of hesitation, Mariette began:

"Monsieur Louis--"

At the name of Louis the old man started, but said quietly: "It is written, my child."

Nothwithstanding her confidence in the old man, the girl instinctively shrank from revealing her inmost thoughts to a stranger. But after a momentary pause, she went on hesitatingly:

"I have received no word from you, and I am very sad. Yet, you had promised to write during your voyage--"

"During your voyage," repeated the writer, who had become suddenly thoughtful. "A strange coincidence," he said to himself, with growing anxiety. "His name is Louis, and he is away."

"I hope that you are well," continued the girl, "and that your silence is not caused by illness, for my grief would be doubled."

"To-day is the sixth of May, Monsieur Louis--_the sixth of May_--and I would not let the day pa.s.s without reminding you of me. Perhaps you had the same thought also, and I may receive a letter from you when you receive this from me, the day after to-morrow. Then I shall know that the delay was not caused by illness or forgetfulness, and how happy I shall be! I shall therefore await the day after to-morrow with much impatience. May heaven protect me from disappointment, Monsieur Louis--"

Mariette stifled a sigh and wiped a tear from her pale cheek.

The features of the writer, who still bent low over his desk, were invisible to the young girl, and she was unconscious of the expression of alarm that had crept over them. Two or three times, while writing, he had cast furtive, scrutinizing glances at his client; and it was evident that his first impulse of sympathetic interest was changing to restraint caused by serious apprehensions.

Folding her hands once more on her lap, Mariette resumed:

"I have nothing new to tell you, Monsieur Louis. My G.o.dmother is still ill, she suffers very much, and the torture she undergoes embitters her character more and more. That I may be near her as much as possible, I now work at home instead of going to Mme. Jourdan. The days seem wretchedly long and sad, for working at the shop with my companions is much more cheerful, and I can accomplish more. I am therefore obliged to stay up very late; and I sleep but little, as my G.o.dmother always suffers more at night and, consequently needs more care. Sometimes I fail to hear her first call, I sleep so soundly; then she scolds me, which is only natural when she suffers so much.

"I tell you these things to show you that my life is not a happy one, and that one word of friendship from you would encourage and console me for so many sad things.

"Farewell, Monsieur Louis. I counted on Augustine to write; but she has gone away and I am dictating this letter to another person. Ah!

never have I so much regretted my inability to read and write as at this moment. Farewell, once more, Monsieur Louis; think of me I beg you, for I think of you always."

"Is this all, my child?" queried the old man, after a moment of silence.

"Yes, monsieur."

"And what name shall I sign?"

"Mariette."