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a book of scoundrels(流浪之书)-第34部分

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comparative solitude of a guilty bed…chamber he covered his shorn locks
with a nightcap。                                       
     And while his conduct at Laval was unimpeachable; he always proved
a nice susceptibility in his return。  A cab carried him within a discreet
distance of his home; whence; having exchanged the grey for the more
sober black; he would tramp on foot; and thus creep in tranquil and
unobserved。  But simple as it is to enjoy; enjoyment must still be
purchased; and the Abb
bethought him of murder。                               
                                                      137



… 138


                                       A BOOK OF SCOUNDRELS
     His first victim was the widow Bourdais; who pursued the honest
calling of a florist at Laval。  Already the curate was on those terms of
intimacy which unite the robber with the robbed; for some months earlier
he had imposed a forced loan of sixty francs upon his victim。  But on the
15th of July 1893; he left Entrammes; resolved upon a serious measure。
The black valise was in his hand; as he set forth upon the arid; windy road。
Before he reached Laval he had made the accustomed transformation; and
it was no priest; but a layman; doucely dressed in grey; that awaited Mme。
Bourdais' return from the flower…market。  He entered the shop with the
coolness of a friend; and retreated to the door of the parlour when two
girls came to make a purchase。  No sooner had the widow joined him
than he cut her throat; and; with the ferocity of the beast who loves blood
as well as plunder; inflicted some forty wounds upon her withered frame。
His escape was simple and dignified; he called the cabman; who knew him
well; and who knew; moreover; what was required of him; and the priest
was snugly in bed; though perhaps exhausted with blood and pleasure;
when the news of the murder followed him to his village。
     Next day the crime was common gossip; and the Abb was still impoverished。  Already he had
robbed his vicar; and the suspicion of the Abb                 
     The childhood of the Abb's capital sin。
     Not only did he entertain his leisure with wrecking the happiness of a
united family; but he was an enemy open and declared of France。  It was
his amiable pastime at the dinner… table; when he had first helped himself
to such delicacies as tempted his dainty palate; to pronounce a pompous
eulogy upon the German Emperor。  France; he would say with an
exultant smile; is a pays pourri; which exists merely to be the football of
Prussia。  She has but one hope of salvationstill the monster speaksand
that is to fall into the benign occupation of a vigorous race。  Once upon a
timethe infamy is scarce credible he was conducting his young charges
past a town…hall; over the lintel of whose door glittered those proud initials
‘R。 F。'  ‘What do they stand for?' asked this demon Barlow。  And when
the patriotic Tommy hesitated for an answer; the preceptor exclaimed with
ineffable contempt; ‘Race de fous'!  It is no wonder; then; that this foe of
his fatherland feared to receive a letter openly addressed; rather he would
slink out under cover of night and seek his correspondence at the poste
restante; like a guilty lover or a British tourist。    
     The Chteau de Presles was built for his reception。  It was
haunted by a secret; which none dare murmur in the remotest garret。
There was no more than a whisper of murder in the air; but the Marquis
shuddered when his wife's eye frowned upon him。  True; the miserable
Menaldo had disappeared from his seminary ten years since; but threats of
disclosure were uttered continually; and respectability might only be
purchased by a profound silence。  Here w
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