by Victor Hugo
CHAPTER II.
FAUCHELEVENT FACES THE DIFFICULTY.
To have an agitated and serious air is peculiar, on Critical occasions,to certain characters and professions, and notably to priests andmonks. At the moment when Fauchelevent entered, this double form ofpreoccupation was imprinted on the face of the prioress, who was thatcharming and learned Mademoiselle de Blémeur, or Mother Innocent, whowas usually so cheerful. The gardener gave a timid bow, and remainedin the door-way of the cell; the prioress, who was telling her beads,raised her eyes, and said,--
"Oh, it is you, Father Fauvent?"
This abbreviation had been adopted in the convent. Fauchelevent beganhis bows again.
"Father Fauvent, I summoned you."
"Here I am, Reverend Mother."
"I wish to speak with you."
"And I, on my side," said Fauchelevent, with a boldness which made himtremble inwardly, "have something to say to the Most Reverend Mother."
The prioress looked at him.
"Ah! you have a communication to make to me?"
"A request."
"Well, speak."
Fauchelevent, the ex-notary, belonged to that class of peasants whopossess coolness. A certain skilful ignorance is a strength; people donot suspect it, and you have them. During the two years Faucheleventhad lived in the convent, he had made a success in the community, andwhile alone and attending to his gardening, he had nothing else todo than be curious. Remote as he was from all these veiled women, hesaw nothing before him but an agitation of shadows; but by constantattention and penetration, he had succeeded in putting flesh on thesephantoms, and these dead lived for him. He was like a deaf man whosesight is improved, and a blind man whose hearing is sharpened. He hadturned his mind to discover the meaning of the various peals, and hadsucceeded; so that this enigmatical and mysterious convent had nothinghidden from him; and this sphinx whispered all its secrets in his ear.Fauchelevent, while knowing everything, concealed everything, and thatwas his art; the whole convent believed him to be stupid, and that is agreat merit in religion. The vocal mothers set value on Fauchelevent,for he was a curious dumb man and inspired confidence. Moreover, he wasregular, and only went out when absolutely compelled by the claims ofhis orchard or kitchen-garden, and this discretion was placed to hiscredit. But for all that, he had made two men talk,--in the convent,the porter, and he thus knew all the peculiarities of the parlor, andat the cemetery, the grave-digger, and he knew the regularities ofthe burial; so that he possessed a double light about these nuns,--thelight of life and the light of death. But he made no abuse of hisknowledge, and the congregation were attached to him. Old, lame, seeingnothing, and probably rather deaf; what qualifications! It would bedifficult to fill up his place. The good man, with the assurance of aservant who knows his value, began a rustic address to the prioress,which was rather diffuse and very artful. He talked a good deal abouthis age, his infirmities, years hence-forward reckoning double for him,the growing demands of his work, nights to pass,--as, for instance, thelast, in which he was obliged to draw matting over the melon frames,owing to the moon,--and he ended with this, that he had a brother (theprioress gave a start),--a brother who was not young (a second start,but not so alarmed),--that if leave were granted, this brother wouldcome and live with him and help him; that he was an excellent gardener,and would be of more use to the community than himself was; and that,on the other hand, if his brother's services were not accepted, ashe, the elder, felt worn out and unequal to his work, he would becompelled, to his great regret, to give up his situation; and that hisbrother had a little girl whom he would bring with him, and who wouldbe brought into the house, and might--who knew?--become a nun some day.When he had finished speaking, the prioress broke off her occupation ofletting the beads of her rosary slip through her fingers, and said,--
"Could you procure a strong iron bar between this and to-night?"
"What to do?"
"To act as a lever."
"Yes, Reverend Mother," Father Fauchelevent replied.
The prioress, without adding a syllable, rose and walked into theadjoining room, where the Chapter was assembled. Fauchelevent was leftalone.
