Not that he repented, he was
incapable of that; but there are hours when the most hardened
conscience is touched, and when long dormant instincts at last
assert their rights. If he had obeyed his first impulse, he would
have darted after his mother and thrown himself on his knees
before her. But reflection, remembrance of the Viscount de
Coralth, and the Marquis de Valorsay, made him silent the noblest
voice that had spoken in his soul for many a long day. So, with
his head proudly erect, he went off, twirling his mustaches and
followed by the whispers of the servants--whispers which were
ready to change into hisses at any moment.
But what did he care for the opinion of these plebeians! Before
he was a hundred paces from the house his emotion had vanished,
and he was thinking how he could most agreeably spend the time
until the hour appointed for his second interview with M. de
Valorsay. He had not breakfasted, but "his stomach was out of
sorts," as he said to himself, and it would really have been
impossible for him to swallow a morsel. Thus not caring to return
home, he started in quest of one of his former intimates, with the
generous intention of overpowering him with the great news.
Unfortunately he failed to find this friend, and eager to vent the
pride that was suffocating him, in some way or other, he entered
the shop of an engraver, whom he crushed by his importance, and
ordered some visiting cards bearing the inscription W.
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