But, as he was passing, with a wax candle in his hand,
before the glass, the large glass in which he had
contemplated himself and admired himself before he
started, he saw reflected there an elderly, gray-haired
man; and suddenly he recollected what he had been in
olden days, in the days of little Lise. He saw
himself charming and handsome, as he had been when
he was loved! Then, drawing the light nearer,
he looked at himself more closely, as one inspects
a strange thing with a magnifying glass, tracing the
wrinkles, discovering those frightful ravages, which
he had not perceived till now.
And he sat down, crushed at the sight of himself,
at the sight of his lamentable image, murmuring:
“All over, Lormerin!”
* * * *
*
Everybody in Fecamp knew Mother Patin’s story.
She had certainly been unfortunate with her husband,
for in his lifetime he used to beat her, just as wheat
is threshed in the barn.
He was master of a fishing bark and had married her,
formerly, because she was pretty, although poor.
Patin was a good sailor, but brutal. He used
to frequent Father Auban’s inn, where he would
usually drink four or five glasses of brandy, on lucky
days eight or ten glasses and even more, according
to his mood. The brandy was served to the customers
by Father Auban’s daughter, a pleasing brunette,
who attracted people to the house only by her pretty
face, for nothing had ever been gossiped about her.
Patin, when he entered the inn, would be satisfied
to look at her and to compliment her politely and
respectfully. After he had had his first glass
of brandy he would already find her much nicer; at
the second he would wink; at the third he would say:
“If you were only willing, Mam’zelle Desiree——”
without ever finishing his sentence; at the fourth
he would try to hold her back by her skirt in order
to kiss her; and when he went as high as ten it was
Father Auban who brought him the remaining drinks.
The old innkeeper, who knew all the tricks of the
trade, made Desiree walk about between the tables
in order to increase the consumption of drinks; and
Desiree, who was a worthy daughter of Father Auban,
flitted around among the benches and joked with them,
her lips smiling and her eyes sparkling.
Patin got so well accustomed to Desiree’s face
that he thought of it even while at sea, when throwing
out his nets, in storms or in calms, on moonlit or
dark evenings. He thought of her while holding
the tiller in the stern of his boat, while his four
companions were slumbering with their heads on their
arms. He always saw her, smiling, pouring out
the yellow brandy with a peculiar shoulder movement
and then exclaiming as she turned away: “There,
now; are you satisfied?”
He saw her so much in his mind’s eye that he
was overcome by an irresistible desire to marry her,
and, not being able to hold out any longer, he asked
for her hand.
