t without influence on the
variations of the face. If violent emotions have the power to yellow
the white tones of persons of bilious and melancholy temperament, and to
green lymphatic faces, shall we not grant to desire, hope, and joy,
the faculty of clearing the skin, giving brilliancy to the eye, and
brightening the glow of beauty with a light as jocund as that of a
lovely morning? The celebrated faintness of the princess had taken on
a ripeness which now made her seem more august. At this moment of her
life, impressed by her many vicissitudes and by serious reflections,
her noble, dreamy brow harmonized delightfully with the slow, majestic
glance of her blue eyes. It was impossible for the ablest physiognomist
to imagine calculation or self-will beneath that unspeakable delicacy of
feature. There were faces of women which deceive knowledge, and mislead
observation by their calmness and delicacy; it is necessary to examine
such faces when passions speak, and that is difficult, or after they
have spoken, which is no longer of any use, for then the woman is old
and has ceased to dissimulate.

The princess is one of those impenetrable women; she can make herself
what she pleases to be: playful, childlike, distractingly innocent; or
reflective, serious, and profound enough to excite anxiety. She came to
Madame d'Espard's dinner with the intention of being a gentle, simple
woman, to whom life was known only through its deceptions: a woman full
of soul, and calumniated, but resigned,--in short, a wounded angel.

She arrived early, so as to pose on a sofa near the fire beside Madame
d'Espard, as she wished to be first seen: that is, in one of
those attitudes in which science is concealed beneath an exquisite
naturalness; a studied attitude, putting in relief the beautiful
serpentine outline which, starting from the foot, rises gracefully to
the hip, and continues with adorable curves to the shoulder, presenting,
in fact, a profile of the whole body. With a subtlety which few women
would have dreamed of, Diane, to the great amazement of the marquise,
had brought her son with her. After a moment's reflection, Madame
d'Espard pressed the princess's hand, with a look of intelligence that
seemed to say:--

"I understand you! By making d'Arthez accept all the difficulties at
once you will not have to conquer them later."

Rastignac brought d'Arthez. The princess made none of those compliments
to the celebrated author with whi