Wednesday, September 24, 2014

The Schism, parts 3671 - 3674

 3671. Finally she sent for her principal carriage driver and asked him, point blank what had happened to her little Alexis, in a tone of voice trembling with emotion and fear. The driver explained everything that had transpired, coldly overlooking his Mistress’ distress.


 3672.  He concluded sententiously, “In a case like this, which smacks of a tendency to revolutionary attitudes, a serf is simply sent off into the army, and so you need not concern yourself over much about him because you certainly will not be seeing him for another twenty-five years.


 3673. What do you suppose caused the old coachman to dismiss Alexis in that way, and so deliberately compound the distress of his Mistress? Why, it was simply jealousy. He had watched over the past year the growing fondness of his Lady for the boy and knew for a fact that in time his apprentice would replace him.



3674. He had seen it so often before. He could not help but notice that Alexis was getting new coats and boots on a regular basis, and his own uniform was becoming threadbare in the most conspicuous places, and yet received no attention at all.






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