Léon Hennique Novel
Complete Novel 'A Character' & Rare French Literary Translations
Category: “A Character – Chapters”
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One morning, the Montégriers arrived at Juvigny with Berthe. Agénor received them with genuine warmth, by now almost fully recovered, his eyes less troubled, more attuned to social graces. They went up to their rooms to unpack, settle in, and refresh themselves. Shortly thereafter, as the château bell chimed the noon Angelus, they promptly reconvened.…
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Nearly a year and a half passed, marked notably by the birth of the Duke of Orléans’ son. In political circles, the lacklustre triumvirate of Guizot, Thiers, and Odilon Barrot(118) proved utterly incapable of wresting control of the government. The Marquis de Cluses, meanwhile, held fast to his secluded way of life, his legitimist allegiances…
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Following Abd-el-Kader’s defeat(119), Thiers(120) and his cabinet finally manoeuvred themselves into power—pardoning their fiercest adversaries and shamelessly stirring political ambition with their grovelling plea for the Emperor’s hateful remains. Europe, meanwhile, embroiled in an Eastern crisis(121), found its diplomats once again indulging in petty intrigue—for this rabble so relishes sowing future wars under the guise…
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Speechless, withdrawn, sealed shut like their luggage, the de Prahecqs departed without a word for the Marquis—ignoring his pitiful glances and visible unease. They left him alone with the child, to nurse her back to health, aided only by Justine and the elderly Countess de Montégrier. A letter followed, sent by the Viscount, confirming Laure’s…
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June, August, October. And all might have faded with time, as it had before, amid the aimless passing of the months—the Marquis de Cluses grown contemplative, drifting in his habitual solitude, occupied with the running of his estate, growing unaccustomed to Laure’s presence, returning again to seductive literature and Louis XIV memorabilia—had the regular flow…
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The thirty-one years since the Marquis de Cluses reclaimed his mysterious power—by virtue of the tender feelings he evoked and the grief that overflowed from him—have witnessed the violation of human conscience, the weaving of numerous conspiracies, and the corruption of many truths. The bond between the ageing marquis, now in his eighties, and that…
Léon Hennique Novel 