the object of their existence.  Paul never imagined, as he observed the habits of life of the two ladies, that they covered a gulf of ruin.  Then, though there may exist some general rules to soften the asperities of marriage, there are none by which they can be accurately foreseen and evaded.  When trouble arises between two persons who have undertaken to render life agreeable and easy to each other, it comes from the contact of continual intimacy, which, of course, does not exist between young people before they marry, and will never exist so long as our present social laws and customs prevail in France.  All is more or less deception between the two young persons about to take each other for life,—­an innocent and involuntary deception, it is true.  Each endeavors to appear in a favorable light; both take a tone and attitude conveying a more favorable idea of their nature than they are able to maintain in after years.  Real life, like the weather, is made up of gray and cloudy days alternating with those when the sun shines and the fields are gay.  Young people, however, exhibit fine weather and no clouds.  Later they attribute to marriage the evils inherent in life itself; for there is in man a disposition to lay the blame of his own misery on the persons and things that surround him.

To discover in the demeanor, or the countenance, or the words, or the gestures of Mademoiselle Evangelista any indication that revealed the imperfections of her character, Paul must have possessed not only the knowledge of Lavater and Gall, but also a science in which there exists no formula of doctrine,—­the individual and personal science of an observer, which, for its perfection, requires an almost universal knowledge.  Natalie’s face, like that of most young girls, was impenetrable.  The deep, serene peace given by sculptors to the virgin faces of Justice and Innocence, divinities aloof from all earthly agitations, is the greatest charm of a young girl, the sign of her purity.  Nothing, as yet, has stirred her; no shattered passion, no hope betrayed has clouded the placid expression of that pure face.  Is that expression assumed?  If so, there is no young girl behind it.

Natalie, closely held to the heart of her mother, had received, like other Spanish women, an education that was solely religious, together with a few instructions from her mother as to the part in life she was called upon to play.  Consequently, the calm, untroubled expression of her face was natural.  And yet it formed a casing in which the woman was wrapped as the moth in its cocoon.  Nevertheless, any man clever at handling the scalpel of analysis might have detected in Natalie certain indications of the difficulties her character would present when brought into contact with conjugal or social life.  Her beauty, which was really marvellous, came from extreme regularity of feature harmonizing with the proportions of the head and the body.  This species of perfection augurs ill for the mind; and there are few exceptions to the rule.  All superior nature is found to have certain slight imperfections of form which become irresistible attractions, luminous points from which shine vivid sentiments, and on which the eye rests gladly.  Perfect harmony expresses usually the coldness of a mixed organization.