cela refers io the phrase deux êtres qui, etc
pourtant, ' nevertheless,' ' notwithstanding,' is hère used to
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contradict, as it were, the former ténor of the Sister's thoughts or expérience. The idea she has in her mind is, ' in spite of what I should hâve taken to be the case, there are, however, two beings,' etc.
19. 16. elle s'appelait alors : on becoming a Sister a woman would
always drop her title, and often change her name. Annette de Cardaillan : de is used in proper names as a sign of nobility. An attempt was made to suppress this de at the time of the Révolution.
,, 17. Sacré-Cœur : the adoration of the Sacred Heart of Jésus was instituted at the end of the seventeenth century. The name was afterwards applied to a band of nuns devoted to the worship of the Sacred Heart, who also attend to the éducation of young girls. The monks belonging to the same order are known as the ' Pères de la congrégation des Sacrés- Cœurs de Jésus et de Marie.' Their establishment is at 33 Rue de Picpus, south of the Place de la Nation, on the right bank of the Seine. ' Le Couvent du Sacré-Cœur ' is situated close to the Hôtel des Invalides.
,, 22. Lord Cavendale . . : this is a sort of parenthetical sentence, and is at the same time elliptical. It serves to explain the preceding phrase, and has no other function. Note that the French hâve borrowed the English word ' lord. '
,, 24. en mineur: i.e. 'in a minor key.' In the minor mode the third and sixth above the tonic are minor. mazurka : this word may be spelt in a variety of ways, e. g. masurka, masourka, masourgue, or with z instead of s. A mazurka is a national Polish dance, also called a polka mazurka. The name is also applied to the air which accompanies the dance, written in three-four time, and in which the tonic is used as an invariable bass, or changes by octaves. The mazurka has a peculiar rhythm, in which the second beat is repeatedly well marked.
,, 25. la première entrevue: i.e. Annette's first meeting with Lord Cavendale.
,, 26. troublée: cf. note, p. 5 1. 8.
, , 29. Valois : Philippe VI. was the first king of France of the house of Valois, which occupied the throne for 261 years (1328-1589), during which period thirteen kings of this race received the crown.
20. 5. Auvergne : an ancient province of France, containing the
sources of the Loire, Dordogne, Lot, etc. It corresponded to the departments of Puy-de-Dôme, Cantal, and part of Haute-Loire. The capital was Clermont. It was unitcd to the French crown in 1610. Auvergnat (p. 46 1. 8) : a
Notes 85
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native of Auvergne. The Auvergnat is usually a steadygoing, hard-working raan, but his love of economy sometimes leads him, as hère, into miserly habits.
20. 12. restaurant : the first restaurant was opened at Paris in 1765
by Boulanger, who took for his motto, ' Venite ad me omnes qui stomacho laboratis, et ego vos restaurabo. ' Only a certain number of restaurants are open at night.
,, 20. montagnes : a branch of the Cevennes mountains runs through Auvergne. Thèse mountains are of volcanic structure. The chief peaks are Puy-de-Sancy, Plomb du Cantal, and Puy-de-Dôme. The word mont is applied to a single insulated eminence, the word montagne to a range.
, , 26. Monseigneur : a title of honour given to persons of eminence, such as bishops. Monseigneur de Paris is the Archbishop of Paris ; monseigneur de Blois, the Bishop of Blois, and so on. Annette's uncle was an archbishop.
,, 31. de partir : partir hère means ' to départ from life,' ' to die.' De between two verbs, as hère, sometimes has the meaning of de ce que, vu que, puisque. The idea is, ' she envied them because they were going to die before her,' or ' seeing that they were,' etc.
voilà que is sometimes used to show that a thing happens suddenly or unexpectedly, as hère. In this case it is équivalent to ' behold ! ' or ' lo ! '
21. 1. si . . que, 'however,' must be followed by the subjunctive
mood.
3. bénie: the verb bénir has two forms for the past participle, béni (fem. bénie) and bénit (fem. bénite). The latter form is generally used when the bénédiction has been performed by a priest, the former when speaking of the blessing of God or men (not priests). This distinction is merely arbitrary, and, as in this case, it is not always observed. , , 6. en ce moment means ' at this moment. ' En un moment, on the other hand, signifies 'in a moment's time,' i.e. in the space of a moment.
9. boulevard Magenta : this street, \\ miles in length, passes to the west of the Gare du Nord and the Gare de l'Est. It takes its name from the battle won by the French and Sardinians over the Austrians in 1859. The Emperor Napoléon III. was nominally in command of the allies, but the victory was attributed to Marsbal MacMahon, who was afterwards made Duke of Magenta. Magenta is a small place about 15 miles to the west of Milan, which was subsequently occupied by the French.
,, 10. Sainte-Ursule : Ursula is said to hâve been a British saint
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who, with other virgins, was put to death by an army of Huns near Cologne. She was patroness of the old Sorbonne, and various religious establishments hâve been founded in her name, chiefly for the éducation of young girls.
21. 26. camarade was originally a military terni. It has since corne
to mean one who lives the same kind of life, or has the same occupations as another. A compagnon is simply one who accompanies, without having necessarily the same occupations as another. Ex. — camarades de collège, compagnons de voyage. Thèse two Sisters were therefore both camarades and compagnes. Compagnon p. 45 1. 10 is used in the spécial sensé of ' workman. '
,, 29. l'Intransigeant : the Intransigentists are a faction in France whose parliamentary programme includes various radical reforms, and whose views are socialistic. L'Intransigeant is one of their organs. It is a morning paper edited by Rochefort.
22. 3. Balaclava, or Balaklava, is a small seaport in the Crimea, 8
miles south-east of Sebastopol. It was the headquarters of the Allies in the Crimean war, and a séries of engagements took place hère between the Allies and the Russians on October 25, 1854. The Russians took some redoubts from the Turks and threatened the port. The attack was diverted by the charge of the Heavy Brigade under General Scarlett. By a mistake, Lord Cardigan charged the Russian artillery with the Light Brigade, and routed the enemy's cavalry ; but of 670 men only 198 returned from the charge.
