Virtue in the Ballet Page #2

"Virtue in the Ballet" is a novella by Guy de Maupassant that explores the themes of morality, desire, and the complexities of human relationships within the context of the ballet world. The story follows characters deeply entangled in the art of dance, revealing the contrasts between the superficial glamour of the stage and the underlying struggles of those behind the scenes. Maupassant's sharp observations and rich characterizations offer insight into the interplay of ambition, virtue, and the often harsh realities that performers face, ultimately questioning the true meaning of virtue in a society obsessed with appearances.

• Short story

								

shower of gold ceased.

The mother cried and the daughter laughed. "I never gave the worn out
old rake any hopes, and what does it matter to me, what bargain you made
with him? I always thought that you had been lucky on the Stock
Exchange. Now, however, we must seriously consider about giving up our
apartments, and make up our minds to live as we did before."

"Are you really capable of making such a sacrifice for me, to renounce
luxury and to have my poverty?" her lover said.

"Certainly I am! Is not that a matter of course when one loves?" the
ballet girl replied in surprise.

"Then let me inform you, my dear Henrietta," he said, "that I am not so
poor as you think; I only wished to find out, whether I could make
myself loved for my own sake, I have done so. I am Count L----, and
though I am a minor and dependent on my parents, yet I have enough to be
able to retain your pretty rooms for you, and to offer you, if not a
luxurious, at any rate a comfortable existence."

On hearing this, Mamma dried her tears immediately. Count L---- became
the girl's acknowledged lover, and they passed the happiest hours
together. Unselfish as the girl was, she was yet such a thoroughly
ingenuous Viennese, that, whenever she saw anything that took her fancy,
whether it was a dress, a cloak or one of those pretty little ornaments
for a side table, she used to express her admiration in such terms, as
forced her lover to make her a present of the object in question. In
this way, Count L---- incurred enormous debts, which his father paid
repeatedly; at last, however, he inquired into the cause of all this
extravagance, and when he discovered it, he gave his son the choice of
giving up his connection with the dancer, or of relinquishing all claims
on the paternal money box.

It was a sorrowful evening, when Count L---- told his mistress of his
father's determination.

"If I do not give you up, I shall be able to do nothing for you," he
said at last, "and I shall not even know how I should manage to live
myself, for my father is just the man to allow me to want, if I defy
him. That, however, is a very secondary consideration; but as a man of
honor, I cannot bind you, who have every right to luxury and enjoyment,
to myself, from the moment when I cannot even keep you from want, and so
I must set you at liberty."

"But I will not give you up," Henrietta said proudly.

The young Count shook his head sadly.

"Do you love me?" the ballet girl said, quickly.

"More than my life."

"Then we will not separate, as long as I have anything," she continued.

And she would not give up her connection with him, and when his father
actually turned Count L---- into the street, she took her lover into her
own lodgings. He obtained a situation as a copyist clerk in a lawyer's
office, and she sold her valuable dresses and jewels, and so they lived
for more than a year.

The young man's father did not appear to trouble his head about them,
but nevertheless he knew everything that went on in their small home,
and knew every article that the ballet girl sold; until at last,
softened by such love and strength of character, he himself made the
first advances to a reconciliation with his son.

At the present time, Henrietta wears the diamonds which formerly
belonged to the old Countess, and it is long since she was a ballet
girl, for now she sits by the side of her husband in a carriage on whose
panels their armorial bearings are painted.
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