Les diaboliques by J. Barbey d'Aurevilly
Les diaboliques by J. Barbey d'Aurevilly
Le meilleur régal du diable, c'est une innocence.
(A.)
Il vit donc toujours, ce vieux mauvais sujet?
- Par Dieu! s'il vit! - et par l'ordre de Dieu, Madame, fis-je en me reprenant, car je me souvins qu'elle était dévote, - et de la paroisse de Sainte-Clotilde encore, la paroisse des ducs! - Le roi est mort! Vive le roi! Disait-on sous l'ancienne monarchie avant qu'elle f?t cassée, cette vieille porcelaine de Sèvres. Don Juan, lui, malgré toutes les démocraties, est un monarque qu'on ne cassera pas.
- Au fait, le diable est immortel! dit-elle comme une raison qu'elle se serait donnée.
- Il a même...
- Qui?... le diable?...
- Non, Don Juan... soupé, il y a trois jours, en goguette.
Devinez où?...
- à votre affreuse Maison-d'Or, sans doute...
- Fi donc, Madame! Don Juan n'y va plus... il n'y a rien là à fricasser pour sa grandesse. Le seigneur Don Juan a toujours été un peu comme ce fameux moine d'Arnaud de Brescia qui, racontent les Chroniques, ne vivait que du sang des ames. C'est avec cela qu'il aime à roser son vin de Champagne, et cela ne se trouve plus depuis longtemps dans le cabaret des cocottes!
- Vous verrez, - reprit-elle avec ironie, - qu'il aura soupé au couvent des Bénédictines, avec ces dames...
- De l'Adoration perpétuelle, oui, Madame! Car l'adoration qu'il a inspirée une fois, ce diable d'homme! me fait l'effet de durer toujours.
- Pour un catholique, je vous trouve profanant, - dit-elle lentement, mais un peu crispée, - et je vous prie de m'épargner le détail des soupers de vos coquines, si c'est une manière inventée par vous de m'en donner des nouvelles que de me parler, ce soir de Don Juan.
- Je n'invente rien, Madame. Les coquines du souper en question, si ce sont des coquines, ne sont pas les miennes... malheureusement...
- Assez, Monsieur!
- Permettez-moi d'être modeste. C'étaient...
- Les mille è trè?... - fit-elle, curieuse, se ravisant, presque revenue à l'amabilité.
- Oh! pas toutes, Madame... Une douzaine seulement. C'est déjà, comme cela, bien assez honnête...
- Et déshonnête aussi, - ajouta-t-elle.
- D'ailleurs, vous savez aussi bien que moi qu'il ne peut pas tenir beaucoup de monde dans le boudoir de la comtesse de Chiffrevas. On a pu y faire des choses grandes; mais il est fort petit, ce boudoir...
- Comment? - se récria-t-elle, étonnée. - C'est donc dans le boudoir qu'on aura soupé?...
- Oui, Madame, c'est dans le boudoir. Et pourquoi pas? On d?ne bien sur un champ de bataille. On voulait donner un souper extraordinaire au seigneur Don Juan, et c'était plus digne de lui de le lui donner sur le théatre de sa gloire, là où les souvenirs fleurissent à la place des orangers. Jolie idée, tendre et mélancolique! Ce n'était pas le bal des victimes; c'en était le souper.
- Et Don Juan? - dit-elle, comme Orgon dit ?Et Tartufe?? dans la pièce.
- Don Juan a fort bien pris la chose et très bien soupé,
Lui, tout seul, devant elles!
dans la personne de quelqu'un que vous connaissez... et qui n'est pas moins que le comte Jules-Amédée-Hector de Ravila de Ravilès.
- Lui! C'est bien, en effet, Don Juan, - dit-elle.
Et, quoiqu'elle e?t passé l'age de la rêverie, cette dévote à bec et à ongles, elle se mit à rêver au comte Jules-Amédée-Hector, - à cet homme de race Juan, - de cette antique race Juan éternelle, à qui Dieu n'a pas donné le monde, mais a permis au diable de le lui donner.
In her previous life, Kimberly endured the betrayal of her husband, the cruel machinations of an evil woman, and the endless tyranny of her in-laws. It culminated in the bankruptcy of her family, and ultimately, her death. After being reborn, she resolved to seek retribution against those who had wronged her, and ensure her family's prosperity. To her shock, the most unattainable man from her past suddenly set his sights on her. "You may have overlooked me before, but I shall capture your heart this time around."
Luna has tried her best to make her forced marriage to Xen work for the sake of their child. But with Riley and Sophia- Xen's ex-girlfriend and her son in the picture. She fights a losing battle. Ollie, Xen's son is neglected by his father for a very long time and he is also suffering from a mysterious sickness that's draining his life force. When his last wish to have his dad come to his 5th birthday party is dashed by his failure to show up, Ollie dies in an accident after seeing his father celebrate Riley's birthday with Sophia and it's displayed on the big advertising boards that fill the city. Ollie dies and Luna follows after, unable to bear the grief, dying in her mate's hands cursing him and begging for a second chance to save her son. Luna gets the opportunity and is woken up in the past, exactly one year to the day Sophia and Riley show up. But this time around, Luna is willing to get rid of everyone and anyone even her mate if he steps in her way to save her son.
Everyone in town knew Amelia had chased Jaxton for years, even etching his initials on her skin. When malicious rumors swarmed, he merely straightened his cuff links and ordered her to kneel before the woman he truly loved. Seething with realization, she slammed her engagement ring down on his desk and walked away. Not long after, she whispered "I do" to a billionaire, their wedding post crashing every feed. Panic cracked Jaxton. "She's using you to spite me," he spat. The billionaire just smiled. "Being her sword is my honor."
After a year apart, Iris caught her husband, Caden, in what looked like an affair and made up her mind to file for divorce. Caden pinned her to the wall, his breath warm, his tone lazy and cold. "Divorce? Fine. But didn't we agree to have a child? Give me one, then we're done-assuming you can keep me interested long enough to want one. Until then, don't count on it." And so began her desperate, humiliating journey to get pregnant-not out of love, but for freedom. Later, the man who never begged cracked first, voice wrecked with tears. "Forget the kid. Just don't leave me."
Narine never expected to survive. Not after what was done to her body, mind, and soul. But fate had other plans. Rescued by Supreme Alpha Sargis, the kingdom's most feared ruler, she finds herself under the protection of a man she doesn't know... and a bond she doesn't understand. Sargis is no stranger to sacrifice. Ruthless, ambitious, and loyal to the sacred matebond, he's spent years searching for the soul fate promised him, never imagining she would come to him broken, on the brink of death, and afraid of her own shadow. He never meant to fall for her... but he does. Hard and fast. And he'll burn the world before letting anyone hurt her again. What begins in silence between two fractured souls slowly grows into something intimate and real. But healing is never linear. With the court whispering, the past clawing at their heels, and the future hanging by a thread, their bond is tested again and again. Because falling in love is one thing. Surviving it? That's a war of its own. Narine must decide, can she survive being loved by a man who burns like fire, when all she's ever known is how not to feel? Will she shrink for the sake of peace, or rise as Queen for the sake of his soul? For readers who believe even the most fractured souls can be whole again, and that true love doesn't save you. It stands beside you while you save yourself.
Gianna Benton, a woman who came from a great family, a family with ancient history, had always lived a life that's overshadowed by her younger sister, Quinn. After her unfair death with her unborn baby at the hands of the man she loved, Gianna got reborn. Now with the opportunity to live again, Gianna rejects her mate and gives herself to alpha Axel, falling into an unexpected contract marriage. Both plans to use each other, and falling in love isn't part of the deal for them. Gianna plans to get her revenge on her former lover, alpha Nathan, who killed her in the past because of her younger sister, but surprisingly to her, alpha Nathan wants his mate back, and Gianna is determined not to let the past repeat itself. ------------------------------------------------- "Is this hell?" "Gianna, what's wrong with you? I know that you are excited, but you need to stop acting weird." Mom said. I reach out my hands to touch her face, but she slaps my hands away. This is real, I thought. Somehow, I have gone back in time to the day I got married to Alpha Nathan. "I need to take a picture of you, but I can't do it without your sister. Wait here for me while I go get your sister." Mom left the room, leaving me alone with my thoughts. My hands formed a fist in anger as I thought of Quinn and Alpha Nathan. I don't know how I have traveled back to the past, but I'm not going to let myself make the same mistake I did in my past life; I'm not getting married to alpha Nathan. No matter what, I need to put a stop to this wedding.
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