de Nucingen had driven Eugene to despair. In his own
mind he had completely surrendered himself to Vautrin, and
deliberately shut his eyes to the motive for the friendship which that
extraordinary man professed for him, nor would he look to the
consequences of such an alliance. Nothing short of a miracle could
extricate him now out of the gulf into which he had walked an hour
ago, when he exchanged vows in the softest whispers with Mlle.
Taillefer. To Victorine it seemed as if she heard an angel's voice,
that heaven was opening above her; the Maison Vauquer took strange and
wonderful hues, like a stage fairy-palace. She loved and she was
loved; at any rate, she believed that she was loved; and what woman
would not likewise have believed after seeing Rastignac's face and
listening to the tones of his voice during that hour snatched under
the Argus eyes of the Maison Vauquer? He had trampled on his
conscience; he knew that he was doing wrong, and did it deliberately;
he had said to himself that a woman's happiness should atone for this
venial sin. The energy of desperation had lent new beauty to his face;
the lurid fire that burned in his heart shone from his eyes.
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