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prick. It seems as if all the freshness is stolen from her, and that
beauty decreases in her because it increases in others.
To profit by this secret ill-humour, to dive into the wrinkle on the
face of this woman of forty, who was a queen, seemed a good game for
Barkilphedro.
Envy excels in exciting jealousy, as a rat draws the crocodile from its
hole.
Barkilphedro fixed his wise gaze on Anne. He saw into the queen as one
sees into a stagnant pool. The marsh has its transparency. In dirty
water we see vices, in muddy water we see stupidity; Anne was muddy
water.
Embryos of sentiments and larvæ of ideas moved in her thick brain. They
were not distinct; they had scarcely any outline. But they were
realities, however shapeless. The queen thought this; the queen desired
that. To decide what was the difficulty. The confused transformations
which work in stagnant water are difficult to study. The queen,
habitually obscure, sometimes made sudden and stupid revelations. It was
on these that it was necessary to seize. He must take advantage of them
on the moment. How did the queen feel towards the Duchess Josiana? Did
she wish her good or evil?
Here was the problem. Barkilphedro set himself to solve it. This problem
solved, he might go further.
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