glance.

Born in the neighborhood of Avignon, the young Provencal whose name we
have just mentioned was of middle height, well-proportioned, and
rather stout; the tone of his skin had no brilliancy; it was neither
livid nor dead-white, nor colored, but gelatinous,--that word can
alone give a true idea of the flabby, hueless envelope, beneath which
were concealed nerves that were less vigorous than capable of enormous
resistance at certain given moments. His eyes, of a pale cold blue,
expressed in their ordinary condition a species of deceptive sadness,
which must have had great charms for women. The forehead, finely cut,
was not without dignity, and it harmonized well with the soft, light
chestnut hair curling naturally, but slightly, at its tips. The nose,
precisely like that of a hunting dog, flat and furrowed at the tip,
inquisitive, intelligent, searching, always on the scent, instead of
expressing good-humor, was ironical and mocking; but this particular
aspect of his nature never showed itself openly; the young man must
have ceased to watch himself, he must have flown into fury before the
power came to him to flash out the sarcasm and the wit which
embittered, tenfold, his infernal humor. The mouth, the curving lines
and pomegranate-colored lips of which were very pleasing, seemed the
admirable instrument of an organ that was almost sweet in its middle
tones, where its owner usually kept it, but which, in its higher key,
vibrated on the ear like the sound of a gong. This falsetto was the
voice of his nerves and his anger. His face, kept expressionless by an
inward command, was oval in form. His manners, in harmony with the
sacerdotal calmness of the face, were reserved and conventional; but
he had supple, pliant ways which, though they never descended to
wheedling, were not lacking in seduction; although as soon as his back
was turned their charm seemed inexplicable. Charm, when it takes its