People called him a misanthrope, but he was too eager
after his own interests, and too extortionate towards others to have
set up a genuine divorce from the world. His indifferent demeanor, his
affected silence, his habitual custom of looking, as it were, into the
void, seemed to indicate depth of character, while in fact they merely
concealed the shallow insignificance of a notary busied exclusively
with earthly interests; though he was still young enough to feel envy.
To marry into the family of Claes would have been to him an object of
extreme desire, if an instinct of avarice had not underlain it. He
could seem generous, but for all that he was a keen reckoner. And
thus, without explaining to himself the motive for his change of
manner, his behavior was harsh, peremptory, and surly, like that of an
ordinary business man, when he thought the Claes were ruined;
accommodating, affectionate, and almost servile, when he saw reason to
believe in a happy issue to his cousin's labors. Sometimes he beheld
an infanta in Margeurite Claes, to whom no provincial notary might
aspire; then he regarded her as any poor girl too happy if he deigned
to make her his wife. He was a true provincial, and a Fleming; without
malevolence, not devoid of devotion and kindheartedness, but led by a
naive selfishness which rendered all his better qualities incomplete,
while certain absurdities of manner spoiled his personal appearance.
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