diff options
| author | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 05:16:42 -0700 |
|---|---|---|
| committer | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 05:16:42 -0700 |
| commit | 41cacd4bc6d5edc8918980e51565b5163eabce8a (patch) | |
| tree | f1a523259a07e2c831fbd583e6bece2f8be3dc1f /1223-h | |
Diffstat (limited to '1223-h')
| -rw-r--r-- | 1223-h/1223-h.htm | 10672 |
1 files changed, 10672 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/1223-h/1223-h.htm b/1223-h/1223-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..34ab8bf --- /dev/null +++ b/1223-h/1223-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,10672 @@ +<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?> + +<!DOCTYPE html + PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd" > + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" lang="en"> + <head> + <title> + Ursula, by Honore de Balzac + </title> + <style type="text/css" xml:space="preserve"> + + body { margin:5%; background:#faebd0; text-align:justify} + P { text-indent: 1em; margin-top: .25em; margin-bottom: .25em; } + H1,H2,H3,H4,H5,H6 { text-align: center; margin-left: 15%; margin-right: 15%; } + hr { width: 50%; text-align: center;} + .foot { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; text-indent: -3em; font-size: 90%; } + blockquote {font-size: 97%; font-style: italic; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%;} + .mynote {background-color: #DDE; color: #000; padding: .5em; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 95%;} + .toc { margin-left: 10%; margin-bottom: .75em;} + .toc2 { margin-left: 20%;} + div.fig { display:block; margin:0 auto; text-align:center; } + div.middle { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; } + .figleft {float: left; margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 1%;} + .figright {float: right; margin-right: 0%; margin-left: 1%;} + .pagenum {display:inline; font-size: 70%; font-style:normal; + margin: 0; padding: 0; position: absolute; right: 1%; + text-align: right;} + pre { font-style: italic; font-size: 90%; margin-left: 10%;} + +</style> + </head> + <body> +<div>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 1223 ***</div> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <h1> + URSULA + </h1> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <h2> + By Honore De Balzac + </h2> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <h3> + Translated by Katharine Prescott Wormeley + </h3> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <blockquote> + <p class="toc"> + <big><b>CONTENTS</b></big> + </p> + <p> + <br /> <a href="#link2H_4_0001"> DEDICATION </a><br /><br /> <a + href="#link2H_4_0002"> <b>URSULA</b> </a><br /><br /> <a + href="#link2HCH0001"> CHAPTER I. </a> THE FRIGHTENED HEIRS + <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0002"> CHAPTER II. </a> THE RICH + UNCLE <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0003"> CHAPTER III. </a> THE + DOCTOR’S FRIENDS <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0004"> CHAPTER IV. </a> ZELIE + <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0005"> CHAPTER V. </a> URSULA + <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0006"> CHAPTER VI. </a> A + TREATISE ON MESMERISM <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0007"> CHAPTER VII. + </a> A TWO-FOLD CONVERSION <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0008"> + CHAPTER VIII. </a> THE CONFERENCE <br /><br /> <a + href="#link2HCH0009"> CHAPTER IX. </a> A FIRST CONFIDENCE + <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0010"> CHAPTER X. </a> THE + FAMILY OF PORTENDUERE <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0011"> CHAPTER XI. + </a> SAVINIEN SAVED <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0012"> + CHAPTER XII. </a> OBSTACLES TO YOUNG LOVE <br /><br /> <a + href="#link2HCH0013"> CHAPTER XIII. </a> BETROTHAL OF HEARTS + <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0014"> CHAPTER XIV. </a> URSULA + AGAIN ORPHANED <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0015"> CHAPTER XV. </a> THE + DOCTOR’S WILL <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0016"> CHAPTER XVI. </a> THE + TWO ADVERSARIES <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0017"> CHAPTER XVII. </a> THE + MALIGNITY OF PROVINCIAL MINDS <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0018"> + CHAPTER XVIII. </a> A TWO-FOLD VENGEANCE + <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0019"> CHAPTER XIX. </a> APPARITIONS + <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0020"> CHAPTER XX. </a> REMORSE + <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0021"> CHAPTER XXI. </a> SHOWING + HOW DIFFICULT IT IS TO STEAL<br /> THAT WHICH SEEMS VERY EASILY STOLEN<br /> + <br /> <br /><br /> <a href="#link2H_4_0024"> ADDENDUM </a> + </p> + </blockquote> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> <a name="link2H_4_0001" id="link2H_4_0001"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <h2> + DEDICATION + </h2> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + To Mademoiselle Sophie Surville, + + It is a true pleasure, my dear niece, to dedicate to you this + book, the subject and details of which have won the + approbation, so difficult to win, of a young girl to whom the + world is still unknown, and who has compromised with none of + the lofty principles of a saintly education. Young girls are + indeed a formidable public, for they ought not to be allowed + to read books less pure than the purity of their souls; they + are forbidden certain reading, just as they are carefully + prevented from seeing social life as it is. Must it not + therefore be a source of pride to a writer to find that he has + pleased you? + + God grant that your affection for me has not misled you. Who can tell? + —the future; which you, I hope, will see, though not, perhaps. + + Your uncle, + De Balzac. +</pre> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> <a name="link2H_4_0002" id="link2H_4_0002"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h1> + URSULA + </h1> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0001" id="link2HCH0001"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER I. THE FRIGHTENED HEIRS + </h2> + <p> + Entering Nemours by the road to Paris, we cross the canal du Loing, the + steep banks of which serve the double purpose of ramparts to the fields + and of picturesque promenades for the inhabitants of that pretty little + town. Since 1830 several houses had unfortunately been built on the + farther side of the bridge. If this sort of suburb increases, the place + will lose its present aspect of graceful originality. + </p> + <p> + In 1829, however, both sides of the road were clear, and the master of the + post route, a tall, stout man about sixty years of age, sitting one fine + autumn morning at the highest part of the bridge, could take in at a + glance the whole of what is called in his business a “ruban de queue.” The + month of September was displaying its treasures; the atmosphere glowed + above the grass and the pebbles; no cloud dimmed the blue of the sky, the + purity of which in all parts, even close to the horizon, showed the + extreme rarefaction of the air. So Minoret-Levrault (for that was the post + master’s name) was obliged to shade his eyes with one hand to keep them + from being dazzled. With the air of a man who was tired of waiting, he + looked first to the charming meadows which lay to the right of the road + where the aftermath was springing up, then to the hill-slopes covered with + copses which extend, on the left, from Nemours to Bouron. He could hear in + the valley of the Loing, where the sounds on the road were echoed back + from the hills, the trot of his own horses and the crack of his + postilion’s whip. + </p> + <p> + None but a post master could feel impatient within sight of such meadows, + filled with cattle worthy of Paul Potter and glowing beneath a Raffaelle + sky, and beside a canal shaded with trees after Hobbema. Whoever knows + Nemours knows that nature is there as beautiful as art, whose mission is + to spiritualize it; there, the landscape has ideas and creates thought. + But, on catching sight of Minoret-Levrault an artist would very likely + have left the view to sketch the man, so original was he in his native + commonness. Unite in a human being all the conditions of the brute and you + have a Caliban, who is certainly a great thing. Wherever form rules, + sentiment disappears. The post master, a living proof of that axiom, + presented a physiognomy in which an observer could with difficulty trace, + beneath the vivid carnation of its coarsely developed flesh, the semblance + of a soul. His cap of blue cloth, with a small peak, and sides fluted like + a melon, outlined a head of vast dimensions, showing that Gall’s science + has not yet produced its chapter of exceptions. The gray and rather shiny + hair which appeared below the cap showed that other causes than mental + toil or grief had whitened it. Large ears stood out from the head, their + edges scarred with the eruptions of his over-abundant blood, which seemed + ready to gush at the least exertion. His skin was crimson under an outside + layer of brown, due to the habit of standing in the sun. The roving gray + eyes, deep-sunken, and hidden by bushy black brows, were like those of the + Kalmucks who entered France in 1815; if they ever sparkled it was only + under the influence of a covetous thought. His broad pug nose was + flattened at the base. Thick lips, in keeping with a repulsive double + chin, the beard of which, rarely cleaned more than once a week, was + encircled with a dirty silk handkerchief twisted to a cord; a short neck, + rolling in fat, and heavy cheeks completed the characteristics of brute + force which sculptors give to their caryatids. Minoret-Levrault was like + those statues, with this difference, that whereas they supported an + edifice, he had more than he could well do to support himself. You will + meet many such Atlases in the world. The man’s torso was a block; it was + like that of a bull standing on his hind-legs. His vigorous arms ended in + a pair of thick, hard hands, broad and strong and well able to handle + whip, reins, and pitchfork; hands which his postilions never attempted to + trifle with. The enormous stomach of this giant rested on thighs which + were as large as the body of an ordinary adult, and feet like those of an + elephant. Anger was a rare thing with him, but it was terrible, + apoplectic, when it did burst forth. Though violent and quite incapable of + reflection, the man had never done anything that justified the sinister + suggestions of his bodily presence. To all those who felt afraid of him + his postilions would reply, “Oh! he’s not bad.” + </p> + <p> + The master of Nemours, to use the common abbreviation of the country, wore + a velveteen shooting-jacket of bottle-green, trousers of green linen with + great stripes, and an ample yellow waistcoat of goat’s skin, in the pocket + of which might be discerned the round outline of a monstrous snuff-box. A + snuff-box to a pug nose is a law without exception. + </p> + <p> + A son of the Revolution and a spectator of the Empire, Minoret-Levrault + did not meddle with politics; as to his religious opinions, he had never + set foot in a church except to be married; as to his private principles, + he kept them within the civil code; all that the law did not forbid or + could not prevent he considered right. He never read anything but the + journal of the department of the Seine-et-Oise, and a few printed + instructions relating to his business. He was considered a clever + agriculturist; but his knowledge was only practical. In him the moral + being did not belie the physical. He seldom spoke, and before speaking he + always took a pinch of snuff to give himself time, not to find ideas, but + words. If he had been a talker you would have felt that he was out of + keeping with himself. Reflecting that this elephant minus a trumpet and + without a mind was called Minoret-Levrault, we are compelled to agree with + Sterne as to the occult power of names, which sometimes ridicule and + sometimes foretell characters. + </p> + <p> + In spite of his visible incapacity he had acquired during the last + thirty-six years (the Revolution helping him) an income of thirty thousand + francs, derived from farm lands, woods and meadows. If Minoret, being + master of the coach-lines of Nemours and those of the Gatinais to Paris, + still worked at his business, it was less from habit than for the sake of + an only son, to whom he was anxious to give a fine career. This son, who + was now (to use an expression of the peasantry) a “monsieur,” had just + completed his legal studies and was about to take his degree as + licentiate, preparatory to being called to the Bar. Monsieur and Madame + Minoret-Levrault—for behind our colossus every one will perceive a + woman without whom this signal good-fortune would have been impossible—left + their son free to choose his own career; he might be a notary in Paris, + king’s-attorney in some district, collector of customs no matter where, + broker, or post master, as he pleased. What fancy of his could they ever + refuse him? to what position of life might he not aspire as the son of a + man about whom the whole countryside, from Montargis to Essonne, was in + the habit of saying, “Pere Minoret doesn’t even know how rich he is”? + </p> + <p> + This saying had obtained fresh force about four years before this history + begins, when Minoret, after selling his inn, built stables and a splendid + dwelling, and removed the post-house from the Grand’Rue to the wharf. The + new establishment cost two hundred thousand francs, which the gossip of + thirty miles in circumference more than doubled. The Nemours mail-coach + service requires a large number of horses. It goes to Fontainebleau on the + road to Paris, and from there diverges to Montargis and also to Montereau. + The relays are long, and the sandy soil of the Montargis road calls for + the mythical third horse, always paid for but never seen. A man of + Minoret’s build, and Minoret’s wealth, at the head of such an + establishment might well be called, without contradiction, the master of + Nemours. Though he never thought of God or devil, being a practical + materialist, just as he was a practical agriculturist, a practical egoist, + and a practical miser, Minoret had enjoyed up to this time a life of + unmixed happiness,—if we can call pure materialism happiness. A + physiologist, observing the rolls of flesh which covered the last + vertebrae and pressed upon the giant’s cerebellum, and, above all, hearing + the shrill, sharp voice which contrasted so absurdly with his huge body, + would have understood why this ponderous, coarse being adored his only + son, and why he had so long expected him,—a fact proved by the name, + Desire, which was given to the child. + </p> + <p> + The mother, whom the boy fortunately resembled, rivaled the father in + spoiling him. No child could long have resisted the effects of such + idolatry. As soon as Desire knew the extent of his power he milked his + mother’s coffer and dipped into his father’s purse, making each author of + his being believe that he, or she, alone was petitioned. Desire, who + played a part in Nemours far beyond that of a prince royal in his father’s + capital, chose to gratify his fancies in Paris just as he had gratified + them in his native town; he had therefore spent a yearly sum of not less + than twelve thousand francs during the time of his legal studies. But for + that money he had certainly acquired ideas that would never had come to + him in Nemours; he had stripped off the provincial skin, learned the power + of money and seen in the magistracy a means of advancement which he + fancied. During the last year he had spent an extra sum of ten thousand + francs in the company of artists, journalists, and their mistresses. A + confidential and rather disquieting letter from his son, asking for his + consent to a marriage, explains the watch which the post master was now + keeping on the bridge; for Madame Minoret-Levrault, busy in preparing a + sumptuous breakfast to celebrate the triumphal return of the licentiate, + had sent her husband to the mail road, advising him to take a horse and + ride out if he saw nothing of the diligence. The coach which was conveying + the precious son usually arrived at five in the morning and it was now + nine! What could be the meaning of such delay? Was the coach overturned? + Could Desire be dead? Or was it nothing worse than a broken leg? + </p> + <p> + Three distinct volleys of cracking whips rent the air like a discharge of + musketry; the red waistcoats of the postilions dawned in sight, ten horses + neighed. The master pulled off his cap and waved it; he was seen. The best + mounted postilion, who was returning with two gray carriage-horses, set + spurs to his beast and came on in advance of the five diligence horses and + the three other carriage-horses, and soon reached his master. + </p> + <p> + “Have you seen the ‘Ducler’?” + </p> + <p> + On the great mail routes names, often fantastic, are given to the + different coaches; such, for instance, as the “Caillard,” the “Ducler” + (the coach between Nemours and Paris), the “Grand Bureau.” Every new + enterprise is called the “Competition.” In the days of the Lecompte + company their coaches were called the “Countess.”—“‘Caillard’ could + not overtake the ‘Countess’; but ‘Grand Bureau’ caught up with her + finely,” you will hear the men say. If you see a postilion pressing his + horses and refusing a glass of wine, question the conductor and he will + tell you, snuffing the air while his eye gazes far into space, “The + ‘Competition’ is ahead.”—“We can’t get in sight of her,” cries the + postilion; “the vixen! she wouldn’t stop to let her passengers dine.”—“The + question is, has she got any?” responds the conductor. “Give it to + Polignac!” All lazy and bad horses are called Polignac. Such are the jokes + and the basis of conversation between postilions and conductors on the + roofs of the coaches. Each profession, each calling in France has its + slang. + </p> + <p> + “Have you seen the ‘Ducler’?” asked Minoret. + </p> + <p> + “Monsieur Desire?” said the postilion, interrupting his master. “Hey! you + must have heard us, didn’t our whips tell you? we felt you were somewhere + along the road.” + </p> + <p> + Just then a woman dressed in her Sunday clothes,—for the bells were + pealing from the clock tower and calling the inhabitants to mass,—a + woman about thirty-six years of age came up to the post master. + </p> + <p> + “Well, cousin,” she said, “you wouldn’t believe me—Uncle is with + Ursula in the Grand’Rue, and they are going to mass.” + </p> + <p> + In spite of the modern poetic canons as to local color, it is quite + impossible to push realism so far as to repeat the horrible blasphemy + mingled with oaths which this news, apparently so unexciting, brought from + the huge mouth of Minoret-Levrault; his shrill voice grew sibilant, and + his face took on the appearance of what people oddly enough call a + sunstroke. + </p> + <p> + “Is that true?” he asked, after the first explosion of his wrath was over. + </p> + <p> + The postilions bowed to their master as they and their horses passed him, + but he seemed to neither see nor hear them. Instead of waiting for his + son, Minoret-Levrault hurried up to the Grand’Rue with his cousin. + </p> + <p> + “Didn’t I always tell you so?” she resumed. “When Doctor Minoret goes out + of his head that demure little hypocrite will drag him into religion; + whoever lays hold of the mind gets hold of the purse, and she’ll have our + inheritance.” + </p> + <p> + “But, Madame Massin—” said the post master, dumbfounded. + </p> + <p> + “There now!” exclaimed Madame Massin, interrupting her cousin. “You are + going to say, just as Massin does, that a little girl of fifteen can’t + invent such plans and carry them out, or make an old man of eighty-three, + who has never set foot in a church except to be married, change his + opinions,—now don’t tell me he has such a horror of priests that he + wouldn’t even go with the girl to the parish church when she made her + first communion. I’d like to know why, if Doctor Minoret hates priests, he + has spent nearly every evening for the last fifteen years of his life with + the Abbe Chaperon. The old hypocrite never fails to give Ursula twenty + francs for wax tapers every time she takes the sacrament. Have you + forgotten the gift Ursula made to the church in gratitude to the cure for + preparing her for her first communion? She spent all her money on it, and + her godfather returned it to her doubled. You men! you don’t pay attention + to things. When I heard that, I said to myself, ‘Farewell baskets, the + vintage is done!’ A rich uncle doesn’t behave that way to a little brat + picked up in the streets without some good reason.” + </p> + <p> + “Pooh, cousin; I dare say the good man is only taking her to the door of + the church,” replied the post master. “It is a fine day, and he is out for + a walk.” + </p> + <p> + “I tell you he is holding a prayer-book, and looks sanctimonious—you’ll + see him.” + </p> + <p> + “They hide their game pretty well,” said Minoret, “La Bougival told me + there was never any talk of religion between the doctor and the abbe. + Besides, the abbe is one of the most honest men on the face of the globe; + he’d give the shirt off his back to a poor man; he is incapable of a base + action, and to cheat a family out of their inheritance is—” + </p> + <p> + “Theft,” said Madame Massin. + </p> + <p> + “Worse!” cried Minoret-Levrault, exasperated by the tongue of his + gossiping neighbour. + </p> + <p> + “Of course I know,” said Madame Massin, “that the Abbe Chaperon is an + honest man; but he is capable of anything for the sake of his poor. He + must have mined and undermined uncle, and the old man has just tumbled + into piety. We did nothing, and here he is perverted! A man who never + believed in anything, and had principles of his own! Well! we’re done for. + My husband is absolutely beside himself.” + </p> + <p> + Madame Massin, whose sentences were so many arrows stinging her fat + cousin, made him walk as fast as herself, in spite of his obesity and to + the great astonishment of the church-goers, who were on their way to mass. + She was determined to overtake this uncle and show him to the post master. + </p> + <p> + Nemours is commanded on the Gatinais side by a hill, at the foot of which + runs the road to Montargis and the Loing. The church, on the stones of + which time has cast a rich discolored mantle (it was rebuilt in the + fourteenth century by the Guises, for whom Nemours was raised to a + peerage-duchy), stands at the end of the little town close to a great arch + which frames it. For buildings, as for men, position does everything. + Shaded by a few trees, and thrown into relief by a neatly kept square, + this solitary church produces a really grandiose effect. As the post + master of Nemours entered the open space, he beheld his uncle with the + young girl called Ursula on his arm, both carrying prayer-books and just + entering the church. The old man took off his hat in the porch, and his + head, which was white as a hill-top covered with snow, shone among the + shadows of the portal. + </p> + <p> + “Well, Minoret, what do you say to the conversion of your uncle?” cried + the tax-collector of Nemours, named Cremiere. + </p> + <p> + “What do you expect me to say?” replied the post master, offering him a + pinch of snuff. + </p> + <p> + “Well answered, Pere Levrault. You can’t say what you think, if it is + true, as an illustrious author says it is, that a man must think his words + before he speaks his thoughts,” cried a young man, standing near, who + played the part of Mephistopheles in the little town. + </p> + <p> + This ill-conditioned youth, named Goupil, was head clerk to Monsieur + Cremiere-Dionis, the Nemours notary. Notwithstanding a past conduct that + was almost debauched, Dionis had taken Goupil into his office when a + career in Paris—where the clerk had wasted all the money he + inherited from his father, a well-to-do farmer, who educated him for a + notary—was brought to a close by his absolute pauperism. The mere + sight of Goupil told an observer that he had made haste to enjoy life, and + had paid dear for his enjoyments. Though very short, his chest and + shoulders were developed at twenty-seven years of age like those of a man + of forty. Legs small and weak, and a broad face, with a cloudy complexion + like the sky before a storm, surmounted by a bald forehead, brought out + still further the oddity of his conformation. His face seemed as though it + belonged to a hunchback whose hunch was inside of him. One singularity of + that pale and sour visage confirmed the impression of an invisible + gobbosity; the nose, crooked and out of shape like those of many deformed + persons, turned from right to left of the face instead of dividing it down + the middle. The mouth, contracted at the corners, like that of a + Sardinian, was always on the qui vive of irony. His hair, thin and + reddish, fell straight, and showed the skull in many places. His hands, + coarse and ill-joined at the wrists to arms that were far too long, were + quick-fingered and seldom clean. Goupil wore boots only fit for the + dust-heap, and raw silk stockings now of a russet black; his coat and + trousers, all black, and threadbare and greasy with dirt, his pitiful + waistcoat with half the button-moulds gone, an old silk handkerchief which + served as a cravat—in short, all his clothing revealed the cynical + poverty to which his passions had reduced him. This combination of + disreputable signs was guarded by a pair of eyes with yellow circles round + the pupils, like those of a goat, both lascivious and cowardly. No one in + Nemours was more feared nor, in a way, more deferred to than Goupil. + Strong in the claims made for him by his very ugliness, he had the odious + style of wit peculiar to men who allow themselves all license, and he used + it to gratify the bitterness of his life-long envy. He wrote the satirical + couplets sung during the carnival, organized charivaris, and was himself a + “little journal” of the gossip of the town. Dionis, who was clever and + insincere, and for that reason timid, kept Goupil as much through fear as + for his keen mind and thorough knowledge of all the interests of the town. + But the master so distrusted his clerk that he himself kept the accounts, + refused to let him live in his house, held him at arm’s length, and never + confided any secret or delicate affair to his keeping. In return the clerk + fawned upon the notary, hiding his resentment at this conduct, and + watching Madame Dionis in the hope that he might get his revenge there. + Gifted with a ready mind and quick comprehension he found work easy. + </p> + <p> + “You!” exclaimed the post master to the clerk, who stood rubbing his + hands, “making game of our misfortunes already?” + </p> + <p> + As Goupil was known to have pandered to Dionis’ passions for the last five + years, the post master treated him cavalierly, without suspecting the + hoard of ill-feeling he was piling up in Goupil’s heart with every fresh + insult. The clerk, convinced that money was more necessary to him than it + was to others, and knowing himself superior in mind to the whole + bourgeoisie of Nemours, was now counting on his intimacy with Minoret’s + son Desire to obtain the means of buying one or the other of three town + offices,—that of clerk of the court, or the legal practice of one of + the sheriffs, or that of Dionis himself. For this reason he put up with + the affronts of the post master and the contempt of Madame + Minoret-Levrault, and played a contemptible part towards Desire, consoling + the fair victims whom that youth left behind him after each vacation,—devouring + the crumbs of the loaves he had kneaded. + </p> + <p> + “If I were the nephew of a rich old fellow, he never would have given God + to ME for a co-heir,” retorted Goupil, with a hideous grin which exhibited + his teeth—few, black, and menacing. + </p> + <p> + Just then Massin-Levrault, junior, the clerk of the court, joined his + wife, bringing with him Madame Cremiere, the wife of the tax-collector of + Nemours. This man, one of the hardest natures of the little town, had the + physical characteristics of a Tartar: eyes small and round as sloes + beneath a retreating brow, crimped hair, an oily skin, huge ears without + any rim, a mouth almost without lips, and a scanty beard. He spoke like a + man who was losing his voice. To exhibit him thoroughly it is enough to + say that he employed his wife and eldest daughter to serve his legal + notices. + </p> + <p> + Madame Cremiere was a stout woman, with a fair complexion injured by red + blotches, always too tightly laced, intimate with Madame Dionis, and + supposed to be educated because she read novels. Full of pretensions to + wit and elegance, she was awaiting her uncle’s money to “take a certain + stand,” decorate her salon, and receive the bourgeoisie. At present her + husband denied her Carcel lamps, lithographs, and all the other trifles + the notary’s wife possessed. She was excessively afraid of Goupil, who + caught up and retailed her “slapsus-linquies” as she called them. One day + Madame Dionis chanced to ask what “Eau” she thought best for the teeth. + </p> + <p> + “Try opium,” she replied. + </p> + <p> + Nearly all the collateral heirs of old Doctor Minoret were now assembled + in the square; the importance of the event which brought them was so + generally felt that even groups of peasants, armed with their scarlet + umbrellas and dressed in those brilliant colors which make them so + picturesque on Sundays and fete-days, stood by, with their eyes fixed on + the frightened heirs. In all little towns which are midway between large + villages and cities those who do not go to mass stand about in the square + or market-place. Business is talked over. In Nemours the hour of church + service was a weekly exchange, to which the owners of property scattered + over a radius of some miles resorted. + </p> + <p> + “Well, how would you have prevented it?” said the post master to Goupil in + reply to his remark. + </p> + <p> + “I should have made myself as important to him as the air he breathes. But + from the very first you failed to get hold of him. The inheritance of a + rich uncle should be watched as carefully as a pretty woman—for want + of proper care they’ll both escape you. If Madame Dionis were here she + could tell you how true that comparison is.” + </p> + <p> + “But Monsieur Bongrand has just told me there is nothing to worry about,” + said Massin. + </p> + <p> + “Oh! there are plenty of ways of saying that!” cried Goupil, laughing. “I + would like to have heard your sly justice of the peace say it. If there is + nothing to be done, if he, being intimate with your uncle, knows that all + is lost, the proper thing for him to say to you is, ‘Don’t be worried.’” + </p> + <p> + As Goupil spoke, a satirical smile overspread his face, and gave such + meaning to his words that the other heirs began to feel that Massin had + let Bongrand deceive him. The tax-collector, a fat little man, as + insignificant as a tax-collector should be, and as much of a cipher as a + clever woman could wish, hereupon annihilated his co-heir, Massin, with + the words:—“Didn’t I tell you so?” + </p> + <p> + Tricky people always attribute trickiness to others. Massin therefore + looked askance at Monsieur Bongrand, the justice of the peace, who was at + that moment talking near the door of the church with the Marquis du + Rouvre, a former client. + </p> + <p> + “If I were sure of it!” he said. + </p> + <p> + “You could neutralize the protection he is now giving to the Marquis du + Rouvre, who is threatened with arrest. Don’t you see how Bongrand is + sprinkling him with advice?” said Goupil, slipping an idea of retaliation + into Massin’s mind. “But you had better go easy with your chief; he’s a + clever old fellow; he might use his influence with your uncle and persuade + him not to leave everything to the church.” + </p> + <p> + “Pooh! we sha’n’t die of it,” said Minoret-Levrault, opening his enormous + snuff-box. + </p> + <p> + “You won’t live of it, either,” said Goupil, making the two women tremble. + More quick-witted than their husbands, they saw the privations this loss + of inheritance (so long counted on for many comforts) would be to them. + “However,” added Goupil, “we’ll drown this little grief in floods of + champagne in honor of Desire!—sha’n’t we, old fellow?” he cried, + tapping the stomach of the giant, and inviting himself to the feast for + fear he should be left out. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0002" id="link2HCH0002"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER II. THE RICH UNCLE + </h2> + <p> + Before proceeding further, persons of an exact turn of mind may like to + read a species of family inventory, so as to understand the degrees of + relationship which connected the old man thus suddenly converted to + religion with these three heads of families or their wives. This + cross-breeding of families in the remote provinces might be made the + subject of many instructive reflections. + </p> + <p> + There are but three or four houses of the lesser nobility in Nemours; + among them, at the period of which we write, that of the family of + Portenduere was the most important. These exclusives visited none but + nobles who possessed lands or chateaus in the neighbourhood; of the latter + we may mention the d’Aiglemonts, owners of the beautiful estate of + Saint-Lange, and the Marquis du Rouvre, whose property, crippled by + mortgages, was closely watched by the bourgeoisie. The nobles of the town + had no money. Madame de Portenduere’s sole possessions were a farm which + brought a rental of forty-seven hundred francs, and her town house. + </p> + <p> + In opposition to this very insignificant Faubourg St. Germain was a group + of a dozen rich families, those of retired millers, or former merchants; + in short a miniature bourgeoisie; below which, again, lived and moved the + retail shopkeepers, the proletaries and the peasantry. The bourgeoisie + presented (like that of the Swiss cantons and of other small countries) + the curious spectacle of the ramifications of certain autochthonous + families, old-fashioned and unpolished perhaps, but who rule a whole + region and pervade it, until nearly all its inhabitants are cousins. Under + Louis XI., an epoch at which the commons first made real names of their + surnames (some of which are united with those of feudalism) the + bourgeoisie of Nemours was made up of Minorets, Massins, Levraults and + Cremieres. Under Louis XIII. these four families had already produced the + Massin-Cremieres, the Levrault-Massins, the Massin-Minorets, the + Minoret-Minorets, the Cremiere-Levraults, the Levrault-Minoret-Massins, + Massin-Levraults, Minoret-Massins, Massin-Massins, and Cremiere-Massins,—all + these varied with juniors and diversified with the names of eldest sons, + as for instance, Cremiere-Francois, Levrault-Jacques, Jean-Minoret—enough + to drive a Pere Anselme of the People frantic,—if the people should + ever want a genealogist. + </p> + <p> + The variations of this family kaleidoscope of four branches was now so + complicated by births and marriages that the genealogical tree of the + bourgeoisie of Nemours would have puzzled the Benedictines of the Almanach + of Gotha, in spite of the atomic science with which they arrange those + zigzags of German alliances. For a long time the Minorets occupied the + tanneries, the Cremieres kept the mills, the Massins were in trade, and + the Levraults continued farmers. Fortunately for the neighbourhood these + four stocks threw out suckers instead of depending only on their + tap-roots; they scattered cuttings by the expatriation of sons who sought + their fortune elsewhere; for instance, there are Minorets who are cutlers + at Melun; Levraults at Montargis; Massins at Orleans; and Cremieres of + some importance in Paris. Divers are the destinies of these bees from the + parent hive. Rich Massins employ, of course, the poor working Massins—just + as Austria and Prussia take the German princes into their service. It may + happen that a public office is managed by a Minoret millionaire and + guarded by a Minoret sentinel. Full of the same blood and called by the + same name (for sole likeness), these four roots had ceaselessly woven a + human network of which each thread was delicate or strong, fine or coarse, + as the case might be. The same blood was in the head and in the feet and + in the heart, in the working hands, in the weakly lungs, in the forehead + big with genius. + </p> + <p> + The chiefs of the clan were faithful to the little town, where the ties of + family were relaxed or tightened according to the events which happened + under this curious cognomenism. In whatever part of France you may be, you + will find the same thing under changed names, but without the poetic charm + which feudalism gave to it, and which Walter Scott’s genius reproduced so + faithfully. Let us look a little higher and examine humanity as it appears + in history. All the noble families of the eleventh century, most of them + (except the royal race of Capet) extinct to-day, will be found to have + contributed to the birth of the Rohans, Montmorencys, Beauffremonts, and + Mortemarts of our time,—in fact they will all be found in the blood + of the last gentleman who is indeed a gentleman. In other words, every + bourgeois is cousin to a bourgeois, and every noble is cousin to a noble. + A splendid page of biblical genealogy shows that in one thousand years + three families, Shem, Ham, and Japhet, peopled the globe. One family may + become a nation; unfortunately, a nation may become one family. To prove + this we need only search back through our ancestors and see their + accumulation, which time increases into a retrograde geometric + progression, which multiplies of itself; reminding us of the calculation + of the wise man who, being told to choose a reward from the king of Persia + for inventing chess, asked for one ear of wheat for the first move on the + board, the reward to be doubled for each succeeding move; when it was + found that the kingdom was not large enough to pay it. The net-work of the + nobility, hemmed in by the net-work of the bourgeoisie,—the + antagonism of two protected races, one protected by fixed institutions, + the other by the active patience of labor and the shrewdness of commerce,—produced + the revolution of 1789. The two races almost reunited are to-day face to + face with collaterals without a heritage. What are they to do? Our + political future is big with the answer. + </p> + <p> + The family of the man who under Louis XV. was simply called Minoret was so + numerous that one of the five children (the Minoret whose entrance into + the parish church caused such interest) went to Paris to seek his fortune, + and seldom returned to his native town, until he came to receive his share + of the inheritance of his grandfather. After suffering many things, like + all young men of firm will who struggle for a place in the brilliant world + of Paris, this son of the Minorets reached a nobler destiny than he had, + perhaps, dreamed of at the start. He devoted himself, in the first + instance, to medicine, a profession which demands both talent and a + cheerful nature, but the latter qualification even more than talent. + Backed by Dupont de Nemours, connected by a lucky chance with the Abbe + Morellet (whom Voltaire nicknamed Mords-les), and protected by the + Encyclopedists, Doctor Minoret attached himself as liegeman to the famous + Doctor Bordeu, the friend of Diderot, D’Alembert, Helvetius, the Baron + d’Holbach and Grimm, in whose presence he felt himself a mere boy. These + men, influenced by Bordeu’s example, became interested in Minoret, who, + about the year 1777, found himself with a very good practice among deists, + encyclopedists, sensualists, materialists, or whatever you are pleased to + call the rich philosophers of that period. + </p> + <p> + Though Minoret was very little of a humbug, he invented the famous balm of + Lelievre, so much extolled by the “Mercure de France,” the weekly organ of + the Encyclopedists, in whose columns it was permanently advertised. The + apothecary Lelievre, a clever man, saw a stroke of business where Minoret + had only seen a new preparation for the dispensary, and he loyally shared + his profits with the doctor, who was a pupil of Rouelle in chemistry as + well as of Bordeu in medicine. Less than that would make a man a + materialist. + </p> + <p> + The doctor married for love in 1778, during the reign of the “Nouvelle + Heloise,” when persons did occasionally marry for that reason. His wife + was a daughter of the famous harpsichordist Valentin Mirouet, a celebrated + musician, frail and delicate, whom the Revolution slew. Minoret knew + Robespierre intimately, for he had once been instrumental in awarding him + a gold medal for a dissertation on the following subject: “What is the + origin of the opinion that covers a whole family with the shame attaching + to the public punishment of a guilty member of it? Is that opinion more + harmful than useful? If yes, in what way can the harm be warded off.” The + Royal Academy of Arts and Sciences at Metz, to which Minoret belonged, + must possess this dissertation in the original. Though, thanks to this + friendship, the Doctor’s wife need have had no fear, she was so in dread + of going to the scaffold that her terror increased a disposition to heart + disease caused by the over-sensitiveness of her nature. In spite of all + the precautions taken by the man who idolized her, Ursula unfortunately + met the tumbril of victims among whom was Madame Roland, and the shock + caused her death. Minoret, who in tenderness to his wife had refused her + nothing, and had given her a life of luxury, found himself after her death + almost a poor man. Robespierre gave him an appointment as + surgeon-in-charge of a hospital. + </p> + <p> + Though the name of Minoret obtained during the lively debates to which + mesmerism gave rise a certain celebrity which occasionally recalled him to + the minds of his relatives, still the Revolution was so great a destroyer + of family relations that in 1813 Nemours knew little of Doctor Minoret, + who was induced to think of returning there to die, like the hare to its + form, by a circumstance that was wholly accidental. + </p> + <p> + Who has not felt in traveling through France, where the eye is often + wearied by the monotony of plains, the charming sensation of coming + suddenly, when the eye is prepared for a barren landscape, upon a fresh + cool valley, watered by a river, with a little town sheltering beneath a + cliff like a swarm of bees in the hollow of an old willow? Wakened by the + “hu! hu!” of the postilion as he walks beside his horses, we shake off + sleep and admire, like a dream within a dream, the beautiful scene which + is to the traveler what a noble passage in a book is to a reader,—a + brilliant thought of Nature. Such is the sensation caused by a first sight + of Nemours as we approach it from Burgundy. We see it encircled with bare + rocks, gray, black, white, fantastic in shape like those we find in the + forest of Fontainebleau; from them spring scattered trees, clearly defined + against the sky, which give to this particular rock formation the + dilapidated look of a crumbling wall. Here ends the long wooded hill which + creeps from Nemours to Bouron, skirting the road. At the bottom of this + irregular amphitheater lie meadow-lands through which flows the Loing, + forming sheets of water with many falls. This delightful landscape, which + continues the whole way to Montargis, is like an opera scene, for its + effects really seem to have been studied. + </p> + <p> + One morning Doctor Minoret, who had been summoned into Burgundy by a rich + patient, was returning in all haste to Paris. Not having mentioned at the + last relay the route he intended to take, he was brought without his + knowledge through Nemours, and beheld once more, on waking from a nap, the + scenery in which his childhood had been passed. He had lately lost many of + his old friends. The votary of the Encyclopedists had witnessed the + conversion of La Harpe; he had buried Lebrun-Pindare and Marie-Joseph de + Chenier, and Morellet, and Madame Helvetius. He assisted at the quasi-fall + of Voltaire when assailed by Geoffroy, the continuator of Freton. For some + time past he had thought of retiring, and so, when his post chaise stopped + at the head of the Grand’Rue of Nemours, his heart prompted him to inquire + for his family. Minoret-Levrault, the post master, came forward himself to + see the doctor, who discovered him to be the son of his eldest brother. + The nephew presented the doctor to his wife, the only daughter of the late + Levrault-Cremiere, who had died twelve years earlier, leaving him the post + business and the finest inn in Nemours. + </p> + <p> + “Well, nephew,” said the doctor, “have I any other relatives?” + </p> + <p> + “My aunt Minoret, your sister, married a Massin-Massin—” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, I know, the bailiff of Saint-Lange.” + </p> + <p> + “She died a widow leaving an only daughter, who has lately married a + Cremiere-Cremiere, a fine young fellow, still without a place.” + </p> + <p> + “Ah! she is my own niece. Now, as my brother, the sailor, died a bachelor, + and Captain Minoret was killed at Monte-Legino, and here I am, that ends + the paternal line. Have I any relations on the maternal side? My mother + was a Jean-Massin-Levrault.” + </p> + <p> + “Of the Jean-Massin-Levrault’s there’s only one left,” answered + Minoret-Levrault, “namely, Jean-Massin, who married Monsieur + Cremiere-Levrault-Dionis, a purveyor of forage, who perished on the + scaffold. His wife died of despair and without a penny, leaving one + daughter, married to a Levrault-Minoret, a farmer at Montereau, who is + doing well; their daughter has just married a Massin-Levrault, notary’s + clerk at Montargis, where his father is a locksmith.” + </p> + <p> + “So I’ve plenty of heirs,” said the doctor gayly, immediately proposing to + take a walk through Nemours accompanied by his nephew. + </p> + <p> + The Loing runs through the town in a waving line, banked by terraced + gardens and neat houses, the aspect of which makes one fancy that + happiness must abide there sooner than elsewhere. When the doctor turned + into the Rue des Bourgeois, Minoret-Levrault pointed out the property of + Levrault-Levrault, a rich iron merchant in Paris who, he said, had just + died. + </p> + <p> + “The place is for sale, uncle, and a very pretty house it is; there’s a + charming garden running down to the river.” + </p> + <p> + “Let us go in,” said the doctor, seeing, at the farther end of a small + paved courtyard, a house standing between the walls of the two + neighbouring houses which were masked by clumps of trees and + climbing-plants. + </p> + <p> + “It is built over a cellar,” said the doctor, going up the steps of a high + portico adorned with vases of blue and white pottery in which geraniums + were growing. + </p> + <p> + Cut in two, like the majority of provincial houses, by a long passage + which led from the courtyard to the garden, the house had only one room to + the right, a salon lighted by four windows, two on the courtyard and two + on the garden; but Levrault-Levrault had used one of these windows to make + an entrance to a long greenhouse built of brick which extended from the + salon towards the river, ending in a horrible Chinese pagoda. + </p> + <p> + “Good! by building a roof to that greenhouse and laying a floor,” said old + Minoret, “I could put my book there and make a very comfortable study of + that extraordinary bit of architecture at the end.” + </p> + <p> + On the other side of the passage, toward the garden, was the dining-room, + decorated in imitation of black lacquer with green and gold flowers; this + was separated from the kitchen by the well of the staircase. Communication + with the kitchen was had through a little pantry built behind the + staircase, the kitchen itself looking into the courtyard through windows + with iron railings. There were two chambers on the next floor, and above + them, attic rooms sheathed in wood, which were fairly habitable. After + examining the house rapidly, and observing that it was covered with + trellises from top to bottom, on the side of the courtyard as well as on + that to the garden,—which ended in a terrace overlooking the river + and adorned with pottery vases,—the doctor remarked:— + </p> + <p> + “Levrault-Levrault must have spend a good deal of money here.” + </p> + <p> + “Ho! I should think so,” answered Minoret-Levrault. “He liked flowers—nonsense! + ‘What do they bring in?’ says my wife. You saw inside there how an artist + came from Paris to paint flowers in fresco in the corridor. He put those + enormous mirrors everywhere. The ceilings were all re-made with cornices + which cost six francs a foot. The dining-room floor is in marquetry—perfect + folly! The house won’t sell for a penny the more.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, nephew, buy it for me: let me know what you do about it; here’s my + address. The rest I leave to my notary. Who lives opposite?” he asked, as + they left the house. + </p> + <p> + “Emigres,” answered the post master, “named Portenduere.” + </p> + <p> + The house once bought, the illustrious doctor, instead of living there, + wrote to his nephew to let it. The Folie-Levraught was therefore occupied + by the notary of Nemours, who about that time sold his practice to Dionis, + his head-clerk, and died two years later, leaving the house on the + doctor’s hands, just at the time when the fate of Napoleon was being + decided in the neighbourhood. The doctor’s heirs, at first misled, had by + this time decided that his thought of returning to his native place was + merely a rich man’s fancy, and that probably he had some tie in Paris + which would keep him there and cheat them of their hoped-for inheritance. + However, Minoret-Levrault’s wife seized the occasion to write him a + letter. The old man replied that as soon as peace was signed, the roads + cleared of soldiers, and safe communications established, he meant to go + and live at Nemours. He did, in fact, put in an appearance with two of his + clients, the architect of his hospital and an upholsterer, who took charge + of the repairs, the indoor arrangements, and the transportation of the + furniture. Madame Minoret-Levrault proposed the cook of the late notary as + caretaker, and the woman was accepted. + </p> + <p> + When the heirs heard that their uncle and great-uncle Minoret was really + coming to live in Nemours, they were seized (in spite of the political + events which were just then weighing so heavily on Brie and on the + Gatinais) with a devouring curiosity, which was not surprising. Was he + rich? Economical or spendthrift? Would he leave a fine fortune or nothing? + Was his property in annuities? In the end they found out what follows, but + only by taking infinite pains and employing much subterraneous spying. + </p> + <p> + After the death of his wife, Ursula Mirouet, and between the years 1789 + and 1813, the doctor (who had been appointed consulting physician to the + Emperor in 1805) must have made a good deal of money; but no one knew how + much. He lived simply, without other extravagancies than a carriage by the + year and a sumptuous apartment. He received no guests, and dined out + almost every day. His housekeeper, furious at not being allowed to go with + him to Nemours, told Zelie Levrault, the post master’s wife, that she knew + the doctor had fourteen thousand francs a year on the “grand-livre.” Now, + after twenty years’ exercise of a profession which his position as head of + a hospital, physician to the Emperor, and member of the Institute, + rendered lucrative, these fourteen thousand francs a year showed only one + hundred and sixty thousand francs laid by. To have saved only eight + thousand francs a year the doctor must have had either many vices or many + virtues to gratify. But neither his housekeeper nor Zelie nor any one else + could discover the reason for such moderate means. Minoret, who when he + left it was much regretted in the quarter of Paris where he had lived, was + one of the most benevolent of men, and, like Larrey, kept his kind deeds a + profound secret. + </p> + <p> + The heirs watched the arrival of their uncle’s fine furniture and large + library with complacency, and looked forward to his own coming, he being + now an officer of the Legion of honor, and lately appointed by the king a + chevalier of the order of Saint-Michel—perhaps on account of his + retirement, which left a vacancy for some favorite. But when the architect + and painter and upholsterer had arranged everything in the most + comfortable manner, the doctor did not come. Madame Minoret-Levrault, who + kept an eye on the upholsterer and architect as if her own property was + concerned, found out, through the indiscretion of a young man sent to + arrange the books, that the doctor was taking care of a little orphan + named Ursula. The news flew like wild-fire through the town. At last, + however, towards the middle of the month of January, 1815, the old man + actually arrived, installing himself quietly, almost slyly, with a little + girl about ten months old, and a nurse. + </p> + <p> + “The child can’t be his daughter,” said the terrified heirs; “he is + seventy-one years old.” + </p> + <p> + “Whoever she is,” remarked Madame Massin, “she’ll give us plenty of + tintouin” (a word peculiar to Nemours, meaning uneasiness, anxiety, or + more literally, tingling in the ears). + </p> + <p> + The doctor received his great-niece on the mother’s side somewhat coldly; + her husband had just bought the place of clerk of the court, and the pair + began at once to tell him of their difficulties. Neither Massin nor his + wife were rich. Massin’s father, a locksmith at Montargis, had been + obliged to compromise with his creditors, and was now, at sixty-seven + years of age, working like a young man, and had nothing to leave behind + him. Madame Massin’s father, Levrault-Minoret, had just died at Montereau + after the battle, in despair at seeing his farm burned, his fields ruined, + his cattle slaughtered. + </p> + <p> + “We’ll get nothing out of your great-uncle,” said Massin to his wife, now + pregnant with her second child, after the interview. + </p> + <p> + The doctor, however, gave them privately ten thousand francs, with which + Massin, who was a great friend of the notary and of the sheriff, began the + business of money-lending, and carried matters so briskly with the + peasantry that by the time of which we are now writing Goupil knew him to + hold at least eighty thousand francs on their property. + </p> + <p> + As to his other niece, the doctor obtained for her husband, through his + influence in Paris, the collectorship of Nemours, and became his bondsman. + Though Minoret-Levrault needed no assistance, Zelie, his wife, being + jealous of the uncle’s liberality to his two nieces, took her ten-year old + son to see him, and talked of the expense he would be to them at a school + in Paris, where, she said, education costs so much. The doctor obtained a + half-scholarship for his great-nephew at the school of Louis-le-Grand, + where Desire was put into the fourth class. + </p> + <p> + Cremiere, Massin, and Minoret-Levrault, extremely common persons, were + “rated without appeal” by the doctor within two months of his arrival in + Nemours, during which time they courted, less their uncle than his + property. Persons who are led by instinct have one great disadvantage + against others with ideas. They are quickly found out; the suggestions of + instinct are too natural, too open to the eye not to be seen at a glance; + whereas, the conceptions of the mind require an equal amount of intellect + to discover them. After buying the gratitude of his heirs, and thus, as it + were, shutting their mouths, the wily doctor made a pretext of his + occupations, his habits, and the care of the little Ursula to avoid + receiving his relatives without exactly closing his doors to them. He + liked to dine alone; he went to bed late and he got up late; he had + returned to his native place for the very purpose of finding rest in + solitude. These whims of an old man seemed to be natural, and his + relatives contented themselves with paying him weekly visits on Sundays + from one to four o’clock, to which, however, he tried to put a stop by + saying: “Don’t come and see me unless you want something.” + </p> + <p> + The doctor, while not refusing to be called in consultation over serious + cases, especially if the patients were indigent, would not serve as a + physician in the little hospital of Nemours, and declared that he no + longer practiced his profession. + </p> + <p> + “I’ve killed enough people,” he said, laughing, to the Abbe Chaperon, who, + knowing his benevolence, would often get him to attend the poor. + </p> + <p> + “He’s an original!” These words, said of Doctor Minoret, were the harmless + revenge of various wounded vanities; for a doctor collects about him a + society of persons who have many of the characteristics of a set of heirs. + Those of the bourgeoisie who thought themselves entitled to visit this + distinguished physician kept up a ferment of jealousy against the few + privileged friends whom he did admit to his intimacy, which had in the + long run some unfortunate results. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0003" id="link2HCH0003"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER III. THE DOCTOR’S FRIENDS + </h2> + <p> + Curiously enough, though it explains the old proverb that “extremes meet,” + the materialistic doctor and the cure of Nemours were soon friends. The + old man loved backgammon, a favorite game of the priesthood, and the Abbe + Chaperon played it with about as much skill as he himself. The game was + the first tie between them. Then Minoret was charitable, and the abbe was + the Fenelon of the Gatinais. Both had had a wide and varied education; the + man of God was the only person in all Nemours who was fully capable of + understanding the atheist. To be able to argue, men must first understand + each other. What pleasure is there in saying sharp words to one who can’t + feel them? The doctor and the priest had far too much taste and had seen + too much of good society not to practice its precepts; they were thus + well-fitted for the little warfare so essential to conversation. They + hated each other’s opinions, but they valued each other’s character. If + such conflicts and such sympathies are not true elements of intimacy we + must surely despair of society, which, especially in France, requires some + form of antagonism. It is from the shock of characters, and not from the + struggle of opinions, that antipathies are generated. + </p> + <p> + The Abbe Chaperon became, therefore, the doctor’s chief friend. This + excellent ecclesiastic, then sixty years of age, had been curate of + Nemours ever since the re-establishment of Catholic worship. Out of + attachment to his flock he had refused the vicariat of the diocese. If + those who were indifferent to religion thought well of him for so doing, + the faithful loved him the more for it. So, revered by his sheep, + respected by the inhabitants at large, the abbe did good without inquiring + into the religious opinions of those he benefited. His parsonage, with + scarcely furniture enough for the common needs of life, was cold and + shabby, like the lodging of a miser. Charity and avarice manifest + themselves in the same way; charity lays up a treasure in heaven which + avarice lays up on earth. The Abbe Chaperon argued with his servant over + expenses even more sharply than Gobseck with his—if indeed that + famous Jew kept a servant at all. The good priest often sold the buckles + off his shoes and his breeches to give their value to some poor person who + appealed to him at a moment when he had not a penny. When he was seen + coming out of church with the straps of his breeches tied into the + button-holes, devout women would redeem the buckles from the clock-maker + and jeweler of the town and return them to their pastor with a lecture. He + never bought himself any clothes or linen, and wore his garments till they + scarcely held together. His linen, thick with darns, rubbed his skin like + a hair shirt. Madame de Portenduere, and other good souls, had an + agreement with his housekeeper to replace the old clothes with new ones + after he went to sleep, and the abbe did not always find out the + difference. He ate his food off pewter with iron forks and spoons. When he + received his assistants and sub-curates on days of high solemnity (an + expense obligatory on the heads of parishes) he borrowed linen and silver + from his friend the atheist. + </p> + <p> + “My silver is his salvation,” the doctor would say. + </p> + <p> + These noble deeds, always accompanied by spiritual encouragement, were + done with a beautiful naivete. Such a life was all the more meritorious + because the abbe was possessed of an erudition that was vast and varied, + and of great and precious faculties. Delicacy and grace, the inseparable + accompaniments of simplicity, lent charm to an elocution that was worthy + of a prelate. His manners, his character, and his habits gave to his + intercourse with others the most exquisite savor of all that is most + spiritual, most sincere in the human mind. A lover of gayety, he was never + priest in a salon. Until Doctor Minoret’s arrival, the good man kept his + light under a bushel without regret. Owning a rather fine library and an + income of two thousand francs when he came to Nemours, he now possessed, + in 1829, nothing at all, except his stipend as parish priest, nearly the + whole of which he gave away during the year. The giver of excellent + counsel in delicate matters or in great misfortunes, many persons who + never went to church to obtain consolation went to the parsonage to get + advice. One little anecdote will suffice to complete his portrait. + Sometimes the peasants,—rarely, it is true, but occasionally,—unprincipled + men, would tell him they were sued for debt, or would get themselves + threatened fictitiously to stimulate the abbe’s benevolence. They would + even deceive their wives, who, believing their chattels were threatened + with an execution and their cows seized, deceived in their turn the poor + priest with their innocent tears. He would then manage with great + difficulty to provide the seven or eight hundred francs demanded of him—with + which the peasant bought himself a morsel of land. When pious persons and + vestrymen denounced the fraud, begging the abbe to consult them in future + before lending himself to such cupidity, he would say:— + </p> + <p> + “But suppose they had done something wrong to obtain their bit of land? + Isn’t it doing good when we prevent evil?” + </p> + <p> + Some persons may wish for a sketch of this figure, remarkable for the fact + that science and literature had filled the heart and passed through the + strong head without corrupting either. At sixty years of age the abbe’s + hair was white as snow, so keenly did he feel the sorrows of others, and + so heavily had the events of the Revolution weighed upon him. Twice + incarcerated for refusing to take the oath he had twice, as he used to + say, uttered in “In manus.” He was of medium height, neither stout nor + thin. His face, much wrinkled and hollowed and quite colorless, attracted + immediate attention by the absolute tranquillity expressed in its shape, + and by the purity of its outline, which seemed to be edged with light. The + face of a chaste man has an unspeakable radiance. Brown eyes with lively + pupils brightened the irregular features, which were surmounted by a broad + forehead. His glance wielded a power which came of a gentleness that was + not devoid of strength. The arches of his brow formed caverns shaded by + huge gray eyebrows which alarmed no one. As most of his teeth were gone + his mouth had lost its shape and his cheeks had fallen in; but this + physical destruction was not without charm; even the wrinkles, full of + pleasantness, seemed to smile on others. Without being gouty his feet were + tender; and he walked with so much difficulty that he wore shoes made of + calf’s skin all the year round. He thought the fashion of trousers + unsuitable for priests, and he always appeared in stockings of coarse + black yarn, knit by his housekeeper, and cloth breeches. He never went out + in his cassock, but wore a brown overcoat, and still retained the + three-cornered hat he had worn so courageously in times of danger. This + noble and beautiful old man, whose face was glorified by the serenity of a + soul above reproach, will be found to have so great an influence upon the + men and things of this history, that it was proper to show the sources of + his authority and power. + </p> + <p> + Minoret took three newspapers,—one liberal, one ministerial, one + ultra,—a few periodicals, and certain scientific journals, the + accumulation of which swelled his library. The newspapers, encyclopaedias, + and books were an attraction to a retired captain of the Royal-Swedish + regiment, named Monsieur de Jordy, a Voltairean nobleman and an old + bachelor, who lived on sixteen hundred francs of pension and annuity + combined. Having read the gazettes for several days, by favor of the abbe, + Monsieur de Jordy thought it proper to call and thank the doctor in + person. At this first visit the old captain, formerly a professor at the + Military Academy, won the doctor’s heart, who returned the call with + alacrity. Monsieur de Jordy, a spare little man much troubled by his + blood, though his face was very pale, attracted attention by the + resemblance of his handsome brow to that of Charles XII.; above it he kept + his hair cropped short, like that of the soldier-king. His blue eyes + seemed to say that “Love had passed that way,” so mournful were they; + revealing memories about which he kept such utter silence that his old + friends never detected even an allusion to his past life, nor a single + exclamation drawn forth by similarity of circumstances. He hid the painful + mystery of his past beneath a philosophic gayety, but when he thought + himself alone his motions, stiffened by a slowness which was more a matter + of choice than the result of old age, betrayed the constant presence of + distressful thoughts. The Abbe Chaperon called him a Christian ignorant of + his Christianity. Dressed always in blue cloth, his rather rigid demeanor + and his clothes bespoke the old habits of military discipline. His sweet + and harmonious voice stirred the soul. His beautiful hands and the general + cut of his figure, recalling that of the Comte d’Artois, showed how + charming he must have been in his youth, and made the mystery of his life + still more mysterious. An observer asked involuntarily what misfortune had + blighted such beauty, courage, grace, accomplishment, and all the precious + qualities of the heart once united in his person. Monsieur de Jordy + shuddered if Robespierre’s name were uttered before him. He took much + snuff, but, strange to say, he gave up the habit to please little Ursula, + who at first showed a dislike to him on that account. As soon as he saw + the little girl the captain fastened his eyes upon her with a look that + was almost passionate. He loved her play so extravagantly and took such + interest in all she did that the tie between himself and the doctor grew + closer every day, though the latter never dared to say to him, “You, too, + have you lost children?” There are beings, kind and patient as old Jordy, + who pass through life with a bitter thought in their heart and a tender + but sorrowful smile on their lips, carrying with them to the grave the + secret of their lives; letting no one guess it,—through pride, + through disdain, possibly through revenge; confiding in none but God, + without other consolation than his. + </p> + <p> + Monsieur de Jordy, like the doctor, had come to die in Nemours, but he + knew no one except the abbe, who was always at the beck and call of his + parishioners, and Madame de Portenduere, who went to bed at nine o’clock. + So, much against his will, he too had taken to going to bed early, in + spite of the thorns that beset his pillow. It was therefore a great piece + of good fortune for him (as well as for the doctor) when he encountered a + man who had known the same world and spoken the same language as himself; + with whom he could exchange ideas, and who went to bed late. After + Monsieur de Jordy, the Abbe Chaperon, and Minoret had passed one evening + together they found so much pleasure in it that the priest and soldier + returned every night regularly at nine o’clock, the hour at which, little + Ursula having gone to bed, the doctor was free. All three would then sit + up till midnight or one o’clock. + </p> + <p> + After a time this trio became a quartette. Another man to whom life was + known, and who owed to his practical training as a lawyer, the indulgence, + knowledge, observation, shrewdness, and talent for conversation which the + soldier, doctor, and priest owed to their practical dealings with the + souls, diseases, and education of men, was added to the number. Monsieur + Bongrand, the justice of peace, heard of the pleasure of these evenings + and sought admittance to the doctor’s society. Before becoming justice of + peace at Nemours he had been for ten years a solicitor at Melun, where he + conducted his own cases, according to the custom of small towns, where + there are no barristers. He became a widower at forty-five years of age, + but felt himself still too active to lead an idle life; he therefore + sought and obtained the position of justice of peace at Nemours, which + became vacant a few months before the arrival of Doctor Minoret. Monsieur + Bongrand lived modestly on his salary of fifteen hundred francs, in order + that he might devote his private income to his son, who was studying law + in Paris under the famous Derville. He bore some resemblance to a retired + chief of a civil service office; he had the peculiar face of a bureaucrat, + less sallow than pallid, on which public business, vexations, and disgust + leave their imprint,—a face lined by thought, and also by the + continual restraints familiar to those who are trained not to speak their + minds freely. It was often illumined by smiles characteristic of men who + alternately believe all and believe nothing, who are accustomed to see and + hear all without being startled, and to fathom the abysses which + self-interest hollows in the depths of the human heart. + </p> + <p> + Below the hair, which was less white than discolored, and worn flattened + to the head, was a fine, sagacious forehead, the yellow tones of which + harmonized well with the scanty tufts of thin hair. His face, with the + features set close together, bore some likeness to that of a fox, all the + more because his nose was short and pointed. In speaking, he spluttered at + the mouth, which was broad like that of most great talkers,—a habit + which led Goupil to say, ill-naturedly, “An umbrella would be useful when + listening to him,” or, “The justice rains verdicts.” His eyes looked keen + behind his spectacles, but if he took the glasses off his dulled glance + seemed almost vacant. Though he was naturally gay, even jovial, he was apt + to give himself too important and pompous an air. He usually kept his + hands in the pockets of his trousers, and only took them out to settle his + eye-glasses on his nose, with a movement that was half comic, and which + announced the coming of a keen observation or some victorious argument. + His gestures, his loquacity, his innocent self-assertion, proclaimed the + provincial lawyer. These slight defects were, however, superficial; he + redeemed them by an exquisite kind-heartedness which a rigid moralist + might call the indulgence natural to superiority. He looked a little like + a fox, and he was thought to be very wily, but never false or dishonest. + His wiliness was perspicacity; and consisted in foreseeing results and + protecting himself and others from the traps set for them. He loved whist, + a game known to the captain and the doctor, and which the abbe learned to + play in a very short time. + </p> + <p> + This little circle of friends made for itself an oasis in Mironet’s salon. + The doctor of Nemours, who was not without education and knowledge of the + world, and who greatly respected Minoret as an honor to the profession, + came there sometimes; but his duties and also his fatigue (which obliged + him to go to bed early and to be up early) prevented his being as + assiduously present as the three other friends. This intercourse of five + superior men, the only ones in Nemours who had sufficiently wide knowledge + to understand each other, explains old Minoret’s aversion to his + relatives; if he were compelled to leave them his money, at least he need + not admit them to his society. Whether the post master, the sheriff, and + the collector understood this distinction, or whether they were reassured + by the evident loyalty and benefactions of their uncle, certain it is that + they ceased, to his great satisfaction, to see much of him. So, about + eight months after the arrival of the doctor these four players of whist + and backgammon made a solid and exclusive little world which was to each a + fraternal aftermath, an unlooked for fine season, the gentle pleasures of + which were the more enjoyed. This little circle of choice spirits closed + round Ursula, a child whom each adopted according to his individual + tendencies; the abbe thought of her soul, the judge imagined himself her + guardian, the soldier intended to be her teacher, and as for Minoret, he + was father, mother, and physician, all in one. + </p> + <p> + After he became acclimated old Minoret settled into certain habits of + life, under fixed rules, after the manner of the provinces. On Ursula’s + account he received no visitors in the morning, and never gave dinners, + but his friends were at liberty to come to his house at six o’clock and + stay till midnight. The first-comers found the newspapers on the table and + read them while awaiting the rest; or they sometimes sallied forth to meet + the doctor if he were out for a walk. This tranquil life was not a mere + necessity of old age, it was the wise and careful scheme of a man of the + world to keep his happiness untroubled by the curiosity of his heirs and + the gossip of a little town. He yielded nothing to that capricious + goddess, public opinion, whose tyranny (one of the present great evils of + France) was just beginning to establish its power and to make the whole + nation a mere province. So, as soon as the child was weaned and could walk + alone, the doctor sent away the housekeeper whom his niece, Madame + Minoret-Levrault had chosen for him, having discovered that she told her + patroness everything that happened in his household. + </p> + <p> + Ursula’s nurse, the widow of a poor workman (who possessed no name but a + baptismal one, and who came from Bougival) had lost her last child, aged + six months, just as the doctor, who knew her to be a good and honest + creature, engaged her as wetnurse for Ursula. Antoinette Patris (her + maiden name), widow of Pierre, called Le Bougival, attached herself + naturally to Ursula, as wetmaids do to their nurslings. This blind + maternal affection was accompanied in this instance by household devotion. + Told of the doctor’s intention to send away his housekeeper, La Bougival + secretly learned to cook, became neat and handy, and discovered the old + man’s ways. She took the utmost care of the house and furniture; in short + she was indefatigable. Not only did the doctor wish to keep his private + life within four walls, as the saying is, but he also had certain reasons + for hiding a knowledge of his business affairs from his relatives. At the + end of the second year after his arrival La Bougival was the only servant + in the house; on her discretion he knew he could count, and he disguised + his real purposes by the all-powerful open reason of a necessary economy. + To the great satisfaction of his heirs he became a miser. Without fawning + or wheedling, solely by the influence of her devotion and solicitude, La + Bougival, who was forty-three years old at the time this tale begins, was + the housekeeper of the doctor and his protegee, the pivot on which the + whole house turned, in short, the confidential servant. She was called La + Bougival from the admitted impossibility of applying to her person the + name that actually belonged to her, Antoinette—for names and forms + do obey the laws of harmony. + </p> + <p> + The doctor’s miserliness was not mere talk; it was real, and it had an + object. From the year 1817 he cut off two of his newspapers and ceased + subscribing to periodicals. His annual expenses, which all Nemours could + estimate, did not exceed eighteen hundred francs a year. Like most old men + his wants in linen, boots, and clothing, were very few. Every six months + he went to Paris, no doubt to draw and reinvest his income. In fifteen + years he never said a single word to any one in relation to his affairs. + His confidence in Bongrand was of slow growth; it was not until after the + revolution of 1830 that he told him of his projects. Nothing further was + known of the doctor’s life either by the bourgeoisie at large or by his + heirs. As for his political opinions, he did not meddle in public matters + seeing that he paid less than a hundred francs a year in taxes, and + refused, impartially, to subscribe to either royalist or liberal demands. + His known horror for the priesthood, and his deism were so little + obtrusive that he turned out of his house a commercial runner sent by his + great-nephew Desire to ask a subscription to the “Cure Meslier” and the + “Discours du General Foy.” Such tolerance seemed inexplicable to the + liberals of Nemours. + </p> + <p> + The doctor’s three collateral heirs, Minoret-Levrault and his wife, + Monsieur and Madame Massin-Levrault, junior, Monsieur and Madame + Cremiere-Cremiere—whom we shall in future call simply Cremiere, + Massin, and Minoret, because these distinctions among homonyms is quite + unnecessary out of the Gatinais—met together as people do in little + towns. The post master gave a grand dinner on his son’s birthday, a ball + during the carnival, another on the anniversary of his marriage, to all of + which he invited the whole bourgeoisie of Nemours. The collector received + his relations and friends twice a year. The clerk of the court, too poor, + he said, to fling himself into such extravagance, lived in a small way in + a house standing half-way down the Grand’Rue, the ground-floor of which + was let to his sister, the letter-postmistress of Nemours, a situation she + owed to the doctor’s kind offices. Nevertheless, in the course of the year + these three families did meet together frequently, in the houses of + friends, in the public promenades, at the market, on their doorsteps, or, + of a Sunday in the square, as on this occasion; so that one way and + another they met nearly every day. For the last three years the doctor’s + age, his economies, and his probable wealth had led to allusions, or frank + remarks, among the townspeople as to the disposition of his property, a + topic which made the doctor and his heirs of deep interest to the little + town. For the last six months not a day passed that friends and neighbours + did not speak to the heirs, with secret envy, of the day the good man’s + eyes would shut and the coffers open. + </p> + <p> + “Doctor Minoret may be an able physician, on good terms with death, but + none but God is eternal,” said one. + </p> + <p> + “Pooh, he’ll bury us all; his health is better than ours,” replied an + heir, hypocritically. + </p> + <p> + “Well, if you don’t get the money yourselves, your children will, unless + that little Ursula—” + </p> + <p> + “He won’t leave it all to her.” + </p> + <p> + Ursula, as Madame Massin had predicted, was the bete noire of the + relations, their sword of Damocles; and Madame Cremiere’s favorite saying, + “Well, whoever lives will know,” shows that they wished at any rate more + harm to her than good. + </p> + <p> + The collector and the clerk of the court, poor in comparison with the post + master, had often estimated, by way of conversation, the doctor’s + property. If they met their uncle walking on the banks of the canal or + along the road they would look at each other piteously. + </p> + <p> + “He must have got hold of some elixir of life,” said one. + </p> + <p> + “He has made a bargain with the devil,” replied the other. + </p> + <p> + “He ought to give us the bulk of it; that fat Minoret doesn’t need + anything,” said Massin. + </p> + <p> + “Ah! but Minoret has a son who’ll waste his substance,” answered Cremiere. + </p> + <p> + “How much do you really think the doctor has?” + </p> + <p> + “At the end of twelve years, say twelve thousand francs saved each year, + that would give one hundred and forty-four thousand francs, and the + interest brings in at least one hundred thousand more. But as he must, if + he consults a notary in Paris, have made some good strokes of business, + and we know that up to 1822 he could get seven or eight per cent from the + State, he must now have at least four hundred thousand francs, without + counting the capital of his fourteen thousand a year from the five per + cents. If he were to die to-morrow without leaving anything to Ursula we + should get at least seven or eight hundred thousand francs, besides the + house and furniture.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, a hundred thousand to Minoret, and three hundred thousand apiece to + you and me, that would be fair.” + </p> + <p> + “Ha, that would make us comfortable!” + </p> + <p> + “If he did that,” said Massin, “I should sell my situation in court and + buy an estate; I’d try to be judge at Fontainebleau, and get myself + elected deputy.” + </p> + <p> + “As for me I should buy a brokerage business,” said the collector. + </p> + <p> + “Unluckily, that girl he has on his arm and the abbe have got round him. I + don’t believe we can do anything with him.” + </p> + <p> + “Still, we know very well he will never leave anything to the Church.” + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0004" id="link2HCH0004"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER IV. ZELIE + </h2> + <p> + The fright of the heirs at beholding their uncle on his way to mass will + now be understood. The dullest persons have mind enough to foresee a + danger to self-interests. Self-interest constitutes the mind of the + peasant as well as that of the diplomatist, and on that ground the + stupidest of men is sometimes the most powerful. So the fatal reasoning, + “If that little Ursula has influence enough to drag her godfather into the + pale of the Church she will certainly have enough to make him leave her + his property,” was now stamped in letters of fire on the brains of the + most obtuse heir. The post master had forgotten about his son in his hurry + to reach the square; for if the doctor were really in the church hearing + mass it was a question of losing two hundred and fifty thousand francs. It + must be admitted that the fears of these relations came from the strongest + and most legitimate of social feelings, family interests. + </p> + <p> + “Well, Monsieur Minoret,” said the mayor (formerly a miller who had now + become royalist, named Levrault-Cremiere), “when the devil gets old the + devil a monk would be. Your uncle, they say, is one of us.” + </p> + <p> + “Better late than never, cousin,” responded the post master, trying to + conceal his annoyance. + </p> + <p> + “How that fellow will grin if we are defrauded! He is capable of marrying + his son to that damned girl—may the devil get her!” cried Cremiere, + shaking his fists at the mayor as he entered the porch. + </p> + <p> + “What’s Cremiere grumbling about?” said the butcher of the town, a + Levrault-Levrault the elder. “Isn’t he pleased to see his uncle on the + road to paradise?” + </p> + <p> + “Who would ever have believed it!” ejaculated Massin. + </p> + <p> + “Ha! one should never say, ‘Fountain, I’ll not drink of your water,’” + remarked the notary, who, seeing the group from afar, had left his wife to + go to church without him. + </p> + <p> + “Come, Monsieur Dionis,” said Cremiere, taking the notary by the arm, + “what do you advise me to do under the circumstances?” + </p> + <p> + “I advise you,” said the notary, addressing the heirs collectively, “to go + to bed and get up at your usual hour; to eat your soup before it gets + cold; to put your feet in your shoes and your hats on your heads; in + short, to continue your ways of life precisely as if nothing had + happened.” + </p> + <p> + “You are not consoling,” said Massin. + </p> + <p> + In spite of his squat, dumpy figure and heavy face, Cremiere-Dionis was + really as keen as a blade. In pursuit of usurious fortune he did business + secretly with Massin, to whom he no doubt pointed out such peasants as + were hampered in means, and such pieces of land as could be bought for a + song. The two men were in a position to choose their opportunities; none + that were good escaped them, and they shared the profits of + mortgage-usury, which retards, though it does not prevent, the acquirement + of the soil by the peasantry. So Dionis took a lively interest in the + doctor’s inheritance, not so much for the post master and the collector as + for his friend the clerk of the court; sooner or later Massin’s share in + the doctor’s money would swell the capital with which these secret + associates worked the canton. + </p> + <p> + “We must try to find out through Monsieur Bongrand where the influence + comes from,” said the notary in a low voice, with a sign to Massin to keep + quiet. + </p> + <p> + “What are you about, Minoret?” cried a little woman, suddenly descending + upon the group in the middle of which stood the post master, as tall and + round as a tower. “You don’t know where Desire is and there you are, + planted on your two legs, gossiping about nothing, when I thought you on + horseback!—Oh, good morning, Messieurs and Mesdames.” + </p> + <p> + This little woman, thin, pale, and fair, dressed in a gown of white cotton + with pattern of large, chocolate-colored flowers, a cap trimmed with + ribbon and frilled with lace, and wearing a small green shawl on her flat + shoulders, was Minoret’s wife, the terror of postilions, servants, and + carters; who kept the accounts and managed the establishment “with finger + and eye” as they say in those parts. Like the true housekeeper that she + was, she wore no ornaments. She did not give in (to use her own + expression) to gew-gaws and trumpery; she held to the solid and the + substantial, and wore, even on Sundays, a black apron, in the pocket of + which she jingled her household keys. Her screeching voice was agony to + the drums of all ears. Her rigid glance, conflicting with the soft blue of + her eyes, was in visible harmony with the thin lips of a pinched mouth and + a high, projecting, and very imperious forehead. Sharp was the glance, + sharper still both gesture and speech. “Zelie being obliged to have a will + for two, had it for three,” said Goupil, who pointed out the successive + reigns of three young postilions, of neat appearance, who had been set up + in life by Zelie, each after seven years’ service. The malicious clerk + named them Postilion I., Postilion II., Postilion III. But the little + influence these young men had in the establishment, and their perfect + obedience proved that Zelie was merely interested in worthy helpers. + </p> + <p> + This attempt at scandal was against probabilities. Since the birth of her + son (nursed by her without any evidence of how it was possible for her to + do so) Madame Minoret had thought only of increasing the family fortune + and was wholly given up to the management of their immense establishment. + To steal a bale of hay or a bushel of oats or get the better of Zelie in + even the most complicated accounts was a thing impossible, though she + scribbled hardly better than a cat, and knew nothing of arithmetic but + addition and subtraction. She never took a walk except to look at the hay, + the oats, or the second crops. She sent “her man” to the mowing, and the + postilions to tie the bales, telling them the quantity, within a hundred + pounds, each field should bear. Though she was the soul of that great body + called Minoret-Levrault and led him about by his pug nose, she was made to + feel the fears which occasionally (we are told) assail all tamers of wild + beasts. She therefore made it a rule to get into a rage before he did; the + postilions knew very well when his wife had been quarreling with him, for + his anger ricocheted on them. Madame Minoret was as clever as she was + grasping; and it was a favorite remark in the whole town, “Where would + Minoret-Levrault be without his wife?” + </p> + <p> + “When you know what has happened,” replied the post master, “you’ll be + over the traces yourself.” + </p> + <p> + “What is it?” + </p> + <p> + “Ursula has taken the doctor to mass.” + </p> + <p> + Zelie’s pupils dilated; she stood for a moment yellow with anger, then, + crying out, “I’ll see it before I believe it!” she rushed into the church. + The service had reached the Elevation. The stillness of the worshippers + enabled her to look along each row of chairs and benches as she went up + the aisle beside the chapels to Ursula’s place, where she saw old Minoret + standing with bared head. + </p> + <p> + If you recall the heads of Barbe-Marbois, Boissy d’Anglas, Morellet, + Helvetius, or Frederick the Great, you will see the exact image of Doctor + Minoret, whose green old age resembled that of those celebrated + personages. Their heads coined in the same mint (for each had the + characteristics of a medal) showed a stern and quasi-puritan profile, cold + tones, a mathematical brain, a certain narrowness about the features, + shrewd eyes, grave lips, and a something that was surely aristocratic—less + perhaps in sentiment than in habit, more in the ideas than in the + character. All men of this stamp have high brows retreating at the summit, + the sign of a tendency to materialism. You will find these leading + characteristics of the head and these points of the face in all the + Encyclopedists, in the orators of the Gironde, in the men of a period when + religious ideas were almost dead, men who called themselves deists and + were atheists. The deist is an atheist lucky in classification. + </p> + <p> + Minoret had a forehead of this description, furrowed with wrinkles, which + recovered in his old age a sort of artless candor from the manner in which + the silvery hair, brushed back like that of a woman when making her + toilet, curled in light flakes upon the blackness of his coat. He + persisted in dressing, as in his youth, in black silk stockings, shoes + with gold buckles, breeches of black poult-de-soie, and a black coat, + adorned with the red rosette. This head, so firmly characterized, the cold + whiteness of which was softened by the yellowing tones of old age, + happened to be, just then, in the full light of a window. As Madame + Minoret came in sight of him the doctor’s blue eyes with their reddened + lids were raised to heaven; a new conviction had given them a new + expression. His spectacles lay in his prayer-book and marked the place + where he had ceased to pray. The tall and spare old man, his arms crossed + on his breast, stood erect in an attitude which bespoke the full strength + of his faculties and the unshakable assurance of his faith. He gazed at + the altar humbly with a look of renewed hope, and took no notice of his + nephew’s wife, who planted herself almost in front of him as if to + reproach him for coming back to God. + </p> + <p> + Zelie, seeing all eyes turned upon her, made haste to leave the church and + returned to the square less hurriedly than she had left it. She had + reckoned on the doctor’s money, and possession was becoming problematical. + She found the clerk of the court, the collector, and their wives in + greater consternation than ever. Goupil was taking pleasure in tormenting + them. + </p> + <p> + “It is not in the public square and before the whole town that we ought to + talk of our affairs,” said Zelie; “come home with me. You too, Monsieur + Dionis,” she added to the notary; “you’ll not be in the way.” + </p> + <p> + Thus the probable disinheritance of Massin, Cremiere, and the post master + was the news of the day. + </p> + <p> + Just as the heirs and the notary were crossing the square to go to the + post house the noise of the diligence rattling up to the office, which was + only a few steps from the church, at the top of the Grand’Rue, made its + usual racket. + </p> + <p> + “Goodness! I’m like you, Minoret; I forgot all about Desire,” said Zelie. + “Let us go and see him get down. He is almost a lawyer; and his interests + are mixed up in this matter.” + </p> + <p> + The arrival of the diligence is always an amusement, but when it comes in + late some unusual event is expected. The crowd now moved towards the + “Ducler.” + </p> + <p> + “Here’s Desire!” was the general cry. + </p> + <p> + The tyrant, and yet the life and soul of Nemours, Desire always put the + town in a ferment when he came. Loved by the young men, with whom he was + invariably generous, he stimulated them by his very presence. But his + methods of amusement were so dreaded by older persons that more than one + family was very thankful to have him complete his studies and study law in + Paris. Desire Minoret, a slight youth, slender and fair like his mother, + from whom he obtained his blue eyes and pale skin, smiled from the window + on the crowd, and jumped lightly down to kiss his mother. A short sketch + of the young fellow will show how proud Zelie felt when she saw him. + </p> + <p> + He wore very elegant boots, trousers of white English drilling held under + his feet by straps of varnished leather, a rich cravat, admirably put on + and still more admirably fastened, a pretty fancy waistcoat, in the pocket + of said waistcoat a flat watch, the chain of which hung down; and, + finally, a short frock-coat of blue cloth, and a gray hat,—but his + lack of the manner-born was shown in the gilt buttons of the waistcoat and + the ring worn outside of his purple kid glove. He carried a cane with a + chased gold head. + </p> + <p> + “You are losing your watch,” said his mother, kissing him. + </p> + <p> + “No, it is worn that way,” he replied, letting his father hug him. + </p> + <p> + “Well, cousin, so we shall soon see you a lawyer?” said Massin. + </p> + <p> + “I shall take the oaths at the beginning of next term,” said Desire, + returning the friendly nods he was receiving on all sides. + </p> + <p> + “Now we shall have some fun,” said Goupil, shaking him by the hand. + </p> + <p> + “Ha! my old wag, so here you are!” replied Desire. + </p> + <p> + “You take your law license for all license,” said Goupil, affronted by + being treated so cavalierly in presence of others. + </p> + <p> + “You know my luggage,” cried Desire to the red-faced old conductor of the + diligence; “have it taken to the house.” + </p> + <p> + “The sweat is rolling off your horses,” said Zelie sharply to the + conductor; “you haven’t common-sense to drive them in that way. You are + stupider than your own beasts.” + </p> + <p> + “But Monsieur Desire was in a hurry to get here to save you from anxiety,” + explained Cabirolle. + </p> + <p> + “But if there was no accident why risk killing the horses?” she retorted. + </p> + <p> + The greetings of friends and acquaintances, the crowding of the young men + around Desire, and the relating of the incidents of the journey took + enough time for the mass to be concluded and the worshippers to issue from + the church. By mere chance (which manages many things) Desire saw Ursula + on the porch as he passed along, and he stopped short amazed at her + beauty. His action also stopped the advance of the relations who + accompanied him. + </p> + <p> + In giving her arm to her godfather, Ursula was obliged to hold her + prayer-book in one hand and her parasol in the other; and this she did + with the innate grace which graceful women put into the awkward or + difficult things of their charming craft of womanhood. If mind does truly + reveal itself in all things, we may be permitted to say that Ursula’s + attitude and bearing suggested divine simplicity. She was dressed in a + white cambric gown made like a wrapper, trimmed here and there with knots + of blue ribbon. The pelerine, edged with the same ribbon run through a + broad hem and tied with bows like those on the dress, showed the great + beauty of her shape. Her throat, of a pure white, was charming in tone + against the blue,—the right color for a fair skin. A long blue sash + with floating ends defined a slender waist which seemed flexible,—a + most seductive charm in women. She wore a rice-straw bonnet, modestly + trimmed with ribbons like those of the gown, the strings of which were + tied under her chin, setting off the whiteness of the straw and doing no + despite to that of her beautiful complexion. Ursula dressed her own hair + naturally (a la Berthe, as it was then called) in heavy braids of fine, + fair hair, laid flat on either side of the head, each little strand + reflecting the light as she walked. Her gray eyes, soft and proud at the + same time, were in harmony with a finely modeled brow. A rosy tinge, + suffusing her cheeks like a cloud, brightened a face which was regular + without being insipid; for nature had given her, by some rare privilege, + extreme purity of form combined with strength of countenance. The nobility + of her life was manifest in the general expression of her person, which + might have served as a model for a type of trustfulness, or of modesty. + Her health, though brilliant, was not coarsely apparent; in fact, her + whole air was distinguished. Beneath the little gloves of a light color it + was easy to imagine her pretty hands. The arched and slender feet were + delicately shod in bronzed kid boots trimmed with a brown silk fringe. Her + blue sash holding at the waist a small flat watch and a blue purse with + gilt tassels attracted the eyes of every woman she met. + </p> + <p> + “He has given her a new watch!” said Madame Cremiere, pinching her + husband’s arm. + </p> + <p> + “Heavens! is that Ursula?” cried Desire; “I didn’t recognize her.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, my dear uncle,” said the post master, addressing the doctor and + pointing to the whole population drawn up in parallel hedges to let the + doctor pass, “everybody wants to see you.” + </p> + <p> + “Was it the Abbe Chaperon or Mademoiselle Ursula who converted you, + uncle,” said Massin, bowing to the doctor and his protegee, with + Jesuitical humility. + </p> + <p> + “Ursula,” replied the doctor, laconically, continuing to walk on as if + annoyed. + </p> + <p> + The night before, as the old man finished his game of whist with Ursula, + the Nemours doctor, and Bongrand, he remarked, “I intend to go to church + to-morrow.” + </p> + <p> + “Then,” said Bongrand, “your heirs won’t get another night’s rest.” + </p> + <p> + The speech was superfluous, however, for a single glance sufficed the + sagacious and clear-sighted doctor to read the minds of his heirs by the + expression of their faces. Zelie’s irruption into the church, her glance, + which the doctor intercepted, this meeting of all the expectant ones in + the public square, and the expression in their eyes as they turned them on + Ursula, all proved to him their hatred, now freshly awakened, and their + sordid fears. + </p> + <p> + “It is a feather in your cap, Mademoiselle,” said Madame Cremiere, putting + in her word with a humble bow,—“a miracle which will not cost you + much.” + </p> + <p> + “It is God’s doing, madame,” replied Ursula. + </p> + <p> + “God!” exclaimed Minoret-Levrault; “my father-in-law used to say he served + to blanket many horses.” + </p> + <p> + “Your father-in-law had the mind of a jockey,” said the doctor severely. + </p> + <p> + “Come,” said Minoret to his wife and son, “why don’t you bow to my uncle?” + </p> + <p> + “I shouldn’t be mistress of myself before that little hypocrite,” cried + Zelie, carrying off her son. + </p> + <p> + “I advise you, uncle, not to go to mass without a velvet cap,” said Madame + Massin; “the church is very damp.” + </p> + <p> + “Pooh, niece,” said the doctor, looking round on the assembly, “the sooner + I’m put to bed the sooner you’ll flourish.” + </p> + <p> + He walked on quickly, drawing Ursula with him, and seemed in such a hurry + that the others dropped behind. + </p> + <p> + “Why do you say such harsh things to them? it isn’t right,” said Ursula, + shaking his arm in a coaxing way. + </p> + <p> + “I shall always hate hypocrites, as much after as before I became + religious. I have done good to them all, and I asked no gratitude; but not + one of my relatives sent you a flower on your birthday, which they know is + the only day I celebrate.” + </p> + <p> + At some distance behind the doctor and Ursula came Madame de Portenduere, + dragging herself along as if overcome with trouble. She belonged to the + class of old women whose dress recalls the style of the last century. They + wear puce-colored gowns with flat sleeves, the cut of which can be seen in + the portraits of Madame Lebrun; they all have black lace mantles and + bonnets of a shape gone by, in keeping with their slow and dignified + deportment; one might almost fancy that they still wore paniers under + their petticoats or felt them there, as persons who have lost a leg are + said to fancy that the foot is moving. They swathe their heads in old lace + which declines to drape gracefully about their cheeks. Their wan and + elongated faces, their haggard eyes and faded brows, are not without a + certain melancholy grace, in spite of the false fronts with flattened + curls to which they cling,—and yet these ruins are all subordinate + to an unspeakable dignity of look and manner. + </p> + <p> + The red and wrinkled eyes of this old lady showed plainly that she had + been crying during the service. She walked like a person in trouble, + seemed to be expecting some one, and looked behind her from time to time. + Now, the fact of Madame de Portenduere looking behind her was really as + remarkable in its way as the conversion of Doctor Minoret. + </p> + <p> + “Who can Madame de Portenduere be looking for?” said Madame Massin, + rejoining the other heirs, who were for the moment struck dumb by the + doctor’s answer. + </p> + <p> + “For the cure,” said Dionis, the notary, suddenly striking his forehead as + if some forgotten thought or memory had occurred to him. “I have an idea! + I’ll save your inheritance! Let us go and breakfast gayly with Madame + Minoret.” + </p> + <p> + We can well imagine the alacrity with which the heirs followed the notary + to the post house. Goupil, who accompanied his friend Desire, locked arm + in arm with him, whispered something in the youth’s ear with an odious + smile. + </p> + <p> + “What do I care?” answered the son of the house, shrugging his shoulders. + “I am madly in love with Florine, the most celestial creature in the + world.” + </p> + <p> + “Florine! and who may she be?” demanded Goupil. “I’m too fond of you to + let you make a goose of yourself wish such creatures.” + </p> + <p> + “Florine is the idol of the famous Nathan; my passion is wasted, I know + that. She has positively refused to marry me.” + </p> + <p> + “Sometimes those girls who are fools with their bodies are wise with their + heads,” responded Goupil. + </p> + <p> + “If you could but see her—only once,” said Desire, lackadaisically, + “you wouldn’t say such things.” + </p> + <p> + “If I saw you throwing away your whole future for nothing better than a + fancy,” said Goupil, with a warmth which might even have deceived his + master, “I would break your doll as Varney served Amy Robsart in + ‘Kenilworth.’ Your wife must be a d’Aiglement or a Mademoiselle du Rouvre, + and get you made a deputy. My future depends on yours, and I sha’n’t let + you commit any follies.” + </p> + <p> + “I am rich enough to care only for happiness,” replied Desire. + </p> + <p> + “What are you two plotting together?” cried Zelie, beckoning to the two + friends, who were standing in the middle of the courtyard, to come into + the house. + </p> + <p> + The doctor disappeared into the Rue des Bourgeois with the activity of a + young man, and soon reached his own house, where strange events had lately + taken place, the visible results of which now filled the minds of the + whole community of Nemours. A few explanations are needed to make this + history and the notary’s remark to the heirs perfectly intelligible to the + reader. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0005" id="link2HCH0005"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER V. URSULA + </h2> + <p> + The father-in-law of Doctor Minoret, the famous harpsichordist and maker + of instruments, Valentin Mirouet, also one of our most celebrated + organists, died in 1785 leaving a natural son, the child of his old age, + whom he acknowledged and called by his own name, but who turned out a + worthless fellow. He was deprived on his death bed of the comfort of + seeing this petted son. Joseph Mirouet, a singer and composer, having made + his debut at the Italian opera under a feigned name, ran away with a young + lady in Germany. The dying father commended the young man, who was really + full of talent, to his son-in-law, proving to him, at the same time, that + he had refused to marry the mother that he might not injure Madame + Minoret. The doctor promised to give the unfortunate Joseph half of + whatever his wife inherited from her father, whose business was purchased + by the Erards. He made due search for his illegitimate brother-in-law; but + Grimm informed him one day that after enlisting in a Prussian regiment + Joseph had deserted and taken a false name and that all efforts to find + him would be frustrated. + </p> + <p> + Joseph Mirouet, gifted by nature with a delightful voice, a fine figure, a + handsome face, and being moreover a composer of great taste and much + brilliancy, led for over fifteen years the Bohemian life which Hoffman has + so well described. So, by the time he was forty, he was reduced to such + depths of poverty that he took advantage of the events of 1806 to make + himself once more a Frenchman. He settled in Hamburg, where he married the + daughter of a bourgeois, a girl devoted to music, who fell in love with + the singer (whose fame was ever prospective) and chose to devote her life + to him. But after fifteen years of Bohemia, Joseph Mirouet was unable to + bear prosperity; he was naturally a spendthrift, and though kind to his + wife, he wasted her fortune in a very few years. The household must have + dragged on a wretched existence before Joseph Mirouet reached the point of + enlisting as a musician in a French regiment. In 1813 the surgeon-major of + the regiment, by the merest chance, heard the name of Mirouet, was struck + by it, and wrote to Doctor Minoret, to whom he was under obligations. + </p> + <p> + The answer was not long in coming. As a result, in 1814, before the allied + occupation, Joseph Mirouet had a home in Paris, where his wife died giving + birth to a little girl, whom the doctor desired should be called Ursula + after his wife. The father did not long survive the mother, worn out, as + she was, by hardship and poverty. When dying the unfortunate musician + bequeathed his daughter to the doctor, who was already her godfather, in + spite of his repugnance for what he called the mummeries of the Church. + Having seen his own children die in succession either in dangerous + confinements or during the first year of their lives, the doctor had + awaited with anxiety the result of a last hope. When a nervous, delicate, + and sickly woman begins with a miscarriage it is not unusual to see her go + through a series of such pregnancies as Ursula Minoret did, in spite of + the care and watchfulness and science of her husband. The poor man often + blamed himself for their mutual persistence in desiring children. The last + child, born after a rest of nearly two years, died in 1792, a victim of + its mother’s nervous condition—if we listen to physiologists, who + tell us that in the inexplicable phenomenon of generation the child + derives from the father by blood and from the mother in its nervous + system. + </p> + <p> + Compelled to renounce the joys of a feeling all powerful within him, the + doctor turned to benevolence as a substitute for his denied paternity. + During his married life, thus cruelly disappointed, he had longed more + especially for a fair little daughter, a flower to bring joy to the house; + he therefore gladly accepted Joseph Mirouet’s legacy, and gave to the + orphan all the hopes of his vanished dreams. For two years he took part, + as Cato for Pompey, in the most minute particulars of Ursula’s life; he + would not allow the nurse to suckle her or to take her up or put her to + bed without him. His medical science and his experience were all put to + use in her service. After going through many trials, alternations of hope + and fear, and the joys and labors of a mother, he had the happiness of + seeing this child of the fair German woman and the French singer a + creature of vigorous health and profound sensibility. + </p> + <p> + With all the eager feelings of a mother the happy old man watched the + growth of the pretty hair, first down, then silk, at last hair, fine and + soft and clinging to the fingers that caressed it. He often kissed the + little naked feet the toes of which, covered with a pellicle through which + the blood was seen, were like rosebuds. He was passionately fond of the + child. When she tried to speak, or when she fixed her beautiful blue eyes + upon some object with that serious, reflective look which seems the dawn + of thought, and which she ended with a laugh, he would stay by her side + for hours, seeking, with Jordy’s help, to understand the reasons (which + most people call caprices) underlying the phenomena of this delicious + phase of life, when childhood is both flower and fruit, a confused + intelligence, a perpetual movement, a powerful desire. + </p> + <p> + Ursula’s beauty and gentleness made her so dear to the doctor that he + would have liked to change the laws of nature in her behalf. He declared + to old Jordy that his teeth ached when Ursula was cutting hers. When old + men love children there is no limit to their passion—they worship + them. For these little beings they silence their own manias or recall a + whole past in their service. Experience, patience, sympathy, the + acquisitions of life, treasures laboriously amassed, all are spent upon + that young life in which they live again; their intelligence does actually + take the place of motherhood. Their wisdom, ever on the alert, is equal to + the intuition of a mother; they remember the delicate perceptions which in + their own mother were divinations, and import them into the exercise of a + compassion which is carried to an extreme in their minds by a sense of the + child’s unutterable weakness. The slowness of their movements takes the + place of maternal gentleness. In them, as in children, life is reduced to + its simplest expression; if maternal sentiment makes the mother a slave, + the abandonment of self allows an old man to devote himself utterly. For + these reasons it is not unusual to see children in close intimacy with old + persons. The old soldier, the old abbe, the old doctor, happy in the + kisses and cajoleries of little Ursula, were never weary of answering her + talk and playing with her. Far from making them impatient her petulances + charmed them; and they gratified all her wishes, making each the ground of + some little training. + </p> + <p> + The child grew up surrounded by old men, who smiled at her and made + themselves mothers for her sake, all three equally attentive and + provident. Thanks to this wise education, Ursula’s soul developed in a + sphere that suited it. This rare plant found its special soil; it breathed + the elements of its true life and assimilated the sun rays that belonged + to it. + </p> + <p> + “In what faith do you intend to bring up the little one?” asked the abbe + of the doctor, when Ursula was six years old. + </p> + <p> + “In yours,” answered Minoret. + </p> + <p> + An atheist after the manner of Monsieur Wolmar in the “Nouvelle Heloise” + he did not claim the right to deprive Ursula of the benefits offered by + the Catholic religion. The doctor, sitting at the moment on a bench + outside the Chinese pagoda, felt the pressure of the abbe’s hand on his. + </p> + <p> + “Yes, abbe, every time she talks to me of God I shall send her to her + friend ‘Shapron,’” he said, imitating Ursula’s infant speech, “I wish to + see whether religious sentiment is inborn or not. Therefore I shall do + nothing either for or against the tendencies of that young soul; but in my + heart I have appointed you her spiritual guardian.” + </p> + <p> + “God will reward you, I hope,” replied the abbe, gently joining his hands + and raising them towards heaven as if he were making a brief mental + prayer. + </p> + <p> + So, from the time she was six years old the little orphan lived under the + religious influence of the abbe, just as she had already come under the + educational training of her friend Jordy. + </p> + <p> + The captain, formerly a professor in a military academy, having a taste + for grammar and for the differences among European languages, had studied + the problem of a universal tongue. This learned man, patient as most old + scholars are, delighted in teaching Ursula to read and write. He taught + her also the French language and all she needed to know of arithmetic. The + doctor’s library afforded a choice of books which could be read by a child + for amusement as well as instruction. + </p> + <p> + The abbe and the soldier allowed the young mind to enrich itself with the + freedom and comfort which the doctor gave to the body. Ursula learned as + she played. Religion was given with due reflection. Left to follow the + divine training of a nature that was led into regions of purity by these + judicious educators, Ursula inclined more to sentiment than to duty; she + took as her rule of conduct the voice of her own conscience rather than + the demands of social law. In her, nobility of feeling and action would + ever be spontaneous; her judgment would confirm the impulse of her heart. + She was destined to do right as a pleasure before doing it as an + obligation. This distinction is the peculiar sign of Christian education. + These principles, altogether different from those that are taught to men, + were suitable for a woman,—the spirit and the conscience of the + home, the beautifier of domestic life, the queen of her household. All + three of these old preceptors followed the same method with Ursula. + Instead of recoiling before the bold questions of innocence, they + explained to her the reasons of things and the best means of action, + taking care to give her none but correct ideas. When, apropos of a flower, + a star, a blade of grass, her thoughts went straight to God, the doctor + and the professor told her that the priest alone could answer her. None of + them intruded on the territory of the others; the doctor took charge of + her material well-being and the things of life; Jordy’s department was + instruction; moral and spiritual questions and the ideas appertaining to + the higher life belonged to the abbe. This noble education was not, as it + often is, counteracted by injudicious servants. La Bougival, having been + lectured on the subject, and being, moreover, too simple in mind and + character to interfere, did nothing to injure the work of these great + minds. Ursula, a privileged being, grew up with good geniuses round her; + and her naturally fine disposition made the task of each a sweet and easy + one. Such manly tenderness, such gravity lighted by smiles, such liberty + without danger, such perpetual care of soul and body made little Ursula, + when nine years of age, a well-trained child and delightful to behold. + </p> + <p> + Unhappily, this paternal trinity was broken up. The old captain died the + following year, leaving the abbe and the doctor to finish his work, of + which, however, he had accomplished the most difficult part. Flowers will + bloom of themselves if grown in a soil thus prepared. The old gentleman + had laid by for ten years past one thousand francs a year, that he might + leave ten thousand to his little Ursula, and keep a place in her memory + during her whole life. In his will, the wording of which was very + touching, he begged his legatee to spend the four or five hundred francs + that came of her little capital exclusively on her dress. When the justice + of the peace applied the seals to the effects of his old friend, they + found in a small room, which the captain had allowed no one to enter, a + quantity of toys, many of them broken, while all had been used,—toys + of a past generation, reverently preserved, which Monsieur Bongrand was, + according to the captain’s last wishes, to burn with his own hands. + </p> + <p> + About this time it was that Ursula made her first communion. The abbe + employed one whole year in duly instructing the young girl, whose mind and + heart, each well developed, yet judiciously balancing one another, needed + a special spiritual nourishment. The initiation into a knowledge of divine + things which he gave her was such that Ursula grew into the pious and + mystical young girl whose character rose above all vicissitudes, and whose + heart was enabled to conquer adversity. Then began a secret struggle + between the old man wedded to unbelief and the young girl full of faith,—long + unsuspected by her who incited it,—the result of which had now + stirred the whole town, and was destined to have great influence on + Ursula’s future by rousing against her the antagonism of the doctor’s + heirs. + </p> + <p> + During the first six months of the year 1824 Ursula spent all her mornings + at the parsonage. The old doctor guessed the abbe’s secret hope. He meant + to make Ursula an unanswerable argument against him. The old unbeliever, + loved by his godchild as though she were his own daughter, would surely + believe in such artless candor; he could not fail to be persuaded by the + beautiful effects of religion on the soul of a child, where love was like + those trees of Eastern climes, bearing both flowers and fruit, always + fragrant, always fertile. A beautiful life is more powerful than the + strongest argument. It is impossible to resist the charms of certain + sights. The doctor’s eyes were wet, he knew not how or why, when he saw + the child of his heart starting for the church, wearing a frock of white + crape, and shoes of white satin; her hair bound with a fillet fastened at + the side with a knot of white ribbon, and rippling upon her shoulders; her + eyes lighted by the star of a first hope; hurrying, tall and beautiful, to + a first union, and loving her godfather better since her soul had risen + towards God. When the doctor perceived that the thought of immortality was + nourishing that spirit (until then within the confines of childhood) as + the sun gives life to the earth without knowing why, he felt sorry that he + remained at home alone. + </p> + <p> + Sitting on the steps of his portico he kept his eyes fixed on the iron + railing of the gate through which the child had disappeared, saying as she + left him: “Why won’t you come, godfather? how can I be happy without you?” + Though shaken to his very center, the pride of the Encyclopedist did not + as yet give way. He walked slowly in a direction from which he could see + the procession of communicants, and distinguish his little Ursula + brilliant with exaltation beneath her veil. She gave him an inspired look, + which knocked, in the stony regions of his heart, on the corner closed to + God. But still the old deist held firm. He said to himself: “Mummeries! if + there be a maker of worlds, imagine the organizer of infinitude concerning + himself with such trifles!” He laughed as he continued his walk along the + heights which look down upon the road to the Gatinais, where the bells + were ringing a joyous peal that told of the joy of families. + </p> + <p> + The noise of backgammon is intolerable to persons who do not know the + game, which is really one of the most difficult that was ever invented. + Not to annoy his godchild, the extreme delicacy of whose organs and nerves + could not bear, he thought, without injury the noise and the exclamations + she did not know the meaning of, the abbe, old Jordy while living, and the + doctor always waited till their child was in bed before they began their + favorite game. Sometimes the visitors came early when she was out for a + walk, and the game would be going on when she returned; then she resigned + herself with infinite grace and took her seat at the window with her work. + She had a repugnance to the game, which is really in the beginning very + hard and unconquerable to some minds, so that unless it be learned in + youth it is almost impossible to take it up in after life. + </p> + <p> + The night of her first communion, when Ursula came into the salon where + her godfather was sitting alone, she put the backgammon-board before him. + </p> + <p> + “Whose throw shall it be?” she asked. + </p> + <p> + “Ursula,” said the doctor, “isn’t it a sin to make fun of your godfather + the day of your first communion?” + </p> + <p> + “I am not making fun of you,” she said, sitting down. “I want to give you + some pleasure—you who are always on the look-out for mine. When + Monsieur Chaperon was pleased with me he gave me a lesson in backgammon, + and he has given me so many that now I am quite strong enough to beat you—you + shall not deprive yourself any longer for me. I have conquered all + difficulties, and now I like the noise of the game.” + </p> + <p> + Ursula won. The abbe had slipped in to enjoy his triumph. The next day + Minoret, who had always refused to let Ursula learn music, sent to Paris + for a piano, made arrangements at Fontainebleau for a teacher, and + submitted to the annoyance that her constant practicing was to him. One of + poor Jordy’s predictions was fulfilled,—the girl became an excellent + musician. The doctor, proud of her talent, had lately sent to Paris for a + master, an old German named Schmucke, a distinguished professor who came + once a week; the doctor willingly paying for an art which he had formerly + declared to be useless in a household. Unbelievers do not like music—a + celestial language, developed by Catholicism, which has taken the names of + the seven notes from one of the church hymns; every note being the first + syllable of the seven first lines in the hymn to Saint John. + </p> + <p> + The impression produced on the doctor by Ursula’s first communion though + keen was not lasting. The calm and sweet contentment which prayer and the + exercise of resolution produced in that young soul had not their due + influence upon him. Having no reasons for remorse or repentance himself, + he enjoyed a serene peace. Doing his own benefactions without hope of a + celestial harvest, he thought himself on a nobler plane than religious men + whom he always accused for making, as he called it, terms with God. + </p> + <p> + “But,” the abbe would say to him, “if all men would be so, you must admit + that society would be regenerated; there would be no more misery. To be + benevolent after your fashion one must needs be a great philosopher; you + rise to your principles through reason, you are a social exception; + whereas it suffices to be a Christian to make us benevolent in ours. With + you, it is an effort; with us, it comes naturally.” + </p> + <p> + “In other words, abbe, I think, and you feel,—that’s the whole of + it.” + </p> + <p> + However, at twelve years of age, Ursula, whose quickness and natural + feminine perceptions were trained by her superior education, and whose + intelligence in its dawn was enlightened by a religious spirit (of all + spirits the most refined), came to understand that her godfather did not + believe in a future life, nor in the immortality of the soul, nor in + providence, nor in God. Pressed with questions by the innocent creature, + the doctor was unable to hide the fatal secret. Ursula’s artless + consternation made him smile, but when he saw her depressed and sad he + felt how deep an affection her sadness revealed. Absolute devotion has a + horror of every sort of disagreement, even in ideas which it does not + share. Sometimes the doctor accepted his darling’s reasonings as he would + her kisses, said as they were in the sweetest of voices with the purest + and most fervent feeling. Believers and unbelievers speak different + languages and cannot understand each other. The young girl pleading God’s + cause was unreasonable with the old man, as a spoilt child sometimes + maltreats its mother. The abbe rebuked her gently, telling her that God + had power to humiliate proud spirits. Ursula replied that David had + overcome Goliath. + </p> + <p> + This religious difference, these complaints of the child who wished to + drag her godfather to God, were the only troubles of this happy life, so + peaceful, yet so full, and wholly withdrawn from the inquisitive eyes of + the little town. Ursula grew and developed, and became in time the modest + and religiously trained young woman whom Desire admired as she left the + church. The cultivation of flowers in the garden, her music, the pleasures + of her godfather, and all the little cares she was able to give him (for + she had eased La Bougival’s labors by doing everything for him),—these + things filled the hours, the days, the months of her calm life. + Nevertheless, for about a year the doctor had felt uneasy about his + Ursula, and watched her health with the utmost care. Sagacious and + profoundly practical observer that he was, he thought he perceived some + commotion in her moral being. He watched her like a mother, but seeing no + one about her who was worthy of inspiring love, his uneasiness on the + subject at length passed away. + </p> + <p> + At this conjuncture, one month before the day when this drama begins, the + doctor’s intellectual life was invaded by one of those events which plough + to the very depths of a man’s convictions and turn them over. But this + event needs a succinct narrative of certain circumstances in his medical + career, which will give, perhaps, fresh interest to the story. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0006" id="link2HCH0006"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER VI. A TREATISE ON MESMERISM + </h2> + <p> + Towards the end of the eighteenth century science was sundered as widely + by the apparition of Mesmer as art had been by that of Gluck. After + re-discovering magnetism Mesmer came to France, where, from time + immemorial, inventors have flocked to obtain recognition for their + discoveries. France, thanks to her lucid language, is in some sense the + clarion of the world. + </p> + <p> + “If homoeopathy gets to Paris it is saved,” said Hahnemann, recently. + </p> + <p> + “Go to France,” said Monsieur de Metternich to Gall, “and if they laugh at + your bumps you will be famous.” + </p> + <p> + Mesmer had disciples and antagonists as ardent for and against his + theories as the Piccinists and the Gluckists for theirs. Scientific France + was stirred to its center; a solemn conclave was opened. Before judgment + was rendered, the medical faculty proscribed, in a body, Mesmer’s + so-called charlatanism, his tub, his conducting wires, and his theory. But + let us at once admit that the German, unfortunately, compromised his + splendid discovery by enormous pecuniary claims. Mesmer was defeated by + the doubtfulness of facts, by universal ignorance of the part played in + nature by imponderable fluids then unobserved, and by his own inability to + study on all sides a science possessing a triple front. Magnetism has many + applications; in Mesmer’s hands it was, in its relation to the future, + merely what cause is to effect. But, if the discoverer lacked genius, it + is a sad thing both for France and for human reason to have to say that a + science contemporaneous with civilization, cultivated by Egypt and + Chaldea, by Greece and India, met in Paris in the eighteenth century the + fate that Truth in the person of Galileo found in the sixteenth; and that + magnetism was rejected and cast out by the combined attacks of science and + religion, alarmed for their own positions. Magnetism, the favorite science + of Jesus Christ and one of the divine powers which he gave to his + disciples, was no better apprehended by the Church than by the disciples + of Jean-Jacques, Voltaire, Locke, and Condillac. The Encyclopedists and + the clergy were equally averse to the old human power which they took to + be new. The miracles of the convulsionaries, suppressed by the Church and + smothered by the indifference of scientific men (in spite of the precious + writings of the Councilor, Carre de Montgeron) were the first summons to + make experiments with those human fluids which give power to employ + certain inward forces to neutralize the sufferings caused by outward + agents. But to do this it was necessary to admit the existence of fluids + intangible, invisible, imponderable, three negative terms in which the + science of that day chose to see a definition of the void. In modern + philosophy there is no void. Ten feet of void and the world crumbles away! + To materialists especially the world is full, all things hang together, + are linked, related, organized. “The world as the result of chance,” said + Diderot, “is more explicable than God. The multiplicity of causes, the + incalculable number of issues presupposed by chance, explain creation. + Take the Eneid and all the letters composing it; if you allow me time and + space, I can, by continuing to cast the letters, arrive at last at the + Eneid combination.” + </p> + <p> + Those foolish persons who deify all rather than admit a God recoil before + the infinite divisibility of matter which is in the nature of imponderable + forces. Locke and Condillac retarded by fifty years the immense progress + which natural science is now making under the great principle of unity due + to Geoffroy de Saint-Hilaire. Some intelligent persons, without any + system, convinced by facts conscientiously studied, still hold to Mesmer’s + doctrine, which recognizes the existence of a penetrative influence acting + from man to man, put in motion by the will, curative by the abundance of + the fluid, the working of which is in fact a duel between two forces, + between an ill to be cured and the will to cure it. + </p> + <p> + The phenomena of somnambulism, hardly perceived by Mesmer, were revealed + by du Puysegur and Deleuze; but the Revolution put a stop to their + discoveries and played into the hands of the scientists and scoffers. + Among the small number of believers were a few physicians. They were + persecuted by their brethren as long as they lived. The respectable body + of Parisian doctors displayed all the bitterness of religious warfare + against the Mesmerists, and were as cruel in their hatred as it was + possible to be in those days of Voltairean tolerance. The orthodox + physician refused to consult with those who adopted the Mesmerian heresy. + In 1820 these heretics were still proscribed. The miseries and sorrows of + the Revolution had not quenched the scientific hatred. It is only priests, + magistrates, and physicians who can hate in that way. The official robe is + terrible! But ideas are even more implacable than things. + </p> + <p> + Doctor Bouvard, one of Minoret’s friends, believed in the new faith, and + persevered to the day of his death in studying a science to which he + sacrificed the peace of his life, for he was one of the chief “betes + noires” of the Parisian faculty. Minoret, a valiant supporter of the + Encyclopedists, and a formidable adversary of Desion, Mesmer’s assistant, + whose pen had great weight in the controversy, quarreled with his old + friend, and not only that, but he persecuted him. His conduct to Bouvard + must have caused him the only remorse which troubled the serenity of his + declining years. Since his retirement to Nemours the science of + imponderable fluids (the only name suitable for magnetism, which, by the + nature of its phenomena, is closely allied to light and electricity) had + made immense progress, in spite of the ridicule of Parisian scientists. + Phrenology and physiognomy, the departments of Gall and Lavater (which are + in fact twins, for one is to the other as cause is to effect), proved to + the minds of more than one physiologist the existence of an intangible + fluid which is the basis of the phenomena of the human will, and from + which result passions, habits, the shape of faces and of skulls. Magnetic + facts, the miracles of somnambulism, those of divination and ecstasy, + which open a way to the spiritual world, were fast accumulating. The + strange tale of the apparitions of the farmer Martin, so clearly proved, + and his interview with Louis XVIII.; a knowledge of the intercourse of + Swedenborg with the departed, carefully investigated in Germany; the tales + of Walter Scott on the effects of “second sight”; the extraordinary + faculties of some fortune-tellers, who practice as a single science + chiromancy, cartomancy, and the horoscope; the facts of catalepsy, and + those of the action of certain morbid affections on the properties of the + diaphragm,—all such phenomena, curious, to say the least, each + emanating from the same source, were now undermining many scepticisms and + leading even the most indifferent minds to the plane of experiments. + Minoret, buried in Nemours, was ignorant of this movement of minds, strong + in the north of Europe but still weak in France where, however, many facts + called marvelous by superficial observers, were happening, but falling, + alas! like stones to the bottom of the sea, in the vortex of Parisian + excitements. + </p> + <p> + At the bottom of the present year the doctor’s tranquillity was shaken by + the following letter:— + </p> + <p> + My old comrade,—All friendship, even if lost, has rights which it is + difficult to set aside. I know that you are still living, and I remember + far less our enmity than our happy days in that old hovel of + Saint-Julien-le-Pauvre. + </p> + <p> + At a time when I expect to soon leave the world I have it on my heart to + prove to you that magnetism is about to become one of the most important + of the sciences—if indeed all science is not <i>one</i>. I can + overcome your incredulity by proof. Perhaps I shall owe to your curiosity + the happiness of taking you once more by the hand—as in the days + before Mesmer. Always yours, + </p> + <p> + Bouvard. + </p> + <p> + Stung like a lion by a gadfly the old scientist rushed to Paris and left + his card on Bouvard, who lived in the Rue Ferou near Saint-Sulpice. + Bouvard sent a card to his hotel on which was written “To-morrow; nine + o’clock, Rue Saint-Honore, opposite the Assumption.” + </p> + <p> + Minoret, who seemed to have renewed his youth, could not sleep. He went to + see some of his friends among the faculty to inquire if the world were + turned upside down, if the science of medicine still had a school, if the + four faculties any longer existed. The doctors reassured him, declaring + that the old spirit of opposition was as strong as ever, only, instead of + persecuting as heretofore, the Academies of Medicine and of Sciences rang + with laughter as they classed magnetic facts with the tricks of Comus and + Comte and Bosco, with jugglery and prestidigitation and all that now went + by the name of “amusing physics.” + </p> + <p> + This assurance did not prevent old Minoret from keeping the appointment + made for him by Bouvard. After an enmity of forty-four years the two + antagonists met beneath a porte-cochere in the Rue Saint-Honore. Frenchmen + have too many distractions of mind to hate each other long. In Paris + especially, politics, literature, and science render life so vast that + every man can find new worlds to conquer where all pretensions may live at + ease. Hatred requires too many forces fully armed. None but public bodies + can keep alive the sentiment. Robespierre and Danton would have fallen + into each other’s arms at the end of forty-four years. However, the two + doctors each withheld his hand and did not offer it. Bouvard spoke first:— + </p> + <p> + “You seem wonderfully well.” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, I am—and you?” said Minoret, feeling that the ice was now + broken. + </p> + <p> + “As you see.” + </p> + <p> + “Does magnetism prevent people from dying?” asked Minoret in a joking + tone, but without sharpness. + </p> + <p> + “No, but it almost prevented me from living.” + </p> + <p> + “Then you are not rich?” exclaimed Minoret. + </p> + <p> + “Pooh!” said Bouvard. + </p> + <p> + “But I am!” cried the other. + </p> + <p> + “It is not your money but your convictions that I want. Come,” replied + Bouvard. + </p> + <p> + “Oh! you obstinate fellow!” said Minoret. + </p> + <p> + The Mesmerist led his sceptic, with some precaution, up a dingy staircase + to the fourth floor. + </p> + <p> + At this particular time an extraordinary man had appeared in Paris, + endowed by faith with incalculable power, and controlling magnetic forces + in all their applications. Not only did this great unknown (who still + lives) heal from a distance the worst and most inveterate diseases, + suddenly and radically, as the Savior of men did formerly, but he was also + able to call forth instantaneously the most remarkable phenomena of + somnambulism and conquer the most rebellious will. The countenance of this + mysterious being, who claims to be responsible to God alone and to + communicate, like Swedenborg, with angels, resembles that of a lion; + concentrated, irresistible energy shines in it. His features, singularly + contorted, have a terrible and even blasting aspect. His voice, which + comes from the depths of his being, seems charged with some magnetic + fluid; it penetrates the hearer at every pore. Disgusted by the + ingratitude of the public after his many cures, he has now returned to an + impenetrable solitude, a voluntary nothingness. His all-powerful hand, + which has restored a dying daughter to her mother, fathers to their + grief-stricken children, adored mistresses to lovers frenzied with love, + cured the sick given over by physicians, soothed the sufferings of the + dying when life became impossible, wrung psalms of thanksgiving in + synagogues, temples, and churches from the lips of priests recalled to the + one God by the same miracle,—that sovereign hand, a sun of life + dazzling the closed eyes of the somnambulist, has never been raised again + even to save the heir-apparent of a kingdom. Wrapped in the memory of his + past mercies as in a luminous shroud, he denies himself to the world and + lives for heaven. + </p> + <p> + But, at the dawn of his reign, surprised by his own gift, this man, whose + generosity equaled his power, allowed a few interested persons to witness + his miracles. The fame of his work, which was mighty, and could easily be + revived to-morrow, reached Dr. Bouvard, who was then on the verge of the + grave. The persecuted mesmerist was at last enabled to witness the + startling phenomena of a science he had long treasured in his heart. The + sacrifices of the old man touched the heart of the mysterious stranger, + who accorded him certain privileges. As Bouvard now went up the staircase + he listened to the twittings of his old antagonist with malicious delight, + answering only, “You shall see, you shall see!” with the emphatic little + nods of a man who is sure of his facts. + </p> + <p> + The two physicians entered a suite of rooms that were more than modest. + Bouvard went alone into a bedroom which adjoined the salon where he left + Minoret, whose distrust was instantly awakened; but Bouvard returned at + once and took him into the bedroom, where he saw the mysterious + Swedenborgian, and also a woman sitting in an armchair. The woman did not + rise, and seemed not to notice the entrance of the two old men. + </p> + <p> + “What! no tub?” cried Minoret, smiling. + </p> + <p> + “Nothing but the power of God,” answered the Swedenborgian gravely. He + seemed to Minoret to be about fifty years of age. + </p> + <p> + The three men sat down and the mysterious stranger talked of the rain and + the coming fine weather, to the great astonishment of Minoret, who thought + he was being hoaxed. The Swedenborgian soon began, however, to question + his visitor on his scientific opinions, and seemed evidently to be taking + time to examine him. + </p> + <p> + “You have come here solely from curiosity, monsieur,” he said at last. “It + is not my habit to prostitute a power which, according to my conviction, + emanates from God; if I made a frivolous or unworthy use of it, it would + be taken from me. Nevertheless, there is some hope, Monsieur Bouvard tells + me, of changing the opinions of one who has opposed us, of enlightening a + scientific man whose mind is candid; I have therefore determined to + satisfy you. That woman whom you see there,” he continued, pointing to + her, “is now in a somnambulic sleep. The statements and manifestations of + somnambulists declare that this state is a delightful other life, during + which the inner being, freed from the trammels laid upon the exercise of + our faculties by the visible world, moves in a world which we mistakenly + term invisible. Sight and hearing are then exercised in a manner far more + perfect than any we know of here, possibly without the help of the organs + we now employ, which are the scabbard of the luminous blades called sight + and hearing. To a person in that state, distance and material obstacles do + not exist, or they can be traversed by a life within us for which our body + is a mere receptacle, a necessary shelter, a casing. Terms fail to + describe effects that have lately been rediscovered, for to-day the words + imponderable, intangible, invisible have no meaning to the fluid whose + action is demonstrated by magnetism. Light is ponderable by its heat, + which, by penetrating bodies, increases their volume; and certainly + electricity is only too tangible. We have condemned things themselves + instead of blaming the imperfection of our instruments.” + </p> + <p> + “She sleeps,” said Minoret, examining the woman, who seemed to him to + belong to an inferior class. + </p> + <p> + “Her body is for the time being in abeyance,” said the Swedenborgian. + “Ignorant persons suppose that condition to be sleep. But she will prove + to you that there is a spiritual universe, and that the mind when there + does not obey the laws of this material universe. I will send her wherever + you wish to go,—a hundred miles from here or to China, as you will. + She will tell you what is happening there.” + </p> + <p> + “Send her to my house in Nemours, Rue des Bourgeois; that will do,” said + Minoret. + </p> + <p> + He took Minoret’s hand, which the doctor let him take, and held it for a + moment seeming to collect himself; then with his other hand he took that + of the woman sitting in the arm-chair and placed the hand of the doctor in + it, making a sign to the old sceptic to seat himself beside this oracle + without a tripod. Minoret observed a slight tremor on the absolutely calm + features of the woman when their hands were thus united by the + Swedenborgian, but the action, though marvelous in its effects, was very + simply done. + </p> + <p> + “Obey him,” said the unknown personage, extending his hand above the head + of the sleeping woman, who seemed to imbibe both light and life from him, + “and remember that what you do for him will please me.—You can now + speak to her,” he added, addressing Minoret. + </p> + <p> + “Go to Nemours, to my house, Rue des Bourgeois,” said the doctor. + </p> + <p> + “Give her time; put your hand in hers until she proves to you by what she + tells you that she is where you wish her to be,” said Bouvard to his old + friend. + </p> + <p> + “I see a river,” said the woman in a feeble voice, seeming to look within + herself with deep attention, notwithstanding her closed eyelids. “I see a + pretty garden—” + </p> + <p> + “Why do you enter by the river and the garden?” said Minoret. + </p> + <p> + “Because they are there.” + </p> + <p> + “Who?” + </p> + <p> + “The young girl and her nurse, whom you are thinking of.” + </p> + <p> + “What is the garden like?” said Minoret. + </p> + <p> + “Entering by the steps which go down to the river, there is the right, a + long brick gallery, in which I see books; it ends in a singular building,—there + are wooden bells, and a pattern of red eggs. To the left, the wall is + covered with climbing plants, wild grapes, Virginia jessamine. In the + middle is a sun-dial. There are many plants in pots. Your child is looking + at the flowers. She shows them to her nurse—she is making holes in + the earth with her trowel, and planting seeds. The nurse is raking the + path. The young girl is pure as an angel, but the beginning of love is + there, faint as the dawn—” + </p> + <p> + “Love for whom?” asked the doctor, who, until now, would have listened to + no word said to him by somnambulists. He considered it all jugglery. + </p> + <p> + “You know nothing—though you have lately been uneasy about her + health,” answered the woman. “Her heart has followed the dictates of + nature.” + </p> + <p> + “A woman of the people to talk like this!” cried the doctor. + </p> + <p> + “In the state she is in all persons speak with extraordinary perception,” + said Bouvard. + </p> + <p> + “But who is it that Ursula loves?” + </p> + <p> + “Ursula does not know that she loves,” said the woman with a shake of the + head; “she is too angelic to know what love is; but her mind is occupied + by him; she thinks of him; she tries to escape the thought; but she + returns to it in spite of her will to abstain.—She is at the piano—” + </p> + <p> + “But who is he?” + </p> + <p> + “The son of a lady who lives opposite.” + </p> + <p> + “Madame de Portenduere?” + </p> + <p> + “Portenduere, did you say?” replied the sleeper. “Perhaps so. But there’s + no danger; he is not in the neighbourhood.” + </p> + <p> + “Have they spoken to each other?” asked the doctor. + </p> + <p> + “Never. They have looked at one another. She thinks him charming. He is, + in fact, a fine man; he has a good heart. She sees him from her window; + they see each other in church. But the young man no longer thinks of her.” + </p> + <p> + “His name?” + </p> + <p> + “Ah! to tell you that I must read it, or hear it. He is named Savinien; + she has just spoken his name; she thinks it sweet to say; she has looked + in the almanac for his fete-day and marked a red dot against it,—child’s + play, that. Ah! she will love well, with as much strength as purity; she + is not a girl to love twice; love will so dye her soul and fill it that + she will reject all other sentiments.” + </p> + <p> + “Where do you see that?” + </p> + <p> + “In her. She will know how to suffer; she inherits that; her father and + her mother suffered much.” + </p> + <p> + The last words overcame the doctor, who felt less shaken than surprised. + It is proper to state that between her sentences the woman paused for + several minutes, during which time her attention became more and more + concentrated. She was seen to see; her forehead had a singular aspect; an + inward effort appeared there; it seemed to clear or cloud by some + mysterious power, the effects of which Minoret had seen in dying persons + at moments when they appeared to have the gift of prophecy. Several times + she made gestures which resembled those of Ursula. + </p> + <p> + “Question her,” said the mysterious stranger, to Minoret, “she will tell + you secrets you alone can know.” + </p> + <p> + “Does Ursula love me?” asked Minoret. + </p> + <p> + “Almost as much as she loves God,” was the answer. “But she is very + unhappy at your unbelief. You do not believe in God; as if you could + prevent his existence! His word fills the universe. You are the cause of + her only sorrow.—Hear! she is playing scales; she longs to be a + better musician than she is; she is provoked with herself. She is + thinking, ‘If I could sing, if my voice were fine, it would reach his ear + when he is with his mother.’” + </p> + <p> + Doctor Minoret took out his pocket-book and noted the hour. + </p> + <p> + “Tell me what seeds she planted?” + </p> + <p> + “Mignonette, sweet-peas, balsams—” + </p> + <p> + “And what else?” + </p> + <p> + “Larkspur.” + </p> + <p> + “Where is my money?” + </p> + <p> + “With your notary; but you invest it so as not to lose the interest of a + single day.” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, but where is the money that I keep for my monthly expenses?” + </p> + <p> + “You put it in a large book bound in red, entitled ‘Pandects of Justinian, + Vol. II.’ between the last two leaves; the book is on the shelf of folios + above the glass buffet. You have a whole row of them. Your money is in the + last volume next to the salon—See! Vol. III. is before Vol. II.—but + you have no money, it is all in—” + </p> + <p> + “—thousand-franc notes,” said the doctor. + </p> + <p> + “I cannot see, they are folded. No, there are two notes of five hundred + francs.” + </p> + <p> + “You see them?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes.” + </p> + <p> + “How do they look?” + </p> + <p> + “One is old and yellow, the other white and new.” + </p> + <p> + This last phase of the inquiry petrified the doctor. He looked at Bouvard + with a bewildered air; but Bouvard and the Swedenborgian, who were + accustomed to the amazement of sceptics, were speaking together in a low + voice and appeared not to notice him. Minoret begged them to allow him to + return after dinner. The old philosopher wished to compose his mind and + shake off this terror, so as to put this vast power to some new test, to + subject it to more decisive experiments and obtain answers to certain + questions, the truth of which should do away with every sort of doubt. + </p> + <p> + “Be here at nine o’clock this evening,” said the stranger. “I will return + to meet you.” + </p> + <p> + Doctor Minoret was in so convulsed a state that he left the room without + bowing, followed by Bouvard, who called to him from behind. “Well, what do + you say? what do you say?” + </p> + <p> + “I think I am mad, Bouvard,” answered Minoret from the steps of the + porte-cochere. “If that woman tells the truth about Ursula,—and none + but Ursula can know the things that sorceress has told me,—I shall + say that <i>you are right</i>. I wish I had wings to fly to Nemours this + minute and verify her words. But I shall hire a carriage and start at ten + o’clock to-night. Ah! am I losing my senses?” + </p> + <p> + “What would you say if you knew of a life-long incurable disease healed in + a moment; if you saw that great magnetizer bring sweat in torrents from an + herpetic patient, or make a paralyzed woman walk?” + </p> + <p> + “Come and dine, Bouvard; stay with me till nine o’clock. I must find some + decisive, undeniable test!” + </p> + <p> + “So be it, old comrade,” answered the other. + </p> + <p> + The reconciled enemies dined in the Palais-Royal. After a lively + conversation, which helped Minoret to evade the fever of the ideas which + were ravaging his brain, Bouvard said to him:— + </p> + <p> + “If you admit in that woman the faculty of annihilating or of traversing + space, if you obtain a certainty that here, in Paris, she sees and hears + what is said and done in Nemours, you must admit all other magnetic facts; + they are not more incredible than these. Ask her for some one proof which + you know will satisfy you—for you might suppose that we obtained + information to deceive you; but we cannot know, for instance, what will + happen at nine o’clock in your goddaughter’s bedroom. Remember, or write + down, what the sleeper will see and hear, and then go home. Your little + Ursula, whom I do not know, is not our accomplice, and if she tells you + that she has said and done what you have written down—lower thy + head, proud Hun!” + </p> + <p> + The two friends returned to the house opposite to the Assumption and found + the somnambulist, who in her waking state did not recognize Doctor + Minoret. The eyes of this woman closed gently before the hand of the + Swedenborgian, which was stretched towards her at a little distance, and + she took the attitude in which Minoret had first seen her. When her hand + and that of the doctor were again joined, he asked her to tell him what + was happening in his house at Nemours at that instant. “What is Ursula + doing?” he said. + </p> + <p> + “She is undressed; she has just curled her hair; she is kneeling on her + prie-Dieu, before an ivory crucifix fastened to a red velvet background.” + </p> + <p> + “What is she saying?” + </p> + <p> + “Her evening prayers; she is commending herself to God; she implores him + to save her soul from evil thoughts; she examines her conscience and + recalls what she has done during the day; that she may know if she has + failed to obey his commands and those of the church—poor dear little + soul, she lays bare her breast!” Tears were in the sleeper’s eyes. “She + has done no sin, but she blames herself for thinking too much of Savinien. + She stops to wonder what he is doing in Paris; she prays to God to make + him happy. She speaks of you; she is praying aloud.” + </p> + <p> + “Tell me her words.” Minoret took his pencil and wrote, as the sleeper + uttered it, the following prayer, evidently composed by the Abbe Chaperon. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “My God, if thou art content with thine handmaid, who worships + thee and prays to thee with a love that is equal to her devotion, + who strives not to wander from thy sacred paths, who would gladly + die as thy Son died to glorify thy name, who desires to live in + the shadow of thy will—O God, who knoweth the heart, open the + eyes of my godfather, lead him in the way of salvation, grant him + thy Divine grace, that he may live for thee in his last days; save + him from evil, and let me suffer in his stead. Kind Saint Ursula, + dear protectress, and you, Mother of God, queen of heaven, + archangels, and saints in Paradise, hear me! join your + intercessions to mine and have mercy upon us.” + </pre> + <p> + The sleeper imitated so perfectly the artless gestures and the inspired + manner of his child that Doctor Minoret’s eyes were filled with tears. + </p> + <p> + “Does she say more?” he asked. + </p> + <p> + “Yes.” + </p> + <p> + “Repeat it.” + </p> + <p> + “‘My dear godfather; I wonder who plays backgammon with him in Paris.’ She + has blown out the light—her head is on the pillow—she turns to + sleep! Ah! she is off! How pretty she looks in her little night-cap.” + </p> + <p> + Minoret bowed to the great Unknown, wrung Bouvard by the hand, ran + downstairs and hastened to a cab-stand which at that time was near the + gates of a house since pulled down to make room for the Rue d’Alger. There + he found a coachman who was willing to start immediately for + Fontainebleau. The moment the price was agreed on, the old man, who seemed + to have renewed his youth, jumped into the carriage and started. According + to agreement, he stopped to rest the horse at Essonne, but arrived at + Fontainebleau in time for the diligence to Nemours, on which he secured a + seat, and dismissed his coachman. He reached home at five in the morning, + and went to bed, with his life-long ideas of physiology, nature, and + metaphysics in ruins about him, and slept till nine o’clock, so wearied + was he with the events of his journey. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0007" id="link2HCH0007"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER VII. A TWO-FOLD CONVERSION + </h2> + <p> + On rising, the doctor, sure that no one had crossed the threshold of his + house since he re-entered it, proceeded (but not without extreme + trepidation) to verify his facts. He was himself ignorant of any + difference in the bank-notes and also of the misplacement of the Pandect + volumes. The somnambulist was right. The doctor rang for La Bougival. + </p> + <p> + “Tell Ursula to come and speak to me,” he said, seating himself in the + center of his library. + </p> + <p> + The girl came; she ran up to him and kissed him. The doctor took her on + his knee, where she sat contentedly, mingling her soft fair curls with the + white hair of her old friend. + </p> + <p> + “Do you want something, godfather?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes; but promise me, on your salvation, to answer frankly, without + evasion, the questions that I shall put to you.” + </p> + <p> + Ursula colored to the temples. + </p> + <p> + “Oh! I’ll ask nothing that you cannot speak of,” he said, noticing how the + bashfulness of young love clouded the hitherto childlike purity of the + girl’s blue eyes. + </p> + <p> + “Ask me, godfather.” + </p> + <p> + “What thought was in your mind when you ended your prayers last evening, + and what time was it when you said them.” + </p> + <p> + “It was a quarter-past or half-past nine.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, repeat your last prayer.” + </p> + <p> + The girl fancied that her voice might convey her faith to the sceptic; she + slid from his knee and knelt down, clasping her hands fervently; a + brilliant light illumined her face as she turned it on the old man and + said:— + </p> + <p> + “What I asked of God last night I asked again this morning, and I shall + ask it till he vouchsafes to grant it.” + </p> + <p> + Then she repeated her prayer with new and still more powerful expression. + To her great astonishment her godfather took the last words from her mouth + and finished the prayer. + </p> + <p> + “Good, Ursula,” said the doctor, taking her again on his knee. “When you + laid your head on the pillow and went to sleep did you think to yourself, + ‘That dear godfather; I wonder who is playing backgammon with him in + Paris’?” + </p> + <p> + Ursula sprang up as if the last trumpet had sounded in her ears. She gave + a cry of terror; her eyes, wide open, gazed at the old man with awful + fixity. + </p> + <p> + “Who are you, godfather? From whom do you get such power?” she asked, + imagining that in his desire to deny God he had made some compact with the + devil. + </p> + <p> + “What seeds did you plant yesterday in the garden?” + </p> + <p> + “Mignonette, sweet-peas, balsams—” + </p> + <p> + “And the last were larkspur?” + </p> + <p> + She fell on her knees. + </p> + <p> + “Do not terrify me!” she exclaimed. “Oh you must have been here—you + were here, were you not?” + </p> + <p> + “Am I not always with you?” replied the doctor, evading her question, to + save the strain on the young girl’s mind. “Let us go to your room.” + </p> + <p> + “Your legs are trembling,” she said. + </p> + <p> + “Yes, I am confounded, as it were.” + </p> + <p> + “Can it be that you believe in God?” she cried, with artless joy, letting + fall the tears that gathered in her eyes. + </p> + <p> + The old man looked round the simple but dainty little room he had given to + his Ursula. On the floor was a plain green carpet, very inexpensive, which + she herself kept exquisitely clean; the walls were hung with a gray paper + strewn with roses and green leaves; at the windows, which looked to the + court, were calico curtains edged with a band of some pink material; + between the windows and beneath a tall mirror was a pier-table topped with + marble, on which stood a Sevres vase in which she put her nosegays; + opposite the chimney was a little bureau-desk of charming marquetry. The + bed, of chintz, with chintz curtains lined with pink, was one of those + duchess beds so common in the eighteenth century, which had a tuft of + carved feathers at the top of each of the four posts, which were fluted on + the sides. An old clock, inclosed in a sort of monument made of + tortoise-shell inlaid with arabesques of ivory, decorated the mantelpiece, + the marble shelf of which, with the candlesticks and the mirror in a frame + painted in cameo on a gray ground, presented a remarkable harmony of + color, tone, and style. A large wardrobe, the doors of which were inlaid + with landscapes in different woods (some having a green tint which are no + longer to be found for sale) contained, no doubt, her linen and her + dresses. The air of the room was redolent of heaven. The precise + arrangement of everything showed a sense of order, a feeling for harmony, + which would certainly have influenced any one, even a Minoret-Levrault. It + was plain that the things about her were dear to Ursula, and that she + loved a room which contained, as it were, her childhood and the whole of + her girlish life. + </p> + <p> + Looking the room well over that he might seem to have a reason for his + visit, the doctor saw at once how the windows looked into those of Madame + de Portenduere. During the night he had meditated as to the course he + ought to pursue with Ursula about his discovery of this dawning passion. + To question her now would commit him to some course. He must either + approve or disapprove of her love; in either case his position would be a + false one. He therefore resolved to watch and examine into the state of + things between the two young people, and learn whether it were his duty to + check the inclination before it was irresistible. None but an old man + could have shown such deliberate wisdom. Still panting from the discovery + of the truth of these magnetic facts, he turned about and looked at all + the various little things around the room; he wished to examine the + almanac which was hanging at a corner of the chimney-piece. + </p> + <p> + “These ugly things are too heavy for your little hands,” he said, taking + up the marble candlesticks which were partly covered with leather. + </p> + <p> + He weighed them in his hand; then he looked at the almanac and took it, + saying, “This is ugly too. Why do you keep such a common thing in your + pretty room?” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, please let me have it, godfather.” + </p> + <p> + “No, no, you shall have another to-morrow.” + </p> + <p> + So saying he carried off this possible proof, shut himself up in his + study, looked for Saint Savinien and found, as the somnambulist had told + him, a little red dot at the 19th of October; he also saw another before + his own saint’s day, Saint Denis, and a third before Saint John, the + abbe’s patron. This little dot, no larger than a pin’s head, had been seen + by the sleeping woman in spite of distance and other obstacles! The old + man thought till evening of these events, more momentous for him than for + others. He was forced to yield to evidence. A strong wall, as it were, + crumbled within him; for his life had rested on two bases,—indifference + in matters of religion and a firm disbelief in magnetism. When it was + proved to him that the senses—faculties purely physical, organs, the + effects of which could be explained—attained to some of the + attributes of the infinite, magnetism upset, or at least it seemed to him + to upset, the powerful arguments of Spinoza. The finite and the infinite, + two incompatible elements according to that remarkable man, were here + united, the one in the other. No matter what power he gave to the + divisibility and mobility of matter he could not help recognizing that it + possessed qualities that were almost divine. + </p> + <p> + He was too old now to connect those phenomena to a system, and compare + them with those of sleep, of vision, of light. His whole scientific + belief, based on the assertions of the school of Locke and Condillac, was + in ruins. Seeing his hollow ideas in pieces, his scepticism staggered. + Thus the advantage in this struggle between the Catholic child and the + Voltairean old man was on Ursula’s side. In the dismantled fortress, above + these ruins, shone a light; from the center of these ashes issued the path + of prayer! Nevertheless, the obstinate old scientist fought his doubts. + Though struck to the heart, he would not decide, he struggled on against + God. + </p> + <p> + But he was no longer the same man; his mind showed its vacillation. He + became unnaturally dreamy; he read Pascal, and Bossuet’s sublime “History + of Species”; he read Bonald, he read Saint-Augustine; he determined also + to read the works of Swedenborg, and the late Saint-Martin, which the + mysterious stranger had mentioned to him. The edifice within him was + cracking on all sides; it needed but one more shake, and then, his heart + being ripe for God, he was destined to fall into the celestial vineyard as + fall the fruits. Often of an evening, when playing with the abbe, his + goddaughter sitting by, he would put questions bearing on his opinions + which seemed singular to the priest, who was ignorant of the inward + workings by which God was remaking that fine conscience. + </p> + <p> + “Do you believe in apparitions?” asked the sceptic of the pastor, stopping + short in the game. + </p> + <p> + “Cardan, a great philosopher of the sixteenth century said he had seen + some,” replied the abbe. + </p> + <p> + “I know all those that scholars have discussed, for I have just reread + Plotinus. I am questioning you as a Catholic might, and I ask if you think + that dead men can return to the living.” + </p> + <p> + “Jesus reappeared to his disciples after his death,” said the abbe. “The + Church ought to have faith in the apparitions of the Savior. As for + miracles, they are not lacking,” he continued, smiling. “Shall I tell you + the last? It took place in the eighteenth century.” + </p> + <p> + “Pooh!” said the doctor. + </p> + <p> + “Yes, the blessed Marie-Alphonse of Ligouri, being very far from Rome, + knew of the death of the Pope at the very moment the Holy Father expired; + there were numerous witnesses of this miracle. The sainted bishop being in + ecstasy, heard the last words of the sovereign pontiff and repeated them + at the time to those about him. The courier who brought the announcement + of the death did not arrive till thirty hours later.” + </p> + <p> + “Jesuit!” exclaimed old Minoret, laughing, “I did not ask you for proofs; + I asked you if you believed in apparitions.” + </p> + <p> + “I think an apparition depends a good deal on who sees it,” said the abbe, + still fencing with his sceptic. + </p> + <p> + “My friend,” said the doctor, seriously, “I am not setting a trap for you. + What do you really believe about it?” + </p> + <p> + “I believe that the power of God is infinite,” replied the abbe. + </p> + <p> + “When I am dead, if I am reconciled to God, I will ask Him to let me + appear to you,” said the doctor, smiling. + </p> + <p> + “That’s exactly the agreement Cardan made with his friend,” answered the + priest. + </p> + <p> + “Ursula,” said Minoret, “if danger ever threatens you, call me, and I will + come.” + </p> + <p> + “You have put into one sentence that beautiful elegy of ‘Neere’ by Andre + Chenier,” said the abbe. “Poets are sublime because they clothe both facts + and feelings with ever-living images.” + </p> + <p> + “Why do you speak of your death, dear godfather?” said Ursula in a grieved + tone. “We Christians do not die; the grave is the cradle of our souls.” + </p> + <p> + “Well,” said the doctor, smiling, “we must go out of the world, and when I + am no longer here you will be astonished at your fortune.” + </p> + <p> + “When you are here no longer, my kind friend, my only consolation will be + to consecrate my life to you.” + </p> + <p> + “To me, dead?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes. All the good works that I can do will be done in your name to redeem + your sins. I will pray God every day for his infinite mercy, that he may + not punish eternally the errors of a day. I know he will summon among the + righteous a soul so pure, so beautiful, as yours.” + </p> + <p> + That answer, said with angelic candor, in a tone of absolute certainty, + confounded error and converted Denis Minoret as God converted Saul. A ray + of inward light overawed him; the knowledge of this tenderness, covering + his years to come, brought tears to his eyes. This sudden effect of grace + had something that seemed electrical about it. The abbe clasped his hands + and rose, troubled, from his seat. The girl, astonished at her triumph, + wept. The old man stood up as if a voice had called him, looking into + space as though his eyes beheld the dawn; then he bent his knee upon his + chair, clasped his hands, and lowered his eyes to the ground as one + humiliated. + </p> + <p> + “My God,” he said in a trembling voice, raising his head, “if any one can + obtain my pardon and lead me to thee, surely it is this spotless creature. + Have mercy on the repentant old age that this pure child presents to + thee!” + </p> + <p> + He lifted his soul to God; mentally praying for the light of divine + knowledge after the gift of divine grace; then he turned to the abbe and + held out his hand. + </p> + <p> + “My dear pastor,” he said, “I am become as a little child. I belong to + you; I give my soul to your care.” + </p> + <p> + Ursula kissed his hands and bathed them with her tears. The old man took + her on his knee and called her gayly his godmother. The abbe, deeply + moved, recited the “Veni Creator” in a species of religious ecstasy. The + hymn served as the evening prayer of the three Christians kneeling + together for the first time. + </p> + <p> + “What has happened?” asked La Bougival, amazed at the sight. + </p> + <p> + “My godfather believes in God at last!” replied Ursula. + </p> + <p> + “Ah! so much the better; he only needed that to make him perfect,” cried + the old woman, crossing herself with artless gravity. + </p> + <p> + “Dear doctor,” said the good priest, “you will soon comprehend the + grandeur of religion and the value of its practices; you will find its + philosophy in human aspects far higher than that of the boldest sceptics.” + </p> + <p> + The abbe, who showed a joy that was almost infantine, agreed to catechize + the old man and confer with him twice a week. Thus the conversion + attributed to Ursula and to a spirit of sordid calculation, was the + spontaneous act of the doctor himself. The abbe, who for fourteen years + had abstained from touching the wounds of that heart, though all the while + deploring them, was now asked for help, as a surgeon is called to an + injured man. Ever since this scene Ursula’s evening prayers had been said + in common with her godfather. Day after day the old man grew more + conscious of the peace within him that succeeded all his conflicts. + Having, as he said, God as the responsible editor of things inexplicable, + his mind was at ease. His dear child told him that he might know by how + far he had advanced already in God’s kingdom. During the mass which we + have seen him attend, he had read the prayers and applied his own + intelligence to them; from the first, he had risen to the divine idea of + the communion of the faithful. The old neophyte understood the eternal + symbol attached to that sacred nourishment, which faith renders needful to + the soul after conveying to it her own profound and radiant essence. When + on leaving the church he had seemed in a hurry to get home, it was merely + that he might once more thank his dear child for having led him to “enter + religion,”—the beautiful expression of former days. He was holding + her on his knee in the salon and kissing her forehead sacredly at the very + moment when his relatives were degrading that saintly influence with their + shameless fears, and casting their vulgar insults upon Ursula. His haste + to return home, his assumed disdain for their company, his sharp replies + as he left the church were naturally attributed by all the heirs to the + hatred Ursula had excited against them in the old man’s mind. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0008" id="link2HCH0008"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER VIII. THE CONFERENCE + </h2> + <p> + While Ursula was playing variations on Weber’s “Last Thought” to her + godfather, a plot was hatching in the Minoret-Levraults’ dining-room which + was destined to have a lasting effect on the events of this drama. The + breakfast, noisy as all provincial breakfasts are, and enlivened by + excellent wines brought to Nemours by the canal either from Burgundy or + Touraine, lasted more than two hours. Zelie had sent for oysters, + salt-water fish, and other gastronomical delicacies to do honor to + Desire’s return. The dining-room, in the center of which a round table + offered a most appetizing sight, was like the hall of an inn. Content with + the size of her kitchens and offices, Zelie had built a pavilion for the + family between the vast courtyard and a garden planted with vegetables and + full of fruit-trees. Everything about the premises was solid and plain. + The example of Levrault-Levrault had been a warning to the town. Zelie + forbade her builder to lead her into such follies. The dining-room was, + therefore, hung with varnished paper and furnished with walnut chairs and + sideboards, a porcelain stove, a tall clock, and a barometer. Though the + plates and dishes were of common white china, the table shone with + handsome linen and abundant silverware. After Zelie had served the coffee, + coming and going herself like shot in a decanter,—for she kept but + one servant,—and when Desire, the budding lawyer, had been told of + the event of the morning and its probably consequences, the door was + closed, and the notary Dionis was called upon to speak. By the silence in + the room and the looks that were cast on that authoritative face, it was + easy to see the power that such men exercise over families. + </p> + <p> + “My dear children,” said he, “your uncle having been born in 1746, is + eighty-three years old at the present time; now, old men are given to + folly, and that little—” + </p> + <p> + “Viper!” cried Madame Massin. + </p> + <p> + “Hussy!” said Zelie. + </p> + <p> + “Let us call her by her own name,” said Dionis. + </p> + <p> + “Well, she’s a thief,” said Madame Cremiere. + </p> + <p> + “A pretty thief,” remarked Desire. + </p> + <p> + “That little Ursula,” went on Dionis, “has managed to get hold of his + heart. I have been thinking of your interests, and I did not wait until + now before making certain inquiries; now this is what I have discovered + about that young—” + </p> + <p> + “Marauder,” said the collector. + </p> + <p> + “Inveigler,” said the clerk of the court. + </p> + <p> + “Hold your tongue, friends,” said the notary, “or I’ll take my hat and be + off.” + </p> + <p> + “Come, come, papa,” cried Minoret, pouring out a little glass of rum and + offering it to the notary; “here, drink this, it comes from Rome itself; + and now go on.” + </p> + <p> + “Ursula is, it is true, the legitimate daughter of Joseph Mirouet; but her + father was the natural son of Valentin Mirouet, your uncle’s + father-in-law. Being therefore an illegitimate niece, any will the doctor + might make in her favor could probably be contested; and if he leaves her + his fortune in that way you could bring a suit against Ursula. This, + however, might turn out ill for you, in case the court took the view that + there was no relationship between Ursula and the doctor. Still, the suit + would frighten an unprotected girl, and bring about a compromise—” + </p> + <p> + “The law is so rigid as to the rights of natural children,” said the newly + fledged licentiate, eager to parade his knowledge, “that by the judgment + of the court of appeals dated July 7, 1817, a natural child can claim + nothing from his natural grandfather, not even a maintenance. So you see + the illegitimate parentage is made retrospective. The law pursues the + natural child even to its legitimate descent, on the ground that + benefactions done to grandchildren reach the natural son through that + medium. This is shown by articles 757, 908, and 911 of the civil Code. The + royal court of Paris, by a decision of the 26th of January of last year, + cut off a legacy made to the legitimate child of a natural son by his + grandfather, who, as grandfather, was as distant to a natural grandson as + the doctor, being an uncle, is to Ursula.” + </p> + <p> + “All that,” said Goupil, “seems to me to relate only to the bequests made + by grandfathers to natural descendants. Ursula is not a blood relation of + Doctor Minoret. I remember a decision of the royal court at Colmar, + rendered in 1825, just before I took my degree, which declared that after + the decease of a natural child his descendants could no longer be + prohibited from inheriting. Now, Ursula’s father is dead.” + </p> + <p> + Goupil’s argument produced what journalists who report the sittings of + legislative assemblies are wont to call “profound sensation.” + </p> + <p> + “What does that signify?” cried Dionis. “The actual case of the bequest of + an uncle to an illegitimate child may not yet have been presented for + trial; but when it is, the sternness of French law against such children + will be all the more firmly applied because we live in times when religion + is honored. I’ll answer for it that out of such a suit as I propose you + could get a compromise,—especially if they see you are determined to + carry Ursula to a court of appeals.” + </p> + <p> + Here the joy of the heirs already fingering their gold was made manifest + in smiles, shrugs, and gestures round the table, and prevented all notice + of Goupil’s dissent. This elation, however, was succeeded by deep silence + and uneasiness when the notary uttered his next word, a terrible “But!” + </p> + <p> + As if he had pulled the string of a puppet-show, starting the little + people in jerks by means of machinery, Dionis beheld all eyes turned on + him and all faces rigid in one and the same pose. + </p> + <p> + “<i>But</i> no law prevents your uncle from adopting or marrying Ursula,” + he continued. “As for adoption, that could be contested, and you would, I + think, have equity on your side. The royal courts would never trifle with + questions of adoptions; you would get a hearing there. It is true the + doctor is an officer of the Legion of honor, and was formerly surgeon to + the ex-emperor; but, nevertheless, he would get the worst of it. Moreover, + you would have due warning in case of adoption—but how about + marriage? Old Minoret is shrewd enough to go to Paris and marry her after + a year’s domicile, and give her a million by the marriage contract. The + only thing, therefore, that really puts your property in danger is your + uncle’s marriage with the girl.” + </p> + <p> + Here the notary paused. + </p> + <p> + “There’s another danger,” said Goupil, with a knowing air,—“that of + a will made in favor of a third person, old Bongrand for instance, who + will hold the property in trust for Mademoiselle Ursula—” + </p> + <p> + “If you tease your uncle,” continued Dionis, cutting short his head-clerk, + “if you are not all of you very polite to Ursula, you will drive him into + either a marriage or into making that private trust which Goupil speaks + of,—though I don’t think him capable of that; it is a dangerous + thing. As for marriage, that is easy to prevent. Desire there has only got + to hold out a finger to the girl; she’s sure to prefer a handsome young + man, cock of the walk in Nemours, to an old one.” + </p> + <p> + “Mother,” said Desire to Zelie’s ear, as much allured by the millions as + by Ursula’s beauty, “If I married her we should get the whole property.” + </p> + <p> + “Are you crazy?—you, who’ll some day have fifty thousand francs a + year and be made a deputy! As long as I live you never shall cut your + throat by a foolish marriage. Seven hundred thousand francs, indeed! Why, + the mayor’s only daughter will have fifty thousand a year, and they have + already proposed her to me—” + </p> + <p> + This reply, the first rough speech his mother had ever made to him, + extinguished in Desire’s breast all desire for a marriage with the + beautiful Ursula; for his father and he never got the better of any + decision once written in the terrible blue eyes of Zelie Minoret. + </p> + <p> + “Yes, but see here, Monsieur Dionis,” cried Cremiere, whose wife had been + nudging him, “if the good man took the thing seriously and married his + goddaughter to Desire, giving her the reversion of all the property, + good-by to our share in it; if he lives five years longer uncle may be + worth a million.” + </p> + <p> + “Never!” cried Zelie, “never in my life shall Desire marry the daughter of + a bastard, a girl picked up in the streets out of charity. My son will + represent the Minorets after the death of his uncle, and the Minorets have + five hundred years of good bourgeoisie behind them. That’s equal to the + nobility. Don’t be uneasy, any of you; Desire will marry when we find a + chance to put him in the Chamber of deputies.” + </p> + <p> + This lofty declaration was backed by Goupil, who said:— + </p> + <p> + “Desire, with an allowance of twenty-four thousand francs a year, will be + president of a royal court or solicitor-general; either office leads to + the peerage. A foolish marriage would ruin him.” + </p> + <p> + The heirs were now all talking at once; but they suddenly held their + tongues when Minoret rapped on the table with his fist to keep silence for + the notary. + </p> + <p> + “Your uncle is a worthy man,” continued Dionis. “He believes he’s + immortal; and, like most clever men, he’ll let death overtake him before + he has made a will. My advice therefore is to induce him to invest his + capital in a way that will make it difficult for him to disinherit you, + and I know of an opportunity, made to hand. That little Portenduere is in + Saint-Pelagie, locked-up for one hundred and some odd thousand francs’ + worth of debt. His old mother knows he is in prison; she is crying like a + Magdalen. The abbe is to dine with her; no doubt she wants to talk to him + about her troubles. Well, I’ll go and see your uncle to-night and persuade + him to sell his five per cent consols, which are now at 118, and lend + Madame de Portenduere, on the security of her farm at Bordieres and her + house here, enough to pay the debts of the prodigal son. I have a right as + notary to speak to him in behalf of young Portenduere; and it is quite + natural that I should wish to make him change his investments; I get deeds + and commissions out of the business. If I become his adviser I’ll propose + to him other land investments for his surplus capital; I have some + excellent ones now in my office. If his fortune were once invested in + landed estate or in mortgage notes in this neighbourhood, it could not + take wings to itself very easily. It is easy to make difficulties between + the wish to realize and the realization.” + </p> + <p> + The heirs, struck with the truth of this argument (much cleverer than that + of Monsieur Josse), murmured approval. + </p> + <p> + “You must be careful,” said the notary in conclusion, “to keep your uncle + in Nemours, where his habits are known, and where you can watch him. Find + him a lover for the girl and you’ll prevent his marrying her himself.” + </p> + <p> + “Suppose she married the lover?” said Goupil, seized by an ambitious + desire. + </p> + <p> + “That wouldn’t be a bad thing; then you could figure up the loss; the old + man would have to say how much he gives her,” replied the notary. “But if + you set Desire at her he could keep the girl dangling on till the old man + died. Marriages are made and unmade.” + </p> + <p> + “The shortest way,” said Goupil, “if the doctor is likely to live much + longer, is to marry her to some worthy young man who will get her out of + your way by settling at Sens, or Montargis, or Orleans with a hundred + thousand francs in hand.” + </p> + <p> + Dionis, Massin, Zelie, and Goupil, the only intelligent heads in the + company, exchanged four thoughtful smiles. + </p> + <p> + “He’d be a worm at the core,” whispered Zelie to Massin. + </p> + <p> + “How did he get here?” returned the clerk. + </p> + <p> + “That will just suit you!” cried Desire to Goupil. “But do you think you + can behave decently enough to satisfy the old man and the girl?” + </p> + <p> + “In these days,” whispered Zelie again in Massin’s year, “notaries look + out for no interests but their own. Suppose Dionis went over to Ursula + just to get the old man’s business?” + </p> + <p> + “I am sure of him,” said the clerk of the court, giving her a sly look out + of his spiteful little eyes. He was just going to add, “because I hold + something over him,” but he withheld the words. + </p> + <p> + “I am quite of Dionis’s opinion,” he said aloud. + </p> + <p> + “So am I,” cried Zelie, who now suspected the notary of collusion with the + clerk. + </p> + <p> + “My wife has voted!” said the post master, sipping his brandy, though his + face was already purple from digesting his meal and absorbing a notable + quantity of liquids. + </p> + <p> + “And very properly,” remarked the collector. + </p> + <p> + “I shall go and see the doctor after dinner,” said Dionis. + </p> + <p> + “If Monsieur Dionis’s advice is good,” said Madame Cremiere to Madame + Massin, “we had better go and call on our uncle, as we used to do, every + Sunday evening, and behave exactly as Monsieur Dionis has told us.” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, and be received as he received us!” cried Zelie. “Minoret and I have + more than forty thousand francs a year, and yet he refused our + invitations! We are quite his equals. If I don’t know how to write + prescriptions I know how to paddle my boat as well as he—I can tell + him that!” + </p> + <p> + “As I am far from having forty thousand francs a year,” said Madame + Massin, rather piqued, “I don’t want to lose ten thousand.” + </p> + <p> + “We are his nieces; we ought to take care of him, and then besides we + shall see how things are going,” said Madame Cremiere; “you’ll thank us + some day, cousin.” + </p> + <p> + “Treat Ursula kindly,” said the notary, lifting his right forefinger to + the level of his lips; “remember old Jordy left her his savings.” + </p> + <p> + “You have managed those fools as well as Desroches, the best lawyer in + Paris, could have done,” said Goupil to his patron as they left the + post-house. + </p> + <p> + “And now they are quarreling over my fee,” replied the notary, smiling + bitterly. + </p> + <p> + The heirs, after parting with Dionis and his clerk, met again in the + square, with face rather flushed from their breakfast, just as vespers + were over. As the notary predicted, the Abbe Chaperon had Madame de + Portenduere on his arm. + </p> + <p> + “She dragged him to vespers, see!” cried Madame Massin to Madame Cremiere, + pointing to Ursula and the doctor, who were leaving the church. + </p> + <p> + “Let us go and speak to him,” said Madame Cremiere, approaching the old + man. + </p> + <p> + The change in the faces of his relatives (produced by the conference) did + not escape Doctor Minoret. He tried to guess the reason of this sudden + amiability, and out of sheer curiosity encouraged Ursula to stop and speak + to the two women, who were eager to greet her with exaggerated affection + and forced smiles. + </p> + <p> + “Uncle, will you permit me to come and see you to-night?” said Madame + Cremiere. “We feared sometimes we were in your way—but it is such a + long time since our children have paid you their respects; our girls are + old enough now to make dear Ursula’s acquaintance.” + </p> + <p> + “Ursula is a little bear, like her name,” replied the doctor. + </p> + <p> + “Let us tame her,” said Madame Massin. “And besides, uncle,” added the + good housewife, trying to hide her real motive under a mask of economy, + “they tell us the dear girl has such talent for the forte that we are very + anxious to hear her. Madame Cremiere and I are inclined to take her + music-master for our children. If there were six or eight scholars in a + class it would bring the price of his lessons within our means.” + </p> + <p> + “Certainly,” said the old man, “and it will be all the better for me + because I want to give Ursula a singing-master.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, to-night then, uncle. We will bring your great-nephew Desire to see + you; he is now a lawyer.” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, to-night,” echoed Minoret, meaning to fathom the motives of these + petty souls. + </p> + <p> + The two nieces pressed Ursula’s hand, saying, with affected eagerness, “Au + revoir.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, godfather, you have read my heart!” cried Ursula, giving him a + grateful look. + </p> + <p> + “You are going to have a voice,” he said; “and I shall give you masters of + drawing and Italian also. A woman,” added the doctor, looking at Ursula as + he unfastened the gate of his house, “ought to be educated to the height + of every position in which her marriage may place her.” + </p> + <p> + Ursula grew red as a cherry; her godfather’s thoughts evidently turned in + the same direction as her own. Feeling that she was too near confessing to + the doctor the involuntary attraction which led her to think about + Savinien and to center all her ideas of affection upon him, she turned + aside and sat down in front of a great cluster of climbing plants, on the + dark background of which she looked at a distance like a blue and white + flower. + </p> + <p> + “Now you see, godfather, that your nieces were very kind to me; yes, they + were very kind,” she repeated as he approached her, to change the thoughts + that made him pensive. + </p> + <p> + “Poor little girl!” cried the old man. + </p> + <p> + He laid Ursula’s hand upon his arm, tapping it gently, and took her to the + terraces beside the river, where no one could hear them. + </p> + <p> + “Why do you say, ‘Poor little girl’?” + </p> + <p> + “Don’t you see how they fear you?” + </p> + <p> + “Fear me,—why?” + </p> + <p> + “My next of kin are very uneasy about my conversion. They no doubt + attribute it to your influence over me; they fancy I deprive them of their + inheritance to enrich you.” + </p> + <p> + “But you won’t do that?” said Ursula naively, looking up at him. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, divine consolation of my old age!” said the doctor, taking his + godchild in his arms and kissing her on both cheeks. “It was for her and + not for myself, oh God! that I besought thee just now to let me live until + the day I give her to some good being who is worthy of her!—You will + see comedies, my little angel, comedies which the Minorets and Cremieres + and Massins will come and play here. You want to brighten and prolong my + life; they are longing for my death.” + </p> + <p> + “God forbids us to hate any one, but if that is—Ah! I despise them!” + exclaimed Ursula. + </p> + <p> + “Dinner is ready!” called La Bougival from the portico, which, on the + garden side, was at the end of the corridor. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0009" id="link2HCH0009"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER IX. A FIRST CONFIDENCE + </h2> + <p> + Ursula and her godfather were sitting at dessert in the pretty dining-room + decorated with Chinese designs in black and gold lacquer (the folly of + Levrault-Levrault) when the justice of peace arrived. The doctor offered + him (and this was a great mark of intimacy) a cup of his coffee, a mixture + of Mocha with Bourbon and Martinique, roasted, ground, and made by himself + in a silver apparatus called a Chaptal. + </p> + <p> + “Well,” said Bongrand, pushing up his glasses and looking slyly at the old + man, “the town is in commotion; your appearance in church has put your + relatives beside themselves. You have left your fortune to the priests, to + the poor. You have roused the families, and they are bestirring + themselves. Ha! ha! I saw their first irruption into the square; they were + as busy as ants who have lost their eggs.” + </p> + <p> + “What did I tell you, Ursula?” cried the doctor. “At the risk of grieving + you, my child, I must teach you to know the world and put you on your + guard against undeserved enmity.” + </p> + <p> + “I should like to say a word to you on this subject,” said Bongrand, + seizing the occasion to speak to his old friend of Ursula’s future. + </p> + <p> + The doctor put a black velvet cap on his white head, the justice of peace + wore his hat to protect him from the night air, and they walked up and + down the terrace discussing the means of securing to Ursula what her + godfather intended to bequeath her. Bongrand knew Dionis’s opinion as to + the invalidity of a will made by the doctor in favor of Ursula; for + Nemours was so preoccupied with the Minoret affairs that the matter had + been much discussed among the lawyers of the little town. Bongrand + considered that Ursula was not a relative of Doctor Minoret, but he felt + that the whole spirit of legislation was against the foisting into + families of illegitimate off-shoots. The makers of the Code had foreseen + only the weakness of fathers and mothers for their natural children, + without considering that uncles and aunts might have a like tenderness and + a desire to provide for such children. Evidently there was a gap in the + law. + </p> + <p> + “In all other countries,” he said, ending an explanation of the legal + points which Dionis, Goupil, and Desire had just explained to the heirs, + “Ursula would have nothing to fear; she is a legitimate child, and the + disability of her father ought only to affect the inheritance from + Valentine Mirouet, her grandfather. But in France the magistracy is + unfortunately overwise and very consequential; it inquires into the spirit + of the law. Some lawyers talk morality, and might try to show that this + hiatus in the Code came from the simple-mindedness of the legislators, who + did not foresee the case, though, none the less, they established a + principle. To bring a suit would be long and expensive. Zelie would carry + it to the court of appeals, and I might not be alive when the case was + tried.” + </p> + <p> + “The best of cases is often worthless,” cried the doctor. “Here’s the + question the lawyers will put, ‘To what degree of relationship ought the + disability of natural children in matters of inheritance to extend?’ and + the credit of a good lawyer will lie in gaining a bad cause.” + </p> + <p> + “Faith!” said Bongrand, “I dare not take upon myself to affirm that the + judges wouldn’t interpret the meaning of the law as increasing the + protection given to marriage, the eternal base of society.” + </p> + <p> + Without explaining his intentions, the doctor rejected the idea of a + trust. When Bongrand suggested to him a marriage with Ursula as the surest + means of securing his property to her, he exclaimed, “Poor little girl! I + might live fifteen years; what a fate for her!” + </p> + <p> + “Well, what will you do, then?” asked Bongrand. + </p> + <p> + “We’ll think about it—I’ll see,” said the old man, evidently at a + loss for a reply. + </p> + <p> + Just then Ursula came to say that Monsieur Dionis wished to speak to the + doctor. + </p> + <p> + “Already!” cried Minoret, looking at Bongrand. “Yes,” he said to Ursula, + “send him here.” + </p> + <p> + “I’ll bet my spectacles to a bunch of matches that he is the advance-guard + of your heirs,” said Bongrand. “They breakfasted together at the post + house, and something is being engineered.” + </p> + <p> + The notary, conducted by Ursula, came to the lower end of the garden. + After the usual greetings and a few insignificant remarks, Dionis asked + for a private interview; Ursula and Bongrand retired to the salon. + </p> + <p> + The distrust which superior men excite in men of business is very + remarkable. The latter deny them the “lesser” powers while recognizing + their possession of the “higher.” It is, perhaps, a tribute to them. + Seeing them always on the higher plane of human things, men of business + believe them incapable of descending to the infinitely petty details which + (like the dividends of finance and the microscopic facts of science) go to + equalize capital and to form the worlds. They are mistaken! The man of + honor and of genius sees all. Bongrand, piqued by the doctor’s silence, + but impelled by a sense of Ursula’s interests which he thought endangered, + resolved to defend her against the heirs. He was wretched at not knowing + what was taking place between the old man and Dionis. + </p> + <p> + “No matter how pure and innocent Ursula may be,” he thought as he looked + at her, “there is a point on which young girls do make their own law and + their own morality. I’ll test here. The Minoret-Levraults,” he began, + settling his spectacles, “might possibly ask you in marriage for their + son.” + </p> + <p> + The poor child turned pale. She was too well trained, and had too much + delicacy to listen to what Dionis was saying to her uncle; but after a + moment’s inward deliberation, she thought she might show herself, and + then, if she was in the way, her godfather would let her know it. The + Chinese pagoda which the doctor made his study had outside blinds to the + glass doors; Ursula invented the excuse of shutting them. She begged + Monsieur Bongrand’s pardon for leaving him alone in the salon, but he + smiled at her and said, “Go! go!” + </p> + <p> + Ursula went down the steps of the portico which led to the pagoda at the + foot of the garden. She stood for some minutes slowly arranging the blinds + and watching the sunset. The doctor and notary were at the end of the + terrace, but as they turned she heard the doctor make an answer which + reached the pagoda where she was. + </p> + <p> + “My heirs would be delighted to see me invest my property in real estate + or mortgages; they imagine it would be safer there. I know exactly what + they are saying; perhaps you come from them. Let me tell you, my good sir, + that my disposition of my property is irrevocably made. My heirs will have + the capital I brought here with me; I wish them to know that, and to let + me alone. If any one of them attempts to interfere with what I think + proper to do for that young girl (pointing to Ursula) I shall come back + from the other world and torment him. So, Monsieur Savinien de Portenduere + will stay in prison if they count on me to get him out. I shall not sell + my property in the Funds.” + </p> + <p> + Hearing this last fragment of the sentence Ursula experienced the first + and only pain which so far had ever touched her. She laid her head against + the blind to steady herself. + </p> + <p> + “Good God, what is the matter with her?” thought the old doctor. “She has + no color; such an emotion after dinner might kill her.” + </p> + <p> + He went to her with open arms, and she fell into them almost fainting. + </p> + <p> + “Adieu, Monsieur,” he said to the notary, “please leave us.” + </p> + <p> + He carried his child to an immense Louis XV. sofa which was in his study, + looked for a phial of hartshorn among his remedies, and made her inhale + it. + </p> + <p> + “Take my place,” said the doctor to Bongrand, who was terrified; “I must + be alone with her.” + </p> + <p> + The justice of peace accompanied the notary to the gate, asking him, but + without showing any eagerness, what was the matter with Ursula. + </p> + <p> + “I don’t know,” replied Dionis. “She was standing by the pagoda, listening + to us, and just as her uncle (so-called) refused to lend some money at my + request to young de Portenduere who is in prison for debt,—for he + has not had, like Monsieur du Rouvre, a Monsieur Bongrand to defend him,—she + turned pale and staggered. Can she love him? Is there anything between + them?” + </p> + <p> + “At fifteen years of age? pooh!” replied Bongrand. + </p> + <p> + “She was born in February, 1813; she’ll be sixteen in four months.” + </p> + <p> + “I don’t believe she ever saw him,” said the judge. “No, it is only a + nervous attack.” + </p> + <p> + “Attack of the heart, more likely,” said the notary. + </p> + <p> + Dionis was delighted with this discovery, which would prevent the marriage + “in extremis” which they dreaded,—the only sure means by which the + doctor could defraud his relatives. Bongrand, on the other hand, saw a + private castle of his own demolished; he had long thought of marrying his + son to Ursula. + </p> + <p> + “If the poor girl loves that youth it will be a misfortune for her,” + replied Bongrand after a pause. “Madame de Portenduere is a Breton and + infatuated with her noble blood.” + </p> + <p> + “Luckily—I mean for the honor of the Portendueres,” replied the + notary, on the point of betraying himself. + </p> + <p> + Let us do the faithful and upright Bongrand the justice to say that before + he re-entered the salon he had abandoned, not without deep regret for his + son, the hope he had cherished of some day calling Ursula his daughter. He + meant to give his son six thousand francs a year the day he was appointed + substitute, and if the doctor would give Ursula a hundred thousand francs + what a pearl of a home the pair would make! His Eugene was so loyal and + charming a fellow! Perhaps he had praised his Eugene too often, and that + had made the doctor distrustful. + </p> + <p> + “I shall have to come down to the mayor’s daughter,” he thought. “But + Ursula without any money is worth more than Mademoiselle Levrault-Cremiere + with a million. However, the thing to be done is to manoeuvre the marriage + with this little Portenduere—if she really loves him.” + </p> + <p> + The doctor, after closing the door to the library and that to the garden, + took his goddaughter to the window which opened upon the river. + </p> + <p> + “What ails you, my child?” he said. “Your life is my life. Without your + smiles what would become of me?” + </p> + <p> + “Savinien in prison!” she said. + </p> + <p> + With these words a shower of tears fell from her eyes and she began to + sob. + </p> + <p> + “Saved!” thought the doctor, who was holding her pulse with great anxiety. + “Alas! she has all the sensitiveness of my poor wife,” he thought, + fetching a stethoscope which he put to Ursula’s heart, applying his ear to + it. “Ah, that’s all right,” he said to himself. “I did not know, my + darling, that you loved any one as yet,” he added, looking at her; “but + think out loud to me as you think to yourself; tell me all that has passed + between you.” + </p> + <p> + “I do not love him, godfather; we have never spoken to each other,” she + answered, sobbing. “But to hear that he is in prison, and to know that you—harshly—refused + to get him out—you, so good!” + </p> + <p> + “Ursula, my dear little good angel, if you do not love him why did you put + that little red dot against Saint Savinien’s day just as you put one + before that of Saint Denis? Come, tell me everything about your little + love-affair.” + </p> + <p> + Ursula blushed, swallowed a few tears, and for a moment there was silence + between them. + </p> + <p> + “Surely you are not afraid of your father, your friend, mother, doctor, + and godfather, whose heart is now more tender than it ever has been.” + </p> + <p> + “No, no, dear godfather,” she said. “I will open my heart to you. Last + May, Monsieur Savinien came to see his mother. Until then I had never + taken notice of him. When he left home to live in Paris I was a child, and + I did not see any difference between him and—all of you—except + perhaps that I loved you, and never thought of loving any one else. + Monsieur Savinien came by the mail-post the night before his mother’s + fete-day; but we did not know it. At seven the next morning, after I had + said my prayers, I opened the window to air my room and I saw the windows + in Monsieur Savinien’s room open; and Monsieur Savinien was there, in a + dressing gown, arranging his beard; in all his movements there was such + grace—I mean, he seemed to me so charming. He combed his black + moustache and the little tuft on his chin, and I saw his white throat—so + round!—must I tell you all? I noticed that his throat and face and + that beautiful black hair were all so different from yours when I watch + you arranging your beard. There came—I don’t know how—a sort + of glow into my heart, and up into my throat, my head; it came so + violently that I sat down—I couldn’t stand, I trembled so. But I + longed to see him again, and presently I got up; he saw me then, and, just + for play, he sent me a kiss from the tips of his fingers and—” + </p> + <p> + “And?” + </p> + <p> + “And then,” she continued, “I hid myself—I was ashamed, but happy—why + should I be ashamed of being happy? That feeling—it dazzled my soul + and gave it some power, but I don’t know what—it came again each + time I saw within me the same young face. I loved this feeling, violent as + it was. Going to mass, some unconquerable power made me look at Monsieur + Savinien with his mother on his arm; his walk, his clothes, even the tap + of his boots on the pavement, seemed to me so charming. The least little + thing about him—his hand with the delicate glove—acted like a + spell upon me; and yet I had strength enough not to think of him during + mass. When the service was over I stayed in the church to let Madame de + Portenduere go first, and then I walked behind him. I couldn’t tell you + how these little things excited me. When I reached home, I turned round to + fasten the iron gate—” + </p> + <p> + “Where was La Bougival?” asked the doctor. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, I let her go to the kitchen,” said Ursula simply. “Then I saw + Monsieur Savinien standing quite still and looking at me. Oh! godfather, I + was so proud, for I thought I saw a look in his eyes of surprise and + admiration—I don’t know what I would not do to make him look at me + again like that. It seemed to me I ought to think of nothing forevermore + but pleasing him. That glance is now the best reward I have for any good I + do. From that moment I have thought of him incessantly, in spite of + myself. Monsieur Savinien went back to Paris that evening, and I have not + seen him since. The street seems empty; he took my heart away with him—but + he does not know it.” + </p> + <p> + “Is that all?” asked the old man. + </p> + <p> + “All, dear godfather,” she said, with a sigh of regret that there was not + more to tell. + </p> + <p> + “My little girl,” said the doctor, putting her on his knee; “you are + nearly sixteen and your womanhood is beginning. You are now between your + blessed childhood, which is ending, and the emotions of love, which will + make your life a tumultuous one; for you have a nervous system of + exquisite sensibility. What has happened to you, my child, is love,” said + the old man with an expression of deepest sadness,—“love in its holy + simplicity; love as it ought to be; involuntary, sudden, coming like a + thief who takes all—yes, all! I expected it. I have studied women; + many need proofs and miracles of affection before love conquers them; but + others there are, under the influence of sympathies explainable to-day by + magnetic fluids, who are possessed by it in an instant. To you I can now + tell all—as soon as I saw the charming woman whose name you bear, I + felt that I should love her forever, solely and faithfully, without + knowing whether our characters or persons suited each other. Is there a + second-sight in love? What answer can I give to that, I who have seen so + many unions formed under celestial auspices only to be ruptured later, + giving rise to hatreds that are well-nigh eternal, to repugnances that are + unconquerable. The senses sometimes harmonize while ideas are at variance; + and some persons live more by their minds than by their bodies. The + contrary is also true; often minds agree and persons displease. These + phenomena, the varying and secret cause of many sorrows, show the wisdom + of laws which give parents supreme power over the marriages of their + children; for a young girl is often duped by one or other of these + hallucinations. Therefore I do not blame you. The sensations you feel, the + rush of sensibility which has come from its hidden source upon your heart + and upon your mind, the happiness with which you think of Savinien, are + all natural. But, my darling child, society demands, as our good abbe has + told us, the sacrifice of many natural inclinations. The destinies of men + and women differ. I was able to choose Ursula Mirouet for my wife; I could + go to her and say that I loved her; but a young girl is false to herself + if she asks the love of the man she loves. A woman has not the right which + men have to seek the accomplishment of her hopes in open day. Modesty is + to her—above all to you, my Ursula,—the insurmountable barrier + which protects the secrets of her heart. Your hesitation in confiding to + me these first emotions shows me you would suffer cruel torture rather + than admit to Savinien—” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, yes!” she said. + </p> + <p> + “But, my child, you must do more. You must repress these feelings; you + must forget them.” + </p> + <p> + “Why?” + </p> + <p> + “Because, my darling, you must love only the man you marry; and, even if + Monsieur Savinien de Portenduere loved you—” + </p> + <p> + “I never thought of it.” + </p> + <p> + “But listen: even if he loved you, even if his mother asked me to give him + your hand, I should not consent to the marriage until I had subjected him + to a long and thorough probation. His conduct has been such as to make + families distrust him and to put obstacles between himself and heiresses + which cannot be easily overcome.” + </p> + <p> + A soft smile came in place of tears on Ursula’s sweet face as she said, + “Then poverty is good sometimes.” + </p> + <p> + The doctor could find no answer to such innocence. + </p> + <p> + “What has he done, godfather?” she asked. + </p> + <p> + “In two years, my treasure, he has incurred one hundred and twenty + thousand francs of debt. He has had the folly to get himself locked up in + Saint-Pelagie, the debtor’s prison; an impropriety which will always be, + in these days, a discredit to him. A spendthrift who is willing to plunge + his poor mother into poverty and distress might cause his wife, as your + poor father did, to die of despair.” + </p> + <p> + “Don’t you think he will do better?” she asked. + </p> + <p> + “If his mother pays his debts he will be penniless, and I don’t know a + worse punishment than to be a nobleman without means.” + </p> + <p> + This answer made Ursula thoughtful; she dried her tears, and said:— + </p> + <p> + “If you can save him, save him, godfather; that service will give you a + right to advise him; you can remonstrate—” + </p> + <p> + “Yes,” said the doctor, imitating her, “and then he can come here, and the + old lady will come here, and we shall see them, and—” + </p> + <p> + “I was thinking only of him,” said Ursula, blushing. + </p> + <p> + “Don’t think of him, my child; it would be folly,” said the doctor + gravely. “Madame de Portenduere, who was a Kergarouet, would never + consent, even if she had to live on three hundred francs a year, to the + marriage of her son, the Vicomte Savinien de Portenduere, with whom?—with + Ursula Mirouet, daughter of a bandsman in a regiment, without money, and + whose father—alas! I must now tell you all—was the bastard son + of an organist, my father-in-law.” + </p> + <p> + “O godfather! you are right; we are equal only in the sight of God. I will + not think of him again—except in my prayers,” she said, amid the + sobs which this painful revelation excited. “Give him what you meant to + give me—what can a poor girl like me want?—ah, in prison, he!—” + </p> + <p> + “Offer to God your disappointments, and perhaps he will help us.” + </p> + <p> + There was silence for some minutes. When Ursula, who at first did not dare + to look at her godfather, raised her eyes, her heart was deeply moved to + see the tears which were rolling down his withered cheeks. The tears of + old men are as terrible as those of children are natural. + </p> + <p> + “Oh what is it?” cried Ursula, flinging herself at his feet and kissing + his hands. “Are you not sure of me?” + </p> + <p> + “I, who longed to gratify all your wishes, it is I who am obliged to cause + the first great sorrow of your life!” he said. “I suffer as much as you. I + never wept before, except when I lost my children—and, Ursula—Yes,” + he cried suddenly, “I will do all you desire!” + </p> + <p> + Ursula gave him, through her tears a look that was vivid as lightning. She + smiled. + </p> + <p> + “Let us go into the salon, darling,” said the doctor. “Try to keep the + secret of all this to yourself,” he added, leaving her alone for a moment + in his study. + </p> + <p> + He felt himself so weak before that heavenly smile that he feared he might + say a word of hope and thus mislead her. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0010" id="link2HCH0010"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER X. THE FAMILY OF PORTENDUERE + </h2> + <p> + Madame de Portenduere was at this moment alone with the abbe in her frigid + little salon on the ground floor, having finished the recital of her + troubles to the good priest, her only friend. She held in her hand some + letters which he had just returned to her after reading them; these + letters had brought her troubles to a climax. Seated on her sofa beside a + square table covered with the remains of a dessert, the old lady was + looking at the abbe, who sat on the other side of the table, doubled up in + his armchair and stroking his chin with the gesture common to valets on + the stage, mathematicians, and priests,—a sign of profound + meditation on a problem that was difficult to solve. + </p> + <p> + This little salon, lighted by two windows on the street and finished with + a wainscot painted gray, was so damp that the lower panels showed the + geometrical cracks of rotten wood when the paint no longer binds it. The + red-tiled floor, polished by the old lady’s one servant, required, for + comfort’s sake, before each seat small round mats of brown straw, on one + of which the abbe was now resting his feet. The old damask curtains of + light green with green flowers were drawn, and the outside blinds had been + closed. Two wax candles lighted the table, leaving the rest of the room in + semi-obscurity. Is it necessary to say that between the two windows was a + fine pastel by Latour representing the famous Admiral de Portenduere, the + rival of the Suffren, Guichen, Kergarouet and Simeuse naval heroes? On the + paneled wall opposite to the fireplace were portraits of the Vicomte de + Portenduere and of the mother of the old lady, a Kergarouet-Ploegat. + Savinien’s great-uncle was therefore the Vice-admiral de Kergarouet, and + his cousin was the Comte de Portenduere, grandson of the admiral,—both + of them very rich. + </p> + <p> + The Vice-admiral de Kergarouet lived in Paris and the Comte de Portenduere + at the chateau of that name in Dauphine. The count represented the elder + branch, and Savinien was the only scion of the younger. The count, who was + over forty years of age and married to a rich wife, had three children. + His fortune, increased by various legacies, amounted, it was said, to + sixty thousand francs a year. As deputy from Isere he passed his winters + in Paris, where he had bought the hotel de Portenduere with the + indemnities he obtained under the Villele law. The vice-admiral had + recently married his niece by marriage, for the sole purpose of securing + his money to her. + </p> + <p> + The faults of the young viscount were therefore likely to cost him the + favor of two powerful protectors. If Savinien had entered the navy, young + and handsome as he was, with a famous name, and backed by the influence of + an admiral and a deputy, he might, at twenty-three years of age, been a + lieutenant; but his mother, unwilling that her only son should go into + either naval or military service, had kept him at Nemours under the + tutelage of one of the Abbe Chaperon’s assistants, hoping that she could + keep him near her until her death. She meant to marry him to a demoiselle + d’Aiglemont with a fortune of twelve thousand francs a year; to whose hand + the name of Portenduere and the farm at Bordieres enabled him to pretend. + This narrow but judicious plan, which would have carried the family to a + second generation, was already balked by events. The d’Aiglemonts were + ruined, and one of the daughters, Helene, had disappeared, and the mystery + of her disappearance was never solved. + </p> + <p> + The weariness of a life without atmosphere, without prospects, without + action, without other nourishment than the love of a son for his mother, + so worked upon Savinien that he burst his chains, gentle as they were, and + swore that he would never live in the provinces—comprehending, + rather late, that his future fate was not to be in the Rue des Bourgeois. + At twenty-one years of age he left his mother’s house to make acquaintance + with his relations, and try his luck in Paris. The contrast between life + in Paris and life in Nemours was likely to be fatal to a young man of + twenty-one, free, with no one to say him nay, naturally eager for + pleasure, and for whom his name and his connections opened the doors of + all the salons. Quite convinced that his mother had the savings of many + years in her strong-box, Savinien soon spent the six thousand francs which + she had given him to see Paris. That sum did not defray his expenses for + six months, and he soon owed double that sum to his hotel, his tailor, his + boot maker, to the man from whom he hired his carriages and horses, to a + jeweler,—in short, to all those traders and shopkeepers who + contribute to the luxury of young men. + </p> + <p> + He had only just succeeded in making himself known, and had scarcely + learned how to converse, how to present himself in a salon, how to wear + his waistcoats and choose them and to order his coats and tie his cravat, + before he found himself in debt for over thirty thousand francs, while + still seeking the right phrases in which to declare his love for the + sister of the Marquis de Ronquerolles, the elegant Madame de Serizy, whose + youth had been at its climax during the Empire. + </p> + <p> + “How is that you all manage?” asked Savinien one day, at the end of a gay + breakfast with a knot of young dandies, with whom he was intimate as the + young men of the present day are intimate with each other, all aiming for + the same thing and all claiming an impossible equality. “You were no + richer than I and yet you get along without anxiety; you contrive to + maintain yourselves, while as for me I make nothing but debts.” + </p> + <p> + “We all began that way,” answered Rastignac, laughing, and the laugh was + echoed by Lucien de Rubempre, Maxime de Trailles, Emile Blondet, and + others of the fashionable young men of the day. + </p> + <p> + “Though de Marsay was rich when he started in life he was an exception,” + said the host, a parvenu named Finot, ambitious of seeming intimate with + these young men. “Any one but he,” added Finot bowing to that personage, + “would have been ruined by it.” + </p> + <p> + “A true remark,” said Maxime de Trailles. + </p> + <p> + “And a true idea,” added Rastignac. + </p> + <p> + “My dear fellow,” said de Marsay, gravely, to Savinien; “debts are the + capital stock of experience. A good university education with tutors for + all branches, who don’t teach you anything, costs sixty thousand francs. + If the education of the world does cost double, at least it teaches you to + understand life, politics, men,—and sometimes women.” + </p> + <p> + Blondet concluded the lesson by a paraphrase from La Fontaine: “The world + sells dearly what we think it gives.” + </p> + <p> + Instead of laying to heart the sensible advice which the cleverest pilots + of the Parisian archipelago gave him, Savinien took it all as a joke. + </p> + <p> + “Take care, my dear fellow,” said de Marsay one day. “You have a great + name; if you don’t obtain the fortune that name requires you’ll end your + days in the uniform of a cavalry-sergeant. ‘We have seen the fall of + nobler heads,’” he added, declaiming the line of Corneille as he took + Savinien’s arm. “About six years ago,” he continued, “a young Comte + d’Esgrignon came among us; but he did not stay two years in the paradise + of the great world. Alas! he lived and moved like a rocket. He rose to the + Duchesse de Maufrigneuse and fell to his native town, where he is now + expiating his faults with a wheezy old father and a game of whist at two + sous a point. Tell Madame de Serizy your situation, candidly, without + shame; she will understand it and be very useful to you. Whereas, if you + play the charade of first love with her she will pose as a Raffaelle + Madonna, practice all the little games of innocence upon you, and take you + journeying at enormous cost through the Land of Sentiment.” + </p> + <p> + Savinien, still too young and too pure in honor, dared not confess his + position as to money to Madame de Serizy. At a moment when he knew not + which way to turn he had written his mother an appealing letter, to which + she replied by sending him the sum of twenty thousand francs, which was + all she possessed. This assistance brought him to the close of the first + year. During the second, being harnessed to the chariot of Madame de + Serizy, who was seriously taken with him, and who was, as the saying is, + forming him, he had recourse to the dangerous expedient of borrowing. One + of his friends, a deputy and the friend of his cousin the Comte de + Portenduere, advised him in his distress to go to Gobseck or Gigonnet or + Palma, who, if duly informed as to his mother’s means, would give him an + easy discount. Usury and the deceptive help of renewals enabled him to + lead a happy life for nearly eighteen months. Without daring to leave + Madame de Serizy the poor boy had fallen madly in love with the beautiful + Comtesse de Kergarouet, a prude after the fashion of young women who are + awaiting the death of an old husband and making capital of their virtue in + the interests of a second marriage. Quite incapable of understanding that + calculating virtue is invulnerable, Savinien paid court to Emilie de + Kergarouet in all the splendor of a rich man. He never missed either ball + or theater at which she was present. + </p> + <p> + “You haven’t powder enough, my boy, to blow up that rock,” said de Marsay, + laughing. + </p> + <p> + That young king of fashion, who did, out of commiseration for the lad, + endeavor to explain to him the nature of Emilie de Fontaine, merely wasted + his words; the gloomy lights of misfortune and the twilight of a prison + were needed to convince Savinien. + </p> + <p> + A note, imprudently given to a jeweler in collusion with the + money-lenders, who did not wish to have the odium of arresting the young + man, was the means of sending Savinien de Portenduere, in default of one + hundred and seventeen thousand francs and without the knowledge of his + friends, to the debtor’s prison at Sainte-Pelagie. So soon as the fact was + known Rastignac, de Marsay, and Lucien de Rubempre went to see him, and + each offered him a banknote of a thousand francs when they found how + really destitute he was. Everything belonging to him had been seized + except the clothes and the few jewels he wore. The three young men (who + brought an excellent dinner with them) discussed Savinien’s situation + while drinking de Marsay’s wine, ostensibly to arrange for his future but + really, no doubt, to judge of him. + </p> + <p> + “When a man is named Savinien de Portenduere,” cried Rastignac, “and has a + future peer of France for a cousin and Admiral Kergarouet for a + great-uncle, and commits the enormous blunder of allowing himself to be + put in Sainte-Pelagie, it is very certain that he must not stay there, my + good fellow.” + </p> + <p> + “Why didn’t you tell me?” cried de Marsay. “You could have had my + traveling-carriage, ten thousand francs, and letters of introduction for + Germany. We know Gobseck and Gigonnet and the other crocodiles; we could + have made them capitulate. But tell me, in the first place, what ass ever + led you to drink of that cursed spring.” + </p> + <p> + “Des Lupeaulx.” + </p> + <p> + The three young men looked at each other with one and the same thought and + suspicion, but they did not utter it. + </p> + <p> + “Explain all your resources; show us your hand,” said de Marsay. + </p> + <p> + When Savinien had told of his mother and her old-fashioned ways, and the + little house with three windows in the Rue des Bourgeois, without other + grounds than a court for the well and a shed for the wood; when he had + valued the house, built of sandstone and pointed in reddish cement, and + put a price on the farm at Bordieres, the three dandies looked at each + other, and all three said with a solemn air the word of the abbe in Alfred + de Musset’s “Marrons du feu” (which had then just appeared),—“Sad!” + </p> + <p> + “Your mother will pay if you write a clever letter,” said Rastignac. + </p> + <p> + “Yes, but afterwards?” cried de Marsay. + </p> + <p> + “If you had merely been put in the fiacre,” said Lucien, “the government + would find you a place in diplomacy, but Saint-Pelagie isn’t the + antechamber of an embassy.” + </p> + <p> + “You are not strong enough for Parisian life,” said Rastignac. + </p> + <p> + “Let us consider the matter,” said de Marsay, looking Savinien over as a + jockey examines a horse. “You have fine blue eyes, well opened, a white + forehead well shaped, magnificent black hair, a little moustache which + suits those pale cheeks, and a slim figure; you’ve a foot that tells race, + shoulders and chest not quite those of a porter, but solid. You are what I + call an elegant male brunette. Your face is of the style Louis XII., + hardly any color, well-formed nose; and you have the thing that pleases + women, a something, I don’t know what it is, which men take no account of + themselves; it is in the air, the manner, the tone of the voice, the dart + of the eye, the gesture,—in short, in a number of little things + which women see and to which they attach a meaning which escapes us. You + don’t know your merits, my dear fellow. Take a certain tone and style and + in six months you’ll captivate an English-woman with a hundred thousand + pounds; but you must call yourself viscount, a title which belongs to you. + My charming step-mother, Lady Dudley, who has not her equal for matching + two hearts, will find you some such woman in the fens of Great Britain. + What you must now do is to get the payment of your debts postponed for + ninety days. Why didn’t you tell us about them? The money-lenders at Baden + would have spared you—served you perhaps; but now, after you have + once been in prison, they’ll despise you. A money-lender is, like society, + like the masses, down on his knees before the man who is strong enough to + trick him, and pitiless to the lambs. To the eyes of some persons + Sainte-Pelagie is a she-devil who burns the souls of young men. Do you + want my candid advice? I shall tell you as I told that little d’Esgrignon: + ‘Arrange to pay your debts leisurely; keep enough to live on for three + years, and marry some girl in the provinces who can bring you an income of + thirty thousand francs.’ In the course of three years you can surely find + some virtuous heiress who is willing to call herself Madame la Vicomtesse + de Portenduere. Such is virtue,—let’s drink to it. I give you a + toast: ‘The girl with money!” + </p> + <p> + The young men did not leave their ex-friend till the official hour for + parting. The gate was no sooner closed behind them than they said to each + other: “He’s not strong enough!” “He’s quite crushed.” “I don’t believe + he’ll pull through it?” + </p> + <p> + The next day Savinien wrote his mother a confession in twenty-two pages. + Madame de Portenduere, after weeping for one whole day, wrote first to her + son, promising to get him out of prison, and then to the Comte de + Portenduere and to Admiral Kergarouet. + </p> + <p> + The letters the abbe had just read and which the poor mother was holding + in her hand and moistening with tears, were the answers to her appeal, + which had arrived that morning, and had almost broken her heart. + </p> + <p> + Paris, September, 1829. + </p> + <p> + To Madame de Portenduere: + </p> + <p> + Madame,—You cannot doubt the interest which the admiral and I both + feel in your troubles. What you ask of Monsieur de Kergarouet grieves me + all the more because our house was a home to your son; we were proud of + him. If Savinien had had more confidence in the admiral we could have + taken him to live with us, and he would already have obtained some good + situation. But, unfortunately, he told us nothing; he ran into debt of his + own accord, and even involved himself for me, who knew nothing of his + pecuniary position. It is all the more to be regretted because Savinien + has, for the moment, tied our hands by allowing the authorities to arrest + him. + </p> + <p> + If my nephew had not shown a foolish passion for me and sacrificed our + relationship to the vanity of a lover, we could have sent him to travel in + Germany while his affairs were being settled here. Monsieur de Kergarouet + intended to get him a place in the War office; but this imprisonment for + debt will paralyze such efforts. You must pay his debts; let him enter the + navy; he will make his way like the true Portenduere that he is; he has + the fire of the family in his beautiful black eyes, and we will all help + him. + </p> + <p> + Do not be disheartened, madame; you have many friends, among whom I beg + you to consider me as one of the most sincere; I send you our best wishes, + with the respects of + </p> + <p> + Your very affectionate servant, Emilie de Kergarouet. + </p> + <p> + The second letter was as follows:— + </p> + <p> + Portenduere, August, 1829. + </p> + <p> + To Madame de Portenduere: + </p> + <p> + My dear aunt,—I am more annoyed than surprised at Savinien’s pranks. + As I am married and the father of two sons and one daughter, my fortune, + already too small for my position and prospects, cannot be lessened to + ransom a Portenduere from the hands of the Jews. Sell your farm, pay his + debts, and come and live with us at Portenduere. You shall receive the + welcome we owe you, even though our views may not be entirely in + accordance with yours. You shall be made happy, and we will manage to + marry Savinien, whom my wife thinks charming. This little outbreak is + nothing; do not make yourself unhappy; it will never be known in this part + of the country, where there are a number of rich girls who would be + delighted to enter our family. + </p> + <p> + My wife joins me in assuring you of the happiness you would give us, and I + beg you to accept her wishes for the realization of this plan, together + with my affectionate respects. + </p> + <p> + Luc-Savinien, Comte de Portenduere. + </p> + <p> + “What letters for a Kergarouet to receive!” cried the old Breton lady, + wiping her eyes. + </p> + <p> + “The admiral does not know his nephew is in prison,” said the Abbe + Chaperon at last; “the countess alone read your letter, and has answered + it for him. But you must decide at once on some course,” he added after a + pause, “and this is what I have the honor to advise. Do not sell your + farm. The lease is just out, having lasted twenty-four years; in a few + months you can raise the rent to six thousand francs and get a premium for + double that amount. Borrow what you need of some honest man,—not + from the townspeople who make a business of mortgages. Your neighbour here + is a most worthy man; a man of good society, who knew it as it was before + the Revolution, who was once an atheist, and is now an earnest Catholic. + Do not let your feelings debar you from going to his house this very + evening; he will fully understand the step you take; forget for a moment + that you are a Kergarouet.” + </p> + <p> + “Never!” said the old mother, in a sharp voice. + </p> + <p> + “Well, then, be an amiable Kergarouet; come when he is alone. He will lend + you the money at three and a half per cent, perhaps even at three per + cent, and will do you this service delicately; you will be pleased with + him. He can go to Paris and release Savinien himself,—for he will + have to go there to sell out his funds,—and he can bring the lad + back to you.” + </p> + <p> + “Are you speaking of that little Minoret?” + </p> + <p> + “That little Minoret is eighty-three years old,” said the abbe, smiling. + “My dear lady, do have a little Christian charity; don’t wound him,—he + might be useful to you in other ways.” + </p> + <p> + “What ways?” + </p> + <p> + “He has an angel in his house; a precious young girl—” + </p> + <p> + “Oh! that little Ursula. What of that?” + </p> + <p> + The poor abbe did not pursue the subject after these significant words, + the laconic sharpness of which cut through the proposition he was about to + make. + </p> + <p> + “I think Doctor Minoret is very rich,” he said. + </p> + <p> + “So much the better for him.” + </p> + <p> + “You have indirectly caused your son’s misfortunes by refusing to give him + a profession; beware for the future,” said the abbe sternly. “Am I to tell + Doctor Minoret that you are coming?” + </p> + <p> + “Why cannot he come to me if he knows I want him?” she replied. + </p> + <p> + “Ah, madame, if you go to him you will pay him three per cent; if he comes + to you you will pay him five,” said the abbe, inventing this reason to + influence the old lady. “And if you are forced to sell your farm by Dionis + the notary, or by Massin the clerk (who would refuse to lend you the + money, knowing it was more their interest to buy), you would lose half its + value. I have not the slightest influence on the Dionis, Massins, or + Levraults, or any of those rich men who covet your farm and know that your + son is in prison.” + </p> + <p> + “They know it! oh, do they know it?” she exclaimed, throwing up her arms. + “There! my poor abbe, you have let your coffee get cold! Tiennette, + Tiennette!” + </p> + <p> + Tiennette, an old Breton servant sixty years of age, wearing a short gown + and a Breton cap, came quickly in and took the abbe’s coffee to warm it. + </p> + <p> + “Let be, Monsieur le recteur,” she said, seeing that the abbe meant to + drink it, “I’ll just put it into the bain-marie, it won’t spoil it.” + </p> + <p> + “Well,” said the abbe to Madame de Portenduere in his most insinuating + voice, “I shall go and tell the doctor of your visit, and you will come—” + </p> + <p> + The old mother did not yield till after an hour’s discussion, during which + the abbe was forced to repeat his arguments at least ten times. And even + then the proud Kergarouet was not vanquished until he used the words, + “Savinien would go.” + </p> + <p> + “It is better that I should go than he,” she said. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0011" id="link2HCH0011"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XI. SAVINIEN SAVED + </h2> + <p> + The clock was striking nine when the little door made in the large door of + Madame de Portenduere’s house closed on the abbe, who immediately crossed + the road and hastily rang the bell at the doctor’s gate. He fell from + Tiennette to La Bougival; the one said to him, “Why do you come so late, + Monsieur l’abbe?” as the other had said, “Why do you leave Madame so early + when she is in trouble?” + </p> + <p> + The abbe found a numerous company assembled in the green and brown salon; + for Dionis had stopped at Massin’s on his way home to re-assure the heirs + by repeating their uncle’s words. + </p> + <p> + “I believe Ursula has a love-affair,” said he, “which will be nothing but + pain and trouble to her; she seems romantic” (extreme sensibility is so + called by notaries), “and, you’ll see, she won’t marry soon. Therefore, + don’t show her any distrust; be very attentive to her and very respectful + to your uncle, for he is slyer than fifty Goupils,” added the notary—without + being aware that Goupil is a corruption of the word vulpes, a fox. + </p> + <p> + So Mesdames Massin and Cremiere with their husbands, the post master and + Desire, together with the Nemours doctor and Bongrand, made an unusual and + noisy party in the doctor’s salon. As the abbe entered he heard the sound + of the piano. Poor Ursula was just finishing a sonata of Beethoven’s. With + girlish mischief she had chosen that grand music, which must be studied to + be understood, for the purpose of disgusting these women with the thing + they coveted. The finer the music the less ignorant persons like it. So, + when the door opened and the abbe’s venerable head appeared they all cried + out: “Ah! here’s Monsieur l’abbe!” in a tone of relief, delighted to jump + up and put an end to their torture. + </p> + <p> + The exclamation was echoed at the card-table, where Bongrand, the Nemours + doctor, and old Minoret were victims to the presumption with which the + collector, in order to propitiate his great-uncle, had proposed to take + the fourth hand at whist. Ursula left the piano. The doctor rose as if to + receive the abbe, but really to put an end to the game. After many + compliments to their uncle on the wonderful proficiency of his + goddaughter, the heirs made their bow and retired. + </p> + <p> + “Good-night, my friends,” cried the doctor as the iron gate clanged. + </p> + <p> + “Ah! that’s where the money goes,” said Madame Cremiere to Madame Massin, + as they walked on. + </p> + <p> + “God forbid that I should spend money to teach my little Aline to make + such a din as that!” cried Madame Massin. + </p> + <p> + “She said it was Beethoven, who is thought to be fine musician,” said the + collector; “he has quite a reputation.” + </p> + <p> + “Not in Nemours, I’m sure of that,” said Madame Cremiere. + </p> + <p> + “I believe uncle made her play it expressly to drive us away,” said + Massin; “for I saw him give that little minx a wink as she opened the + music-book.” + </p> + <p> + “If that’s the sort of charivari they like,” said the post master, “they + are quite right to keep it to themselves.” + </p> + <p> + “Monsieur Bongrand must be fond of whist to stand such a dreadful racket,” + said Madame Cremiere. + </p> + <p> + “I shall never be able to play before persons who don’t understand music,” + Ursula was saying as she sat down beside the whist-table. + </p> + <p> + “In natures richly organized,” said the abbe, “sentiments can be developed + only in a congenial atmosphere. Just as a priest is unable to give the + blessing in presence of an evil spirit, or as a chestnut-tree dies in a + clay soil, so a musician’s genius has a mental eclipse when he is + surrounded by ignorant persons. In all the arts we must receive from the + souls who make the environment of our souls as much intensity as we convey + to them. This axiom, which rules the human mind, has been made into + proverbs: ‘Howl with the wolves’; ‘Like meets like.’ But the suffering you + felt, Ursula, affects delicate and tender natures only.” + </p> + <p> + “And so, friends,” said the doctor, “a thing which would merely give pain + to most women might kill my Ursula. Ah! when I am no longer here, I charge + you to see that the hedge of which Catullus spoke,—‘Ut flos,’ etc.,—a + protecting hedge is raised between this cherished flower and the world.” + </p> + <p> + “And yet those ladies flattered you, Ursula,” said Monsieur Bongrand, + smiling. + </p> + <p> + “Flattered her grossly,” remarked the Nemours doctor. + </p> + <p> + “I have always noticed how vulgar forced flattery is,” said old Minoret. + “Why is that?” + </p> + <p> + “A true thought has its own delicacy,” said the abbe. + </p> + <p> + “Did you dine with Madame de Portenduere?” asked Ursula, with a look of + anxious curiosity. + </p> + <p> + “Yes; the poor lady is terribly distressed. It is possible she may come to + see you this evening, Monsieur Minoret.” + </p> + <p> + Ursula pressed her godfather’s hand under the table. + </p> + <p> + “Her son,” said Bongrand, “was rather too simple-minded to live in Paris + without a mentor. When I heard that inquiries were being made here about + the property of the old lady I feared he was discounting her death.” + </p> + <p> + “Is it possible you think him capable of it?” said Ursula, with such a + terrible glance at Monsieur Bongrand that he said to himself rather sadly, + “Alas! yes, she loves him.” + </p> + <p> + “Yes and no,” said the Nemours doctor, replying to Ursula’s question. + “There is a great deal of good in Savinien, and that is why he is now in + prison; a scamp wouldn’t have got there.” + </p> + <p> + “Don’t let us talk about it any more,” said old Minoret. “The poor mother + must not be allowed to weep if there’s a way to dry her tears.” + </p> + <p> + The four friends rose and went out; Ursula accompanied them to the gate, + saw her godfather and the abbe knock at the opposite door, and as soon as + Tiennette admitted them she sat down on the outer wall with La Bougival + beside her. + </p> + <p> + “Madame la vicomtesse,” said the abbe, who entered first into the little + salon, “Monsieur le docteur Minoret was not willing that you should have + the trouble of coming to him—” + </p> + <p> + “I am too much of the old school, madame,” interrupted the doctor, “not to + know what a man owes to a woman of your rank, and I am very glad to be + able, as Monsieur l’abbe tells me, to be of service to you.” + </p> + <p> + Madame de Portenduere, who disliked the step the abbe had advised so much + that she had almost decided, after he left her, to apply to the notary + instead, was surprised by Minoret’s attention to such a degree that she + rose to receive him and signed to him to take a chair. + </p> + <p> + “Be seated, monsieur,” she said with a regal air. “Our dear abbe has told + you that the viscount is in prison on account of some youthful debts,—a + hundred thousand francs or so. If you could lend them to him I would + secure you on my farm at Bordieres.” + </p> + <p> + “We will talk of that, madame, when I have brought your son back to you—if + you will allow me to be your emissary in the matter.” + </p> + <p> + “Very good, monsieur,” she said, bowing her head and looking at the abbe + as if to say, “You were right; he really is a man of good society.” + </p> + <p> + “You see, madame,” said the abbe, “that my friend the doctor is full of + devotion to your family.” + </p> + <p> + “We shall be grateful, monsieur,” said Madame de Portenduere, making a + visible effort; “a journey to Paris, at your age, in quest of a prodigal, + is—” + </p> + <p> + “Madame, I had the honor to meet, in ‘65, the illustrious Admiral de + Portenduere in the house of that excellent Monsieur de Malesherbes, and + also in that of Monsieur le Comte de Buffon, who was anxious to question + him on some curious results of his voyages. Possibly Monsieur de + Portenduere, your late husband, was present. Those were the glorious days + of the French navy; it bore comparison with that of Great Britain, and its + officers had their full quota of courage. With what impatience we awaited + in ‘83 and ‘84 the news from St. Roch. I came very near serving as surgeon + in the king’s service. Your great-uncle, who is still living, Admiral + Kergarouet, fought his splendid battle at that time in the ‘Belle-Poule.’” + </p> + <p> + “Ah! if he did but know his great-nephew is in prison!” + </p> + <p> + “He would not leave him there a day,” said old Minoret, rising. + </p> + <p> + He held out his hand to take that of the old lady, which she allowed him + to do; then he kissed it respectfully, bowed profoundly, and left the + room; but returned immediately to say:— + </p> + <p> + “My dear abbe, may I ask you to engage a place in the diligence for me + to-morrow?” + </p> + <p> + The abbe stayed behind for half an hour to sing the praises of his friend, + who meant to win and had succeeded in winning the good graces of the old + lady. + </p> + <p> + “He is an astonishing man for his age,” she said. “He talks of going to + Paris and attending to my son’s affairs as if he were only twenty-five. He + has certainly seen good society.” + </p> + <p> + “The very best, madame; and to-day more than one son of a peer of France + would be glad to marry his goddaughter with a million. Ah! if that idea + should come into Savinien’s head!—times are so changed that the + objections would not come from your side, especially after his late + conduct—” + </p> + <p> + The amazement into which the speech threw the old lady alone enabled him + to finish it. + </p> + <p> + “You have lost your senses,” she said at last. + </p> + <p> + “Think it over, madame; God grant that your son may conduct himself in + future in a manner to win that old man’s respect.” + </p> + <p> + “If it were not you, Monsieur l’abbe,” said Madame de Portenduere, “if it + were any one else who spoke to me in that way—” + </p> + <p> + “You would not see him again,” said the abbe, smiling. “Let us hope that + your dear son will enlighten you as to what occurs in Paris in these days + as to marriages. You will think only of Savinien’s good; as you really + have helped to compromise his future you will not stand in the way of his + making himself another position.” + </p> + <p> + “And it is you who say that to me?” + </p> + <p> + “If I did not say it to you, who would?” cried the abbe rising and making + a hasty retreat. + </p> + <p> + As he left the house he saw Ursula and her godfather standing in their + courtyard. The weak doctor had been so entreated by Ursula that he had + just yielded to her. She wanted to go with him to Paris, and gave a + thousand reasons. He called to the abbe and begged him to engage the whole + coupe for him that very evening if the booking-office were still open. + </p> + <p> + The next day at half-past six o’clock the old man and the young girl + reached Paris, and the doctor went at once to consult his notary. + Political events were then very threatening. Monsieur Bongrand had + remarked in the course of the preceding evening that a man must be a fool + to keep a penny in the public funds so long as the quarrel between the + press and the court was not made up. Minoret’s notary now indirectly + approved of this opinion. The doctor therefore took advantage of his + journey to sell out his manufacturing stocks and his shares in the Funds, + all of which were then at a high value, depositing the proceeds in the + Bank of France. The notary also advised his client to sell the stocks left + to Ursula by Monsieur de Jordy. He promised to employ an extremely clever + broker to treat with Savinien’s creditors; but said that in order to + succeed it would be necessary for the young man to stay several days + longer in prison. + </p> + <p> + “Haste in such matters always means the loss of at least fifteen per + cent,” said the notary. “Besides, you can’t get your money under seven or + eight days.” + </p> + <p> + When Ursula heard that Savinien would have to say at least a week longer + in jail she begged her godfather to let her go there, if only once. Old + Minoret refused. The uncle and niece were staying at a hotel in the Rue + Croix des Petits-Champs where the doctor had taken a very suitable + apartment. Knowing the scrupulous honor and propriety of his goddaughter + he made her promise not to go out while he was away; at other times he + took her to see the arcades, the shops, the boulevards; but nothing seemed + to amuse or interest her. + </p> + <p> + “What do you want to do?” asked the old man. + </p> + <p> + “See Saint-Pelagie,” she answered obstinately. + </p> + <p> + Minoret called a hackney-coach and took her to the Rue de la Clef, where + the carriage drew up before the shabby front of an old convent then + transformed into a prison. The sight of those high gray walls, with every + window barred, of the wicket through which none can enter without stooping + (horrible lesson!), of the whole gloomy structure in a quarter full of + wretchedness, where it rises amid squalid streets like a supreme misery,—this + assemblage of dismal things so oppressed Ursula’s heart that she burst + into tears. + </p> + <p> + “Oh!” she said, “to imprison young men in this dreadful place for money! + How can a debt to a money-lender have a power the king has not? <i>He</i> + there!” she cried. “Where, godfather?” she added, looking from window to + window. + </p> + <p> + “Ursula,” said the old man, “you are making me commit great follies. This + is not forgetting him as you promised.” + </p> + <p> + “But,” she argued, “if I must renounce him must I also cease to feel an + interest in him? I can love him and not marry at all.” + </p> + <p> + “Ah!” cried the doctor, “there is so much reason in your unreasonableness + that I am sorry I brought you.” + </p> + <p> + Three days later the worthy man had all the receipts signed, and the legal + papers ready for Savinien’s release. The payings, including the notaries’ + fees, amounted to eighty thousand francs. The doctor went himself to see + Savinien released on Saturday at two o’clock. The young viscount, already + informed of what had happened by his mother, thanked his liberator with + sincere warmth of heart. + </p> + <p> + “You must return at once to see your mother,” the old doctor said to him. + </p> + <p> + Savinien answered in a sort of confusion that he had contracted certain + debts of honor while in prison, and related the visit of his friends. + </p> + <p> + “I suspected there was some personal debt,” cried the doctor, smiling. + “Your mother borrowed a hundred thousand francs of me, but I have paid out + only eighty thousand. Here is the rest; be careful how you spend it, + monsieur; consider what you have left of it as your stake on the green + cloth of fortune.” + </p> + <p> + During the last eight days Savinien had made many reflections on the + present conditions of life. Competition in everything necessitated hard + work on the part of whoever sought a fortune. Illegal methods and + underhand dealing demanded more talent than open efforts in face of day. + Success in society, far from giving a man position, wasted his time and + required an immense deal of money. The name of Portenduere, which his + mother considered all-powerful, had no power at all in Paris. His cousin + the deputy, Comte de Portenduere, cut a very poor figure in the Elective + Chamber in presence of the peerage and the court; and had none too much + credit personally. Admiral Kergarouet existed only as the husband of his + wife. Savinien admitted to himself that he had seen orators, men from the + middle classes, or lesser noblemen, become influential personages. Money + was the pivot, the sole means, the only mechanism of a society which Louis + XVIII. had tried to create in the likeness of that of England. + </p> + <p> + On his way from the Rue de la Clef to the Rue Croix des Petits-Champs the + young gentleman divulged the upshot of these meditations (which were + certainly in keeping with de Marsay’s advice) to the old doctor. + </p> + <p> + “I ought,” he said, “to go into oblivion for three or four years and seek + a career. Perhaps I could make myself a name by writing a book on + statesmanship or morals, or a treatise on some of the great questions of + the day. While I am looking out for a marriage with some young lady who + could make me eligible to the Chamber, I will work hard in silence and in + obscurity.” + </p> + <p> + Studying the young fellow’s face with a keen eye, the doctor saw the + serious purpose of a wounded man who was anxious to vindicate himself. He + therefore cordially approved of the scheme. + </p> + <p> + “My friend,” he said, “if you strip off the skin of the old nobility + (which is no longer worn these days) I will undertake, after you have + lived for three or four years in a steady and industrious manner, to find + you a superior young girl, beautiful, amiable, pious, and possessing from + seven to eight hundred thousand francs, who will make you happy and of + whom you will have every reason to be proud,—one whose only nobility + is that of the heart!” + </p> + <p> + “Ah, doctor!” cried the young man, “there is no longer a nobility in these + days,—nothing but an aristocracy.” + </p> + <p> + “Go and pay your debts of honor and come back here. I shall engage the + coupe of the diligence, for my niece is with me,” said the old man. + </p> + <p> + That evening, at six o’clock, the three travelers started from the Rue + Dauphine. Ursula had put on a veil and did not say a word. Savinien, who + once, in a moment of superficial gallantry, had sent her that kiss which + invaded and conquered her soul like a love-poem, had completely forgotten + the young girl in the hell of his Parisian debts; moreover, his hopeless + love for Emilie de Kergarouet hindered him from bestowing a thought on a + few glances exchanged with a little country girl. He did not recognize her + when the doctor handed her into the coach and then sat down beside her to + separate her from the young viscount. + </p> + <p> + “I have some bills to give you,” said the doctor to the young man. “I have + brought all your papers and documents.” + </p> + <p> + “I came very near not getting off,” said Savinien, “for I had to order + linen and clothes; the Philistines took all; I return like a true + prodigal.” + </p> + <p> + However interesting were the subjects of conversation between the young + man and the old one, and however witty and clever were certain remarks of + the viscount, the young girl continued silent till after dusk, her green + veil lowered, and her hands crossed on her shawl. + </p> + <p> + “Mademoiselle does not seem to have enjoyed Paris very much,” said + Savinien at last, somewhat piqued. + </p> + <p> + “I am glad to return to Nemours,” she answered in a trembling voice + raising her veil. + </p> + <p> + Notwithstanding the dim light Savinien then recognized her by the heavy + braids of her hair and the brilliancy of her blue eyes. + </p> + <p> + “I, too, leave Paris to bury myself in Nemours without regret now that I + meet my charming neighbour again,” he said; “I hope, Monsieur le docteur + that you will receive me in your house; I love music, and I remember to + have listened to Mademoiselle Ursula’s piano.” + </p> + <p> + “I do not know,” replied the doctor gravely, “whether your mother would + approve of your visits to an old man whose duty it is to care for this + dear child with all the solicitude of a mother.” + </p> + <p> + This reserved answer made Savinien reflect, and he then remembered the + kisses so thoughtlessly wafted. Night came; the heat was great. Savinien + and the doctor went to sleep first. Ursula, whose head was full of + projects, did not succumb till midnight. She had taken off her + straw-bonnet, and her head, covered with a little embroidered cap, dropped + upon her uncle’s shoulder. When they reached Bouron at dawn, Savinien + awoke. He then saw Ursula in the slight disarray naturally caused by the + jolting of the vehicle; her cap was rumpled and half off; the hair, + unbound, had fallen each side of her face, which glowed from the heat of + the night; in this situation, dreadful for women to whom dress is a + necessary auxiliary, youth and beauty triumphed. The sleep of innocence is + always lovely. The half-opened lips showed the pretty teeth; the shawl, + unfastened, gave to view, beneath the folds of her muslin gown and without + offence to her modesty, the gracefulness of her figure. The purity of the + virgin spirit shone on the sleeping countenance all the more plainly + because no other expression was there to interfere with it. Old Minoret, + who presently woke up, placed his child’s head in the corner of the + carriage that she might be more at ease; and she let him do it + unconsciously, so deep was her sleep after the many wakeful nights she had + spent in thinking of Savinien’s trouble. + </p> + <p> + “Poor little girl!” said the doctor to his neighbour, “she sleeps like the + child she is.” + </p> + <p> + “You must be proud of her,” replied Savinien; “for she seems as good as + she is beautiful.” + </p> + <p> + “Ah! she is the joy of the house. I could not love her better if she were + my own daughter. She will be sixteen on the 5th February. God grant that I + may live long enough to marry her to a man who will make her happy. I + wanted to take her to the theater in Paris, where she was for the first + time, but she refused, the Abbe Chaperon had forbidden it. ‘But,’ I said, + ‘when you are married your husband will want you to go there.’ ‘I shall do + what my husband wants,’ she answered. ‘If he asks me to do evil and I am + weak enough to yield, he will be responsible before God—and so I + shall have strength to refuse him, for his own sake.’” + </p> + <p> + As the coach entered Nemours, at five in the morning, Ursula woke up, + ashamed at her rumpled condition, and confused by the look of admiration + which she encountered from Savinien. During the hour it had taken the + diligence to come from Bouron to Nemours the young man had fallen in love + with Ursula; he had studied the pure candor of her soul, the beauty of + that body, the whiteness of the skin, the delicacy of the features; he + recalled the charm of the voice which had uttered but one expressive + sentence, in which the poor child said all, intending to say nothing. A + presentiment suddenly seemed to take hold of him; he saw in Ursula the + woman the doctor had pictured to him, framed in gold by the magic words, + “Seven or eight hundred thousand francs.” + </p> + <p> + “In three of four years she will be twenty, and I shall be twenty-seven,” + he thought. “The good doctor talked of probation, work, good conduct! Sly + as he is I shall make him tell me the truth.” + </p> + <p> + The three neighbours parted in the street in front of their respective + homes, and Savinien put a little courting into his eyes as he gave Ursula + a parting glance. + </p> + <p> + Madame de Portenduere let her son sleep till midday; but the doctor and + Ursula, in spite of their fatiguing journey, went to high mass. Savinien’s + release and his return in company with the doctor had explained the reason + of the latter’s absence to the newsmongers of the town and to the heirs, + who were once more assembled in conventicle on the square, just as they + were two weeks earlier when the doctor attended his first mass. To the + great astonishment of all the groups, Madame de Portenduere, on leaving + the church, stopped old Minoret, who offered her his arm and took her + home. The old lady asked him to dinner that evening, also asking his niece + and assuring him that the abbe would be the only other guest. + </p> + <p> + “He must have wished Ursula to see Paris,” said Minoret-Levrault. + </p> + <p> + “Pest!” cried Cremiere; “he can’t take a step without that girl!” + </p> + <p> + “Something must have happened to make old Portenduere accept his arm,” + said Massin. + </p> + <p> + “So none of you have guessed that your uncle has sold his Funds and + released that little Savinien?” cried Goupil. “He refused Dionis, but he + didn’t refuse Madame de Portenduere—Ha, ha! you are all done for. + The viscount will propose a marriage-contract instead of a mortgage, and + the doctor will make the husband settle on his jewel of a girl the sum he + has now paid to secure the alliance.” + </p> + <p> + “It is not a bad thing to marry Ursula to Savinien,” said the butcher. + “The old lady gives a dinner to-day to Monsieur Minoret. Tiennette came + early for a filet.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, Dionis, here’s a fine to-do!” said Massin, rushing up to the + notary, who was entering the square. + </p> + <p> + “What is? It’s all going right,” returned the notary. “Your uncle has sold + his Funds and Madame de Portenduere has sent for me to witness the signing + of a mortgage on her property for one hundred thousand francs, lent to her + by your uncle.” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, but suppose the young people should marry?” + </p> + <p> + “That’s as if you said Goupil was to be my successor.” + </p> + <p> + “The two things are not so impossible,” said Goupil. + </p> + <p> + On returning from mass Madame de Portenduere told Tiennette to inform her + son that she wished to see him. + </p> + <p> + The little house had three bedrooms on the first floor. That of Madame de + Portenduere and that of her late husband were separated by a large + dressing-room lighted by a skylight, and connected by a little antechamber + which opened on the staircase. The window of the other room, occupied by + Savinien, looked, like that of his late father, on the street. The + staircase went up at the back of the house, leaving room for a little + study lighted by a small round window opening on the court. Madame de + Portenduere’s bedroom, the gloomiest in the house, also looked into the + court; but the widow spent all her time in the salon on the ground floor, + which communicated by a passage with the kitchen built at the end of the + court, so that this salon was made to answer the double purpose of + drawing-room and dining-room combined. + </p> + <p> + The bedroom of the late Monsieur de Portenduere remained as he had left it + on the day of his death; there was no change except that he was absent. + Madame de Portenduere had made the bed herself; laying upon it the uniform + of a naval captain, his sword, cordon, orders, and hat. The gold snuff-box + from which her late husband had taken snuff for the last time was on the + table, with his prayer-book, his watch, and the cup from which he drank. + His white hair, arranged in one curled lock and framed, hung above a + crucifix and the holy water in the alcove. All the little ornaments he had + worn, his journals, his furniture, his Dutch spittoon, his spy-glass + hanging by the mantel, were all there. The widow had stopped the hands of + the clock at the hour of his death, to which they always pointed. The room + still smelt of the powder and the tobacco of the deceased. The hearth was + as he left it. To her, entering there, he was again visible in the many + articles which told of his daily habits. His tall cane with its gold head + was where he had last placed it, with his buckskin gloves close by. On a + table against the wall stood a gold vase, of coarse workmanship but worth + three thousand francs, a gift from Havana, which city, at the time of the + American War of Independence, he had protected from an attack by the + British, bringing his convoy safe into port after an engagement with + superior forces. To recompense this service the King of Spain had made him + a knight of his order; the same event gave him a right to the next + promotion to the rank of vice-admiral, and he also received the red + ribbing. He then married his wife, who had a fortune of about two hundred + thousand francs. But the Revolution hindered his promotion, and Monsieur + de Portenduere emigrated. + </p> + <p> + “Where is my mother?” said Savinien to Tiennette. + </p> + <p> + “She is waiting for you in your father’s room,” said the old Breton woman. + </p> + <p> + Savinien could not repress a shudder. He knew his mother’s rigid + principles, her worship of honor, her loyalty, her faith in nobility, and + he foresaw a scene. He went up to the assault with his heart beating and + his face rather pale. In the dim light which filtered through the blinds + he saw his mother dressed in black, and with an air of solemnity in + keeping with that funereal room. + </p> + <p> + “Monsieur le vicomte,” she said when she saw him, rising and taking his + hand to lead him to his father’s bed, “there died your father,—a man + of honor; he died without reproach from his own conscience. His spirit is + there. Surely he groaned in heaven when he saw his son degraded by + imprisonment for debt. Under the old monarchy that stain could have been + spared you by obtaining a lettre de cachet and shutting you up for a few + days in a military prison.—But you are here; you stand before your + father, who hears you. You know all that you did before you were sent to + that ignoble prison. Will you swear to me before your father’s shade, and + in presence of God who sees all, that you have done no dishonorable act; + that your debts are the result of youthful folly, and that your honor is + untarnished? If your blameless father were there, sitting in that + armchair, and asking an explanation of your conduct, could he embrace you + after having heard it?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, mother,” replied the young man, with grave respect. + </p> + <p> + She opened her arms and pressed him to her heart, shedding a few tears. + </p> + <p> + “Let us forget it all, my son,” she said; “it is only a little less money. + I shall pray God to let us recover it. As you are indeed worthy of your + name, kiss me—for I have suffered much.” + </p> + <p> + “I swear, mother,” he said, laying his hand upon the bed, “to give you no + further unhappiness of that kind, and to do all I can to repair these + first faults.” + </p> + <p> + “Come and breakfast, my child,” she said, turning to leave the room. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0012" id="link2HCH0012"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XII. OBSTACLES TO YOUNG LOVE + </h2> + <p> + In 1829 the old noblesse had recovered as to manners and customs something + of the prestige it had irrevocably lost in politics. Moreover, the + sentiment which governs parents and grandparents in all that relates to + matrimonial conventions is an imperishable sentiment, closely allied to + the very existence of civilized societies and springing from the spirit of + family. It rules in Geneva as in Vienna and in Nemours, where, as we have + seen, Zelie Minoret refused her consent to a possible marriage of her son + with the daughter of a bastard. Still, all social laws have their + exceptions. Savinien thought he might bend his mother’s pride before the + inborn nobility of Ursula. The struggle began at once. As soon as they + were seated at table his mother told him of the horrible letters, as she + called them, which the Kergarouets and the Portendueres had written her. + </p> + <p> + “There is no such thing as family in these days, mother,” replied + Savinien, “nothing but individuals! The nobles are no longer a compact + body. No one asks or cares whether I am a Portenduere, or brave, or a + statesmen; all they ask now-a-days is, ‘What taxes does he pay?’” + </p> + <p> + “But the king?” asked the old lady. + </p> + <p> + “The king is caught between the two Chambers like a man between his wife + and his mistress. So I shall have to marry some rich girl without regard + to family,—the daughter of a peasant if she has a million and is + sufficiently well brought-up—that is to say, if she has been taught + in school.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh! there’s no need to talk of that,” said the old lady. + </p> + <p> + Savinien frowned as he heard the words. He knew the granite will, called + Breton obstinacy, that distinguished his mother, and he resolved to know + at once her opinion on this delicate matter. + </p> + <p> + “So,” he went on, “if I loved a young girl,—take for instance your + neighbour’s godchild, little Ursula,—would you oppose my marriage?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, as long as I live,” she replied; “and after my death you would be + responsible for the honor and the blood of the Kergarouets and the + Portendueres.” + </p> + <p> + “Would you let me die of hunger and despair for the chimera of nobility, + which has no reality to-day unless it has the lustre of great wealth?” + </p> + <p> + “You could serve France and put faith in God.” + </p> + <p> + “Would you postpone my happiness till after your death?” + </p> + <p> + “It would be horrible if you took it then,—that is all I have to + say.” + </p> + <p> + “Louis XIV. came very near marrying the niece of Mazarin, a parvenu.” + </p> + <p> + “Mazarin himself opposed it.” + </p> + <p> + “Remember the widow Scarron.” + </p> + <p> + “She was a d’Aubigne. Besides, the marriage was in secret. But I am very + old, my son,” she said, shaking her head. “When I am no more you can, as + you say, marry whom you please.” + </p> + <p> + Savinien both loved and respected his mother; but he instantly, though + silently, set himself in opposition to her with an obstinacy equal to her + own, resolving to have no other wife than Ursula, to whom this opposition + gave, as often happens in similar circumstances, the value of a forbidden + thing. + </p> + <p> + When, after vespers, the doctor, with Ursula, who was dressed in pink and + white, entered the cold, stiff salon, the girl was seized with nervous + trembling, as though she had entered the presence of the queen of France + and had a favor to beg of her. Since her confession to the doctor this + little house had assumed the proportions of a palace in her eyes, and the + old lady herself the social value which a duchess of the Middle Ages might + have had to the daughter of a serf. Never had Ursula measured as she did + at that moment the distance which separated Vicomte de Portenduere from + the daughter of a regimental musician, a former opera-singer and the + natural son of an organist. + </p> + <p> + “What is the matter, my dear?” said the old lady, making the girl sit down + beside her. + </p> + <p> + “Madame, I am confused by the honor you have done me—” + </p> + <p> + “My little girl,” said Madame de Portenduere, in her sharpest tone. “I + know how fond your uncle is of you, and I wished to be agreeable to him, + for he has brought back my prodigal son.” + </p> + <p> + “But, my dear mother,” said Savinien cut to the heart by seeing the color + fly into Ursula’s face as she struggled to keep back her tears, “even if + we were under no obligations to Monsieur le Chevalier Minoret, I think we + should always be most grateful for the pleasure Mademoiselle has given us + by accepting your invitation.” + </p> + <p> + The young man pressed the doctor’s hand in a significant manner, adding: + “I see you wear, monsieur, the order of Saint-Michel, the oldest order in + France, and one which confers nobility.” + </p> + <p> + Ursula’s extreme beauty, to which her almost hopeless love gave a depth + which great painters have sometimes conveyed in pictures where the soul is + brought into strong relief, had struck Madame de Portenduere suddenly, and + made her suspect that the doctor’s apparent generosity masked an ambitious + scheme. She had made the speech to which Savinien replied with the + intention of wounding the doctor in that which was dearest to him; and she + succeeded, though the old man could hardly restrain a smile as he heard + himself styled a “chevalier,” amused to observe how the eagerness of a + lover did not shrink from absurdity. + </p> + <p> + “The order of Saint-Michel which in former days men committed follies to + obtain,” he said, “has now, Monsieur le vicomte, gone the way of other + privileges! It is given only to doctors and poor artists. The kings have + done well to join it to that of Saint-Lazare who was, I believe, a poor + devil recalled to life by a miracle. From this point of view the order of + Saint-Michel and Saint-Lazare may be, for many of us, symbolic.” + </p> + <p> + After this reply, at once sarcastic and dignified, silence reigned, which, + as no one seemed inclined to break it, was becoming awkward, when there + was a rap at the door. + </p> + <p> + “There is our dear abbe,” said the old lady, who rose, leaving Ursula + alone, and advancing to meet the Abbe Chaperon,—an honor she had not + paid to the doctor and his niece. + </p> + <p> + The old man smiled to himself as he looked from his goddaughter to + Savinien. To show offence or to complain of Madame de Portenduere’s + manners was a rock on which a man of small mind might have struck, but + Minoret was too accomplished in the ways of the world not to avoid it. He + began to talk to the viscount of the danger Charles X. was then running by + confiding the affairs of the nation to the Prince de Polignac. When + sufficient time had been spent on the subject to avoid all appearance of + revenging himself by so doing, he handed the old lady, in an easy, jesting + way, a packet of legal papers and receipted bills, together with the + account of his notary. + </p> + <p> + “Has my son verified them?” she said, giving Savinien a look, to which he + replied by bending his head. “Well, then the rest is my notary’s + business,” she added, pushing away the papers and treating the affair with + the disdain she wished to show for money. + </p> + <p> + To abase wealth was, according to Madame de Portenduere’s ideas, to + elevate the nobility and rob the bourgeoisie of their importance. + </p> + <p> + A few moments later Goupil came from his employer, Dionis, to ask for the + accounts of the transaction between the doctor and Savinien. + </p> + <p> + “Why do you want them?” said the old lady. + </p> + <p> + “To put the matter in legal form; there have been no cash payments.” + </p> + <p> + Ursula and Savinien, who both for the first time exchanged a glance with + offensive personage, were conscious of a sensation like that of touching a + toad, aggravated by a dark presentiment of evil. They both had the same + indefinable and confused vision into the future, which has no name in any + language, but which is capable of explanation as the action of the inward + being of which the mysterious Swedenborgian had spoken to Doctor Minoret. + The certainty that the venomous Goupil would in some way be fatal to them + made Ursula tremble; but she controlled herself, conscious of unspeakable + pleasure in seeing that Savinien shared her emotion. + </p> + <p> + “He is not handsome, that clerk of Monsieur Dionis,” said Savinien, when + Goupil had closed the door. + </p> + <p> + “What does it signify whether such persons are handsome or ugly?” said + Madame de Portenduere. + </p> + <p> + “I don’t complain of his ugliness,” said the abbe, “but I do of his + wickedness, which passes all bounds; he is a villain.” + </p> + <p> + The doctor, in spite of his desire to be amiable, grew cold and dignified. + The lovers were embarrassed. If it had not been for the kindly good-humor + of the abbe, whose gentle gayety enlivened the dinner, the position of the + doctor and his niece would have been almost intolerable. At dessert, + seeing Ursula turn pale, he said to her:— + </p> + <p> + “If you don’t feel well, dear child, we have only the street to cross.” + </p> + <p> + “What is the matter, my dear?” said the old lady to the girl. + </p> + <p> + “Madame,” said the doctor severely, “her soul is chilled, accustomed as + she is to be met by smiles.” + </p> + <p> + “A very bad education, monsieur,” said Madame de Portenduere. “Is it not, + Monsieur l’abbe?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes,” answered Minoret, with a look at the abbe, who knew not how to + reply. “I have, it is true, rendered life unbearable to an angelic spirit + if she has to pass it in the world; but I trust I shall not die until I + place her in security, safe from coldness, indifference, and hatred—” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, godfather—I beg of you—say no more. There is nothing the + matter with me,” cried Ursula, meeting Madame de Portenduere’s eyes rather + than give too much meaning to her words by looking at Savinien. + </p> + <p> + “I cannot know, madame,” said Savinien to his mother, “whether + Mademoiselle Ursula suffers, but I do know that you are torturing me.” + </p> + <p> + Hearing these words, dragged from the generous young man by his mother’s + treatment of herself, Ursula turned pale and begged Madame de Portenduere + to excuse her; then she took her uncle’s arm, bowed, left the room, and + returned home. Once there, she rushed to the salon and sat down to the + piano, put her head in her hands, and burst into tears. + </p> + <p> + “Why don’t you leave the management of your affairs to my old experience, + cruel child?” cried the doctor in despair. “Nobles never think themselves + under any obligations to the bourgeoisie. When we do them a service they + consider that we do our duty, and that’s all. Besides, the old lady saw + that you looked favorably on Savinien; she is afraid he will love you.” + </p> + <p> + “At any rate he is saved!” said Ursula. “But ah! to try to humiliate a man + like you!” + </p> + <p> + “Wait till I return, my child,” said the old man leaving her. + </p> + <p> + When the doctor re-entered Madame de Portenduere’s salon he found Dionis + the notary, accompanied by Monsieur Bongrand and the mayor of Nemours, + witnesses required by law for the validity of deeds in all communes where + there is but one notary. Minoret took Monsieur Dionis aside and said a + word in his ear, after which the notary read the deeds aloud officially; + from which it appeared that Madame de Portenduere gave a mortgage on all + her property to secure payment of the hundred thousand francs, the + interest on which was fixed at five per cent. At the reading of this last + clause the abbe looked at Minoret, who answered with an approving nod. The + poor priest whispered something in the old lady’s ear to which she + replied,— + </p> + <p> + “I will owe nothing to such persons.” + </p> + <p> + “My mother leaves me the nobler part,” said Savinien to the doctor; “she + will repay the money and charges me to show our gratitude.” + </p> + <p> + “But you will have to pay eleven thousand francs the first year to meet + the interest and the legal costs,” said the abbe. + </p> + <p> + “Monsieur,” said Minoret to Dionis, “as Monsieur and Madame de Portenduere + are not in a condition to pay those costs, add them to the amount of the + mortgage and I will pay them.” + </p> + <p> + Dionis made the change and the sum borrowed was fixed at one hundred and + seven thousand francs. When the papers were all signed, Minoret made his + fatigue an excuse to leave the house at the same time as the notary and + witnesses. + </p> + <p> + “Madame,” said the abbe, “why did you affront the excellent Monsieur + Minoret, who saved you at least twenty-five thousand francs on those debts + in Paris, and had the delicacy to give twenty thousand to your son for his + debts of honor?” + </p> + <p> + “Your Minoret is sly,” she said, taking a pinch of snuff. “He knows what + he is about.” + </p> + <p> + “My mother thinks he wishes to force me into marrying his niece by getting + hold of our farm,” said Savinien; “as if a Portenduere, son of a + Kergarouet, could be made to marry against his will.” + </p> + <p> + An hour later, Savinien presented himself at the doctor’s house, where all + the relatives had assembled, enticed by curiosity. The arrival of the + young viscount produced a lively sensation, all the more because its + effect was different on each person present. Mesdemoiselles Cremiere and + Massin whispered together and looked at Ursula, who blushed. The mothers + said to Desire that Goupil was right about the marriage. The eyes of all + present turned towards the doctor, who did not rise to receive the young + nobleman, but merely bowed his head without laying down the dice-box, for + he was playing a game of backgammon with Monsieur Bongrand. The doctor’s + cold manner surprised every one. + </p> + <p> + “Ursula, my child,” he said, “give us a little music.” + </p> + <p> + While the young girl, delighted to have something to do to keep her in + countenance, went to the piano and began to move the green-covered + music-books, the heirs resigned themselves, with many demonstrations of + pleasure, to the torture and the silence about to be inflicted on them, so + eager were they to find out what was going on between their uncle and the + Portendueres. + </p> + <p> + In sometimes happens that a piece of music, poor in itself, when played by + a young girl under the influence of deep feeling, makes more impression + than a fine overture played by a full orchestra. In all music there is, + besides the thought of the composer, the soul of the performer, who, by a + privilege granted to this art only, can give both meaning and poetry to + passages which are in themselves of no great value. Chopin proves, for + that unresponsive instrument the piano, the truth of this fact, already + proved by Paganini on the violin. That fine genius is less a musician than + a soul which makes itself felt, and communicates itself through all + species of music, even simple chords. Ursula, by her exquisite and + sensitive organization, belonged to this rare class of beings, and old + Schmucke, the master, who came every Saturday and who, during Ursula’s + stay in Paris was with her every day, had brought his pupil’s talent to + its full perfection. “Rousseau’s Dream,” the piece now chosen by Ursula, + composed by Herold in his young days, is not without a certain depth which + is capable of being developed by execution. Ursula threw into it the + feelings which were agitating her being, and justified the term “caprice” + given by Herold to the fragment. With soft and dreamy touch her soul spoke + to the young man’s soul and wrapped it, as in a cloud, with ideas that + were almost visible. + </p> + <p> + Sitting at the end of the piano, his elbow resting on the cover and his + head on his left hand, Savinien admired Ursula, whose eyes, fixed on the + paneling of the wall beyond him, seemed to be questioning another world. + Many a man would have fallen deeply in love for a less reason. Genuine + feelings have a magnetism of their own, and Ursula was willing to show her + soul, as a coquette her dresses to be admired. Savinien entered that + delightful kingdom, led by this pure heart, which, to interpret its + feelings, borrowed the power of the only art that speaks to thought by + thought, without the help of words, or color, or form. Candor, openness of + heart have the same power over a man that childhood has; the same charm, + the same irresistible seductions. Ursula was never more honest and candid + than at this moment, when she was born again into a new life. + </p> + <p> + The abbe came to tear Savinien from his dream, requesting him to take a + fourth hand at whist. Ursula went on playing; the heirs departed, all + except Desire, who was resolved to find out the intentions of his uncle + and the viscount and Ursula. + </p> + <p> + “You have as much talent as soul, mademoiselle,” he said, when the young + girl closed the piano and sat down beside her godfather. “Who is your + master?” + </p> + <p> + “A German, living close to the Rue Dauphine on the quai Conti,” said the + doctor. “If he had not given Ursula a lesson every day during her stay in + Paris he would have been here to-day.” + </p> + <p> + “He is not only a great musician,” said Ursula, “but a man of adorable + simplicity of nature.” + </p> + <p> + “Those lessons must cost a great deal,” remarked Desire. + </p> + <p> + The players smiled ironically. When the game was over the doctor, who had + hitherto seemed anxious and pensive, turned to Savinien with the air of a + man who fulfills a duty. + </p> + <p> + “Monsieur,” he said, “I am grateful for the feeling which leads you to + make me this early visit; but your mother attributes unworthy and + underhand motives to what I have done, and I should give her the right to + call them true if I did not request you to refrain from coming here, in + spite of the honor your visits are to me, and the pleasure I should + otherwise feel in cultivating your society. Tell your mother that if I do + not beg her, in my niece’s name and my own, to do us the honor of dining + here next Sunday it is because I am very certain that she would find + herself indisposed on that day.” + </p> + <p> + The old man held out his hand to the young viscount, who pressed it + respectfully, saying:— + </p> + <p> + “You are quite right, monsieur.” + </p> + <p> + He then withdrew; but not without a bow to Ursula, in which there was more + of sadness than disappointment. + </p> + <p> + Desire left the house at the same time; but he found it impossible to + exchange even a word with the young nobleman, who rushed into his own + house precipitately. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0013" id="link2HCH0013"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XIII. BETROTHAL OF HEARTS + </h2> + <p> + This rupture between the Portendueres and Doctor Minoret gave talk among + the heirs for a week; they did homage to the genius of Dionis, and + regarded their inheritance as rescued. + </p> + <p> + So, in an age when ranks are leveled, when the mania for equality puts + everybody on one footing and threatens to destroy all bulwarks, even + military subordination,—that last refuge of power in France, where + passions have now no other obstacles to overcome than personal + antipathies, or differences of fortune,—the obstinacy of an + old-fashioned Breton woman and the dignity of Doctor Minoret created a + barrier between these lovers, which was to end, as such obstacles often + do, not in destroying but in strengthening love. To an ardent man a + woman’s value is that which she costs him; Savinien foresaw a struggle, + great efforts, many uncertainties, and already the young girl was rendered + dearer to him; he was resolved to win her. Perhaps our feelings obey the + laws of nature as to the lastingness of her creations; to a long life a + long childhood. + </p> + <p> + The next morning, when they woke, Ursula and Savinien had the same + thought. An intimate understanding of this kind would create love if it + were not already its most precious proof. When the young girl parted her + curtains just far enough to let her eyes take in Savinien’s window, she + saw the face of her lover above the fastening of his. When one reflects on + the immense services that windows render to lovers it seems natural and + right that a tax should be levied on them. Having thus protested against + her godfather’s harshness, Ursula dropped the curtain and opened her + window to close the outer blinds, through which she could continue to see + without being seen herself. Seven or eight times during the day she went + up to her room, always to find the young viscount writing, tearing up what + he had written, and then writing again—to her, no doubt! + </p> + <p> + The next morning when she woke La Bougival gave her the following letter:— + </p> + <p> + To Mademoiselle Ursula: + </p> + <p> + Mademoiselle,—I do not conceal from myself the distrust a young man + inspires when he has placed himself in the position from which your + godfather’s kindness released me. I know that I must in future give + greater guarantees of good conduct than other men; therefore, + mademoiselle, it is with deep humility that I place myself at your feet + and ask you to consider my love. This declaration is not dictated by + passion; it comes from an inward certainty which involves the whole of + life. A foolish infatuation for my young aunt, Madame de Kergarouet, was + the cause of my going to prison; will you not regard as a proof of my + sincere love the total disappearance of those wishes, of that image, now + effaced from my heart by yours? No sooner did I see you, asleep and so + engaging in your childlike slumber at Bouron, than you occupied my soul as + a queen takes possession of her empire. I will have no other wife than + you. You have every qualification I desire in her who is to bear my name. + The education you have received and the dignity of your own mind, place + you on the level of the highest positions. But I doubt myself too much to + dare describe you to yourself; I can only love you. After listening to you + yesterday I recalled certain words which seem as though written for you; + suffer me to transcribe them:— + </p> + <p> + “Made to draw all hearts and charm all eyes, gentle and intelligent, + spiritual yet able to reason, courteous as though she had passed her life + at court, simple as the hermit who had never known the world, the fire of + her soul is tempered in her eyes by sacred modesty.” + </p> + <p> + I feel the value of the noble soul revealed in you by many, even the most + trifling, things. This it is which gives me the courage to ask you, + provided you love no one else, to let me prove to you by my conduct and my + devotion that I am not unworthy of you. It concerns my very life; you + cannot doubt that all my powers will be employed, not only in trying to + please you, but in deserving your esteem, which is more precious to me + than any other upon earth. With this hope, Ursula—if you will suffer + me so to call you in my heart—Nemours will be to me a paradise, the + hardest tasks will bring me joys derived through you, as life itself is + derived from God. Tell me that I may call myself + </p> + <p> + Your Savinien. + </p> + <p> + Ursula kissed the letter; then, having re-read it and clasped it with + passionate motions, she dressed herself eagerly to carry it to her uncle. + </p> + <p> + “Ah, my God! I nearly forgot to say my prayers!” she exclaimed, turning + back to kneel on her prie-Dieu. + </p> + <p> + A few moments later she went down to the garden, where she found her + godfather and made him read the letter. They both sat down on a bench + under the arch of climbing plants opposite to the Chinese pagoda. Ursula + awaited the old man’s words, and the old man reflected long, too long for + the impatient young girl. At last, the result of their secret interview + appeared in the following answer, part of which the doctor undoubtedly + dictated. + </p> + <p> + To Monsieur le Vicomte Savinien de Portenduere: + </p> + <p> + Monsieur,—I cannot be otherwise than greatly honored by the letter + in which you offer me your hand; but, at my age, and according to the + rules of my education, I have felt bound to communicate it to my + godfather, who is all I have, and whom I love as a father and also as a + friend. I must now tell you the painful objections which he has made to + me, and which must be to you my answer. + </p> + <p> + Monsieur le vicomte, I am a poor girl, whose fortune depends entirely, not + only on my godfather’s good-will, but also on the doubtful success of the + measures he may take to elude the schemes of his relatives against me. + Though I am the legitimate daughter of Joseph Mirouet, band-master of the + 45th regiment of infantry, my father himself was my godfather’s natural + half-brother; and therefore these relatives may, though without reason, + being a suit against a young girl who would be defenceless. You see, + monsieur, that the smallness of my fortune is not my greatest misfortune. + I have many things to make me humble. It is for your sake, and not for my + own, that I lay before you these facts, which to loving and devoted hearts + are sometimes of little weight. But I beg you to consider, monsieur, that + if I did not submit them to you, I might be suspected of leading your + tenderness to overlook obstacles which the world, and more especially your + mother, regard as insuperable. + </p> + <p> + I shall be sixteen in four months. Perhaps you will admit that we are both + too young and too inexperienced to understand the miseries of a life + entered upon without other fortune than that I have received from the + kindness of the late Monsieur de Jordy. My godfather desires, moreover, + not to marry me until I am twenty. Who knows what fate may have in store + for you in four years, the finest years of your life? do not sacrifice + them to a poor girl. + </p> + <p> + Having thus explained to you, monsieur, the opinions of my dear godfather, + who, far from opposing my happiness, seeks to contribute to it in every + way, and earnestly desires that his protection, which must soon fail me, + may be replaced by a tenderness equal to his own; there remains only to + tell you how touched I am by your offer and by the compliments which + accompany it. The prudence which dictates my letter is that of an old man + to whom life is well-known; but the gratitude I express is that of a young + girl, in whose soul no other sentiment has arisen. + </p> + <p> + Therefore, monsieur, I can sign myself, in all sincerity, + </p> + <p> + Your servant, Ursula Mirouet. + </p> + <p> + Savinien made no reply. Was he trying to soften his mother? Had this + letter put an end to his love? Many such questions, all insoluble, + tormented poor Ursula, and, by repercussion, the doctor too, who suffered + from every agitation of his darling child. Ursula went often to her + chamber to look at Savinien, whom she usually found sitting pensively + before his table with his eyes turned towards her window. At the end of + the week, but no sooner, she received a letter from him; the delay was + explained by his increasing love. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + To Mademoiselle Ursula Mirouet: +</pre> + <p> + Dear Ursula,—I am a Breton, and when my mind is once made up nothing + can change me. Your godfather, whom may God preserve to us, is right; but + does it follow that I am wrong in loving you? Therefore, all I want to + know from you is whether you could love me. Tell me this, if only by a + sign, and then the next four years will be the finest of my life. + </p> + <p> + A friend of mine has delivered to my great-uncle, Vice-admiral Kergarouet, + a letter in which I asked his help to enter the navy. The kind old man, + grieved at my misfortune, replies that even the king’s favor would be + thwarted by the rules of the service in case I wanted a certain rank. + Nevertheless, if I study three months at Toulon, the minister of war can + send me to sea as master’s mate; then after a cruise against the + Algerines, with whom we are now at war, I can go through an examination + and become a midshipman. Moreover, if I distinguish myself in an + expedition they are fitting out against Algiers, I shall certainly be made + ensign—but how soon? that no one can tell. Only, they will make the + rules as elastic as possible to have the name of Portenduere again in the + navy. + </p> + <p> + I see very plainly that I can only hope to obtain you from your godfather; + and your respect for him makes you still dearer to me. Before replying to + the admiral, I must have an interview with the doctor; on his reply my + whole future will depend. Whatever comes of it, know this, that rich or + poor, the daughter of a band master or the daughter of a king, you are the + woman whom the voice of my heart points out to me. Dear Ursula, we live in + times when prejudices which might once have separated us have no power to + prevent our marriage. To you, then, I offer the feelings of my heart, to + your uncle the guarantees which secure to him your happiness. He has not + seen that I, in a few hours, came to love you more than he has loved you + in fifteen years. + </p> + <p> + Until this evening. Savinien. + </p> + <p> + “Here, godfather,” said Ursula, holding the letter out to him with a proud + gesture. + </p> + <p> + “Ah, my child!” cried the doctor when he had read it, “I am happier than + even you. He repairs all his faults by this resolution.” + </p> + <p> + After dinner Savinien presented himself, and found the doctor walking with + Ursula by the balustrade of the terrace overlooking the river. The + viscount had received his clothes from Paris, and had not missed + heightening his natural advantages by a careful toilet, as elegant as + though he were striving to please the proud and beautiful Comtesse de + Kergarouet. Seeing him approach her from the portico, the poor girl clung + to her uncle’s arm as though she were saving herself from a fall over a + precipice, and the doctor heard the beating of her heart, which made him + shudder. + </p> + <p> + “Leave us, my child,” he said to the girl, who went to the pagoda and sat + upon the steps, after allowing Savinien to take her hand and kiss it + respectfully. + </p> + <p> + “Monsieur, will you give this dear hand to a naval captain?” he said to + the doctor in a low voice. + </p> + <p> + “No,” said Minoret, smiling; “we might have to wait too long, but—I + will give her to a lieutenant.” + </p> + <p> + Tears of joy filled the young man’s eyes as he pressed the doctor’s hand + affectionately. + </p> + <p> + “I am about to leave,” he said, “to study hard and try to learn in six + months what the pupils of the Naval School take six years to acquire.” + </p> + <p> + “You are going?” said Ursula, springing towards them from the pavilion. + </p> + <p> + “Yes, mademoiselle, to deserve you. Therefore the more eager I am to go, + the more I prove to you my affection.” + </p> + <p> + “This is the 3rd of October,” she said, looking at him with infinite + tenderness; “do not go till after the 19th.” + </p> + <p> + “Yes,” said the old man, “we will celebrate Saint-Savinien’s day.” + </p> + <p> + “Good-by, then,” cried the young man. “I must spend this week in Paris, to + take the preliminary steps, buy books and mathematical instruments, and + try to conciliate the minister and get the best terms that I can for + myself.” + </p> + <p> + Ursula and her godfather accompanied Savinien to the gate. Soon after he + entered his mother’s house they saw him come out again, followed by + Tiennette carrying his valise. + </p> + <p> + “If you are rich,” said Ursula to her uncle, “why do you make him serve in + the navy?” + </p> + <p> + “Presently it will be I who incurred his debts,” said the doctor, smiling. + “I don’t oblige him to do anything; but the uniform, my dear, and the + cross of the Legion of honor, won in battle, will wipe out many stains. + Before six years are over he may be in command of a ship, and that’s all I + ask of him.” + </p> + <p> + “But he may be killed,” she said, turning a pale face upon the doctor. + </p> + <p> + “Lovers, like drunkards, have a providence of their own,” he said, + laughing. + </p> + <p> + That night the poor child, with La Bougival’s help, cut off a sufficient + quantity of her long and beautiful blond hair to make a chain; and the + next day she persuaded old Schmucke, the music-master, to take it to Paris + and have the chain made and returned by the following Sunday. When + Savinien got back he informed the doctor and Ursula that he had signed his + articles and was to be at Brest on the 25th. The doctor asked him to + dinner on the 18th, and he passed nearly two whole days in the old man’s + house. Notwithstanding much sage advice and many resolutions, the lovers + could not help betraying their secret understanding to the watchful eyes + of the abbe, Monsieur Bongrand, the Nemours doctor, and La Bougival. + </p> + <p> + “Children,” said the old man, “you are risking your happiness by not + keeping it to yourselves.” + </p> + <p> + On the fete-day, after mass, during which several glances had been + exchanged, Savinien, watched by Ursula, crossed the road and entered the + little garden where the pair were practically alone; for the kind old man, + by way of indulgence, was reading his newspapers in the pagoda. + </p> + <p> + “Dear Ursula,” said Savinien; “will you make a gift greater than my mother + could make me even if—” + </p> + <p> + “I know what you wish to ask me,” she said, interrupting him. “See, here + is my answer,” she added, taking from the pocket of her apron the box + containing the chain made of her hair, and offering it to him with a + nervous tremor which testified to her illimitable happiness. “Wear it,” + she said, “for love of me. May it shield you from all dangers by reminding + you that my life depends on yours.” + </p> + <p> + “Naughty little thing! she is giving him a chain of her hair,” said the + doctor to himself. “How did she manage to get it? what a pity to cut those + beautiful fair tresses; she will be giving him my life’s blood next.” + </p> + <p> + “You will not blame me if I ask you to give me, now that I am leaving you, + a formal promise to have no other husband than me,” said Savinien, kissing + the chain and looking at Ursula with tears in his eyes. + </p> + <p> + “Have I not said so too often—I who went to see the walls of + Sainte-Pelagie when you were behind them?—” she replied, blushing. + “I repeat it, Savinien; I shall never love any one but you, and I will be + yours alone.” + </p> + <p> + Seeing that Ursula was half-hidden by the creepers, the young man could + not deny himself the happiness of pressing her to his heart and kissing + her forehead; but she gave a feeble cry and dropped upon the bench, and + when Savinien sat beside her, entreating pardon, he saw the doctor + standing before them. + </p> + <p> + “My friend,” said the old man, “Ursula is a born sensitive; too rough a + word might kill her. For her sake you must moderate the enthusiasm of your + love—Ah! if you had loved her for sixteen years as I have, you would + have been satisfied with her word of promise,” he added, to revenge + himself for the last sentence in Savinien’s second letter. + </p> + <p> + Two days later the young man departed. In spite of the letters which he + wrote regularly to Ursula, she fell a prey to an illness without apparent + cause. Like a fine fruit with a worm at the core, a single thought gnawed + her heart. She lost both appetite and color. The first time her godfather + asked her what she felt, she replied:— + </p> + <p> + “I want to see the ocean.” + </p> + <p> + “It is difficult to take you to a sea-port in the depth of winter,” + answered the old man. + </p> + <p> + “Shall I really go?” she said. + </p> + <p> + If the wind was high, Ursula was inwardly convulsed, certain, in spite of + the learned assurances of the doctor and the abbe, that Savinien was being + tossed about in a whirlwind. Monsieur Bongrand made her happy for days + with the gift of an engraving representing a midshipman in uniform. She + read the newspapers, imagining that they would give news of the cruiser on + which her lover sailed. She devoured Cooper’s sea-tales and learned to use + sea-terms. Such proofs of concentration of feeling, often assumed by other + women, were so genuine in Ursula that she saw in dreams the coming of + Savinien’s letters, and never failed to announce them, relating the dream + as a forerunner. + </p> + <p> + “Now,” she said to the doctor the fourth time that this happened, “I am + easy; wherever Savinien may be, if he is wounded I shall know it + instantly.” + </p> + <p> + The old doctor thought over this remark so anxiously that the abbe and + Monsieur Bongrand were troubled by the sorrowful expression of his face. + </p> + <p> + “What pains you?” they said, when Ursula had left them. + </p> + <p> + “Will she live?” replied the doctor. “Can so tender and delicate a flower + endure the trials of the heart?” + </p> + <p> + Nevertheless, the “little dreamer,” as the abbe called her, was working + hard. She understood the importance of a fine education to a woman of the + world, and all the time she did not give to her singing and to the study + of harmony and composition she spent in reading the books chosen for her + by the abbe from her godfather’s rich library. And yet while leading this + busy life she suffered, though without complaint. Sometimes she would sit + for hours looking at Savinien’s window. On Sundays she would leave the + church behind Madame de Portenduere and watch her tenderly; for, in spite + of the old lady’s harshness, she loved her as Savinien’s mother. Her piety + increased; she went to mass every morning, for she firmly believed that + her dreams were the gift of God. + </p> + <p> + At last her godfather, frightened by the effects produced by this + nostalgia of love, promised on her birthday to take her to Toulon to see + the departure of the fleet for Algiers. Savinien’s ship formed part of it, + but he was not to be informed beforehand of their intention. The abbe and + Monsieur Bongrand kept secret the object of this journey, said to be for + Ursula’s health, which disturbed and greatly puzzled the relations. After + beholding Savinien in his naval uniform, and going on board the fine + flag-ship of the admiral, to whom the minister had given young Portenduere + a special recommendation, Ursula, at her lover’s entreaty, went with her + godfather to Nice, and along the shores of the Mediterranean to Genoa, + where she heard of the safe arrival of the fleet at Algiers and the + landing of the troops. The doctor would have liked to continue the journey + through Italy, as much to distract Ursula’s mind as to finish, in some + sense, her education, by enlarging her ideas through comparison with other + manners and customs and countries, and by the fascination of a land where + the masterpieces of art can still be seen, and where so many civilizations + have left their brilliant traces. But the tidings of the opposition by the + throne to the newly elected Chamber of 1830 obliged the doctor to return + to France, bringing back his treasure in a flourishing state of health and + possessed of a charming little model of the ship on which Savinien was + serving. + </p> + <p> + The elections of 1830 united into an active body the various Minoret + relations,—Desire and Goupil having formed a committee in Nemours by + whose efforts a liberal candidate was put in nomination at Fontainebleau. + Massin, as collector of taxes, exercised an enormous influence over the + country electors. Five of the post master’s farmers were electors. Dionis + represented eleven votes. After a few meetings at the notary’s, Cremiere, + Massin, the post master, and their adherents took a habit of assembling + there. By the time the doctor returned, Dionis’s office and salon were the + camp of his heirs. The justice of peace and the mayor, who had formed an + alliance, backed by the nobility in the neighbouring castles, to resist + the liberals of Nemours, now worsted in their efforts, were more closely + united than ever by their defeat. + </p> + <p> + By the time Bongrand and the Abbe Chaperon were able to tell the doctor by + word of mouth the result of the antagonism, which was defined for the + first time, between the two classes in Nemours (giving incidentally such + importance to his heirs) Charles X. had left Rambouillet for Cherbourg. + Desire Minoret, whose opinions were those of the Paris bar, sent for + fifteen of his friends, commanded by Goupil and mounted on horses from his + father’s stable, who arrived in Paris on the night of the 28th. With this + troop Goupil and Desire took part in the capture of the Hotel-de-Veille. + Desire was decorated with the Legion of honor and appointed deputy + procureur du roi at Fontainebleau. Goupil received the July cross. Dionis + was elected mayor of Nemours, and the city council was composed of the + post master (now assistant-mayor), Massin, Cremiere, and all the adherents + of the family faction. Bongrand retained his place only through the + influence of his son, procureur du roi at Melun, whose marriage with + Mademoiselle Levrault was then on the tapis. + </p> + <p> + Seeing the three-per-cents quoted at forty-five, the doctor started by + post for Paris, and invested five hundred and forty thousand francs in + shares to bearer. The rest of his fortune which amounted to about two + hundred and seventy thousand francs, standing in his own name in the same + funds, gave him ostensibly an income of fifteen thousand francs a year. He + made the same disposition of Ursula’s little capital bequeathed to her by + de Jordy, together with the accrued interest thereon, which gave her about + fourteen hundred francs a year in her own right. La Bougival, who had laid + by some five thousand francs of her savings, did the same by the doctor’s + advice, receiving in future three hundred and fifty francs a year in + dividends. These judicious transactions, agreed on between the doctor and + Monsieur Bongrand, were carried out in perfect secrecy, thanks to the + political troubles of the time. + </p> + <p> + When quiet was again restored the doctor bought the little house which + adjoined his own and pulled it down so as to build a coach-house and + stables on its side. To employ a capital which would have given him a + thousand francs a year on outbuildings seemed actual folly to the Minoret + heirs. This folly, if it were one, was the beginning of a new era in the + doctor’s existence, for he now (at a period when horses and carriages were + almost given away) brought back from Paris three fine horses and a + caleche. + </p> + <p> + When, in the early part of November, 1830, the old man came to church on a + rainy day in the new carriage, and gave his hand to Ursula to help her + out, all the inhabitants flocked to the square,—as much to see the + caleche and question the coachman, as to criticize the goddaughter, to + whose excessive pride and ambition Massin, Cremiere, the post master, and + their wives attributed this extravagant folly of the old man. + </p> + <p> + “A caleche! Hey, Massin!” cried Goupil. “Your inheritance will go at top + speed now!” + </p> + <p> + “You ought to be getting good wages, Cabirolle,” said the post master to + the son of one of his conductors, who stood by the horses; “for it is to + be supposed an old man of eighty-four won’t use up many horse-shoes. What + did those horses cost?” + </p> + <p> + “Four thousand francs. The caleche, though second-hand, was two thousand; + but it’s a fine one, the wheels are patent.” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, it’s a good carriage,” said Cremiere; “and a man must be rich to buy + that style of thing.” + </p> + <p> + “Ursula means to go at a good pace,” said Goupil. “She’s right; she’s + showing you how to enjoy life. Why don’t you have fine carriages and + horses, papa Minoret? I wouldn’t let myself be humiliated if I were you—I’d + buy a carriage fit for a prince.” + </p> + <p> + “Come, Cabirolle, tell us,” said Massin, “is it the girl who drives our + uncle into such luxury?” + </p> + <p> + “I don’t know,” said Cabirolle; “but she is almost mistress of the house. + There are masters upon masters down from Paris. They say now she is going + to study painting.” + </p> + <p> + “Then I shall seize the occasion to have my portrait drawn,” said Madame + Cremiere. + </p> + <p> + In the provinces they always say a picture is drawn, not painted. + </p> + <p> + “The old German is not dismissed, is he?” said Madame Massin. + </p> + <p> + “He was there yesterday,” replied Cabirolle. + </p> + <p> + “Now,” said Goupil, “you may as well give up counting on your inheritance. + Ursula is seventeen years old, and she is prettier than ever. Travel forms + young people, and the little minx has got your uncle in the toils. Five or + six parcels come down for her by the diligence every week, and the + dressmakers and milliners come too, to try on her gowns and all the rest + of it. Madame Dionis is furious. Watch for Ursula as she comes out of + church and look at the little scarf she is wearing round her neck,—real + cashmere, and it cost six hundred francs!” + </p> + <p> + If a thunderbolt had fallen in the midst of the heirs the effect would + have been less than that of Goupil’s last words; the mischief-maker stood + by rubbing his hands. + </p> + <p> + The doctor’s old green salon had been renovated by a Parisian upholsterer. + Judged by the luxury displayed, he was sometimes accused of hoarding + immense wealth, sometimes of spending his capital on Ursula. The heirs + called him in turn a miser and a spendthrift, but the saying, “He’s an old + fool!” summed upon, on the whole, the verdict of the neighbourhood. These + mistaken judgments of the little town had the one advantage of misleading + the heirs, who never suspected the love between Savinien and Ursula, which + was the secret reason of the doctor’s expenditure. The old man took the + greatest delights in accustoming his godchild to her future station in the + world. Possessing an income of over fifty thousand francs a year, it gave + him pleasure to adorn his idol. + </p> + <p> + In the month of February, 1832, the day when Ursula was eighteen, her eyes + beheld Savinien in the uniform of an ensign as she looked from her window + when she rose in the morning. + </p> + <p> + “Why didn’t I know he was coming?” she said to herself. + </p> + <p> + After the taking of Algiers, Savinien had distinguished himself by an act + of courage which won him the cross. The corvette on which he was serving + was many months at sea without his being able to communicate with the + doctor; and he did not wish to leave the service without consulting him. + Desirous of retaining in the navy a name already illustrious in its + service, the new government had profited by a general change of officers + to make Savinien an ensign. Having obtained leave of absence for fifteen + days, the new officer arrived from Toulon by the mail, in time for + Ursula’s fete, intending to consult the doctor at the same time. + </p> + <p> + “He has come!” cried Ursula rushing into her godfather’s bedroom. + </p> + <p> + “Very good,” he answered; “I can guess what brings him, and he may now + stay in Nemours.” + </p> + <p> + “Ah! that’s my birthday present—it is all in that sentence,” she + said, kissing him. + </p> + <p> + On a sign, which she ran up to make from her window, Savinien came over at + once; she longed to admire him, for he seemed to her so changed for the + better. Military service does, in fact, give a certain grave decision to + the air and carriage and gestures of a man, and an erect bearing which + enables the most superficial observer to recognize a military man even in + plain clothes. The habit of command produces this result. Ursula loved + Savinien the better for it, and took a childlike pleasure in walking round + the garden with him, taking his arm, and hearing him relate the part he + played (as midshipman) in the taking of Algiers. Evidently Savinien had + taken the city. The doctor, who had been watching them from his window as + he dressed, soon came down. Without telling the viscount everything, he + did say that, in case Madame de Portenduere consented to his marriage with + Ursula, the fortune of his godchild would make his naval pay superfluous. + </p> + <p> + “Alas!” said Savinien. “It will take a great deal of time to overcome my + mother’s opposition. Before I left her to enter the navy she was placed + between two alternatives,—either to consent to my marrying Ursula or + else to see me only from time to time and to know me exposed to the + dangers of the profession; and you see she chose to let me go.” + </p> + <p> + “But, Savinien, we shall be together,” said Ursula, taking his hand and + shaking it with a sort of impatience. + </p> + <p> + To see each other and not to part,—that was the all of love to her; + she saw nothing beyond it; and her pretty gesture and the petulant tone of + her voice expressed such innocence that Savinien and the doctor were both + moved by it. The resignation was written and despatched, and Ursula’s fete + received full glory from the presence of her betrothed. A few months + later, towards the month of May, the home-life of the doctor’s household + had resumed the quite tenor of its way but with one welcome visitor the + more. The attentions of the young viscount were soon interpreted in the + town as those of a future husband,—all the more because his manners + and those of Ursula, whether in church, or on the promenade, though + dignified and reserved, betrayed the understanding of their hearts. Dionis + pointed out to the heirs that the doctor had never asked Madame de + Portenduere for the interest of his money, three years of which was now + due. + </p> + <p> + “She’ll be forced to yield, and consent to this derogatory marriage of her + son,” said the notary. “If such a misfortune happens it is probable that + the greater part of your uncle’s fortune will serve for what Basile calls + ‘an irresistible argument.’” + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0014" id="link2HCH0014"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XIV. URSULA AGAIN ORPHANED + </h2> + <p> + The irritation of the heirs, when convinced that their uncle loved Ursula + too well not to secure her happiness at their expense, became as underhand + as it was bitter. Meeting in Dionis’s salon (as they had done every + evening since the revolution of 1830) they inveighed against the lovers, + and seldom separated without discussing some way of circumventing the old + man. Zelie, who had doubtless profited by the fall in the Funds, as the + doctor had done, to invest some, at least, of her enormous gains, was + bitterest of them all against the orphan girl and the Portendueres. One + evening, when Goupil, who usually avoided the dullness of these meetings, + had come in to learn something of the affairs of the town which were under + discussion, Zelie’s hatred was freshly excited; she had seen the doctor, + Ursula, and Savinien returning in the caleche from a country drive, with + an air of intimacy that told all. + </p> + <p> + “I’d give thirty thousand francs if God would call uncle to himself before + the marriage of young Portenduere with that affected minx can take place,” + she said. + </p> + <p> + Goupil accompanied Monsieur and Madame Minoret to the middle of their + great courtyard, and there said, looking round to see if they were quite + alone: + </p> + <p> + “Will you give me the means of buying Dionis’s practice? If you will, I + will break off the marriage between Portenduere and Ursula.” + </p> + <p> + “How?” asked the colossus. + </p> + <p> + “Do you think I am such a fool as to tell you my plan?” said the notary’s + head clerk. + </p> + <p> + “Well, my lad, separate them, and we’ll see what we can do,” said Zelie. + </p> + <p> + “I don’t embark in any such business on a ‘we’ll see.’ The young man is a + fire-eater who might kill me; I ought to be rough-shod and as good a hand + with a sword or a pistol as he is. Set me up in business, and I’ll keep my + word.” + </p> + <p> + “Prevent the marriage and I will set you up,” said the post master. + </p> + <p> + “It is nine months since you have been thinking of lending me a paltry + fifteen thousand francs to buy Lecoeur’s practice, and you expect me to + trust you now! Nonsense; you’ll lose your uncle’s property, and serve you + right.” + </p> + <p> + “It if were only a matter of fifteen thousand francs and Lecoeur’s + practice, that might be managed,” said Zelie; “but to give security for + you in a hundred and fifty thousand is another thing.” + </p> + <p> + “But I’ll do my part,” said Goupil, flinging a seductive look at Zelie, + which encountered the imperious glance of the post mistress. + </p> + <p> + The effect was that of venom on steel. + </p> + <p> + “We can wait,” said Zelie. + </p> + <p> + “The devil’s own spirit is in you,” thought Goupil. “If I ever catch that + pair in my power,” he said to himself as he left the yard, “I’ll squeeze + them like lemons.” + </p> + <p> + By cultivating the society of the doctor, the abbe, and Monsieur Bongrand, + Savinien proved the excellence of his character. The love of this young + man for Ursula, so devoid of self-interest, and so persistent, interested + the three friends deeply, and they now never separated the lovers in their + thoughts. Soon the monotony of this patriarchal life, and the certainty of + a future before them, gave to their affection a fraternal character. The + doctor often left the pair alone together. He judged the young man + rightly; he saw him kiss her hand on arriving, but he knew he would ask no + kiss when alone with her, so deeply did the lover respect the innocence, + the frankness of the young girl, whose excessive sensibility, often tried, + taught him that a harsh word, a cold look, or the alternations of + gentleness and roughness might kill her. The only freedom between the two + took place before the eyes of the old man in the evenings. + </p> + <p> + Two years, full of secret happiness, passed thus,—without other + events than the fruitless efforts made by the young man to obtain from his + mother her consent to his marriage. He talked to her sometimes for hours + together. She listened and made no answer to his entreaties, other than by + Breton silence or a positive denial. + </p> + <p> + At nineteen years of age Ursula, elegant in appearance, a fine musician, + and well brought up, had nothing more to learn; she was perfected. The + fame of her beauty and grace and education spread far. The doctor was + called upon to decline the overtures of Madame d’Aiglemont, who was + thinking of Ursula for her eldest son. Six months later, in spite of the + secrecy the doctor and Ursula maintained on this subject, Savinien heard + of it. Touched by so much delicacy, he made use of the incident in another + attempt to vanquish his mother’s obstinacy; but she merely replied:— + </p> + <p> + “If the d’Aiglemonts choose to ally themselves ill, is that any reason why + we should do so?” + </p> + <p> + In December, 1834, the kind and now truly pious old doctor, then + eighty-eight years old, declined visibly. When seen out of doors, his face + pinched and wan and his eyes pale, all the town talked of his approaching + death. “You’ll soon know results,” said the community to the heirs. In + truth the old man’s death had all the attraction of a problem. But the + doctor himself did not know he was ill; he had his illusions, and neither + poor Ursula nor Savinien nor Bongrand nor the abbe were willing to + enlighten him as to his condition. The Nemours doctor who came to see him + every day did not venture to prescribe. Old Minoret felt no pain; his lamp + of life was gently going out. His mind continued firm and clear and + powerful. In old men thus constituted the soul governs the body, and gives + it strength to die erect. The abbe, anxious not to hasten the fatal end, + released his parishioner from the duty of hearing mass in church, and + allowed him to read the services at home, for the doctor faithfully + attended to all his religious duties. The nearer he came to the grave the + more he loved God; the lights eternal shone upon all difficulties and + explained them more and more clearly to his mind. Early in the year Ursula + persuaded him to sell the carriage and horses and dismiss Cabirolle. + Monsieur Bongrand, whose uneasiness about Ursula’s future was far from + quieted by the doctor’s half-confidence, boldly opened the subject one + evening and showed his old friend the importance of making Ursula legally + of age. Still the old man, though he had often consulted the justice of + peace, would not reveal to him the secret of his provision for Ursula, + though he agreed to the necessity of securing her independence by + majority. The more Monsieur Bongrand persisted in his efforts to discover + the means selected by his old friend to provide for his darling the more + wary the doctor became. + </p> + <p> + “Why not secure the thing,” said Bongrand, “why run any risks?” + </p> + <p> + “When you are between two risks,” replied the doctor, “avoid the most + risky.” + </p> + <p> + Bongrand carried through the business of making Ursula of age so promptly + that the papers were ready by the day she was twenty. That anniversary was + the last pleasure of the old doctor who, seized perhaps with a + presentiment of his end, gave a little ball, to which he invited all the + young people in the families of Dionis, Cremiere, Minoret, and Massin. + Savinien, Bongrand, the abbe and his two assistant priests, the Nemours + doctor, and Mesdames Zelie Minoret, Massin, and Cremiere, together with + old Schmucke, were the guests at a grand dinner which preceded the ball. + </p> + <p> + “I feel I am going,” said the old man to the notary towards the close of + the evening. “I beg you to come to-morrow and draw up my guardianship + account with Ursula, so as not to complicate my property after my death. + Thank God! I have not withdrawn one penny from my heirs,—I have + disposed of nothing but my income. Messieurs Cremiere, Massin, and Minoret + my nephew are members of the family council appointed for Ursula, and I + wish them to be present at the rendering of my account.” + </p> + <p> + These words, heard by Massin and quickly passed from one to another round + the ball-room, poured balm into the minds of the three families, who had + lived in perpetual alternations of hope and fear, sometimes thinking they + were certain of wealth, oftener that they were disinherited. + </p> + <p> + When, about two in the morning, the guests were all gone and no one + remained in the salon but Savinien, Bongrand, and the abbe, the old doctor + said, pointing to Ursula, who was charming in her ball dress; “To you, my + friends, I confide her! A few days more, and I shall be here no longer to + protect her. Put yourselves between her and the world until she is + married,—I fear for her.” + </p> + <p> + The words made a painful impression. The guardian’s account, rendered a + day or two later in presence of the family council, showed that Doctor + Minoret owed a balance to his ward of ten thousand six hundred francs from + the bequest of Monsieur de Jordy, and also from a little capital of gifts + made by the doctor himself to Ursula during the last fifteen years, on + birthdays and other anniversaries. + </p> + <p> + This formal rendering of the account was insisted on by the justice of the + peace, who feared (unhappily, with too much reason) the results of Doctor + Minoret’s death. + </p> + <p> + The following day the old man was seized with a weakness which compelled + him to keep his bed. In spite of the reserve which always surrounded the + doctor’s house and kept it from observation, the news of his approaching + death spread through the town, and the heirs began to run hither and + thither through the streets, like the pearls of a chaplet when the string + is broken. Massin called at the house to learn the truth, and was told by + Ursula herself that the doctor was in bed. The Nemours doctor had remarked + that whenever old Minoret took to his bed he would die; and therefore in + spite of the cold, the heirs took their stand in the street, on the + square, at their own doorsteps, talking of the event so long looked for, + and watching for the moment when the priests should appear, bearing the + sacrament, with all the paraphernalia customary in the provinces, to the + dying man. Accordingly, two days later, when the Abbe Chaperon, with an + assistant and the choir-boys, preceded by the sacristan bearing the cross, + passed along the Grand’Rue, all the heirs joined the procession, to get an + entrance to the house and see that nothing was abstracted, and lay their + eager hands upon its coveted treasures at the earliest moment. + </p> + <p> + When the doctor saw, behind the clergy, the row of kneeling heirs, who + instead of praying were looking at him with eyes that were brighter than + the tapers, he could not restrain a smile. The abbe turned round, saw + them, and continued to say the prayers slowly. The post master was the + first to abandon the kneeling posture; his wife followed him. Massin, + fearing that Zelie and her husband might lay hands on some ornament, + joined them in the salon, where all the heirs were presently assembled one + by one. + </p> + <p> + “He is too honest a man to steal extreme unction,” said Cremiere; “we may + be sure of his death now.” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, we shall each get about twenty thousand francs a year,” replied + Madame Massin. + </p> + <p> + “I have an idea,” said Zelie, “that for the last three years he hasn’t + invested anything—he grew fond of hoarding.” + </p> + <p> + “Perhaps the money is in the cellar,” whispered Massin to Cremiere. + </p> + <p> + “I hope we shall be able to find it,” said Minoret-Levrault. + </p> + <p> + “But after what he said at the ball we can’t have any doubt,” cried Madame + Massin. + </p> + <p> + “In any case,” began Cremiere, “how shall we manage? Shall we divide; + shall we go to law; or could we draw lots? We are adults, you know—” + </p> + <p> + A discussion, which soon became angry, now arose as to the method of + procedure. At the end of half an hour a perfect uproar of voices, Zelie’s + screeching organ detaching itself from the rest, resounded in the + courtyard and even in the street. + </p> + <p> + The noise reached the doctor’s ears; he heard the words, “The house—the + house is worth thirty thousand francs. I’ll take it at that,” said, or + rather bellowed by Cremiere. + </p> + <p> + “Well, we’ll take what it’s worth,” said Zelie, sharply. + </p> + <p> + “Monsieur l’abbe,” said the old man to the priest, who remained beside his + friend after administering the communion, “help me to die in peace. My + heirs, like those of Cardinal Ximenes, are capable of pillaging the house + before my death, and I have no monkey to revive me. Go and tell them I + will have none of them in my house.” + </p> + <p> + The priest and the doctor of the town went downstairs and repeated the + message of the dying man, adding, in their indignation, strong words of + their own. + </p> + <p> + “Madame Bougival,” said the doctor, “close the iron gate and allow no one + to enter; even the dying, it seems, can have no peace. Prepare mustard + poultices and apply them to the soles of Monsieur’s feet.” + </p> + <p> + “Your uncle is not dead,” said the abbe, “and he may live some time + longer. He wishes for absolute silence, and no one beside him but his + niece. What a difference between the conduct of that young girl and + yours!” + </p> + <p> + “Old hypocrite!” exclaimed Cremiere. “I shall keep watch of him. It is + possible he’s plotting something against our interests.” + </p> + <p> + The post master had already disappeared into the garden, intending to + watch there and wait his chance to be admitted to the house as an + assistant. He now returned to it very softly, his boots making no noise, + for there were carpets on the stairs and corridors. He was able to reach + the door of his uncle’s room without being heard. The abbe and the doctor + had left the house; La Bougival was making the poultices. + </p> + <p> + “Are we quite alone?” said the old man to his godchild. + </p> + <p> + Ursula stood on tiptoe and looked into the courtyard. + </p> + <p> + “Yes,” she said; “the abbe has just closed the gate after him.” + </p> + <p> + “My darling child,” said the dying man, “my hours, my minutes even, are + counted. I have not been a doctor for nothing; I shall not last till + evening. Do not cry, my Ursula,” he said, fearing to be interrupted by the + child’s weeping, “but listen to me carefully; it concerns your marriage to + Savinien. As soon as La Bougival comes back go down to the pagoda,—here + is the key,—lift the marble top of the Boule buffet and you will + find a letter beneath it, sealed and addressed to you; take it and come + back here, for I cannot die easy unless I see it in your hands. When I am + dead do not let any one know of it immediately, but send for Monsieur de + Portenduere; read the letter together; swear to me now, in his name and + your own, that you will carry out my last wishes. When Savinien has obeyed + me, then announce my death, but not till then. The comedy of the heirs + will begin. God grant those monsters may not ill-treat you.” + </p> + <p> + “Yes godfather.” + </p> + <p> + The post master did not listen to the end of this scene; he slipped away + on tip-toe, remembering that the lock of the study was on the library side + of the door. He had been present in former days at an argument between the + architect and a locksmith, the latter declaring that if the pagoda were + entered by the window on the river it would be much safer to put the lock + of the door opening into the library on the library side. Dazzled by his + hopes, and his ears flushed with blood, Minoret sprang the lock with the + point of his knife as rapidly as a burglar could have done it. He entered + the study, followed the doctor’s directions, took the package of papers + without opening it, relocked the door, put everything in order, and went + into the dining-room and sat down, waiting till La Bougival had gone + upstairs with the poultice before he ventured to leave the house. He then + made his escape,—all the more easily because poor Ursula lingered to + see that La Bougival applied the poultice properly. + </p> + <p> + “The letter! the letter!” cried the old man, in a dying voice. “Obey me; + take the key. I must see you with that letter in your hand.” + </p> + <p> + The words were said with so wild a look that La Bougival exclaimed to + Ursula:— + </p> + <p> + “Do what he asks at once or you will kill him.” + </p> + <p> + She kissed his forehead, took the key and went down. A moment later, + recalled by a cry from La Bougival, she ran back. The old man looked at + her eagerly. Seeing her hands empty, he rose in his bed, tried to speak, + and died with a horrible gasp, his eyes haggard with fear. The poor girl, + who saw death for the first time, fell on her knees and burst into tears. + La Bougival closed the old man’s eyes and straightened him on the bed; + then she ran to call Savinien; but the heirs, who stood at the corner of + the street, like crows watching till a horse is buried before they scratch + at the ground and turn it over with beak and claw, flocked in with the + celerity of birds of prey. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0015" id="link2HCH0015"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XV. THE DOCTOR’S WILL + </h2> + <p> + While these events were taking place the post master had hurried home to + open the mysterious package and know its contents. + </p> + <p> + To my dear Ursula Mirouet, daughter of my natural half-brother, Joseph + Mirouet, and Dinah Grollman:— + </p> + <p> + My dear Angel,—The fatherly affection I bear you—and which you + have so fully justified—came not only from the promise I gave your + father to take his place, but also from your resemblance to my wife, + Ursula Mirouet, whose grace, intelligence, frankness, and charm you + constantly recall to my mind. Your position as the daughter of a natural + son of my father-in-law might invalidate all testamentary bequests made by + me in your favor— + </p> + <p> + “The old rascal!” cried the post master. + </p> + <p> + Had I adopted you the result might also have been a lawsuit, and I shrank + from the idea of transmitting my fortune to you by marriage, for I might + live years and thus interfere with your happiness, which is now delayed + only by Madame de Portenduere. Having weighted these difficulties + carefully, and wishing to leave you enough money to secure to you a + prosperous existence— + </p> + <p> + “The scoundrel, he has thought of everything!” + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + —without injuring my heirs— +</pre> + <p> + “The Jesuit! as if he did not owe us every penny of his money!”—I + intend you to have the savings from my income which I have for the last + eighteen years steadily invested, by the help of my notary, seeking to + make you thereby as happy as any one can be made by riches. Without means, + your education and your lofty ideas would cause you unhappiness. Besides, + you ought to bring a liberal dowry to the fine young man who loves you. + You will therefore find in the middle of the third volume of Pandects, + folio, bound in red morocco (the last volume on the first shelf above the + little table in the library, on the side of the room next the salon), + three certificates of Funds in the three-per-cents, made out to bearer, + each amounting to twelve thousand francs a year— + </p> + <p> + “What depths of wickedness!” screamed the post master. “Ah! God would not + permit me to be so defrauded.” + </p> + <p> + Take these at once, and also some uninvested savings made to this date, + which you will find in the preceding volume. Remember, my darling child, + that you must obey a wish that has made the happiness of my whole life; a + wish that will force me to ask the intervention of God should you disobey + me. But, to guard against all scruples in your dear conscience—for I + well know how ready it is to torture you—you will find herewith a + will in due form bequeathing these certificates to Monsieur Savinien de + Portenduere. So, whether you possess them in your own name, or whether + they come to you from him you love, they will be, in every sense, your + legitimate property. + </p> + <p> + Your godfather, Denis Minoret. + </p> + <p> + To this letter was annexed the following paper written on a sheet of + stamped paper. + </p> + <p> + This is my will: I, Denis Minoret, doctor of medicine, settled in Nemours, + being of sound mind and body, as the date of this document will show, do + bequeath my soul to God, imploring him to pardon my errors in view of my + sincere repentance. Next, having found in Monsieur le Vicomte Savinien de + Portenduere a true and honest affection for me, I bequeath to him the sum + of thirty-six thousand francs a year from the Funds, at three per cent, + the said bequest to take precedence of all inheritance accruing to my + heirs. + </p> + <p> + Written by my own hand, at Nemours, on the 11th of January, 1831. + </p> + <p> + Denis Minoret. + </p> + <p> + Without an instant’s hesitation the post master, who had locked himself + into his wife’s bedroom to insure being alone, looked about for the + tinder-box, and received two warnings from heaven by the extinction of two + matches which obstinately refused to light. The third took fire. He burned + the letter and the will on the hearth and buried the vestiges of paper and + sealing-wax in the ashes by way of superfluous caution. Then, allured by + the thought of possessing thirty-six thousand francs a year of which his + wife knew nothing, he returned at full speed to his uncle’s house, spurred + by the only idea, a clear-cut, simple idea, which was able to piece and + penetrate his dull brain. Finding the house invaded by the three families, + now masters of the place, he trembled lest he should be unable to + accomplish a project to which he gave no reflection whatever, except so + far as to fear the obstacles. + </p> + <p> + “What are you doing here?” he said to Massin and Cremiere. “We can’t leave + the house and the property to be pillaged. We are the heirs, but we can’t + camp here. You, Cremiere, go to Dionis at once and tell him to come and + certify to the death; I can’t draw up the mortuary certificate for an + uncle, though I am assistant-mayor. You, Massin, go and ask old Bongrand + to attach the seals. As for you, ladies,” he added, turning to his wife + and Mesdames Cremiere and Massin, “go and look after Ursula; then nothing + can be stolen. Above all, close the iron gate and don’t let any one leave + the house.” + </p> + <p> + The women, who felt the justice of this remark, ran to Ursula’s bedroom, + where they found the noble girl, so cruelly suspected, on her knees before + God, her face covered with tears. Minoret, suspecting that the women would + not long remain with Ursula, went at once to the library, found the + volume, opened it, took the three certificates, and found in the other + volume about thirty bank notes. In spite of his brutal nature the colossus + felt as though a peal of bells were ringing in each ear. The blood + whistled in his temples as he committed the theft; cold as the weather + was, his shirt was wet on his back; his legs gave way under him and he + fell into a chair in the salon as if an axe had fallen on his head. + </p> + <p> + “How the inheritance of money loosens a man’s tongue! Did you hear + Minoret?” said Massin to Cremiere as they hurried through the town. “‘Go + here, go there,’ just as if he knew everything.” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, for a dull beast like him he had a certain air of—” + </p> + <p> + “Stop!” said Massin, alarmed at a sudden thought. “His wife is there; + they’ve got some plan! Do you do both errands; I’ll go back.” + </p> + <p> + Just as the post master fell into the chair he saw at the gate the heated + face of the clerk of the court who returned to the house of death with the + celerity of a weasel. + </p> + <p> + “Well, what is it now?” asked the post master, unlocking the gate for his + co-heir. + </p> + <p> + “Nothing; I have come back to be present at the sealing,” answered Massin, + giving him a savage look. + </p> + <p> + “I wish those seals were already on, so that we could go home,” said + Minoret. + </p> + <p> + “We shall have to put a watcher over them,” said Massin. “La Bougival is + capable of anything in the interests of that minx. We’ll put Goupil + there.” + </p> + <p> + “Goupil!” said the post master; “put a rat in the meal!” + </p> + <p> + “Well, let’s consider,” returned Massin. “To-night they’ll watch the body; + the seals can be affixed in an hour; our wives could look after them. + To-morrow we’ll have the funeral at twelve o’clock. But the inventory + can’t be made under a week.” + </p> + <p> + “Let’s get rid of that girl at once,” said the colossus; “then we can + safely leave the watchman of the town-hall to look after the house and the + seals.” + </p> + <p> + “Good,” cried Massin. “You are the head of the Minoret family.” + </p> + <p> + “Ladies,” said Minoret, “be good enough to stay in the salon; we can’t + think of our dinner to-day; the seals must be put on at once for the + security of all interests.” + </p> + <p> + He took his wife apart and told her Massin’s proposition about Ursula. The + women, whose hearts were full of vengeance against the minx, as they + called her, hailed the idea of turning her out. Bongrand arrived with his + assistants to apply the seals, and was indignant when the request was made + to him, by Zelie and Madame Massin, as a near friend of the deceased, to + tell Ursula to leave the house. + </p> + <p> + “Go and turn her out of her father’s house, her benefactor’s house + yourselves,” he cried. “Go! you who owe your inheritance to the generosity + of her soul; take her by the shoulders and fling her into the street + before the eyes of the whole town! You think her capable of robbing you? + Well, appoint a watcher of the seals; you have a right to do that. But I + tell you at once I shall put no seals on Ursula’s room; she has a right to + that room, and everything in it is her own property. I shall tell her what + her rights are, and tell her too to put everything that belongs to her in + this house in that room—Oh! in your presence,” he said, hearing a + growl of dissatisfaction among the heirs. + </p> + <p> + “What do you think of that?” said the collector to the post master and the + women, who seemed stupefied by the angry address of Bongrand. + </p> + <p> + “Call <i>him</i> a magistrate!” cried the post master. + </p> + <p> + Ursula meanwhile was sitting on her little sofa in a half-fainting + condition, her head thrown back, her braids unfastened, while every now + and then her sobs broke forth. Her eyes were dim and their lids swollen; + she was, in fact, in a state of moral and physical prostration which might + have softened the hardest hearts—except those of the heirs. + </p> + <p> + “Ah! Monsieur Bongrand, after my happy birthday comes death and mourning,” + she said, with the poetry natural to her. “You know, <i>you</i>, what he + was. In twenty years he never said an impatient word to me. I believed he + would live a hundred years. He has been my mother,” she cried, “my good, + kind mother.” + </p> + <p> + These simple thoughts brought torrents of tears from her eyes, interrupted + by sobs; then she fell back exhausted. + </p> + <p> + “My child,” said the justice of peace, hearing the heirs on the staircase. + “You have a lifetime before you in which to weep, but you have now only a + moment to attend to your interests. Gather everything that belongs to you + in this house and put it into your own room at once. The heirs insist on + my affixing the seals.” + </p> + <p> + “Ah! his heirs may take everything if they choose,” cried Ursula, sitting + upright under an impulse of savage indignation. “I have something here,” + she added, striking her breast, “which is far more precious—” + </p> + <p> + “What is it?” said the post master, who with Massin at his heels now + showed his brutal face. + </p> + <p> + “The remembrances of his virtues, of his life, of his words—an image + of his celestial soul,” she said, her eyes and face glowing as she raised + her hand with a glorious gesture. + </p> + <p> + “And a key!” cried Massin, creeping up to her like a cat and seizing a key + which fell from the bosom of her dress in her sudden movement. + </p> + <p> + “Yes,” she said, blushing, “that is the key of his study; he sent me there + at the moment he was dying.” + </p> + <p> + The two men glanced at each other with horrid smiles, and then at Monsieur + Bongrand, with a meaning look of degrading suspicion. Ursula who + intercepted it, rose to her feet, pale as if the blood had left her body. + Her eyes sent forth the lightnings that perhaps can issue only at some + cost of life, as she said in a choking voice:— + </p> + <p> + “Monsieur Bongrand, everything in this room is mine through the kindness + of my godfather; they may have it all; I have nothing on me but the + clothes I wear. I shall leave the house and never return to it.” + </p> + <p> + She went to her godfather’s room, and no entreaties could make her leave + it,—the heirs, who now began to be slightly ashamed of their + conduct, endeavoring to persuade her. She requested Monsieur Bongrand to + engage two rooms for her at the “Vieille Poste” inn until she could find + some lodging in town where she could live with La Bougival. She returned + to her own room for her prayer-book, and spent the night, with the abbe, + his assistant, and Savinien, in weeping and praying beside her uncle’s + body. Savinien came, after his mother had gone to bed, and knelt, without + a word, beside his Ursula. She smiled at him sadly, and thanked him for + coming faithfully to share her troubles. + </p> + <p> + “My child,” said Monsieur Bongrand, bring her a large package, “one of + your uncle’s heirs has taken these necessary articles from your drawers, + for the seals cannot be opened for several days; after that you will + recover everything that belongs to you. I have, for your own sake, placed + the seals on your room.” + </p> + <p> + “Thank you,” she replied, pressing his hand. “Look at him again,—he + seems to sleep, does he not?” + </p> + <p> + The old man’s face wore that flower of fleeting beauty which rests upon + the features of the dead who die a painless death; light appeared to + radiate from it. + </p> + <p> + “Did he give you anything secretly before he died?” whispered M. Bongrand. + </p> + <p> + “Nothing,” she said; “he spoke only of a letter.” + </p> + <p> + “Good! it will certainly be found,” said Bongrand. “How fortunate for you + that the heirs demanded the sealing.” + </p> + <p> + At daybreak Ursula bade adieu to the house where her happy youth was + passed; more particularly, to the modest chamber in which her love began. + So dear to her was it that even in this hour of darkest grief tears of + regret rolled down her face for the dear and peaceful haven. With one last + glance at Savinien’s windows she left the room and the house, and went to + the inn accompanied by La Bougival, who carried the package, by Monsieur + Bongrand, who gave her his arm, and by Savinien, her true protector. + </p> + <p> + Thus it happened that in spite of all his efforts and cautions the worst + fears of the justice of peace were realized; he was now to see Ursula + without means and at the mercy of her benefactor’s heirs. + </p> + <p> + The next afternoon the whole town attended the doctor’s funeral. When the + conduct of the heirs to his adopted daughter was publicly known, a vast + majority of the people thought it natural and necessary. An inheritance + was involved; the good man was known to have hoarded; Ursula might think + she had rights; the heirs were only defending their property; she had + humbled them enough during their uncle’s lifetime, for he had treated them + like dogs and sent them about their business. + </p> + <p> + Desire Minoret, who was not going to do wonders in life (so said those who + envied his father), came down for the funeral. Ursula was unable to be + present, for she was in bed with a nervous fever, caused partly by the + insults of the heirs and partly by her heavy affliction. + </p> + <p> + “Look at that hypocrite weeping,” said some of the heirs, pointing to + Savinien, who was deeply affected by the doctor’s death. + </p> + <p> + “The question is,” said Goupil, “has he any good grounds for weeping. + Don’t laugh too soon, my friends; the seals are not yet removed.” + </p> + <p> + “Pooh!” said Minoret, who had good reason to know the truth, “you are + always frightening us about nothing.” + </p> + <p> + As the funeral procession left the church to proceed to the cemetery, a + bitter mortification was inflicted on Goupil; he tried to take Desire’s + arm, but the latter withdrew it and turned away from his former comrade in + presence of all Nemours. + </p> + <p> + “I won’t be angry, or I couldn’t get revenge,” thought the notary’s clerk, + whose dry heart swelled in his bosom like a sponge. + </p> + <p> + Before breaking the seals and making the inventory, it took some time for + the procureur du roi, who is the legal guardian of orphans, to commission + Monsieur Bongrand to act in his place. After that was done the settlement + of the Minoret inheritance (nothing else being talked of in the town for + ten days) began with all the legal formalities. Dionis had his pickings; + Goupil enjoyed some mischief-making; and as the business was profitable + the sessions were many. After the first of these sessions all parties + breakfasted together; notary, clerk, heirs, and witnesses drank the best + wines in the doctor’s cellar. + </p> + <p> + In the provinces, and especially in little towns where every one lives in + his own house, it is sometimes very difficult to find a lodging. When a + man buys a business of any kind the dwelling-house is almost always + included in the purchase. Monsieur Bongrand saw no other way of removing + Ursula from the village inn than to buy a small house on the Grand’Rue at + the corner of the bridge over the Loing. The little building had a front + door opening on a corridor, and one room on the ground-floor with two + windows on the street; behind this came the kitchen, with a glass door + opening to an inner courtyard about thirty feet square. A small staircase, + lighted on the side towards the river by small windows, led to the first + floor where there were three chambers, and above these were two attic + rooms. Monsieur Bongrand borrowed two thousand francs from La Bougival’s + savings to pay the first instalment of the price,—six thousand + francs,—and obtained good terms for payment of the rest. As Ursula + wished to buy her uncle’s books, Bongrand knocked down the partition + between two rooms on the bedroom floor, finding that their united length + was the same as that of the doctor’s library, and gave room for his + bookshelves. + </p> + <p> + Savinien and Bongrand urged on the workmen who were cleaning, painting, + and otherwise renewing the tiny place, so that before the end of March + Ursula was able to leave the inn and take up her abode in the ugly house; + where, however, she found a bedroom exactly like the one she had left; for + it was filled with all her furniture, claimed by the justice of peace when + the seals were removed. La Bougival, sleeping in the attic, could be + summoned by a bell placed near the head of the young girl’s bed. The room + intended for the books, the salon on the ground-floor and the kitchen, + though still unfurnished, had been hung with fresh papers and repainted, + and only awaited the purchases which the young girl hoped to make when her + godfather’s effects were sold. + </p> + <p> + Though the strength of Ursula’s character was well known to the abbe and + Monsieur Bongrand, they both feared the sudden change from the comfort and + elegancies to which her uncle had accustomed her to this barren and + denuded life. As for Savinien he wept over it. He did, in fact, make + private payments to the workman and to the upholsterer, so that Ursula + should perceive no difference between the new chamber and the old one. But + the young girl herself, whose happiness now lay in Savinien’s own eyes, + showed the gentlest resignation, which endeared her more and more to her + two old friends, and proved to them for the hundredth time that no + troubles but those of the heart could make her suffer. The grief she felt + for the loss of her godfather was far too deep to let her even feel the + bitterness of her change of fortune, though it added fresh obstacles to + her marriage. Savinien’s distress in seeing her thus reduced did her so + much harm that she whispered to him, as they came from mass on the morning + on the day when she first went to live in her new house: + </p> + <p> + “Love could not exist without patience; let us wait.” + </p> + <p> + As soon as the form of the inventory was drawn up, Massin, advised by + Goupil (who turned to him under the influence of his secret hatred to the + post master), summoned Monsieur and Madame de Portenduere to pay off the + mortgage which had now elapsed, together with the interest accruing + thereon. The old lady was bewildered at a summons to pay one hundred and + twenty-nine thousand five hundred and seventeen francs within twenty-four + hours under pain of execution on her house. It was impossible for her to + borrow the money. Savinien went to Fontainebleau to consult a lawyer. + </p> + <p> + “You are dealing with a bad set of people who will not compromise,” was + the lawyer’s opinion. “They intend to sue in the matter and get your farm + at Bordieres. The best way for you would be to make a voluntary sale of it + and so escape costs.” + </p> + <p> + This dreadful news broke down the old lady. Her son very gently pointed + out to her that had she consented to his marriage in Minoret’s life-time, + the doctor would have left his property to Ursula’s husband and they would + to-day have been opulent instead of being, as they now were, in the depths + of poverty. Though said without reproach, this argument annihilated the + poor woman even more than the thought of her coming ejectment. When Ursula + heard of this catastrophe she was stupefied with grief, having scarcely + recovered from her fever, and the blow which the heirs had already dealt + her. To love and be unable to succor the man she loves,—that is one + of the most dreadful of all sufferings to the soul of a noble and + sensitive woman. + </p> + <p> + “I wished to buy my uncle’s house,” she said, “now I will buy your + mother’s.” + </p> + <p> + “Can you?” said Savinien. “You are a minor, and you cannot sell out your + Funds without formalities to which the procureur du roi, now your legal + guardian, would not agree. We shall not resist. The whole town will be + glad to see the discomfiture of a noble family. These bourgeois are like + hounds after a quarry. Fortunately, I still have ten thousand francs left, + on which I can support my mother till this deplorable matter is settled. + Besides, the inventory of your godfather’s property is not yet finished; + Monsieur Bongrand still thinks he shall find something for you. He is as + much astonished as I am that you seem to be left without fortune. The + doctor so often spoke both to him and to me of the future he had prepared + for you that neither of us can understand this conclusion.” + </p> + <p> + “Pooh!” she said; “so long as I can buy my godfather’s books and furniture + and prevent their being dispersed, I am content.” + </p> + <p> + “But who knows the price these infamous creatures will set on anything you + want?” + </p> + <p> + Nothing was talked of from Montargis to Fontainebleau but the million for + which the Minoret heirs were searching. But the most minute search made in + every corner of the house after the seals were removed, brought no + discovery. The one hundred and twenty-nine thousand francs of the + Portenduere debt, the capital of the fifteen thousand a year in the three + per cents (then quoted at 76), the house, valued at forty thousand francs, + and its handsome furniture, produced a total of about six hundred thousand + francs, which to most persons seemed a comforting sum. But what had become + of the money the doctor must have saved? + </p> + <p> + Minoret began to have gnawing anxieties. La Bougival and Savinien, who + persisted in believing, as did the justice of peace, in the existence of a + will, came every day at the close of each session to find out from + Bongrand the results of the day’s search. The latter would sometimes + exclaim, before the agents and the heirs were fairly out of hearing, “I + can’t understand the thing!” Bongrand, Savinien, and the abbe often + declared to each other that the doctor, who received no interest from the + Portenduere loan, could not have kept his house as he did on fifteen + thousand francs a year. This opinion, openly expressed, made the post + master turn livid more than once. + </p> + <p> + “Yet they and I have rummaged everywhere,” said Bongrand,—“they to + find money, and I to find a will in favor of Monsieur de Portenduere. They + have sifted the ashes, lifted the marbles, felt of the slippers, bored + into the wood-work of the beds, emptied the mattresses, ripped up the + quilts, turned his eider-down inside-out, examined every inch of paper + piece by piece, searched the drawers, dug up the cellar floor—and I + have urged on their devastations.” + </p> + <p> + “What do you think about it?” said the abbe. + </p> + <p> + “The will has been suppressed by one of the heirs.” + </p> + <p> + “But where’s the property?” + </p> + <p> + “We may whistle for it!” + </p> + <p> + “Perhaps the will is hidden in the library,” said Savinien. + </p> + <p> + “Yes, and for that reason I don’t dissuade Ursula from buying it. If it + were not for that, it would be absurd to let her put every penny of her + ready money into books she will never open.” + </p> + <p> + At first the whole town believed the doctor’s niece had got possession of + the unfound capital; but when it was known positively that fourteen + hundred francs a year and her gifts constituted her whole fortune the + search of the doctor’s house and furniture excited a more wide-spread + curiosity than before. Some said the money would be found in bank bills + hidden away in the furniture, others that the old man had slipped them + into his books. The sale of the effects exhibited a spectacle of the most + extraordinary precautions on the part of the heirs. Dionis, who was doing + duty as auctioneeer, declared, as each lot was cried out, that the heirs + only sold the article (whatever it was) and not what it might contain; + then, before allowing it to be taken away it was subjected to a final + investigation, being thumped and sounded; and when at last it left the + house the sellers followed with the looks a father might cast upon a son + who was starting for India. + </p> + <p> + “Ah, mademoiselle,” cried La Bougival, returning from the first session in + despair, “I shall not go again. Monsieur Bongrand is right, you could + never bear the sight. Everything is ticketed. All the town is coming and + going just as in the street; the handsome furniture is being ruined, they + even stand upon it; the whole place is such a muddle that a hen couldn’t + find her chicks. You’d think there had been a fire. Lots of things are in + the courtyard; the closets are all open, and nothing in them. Oh! the poor + dear man, it’s well he died, the sight would have killed him.” + </p> + <p> + Bongrand, who bought for Ursula certain articles which her uncle + cherished, and which were suitable for her little house, did not appear at + the sale of the library. Shrewder than the heirs, whose cupidity might + have run up the price of the books had they known he was buying them for + Ursula, he commissioned a dealer in old books living in Melun to buy them + for him. As a result of the heir’s anxiety the whole library was sold book + by book. Three thousand volumes were examined, one by one, held by the two + sides of the binding and shaken so that loose papers would infallibly fall + out. The whole amount of the purchases on Ursula’s account amounted to six + thousand five hundred francs or thereabouts. The book-cases were not + allowed to leave the premises until carefully examined by a cabinet-maker, + brought down from Paris to search for secret drawers. When at last + Monsieur Bongrand gave orders to take the books and the bookcases to + Mademoiselle Mirouet’s house the heirs were tortured with vague fears, not + dissipated until in course of time they saw how poorly she lived. + </p> + <p> + Minoret bought up his uncle’s house, the value of which his co-heirs ran + up to fifty thousand francs, imagining that the post master expected to + find a treasure in the walls; in fact the house was sold with a + reservation on this subject. Two weeks later Minoret disposed of his post + establishment, with all the coaches and horses, to the son of a rich + farmer, and went to live in his uncle’s house, where he spent considerable + sums in repairing and refurnishing the rooms. By making this move he + thoughtlessly condemned himself to live within sight of Ursula. + </p> + <p> + “I hope,” he said to Dionis the day when Madame de Portenduere was + summoned to pay her debt, “that we shall soon be rid of those nobles; + after they are gone we’ll drive out the rest.” + </p> + <p> + “That old woman with fourteen quarterings,” said Goupil, “won’t want to + witness her own disaster; she’ll go and die in Brittany, where she can + manage to find a wife for her son.” + </p> + <p> + “No,” said the notary, who had that morning drawn out a deed of sale at + Bongrand’s request. “Ursula has just bought the house she is living in.” + </p> + <p> + “That cursed fool does everything she can to annoy me!” cried the post + master imprudently. + </p> + <p> + “What does it signify to you whether she lives in Nemours or not?” asked + Goupil, surprised at the annoyance which the colossus betrayed. + </p> + <p> + “Don’t you know,” answered Minoret, turning as red as a poppy, “that my + son is fool enough to be in love with her? I’d give five hundred francs if + I could get Ursula out of this town.” + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0016" id="link2HCH0016"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XVI. THE TWO ADVERSARIES + </h2> + <p> + Perhaps the foregoing conduct on the part of the post master will have + shown already that Ursula, poor and resigned, was destined to be a thorn + in the side of the rich Minoret. The bustle attending the settlement of an + estate, the sale of the property, the going and coming necessitated by + such unusual business, his discussions with his wife about the most + trifling details, the purchase of the doctor’s house, where Zelie wished + to live in bourgeois style to advance her son’s interests,—all this + hurly-burly, contrasting with his usually tranquil life hindered the huge + Minoret from thinking of his victim. But about the middle of May, a few + days after his installation in the doctor’s house, as he was coming home + from a walk, he heard the sound of a piano, saw La Bougival sitting at a + window, like a dragon guarding a treasure, and suddenly became aware of an + importunate voice within him. + </p> + <p> + To explain why to a man of Minoret’s nature the sight of Ursula, who had + no suspicion of the theft committed upon her, now became intolerable; why + the spectacle of so much fortitude under misfortune impelled him to a + desire to drive the girl out of town; and how and why it was that this + desire took the form of hatred and revenge, would require a whole treatise + on moral philosophy. Perhaps he felt he was not the real possessor of + thirty-six thousand francs a year so long as she to whom they really + belonged lived near him. Perhaps he fancied some mere chance might betray + his theft if the person despoiled was not got rid of. Perhaps to a nature + in some sort primitive, almost uncivilized, and whose owner up to that + time had never done anything illegal, the presence of Ursula awakened + remorse. Possibly this remorse goaded him the more because he had received + his share of the property legitimately acquired. In his own mind he no + doubt attributed these stirrings of his conscience to the fact of Ursula’s + presence, imagining that if she were removed all his uncomfortable + feelings would disappear with her. But still, after all, perhaps crime has + its own doctrine of perfection. A beginning of evil demands its end; a + first stab must be followed by the blow that kills. Perhaps robbery is + doomed to lead to murder. Minoret had committed the crime without the + slightest reflection, so rapidly had the events taken place; reflection + came later. Now, if you have thoroughly possessed yourself of this man’s + nature and bodily presence you will understand the mighty effect produced + on him by a thought. Remorse is more than a thought; it comes from a + feeling which can no more be hidden than love; like love, it has its own + tyranny. But, just as Minoret had committed the crime against Ursula + without the slightest reflection, so he now blindly longed to drive her + from Nemours when he felt himself disturbed by the sight of that wronged + innocence. Being, in a sense, imbecile, he never thought of the + consequences; he went from danger to danger, driven by a selfish instinct, + like a wild animal which does not foresee the huntsman’s skill, and relies + on its own rapidity or strength. Before long the rich bourgeois, who still + met in Dionis’s salon, noticed a great change in the manners and behavior + of the man who had hitherto been so free of care. + </p> + <p> + “I don’t know what has come to Minoret, he is all <i>no how</i>,” said his + wife, from whom he was resolved to hide his daring deed. + </p> + <p> + Everybody explained his condition as being, neither more nor less, ennui + (in fact the thought now expressed on his face did resemble ennui), + caused, they said, by the sudden cessation of business and the change from + an active life to one of well-to-do leisure. + </p> + <p> + While Minoret was thinking only of destroying Ursula’s life in Nemours, La + Bougival never let a day go by without torturing her foster child with + some allusion to the fortune she ought to have had, or without comparing + her miserable lot with the prospects the doctor had promised, and of which + he had often spoken to her, La Bougival. + </p> + <p> + “It is not for myself I speak,” she said, “but is it likely that monsieur, + good and kind as he was, would have died without leaving me the merest + trifle?—” + </p> + <p> + “Am I not here?” replied Ursula, forbidding La Bougival to say another + word on the subject. + </p> + <p> + She could not endure to soil the dear and tender memories that surrounded + that noble head—a sketch of which in black and white hung in her + little salon—with thoughts of selfish interest. To her fresh and + beautiful imagination that sketch sufficed to make her <i>see</i> her + godfather, on whom her thoughts continually dwelt, all the more because + surrounded with the things he loved and used,—his large + duchess-sofa, the furniture from his study, his backgammon-table, and the + piano he had chosen for her. The two old friends who still remained to + her, the Abbe Chaperon and Monsieur Bongrand, the only visitors whom she + received, were, in the midst of these inanimate objects representative of + the past, like two living memories of her former life to which she + attached her present by the love her godfather had blessed. + </p> + <p> + After a while the sadness of her thoughts, softening gradually, gave tone + to the general tenor of her life and united all its parts in an + indefinable harmony, expressed by the exquisite neatness, the exact + symmetry of her room, the few flowers sent by Savinien, the dainty + nothings of a young girl’s life, the tranquillity which her quiet habits + diffused about her, giving peace and composure to the little home. After + breakfast and after mass she continued her studies and practiced; then she + took her embroidery and sat at the window looking on the street. At four + o’clock Savinien, returning from a walk (which he took in all weathers), + finding the window open, would sit upon the outer casing and talk with her + for half an hour. In the evening the abbe and Monsieur Bongrand came to + see her, but she never allowed Savinien to accompany them. Neither did she + accept Madame de Portenduere’s proposition, which Savinien had induced his + mother to make, that she should visit there. + </p> + <p> + Ursula and La Bougival lived, moreover, with the strictest economy; they + did not spend, counting everything, more than sixty francs a month. The + old nurse was indefatigable; she washed and ironed; cooked only twice a + week,—mistress and maid eating their food cold on other days; for + Ursula was determined to save the seven hundred francs still due on the + purchase of the house. This rigid conduct, together with her modesty and + her resignation to a life of poverty after the enjoyment of luxury and the + fond indulgence of all her wishes, deeply impressed certain persons. + Ursula won the respect of others, and no voice was raised against her. + Even the heirs, once satisfied, did her justice. Savinien admired the + strength of character of so young a girl. From time to time Madame de + Portenduere, when they met in church, would address a few kind words to + her, and twice she insisted on her coming to dinner and fetched her + herself. If all this was not happiness it was at least tranquillity. But a + benefit which came to Ursula through the legal care and ability of + Bongrand started the smouldering persecution which up to this time had + laid in Minoret’s breast as a dumb desire. + </p> + <p> + As soon as the legal settlement of the doctor’s estate was finished, the + justice of peace, urged by Ursula, took the cause of the Portendueres in + hand and promised her to get them out of their trouble. In dealing with + the old lady, whose opposition to Ursula’s happiness made him furious, he + did not allow her to be ignorant of the fact that his devotion to her + service was solely to give pleasure to Mademoiselle Mirouet. He chose one + of his former clerks to act for the Portendueres at Fontainebleau, and + himself put in a motion for a stay of proceedings. He intended to profit + by the interval which must elapse between the stoppage of the present suit + and some new step on the part of Massin to renew the lease at six thousand + francs, get a premium from the present tenants and the payment in full of + the rent of the current year. + </p> + <p> + At this time, when these matters had to be discussed, the former + whist-parties were again organized in Madame de Portenduere’s salon, + between himself, the abbe, Savinien, and Ursula, whom the abbe and he + escorted there and back every evening. In June, Bongrand succeeded in + quashing the proceedings; whereupon the new lease was signed; he obtained + a premium of thirty-two thousand francs from the farmer and a rent of six + thousand a year for eighteen years. The evening of the day on which this + was finally settled he went to see Zelie, whom he knew to be puzzled as to + how to invest her money, and proposed to sell her the farm at Bordieres + for two hundred and twenty thousand francs. + </p> + <p> + “I’d buy it at once,” said Minoret, “if I were sure the Portendueres would + go and live somewhere else.” + </p> + <p> + “Why?” said the justice of peace. + </p> + <p> + “We want to get rid of the nobles in Nemours.” + </p> + <p> + “I did hear the old lady say that if she could settle her affairs she + should go and live in Brittany, as she would not have means enough left to + live here. She is thinking of selling her house.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, sell it to me,” said Minoret. + </p> + <p> + “To you?” said Zelie. “You talk as if you were master of everything. What + do you want with two houses in Nemours?” + </p> + <p> + “If I don’t settle this matter of the farm with you to-night,” said + Bongrand, “our lease will get known, Massin will put in a fresh claim, and + I shall lose this chance of liquidation which I am anxious to make. So if + you don’t take my offer I shall go at once to Melun, where some farmers I + know are ready to buy the farm with their eyes shut.” + </p> + <p> + “Why did you come to us, then?” said Zelie. + </p> + <p> + “Because you can pay me in cash, and my other clients would make me wait + some time for the money. I don’t want difficulties.” + </p> + <p> + “Get <i>her</i> out of Nemours and I’ll pay it,” exclaimed Minoret. + </p> + <p> + “You understand that I cannot answer for Madame de Portenduere’s actions,” + said Bongrand. “I can only repeat what I heard her say, but I feel certain + they will not remain in Nemours.” + </p> + <p> + On this assurance, enforced by a nudge from Zelie, Minoret agreed to the + purchase, and furnished the funds to pay off the mortgage due to the + doctor’s estate. The deed of sale was immediately drawn up by Dionis. + Towards the end of June Bongrand brought the balance of the purchase money + to Madame de Portenduere, advising her to invest it in the Funds, where, + joined to Savinien’s ten thousand, it would give her, at five per cent, an + income of six thousand francs. Thus, so far from losing her resources, the + old lady actually gained by the transaction. But she did not leave + Nemours. Minoret thought he had been tricked,—as though Bongrand had + had an idea that Ursula’s presence was intolerable to him; and he felt a + keen resentment which embittered his hatred to his victim. Then began a + secret drama which was terrible in its effects,—the struggle of two + determinations; one which impelled Minoret to drive his victim from + Nemours, the other which gave Ursula the strength to bear persecution, the + cause of which was for a certain length of time undiscoverable. The + situation was a strange and even unnatural one, and yet it was led up to + by all the preceding events, which served as a preface to what was now to + occur. + </p> + <p> + Madame Minoret, to whom her husband had given a handsome silver service + costing twenty thousand francs, gave a magnificent dinner every Sunday, + the day on which her son, the deputy procureur, came from Fontainebleau, + bringing with him certain of his friends. On these occasions Zelie sent to + Paris for delicacies—obliging Dionis the notary to emulate her + display. Goupil, whom the Minorets endeavored to ignore as a questionable + person who might tarnish their splendor, was not invited until the end of + July. The clerk, who was fully aware of this intended neglect, was forced + to be respectful to Desire, who, since his entrance into office, had + assumed a haughty and dignified air, even in his own family. + </p> + <p> + “You must have forgotten Esther,” Goupil said to him, “as you are so much + in love with Mademoiselle Mirouet.” + </p> + <p> + “In the first place, Esther is dead, monsieur; and in the next I have + never even thought of Ursula,” said the new magistrate. + </p> + <p> + “Why, what did you tell me, papa Minoret?” cried Goupil, insolently. + </p> + <p> + Minoret, caught in a lie by a man whom he feared, would have lost + countenance if it had not been for a project in his head, which was, in + fact, the reason why Goupil was invited to dinner,—Minoret having + remembered the proposition the clerk had once made to prevent the marriage + between Savinien and Ursula. For all answer, he led Goupil hurriedly to + the end of the garden. + </p> + <p> + “You’ll soon be twenty-eight years old, my good fellow,” said he, “and I + don’t see that you are on the road to fortune. I wish you well, for after + all you were once my son’s companion. Listen to me. If you can persuade + that little Mirouet, who possesses in her own right forty thousand francs, + to marry you, I will give you, as true as my name is Minoret, the means to + buy a notary’s practice at Orleans.” + </p> + <p> + “No,” said Goupil, “that’s too far out of the way; but Montargis—” + </p> + <p> + “No,” said Minoret; “Sens.” + </p> + <p> + “Very good,—Sens,” replied the hideous clerk. “There’s an archbishop + at Sens, and I don’t object to devotion; a little hypocrisy and there you + are, on the way to fortune. Besides, the girl is pious, and she’ll succeed + at Sens.” + </p> + <p> + “It is to be fully understood,” continued Minoret, “that I shall not pay + the money till you marry my cousin, for whom I wish to provide, out of + consideration for my deceased uncle.” + </p> + <p> + “Why not for me too?” said Goupil maliciously, instantly suspecting a + secret motive in Minoret’s conduct. “Isn’t it through information you got + from me that you make twenty-four thousand a year from that land, without + a single enclosure, around the Chateau du Rouvre? The fields and the mill + the other side of the Loing make sixteen thousand more. Come, old fellow, + do you mean to play fair with me?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes.” + </p> + <p> + “If I wanted to show my teeth I could coax Massin to buy the Rouvre + estate, park, gardens, preserves, and timber—” + </p> + <p> + “You’d better think twice before you do that,” said Zelie, suddenly + intervening. + </p> + <p> + “If I choose,” said Goupil, giving her a viperish look; “Massin would buy + the whole for two hundred thousand francs.” + </p> + <p> + “Leave us, wife,” said the colossus, taking Zelie by the arm, and shoving + her away; “I understand him. We have been so very busy,” he continued, + returning to Goupil, “that we have had no time to think of you; but I rely + on your friendship to buy the Rouvre estate for me.” + </p> + <p> + “It is a very ancient marquisate,” said Goupil, maliciously; “which will + soon be worth in your hands fifty thousand francs a year; that means a + capital of more than two millions as money is now.” + </p> + <p> + “My son could then marry the daughter of a marshal of France, or the + daughter of some old family whose influence would get him a fine place + under the government in Paris,” said Minoret, opening his huge snuff-box + and offering a pinch to Goupil. + </p> + <p> + “Very good; but will you play fair?” cried Goupil, shaking his fingers. + </p> + <p> + Minoret pressed the clerk’s hands replying:— + </p> + <p> + “On my word of honor.” + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0017" id="link2HCH0017"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XVII. THE MALIGNITY OF PROVINCIAL MINDS + </h2> + <p> + Like all crafty persons, Goupil, fortunately for Minoret, believed that + the proposed marriage with Ursula was only a pretext on the part of the + colossus and Zelie for making up with him, now that he was opposing them + with Massin. + </p> + <p> + “It isn’t he,” thought Goupil, “who has invented this scheme; I know my + Zelie,—she taught him his part. Bah! I’ll let Massin go. In three + years time I’ll be deputy from Sens.” Just then he saw Bongrand on his way + to the opposite house for his whist, and he rushed hastily after him. + </p> + <p> + “You take a great interest in Mademoiselle Mirouet, my dear Monsieur + Bongrand,” he said. “I know you will not be indifferent to her future. Her + relations are considering it, and there is the programme; she ought to + marry a notary whose practice should be in the chief town of an + arrondisement. This notary, who would of course be elected deputy in three + years, should settle on a dower of a hundred thousand francs on her.” + </p> + <p> + “She can do better than that,” said Bongrand coldly. “Madame de + Portenduere is greatly changed since her misfortunes; trouble is killing + her. Savinien will have six thousand francs a year, and Ursula has a + capital of forty thousand. I shall show them how to increase it a la + Massin, but honestly, and in ten years they will have a little fortune. + </p> + <p> + “Savinien will do a foolish thing,” said Goupil; “he can marry + Mademoiselle du Rouvre whenever he likes,—an only daughter to whom + the uncle and aunt intend to leave a fine property.” + </p> + <p> + “Where love enters farewell prudence, as La Fontaine says—By the + bye, who is your notary?” added Bongrand from curiosity. + </p> + <p> + “Suppose it were I?” answered Goupil. + </p> + <p> + “You!” exclaimed Bongrand, without hiding his disgust. + </p> + <p> + “Well, well!—Adieu, monsieur,” replied Goupil, with a parting glance + of gall and hatred and defiance. + </p> + <p> + “Do you wish to be the wife of a notary who will settle a hundred thousand + francs on you?” cried Bongrand entering Madame de Portenduere’s little + salon, where Ursula was seated beside the old lady. + </p> + <p> + Ursula and Savinien trembled and looked at each other,—she smiling, + he not daring to show his uneasiness. + </p> + <p> + “I am not mistress of myself,” said Ursula, holding out her hand to + Savinien in such a way that the old lady did not perceive the gesture. + </p> + <p> + “Well, I have refused the offer without consulting you.” + </p> + <p> + “Why did you do that?” said Madame de Portenduere. “I think the position + of a notary is a very good one.” + </p> + <p> + “I prefer my peaceful poverty,” said Ursula, “which is really wealth + compared with what my station in life might have given me. Besides, my old + nurse spares me a great deal of care, and I shall not exchange the + present, which I like, for an unknown fate.” + </p> + <p> + A few weeks later the post poured into two hearts the poison of anonymous + letters,—one addressed to Madame de Portenduere, the other to + Ursula. The following is the one to the old lady:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “You love your son, you wish to marry him in a manner conformable + with the name he bears; and yet you encourage his fancy for an + ambitious girl without money and the daughter of a regimental + band-master, by inviting her to your house. You ought to marry him + to Mademoiselle du Rouvre, on whom her two uncles, the Marquis de + Ronquerolles and the Chevalier du Rouvre, who are worth money, would + settle a handsome sum rather than leave it to that old fool the + Marquis du Rouvre, who runs through everything. Madame de Serizy, + aunt of Clementine du Rouvre, who has just lost her only son in the + campaign in Algiers, will no doubt adopt her niece. A person who is + your well-wisher assures you that Savinien will be accepted.” + </pre> + <p> + The letter to Ursula was as follows:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Dear Ursula,—There is a young man in Nemours who idolizes you. He + cannot see you working at your window without emotions which prove + to him that his love will last through life. This young man is + gifted with an iron will and a spirit of perseverance which + nothing can discourage. Receive his addresses favorably, for his + intentions are pure, and he humbly asks your hand with a sincere + desire to make you happy. His fortune, already suitable, is + nothing to that which he will make for you when you are once his + wife. You shall be received at court as the wife of a minister and + one of the first ladies in the land. + + As he sees you every day (without your being able to see him) put + a pot of La Bougival’s pinks in your window and he will understand + from that that he has your permission to present himself. +</pre> + <p> + Ursula burned the letter and said nothing about it to Savinien. Two days + later she received another letter in the following language:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “You do wrong, my dear Ursula, not to answer one who loves you + better than life itself. You think you will marry Savinien—you + are very much mistaken. That marriage will not take place. Madame + de Portenduere went this morning to Rouvre to ask for the hand of + Mademoiselle Clementine for her son. Savinien will yield in the + end. What objection can he make? The uncles of the young lady are + willing to guarantee their fortune to her; it amounts to over + sixty thousand francs a year.” + </pre> + <p> + This letter agonized Ursula’s heart and afflicted her with the tortures of + jealousy, a form of suffering hitherto unknown to her, but which to this + fine organization, so sensitive to pain, threw a pall over the present and + over the future, and even over the past. From the moment when she received + this fatal paper she lay on the doctor’s sofa, her eyes fixed on space, + lost in a dreadful dream. In an instant the chill of death had come upon + her warm young life. Alas, worse than that! it was like the awful + awakening of the dead to the sense that there was no God,—the + masterpiece of that strange genius called Jean Paul. Four times La + Bougival called her to breakfast. When the faithful creature tried to + remonstrate, Ursula waved her hand and answered in one harsh word, “Hush!” + said despotically, in strange contrast to her usual gentle manner. La + Bougival, watching her mistress through the glass door, saw her + alternately red with a consuming fever, and blue as if a shudder of cold + had succeeded that unnatural heat. This condition grew worse and worse up + to four o’clock; then she rose to see if Savinien were coming, but he did + not come. Jealousy and distrust tear all reserves from love. Ursula, who + till then had never made one gesture by which her love could be guessed, + now took her hat and shawl and rushed into the passage as if to go and + meet him. But an afterthought of modesty sent her back to her little + salon, where she stayed and wept. When the abbe arrived in the evening La + Bougival met him at the door. + </p> + <p> + “Ah, monsieur!” she cried; “I don’t know what’s the matter with + mademoiselle; she is—” + </p> + <p> + “I know,” said the abbe sadly, stopping the words of the poor nurse. + </p> + <p> + He then told Ursula (what she had not dared to verify) that Madame de + Portenduere had gone to dine at Rouvre. + </p> + <p> + “And Savinien too?” she asked. + </p> + <p> + “Yes.” + </p> + <p> + Ursula was seized with a little nervous tremor which made the abbe quiver + as though a whole Leyden jar had been discharged at him; he felt moreover + a lasting commotion in his heart. + </p> + <p> + “So we shall not go there to-night,” he said as gently as he could; “and, + my child, it would be better if you did not go there again. The old lady + will receive you in a way to wound your pride. Monsieur Bongrand and I, + who had succeeded in bringing her to consider your marriage, have no idea + from what quarter this new influence has come to change her, as it were in + a moment.” + </p> + <p> + “I expect the worst; nothing can surprise me now,” said Ursula in a pained + voice. “In such extremities it is a comfort to feel that we have done + nothing to displease God.” + </p> + <p> + “Submit, dear daughter, and do not seek to fathom the ways of Providence,” + said the abbe. + </p> + <p> + “I shall not unjustly distrust the character of Monsieur de Portenduere—” + </p> + <p> + “Why do you no longer call him Savinien?” asked the priest, who detected a + slight bitterness in Ursula’s tone. + </p> + <p> + “Of my dear Savinien,” cried the girl, bursting into tears. “Yes, my good + friend,” she said, sobbing, “a voice tells me he is as noble in heart as + he is in race. He has not only told me that he loves me alone, but he has + proved it in a hundred delicate ways, and by restraining heroically his + ardent feelings. Lately when he took the hand I held out to him, that + evening when Monsieur Bongrand proposed to me a husband, it was the first + time, I swear to you, that I had ever given it. He began with a jest when + he blew me a kiss across the street, but since then our affection has + never outwardly passed, as you well know, the narrowest limits. But I will + tell you,—you who read my soul except in this one region where none + but the angels see,—well, I will tell you, this love has been in me + the secret spring of many seeming merits; it made me accept my poverty; it + softened the bitterness of my irreparable loss, for my mourning is more + perhaps in my clothes now than in my heart—Oh, was I wrong? can it + be that love was stronger in me than my gratitude to my benefactor, and + God has punished me for it? But how could it be otherwise? I respected in + myself Savinien’s future wife; yes, perhaps I was too proud, perhaps it is + that pride which God has humbled. God alone, as you have often told me, + should be the end and object of all our actions.” + </p> + <p> + The abbe was deeply touched as he watched the tears roll down her pallid + face. The higher her sense of security had been, the lower she was now to + fall. + </p> + <p> + “But,” she said, continuing, “if I return to my orphaned condition, I + shall know how to take up its feelings. After all, could I have tied a + mill-stone round the neck of him I love? What can he do here? Who am I to + bind him to me? Besides, do I not love him with a friendship so divine + that I can bear the loss of my own happiness and my hopes? You know I have + often blamed myself for letting my hopes rest upon a grave, and for + knowing they were waiting on that poor old lady’s death. If Savinien is + rich and happy with another I have enough to pay for my entrance to a + convent, where I shall go at once. There can no more be two loves in a + woman’s heart than there can be two masters in heaven, and the life of a + religious is attractive to me.” + </p> + <p> + “He could not let his mother go alone to Rouvre,” said the abbe, gently. + </p> + <p> + “Do not let us talk of that, my dear good friend,” she answered. “I will + write to-night and set him free. I am glad to have to close the windows of + this room,” she continued, telling her old friend of the anonymous + letters, but declaring that she would not allow any inquiries to be made + as to who her unknown lover might be. + </p> + <p> + “Why! it was an anonymous letter that first took Madame de Portenduere to + Rouvre,” cried the abbe. “You are annoyed for some object by evil + persons.” + </p> + <p> + “How can that be? Neither Savinien nor I have injured any one; and I am no + longer an obstacle to the prosperity of others.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, well, my child,” said the abbe, quietly, “let us profit by this + tempest, which has scattered our little circle, to put the library in + order. The books are still in heaps. Bongrand and I want to get them in + order; we wish to make a search among them. Put your trust in God, and + remember also that in our good Bongrand and in me you have two devoted + friends.” + </p> + <p> + “That is much, very much,” she said, going with him to the threshold of + the door, where she stretched out her neck like a bird looking over its + nest, hoping against hope to see Savinien. + </p> + <p> + Just then Minoret and Goupil, returning from a walk in the meadows, + stopped as they passed, and the colossus spoke to Ursula. + </p> + <p> + “Is anything the matter, cousin; for we are still cousins, are we not? You + seem changed.” + </p> + <p> + Goupil looked so ardently at Ursula that she was frightened, and went back + into the house without replying. + </p> + <p> + “She is cross,” said Minoret to the abbe. + </p> + <p> + “Mademoiselle Mirouet is quite right not to talk to men on the threshold + of her door,” said the abbe; “she is too young—” + </p> + <p> + “Oh!” said Goupil. “I am told she doesn’t lack lovers.” + </p> + <p> + The abbe bowed hurriedly and went as fast as he could to the Rue des + Bourgeois. + </p> + <p> + “Well,” said Goupil to Minoret, “the thing is working. Did you notice how + pale she was. Within a fortnight she’ll have left the town—you’ll + see.” + </p> + <p> + “Better have you for a friend than an enemy,” cried Minoret, frightened at + the atrocious grin which gave to Goupil’s face the diabolical expression + of the Mephistopheles of Joseph Brideau. + </p> + <p> + “I should think so!” returned Goupil. “If she doesn’t marry me I’ll make + her die of grief.” + </p> + <p> + “Do it, my boy, and I’ll GIVE you the money to buy a practice in Paris. + You can then marry a rich woman—” + </p> + <p> + “Poor Ursula! what makes you so bitter against her? what has she done to + you?” asked the clerk in surprise. + </p> + <p> + “She annoys me,” said Minoret, gruffly. + </p> + <p> + “Well, wait till Monday and you shall see how I’ll rasp her,” said Goupil, + studying the expression of the late post master’s face. + </p> + <p> + The next day La Bougival carried the following letter to Savinien. + </p> + <p> + “I don’t know what the dear child has written to you,” she said, “but she + is almost dead this morning.” + </p> + <p> + Who, reading this letter to her lover, could fail to understand the + sufferings the poor girl had gone through during the night. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + My dear Savinien,—Your mother wishes you to marry Mademoiselle du + Rouvre, and perhaps she is right. You are placed between a life + that is almost poverty-stricken and a life of opulence; between + the betrothed of your heart and a wife in conformity with the + demands of the world; between obedience to your mother and the + fulfilment of your own choice—for I still believe that you have + chosen me. Savinien, if you have now to make your decision I wish + you to do so in absolute freedom; I give you back the promise you + made to yourself—not to me—in a moment which can never fade from + my memory, for it was, like other days that have succeeded it, of + angelic purity and sweetness. That memory will suffice me for my + life. If you should persist in your pledge to me, a dark and + terrible idea would henceforth trouble my happiness. In the midst + of our privations—which we have hitherto accepted so gayly—you + might reflect, too late, that life would have been to you a better + thing had you now conformed to the laws of the world. If you were + a man to express that thought, it would be to me the sentence of + an agonizing death; if you did not express it, I should watch + suspiciously every cloud upon your brow. + + Dear Savinien, I have preferred you to all else on earth. I was + right to do so, for my godfather, though jealous of you, used to + say to me, “Love him, my child; you will certainly belong to each + other one of these days.” When I went to Paris I loved you + hopelessly, and the feeling contented me. I do not know if I can + now return to it, but I shall try. What are we, after all, at this + moment? Brother and sister. Let us stay so. Marry that happy girl + who can have the joy of giving to your name the lustre it ought to + have, and which your mother thinks I should diminish. You will not + hear of me again. The world will approve of you; I shall never + blame you—but I shall love you ever. Adieu, then! +</pre> + <p> + “Wait,” cried the young man. Signing to La Bougival to sit down, he + scratched off hastily the following reply:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + My dear Ursula,—Your letter cuts me to the heart, inasmuch as you + have needlessly felt such pain; and also because our hearts, for + the first time, have failed to understand each other. If you are + not my wife now, it is solely because I cannot marry without my + mother’s consent. Dear, eight thousand francs a year and a pretty + cottage on the Loing, why, that’s a fortune, is it not? You know + we calculated that if we kept La Bougival we could lay by half our + income every year. You allowed me that evening, in your uncle’s + garden, to consider you mine; you cannot now of yourself break + those ties which are common to both of us.—Ursula, need I tell + you that I yesterday informed Monsieur du Rouvre that even if I + were free I could not receive a fortune from a young person whom I + did not know? My mother refuses to see you again; I must therefore + lose the happiness of our evenings; but surely you will not + deprive me of the brief moments I can spend at your window? This + evening, then—Nothing can separate us. +</pre> + <p> + “Take this to her, my old woman; she must not be unhappy one moment + longer.” + </p> + <p> + That afternoon at four o’clock, returning from the walk which he always + took expressly to pass before Ursula’s house, Savinien found his mistress + waiting for him, her face a little pallid from these sudden changes and + excitements. + </p> + <p> + “It seems to me that until now I have never known what the pleasure of + seeing you is,” she said to him. + </p> + <p> + “You once said to me,” replied Savinien, smiling,—“for I remember + all your words,—‘Love lives by patience; we will wait!’ Dear, you + have separated love from faith. Ah! this shall be the end of our quarrels; + we will never have another. You have claimed to love me better than I love + you, but—did I ever doubt you?” he said, offering her a bouquet of + wild-flowers arranged to express his thoughts. + </p> + <p> + “You have never had any reason to doubt me,” she replied; “and, besides, + you don’t know all,” she added, in a troubled voice. + </p> + <p> + Ursula had refused to receive letters by the post. But that afternoon, + without being able even to guess at the nature of the trick, she had + found, a few moments before Savinien’s arrival, a letter tossed on her + sofa which contained the words: “Tremble! a rejected lover can become a + tiger.” + </p> + <p> + Withstanding Savinien’s entreaties, she refused to tell him, out of + prudence, the secret of her fears. The delight of seeing him again, after + she had thought him lost to her, could alone have made her recover from + the mortal chill of terror. The expectation of indefinite evil is torture + to every one; suffering assumes the proportions of the unknown, and the + unknown is the infinite of the soul. To Ursula the pain was exquisite. + Something without her bounded at the slightest noise; yet she was afraid + of silence, and suspected even the walls of collusion. Even her sleep was + restless. Goupil, who knew nothing of her nature, delicate as that of a + flower, had found, with the instinct of evil, the poison that could wither + and destroy her. + </p> + <p> + The next day passed without a shock. Ursula sat playing on her piano till + very late; and went to bed easier in mind and very sleepy. About midnight + she was awakened by the music of a band composed of a clarinet, hautboy, + flute, cornet a piston, trombone, bassoon, flageolet, and triangle. All + the neighbours were at their windows. The poor girl, already frightened at + seeing the people in the street, received a dreadful shock as she heard + the coarse, rough voice of a man proclaiming in loud tones: “For the + beautiful Ursula Mirouet, from her lover.” + </p> + <p> + The next day, Sunday, the whole town had heard of it; and as Ursula + entered and left the church she saw the groups of people who stood + gossiping about her, and felt herself the object of their terrible + curiosity. The serenade set all tongues wagging, and conjectures were rife + on all sides. Ursula reached home more dead than alive, determined not to + leave the house again,—the abbe having advised her to say vespers in + her own room. As she entered the house she saw lying in the passage, which + was floored with brick, a letter which had evidently been slipped under + the door. She picked it up and read it, under the idea that it would + obtain an explanation. It was as follows:— + </p> + <p> + “Resign yourself to becoming my wife, rich and idolized. I am resolved. If + you are not mine living you shall be mine dead. To your refusal you may + attribute not only your own misfortunes, but those which will fall on + others. + </p> + <p> + “He who loves you, and whose wife you will be.” + </p> + <p> + Curiously enough, at the very moment that the gentle victim of this plot + was drooping like a cut flower, Mesdemoiselles Massin, Dionis, and + Cremiere were envying her lot. + </p> + <p> + “She is a lucky girl,” they were saying; “people talk of her, and court + her, and quarrel about her. The serenade was charming; there was a + cornet-a-piston.” + </p> + <p> + “What’s a piston?” + </p> + <p> + “A new musical instrument, as big as this, see!” replied Angelique + Cremiere to Pamela Massin. + </p> + <p> + Early that morning Savinien had gone to Fontainebleau to endeavor to find + out who had engaged the musicians of the regiment then in garrison. But as + there were two men to each instrument it was impossible to find out which + of them had gone to Nemours. The colonel forbade them to play for any + private person in future without his permission. Savinien had an interview + with the procureur du roi, Ursula’s legal guardian, and explained to him + the injury these scenes would do to a young girl naturally so delicate and + sensitive, begging him to take some action to discover the author of such + wrong. + </p> + <p> + Three nights later three violins, a flute, a guitar, and a hautboy began + another serenade. This time the musicians fled towards Montargis, where + there happened then to be a company of comic actors. A loud and ringing + voice called out as they left: “To the daughter of the regimental bandsman + Mirouet.” By this means all Nemours came to know the profession of + Ursula’s father, a secret the old doctor had sedulously kept. + </p> + <p> + Savinien did not go to Montargis. He received in the course of the day an + anonymous letter containing a prophecy:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “You will never marry Ursula. If you wish her to live, give her up + at once to a man who loves her more than you love her. He has made + himself a musician and an artist to please her, and he would + rather see her dead than let her be your wife.” + </pre> + <p> + The doctor came to Ursula three times in the course of that day, for she + was really in danger of death from the horror of this mysterious + persecution. Feeling that some infernal hand had plunged her into the + mire, the poor girl lay like a martyr; she said nothing, but lifted her + eyes to heaven, and wept no more; she seemed awaiting other blows, and + prayed fervently. + </p> + <p> + “I am glad I cannot go down into the salon,” she said to Monsieur Bongrand + and the abbe, who left her as little as possible; “<i>He</i> would come, + and I am now unworthy of the looks with which <i>he</i> blessed me. Do you + think <i>he</i> will suspect me?” + </p> + <p> + “If Savinien does not discover the author of these infamies he means to + get the assistance of the Paris police,” said Bongrand. + </p> + <p> + “Whoever it is will know I am dying,” said Ursula; “and will cease to + trouble me.” + </p> + <p> + The abbe, Bongrand, and Savinien were lost in conjectures and suspicions. + Together with Tiennette, La Bougival, and two persons on whom the abbe + could rely, they kept the closest watch and were on their guard night and + day for a week; but no indiscretion could betray Goupil, whose + machinations were known to himself only. There were no more serenades and + no more letters, and little by little the watch relaxed. Bongrand thought + the author of the wrong was frightened; Savinien believed that the + procureur du roi to whom he had sent the letters received by Ursula and + himself and his mother, had taken steps to put an end to the persecution. + </p> + <p> + The armistice was not of long duration, however. When the doctor had + checked the nervous fever from which poor Ursula was suffering, and just + as she was recovering her courage, a rope-ladder was found, early one + morning in July, attached to her window. The postilion of the mail-post + declared that as he drove past the house in the middle of the night a + small man was in the act of coming down the ladder, and though he tried to + pull up, his horses, being startled, carried him down the hill so fast + that he was out of Nemours before he stopped them. Some of the persons who + frequented Dionis’s salon attributed these manoeuvres to the Marquis du + Rouvre, then much hampered in means, for Massin held his notes to a large + amount. It was said that a prompt marriage of his daughter to Savinien + would save Chateau du Rouvre from his creditors; and Madame de + Portenduere, the gossips added, would approve of anything that would + discredit and degrade Ursula and lead to this marriage of her son. + </p> + <p> + So far from this being true, the old lady was well-nigh vanquished by the + sufferings of the innocent girl. The abbe was so painfully overcome by + this act of infernal wickedness that he fell ill himself and was kept to + the house for several days. Poor Ursula, to whom this last insult had + caused a relapse, received by post a letter from the abbe, which was taken + in by La Bougival on recognizing the handwriting. It was as follows:— + </p> + <p> + My child,—Leave Nemours, and thus evade the malice of your enemies. + Perhaps they are seeking to endanger Savinien’s life. I will tell you more + when I am able to go to you. + </p> + <p> + Your devoted friend, + </p> + <p> + Chaperon. + </p> + <p> + When Savinien, who was almost maddened by these proceedings, carried this + letter to the abbe, the poor priest read it and re-read it; so amazed and + horror-stricken was he to see the perfection with which his own + handwriting and signature were imitated. The dangerous condition into + which this last atrocity threw poor Ursula sent Savinien once more to the + procureur du roi with the forged letter. + </p> + <p> + “A murder is being committed by means that the law cannot touch,” he said, + “upon an orphan whom the Code places in your care as legal guardian. What + is to be done?” + </p> + <p> + “If you can find any means of repression,” said the official, “I will + adopt them; but I know of none. That infamous wretch gives the best + advice. Mademoiselle Mirouet must be sent to the sisters of the Adoration + of the Sacred Heart. Meanwhile the commissary of police at Fontainebleau + shall at my request authorize you to carry arms in your own defence. I + have been myself to Rouvre, and I found Monsieur du Rouvre justly + indignant at the suspicions some of the Nemours people have put upon him. + Minoret, the father of my assistant, is in treaty for the purchase of the + estate. Mademoiselle is to marry a rich Polish count; and Monsieur du + Rouvre himself left the neighbourhood the day I saw him, to avoid arrest + for debt.” + </p> + <p> + Desire Minoret, when questioned by his chief, dared not tell his thought. + He recognized Goupil. Goupil, he fully believed, was the only man capable + of carrying a persecution to the very verge of the penal code without + infringing a hair’s-breadth upon it. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0018" id="link2HCH0018"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XVIII. A TWO-FOLD VENGEANCE + </h2> + <p> + Impunity, secrecy, and success increased Goupil’s audacity. He made + Massin, who was completely his dupe, sue the Marquis du Rouvre for his + notes, so as to force him to sell the remainder of his property to + Minoret. Thus prepared, he opened negotiations for a practice at Sens, and + then resolved to strike a last blow to obtain Ursula. He meant to imitate + certain young men in Paris who owed their wives and their fortunes to + abduction. He knew that the services he had rendered to Minoret, to + Massin, and to Cremiere, and the protection of Dionis and the mayor of + Nemours would enable him to hush up the affair. He resolved to throw off + the mask, believing Ursula too feeble in the condition to which he had + reduced her to make any resistance. But before risking this last throw in + the game he thought it best to have an explanation with Minoret, and he + chose his opportunity at Rouvre, where he went with his patron for the + first time after the deeds were signed. + </p> + <p> + Minoret had that morning received a confidential letter from his son + asking him for information as to what was happening in connection with + Ursula, information that he desired to obtain before going to Nemours with + the procureur du roi to place her under shelter from these atrocities in + the convent of the Adoration. Desire exhorted his father, in case this + persecution should be the work of any of their friends, to give to whoever + it might be warning and good advice; for even if the law could not punish + this crime it would certainly discover the truth and hold it over the + delinquent’s head. Minoret had now attained a great object. Owner of the + chateau du Rouvre, one of the finest estates in the Gatinais, he had also + a rent-roll of some forty odd thousand francs a year from the rich domains + which surrounded the park. He could well afford to snap his fingers at + Goupil. Besides, he intended to live on the estate, where the sight of + Ursula would no longer trouble him. + </p> + <p> + “My boy,” he said to Goupil, as they walked along the terrace, “let my + young cousin alone, now.” + </p> + <p> + “Pooh!” said the clerk, unable to imagine what capricious conduct meant. + </p> + <p> + “Oh! I’m not ungrateful; you have enabled me to get this fine brick + chateau with the stone copings (which couldn’t be built now for two + hundred thousand francs) and those farms and preserves and the park and + gardens and woods, all for two hundred and eighty thousand francs. No, I’m + not ungrateful; I’ll give you ten per cent, twenty thousand francs, for + your services, and you can buy a sheriff’s practice in Nemours. I’ll + guarantee you a marriage with one of Cremiere’s daughters, the eldest.” + </p> + <p> + “The one who talks piston!” cried Goupil. + </p> + <p> + “She’ll have thirty thousand francs,” replied Minoret. “Don’t you see, my + dear boy, that you are cut out for a sheriff, just as I was to be a post + master? People should keep to their vocation.” + </p> + <p> + “Very well, then,” said Goupil, falling from the pinnacle of his hopes; + “here’s a stamped cheque; write me an order for twenty thousand francs; I + want the money in hand at once.” + </p> + <p> + Minoret had eighteen thousand francs by him at that moment of which his + wife knew nothing. He thought the best way to get rid of Goupil was to + sign the draft. The clerk, seeing the flush of seigniorial fever on the + face of the imbecile and colossal Machiavelli, threw him an “au revoir,” + by way of farewell, accompanied with a glance which would have made any + one but an idiotic parvenu, lost in contemplation of the magnificent + chateau built in the style in vogue under Louis XIII., tremble in his + shoes. + </p> + <p> + “Are you not going to wait for me?” he cried, observing that Goupil was + going away on foot. + </p> + <p> + “You’ll find me on our path, never fear, papa Minoret,” replied Goupil, + athirst for vengeance and resolved to know the meaning of the zigzags of + Minoret’s strange conduct. + </p> + <p> + Since the day when the last vile calumny had sullied her life Ursula, a + prey to one of those inexplicable maladies the seat of which is in the + soul, seemed to be rapidly nearing death. She was deathly pale, speaking + only at rare intervals and then in slow and feeble words; everything about + her, her glance of gentle indifference, even the expression of her + forehead, all revealed the presence of some consuming thought. She was + thinking how the ideal wreath of chastity, with which throughout all ages + the Peoples crowned their virgins, had fallen from her brow. She heard in + the void and in the silence the dishonoring words, the malicious comments, + the laughter of the little town. The trial was too heavy, her innocence + was too delicate to allow her to survive the murderous blow. She + complained no more; a sorrowful smile was on her lips; her eyes appealed + to heaven, to the Sovereign of angels, against man’s injustice. + </p> + <p> + When Goupil reached Nemours, Ursula had just been carried down from her + chamber to the ground-floor in the arms of La Bougival and the doctor. A + great event was about to take place. When Madame de Portenduere became + really aware that the girl was dying like an ermine, though less injured + in her honor than Clarissa Harlowe, she resolved to go to her and comfort + her. The sight of her son’s anguish, who during the whole preceding night + had seemed beside himself, made the Breton soul of the old woman yield. + Moreover, it seemed worthy of her own dignity to revive the courage of a + girl so pure, and she saw in her visit a counterpoise to all the evil done + by the little town. Her opinion, surely more powerful than that of the + crowd, ought to carry with it, she thought, the influence of race. This + step, which the abbe came to announce, made so great a change in Ursula + that the doctor, who was about to ask for a consultation of Parisian + doctors, recovered hope. They placed her on her uncle’s sofa, and such was + the character of her beauty that she lay there in her mourning garments, + pale from suffering, she was more exquisitely lovely than in the happiest + hours of her life. When Savinien, with his mother on his arm, entered the + room she colored vividly. + </p> + <p> + “Do not rise, my child,” said the old lady imperatively; “weak and ill as + I am myself, I wished to come and tell you my feelings about what is + happening. I respect you as the purest, the most religious and excellent + girl in the Gatinais; and I think you worthy to make the happiness of a + gentleman.” + </p> + <p> + At first poor Ursula was unable to answer; she took the withered hands of + Savinien’s mother and kissed them. + </p> + <p> + “Ah, madame,” she said in a faltering voice, “I should never have had the + boldness to think of rising above my condition if I had not been + encouraged by promises; my only claim was that of an affection without + bounds; but now they have found the means to separate me from him I love,—they + have made me unworthy of him. Never!” she cried, with a ring in her voice + which painfully affected those about her, “never will I consent to give to + any man a degraded hand, a stained reputation. I loved too well,—yes, + I can admit it in my present condition,—I love a creature almost as + I love God, and God—” + </p> + <p> + “Hush, my child! do not calumniate God. Come, my daughter,” said the old + lady, making an effort, “do not exaggerate the harm done by an infamous + joke in which no one believes. I give you my word, you will live and you + shall be happy.” + </p> + <p> + “We shall be happy!” cried Savinien, kneeling beside Ursula and kissing + her hand; “my mother has called you her daughter.” + </p> + <p> + “Enough, enough,” said the doctor feeling his patient’s pulse; “do not + kill her with joy.” + </p> + <p> + At that moment Goupil, who found the street door ajar, opened that of the + little salon, and showed his hideous face blazing with thoughts of + vengeance which had crowded into his mind as he hurried along. + </p> + <p> + “Monsieur de Portenduere,” he said, in a voice like the hissing of a viper + forced from its hole. + </p> + <p> + “What do you want?” said Savinien, rising from his knees. + </p> + <p> + “I have a word to say to you.” + </p> + <p> + Savinien left the room, and Goupil took him into the little courtyard. + </p> + <p> + “Swear to me by Ursula’s life, by your honor as a gentleman, to do by me + as if I had never told you what I am about to tell. Do this, and I will + reveal to you the cause of the persecutions directed against Mademoiselle + Mirouet.” + </p> + <p> + “Can I put a stop to them?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes.” + </p> + <p> + “Can I avenge them?” + </p> + <p> + “On their author, yes—on his tool, no.” + </p> + <p> + “Why not?” + </p> + <p> + “Because—I am the tool.” + </p> + <p> + Savinien turned pale. + </p> + <p> + “I have just seen Ursula—” said Goupil. + </p> + <p> + “Ursula?” said the lover, looking fixedly at the clerk. + </p> + <p> + “Mademoiselle Mirouet,” continued Goupil, made respectful by Savinien’s + tone; “and I would undo with my blood the wrong that has been done; I + repent of it. If you were to kill me, in a duel or otherwise, what good + would my blood do you? can you drink it? At this moment it would poison + you.” + </p> + <p> + The cold reasoning of the man, together with a feeling of eager curiosity, + calmed Savinien’s anger. He fixed his eyes on Goupil with a look which + made that moral deformity writhe. + </p> + <p> + “Who set you at this work?” said the young man. + </p> + <p> + “Will you swear?” + </p> + <p> + “What,—to do you no harm?” + </p> + <p> + “I wish that you and Mademoiselle Mirouet should not forgive me.” + </p> + <p> + “She will forgive you,—I, never!” + </p> + <p> + “But at least you will forget?” + </p> + <p> + What terrible power the reason has when it is used to further + self-interest. Here were two men, longing to tear one another in pieces, + standing in that courtyard within two inches of each other, compelled to + talk together and united by a single sentiment. + </p> + <p> + “I will forgive you, but I shall not forget.” + </p> + <p> + “The agreement is off,” said Goupil coldly. Savinien lost patience. He + applied a blow upon the man’s face which echoed through the courtyard and + nearly knocked him down, making Savinien himself stagger. + </p> + <p> + “It is only what I deserve,” said Goupil, “for committing such a folly. I + thought you more noble than you are. You have abused the advantage I gave + you. You are in my power now,” he added with a look of hatred. + </p> + <p> + “You are a murderer!” said Savinien. + </p> + <p> + “No more than a dagger is a murderer.” + </p> + <p> + “I beg your pardon,” said Savinien. + </p> + <p> + “Are you revenged enough?” said Goupil, with ferocious irony; “will you + stop here?” + </p> + <p> + “Reciprocal pardon and forgetfulness,” replied Savinien. + </p> + <p> + “Give me your hand,” said the clerk, holding out his own. + </p> + <p> + “It is yours,” said Savinien, swallowing the shame for Ursula’s sake. “Now + speak; who made you do this thing?” + </p> + <p> + Goupil looked into the scales as it were; on one side was Savinien’s blow, + on the other his hatred against Minoret. For a second he was undecided; + then a voice said to him: “You will be notary!” and he answered:— + </p> + <p> + “Pardon and forgetfulness? Yes, on both sides, monsieur—” + </p> + <p> + “Who is persecuting Ursula?” persisted Savinien. + </p> + <p> + “Minoret. He would have liked to see her buried. Why? I can’t tell you + that; but we might find out the reason. Don’t mix me up in all this; I + could do nothing to help you if the others distrusted me. Instead of + annoying Ursula I will defend her; instead of serving Minoret I will try + to defeat his schemes. I live only to ruin him, to destroy him—I’ll + crush him under foot, I’ll dance on his carcass, I’ll make his bones into + dominoes! To-morrow, every wall in Nemours and Fontainebleau and Rouvre + shall blaze with the letters, ‘Minoret is a thief!’ Yes, I’ll burst him + like a gun—There! we’re allies now by the imprudence of that + outbreak! If you choose I’ll beg Mademoiselle Mirouet’s pardon and tell + her I curse the madness which impelled me to injure her. It may do her + good; the abbe and the justice are both there; but Monsieur Bongrand must + promise on his honor not to injure my career. I have a career now.” + </p> + <p> + “Wait a minute;” said Savinien, bewildered by the revelation. + </p> + <p> + “Ursula, my child,” he said, returning to the salon, “the author of all + your troubles is ashamed of his work; he repents and wishes to ask your + pardon in presence of these gentlemen, on condition that all be + forgotten.” + </p> + <p> + “What! Goupil?” cried the abbe, the justice, and the doctor, all together. + </p> + <p> + “Keep his secret,” said Ursula, putting a finger on her lips. + </p> + <p> + Goupil heard the words, saw the gesture, and was touched. + </p> + <p> + “Mademoiselle,” he said in a troubled voice, “I wish that all Nemours + could hear me tell you that a fatal passion has bewildered my brain and + led me to commit a crime punishable by the blame of honest men. What I say + now I would be willing to say everywhere, deploring the harm done by such + miserable tricks—which may have hastened your happiness,” he added, + rather maliciously, “for I see that Madame de Portenduere is with you.” + </p> + <p> + “That is all very well, Goupil,” said the abbe, “Mademoiselle forgives + you; but you must not forget that you came near being her murderer.” + </p> + <p> + “Monsieur Bongrand,” said Goupil, addressing the justice of peace. “I + shall negotiate to-night for Lecoeur’s practice; I hope the reparation I + have now made will not injure me with you, and that you will back my + petition to the bar and the ministry.” + </p> + <p> + Bongrand made a thoughtful inclination of his head; and Goupil left the + house to negotiate on the best terms he could for the sheriff’s practice. + The others remained with Ursula and did their best to restore the peace + and tranquillity of her mind, already much relieved by Goupil’s + confession. + </p> + <p> + “You see, my child, that God was not against you,” said the abbe. + </p> + <p> + Minoret came home late from Rouvre. About nine o’clock he was sitting in + the Chinese pagoda digesting his dinner beside his wife, with whom he was + making plans for Desire’s future. Desire had become very sedate since + entering the magistracy; he worked hard, and it was not unlikely that he + would succeed the present procureur du roi at Fontainebleau, who, they + said, was to be advanced to Melun. His parents felt that they must find + him a wife,—some poor girl belonging to an old and noble family; he + would then make his way to the magistracy of Paris. Perhaps they could get + him elected deputy from Fontainebleau, where Zelie was proposing to pass + the winter after living at Rouvre for the summer season. Minoret, inwardly + congratulating himself for having managed his affairs so well, no longer + thought or cared about Ursula, at the very moment when the drama so + heedlessly begun by him was closing down upon him in a terrible manner. + </p> + <p> + “Monsieur de Portenduere is here and wishes to speak to you,” said + Cabirolle. + </p> + <p> + “Show him in,” answered Zelie. + </p> + <p> + The twilight shadows prevented Madame Minoret from noticing the sudden + pallor of her husband, who shuddered as he heard Savinien’s boots on the + floor of the gallery, where the doctor’s library used to be. A vague + presentiment of danger ran through the robber’s veins. Savinien entered + and remaining standing, with his hat on his head, his cane in his hand, + and both hands crossed in front of him, motionless before the husband and + wife. + </p> + <p> + “I have come to ascertain, Monsieur and Madame Minoret,” he said, “your + reasons for tormenting in an infamous manner a young lady who, as the + whole town knows, is to be my wife. Why have you endeavored to tarnish her + honor? why have you wished to kill her? why did you deliver her over to + Goupil’s insults?—Answer!” + </p> + <p> + “How absurd you are, Monsieur Savinien,” said Zelie, “to come and ask us + the meaning of a thing we think inexplicable. I bother myself as little + about Ursula as I do about the year one. Since Uncle Minoret died I’ve not + thought of her more than I do of my first tooth. I’ve never said one word + about her to Goupil, who is, moreover, a queer rogue whom I wouldn’t think + of consulting about even a dog. Why don’t you speak up, Minoret? Are you + going to let monsieur box your ears in that way and accuse you of + wickedness that’s beneath you? As if a man with forty-eight thousand + francs a year from landed property, and a castle fit for a prince, would + stoop to such things! Get up, and don’t sit there like a wet rag!” + </p> + <p> + “I don’t know what monsieur means,” said Minoret in his squeaking voice, + the trembling of which was all the more noticeable because the voice was + clear. “What object could I have in persecuting the girl? I may have said + to Goupil how annoyed I was at seeing her in Nemours. My son Desire fell + in love with her, and I didn’t want him to marry her, that’s all.” + </p> + <p> + “Goupil has confessed everything, Monsieur Minoret.” + </p> + <p> + There was a moment’s silence, but it was terrible, when all three persons + examined one another. Zelie saw a nervous quiver on the heavy face of her + colossus. + </p> + <p> + “Though you are only insects,” said the young nobleman, “I will make you + feel my vengeance. It is not from you, Monsieur Minoret, a man sixty-eight + years of age, but from your son that I shall seek satisfaction for the + insults offered to Mademoiselle Mirouet. The first time he sets his foot + in Nemours we shall meet. He must fight me; he will do so, or be + dishonored and never dare to show his face again. If he does not come to + Nemours I shall go to Fontainebleau, for I will have satisfaction. It + shall never be said that you were tamely allowed to dishonor a defenceless + young girl—” + </p> + <p> + “But the calumnies of a Goupil—are—not—” began Minoret. + </p> + <p> + “Do you wish me to bring him face to face with you? Believe me, you had + better hush up this affair; it lies between you and Goupil and me. Leave + it as it is; God will decide between us and when I meet your son.” + </p> + <p> + “But this sha’n’t go one!” cried Zelie. “Do you suppose I’ll stand by and + let Desire fight you,—a sailor whose business it is to handle swords + and guns? If you’ve got any cause of complaint against Minoret, there’s + Minoret; take Minoret, fight Minoret! But do you think my boy, who, by + your own account, knew nothing of all this, is going to bear the brunt of + it? No, my little gentleman! somebody’s teeth will pin your legs first! + Come, Minoret, don’t stand staring there like a big canary; you are in + your own house, and you allow a man to keep his hat on before your wife! I + say he shall go. Now, monsieur, be off! a man’s house is his castle. I + don’t know what you mean with your nonsense, but show me your heels, and + if you dare touch Desire you’ll have to answer to <i>me</i>,—you and + your minx Ursula.” + </p> + <p> + She rang the bell violently and called to the servants. + </p> + <p> + “Remember what I have said to you,” repeated Savinien to Minoret, paying + no attention to Zelie’s tirade. Suspending the sword of Damocles over + their heads, he left the room. + </p> + <p> + “Now, then, Minoret,” said Zelie, “you will explain to me what this all + means. A young man doesn’t rush into a house and make an uproar like that + and demand the blood of a family for nothing.” + </p> + <p> + “It’s some mischief of that vile Goupil,” said the colossus. “I promised + to help him buy a practice if he would get me the Rouvre property cheap. I + gave him ten per cent on the cost, twenty thousand francs in a note, and I + suppose he isn’t satisfied.” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, but why did he get up those serenades and the scandals against + Ursula?” + </p> + <p> + “He wanted to marry her.” + </p> + <p> + “A girl without a penny! the sly thing! Now Minoret, you are telling me + lies, and you are too much of a fool, my son, to make me believe them. + There is something under all this, and you are going to tell me what it + is.” + </p> + <p> + “There’s nothing.” + </p> + <p> + “Nothing? I tell you you lie, and I shall find it out.” + </p> + <p> + “Do let me alone!” + </p> + <p> + “I’ll turn the faucet of that fountain of venom, Goupil—whom you’re + afraid of—and we’ll see who gets the best of it then.” + </p> + <p> + “Just as you choose.” + </p> + <p> + “I know very well it will be as I choose! and what I choose first and + foremost is that no harm shall come to Desire. If anything happens to him, + mark you, I’ll do something that may send me to the scaffold—and + you, you haven’t any feeling about him—” + </p> + <p> + A quarrel thus begun between Minoret and his wife was sure not to end + without a long and angry strife. So at the moment of his self-satisfaction + the foolish robber found his inward struggle against himself and against + Ursula revived by his own fault, and complicated with a new and terrible + adversary. The next day, when he left the house early to find Goupil and + try to appease him with additional money, the walls were already placarded + with the words: “Minoret is a thief.” All those whom he met commiserated + him and asked him who was the author of the anonymous placard. Fortunately + for him, everybody made allowance for his equivocal replies by reflecting + on his utter stupidity; fools get more advantage from their weakness than + able men from their strength. The world looks on at a great man battling + against fate, and does not help him, but it supplies the capital of a + grocer who may fail and lose all. Why? Because men like to feel superior + in protecting an incapable, and are displeased at not feeling themselves + the equal of a man of genius. A clever man would have been lost in public + estimation had he stammered, as Minoret did, evasive and foolish answers + with a frightened air. Zelie sent her servants to efface the vindictive + words wherever they were found; but the effect of them on Minoret’s + conscience still remained. + </p> + <p> + The result of his interview with his assailant was soon apparent. Though + Goupil had concluded his bargain with the sheriff the night before, he now + impudently refused to fulfil it. + </p> + <p> + “My dear Lecoeur,” he said, “I am unexpectedly enabled to buy up Monsieur + Dionis’s practice; I am therefore in a position to help you to sell to + others. Tear up the agreement; it’s only the loss of two stamps,—here + are seventy centimes.” + </p> + <p> + Lecoeur was too much afraid of Goupil to complain. All Nemours knew before + night that Minoret had given Dionis security to enable Goupil to buy his + practice. The latter wrote to Savinien denying his charges against + Minoret, and telling the young nobleman that in his new position he was + forbidden by the rules of the supreme court, and also by his respect for + law, to fight a duel. But he warned Savinien to treat him well in future; + assuring him he was a capital boxer, and would break his leg at the first + offence. + </p> + <p> + The walls of Nemours were cleared of the inscription; but the quarrel + between Minoret and his wife went on; and Savinien maintained a + threatening silence. Ten days after these events the marriage of + Mademoiselle Massin, the elder, to the future notary was bruited about the + town. Mademoiselle Massin had a dowry of eighty thousand francs and her + own peculiar ugliness; Goupil had his deformities and his practice; the + union therefore seemed suitable and probable. One evening, towards + midnight, two unknown men seized Goupil in the street as he was leaving + Massin’s house, gave him a sound beating, and disappeared. The notary kept + the matter a profound secret, and even contradicted an old woman who saw + the scene from her window and thought that she recognized him. + </p> + <p> + These great little events were carefully studied by Bongrand, who became + convinced that Goupil held some mysterious power over Minoret, and he + determined to find out its cause. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0019" id="link2HCH0019"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XIX. APPARITIONS + </h2> + <p> + Though the public opinion of the little town recognized Ursula’s perfect + innocence, she recovered slowly. While in a state of bodily exhaustion, + which left her mind and spirit free, she became the medium of phenomena + the effects of which were astounding, and of a nature to challenge + science, if science had been brought into contact with them. + </p> + <p> + Ten days after Madame de Portenduere’s visit Ursula had a dream, with all + the characteristics of a supernatural vision, as much in its moral aspects + as in the, so to speak, physical circumstances. Her godfather appeared to + her and made a sign that she should come with him. She dressed herself and + followed him through the darkness to their former house in the Rue des + Bourgeois, where she found everything precisely as it was on the day of + her godfather’s death. The old man wore the clothes that were on him the + evening before his death. His face was pale, his movements caused no + sound; nevertheless, Ursula heard his voice distinctly, though it was + feeble and as if repeated by a distant echo. The doctor conducted his + child as far as the Chinese pagoda, where he made her lift the marble top + of the little Boule cabinet just as she had raised it on the day of his + death; but instead of finding nothing there she saw the letter her + godfather had told her to fetch. She opened it and read both the letter + addressed to herself and the will in favor of Savinien. The writing, as + she afterwards told the abbe, shone as if traced by sunbeams—“it + burned my eyes,” she said. When she looked at her uncle to thank him she + saw the old benevolent smile upon his discolored lips. Then, in a feeble + voice, but still clearly, he told her to look at Minoret, who was + listening in the corridor to what he said to her; and next, slipping the + lock of the library door with his knife, and taking the papers from the + study. With his right hand the old man seized his goddaughter and obliged + her to walk at the pace of death and follow Minoret to his own house. + Ursula crossed the town, entered the post house and went into Zelie’s old + room, where the spectre showed her Minoret unfolding the letters, reading + them and burning them. + </p> + <p> + “He could not,” said Ursula, telling her dream to the abbe, “light the + first two matches, but the third took fire; he burned the papers and + buried their remains in the ashes. Then my godfather brought me back to + our house, and I saw Minoret-Levrault slipping into the library, where he + took from the third volume of Pandects three certificates of twelve + thousand francs each; also, from the preceding volume, a number of + banknotes. ‘He is,’ said my godfather, ‘the cause of all the trouble which + has brought you to the verge of the tomb; but God wills that you shall yet + be happy. You will not die now; you will marry Savinien. If you love me, + and if you love Savinien, I charge you to demand your fortune from my + nephew. Swear it.’” + </p> + <p> + Resplendent as though transfigured, the spectre had so powerful an + influence on Ursula’s soul that she promised all her uncle asked, hoping + to put an end to the nightmare. She woke suddenly and found herself + standing in the middle of her bedroom, facing her godfather’s portrait, + which had been placed there during her illness. She went back to bed and + fell asleep after much agitation, and on waking again she remembered all + the particulars of this singular vision; but she dared not speak of it. + Her judgment and her delicacy both shrank from revealing a dream the end + and object of which was her pecuniary benefit. She attributed the vision, + not unnaturally, to remarks made by La Bougival the preceding evening, + when the old woman talked of the doctor’s intended liberality and of her + own convictions on that subject. But the dream returned, with aggravated + circumstances which made it fearful to the poor girl. On the second + occasion the icy hand of her godfather was laid upon her shoulder, causing + her the most horrible distress, an indefinable sensation. “You must obey + the dead,” he said, in a sepulchral voice. “Tears,” said Ursula, relating + her dreams, “fell from his white, wide-open eyes.” + </p> + <p> + The third time the vision came the dead man took her by the braids of her + long hair and showed her the post master talking with Goupil and promising + money if he would remove Ursula to Sens. Ursula then decided to relate the + three dreams to the Abbe Chaperon. + </p> + <p> + “Monsieur l’abbe,” she said, “do you believe that the dead reappear?” + </p> + <p> + “My child, sacred history, profane history, and modern history, have much + testimony to that effect; but the Church has never made it an article of + faith; and as for science, in France science laughs at the idea.” + </p> + <p> + “What do <i>you</i> believe?” + </p> + <p> + “That the power of God is infinite.” + </p> + <p> + “Did my godfather ever speak to you of such matters?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, often. He had entirely changed his views of them. His conversion, as + he told me at least twenty times, dated from the day when a woman in Paris + heard you praying for him in Nemours, and saw the red dot you made against + Saint-Savinien’s day in your almanac.” + </p> + <p> + Ursula uttered a piercing cry, which alarmed the priest; she remembered + the scene when, on returning to Nemours, her godfather read her soul, and + took away the almanac. + </p> + <p> + “If that is so,” she said, “then my visions are possibly true. My + godfather has appeared to me, as Jesus appeared to his disciples. He was + wrapped in yellow light; he spoke to me. I beg you to say a mass for the + repose of his soul and to implore the help of God that these visions may + cease, for they are destroying me.” + </p> + <p> + She then related the three dreams with all their details, insisting on the + truth of what she said, on her own freedom of action, on the somnambulism + of her inner being, which, she said, detached itself from her body at the + bidding of the spectre and followed him with perfect ease. The thing that + most surprised the abbe, to whom Ursula’s veracity was known, was the + exact description which she gave of the bedroom formerly occupied by Zelie + at the post house, which Ursula had never entered and about which no one + had ever spoken to her. + </p> + <p> + “By what means can these singular apparitions take place?” asked Ursula. + “What did my godfather think?” + </p> + <p> + “Your godfather, my dear child, argued my hypothesis. He recognized the + possibility of a spiritual world, a world of ideas. If ideas are of man’s + creation, if they subsist in a life of their own, they must have forms + which our external senses cannot grasp, but which are perceptible to our + inward senses when brought under certain conditions. Thus your godfather’s + ideas might so enfold you that you would clothe them with his bodily + presence. Then, if Minoret really committed those actions, they too + resolve themselves into ideas; for all action is the result of many ideas. + Now, if ideas live and move in a spiritual world, your spirit must be able + to perceive them if it penetrates that world. These phenomena are not more + extraordinary than those of memory; and those of memory are quite as + amazing and inexplicable as those of the perfume of plants—which are + perhaps the ideas of the plants.” + </p> + <p> + “How you enlarge and magnify the world!” exclaimed Ursula. “But to hear + the dead speak, to see them walk, act—do you think it possible?” + </p> + <p> + “In Sweden,” replied the abbe, “Swedenborg has proved by evidence that he + communicated with the dead. But come with me into the library and you + shall read in the life of the famous Duc de Montmorency, beheaded at + Toulouse, and who certainly was not a man to invent foolish tales, an + adventure very like yours, which happened a hundred years earlier at + Cardan.” + </p> + <p> + Ursula and the abbe went upstairs, and the good man hunted up a little + edition in 12mo, printed in Paris in 1666, of the “History of Henri de + Montmorency,” written by a priest of that period who had known the prince. + </p> + <p> + “Read it,” said the abbe, giving Ursula the volume, which he had opened at + the 175th page. “Your godfather often re-read that passage,—and see! + here’s a little of his snuff in it.” + </p> + <p> + “And he not here!” said Ursula, taking the volume to read the passage. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “The siege of Privat was remarkable for the loss of a great number + of officers. Two brigadier-generals died there—namely, the + Marquis d’Uxelles, of a wound received at the outposts, and the + Marquis de Portes, from a musket-shot through the head. The day + the latter was killed he was to have been made a marshal of + France. About the moment when the marquis expired the Duc de + Montmorency, who was sleeping in his tent, was awakened by a voice + like that of the marquis bidding him farewell. The affection he + felt for a friend so near made him attribute the illusion of this + dream to the force of his own imagination; and owing to the + fatigues of the night, which he had spent, according to his + custom, in the trenches, he fell asleep once more without any + sense of dread. But the same voice disturbed him again, and the + phantom obliged him to wake up and listen to the same words it had + said as it first passed. The duke then recollected that he had + heard the philosopher Pitrat discourse on the possibility of the + separation of the soul from the body, and that he and the marquis + had agreed that the first who died should bid adieu to the other. + On which, not being able to restrain his fears as to the truth of + this warning, he sent a servant to the marquis’s quarters, which + were distant from him. But before the man could get back, the king + sent to inform the duke, by persons fitted to console him, of the + great loss he had sustained. + + “I leave learned men to discuss the cause of this event, which I + have frequently heard the Duc de Montmorency relate: I think that + the truth and singularity of the fact itself ought to be recorded + and preserved.” + </pre> + <p> + “If all this is so,” said Ursula, “what ought I do do?” + </p> + <p> + “My child,” said the abbe, “it concerns matters so important, and which + may prove so profitable to you, that you ought to keep absolutely silent + about it. Now that you have confided to me the secret of these apparitions + perhaps they may not return. Besides, you are now strong enough to come to + church; well, then, come to-morrow and thank God and pray to him for the + repose of your godfather’s soul. Feel quite sure that you have entrusted + your secret to prudent hands.” + </p> + <p> + “If you knew how afraid I am to go to sleep,—what glances my + godfather gives me! The last time he caught hold of my dress—I awoke + with my face all covered with tears.” + </p> + <p> + “Be at peace; he will not come again,” said the priest. + </p> + <p> + Without losing a moment the Abbe Chaperon went straight to Minoret and + asked for a few moments interview in the Chinese pagoda, requesting that + they might be entirely alone. + </p> + <p> + “Can any one hear us?” he asked. + </p> + <p> + “No one,” replied Minoret. + </p> + <p> + “Monsieur, my character must be known to you,” said the abbe, fastening a + gentle but attentive look on Minoret’s face. “I have to speak to you of + serious and extraordinary matters, which concern you, and about which you + may be sure that I shall keep the profoundest secrecy; but it is + impossible for me to do otherwise than give you this information. While + your uncle lived, there stood there,” said the priest, pointing to a + certain spot in the room, “a small buffet made by Boule, with a marble + top” (Minoret turned livid), “and beneath the marble your uncle placed a + letter for Ursula—” The abbe then went on to relate, without + omitting the smallest circumstance, Minoret’s conduct to Minoret himself. + When the last post master heard the detail of the two matches refusing to + light he felt his hair begin to writhe on his skull. + </p> + <p> + “Who invented such nonsense?” he said, in a strangled voice, when the tale + ended. + </p> + <p> + “The dead man himself.” + </p> + <p> + This answer made Minoret tremble, for he himself had dreamed of the + doctor. + </p> + <p> + “God is very good, Monsieur l’abbe, to do miracles for me,” he said, + danger inspiring him to make the sole jest of his life. + </p> + <p> + “All that God does is natural,” replied the priest. + </p> + <p> + “Your phantoms don’t frighten me,” said the colossus, recovering his + coolness. + </p> + <p> + “I did not come to frighten you, for I shall never speak of this to any + one in the world,” said the abbe. “You alone know the truth. The matter is + between you and God.” + </p> + <p> + “Come now, Monsieur l’abbe, do you really think me capable of such a + horrible abuse of confidence?” + </p> + <p> + “I believe only in crimes which are confessed to me, and of which the + sinner repents,” said the priest, in an apostolic tone. + </p> + <p> + “Crime?” cried Minoret. + </p> + <p> + “A crime frightful in its consequences.” + </p> + <p> + “What consequences?” + </p> + <p> + “In the fact that it escapes human justice. The crimes which are not + expiated here below will be punished in another world. God himself avenges + innocence.” + </p> + <p> + “Do you think God concerns himself with such trifles?” + </p> + <p> + “If he did not see the worlds in all their details at a glance, as you + take a landscape into your eye, he would not be God.” + </p> + <p> + “Monsieur l’abbe, will you give me your word of honor that you have had + these facts from my uncle?” + </p> + <p> + “Your uncle has appeared three times to Ursula and has told them and + repeated them to her. Exhausted by such visions she revealed them to me + privately; she considers them so devoid of reason that she will never + speak of them. You may make yourself easy on that point.” + </p> + <p> + “I am easy on all points, Monsieur Chaperon.” + </p> + <p> + “I hope you are,” said the old priest. “Even if I considered these + warnings absurd, I should still feel bound to inform you of them, + considering the singular nature of the details. You are an honest man, and + you have obtained your handsome fortune in too legal a way to wish to add + to it by theft. Besides, you are an almost primitive man, and you would be + tortured by remorse. We have within us, be we savage or civilized, the + sense of what is right, and this will not permit us to enjoy in peace + ill-gotten gains acquired against the laws of the society in which we + live,—for well-constituted societies are modeled on the system God + has ordained for the universe. In this respect societies have a divine + origin. Man does not originate ideas, he invents no form; he answers to + the eternal relations that surround him on all sides. Therefore, see what + happens! Criminals going to the scaffold, and having it in their power to + carry their secret with them, are compelled by the force of some + mysterious power to make confessions before their heads are taken off. + Therefore, Monsieur Minoret, if your mind is at ease, I go my way + satisfied.” + </p> + <p> + Minoret was so stupefied that he allowed the abbe to find his own way out. + When he thought himself alone he flew into the fury of a choleric man; the + strangest blasphemies escaped his lips, in which Ursula’s name was mingled + with odious language. + </p> + <p> + “Why, what has she done to you?” cried Zelie, who had slipped in on tiptoe + after seeing the abbe out of the house. + </p> + <p> + For the first and only time in his life, Minoret, drunk with anger and + driven to extremities by his wife’s reiterated questions, turned upon her + and beat her so violently that he was obliged, when she fell half-dead on + the floor, to take her in his arms and put her to bed himself, ashamed of + his act. He was taken ill and the doctor bled him twice; when he appeared + again in the streets everybody noticed a great change in him. He walked + alone, and often roamed the town as though uneasy. When any one addressed + him he seemed preoccupied in his mind, he who had never before had two + ideas in his head. At last, one evening, he went up to Monsieur Bongrand + in the Grand’Rue, the latter being on his way to take Ursula to Madame de + Portenduere’s, where the whist parties had begun again. + </p> + <p> + “Monsieur Bongrand, I have something important to say to my cousin,” he + said, taking the justice by the arm, “and I am very glad you should be + present, for you can advise her.” + </p> + <p> + They found Ursula studying; she rose, with a cold and dignified air, as + soon as she saw Minoret. + </p> + <p> + “My child, Monsieur Minoret wants to speak to you on a matter of + business,” said Bongrand. “By the bye, don’t forget to give me your + certificates; I shall go to Paris in the morning and will draw your + dividend and La Bougival’s.” + </p> + <p> + “Cousin,” said Minoret, “our uncle accustomed you to more luxury than you + have now.” + </p> + <p> + “We can be very happy with very little money,” she replied. + </p> + <p> + “I thought money might help your happiness,” continued Minoret, “and I + have come to offer you some, out of respect for the memory of my uncle.” + </p> + <p> + “You had a natural way of showing respect for him,” said Ursula, sternly; + “you could have left his house as it was, and allowed me to buy it; + instead of that you put it at a high price, hoping to find some hidden + treasure in it.” + </p> + <p> + “But,” said Minoret, evidently troubled, “if you had twelve thousand + francs a year you would be in a position to marry well.” + </p> + <p> + “I have not got them.” + </p> + <p> + “But suppose I give them to you, on condition of your buying an estate in + Brittany near Madame de Portenduere,—you could then marry her son.” + </p> + <p> + “Monsieur Minoret,” said Ursula, “I have no claim to that money, and I + cannot accept it from you. We are scarcely relations, still less are we + friends. I have suffered too much from calumny to give a handle for + evil-speaking. What have I done to deserve that money? What reason have + you to make me such a present? These questions, which I have a right to + ask, persons will answer as they see fit; some would consider your gift + the reparation of a wrong, and, as such, I choose not to accept it. Your + uncle did not bring me up to ignoble feelings. I can accept nothing except + from friends, and I have no friendship for you.” + </p> + <p> + “Then you refuse?” cried the colossus, into whose head the idea had never + entered that a fortune could be rejected. + </p> + <p> + “I refuse,” said Ursula. + </p> + <p> + “But what grounds have you for offering Mademoiselle Ursula such a + fortune?” asked Bongrand, looking fixedly at Minoret. “You have an idea—have + you an idea?—” + </p> + <p> + “Well, yes, the idea of getting her out of Nemours, so that my son will + leave me in peace; he is in love with her and wants to marry her.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, we’ll see about it,” said Bongrand, settling his spectacles. “Give + us time to think it over.” + </p> + <p> + He walked home with Minoret, applauding the solicitude shown by the father + for his son’s interests, and slightly blaming Ursula for her hasty + decision. As soon as Minoret was within his own gate, Bongrand went to the + post house, borrowed a horse and cabriolet, and started for Fontainebleau, + where he went to see the deputy procureur, and was told that he was + spending the evening at the house of the sub-prefect. Bongrand, delighted, + followed him there. Desire was playing whist with the wife of the + procureur du roi, the wife of the sub-prefect, and the colonel of the + regiment in garrison. + </p> + <p> + “I come to bring you some good news,” said Bongrand to Desire; “you love + your cousin Ursula, and the marriage can be arranged.” + </p> + <p> + “I love Ursula Mirouet!” cried Desire, laughing. “Where did you get that + idea? I do remember seeing her sometimes at the late Doctor Minoret’s; she + certainly is a beauty; but she is dreadfully pious. I certainly took + notice of her charms, but I must say I never troubled my head seriously + for that rather insipid little blonde,” he added, smiling at the + sub-prefect’s wife (who was a piquante brunette—to use a term of the + last century). “You are dreaming, my dear Monsieur Bongrand; I thought + every one knew that my father was a lord of a manor, with a rent roll of + forty-five thousand francs a year from lands around his chateau at Rouvre,—good + reasons why I should not love the goddaughter of my late great-uncle. If I + were to marry a girl without a penny these ladies would consider me a + fool.” + </p> + <p> + “Have you never tormented your father to let you marry Ursula?” + </p> + <p> + “Never.” + </p> + <p> + “You hear that, monsieur?” said the justice to the procureur du roi, who + had been listening to the conversation, leading him aside into the recess + of a window, where they remained in conversation for a quarter of an hour. + </p> + <p> + An hour later Bongrand was back in Nemours, at Ursula’s house, whence he + sent La Bougival to Minoret to beg his attendance. The colossus came at + once. + </p> + <p> + “Mademoiselle—” began Bongrand, addressing Minoret as he entered the + room. + </p> + <p> + “Accepts?” cried Minoret, interrupting him. + </p> + <p> + “No, not yet,” replied Bongrand, fingering his glasses. “I had scruples as + to your son’s feelings; for Ursula has been much tried lately about a + supposed lover. We know the importance of tranquillity. Can you swear to + me that your son truly loves her and that you have no other intention than + to preserve our dear Ursula from any further Goupilisms?” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, I’ll swear to that,” cried Minoret. + </p> + <p> + “Stop, papa Minoret,” said the justice, taking one hand from the pocket of + his trousers to slap Minoret on the shoulder (the colossus trembled); + “Don’t swear falsely.” + </p> + <p> + “Swear falsely?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, either you or your son, who has just sworn at Fontainebleau, in + presence of four persons and the procureur du roi, that he has never even + thought of his cousin Ursula. You have other reasons for offering this + fortune. I saw you were inventing that tale, and went myself to + Fontainebleau to question your son.” + </p> + <p> + Minoret was dumbfounded at his own folly. + </p> + <p> + “But where’s the harm, Monsieur Bongrand, in proposing to a young relative + to help on a marriage which seems to be for her happiness, and to invent + pretexts to conquer her reluctance to accept the money.” + </p> + <p> + Minoret, whose danger suggested to him an excuse which was almost + admissible, wiped his forehead, wet with perspiration. + </p> + <p> + “You know the cause of my refusal,” said Ursula; “and I request you never + to come here again. Though Monsieur de Portenduere has not told me his + reason, I know that he feels such contempt for you, such dislike even, + that I cannot receive you into my house. My happiness is my only fortune,—I + do not blush to say so; I shall not risk it. Monsieur de Portenduere is + only waiting for my majority to marry me.” + </p> + <p> + “Then the old saw that ‘Money does all’ is a lie,” said Minoret, looking + at the justice of peace, whose observing eyes annoyed him so much. + </p> + <p> + He rose and left the house, but, once outside, he found the air as + oppressive as in the little salon. + </p> + <p> + “There must be an end put to this,” he said to himself as he re-entered + his own home. + </p> + <p> + When Ursula came down, bring her certificates and those of La Bougival, + she found Monsieur Bongrand walking up and down the salon with great + strides. + </p> + <p> + “Have you no idea what the conduct of that huge idiot means?” he said. + </p> + <p> + “None that I can tell,” she replied. + </p> + <p> + Bongrand looked at her with inquiring surprise. + </p> + <p> + “Then we have the same idea,” he said. “Here, keep the number of your + certificates, in case I lose them; you should always take that + precaution.” + </p> + <p> + Bongrand himself wrote the number of the two certificates, hers and that + of La Bougival, and gave them to her. + </p> + <p> + “Adieu, my child, I shall be gone two days, but you will see me on the + third.” + </p> + <p> + That night the apparition appeared to Ursula in a singular manner. She + thought her bed was in the cemetery of Nemours, and that her uncle’s grave + was at the foot of it. The white stone, on which she read the inscription, + opened, like the cover of an oblong album. She uttered a piercing cry, but + the doctor’s spectre slowly rose. First she saw his yellow head, with its + fringe of white hair, which shone as if surmounted by a halo. Beneath the + bald forehead the eyes were like two gleams of light; the dead man rose as + if impelled by some superior force or will. Ursula’s body trembled; her + flesh was like a burning garment, and there was (as she subsequently said) + another self moving within her bodily presence. “Mercy!” she cried, + “mercy, godfather!” “It is too late,” he said, in the voice of death,—to + use the poor girl’s own expression when she related this new dream to the + abbe. “He has been warned; he has paid no heed to the warning. The days of + his son are numbered. If he does not confess all and restore what he has + taken within a certain time he must lose his son, who will die a violent + and horrible death. Let him know this.” The spectre pointed to a line of + figures which gleamed upon the side of the tomb as if written with fire, + and said, “There is his doom.” When her uncle lay down again in his grave + Ursula heard the sound of the stone falling back into its place, and + immediately after, in the distance, a strange sound of horses and the + cries of men. + </p> + <p> + The next day Ursula was prostrate. She could not rise, so terribly had the + dream overcome her. She begged her nurse to find the Abbe Chaperon and + bring him to her. The good priest came as soon as he had said mass, but he + was not surprised at Ursula’s revelation. He believed the robbery had been + committed, and no longer tried to explain to himself the abnormal + condition of his “little dreamer.” He left Ursula at once and went + directly to Minoret’s. + </p> + <p> + “Monsieur l’abbe,” said Zelie, “my husband’s temper is so soured I don’t + know what he mightn’t do. Until now he’s been a child; but for the last + two months he’s not the same man. To get angry enough to strike me—me, + so gentle! There must be something dreadful the matter to change him like + that. You’ll find him among the rocks; he spends all his time there,—doing + what, I’d like to know?” + </p> + <p> + In spite of the heat (it was then September, 1836), the abbe crossed the + canal and took a path which led to the base of one of the rocks, where he + saw Minoret. + </p> + <p> + “You are greatly troubled, Monsieur Minoret,” said the priest going up to + him. “You belong to me because you suffer. Unhappily, I come to increase + your pain. Ursula had a terrible dream last night. Your uncle lifted the + stone from his grave and came forth to prophecy a great disaster in your + family. I certainly am not here to frighten you; but you ought to know + what he said—” + </p> + <p> + “I can’t be easy anywhere, Monsieur Chaperon, not even among these rocks, + and I’m sure I don’t want to know anything that is going on in another + world.” + </p> + <p> + “Then I will leave you, monsieur; I did not take this hot walk for + pleasure,” said the abbe, mopping his forehead. + </p> + <p> + “Well, what do you want to say?” demanded Minoret. + </p> + <p> + “You are threatened with the loss of your son. If the dead man told things + that you alone know, one must needs tremble when he tells things that no + one can know till they happen. Make restitution, I say, make restitution. + Don’t damn your soul for a little money.” + </p> + <p> + “Restitution of what?” + </p> + <p> + “The fortune the doctor intended for Ursula. You took those three + certificates—I know it now. You began by persecuting that poor girl, + and you end by offering her a fortune; you have stumbled into lies, you + have tangled yourself up in this net, and you are taking false steps every + day. You are very clumsy and unskilful; your accomplice Goupil has served + you ill; he simply laughs at you. Make haste and clear your mind, for you + are watched by intelligent and penetrating eyes,—those of Ursula’s + friends. Make restitution! and if you do not save your son (who may not + really be threatened), you will save your soul, and you will save your + honor. Do you believe that in a society like ours, in a little town like + this, where everybody’s eyes are everywhere, and all things are guessed + and all things are known, you can long hide a stolen fortune? Come, my + son, an innocent man wouldn’t have let me talk so long.” + </p> + <p> + “Go to the devil!” cried Minoret. “I don’t know what you <i>all</i> mean + by persecuting me. I prefer these stones—they leave me in peace.” + </p> + <p> + “Farewell, then; I have warned you. Neither the poor girl nor I have said + a single word about this to any living person. But take care—there + is a man who has his eye upon you. May God have pity upon you!” + </p> + <p> + The abbe departed; presently he turned back to look at Minoret. The man + was holding his head in his hands as if it troubled him; he was, in fact, + partly crazy. In the first place, he had kept the three certificates + because he did not know what to do with them. He dared not draw the money + himself for fear it should be noticed; he did not wish to sell them, and + was still trying to find some way of transferring the certificates. In + this horrible state of uncertainty he bethought him of acknowledging all + to his wife and getting her advice. Zelie, who always managed affairs for + him so well, she could get him out of his troubles. The three-per-cent + Funds were now selling at eighty. Restitution! why, that meant, with + arrearages, giving up a million! Give up a million, when there was no one + who could know that he had taken it—! + </p> + <p> + So Minoret continued through September and a part of October irresolute + and a prey to his torturing thoughts. To the great surprise of the little + town he grew thin and haggard. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0020" id="link2HCH0020"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XX. REMORSE + </h2> + <p> + An alarming circumstance hastened the confession which Minoret was + inclined to make to Zelie; the sword of Damocles began to move above their + heads. Towards the middle of October Monsieur and Madame Minoret received + from their son Desire the following letter:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + My dear Mother,—If I have not been to see you since vacation, it + is partly because I have been on duty during the absence of my + chief, but also because I knew that Monsieur de Portenduere was + waiting my arrival at Nemours, to pick a quarrel with me. Tired, + perhaps, of seeing his vengeance on our family delayed, the + viscount came to Fontainebleau, where he had appointed one of his + Parisian friends to meet him, having already obtained the help of + the Vicomte de Soulanges commanding the troop of cavalry here in + garrison. + + He called upon me, very politely, accompanied by the two + gentlemen, and told me that my father was undoubtedly the + instigator of the malignant persecutions against Ursula Mirouet, + his future wife; he gave me proofs, and told me of Goupil’s + confession before witnesses. He also told me of my father’s + conduct, first in refusing to pay Goupil the price agreed on for + his wicked invention, and next, out of fear of Goupil’s malignity, + going security to Monsieur Dionis for the price of his practice + which Goupil is to have. + + The viscount, not being able to fight a man sixty-seven years of + age, and being determined to have satisfaction for the insults + offered to Ursula, demanded it formally of me. His determination, + having been well-weighed and considered, could not be shaken. If I + refused, he was resolved to meet me in society before persons + whose esteem I value, and insult me openly. In France, a coward is + unanimously scorned. Besides, the motives for demanding reparation + should be explained by honorable men. He said he was sorry to + resort to such extremities. His seconds declared it would be wiser + in me to arrange a meeting in the usual manner among men of honor, + so that Ursula Mirouet might not be known as the cause of the + quarrel; to avoid all scandal it was better to make a journey to + the nearest frontier. In short, my seconds met his yesterday, and + they unanimously agreed that I owed him reparation. A week from + to-day I leave for Geneva with my two friends. Monsieur de + Portenduere, Monsieur de Soulanges, and Monsieur de Trailles will + meet me there. + + The preliminaries of the duel are settled; we shall fight with + pistols; each fires three times, and after that, no matter what + happens, the affair terminates. To keep this degrading matter from + public knowledge (for I find it impossible to justify my father’s + conduct) I do not go to see you now, because I dread the violence + of the emotion to which you would yield and which would not be + seemly. If I am to make my way in the world I must conform to the + rules of society. If the son of a viscount has a dozen reasons for + fighting a duel the son of a post master has a hundred. I shall + pass the night in Nemours on my way to Geneva, and I will bid you + good-by then. +</pre> + <p> + After the reading of this letter a scene took place between Zelie and + Minoret which ended in the latter confessing the theft and relating all + the circumstances and the strange scenes connected with it, even Ursula’s + dreams. The million fascinated Zelie quite as much as it did Minoret. + </p> + <p> + “You stay quietly here,” Zelie said to her husband, without the slightest + remonstrance against his folly. “I’ll manage the whole thing. We’ll keep + the money, and Desire shall not fight a duel.” + </p> + <p> + Madame Minoret put on her bonnet and shawl and carried her son’s letter to + Ursula, whom she found alone, as it was about midday. In spite of her + assurance Zelie was discomfited by the cold look which the young girl gave + her. But she took herself to task for her cowardice and assumed an easy + air. + </p> + <p> + “Here, Mademoiselle Mirouet, do me the kindness to read that and tell me + what you think of it,” she cried, giving Ursula her son’s letter. + </p> + <p> + Ursula went through various conflicting emotions as she read the letter, + which showed her how truly she was loved and what care Savinien took of + the honor of the woman who was to be his wife; but she had too much + charity and true religion to be willing to be the cause of death or + suffering to her most cruel enemy. + </p> + <p> + “I promise, madame, to prevent the duel; you may feel perfectly easy,—but + I must request you to leave me this letter.” + </p> + <p> + “My dear little angel, can we not come to some better arrangement. + Monsieur Minoret and I have acquired property about Rouvre,—a really + regal castle, which gives us forty-eight thousand francs a year; we shall + give Desire twenty-four thousand a year which we have in the Funds; in + all, seventy thousand francs a year. You will admit that there are not + many better matches than he. You are an ambitious girl,—and quite + right too,” added Zelie, seeing Ursula’s quick gesture of denial; “I have + therefore come to ask your hand for Desire. You will bear your godfather’s + name, and that will honor it. Desire, as you must have seen, is a handsome + fellow; he is very much thought of at Fontainebleau, and he will soon be + procureur du roi himself. You are a coaxing girl and can easily persuade + him to live in Paris. We will give you a fine house there; you will shine; + you will play a distinguished part; for, with seventy thousand francs a + year and the salary of an office, you and Desire can enter the highest + society. Consult your friends; you’ll see what they tell you.” + </p> + <p> + “I need only consult my heart, madame.” + </p> + <p> + “Ta, ta, ta! now don’t talk to me about that little lady-killer Savinien. + You’d pay too high a price for his name, and for that little moustache + curled up at the points like two hooks, and his black hair. How do you + expect to manage on seven thousand francs a year, with a man who made two + hundred thousand francs of debt in two years? Besides—though this is + a thing you don’t know yet—all men are alike; and without flattering + myself too much, I may say that my Desire is the equal of a king’s son.” + </p> + <p> + “You forget, madame, the danger your son is in at this moment; which can, + perhaps, be averted only by Monsieur de Portenduere’s desire to please me. + If he knew that you had made me these unworthy proposals that danger might + not be escaped. Besides, let me tell you, madame, that I shall be far + happier in the moderate circumstances to which you allude than I should be + in the opulence with which you are trying to dazzle me. For reasons + hitherto unknown, but which will yet be made known, Monsieur Minoret, by + persecuting me in an odious manner, strengthened the affection that exists + between Monsieur de Portenduere and myself—which I can now admit + because his mother has blessed it. I will also tell you that this + affection, sanctioned and legitimate, is life itself to me. No destiny, + however brilliant, however lofty, could make me change. I love without the + possibility of changing. It would therefore be a crime if I married a man + to whom I could take nothing but a soul that is Savinien’s. But, madame, + since you force me to be explicit, I must tell you that even if I did not + love Monsieur de Portenduere I could not bring myself to bear the troubles + and joys of life in the company of your son. If Monsieur Savinien made + debts, you have often paid those of your son. Our characters have neither + the similarities nor the differences which enable two persons to live + together without bitterness. Perhaps I should not have towards him the + forbearance a wife owes to her husband; I should then be a trial to him. + Pray cease to think of an alliance of which I count myself quite unworthy, + and which I feel I can decline without pain to you; for with the great + advantages you name to me, you cannot fail to find some girl of better + station, more wealth, and more beauty than mine.” + </p> + <p> + “Will you swear to me,” said Zelie, “to prevent these young men from + taking that journey and fighting that duel?” + </p> + <p> + “It will be, I foresee, the greatest sacrifice that Monsieur de + Portenduere can make to me, but I shall tell him that my bridal crown must + have no blood upon it.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, I thank you, cousin, and I can only hope you will be happy.” + </p> + <p> + “And I, madame, sincerely wish that you may realize all your expectations + for the future of your son.” + </p> + <p> + These words struck a chill to the heart of the mother, who suddenly + remembered the predictions of Ursula’s last dream; she stood still, her + small eyes fixed on Ursula’s face, so white, so pure, so beautiful in her + mourning dress, for Ursula had risen too to hasten her so-called cousin’s + departure. + </p> + <p> + “Do you believe in dreams?” said Zelie. + </p> + <p> + “I suffer from them too much not to do so.” + </p> + <p> + “But if you do—” began Zelie. + </p> + <p> + “Adieu, madame,” exclaimed Ursula, bowing to Madame Minoret as she heard + the abbe’s entering step. + </p> + <p> + The priest was surprised to find Madame Minoret with Ursula. The + uneasiness depicted on the thin and wrinkled face of the former post + mistress induced him to take note of the two women. + </p> + <p> + “Do you believe in spirits?” Zelie asked him. + </p> + <p> + “What do you believe in?” he answered, smiling. + </p> + <p> + “They are all sly,” thought Zelie,—“every one of them! They want to + deceive us. That old priest and the old justice and that young scamp + Savinien have got some plan in their heads. Dreams! no more dreams than + there are hairs on the palm of my hand.” + </p> + <p> + With two stiff, curt bows she left the room. + </p> + <p> + “I know why Savinien went to Fontainebleau,” said Ursula to the abbe, + telling him about the duel and begging him to use his influence to prevent + it. + </p> + <p> + “Did Madame Minoret offer you her son’s hand?” asked the abbe. + </p> + <p> + “Yes.” + </p> + <p> + “Minoret has no doubt confessed his crime to her,” added the priest. + </p> + <p> + Monsieur Bongrand, who came in at this moment, was told of the step taken + by Zelie, whose hatred to Ursula was well known to him. He looked at the + abbe as if to say: “Come out, I want to speak to you of Ursula without her + hearing me.” + </p> + <p> + “Savinien must be told that you refused eighty thousand francs a year and + the dandy of Nemours,” he said aloud. + </p> + <p> + “Is it, then, a sacrifice?” she answered, laughing. “Are there sacrifices + when one truly loves? Is it any merit to refuse the son of a man we all + despise? Others may make virtues of their dislikes, but that ought not to + be the morality of a girl brought up by a de Jordy, and the abbe, and my + dear godfather,” she said, looking up at his portrait. + </p> + <p> + Bongrand took Ursula’s hand and kissed it. + </p> + <p> + “Do you know what Madame Minoret came about?” said the justice as soon as + they were in the street. + </p> + <p> + “What?” asked the priest, looking at Bongrand with an air that seemed + merely curious. + </p> + <p> + “She had some plan for restitution.” + </p> + <p> + “Then you think—” began the abbe. + </p> + <p> + “I don’t think, I know; I have the certainty—and see there!” + </p> + <p> + So saying, Bongrand pointed to Minoret, who was coming towards them on his + way home. + </p> + <p> + “When I was a lawyer in the criminal courts,” continued Bongrand, “I + naturally had many opportunities to study remorse; but I have never seen + any to equal that of this man. What gives him that flaccidity, that pallor + of the cheeks where the skin was once as tight as a drum and bursting with + the good sound health of a man without a care? What has put those black + circles round his eyes and dulled their rustic vivacity? Did you ever + expect to see lines of care on that forehead? Who would have supposed that + the brain of that colossus could be excited? The man has felt his heart! I + am a judge of remorse, just as you are a judge of repentance, my dear + abbe. That which I have hitherto observed has developed in men who were + awaiting punishment, or enduring it to get quits with the world; they were + either resigned, or breathing vengeance; but here is remorse without + expiation, remorse pure and simple, fastening on its prey and rending + him.” + </p> + <p> + The judge stopped Minoret and said: “Do you know that Mademoiselle Mirouet + has refused your son’s hand?” + </p> + <p> + “But,” interposed the abbe, “do not be uneasy; she will prevent the duel.” + </p> + <p> + “Ah, then my wife succeeded?” said Minoret. “I am very glad, for it nearly + killed me.” + </p> + <p> + “You are, indeed, so changed that you are no longer like yourself,” + remarked Bongrand. + </p> + <p> + Minoret looked alternately at the two men to see if the priest had + betrayed the dreams; but the abbe’s face was unmoved, expressing only a + calm sadness which reassured the guilty man. + </p> + <p> + “And it is the more surprising,” went on Monsieur Bongrand, “because you + ought to be filled with satisfaction. You are lord of Rouvre and all those + farms and mills and meadows and—with your investments in the Funds, + you have an income of one hundred thousand francs—” + </p> + <p> + “I haven’t anything in the Funds,” cried Minoret, hastily. + </p> + <p> + “Pooh,” said Bongrand; “this is just as it was about your son’s love for + Ursula,—first he denied it, and now he asks her in marriage. After + trying to kill Ursula with sorrow you now want her for a daughter-in-law. + My good friend, you have got some secret in your pouch.” + </p> + <p> + Minoret tried to answer; he searched for words and could find nothing + better than:— + </p> + <p> + “You’re very queer, monsieur. Good-day, gentlemen”; and he turned with a + slow step into the Rue des Bourgeois. + </p> + <p> + “He has stolen the fortune of our poor Ursula,” said Bongrand, “but how + can we ever find the proof?” + </p> + <p> + “God may—” + </p> + <p> + “God has put into us the sentiment that is now appealing to that man; but + all that is merely what is called ‘presumptive,’ and human justice + requires something more.” + </p> + <p> + The abbe maintained the silence of a priest. As often happens in similar + circumstances, he thought much oftener than he wished to think of the + robbery, now almost admitted by Minoret, and of Savinien’s happiness, + delayed only by Ursula’s loss of fortune—for the old lady had + privately owned to him that she knew she had done wrong in not consenting + to the marriage in the doctor’s lifetime. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0021" id="link2HCH0021"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XXI. SHOWING HOW DIFFICULT IT IS TO STEAL THAT WHICH SEEMS VERY + EASILY STOLEN + </h2> + <p> + The following day, as the abbe was leaving the altar after saying mass, a + thought struck him with such force that it seemed to him the utterance of + a voice. He made a sign to Ursula to wait for him, and accompanied her + home without having breakfasted. + </p> + <p> + “My child,” he said, “I want to see the two volumes your godfather showed + you in your dreams—where he said that he placed those certificates + and banknotes.” + </p> + <p> + Ursula and the abbe went up to the library and took down the third volume + of the Pandects. When the old man opened it he noticed, not without + surprise, a mark left by some enclosure upon the pages, which still kept + the outline of the certificate. In the other volume he found a sort of + hollow made by the long-continued presence of a package, which had left + its traces on the two pages next to it. + </p> + <p> + “Yes, go up, Monsieur Bongrand,” La Bougival was heard to say, and the + justice of the peace came into the library just as the abbe was putting on + his spectacles to read three numbers in Doctor Minoret’s hand-writing on + the fly-leaf of colored paper with which the binder had lined the cover of + the volume,—figures which Ursula had just discovered. + </p> + <p> + “What’s the meaning of those figures?” said the abbe; “our dear doctor was + too much of a bibliophile to spoil the fly-leaf of a valuable volume. Here + are three numbers written between a first number preceded by the letter M + and a last number preceded by a U.” + </p> + <p> + “What are you talking of?” said Bongrand. “Let me see that. Good God!” he + cried, after a moment’s examination; “it would open the eyes of an atheist + as an actual demonstration of Providence! Human justice is, I believe, the + development of the divine thought which hovers over the worlds.” He seized + Ursula and kissed her forehead. “Oh! my child, you will be rich and happy, + and all through me!” + </p> + <p> + “What is it?” exclaimed the abbe. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, monsieur,” cried La Bougival, catching Bongrand’s blue overcoat, “let + me kiss you for what you’ve just said.” + </p> + <p> + “Explain, explain! don’t give us false hopes,” said the abbe. + </p> + <p> + “If I bring trouble on others by becoming rich,” said Ursula, forseeing a + criminal trial, “I—” + </p> + <p> + “Remember,” said the justice, interrupting her, “the happiness you will + give to Savinien.” + </p> + <p> + “Are you mad?” said the abbe. + </p> + <p> + “No, my dear friend,” said Bongrand. “Listen; the certificates in the + Funds are issued in series,—as many series as there are letters in + the alphabet; and each number bears the letter of its series. But the + certificates which are made out ‘to bearer’ cannot have a letter; they are + not in any person’s name. What you see there shows that the day the doctor + placed his money in the Funds, he noted down, first, the number of his own + certificate for fifteen thousand francs interest which bears his initial + M; next, the numbers of three inscriptions to bearer; these are without a + letter; and thirdly, the certificate of Ursula’s share in the Funds, the + number of which is 23,534, and which follows, as you see, that of the + fifteen-thousand-franc certificate with lettering. This goes far to prove + that those numbers are those of five certificates of investments made on + the same day and noted down by the doctor in case of loss. I advised him + to take certificates to bearer for Ursula’s fortune, and he must have made + his own investment and that of Ursula’s little property the same day. I’ll + go to Dionis’s office and look at the inventory. If the number of the + certificate for his own investment is 23,533, letter M, we may be sure + that he invested, through the same broker on the same day, first his own + property on a single certificate; secondly his savings in three + certificates to bearer (numbered, but without the series letter); thirdly, + Ursula’s own property; the transfer books will show, of course, undeniable + proofs of this. Ha! Minoret, you deceiver, I have you—Motus, my + children!” + </p> + <p> + Whereupon he left them abruptly to reflect with admiration on the ways by + which Providence had brought the innocent to victory. + </p> + <p> + “The finger of God is in all this,” cried the abbe. + </p> + <p> + “Will they punish him?” asked Ursula. + </p> + <p> + “Ah, mademoiselle,” cried La Bougival. “I’d give the rope to hang him.” + </p> + <p> + Bongrand was already at Goupil’s, now the appointed successor of Dionis, + but he entered the office with a careless air. “I have a little matter to + verify about the Minoret property,” he said to Goupil. + </p> + <p> + “What is it?” asked the latter. + </p> + <p> + “The doctor left one or more certificates in the three-per-cent Funds?” + </p> + <p> + “He left one for fifteen thousand francs a year,” said Goupil; “I recorded + it myself.” + </p> + <p> + “Then just look on the inventory,” said Bongrand. + </p> + <p> + Goupil took down a box, hunted through it, drew out a paper, found the + place, and read:— + </p> + <p> + “‘Item, one certificate’—Here, read for yourself—under the + number 23,533, letter M.” + </p> + <p> + “Do me the kindness to let me have a copy of that clause within an hour,” + said Bongrand. + </p> + <p> + “What good is it to you?” asked Goupil. + </p> + <p> + “Do you want to be a notary?” answered the justice of peace, looking + sternly at Dionis’s proposed successor. + </p> + <p> + “Of course I do,” cried Goupil. “I’ve swallowed too many affronts not to + succeed now. I beg you to believe, monsieur, that the miserable creature + once called Goupil has nothing in common with Maitre Jean-Sebastien-Marie + Goupil, notary of Nemours and husband of Mademoiselle Massin. The two + beings do not know each other. They are no longer even alike. Look at me!” + </p> + <p> + Thus adjured Monsieur Bongrand took notice of Goupil’s clothes. The new + notary wore a white cravat, a shirt of dazzling whiteness adorned with + ruby buttons, a waistcoat of red velvet, with trousers and coat of + handsome black broad-cloth, made in Paris. His boots were neat; his hair, + carefully combed, was perfumed—in short he was metamorphosed. + </p> + <p> + “The fact is you are another man,” said Bongrand. + </p> + <p> + “Morally as well as physically. Virtue comes with practice—a + practice; besides, money is the source of cleanliness—” + </p> + <p> + “Morally as well as physically,” returned Bongrand, settling his + spectacles. + </p> + <p> + “Ha! monsieur, is a man worth a hundred thousand francs a year ever a + democrat? Consider me in future as an honest man who knows what refinement + is, and who intends to love his wife,” said Goupil; “and what’s more, I + shall prevent my clients from ever doing dirty actions.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, make haste,” said Bongrand. “Let me have that copy in an hour, and + notary Goupil will have undone some of the evil deeds of Goupil the + clerk.” + </p> + <p> + After asking the Nemours doctor to lend him his horse and cabriolet, he + went back to Ursula’s house for the two important volumes and for her own + certificate of Funds; then, armed with the extract from the inventory, he + drove to Fontainebleau and had an interview with the procureur du roi. + Bongrand easily convinced that official of the theft of the three + certificates by one or other of the heirs,—presumably by Minoret. + </p> + <p> + “His conduct is explained,” said the procureur. + </p> + <p> + As a measure of precaution the magistrate at once notified the Treasury to + withhold transfer of the said certificates, and told Bongrand to go to + Paris and ascertain if the shares had ever been sold. He then wrote a + polite note to Madame Minoret requesting her presence. + </p> + <p> + Zelie, very uneasy about her son’s duel, dressed herself at once, had the + horses put to her carriage and hurried to Fontainebleau. The procureur’s + plan was simple enough. By separating the wife from the husband, and + bringing the terrors of the law to bear upon her, he expected to learn the + truth. Zelie found the official in his private office and was utterly + annihilated when he addressed her as follows:— + </p> + <p> + “Madame,” he said; “I do not believe you are an accomplice in a theft that + has been committed upon the Minoret property, on the track of which the + law is now proceeding. But you can spare your husband the shame of + appearing in the prisoner’s dock by making a full confession of what you + know about it. The punishment which your husband has incurred is, + moreover, not the only thing to be dreaded. Your son’s career is to be + thought of; you must avoid destroying that. Half an hour hence will be too + late. The police are already under orders for Nemours, the warrant is made + out.” + </p> + <p> + Zelie nearly fainted; when she recovered her senses she confessed + everything. After proving to her that she was in point of fact an + accomplice, the magistrate told her that if she did not wish to injure + either son or husband she must behave with the utmost prudence. + </p> + <p> + “You have now to do with me as an individual, not as a magistrate,” he + said. “No complaint has been lodged by the victim, nor has any publicity + been given to the theft. But your husband has committed a great crime, + which may be brought before a judge less inclined than myself to be + considerate. In the present state of the affair I am obliged to make you a + prisoner—oh, in my own house, on parole,” he added, seeing that + Zelie was about to faint. “You must remember that my official duty would + require me to issue a warrant at once and begin an examination; but I am + acting now individually, as guardian of Mademoiselle Ursula Mirouet, and + her best interests demand a compromise.” + </p> + <p> + “Ah!” exclaimed Zelie. + </p> + <p> + “Write to your husband in the following words,” he continued, placing + Zelie at his desk and proceeding to dictate the letter:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “My Friend,—I am arrested, and I have told all. Return the + certificates which uncle left to Monsieur de Portenduere in the + will which you burned; for the procureur du roi has stopped + payment at the Treasury.” + </pre> + <p> + “You will thus save him from the denials he would otherwise attempt to + make,” said the magistrate, smiling at Zelie’s orthography. “We will see + that the restitution is properly made. My wife will make your stay in our + house as agreeable as possible. I advise you to say nothing of the matter + and not to appear anxious or unhappy.” + </p> + <p> + Now that Zelie had confessed and was safely immured, the magistrate sent + for Desire, told him all the particulars of his father’s theft, which was + really to Ursula’s injury, but, as matters stood, legally to that of his + co-heirs, and showed him the letter written by his mother. Desire at once + asked to be allowed to go to Nemours and see that his father made + immediate restitution. + </p> + <p> + “It is a very serious matter,” said the magistrate. “The will having been + destroyed, if the matter gets wind, the co-heirs, Massin and Cremiere may + put in a claim. I have proof enough against your father. I will release + your mother, for I think the little ceremony that has already taken place + has been sufficient warning as to her duty. To her, I will seem to have + yielded to your entreaties in releasing her. Take her with you to Nemours, + and manage the whole matter as best you can. Don’t fear any one. Monsieur + Bongrand loves Ursula Mirouet too well to let the matter become known.” + </p> + <p> + Zelie and Desire started soon after for Nemours. Three hours later the + procureur du roi received by a mounted messenger the following letter, the + orthography of which has been corrected so as not to bring ridicule on a + man crushed by affliction. + </p> + <p> + To Monsieur le procureur du roi at Fontainebleau: + </p> + <p> + Monsieur,—God is less kind to us than you; we have met with an + irreparable misfortune. When my wife and son reached the bridge at Nemours + a trace became unhooked. There was no servant behind the carriage; the + horses smelt the stable; my son, fearing their impatience, jumped down to + hook the trace rather than have the coachman leave the box. As he turned + to resume his place in the carriage beside his mother the horses started; + Desire did not step back against the parapet in time; the step of the + carriage cut through both legs and he fell, the hind wheel passing over + his body. The messenger who goes to Paris for the best surgeon will bring + you this letter, which my son in the midst of his sufferings desires me to + write so as to let you know our entire submission to your decisions in the + matter about which he was coming to speak to me. + </p> + <p> + I shall be grateful to you to my dying day for the manner in which you + have acted, and I will deserve your goodness. + </p> + <p> + Francois Minoret. + </p> + <p> + This cruel event convulsed the whole town of Nemours. The crowds standing + about the gate of the Minoret house were the first to tell Savinien that + his vengeance had been taken by a hand more powerful than his own. He went + at once to Ursula’s house, where he found both the abbe and the young girl + more distressed than surprised. + </p> + <p> + The next day, after the wounds were dressed, and the doctors and surgeons + from Paris had given their opinion that both legs must be amputated, + Minoret went, pale, humbled, and broken down, accompanied by the abbe, to + Ursula’s house, where he found also Monsieur Bongrand and Savinien. + </p> + <p> + “Mademoiselle,” he said; “I am very guilty towards you; but if all the + wrongs I have done you are not wholly reparable, there are some that I can + expiate. My wife and I have made a vow to make over to you in absolute + possession our estate at Rouvre in case our son recovers, and also in case + we have the dreadful sorrow of losing him.” + </p> + <p> + He burst into tears as he said the last words. + </p> + <p> + “I can assure you, my dear Ursula,” said the abbe, “that you can and that + you ought to accept a part of this gift.” + </p> + <p> + “Will you forgive me?” said Minoret, humbly kneeling before the astonished + girl. “The operation is about to be performed by the first surgeon of the + Hotel-Dieu; but I do not trust to human science, I rely only on the power + of God. If you will forgive us, if you ask God to restore our son to us, + he will have strength to bear the agony and we shall have the joy of + saving him.” + </p> + <p> + “Let us go to the church!” cried Ursula, rising. + </p> + <p> + But as she gained her feet, a piercing cry came from her lips, and she + fell backward fainting. When her senses returned, she saw her friends—but + not Minoret who had rushed for a doctor—looking at her with anxious + eyes, seeking an explanation. As she gave it, terror filled their hearts. + </p> + <p> + “I saw my godfather standing in the doorway,” she said, “and he signed to + me that there was no hope.” + </p> + <p> + The day after the operation Desire died,—carried off by the fever + and the shock to the system that succeed operations of this nature. Madame + Minoret, whose heart had no other tender feeling than maternity, became + insane after the burial of her son, and was taken by her husband to the + establishment of Doctor Blanche, where she died in 1841. + </p> + <p> + Three months after these events, in January, 1837, Ursula married Savinien + with Madame de Portenduere’s consent. Minoret took part in the marriage + contract and insisted on giving Mademoiselle Mirouet his estate at Rouvre + and an income of twenty-four thousand francs from the Funds; keeping for + himself only his uncle’s house and ten thousand francs a year. He has + become the most charitable of men, and the most religious; he is + churchwarden of the parish, and has made himself the providence of the + unfortunate. + </p> + <p> + “The poor take the place of my son,” he said. + </p> + <p> + If you have ever noticed by the wayside, in countries where they poll the + oaks, some old tree, whitened and as if blasted, still throwing out its + twigs though its trunk is riven and seems to implore the axe, you will + have an idea of the old post master, with his white hair,—broken, + emaciated, in whom the elders of the town can see no trace of the jovial + dullard whom you first saw watching for his son at the beginning of this + history; he does not even take his snuff as he once did; he carries + something more now than the weight of his body. Beholding him, we feel + that the hand of God was laid upon that figure to make it an awful + warning. After hating so violently his uncle’s godchild the old man now, + like Doctor Minoret himself, has concentrated all his affections on her, + and has made himself the manager of her property in Nemours. + </p> + <p> + Monsieur and Madame de Portenduere pass five months of the year in Paris, + where they have bought a handsome house in the Faubourg Saint-Germain. + Madame de Portenduere the elder, after giving her house in Nemours to the + Sisters of Charity for a free school, went to live at Rouvre, where La + Bougival keeps the porter’s lodge. Cabirolle, the former conductor of the + “Ducler,” a man sixty years of age, has married La Bougival and the twelve + hundred francs a year which she possesses besides the ample emoluments of + her place. Young Cabirolle is Monsieur de Portenduere’s coachman. + </p> + <p> + If you happen to see in the Champs-Elysees one of those charming little + low carriages called ‘escargots,’ lined with gray silk and trimmed with + blue, and containing a pretty young woman whom you admire because her face + is wreathed in innumerable fair curls, her eyes luminous as forget-me-nots + and filled with love; if you see her bending slightly towards a fine young + man, and, if you are, for a moment, conscious of envy—pause and + reflect that this handsome couple, beloved of God, have paid their quota + to the sorrows of life in times now past. These married lovers are the + Vicomte de Portenduere and his wife. There is not another such home in + Paris as theirs. + </p> + <p> + “It is the sweetest happiness I have ever seen,” said the Comtesse de + l’Estorade, speaking of them lately. + </p> + <p> + Bless them, therefore, and be not envious; seek an Ursula for yourselves, + a young girl brought up by three old men, and by the best of all mothers—adversity. + </p> + <p> + Goupil, who does service to everybody and is justly considered the + wittiest man in Nemours, has won the esteem of the little town, but he is + punished in his children, who are rickety and hydrocephalous. Dionis, his + predecessor, flourishes in the Chamber of Deputies, of which he is one of + the finest ornaments, to the great satisfaction of the king of the French, + who sees Madame Dionis at all his balls. Madame Dionis relates to the + whole town of Nemours the particulars of her receptions at the Tuileries + and the splendor of the court of the king of the French. She lords it over + Nemours by means of the throne, which therefore must be popular in the + little town. + </p> + <p> + Bongrand is chief-justice of the court of appeals at Melun. His son is in + the way of becoming an honest attorney-general. + </p> + <p> + Madame Cremiere continues to make her delightful speeches. On the occasion + of her daughter’s marriage, she exhorted her to be the working caterpillar + of the household, and to look into everything with the eyes of a sphinx. + Goupil is making a collection of her “slapsus-linquies,” which he calls a + Cremiereana. + </p> + <p> + “We have had the great sorrow of losing our good Abbe Chaperon,” said the + Vicomtesse de Portenduere this winter—having nursed him herself + during his illness. “The whole canton came to his funeral. Nemours is very + fortunate, however, for the successor of that dear saint is the venerable + cure of Saint-Lange.” + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0024" id="link2H_4_0024"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + ADDENDUM + </h2> + <h3> + The following personages appear in other stories of the Human Comedy. + </h3> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Bouvard, Doctor + Scenes from a Courtesan’s Life + + Dionis + The Member for Arcis + + Estorade, Madame de l’ + Letters of Two Brides + The Member for Arcis + + Kergarouet, Comte de + The Purse + The Ball at Sceaux + + Lupeaulx, Clement Chardin des + The Muse of the Department + Eugenie Grandet + A Bachelor’s Establishment + A Distinguished Provincial at Paris + The Government Clerks + Scenes from a Courtesan’s Life + + Marsay, Henri de + The Thirteen + The Unconscious Humorists + Another Study of Woman + The Lily of the Valley + Father Goriot + Jealousies of a Country Twon + A Marriage Settlement + Lost Illusions + A Distinguished Provincial at Paris + Letters of Two Brides + The Ball at Sceaux + Modeste Mignon + The Secrets of a Princess + The Gondreville Mystery + A Daughter of Eve + + Mirouet, Ursule (see Portenduere, Vicomtesse Savinien de) + + Nathan, Madame Raoul + The Muse of the Department + Lost Illusions + A Distinguished Provincial at Paris + Scenes from a Courtesan’s Life + The Government Clerks + A Bachelor’s Establishment + Eugenie Grandet + The Imaginary Mistress + A Prince of Bohemia + A Daughter of Eve + The Unconscious Humorists + + Portenduere, Vicomte Savinien de + The Ball at Sceaux + Scenes from a Courtesan’s Life + Beatrix + + Portenduere, Vicomtesse Savinien de + Another Study of Woman + Beatrix + + Ronquerolles, Marquis de + The Imaginary Mistress + The Peasantry + A Woman of Thirty + Another Study of Woman + The Thirteen + The Member for Arcis + + Rouvre, Marquis du + The Imaginary Mistress + A Start in Life + + Rouvre, Chevalier du + The Imaginary Mistress + + Rubempre, Lucien-Chardon de + Lost Illusions + A Distinguished Provincial at Paris + The Government Clerks + Scenes from a Courtesan’s Life + + Schmucke, Wilhelm + A Daughter of Eve + Scenes from a Courtesan’s Life + Cousin Pons + + Serizy, Comtesse de + A Start in Life + The Thirteen + A Woman of Thirty + Scenes from a Courtesan’s Life + Another Study of Woman + The Imaginary Mistress + + Trailles, Comte Maxime de + Cesar Birotteau + Father Goriot + Gobseck + A Man of Business + The Member for Arcis + The Secrets of a Princess + Cousin Betty + Beatrix + The Unconscious Humorists + + Vandenesse, Marquise Charles de + Cesar Birotteau + The Ball at Sceaux + A Daughter of Eve +</pre> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <div>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 1223 ***</div> +</body> +</html> |