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| author | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 05:16:48 -0700 |
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| committer | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 05:16:48 -0700 |
| commit | b7fa80aecccb2c2a14d2c944ae3de81ae96b08dd (patch) | |
| tree | dd91cea0b7d7f05e356d8baf41af883c1c538f30 /1277-h | |
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diff --git a/1277-h/1277-h.htm b/1277-h/1277-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..73ac693 --- /dev/null +++ b/1277-h/1277-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,2314 @@ +<?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> + Melmoth Reconciled, 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 1277 ***</div> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <h1> + MELMOTH RECONCILED + </h1> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <h2> + By Honore De Balzac + </h2> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <h3> + Translated by Ellen Marriage + </h3> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <h3> + To Monsieur le General Baron de Pommereul, a token of the friendship<br /> + between our fathers, which survives in their sons.<br /><br /> DE BALZAC.<br /> + </h3> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <h3> + <a href="#link2H_4_0001"> MELMOTH RECONCILED </a><br /><br /> <a + href="#link2H_4_0002"> ADDENDUM </a><br /><br /> + </h3> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> <a name="link2H_4_0001" id="link2H_4_0001"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <h1> + MELMOTH RECONCILED + </h1> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <p> + There is a special variety of human nature obtained in the Social Kingdom + by a process analogous to that of the gardener’s craft in the Vegetable + Kingdom, to wit, by the forcing-house—a species of hybrid which can + be raised neither from seed nor from slips. This product is known as the + Cashier, an anthropomorphous growth, watered by religious doctrine, + trained up in fear of the guillotine, pruned by vice, to flourish on a + third floor with an estimable wife by his side and an uninteresting + family. The number of cashiers in Paris must always be a problem for the + physiologist. Has any one as yet been able to state correctly the terms of + the proportion sum wherein the cashier figures as the unknown <i>x</i>? + Where will you find the man who shall live with wealth, like a cat with a + caged mouse? This man, for further qualification, shall be capable of + sitting boxed in behind an iron grating for seven or eight hours a day + during seven-eighths of the year, perched upon a cane-seated chair in a + space as narrow as a lieutenant’s cabin on board a man-of-war. Such a man + must be able to defy anchylosis of the knee and thigh joints; he must have + a soul above meanness, in order to live meanly; must lose all relish for + money by dint of handling it. Demand this peculiar specimen of any creed, + educational system, school, or institution you please, and select Paris, + that city of fiery ordeals and branch establishment of hell, as the soil + in which to plant the said cashier. So be it. Creeds, schools, + institutions and moral systems, all human rules and regulations, great and + small, will, one after another, present much the same face that an + intimate friend turns upon you when you ask him to lend you a thousand + francs. With a dolorous dropping of the jaw, they indicate the guillotine, + much as your friend aforesaid will furnish you with the address of the + money-lender, pointing you to one of the hundred gates by which a man + comes to the last refuge of the destitute. + </p> + <p> + Yet nature has her freaks in the making of a man’s mind; she indulges + herself and makes a few honest folk now and again, and now and then a + cashier. + </p> + <p> + Wherefore, that race of corsairs whom we dignify with the title of + bankers, the gentry who take out a license for which they pay a thousand + crowns, as the privateer takes out his letters of marque, hold these rare + products of the incubations of virtue in such esteem that they confine + them in cages in their counting-houses, much as governments procure and + maintain specimens of strange beasts at their own charges. + </p> + <p> + If the cashier is possessed of an imagination or of a fervid temperament; + if, as will sometimes happen to the most complete cashier, he loves his + wife, and that wife grows tired of her lot, has ambitions, or merely some + vanity in her composition, the cashier is undone. Search the chronicles of + the counting-house. You will not find a single instance of a cashier + attaining <i>a position</i>, as it is called. They are sent to the hulks; + they go to foreign parts; they vegetate on a second floor in the Rue + Saint-Louis among the market gardens of the Marais. Some day, when the + cashiers of Paris come to a sense of their real value, a cashier will be + hardly obtainable for money. Still, certain it is that there are people + who are fit for nothing but to be cashiers, just as the bent of a certain + order of mind inevitably makes for rascality. But, oh marvel of our + civilization! Society rewards virtue with an income of a hundred louis in + old age, a dwelling on a second floor, bread sufficient, occasional new + bandana handkerchiefs, an elderly wife and her offspring. + </p> + <p> + So much for virtue. But for the opposite course, a little boldness, a + faculty for keeping on the windward side of the law, as Turenne outflanked + Montecuculi, and Society will sanction the theft of millions, shower + ribbons upon the thief, cram him with honors, and smother him with + consideration. + </p> + <p> + Government, moreover, works harmoniously with this profoundly illogical + reasoner—Society. Government levies a conscription on the young + intelligence of the kingdom at the age of seventeen or eighteen, a + conscription of precocious brain-work before it is sent up to be submitted + to a process of selection. Nurserymen sort and select seeds in much the + same way. To this process the Government brings professional appraisers of + talent, men who can assay brains as experts assay gold at the Mint. Five + hundred such heads, set afire with hope, are sent up annually by the most + progressive portion of the population; and of these the Government takes + one-third, puts them in sacks called the Ecoles, and shakes them up + together for three years. Though every one of these young plants + represents vast productive power, they are made, as one may say, into + cashiers. They receive appointments; the rank and file of engineers is + made up of them; they are employed as captains of artillery; there is no + (subaltern) grade to which they may not aspire. Finally, when these men, + the pick of the youth of the nation, fattened on mathematics and stuffed + with knowledge, have attained the age of fifty years, they have their + reward, and receive as the price of their services the third-floor + lodging, the wife and family, and all the comforts that sweeten life for + mediocrity. If from among this race of dupes there should escape some five + or six men of genius who climb the highest heights, is it not miraculous? + </p> + <p> + This is an exact statement of the relations between Talent and Probity on + the one hand and Government and Society on the other, in an age that + considers itself to be progressive. Without this prefatory explanation a + recent occurrence in Paris would seem improbable; but preceded by this + summing up of the situation, it will perhaps receive some thoughtful + attention from minds capable of recognizing the real plague-spots of our + civilization, a civilization which since 1815 as been moved by the spirit + of gain rather than by principles of honor. + </p> + <p> + About five o’clock, on a dull autumn afternoon, the cashier of one of the + largest banks in Paris was still at his desk, working by the light of a + lamp that had been lit for some time. In accordance with the use and wont + of commerce, the counting-house was in the darkest corner of the + low-ceiled and far from spacious mezzanine floor, and at the very end of a + passage lighted only by borrowed lights. The office doors along this + corridor, each with its label, gave the place the look of a bath-house. At + four o’clock the stolid porter had proclaimed, according to his orders, + “The bank is closed.” And by this time the departments were deserted, + wives of the partners in the firm were expecting their lovers; the two + bankers dining with their mistresses. Everything was in order. + </p> + <p> + The place where the strong boxes had been bedded in sheet-iron was just + behind the little sanctum, where the cashier was busy. Doubtless he was + balancing his books. The open front gave a glimpse of a safe of hammered + iron, so enormously heavy (thanks to the science of the modern inventor) + that burglars could not carry it away. The door only opened at the + pleasure of those who knew its password. The letter-lock was a warden who + kept its own secret and could not be bribed; the mysterious word was an + ingenious realization of the “Open sesame!” in the <i>Arabian Nights</i>. + But even this was as nothing. A man might discover the password; but + unless he knew the lock’s final secret, the <i>ultima ratio</i> of this + gold-guarding dragon of mechanical science, it discharged a blunderbuss at + his head. + </p> + <p> + The door of the room, the walls of the room, the shutters of the windows + in the room, the whole place, in fact, was lined with sheet-iron a third + of an inch in thickness, concealed behind the thin wooden paneling. The + shutters had been closed, the door had been shut. If ever man could feel + confident that he was absolutely alone, and that there was no remote + possibility of being watched by prying eyes, that man was the cashier of + the house of Nucingen and Company, in the Rue Saint-Lazare. + </p> + <p> + Accordingly the deepest silence prevailed in that iron cave. The fire had + died out in the stove, but the room was full of that tepid warmth which + produces the dull heavy-headedness and nauseous queasiness of a morning + after an orgy. The stove is a mesmerist that plays no small part in the + reduction of bank clerks and porters to a state of idiocy. + </p> + <p> + A room with a stove in it is a retort in which the power of strong men is + evaporated, where their vitality is exhausted, and their wills enfeebled. + Government offices are part of a great scheme for the manufacture of the + mediocrity necessary for the maintenance of a Feudal System on a pecuniary + basis—and money is the foundation of the Social Contract. (See <i>Les + Employes</i>.) The mephitic vapors in the atmosphere of a crowded room + contribute in no small degree to bring about a gradual deterioration of + intelligences, the brain that gives off the largest quantity of nitrogen + asphyxiates the others, in the long run. + </p> + <p> + The cashier was a man of five-and-forty or thereabouts. As he sat at the + table, the light from a moderator lamp shining full on his bald head and + glistening fringe of iron-gray hair that surrounded it—this baldness + and the round outlines of his face made his head look very like a ball. + His complexion was brick-red, a few wrinkles had gathered about his eyes, + but he had the smooth, plump hands of a stout man. His blue cloth coat, a + little rubbed and worn, and the creases and shininess of his trousers, + traces of hard wear that the clothes-brush fails to remove, would impress + a superficial observer with the idea that here was a thrifty and upright + human being, sufficient of the philosopher or of the aristocrat to wear + shabby clothes. But, unluckily, it is easy to find penny-wise people who + will prove weak, wasteful, or incompetent in the capital things of life. + </p> + <p> + The cashier wore the ribbon of the Legion of Honor at his button-hole, for + he had been a major of dragoons in the time of the Emperor. M. de + Nucingen, who had been a contractor before he became a banker, had had + reason in those days to know the honorable disposition of his cashier, who + then occupied a high position. Reverses of fortune had befallen the major, + and the banker out of regard for him paid him five hundred francs a month. + The soldier had become a cashier in the year 1813, after his recovery from + a wound received at Studzianka during the Retreat from Moscow, followed by + six months of enforced idleness at Strasbourg, whither several officers + had been transported by order of the Emperor, that they might receive + skilled attention. This particular officer, Castanier by name, retired + with the honorary grade of colonel, and a pension of two thousand four + hundred francs. + </p> + <p> + In ten years’ time the cashier had completely effaced the soldier, and + Castanier inspired the banker with such trust in him, that he was + associated in the transactions that went on in the private office behind + his little counting-house. The baron himself had access to it by means of + a secret staircase. There, matters of business were decided. It was the + bolting-room where proposals were sifted; the privy council chamber where + the reports of the money market were analyzed; circular notes issued + thence; and finally, the private ledger and the journal which summarized + the work of all the departments were kept there. + </p> + <p> + Castanier had gone himself to shut the door which opened on to a staircase + that led to the parlor occupied by the two bankers on the first floor of + their hotel. This done, he had sat down at his desk again, and for a + moment he gazed at a little collection of letters of credit drawn on the + firm of Watschildine of London. Then he had taken up the pen and imitated + the banker’s signature on each. <i>Nucingen</i> he wrote, and eyed the + forged signatures critically to see which seemed the most perfect copy. + </p> + <p> + Suddenly he looked up as if a needle had pricked him. “You are not alone!” + a boding voice seemed to cry in his heart; and indeed the forger saw a man + standing at the little grated window of the counting-house, a man whose + breathing was so noiseless that he did not seem to breathe at all. + Castanier looked, and saw that the door at the end of the passage was wide + open; the stranger must have entered by that way. + </p> + <p> + For the first time in his life the old soldier felt a sensation of dread + that made him stare open-mouthed and wide-eyed at the man before him; and + for that matter, the appearance of the apparition was sufficiently + alarming even if unaccompanied by the mysterious circumstances of so + sudden an entry. The rounded forehead, the harsh coloring of the long oval + face, indicated quite as plainly as the cut of his clothes that the man + was an Englishman, reeking of his native isles. You had only to look at + the collar of his overcoat, at the voluminous cravat which smothered the + crushed frills of a shirt front so white that it brought out the + changeless leaden hue of an impassive face, and the thin red line of the + lips that seemed made to suck the blood of corpses; and you can guess at + once at the black gaiters buttoned up to the knee, and the + half-puritanical costume of a wealthy Englishman dressed for a walking + excursion. The intolerable glitter of the stranger’s eyes produced a vivid + and unpleasant impression, which was only deepened by the rigid outlines + of his features. The dried-up, emaciated creature seemed to carry within + him some gnawing thought that consumed him and could not be appeased. + </p> + <p> + He must have digested his food so rapidly that he could doubtless eat + continually without bringing any trace of color into his face or features. + A tun of Tokay <i>vin de succession</i> would not have caused any + faltering in that piercing glance that read men’s inmost thoughts, nor + dethroned the merciless reasoning faculty that always seemed to go to the + bottom of things. There was something of the fell and tranquil majesty of + a tiger about him. + </p> + <p> + “I have come to cash this bill of exchange, sir,” he said. Castanier felt + the tones of his voice thrill through every nerve with a violent shock + similar to that given by a discharge of electricity. + </p> + <p> + “The safe is closed,” said Castanier. + </p> + <p> + “It is open,” said the Englishman, looking round the counting-house. + “To-morrow is Sunday, and I cannot wait. The amount is for five hundred + thousand francs. You have the money there, and I must have it.” + </p> + <p> + “But how did you come in, sir?” + </p> + <p> + The Englishman smiled. That smile frightened Castanier. No words could + have replied more fully nor more peremptorily than that scornful and + imperial curl of the stranger’s lips. Castanier turned away, took up fifty + packets each containing ten thousand francs in bank-notes, and held them + out to the stranger, receiving in exchange for them a bill accepted by the + Baron de Nucingen. A sort of convulsive tremor ran through him as he saw a + red gleam in the stranger’s eyes when they fell on the forged signature on + the letter of credit. + </p> + <p> + “It... it wants your signature...” stammered Castanier, handing back the + bill. + </p> + <p> + “Hand me your pen,” answered the Englishman. + </p> + <p> + Castanier handed him the pen with which he had just committed forgery. The + stranger wrote <i>John Melmoth</i>, then he returned the slip of paper and + the pen to the cashier. Castanier looked at the handwriting, noticing that + it sloped from right to left in the Eastern fashion, and Melmoth + disappeared so noiselessly that when Castanier looked up again an + exclamation broke from him, partly because the man was no longer there, + partly because he felt a strange painful sensation such as our imagination + might take for an effect of poison. + </p> + <p> + The pen that Melmoth had handled sent the same sickening heat through him + that an emetic produces. But it seemed impossible to Castanier that the + Englishman should have guessed his crime. His inward qualms he attributed + to the palpitation of the heart that, according to received ideas, was + sure to follow at once on such a “turn” as the stranger had given him. + </p> + <p> + “The devil take it; I am very stupid. Providence is watching over me; for + if that brute had come round to see my gentleman to-morrow, my goose would + have been cooked!” said Castanier, and he burned the unsuccessful attempts + at forgery in the stove. + </p> + <p> + He put the bill that he meant to take with him in an envelope, and helped + himself to five hundred thousand francs in French and English bank-notes + from the safe, which he locked. Then he put everything in order, lit a + candle, blew out the lamp, took up his hat and umbrella, and went out + sedately, as usual, to leave one of the two keys of the strong room with + Madame de Nucingen, in the absence of her husband the Baron. + </p> + <p> + “You are in luck, M. Castanier,” said the banker’s wife as he entered the + room; “we have a holiday on Monday; you can go into the country, or to + Soizy.” + </p> + <p> + “Madame, will you be so good as to tell your husband that the bill of + exchange on Watschildine, which was behind time, has just been presented? + The five hundred thousand francs have been paid; so I shall not come back + till noon on Tuesday.” + </p> + <p> + “Good-bye, monsieur; I hope you will have a pleasant time.” + </p> + <p> + “The same to you, madame,” replied the old dragoon as he went out. He + glanced as he spoke at a young man well known in fashionable society at + that time, a M. de Rastignac, who was regarded as Madame de Nucingen’s + lover. + </p> + <p> + “Madame,” remarked this latter, “the old boy looks to me as if he meant to + play you some ill turn.” + </p> + <p> + “Pshaw! impossible; he is too stupid.” + </p> + <p> + “Piquoizeau,” said the cashier, walking into the porter’s room, “what made + you let anybody come up after four o’clock?” + </p> + <p> + “I have been smoking a pipe here in the doorway ever since four o’clock,” + said the man, “and nobody has gone into the bank. Nobody has come out + either except the gentlemen——” + </p> + <p> + “Are you quite sure?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, upon my word and honor. Stay, though, at four o’clock M. Werbrust’s + friend came, a young fellow from Messrs. du Tillet & Co., in the Rue + Joubert.” + </p> + <p> + “All right,” said Castanier, and he hurried away. + </p> + <p> + The sickening sensation of heat that he had felt when he took back the pen + returned in greater intensity. “<i>Mille diables</i>!” thought he, as he + threaded his way along the Boulevard de Gand, “haven’t I taken proper + precautions? Let me think! Two clear days, Sunday and Monday, then a day + of uncertainty before they begin to look for me; altogether, three days + and four nights’ respite. I have a couple of passports and two different + disguises; is not that enough to throw the cleverest detective off the + scent? On Tuesday morning I shall draw a million francs in London before + the slightest suspicion has been aroused. My debts I am leaving behind for + the benefit of my creditors, who will put a ‘P’ * on the bills, and I shall + live comfortably in Italy for the rest of my days as the Conte Ferraro. + [*Protested.] I was alone with him when he died, poor fellow, in the marsh + of Zembin, and I shall slip into his skin.... <i>Mille diables</i>! the + woman who is to follow after me might give them a clue! Think of an old + campaigner like me infatuated enough to tie myself to a petticoat tail!... + Why take her? I must leave her behind. Yes, I could make up my mind to it; + but—I know myself—I should be ass enough to go back to her. + Still, nobody knows Aquilina. Shall I take her or leave her?” + </p> + <p> + “You will not take her!” cried a voice that filled Castanier with + sickening dread. He turned sharply, and saw the Englishman. + </p> + <p> + “The devil is in it!” cried the cashier aloud. + </p> + <p> + Melmoth had passed his victim by this time; and if Castanier’s first + impulse had been to fasten a quarrel on a man who read his own thoughts, + he was so much torn up by opposing feelings that the immediate result was + a temporary paralysis. When he resumed his walk he fell once more into + that fever of irresolution which besets those who are so carried away by + passion that they are ready to commit a crime, but have not sufficient + strength of character to keep it to themselves without suffering terribly + in the process. So, although Castanier had made up his mind to reap the + fruits of a crime which was already half executed, he hesitated to carry + out his designs. For him, as for many men of mixed character in whom + weakness and strength are equally blended, the least trifling + consideration determines whether they shall continue to lead blameless + lives or become actively criminal. In the vast masses of men enrolled in + Napoleon’s armies there are many who, like Castanier, possessed the purely + physical courage demanded on the battlefield, yet lacked the moral courage + which makes a man as great in crime as he could have been in virtue. + </p> + <p> + The letter of credit was drafted in such terms that immediately on his + arrival he might draw twenty-five thousand pounds on the firm of + Watschildine, the London correspondents of the house of Nucingen. The + London house had already been advised of the draft about to be made upon + them, he had written to them himself. He had instructed an agent (chosen + at random) to take his passage in a vessel which was to leave Portsmouth + with a wealthy English family on board, who were going to Italy, and the + passage-money had been paid in the name of the Conte Ferraro. The smallest + details of the scheme had been thought out. He had arranged matters so as + to divert the search that would be made for him into Belgium and + Switzerland, while he himself was at sea in the English vessel. Then, by + the time that Nucingen might flatter himself that he was on the track of + his late cashier, the said cashier, as the Conte Ferraro, hoped to be safe + in Naples. He had determined to disfigure his face in order to disguise + himself the more completely, and by means of an acid to imitate the scars + of smallpox. Yet, in spite of all these precautions, which surely seemed + as if they must secure him complete immunity, his conscience tormented + him; he was afraid. The even and peaceful life that he had led for so long + had modified the morality of the camp. His life was stainless as yet; he + could not sully it without a pang. So for the last time he abandoned + himself to all the influences of the better self that strenuously + resisted. + </p> + <p> + “Pshaw!” he said at last, at the corner of the Boulevard and the Rue + Montmartre, “I will take a cab after the play this evening and go out to + Versailles. A post-chaise will be ready for me at my old quartermaster’s + place. He would keep my secret even if a dozen men were standing ready to + shoot him down. The chances are all in my favor, so far as I see; so I + shall take my little Naqui with me, and I will go.” + </p> + <p> + “You will not go!” exclaimed the Englishman, and the strange tones of his + voice drove all the cashier’s blood back to his heart. + </p> + <p> + Melmoth stepped into a tilbury which was waiting for him, and was whirled + away so quickly, that when Castanier looked up he saw his foe some hundred + paces away from him, and before it even crossed his mind to cut off the + man’s retreat the tilbury was far on its way up the Boulevard Montmartre. + </p> + <p> + “Well, upon my word, there is something supernatural about this!” said he + to himself. “If I were fool enough to believe in God, I should think that + He had set Saint Michael on my tracks. Suppose that the devil and the + police should let me go on as I please, so as to nab me in the nick of + time? Did any one ever see the like! But there, this is folly...” + </p> + <p> + Castanier went along the Rue du Faubourg-Montmartre, slackening his pace + as he neared the Rue Richer. There on the second floor of a block of + buildings which looked out upon some gardens lived the unconscious cause + of Castanier’s crime—a young woman known in the quarter as Mme. de + la Garde. A concise history of certain events in the cashier’s past life + must be given in order to explain these facts, and to give a complete + presentment of the crisis when he yielded to temptation. + </p> + <p> + Mme. de la Garde said that she was a Piedmontese. No one, not even + Castanier, knew her real name. She was one of those young girls, who are + driven by dire misery, by inability to earn a living, or by fear of + starvation, to have recourse to a trade which most of them loathe, many + regard with indifference, and some few follow in obedience to the laws of + their constitution. But on the brink of the gulf of prostitution in Paris, + the young girl of sixteen, beautiful and pure as the Madonna, had met with + Castanier. The old dragoon was too rough and homely to make his way in + society, and he was tired of tramping the boulevard at night and of the + kind of conquests made there by gold. For some time past he had desired to + bring a certain regularity into an irregular life. He was struck by the + beauty of the poor child who had drifted by chance into his arms, and his + determination to rescue her from the life of the streets was half + benevolent, half selfish, as some of the thoughts of the best of men are + apt to be. Social conditions mingle elements of evil with the promptings + of natural goodness of heart, and the mixture of motives underlying a + man’s intentions should be leniently judged. Castanier had just cleverness + enough to be very shrewd where his own interests were concerned. So he + concluded to be a philanthropist on either count, and at first made her + his mistress. + </p> + <p> + “Hey! hey!” he said to himself, in his soldierly fashion. “I am an old + wolf, and a sheep shall not make a fool of me. Castanier, old man, before + you set up housekeeping, reconnoitre the girl’s character for a bit, and + see if she is a steady sort.” + </p> + <p> + This irregular union gave the Piedmontese a status the most nearly + approaching respectability among those which the world declines to + recognize. During the first year she took the <i>nom de guerre</i> of + Aquilina, one of the characters in <i>Venice Preserved</i> which she had + chanced to read. She fancied that she resembled the courtesan in face and + general appearance, and in a certain precocity of heart and brain of which + she was conscious. When Castanier found that her life was as well + regulated and virtuous as was possible for a social outlaw, he manifested + a desire that they should live as husband and wife. So she took the name + of Mme. de la Garde, in order to approach, as closely as Parisian usages + permit, the conditions of a real marriage. As a matter of fact, many of + these unfortunate girls have one fixed idea, to be looked upon as + respectable middle-class women, who lead humdrum lives of faithfulness to + their husbands; women who would make excellent mothers, keepers of + household accounts, and menders of household linen. This longing springs + from a sentiment so laudable, that society should take it into + consideration. But society, incorrigible as ever, will assuredly persist + in regarding the married woman as a corvette duly authorized by her flag + and papers to go on her own course, while the woman who is a wife in all + but name is a pirate and an outlaw for lack of a document. A day came when + Mme. de la Garde would fain have signed herself “Mme. Castanier.” The + cashier was put out by this. + </p> + <p> + “So you do not love me well enough to marry me?” she said. + </p> + <p> + Castanier did not answer; he was absorbed by his thoughts. The poor girl + resigned herself to her fate. The ex-dragoon was in despair. Naqui’s heart + softened towards him at the sight of his trouble; she tried to soothe him, + but what could she do when she did not know what ailed him? When Naqui + made up her mind to know the secret, although she never asked him a + question, the cashier dolefully confessed to the existence of a Mme. + Castanier. This lawful wife, a thousand times accursed, was living in a + humble way in Strasbourg on a small property there; he wrote to her twice + a year, and kept the secret of her existence so well, that no one + suspected that he was married. The reason of this reticence? If it is + familiar to many military men who may chance to be in a like predicament, + it is perhaps worth while to give the story. + </p> + <p> + Your genuine trooper (if it is allowable here to employ the word which in + the army signifies a man who is destined to die as a captain) is a sort of + serf, a part and parcel of his regiment, an essentially simple creature, + and Castanier was marked out by nature as a victim to the wiles of mothers + with grown-up daughters left too long on their hands. It was at Nancy, + during one of those brief intervals of repose when the Imperial armies + were not on active service abroad, that Castanier was so unlucky as to pay + some attention to a young lady with whom he danced at a <i>ridotto</i>, + the provincial name for the entertainments often given by the military to + the townsfolk, or vice versa, in garrison towns. A scheme for inveigling + the gallant captain into matrimony was immediately set on foot, one of + those schemes by which mothers secure accomplices in a human heart by + touching all its motive springs, while they convert all their friends into + fellow-conspirators. Like all people possessed by one idea, these ladies + press everything into the service of their great project, slowly + elaborating their toils, much as the ant-lion excavates its funnel in the + sand and lies in wait at the bottom for its victim. Suppose that no one + strays, after all, into that carefully constructed labyrinth? Suppose that + the ant-lion dies of hunger and thirst in her pit? Such things may be, but + if any heedless creature once enters in, it never comes out. All the wires + which could be pulled to induce action on the captain’s part were tried; + appeals were made to the secret interested motives that always come into + play in such cases; they worked on Castanier’s hopes and on the weaknesses + and vanity of human nature. Unluckily, he had praised the daughter to her + mother when he brought her back after a waltz, a little chat followed, and + then an invitation in the most natural way in the world. Once introduced + into the house, the dragoon was dazzled by the hospitality of a family who + appeared to conceal their real wealth beneath a show of careful economy. + He was skilfully flattered on all sides, and every one extolled for his + benefit the various treasures there displayed. A neatly timed dinner, + served on plate lent by an uncle, the attention shown to him by the only + daughter of the house, the gossip of the town, a well-to-do sub-lieutenant + who seemed likely to cut the ground from under his feet—all the + innumerable snares, in short, of the provincial ant-lion were set for him, + and to such good purpose, that Castanier said five years later, “To this + day I do not know how it came about!” + </p> + <p> + The dragoon received fifteen thousand francs with the lady, who after two + years of marriage, became the ugliest and consequently the most peevish + woman on earth. Luckily they had no children. The fair complexion + (maintained by a Spartan regimen), the fresh, bright color in her face, + which spoke of an engaging modesty, became overspread with blotches and + pimples; her figure, which had seemed so straight, grew crooked, the angel + became a suspicious and shrewish creature who drove Castanier frantic. + Then the fortune took to itself wings. At length the dragoon, no longer + recognizing the woman whom he had wedded, left her to live on a little + property at Strasbourg, until the time when it should please God to remove + her to adorn Paradise. She was one of those virtuous women who, for want + of other occupation, would weary the life out of an angel with + complainings, who pray till (if their prayers are heard in heaven) they + must exhaust the patience of the Almighty, and say everything that is bad + of their husbands in dovelike murmurs over a game of boston with their + neighbors. When Aquilina learned all these troubles she clung still more + affectionately to Castanier, and made him so happy, varying with woman’s + ingenuity the pleasures with which she filled his life, that all + unwittingly she was the cause of the cashier’s downfall. + </p> + <p> + Like many women who seem by nature destined to sound all the depths of + love, Mme. de la Garde was disinterested. She asked neither for gold nor + for jewelry, gave no thought to the future, lived entirely for the present + and for the pleasures of the present. She accepted expensive ornaments and + dresses, the carriage so eagerly coveted by women of her class, as one + harmony the more in the picture of life. There was absolutely no vanity in + her desire not to appear at a better advantage but to look the fairer, and + moreover, no woman could live without luxuries more cheerfully. When a man + of generous nature (and military men are mostly of this stamp) meets with + such a woman, he feels a sort of exasperation at finding himself her + debtor in generosity. He feels that he could stop a mail coach to obtain + money for her if he has not sufficient for her whims. He will commit a + crime if so he may be great and noble in the eyes of some woman or of his + special public; such is the nature of the man. Such a lover is like a + gambler who would be dishonored in his own eyes if he did not repay the + sum he borrowed from a waiter in a gaming-house; but will shrink from no + crime, will leave his wife and children without a penny, and rob and + murder, if so he may come to the gaming-table with a full purse, and his + honor remain untarnished among the frequenters of that fatal abode. So it + was with Castanier. + </p> + <p> + He had begun by installing Aquiline is a modest fourth-floor dwelling, the + furniture being of the simplest kind. But when he saw the girl’s beauty + and great qualities, when he had known inexpressible and unlooked-for + happiness with her, he began to dote upon her; and longed to adorn his + idol. Then Aquilina’s toilette was so comically out of keeping with her + poor abode, that for both their sakes it was clearly incumbent on him to + move. The change swallowed up almost all Castanier’s savings, for he + furnished his domestic paradise with all the prodigality that is lavished + on a kept mistress. A pretty woman must have everything pretty about her; + the unity of charm in the woman and her surroundings singles her out from + among her sex. This sentiment of homogeneity indeed, though it has + frequently escaped the attention of observers, is instinctive in human + nature; and the same prompting leads elderly spinsters to surround + themselves with dreary relics of the past. But the lovely Piedmontese must + have the newest and latest fashions, and all that was daintiest and + prettiest in stuffs for hangings, in silks or jewelry, in fine china and + other brittle and fragile wares. She asked for nothing; but when she was + called upon to make a choice, when Castanier asked her, “Which do you + like?” she would answer, “Why, this is the nicest!” Love never counts the + cost, and Castanier therefore always took the “nicest.” + </p> + <p> + When once the standard had been set up, there was nothing for it but + everything in the household must be in conformity, from the linen, plate, + and crystal through a thousand and one items of expenditure down to the + pots and pans in the kitchen. Castanier had meant to “do things simply,” + as the saying goes, but he gradually found himself more and more in debt. + One expense entailed another. The clock called for candle sconces. Fires + must be lighted in the ornamental grates, but the curtains and hangings + were too fresh and delicate to be soiled by smuts, so they must be + replaced by patent and elaborate fireplaces, warranted to give out no + smoke, recent inventions of the people who are so clever at drawing up a + prospectus. Then Aquilina found it so nice to run about barefooted on the + carpet in her room, that Castanier must have soft carpets laid everywhere + for the pleasure of playing with Naqui. A bathroom, too, was built for + her, everything to the end that she might be more comfortable. + </p> + <p> + Shopkeepers, workmen, and manufacturers in Paris have a mysterious knack + of enlarging a hole in a man’s purse. They cannot give the price of + anything upon inquiry; and as the paroxysm of longing cannot abide delay, + orders are given by the feeble light of an approximate estimate of cost. + The same people never send in the bills at once, but ply the purchaser + with furniture till his head spins. Everything is so pretty, so charming; + and every one is satisfied. + </p> + <p> + A few months later the obliging furniture dealers are metamorphosed, and + reappear in the shape of alarming totals on invoices that fill the soul + with their horrid clamor; they are in urgent want of the money; they are, + as you may say on the brink of bankruptcy, their tears flow, it is + heartrending to hear them! And then——the gulf yawns, and gives + up serried columns of figures marching four deep, when as a matter of fact + they should have issued innocently three by three. + </p> + <p> + Before Castanier had any idea of how much he had spent, he had arranged + for Aquilina to have a carriage from a livery stable when she went out, + instead of a cab. Castanier was a gourmand; he engaged an excellent cook; + and Aquilina, to please him, had herself made the purchases of early fruit + and vegetables, rare delicacies, and exquisite wines. But, as Aquilina had + nothing of her own, these gifts of hers, so precious by reason of the + thought and tact and graciousness that prompted them, were no less a drain + upon Castanier’s purse; he did not like his Naqui to be without money, and + Naqui could not keep money in her pocket. So the table was a heavy item of + expenditure for a man with Castanier’s income. The ex-dragoon was + compelled to resort to various shifts for obtaining money, for he could + not bring himself to renounce this delightful life. He loved the woman too + well to cross the freaks of the mistress. He was one of those men who, + through self-love or through weakness of character, can refuse nothing to + a woman; false shame overpowers them, and they rather face ruin than make + the admissions: “I cannot——” “My means will not permit——” + “I cannot afford——” + </p> + <p> + When, therefore, Castanier saw that if he meant to emerge from the abyss + of debt into which he had plunged, he must part with Aquilina and live + upon bread and water, he was so unable to do without her or to change his + habits of life, that daily he put off his plans of reform until the + morrow. The debts were pressing, and he began by borrowing money. His + position and previous character inspired confidence, and of this he took + advantage to devise a system of borrowing money as he required it. Then, + as the total amount of debt rapidly increased, he had recourse to those + commercial inventions known as accommodation bills. This form of bill does + not represent goods or other value received, and the first endorser pays + the amount named for the obliging person who accepts it. This species of + fraud is tolerated because it is impossible to detect it, and, moreover, + it is an imaginary fraud which only becomes real if payment is ultimately + refused. + </p> + <p> + When at length it was evidently impossible to borrow any longer, whether + because the amount of the debt was now so greatly increased, or because + Castanier was unable to pay the large amount of interest on the aforesaid + sums of money, the cashier saw bankruptcy before him. On making this + discovery, he decided for a fraudulent bankruptcy rather than an ordinary + failure, and preferred a crime to a misdemeanor. He determined, after the + fashion of the celebrated cashier of the Royal Treasury, to abuse the + trust deservedly won, and to increase the number of his creditors by + making a final loan of the sum sufficient to keep him in comfort in a + foreign country for the rest of his days. All this, as has been seen, he + had prepared to do. + </p> + <p> + Aquilina knew nothing of the irksome cares of this life; she enjoyed her + existence, as many a woman does, making no inquiry as to where the money + came from, even as sundry other folk will eat their buttered rolls + untroubled by any restless spirit of curiosity as to the culture and + growth of wheat; but as the labor and miscalculations of agriculture lie + on the other side of the baker’s oven, so beneath the unappreciated luxury + of many a Parisian household lie intolerable anxieties and exorbitant + toil. + </p> + <p> + While Castanier was enduring the torture of the strain, and his thoughts + were full of the deed that should change his whole life, Aquilina was + lying luxuriously back in a great armchair by the fireside, beguiling the + time by chatting with her waiting-maid. As frequently happens in such + cases the maid had become the mistress’ confidant, Jenny having first + assured herself that her mistress’ ascendency over Castanier was complete. + </p> + <p> + “What are we to do this evening? Leon seems determined to come,” Mme. de + la Garde was saying, as she read a passionate epistle indited upon a faint + gray notepaper. + </p> + <p> + “Here is the master!” said Jenny. + </p> + <p> + Castanier came in. Aquilina, nowise disconcerted, crumpled up the letter, + took it with the tongs, and held it in the flames. + </p> + <p> + “So that is what you do with your love-letters, is it?” asked Castanier. + </p> + <p> + “Oh goodness, yes,” said Aquilina; “is it not the best way of keeping them + safe? Besides, fire should go to fire, as water makes for the river.” + </p> + <p> + “You are talking as if it were a real love-letter, Naqui——” + </p> + <p> + “Well, am I not handsome enough to receive them?” she said, holding up her + forehead for a kiss. There was a carelessness in her manner that would + have told any man less blind than Castanier that it was only a piece of + conjugal duty, as it were, to give this joy to the cashier, but use and + wont had brought Castanier to the point where clear-sightedness is no + longer possible for love. + </p> + <p> + “I have taken a box at the Gymnase this evening,” he said; “let us have + dinner early, and then we need not dine in a hurry.” + </p> + <p> + “Go and take Jenny. I am tired of plays. I do not know what is the matter + with me this evening; I would rather stay here by the fire.” + </p> + <p> + “Come, all the same though, Naqui; I shall not be here to bore you much + longer. Yes, Quiqui, I am going to start to-night, and it will be some + time before I come back again. I am leaving everything in your charge. + Will you keep your heart for me too?” + </p> + <p> + “Neither my heart nor anything else,” she said; “but when you come back + again, Naqui will still be Naqui for you.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, this is frankness. So you would not follow me?” + </p> + <p> + “No.” + </p> + <p> + “Why not?” + </p> + <p> + “Eh! why, how can I leave the lover who writes me such sweet little + notes?” she asked, pointing to the blackened scrap of paper with a mocking + smile. + </p> + <p> + “Is there any truth in it?” asked Castanier. “Have you really a lover?” + </p> + <p> + “Really!” cried Aquilina; “and have you never given it a serious thought, + dear? To begin with, you are fifty years old. Then you have just the sort + of face to put on a fruit stall; if the woman tried to see you for a + pumpkin, no one would contradict her. You puff and blow like a seal when + you come upstairs; your paunch rises and falls like a diamond on a woman’s + forehead! It is pretty plain that you served in the dragoons; you are a + very ugly-looking old man. Fiddle-de-dee. If you have any mind to keep my + respect, I recommend you not to add imbecility to these qualities by + imagining that such a girl as I am will be content with your asthmatic + love, and not look for youth and good looks and pleasure by way of a + variety——” + </p> + <p> + “Aquilina! you are laughing, of course?” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, very well; and are you not laughing too? Do you take me for a fool, + telling me that you are going away? ‘I am going to start to-night!’” she + said, mimicking his tones. “Stuff and nonsense! Would you talk like that + if you were really going from your Naqui? You would cry, like the booby + that you are!” + </p> + <p> + “After all, if I go, will you follow?” he asked. + </p> + <p> + “Tell me first whether this journey of yours is a bad joke or not.” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, seriously, I am going.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, then, seriously, I shall stay. A pleasant journey to you, my boy! I + will wait till you come back. I would sooner take leave of life than take + leave of my dear, cozy Paris——” + </p> + <p> + “Will you not come to Italy, to Naples, and lead a pleasant life there—a + delicious, luxurious life, with this stout old fogy of yours, who puffs + and blows like a seal?” + </p> + <p> + “No.” + </p> + <p> + “Ungrateful girl!” + </p> + <p> + “Ungrateful?” she cried, rising to her feet. “I might leave this house + this moment and take nothing out of it but myself. I shall have given you + all the treasures a young girl can give, and something that not every drop + in your veins and mine can ever give me back. If, by any means whatever, + by selling my hopes of eternity, for instance, I could recover my past + self, body and soul (for I have, perhaps, redeemed my soul), and be pure + as a lily for my lover, I would not hesitate a moment! What sort of + devotion has rewarded mine? You have housed and fed me, just as you give a + dog food and a kennel because he is a protection to the house, and he may + take kicks when we are out of humor, and lick our hands as soon as we are + pleased to call him. And which of us two will have been the more + generous?” + </p> + <p> + “Oh! dear child, do you not see that I am joking?” returned Castanier. “I + am going on a short journey; I shall not be away for very long. But come + with me to the Gymnase; I shall start just before midnight, after I have + had time to say good-bye to you.” + </p> + <p> + “Poor pet! so you are really going, are you?” she said. She put her arms + round his neck, and drew down his head against her bodice. + </p> + <p> + “You are smothering me!” cried Castanier, with his face buried in + Aquilina’s breast. That damsel turned to say in Jenny’s ear, “Go to Leon, + and tell him not to come till one o’clock. If you do not find him, and he + comes here during the leave-taking, keep him in your room.—Well,” + she went on, setting free Castanier, and giving a tweak to the tip of his + nose, “never mind, handsomest of seals that you are. I will go to the + theatre with you this evening? But all in good time; let us have dinner! + There is a nice little dinner for you—just what you like.” + </p> + <p> + “It is very hard to part from such a woman as you!” exclaimed Castanier. + </p> + <p> + “Very well then, why do you go?” asked she. + </p> + <p> + “Ah! why? why? If I were to begin to begin to explain the reasons why, I + must tell you things that would prove to you that I love you almost to + madness. Ah! if you have sacrificed your honor for me, I have sold mine + for you; we are quits. Is that love?” + </p> + <p> + “What is all this about?” said she. “Come, now, promise me that if I had a + lover you would still love me as a father; that would be love! Come, now, + promise it at once, and give us your fist upon it.” + </p> + <p> + “I should kill you,” and Castanier smiled as he spoke. + </p> + <p> + They sat down to the dinner table, and went thence to the Gymnase. When + the first part of the performance was over, it occurred to Castanier to + show himself to some of his acquaintances in the house, so as to turn away + any suspicion of his departure. He left Mme. de la Garde in the corner box + where she was seated, according to her modest wont, and went to walk up + and down in the lobby. He had not gone many paces before he saw the + Englishman, and with a sudden return of the sickening sensation of heat + that once before had vibrated through him, and of the terror that he had + felt already, he stood face to face with Melmoth. + </p> + <p> + “Forger!” + </p> + <p> + At the word, Castanier glanced round at the people who were moving about + them. He fancied that he could see astonishment and curiosity in their + eyes, and wishing to be rid of this Englishman at once, he raised his hand + to strike him—and felt his arm paralyzed by some invisible power + that sapped his strength and nailed him to the spot. He allowed the + stranger to take him by the arm, and they walked together to the + green-room like two friends. + </p> + <p> + “Who is strong enough to resist me?” said the Englishman, addressing him. + “Do you not know that everything here on earth must obey me, that it is in + my power to do everything? I read men’s thoughts, I see the future, and I + know the past. I am here, and I can be elsewhere also. Time and space and + distance are nothing to me. The whole world is at my beck and call. I have + the power of continual enjoyment and of giving joy. I can see through + walls, discover hidden treasures, and fill my hands with them. Palaces + arise at my nod, and my architect makes no mistakes. I can make all lands + break forth into blossom, heap up their gold and precious stones, and + surround myself with fair women and ever new faces; everything is yielded + up to my will. I could gamble on the Stock Exchange, and my speculations + would be infallible; but a man who can find the hoards that misers have + hidden in the earth need not trouble himself about stocks. Feel the + strength of the hand that grasps you; poor wretch, doomed to shame! Try to + bend the arm of iron! try to soften the adamantine heart! Fly from me if + you dare! You would hear my voice in the depths of the caves that lie + under the Seine; you might hide in the Catacombs, but would you not see me + there? My voice could be heard through the sound of thunder, my eyes shine + as brightly as the sun, for I am the peer of Lucifer!” + </p> + <p> + Castanier heard the terrible words, and felt no protest nor contradiction + within himself. He walked side by side with the Englishman, and had no + power to leave him. + </p> + <p> + “You are mine; you have just committed a crime. I have found at last the + mate whom I have sought. Have you a mind to learn your destiny? Aha! you + came here to see a play, and you shall see a play—nay, two. Come. + Present me to Mme. de la Garde as one of your best friends. Am I not your + last hope of escape?” + </p> + <p> + Castanier, followed by the stranger, returned to his box; and in + accordance with the order he had just received, he hastened to introduce + Melmoth to Mme. de la Garde. Aquilina seemed to be not in the least + surprised. The Englishman declined to take a seat in front, and Castanier + was once more beside his mistress; the man’s slightest wish must be + obeyed. The last piece was about to begin, for, at that time, small + theatres gave only three pieces. One of the actors had made the Gymnase + the fashion, and that evening Perlet (the actor in question) was to play + in a vaudeville called <i>Le Comedien d’Etampes</i>, in which he filled + four different parts. + </p> + <p> + When the curtain rose, the stranger stretched out his hand over the + crowded house. Castanier’s cry of terror died away, for the walls of his + throat seemed glued together as Melmoth pointed to the stage, and the + cashier knew that the play had been changed at the Englishman’s desire. + </p> + <p> + He saw the strong-room at the bank; he saw the Baron de Nucingen in + conference with a police-officer from the Prefecture, who was informing + him of Castanier’s conduct, explaining that the cashier had absconded with + money taken from the safe, giving the history of the forged signature. The + information was put in writing; the document signed and duly despatched to + the Public Prosecutor. + </p> + <p> + “Are we in time, do you think?” asked Nucingen. + </p> + <p> + “Yes,” said the agent of police; “he is at the Gymnase, and has no + suspicion of anything.” + </p> + <p> + Castanier fidgeted on his chair, and made as if he would leave the + theatre, but Melmoth’s hand lay on his shoulder, and he was obliged to sit + and watch; the hideous power of the man produced an effect like that of + nightmare, and he could not move a limb. Nay, the man himself was the + nightmare; his presence weighed heavily on his victim like a poisoned + atmosphere. When the wretched cashier turned to implore the Englishman’s + mercy, he met those blazing eyes that discharged electric currents, which + pierced through him and transfixed him like darts of steel. + </p> + <p> + “What have I done to you?” he said, in his prostrate helplessness, and he + breathed hard like a stag at the water’s edge. “What do you want of me?” + </p> + <p> + “Look!” cried Melmoth. + </p> + <p> + Castanier looked at the stage. The scene had been changed. The play seemed + to be over, and Castanier beheld himself stepping from the carriage with + Aquilina; but as he entered the courtyard of the house on the Rue Richer, + the scene again was suddenly changed, and he saw his own house. Jenny was + chatting by the fire in her mistress’ room with a subaltern officer of a + line regiment then stationed at Paris. + </p> + <p> + “He is going, is he?” said the sergeant, who seemed to belong to a family + in easy circumstances; “I can be happy at my ease! I love Aquilina too + well to allow her to belong to that old toad! I, myself, am going to marry + Mme. de la Garde!” cried the sergeant. + </p> + <p> + “Old toad!” Castanier murmured piteously. + </p> + <p> + “Here come the master and mistress; hide yourself! Stay, get in here + Monsieur Leon,” said Jenny. “The master won’t stay here for very long.” + </p> + <p> + Castanier watched the sergeant hide himself among Aquilina’s gowns in her + dressing-room. Almost immediately he himself appeared upon the scene, and + took leave of his mistress, who made fun of him in “asides” to Jenny, + while she uttered the sweetest and tenderest words in his ears. She wept + with one side of her face, and laughed with the other. The audience called + for an encore. + </p> + <p> + “Accursed creature!” cried Castanier from his box. + </p> + <p> + Aquilina was laughing till the tears came into her eyes. + </p> + <p> + “Goodness!” she cried, “how funny Perlet is as the Englishwoman!... Why + don’t you laugh? Every one else in the house is laughing. Laugh, dear!” + she said to Castanier. + </p> + <p> + Melmoth burst out laughing, and the unhappy cashier shuddered. The + Englishman’s laughter wrung his heart and tortured his brain; it was as if + a surgeon had bored his skull with a red-hot iron. + </p> + <p> + “Laughing! are they laughing!” stammered Castanier. + </p> + <p> + He did not see the prim English lady whom Perlet was acting with such + ludicrous effect, nor hear the English-French that had filled the house + with roars of laughter; instead of all this, he beheld himself hurrying + from the Rue Richer, hailing a cab on the Boulevard, bargaining with the + man to take him to Versailles. Then once more the scene changed. He + recognized the sorry inn at the corner of the Rue de l’Orangerie and the + Rue des Recollets, which was kept by his old quartermaster. It was two + o’clock in the morning, the most perfect stillness prevailed, no one was + there to watch his movements. The post-horses were put into the carriage + (it came from a house in the Avenue de Paris in which an Englishman lived, + and had been ordered in the foreigner’s name to avoid raising suspicion). + Castanier saw that he had his bills and his passports, stepped into the + carriage, and set out. But at the barrier he saw two gendarmes lying in + wait for the carriage. A cry of horror burst from him but Melmoth gave him + a glance, and again the sound died in his throat. + </p> + <p> + “Keep your eyes on the stage, and be quiet!” said the Englishman. + </p> + <p> + In another moment Castanier saw himself flung into prison at the + Conciergerie; and in the fifth act of the drama, entitled <i>The Cashier</i>, + he saw himself, in three months’ time, condemned to twenty years of penal + servitude. Again a cry broke from him. He was exposed upon the Place du + Palais-de-Justice, and the executioner branded him with a red-hot iron. + Then came the last scene of all; among some sixty convicts in the prison + yard of the Bicetre, he was awaiting his turn to have the irons riveted on + his limbs. + </p> + <p> + “Dear me! I cannot laugh any more!...” said Aquilina. “You are very + solemn, dear boy; what can be the matter? The gentleman has gone.” + </p> + <p> + “A word with you, Castanier,” said Melmoth when the piece was at an end, + and the attendant was fastening Mme. de la Garde’s cloak. + </p> + <p> + The corridor was crowded, and escape impossible. + </p> + <p> + “Very well, what is it?” + </p> + <p> + “No human power can hinder you from taking Aquilina home, and going next + to Versailles, there to be arrested.” + </p> + <p> + “How so?” + </p> + <p> + “Because you are in a hand that will never relax its grasp,” returned the + Englishman. + </p> + <p> + Castanier longed for the power to utter some word that should blot him out + from among living men and hide him in the lowest depths of hell. + </p> + <p> + “Suppose that the Devil were to make a bid for your soul, would you not + give it to him now in exchange for the power of God? One single word, and + those five hundred thousand francs shall be back in the Baron de + Nucingen’s safe; then you can tear up the letter of credit, and all traces + of your crime will be obliterated. Moreover, you would have gold in + torrents. You hardly believe in anything perhaps? Well, if all this comes + to pass, you will believe at least in the Devil.” + </p> + <p> + “If it were only possible!” said Castanier joyfully. + </p> + <p> + “The man who can do it all gives you his word that it is possible,” + answered the Englishman. + </p> + <p> + Melmoth, Castanier, and Mme. de la Garde were standing out in the + Boulevard when Melmoth raised his arm. A drizzling rain was falling, the + streets were muddy, the air was close, there was thick darkness overhead; + but in a moment, as the arm was outstretched, Paris was filled with + sunlight; it was high noon on a bright July day. The trees were covered + with leaves; a double stream of joyous holiday makers strolled beneath + them. Sellers of liquorice water shouted their cool drinks. Splendid + carriages rolled past along the streets. A cry of terror broke from the + cashier, and at that cry rain and darkness once more settled down upon the + Boulevard. + </p> + <p> + Mme. de la Garde had stepped into the carriage. “Do be quick, dear!” she + cried; “either come in or stay out. Really you are as dull as ditch-water + this evening——” + </p> + <p> + “What must I do?” Castanier asked of Melmoth. + </p> + <p> + “Would you like to take my place?” inquired the Englishman. + </p> + <p> + “Yes.” + </p> + <p> + “Very well, then; I will be at your house in a few moments.” + </p> + <p> + “By the by, Castanier, you are rather off your balance,” Aquilina + remarked. “There is some mischief brewing: you were quite melancholy and + thoughtful all through the play. Do you want anything that I can give you, + dear? Tell me.” + </p> + <p> + “I am waiting till we are at home to know whether you love me.” + </p> + <p> + “You need not wait till then,” she said, throwing her arms round his neck. + “There!” she said, as she embraced him, passionately to all appearance, + and plied him with the coaxing caresses that are part of the business of + such a life as hers, like stage action for an actress. + </p> + <p> + “Where is the music?” asked Castanier. + </p> + <p> + “What next? Only think of your hearing music now!” + </p> + <p> + “Heavenly music!” he went on. “The sounds seem to come from above.” + </p> + <p> + “What? You have always refused to give me a box at the Italiens because + you could not abide music, and are you turning music-mad at this time of + day? Mad—that you are! The music is inside your own noddle, old + addle-pate!” she went on, as she took his head in her hands and rocked it + to and fro on her shoulder. “Tell me now, old man; isn’t it the creaking + of the wheels that sings in your ears?” + </p> + <p> + “Just listen, Naqui! If the angels make music for God Almighty, it must be + such music as this that I am drinking in at every pore, rather than + hearing. I do no know how to tell you about it; it is as sweet as + honey-water!” + </p> + <p> + “Why, of course, they have music in heaven, for the angels in all the + pictures have harps in their hands. He is mad, upon my word!” she said to + herself, as she saw Castanier’s attitude; he looked like an opium-eater in + a blissful trance. + </p> + <p> + They reached the house. Castanier, absorbed by the thought of all that he + had just heard and seen, knew not whether to believe it or not; he was + like a drunken man, and utterly unable to think connectedly. He came to + himself in Aquilina’s room, whither he had been supported by the united + efforts of his mistress, the porter, and Jenny; for he had fainted as he + stepped from the carriage. + </p> + <p> + “<i>He</i> will be here directly! Oh, my friends, my friends,” he cried, + and he flung himself despairingly into the depths of a low chair beside + the fire. + </p> + <p> + Jenny heard the bell as he spoke, and admitted the Englishman. She + announced that “a gentleman had come who had made an appointment with the + master,” when Melmoth suddenly appeared, and deep silence followed. He + looked at the porter—the porter went; he looked at Jenny—and + Jenny went likewise. + </p> + <p> + “Madame,” said Melmoth, turning to Aquilina, “with your permission, we + will conclude a piece of urgent business.” + </p> + <p> + He took Castanier’s hand, and Castanier rose, and the two men went into + the drawing-room. There was no light in the room, but Melmoth’s eyes lit + up the thickest darkness. The gaze of those strange eyes had left Aquilina + like one spellbound; she was helpless, unable to take any thought for her + lover; moreover, she believed him to be safe in Jenny’s room, whereas + their early return had taken the waiting-woman by surprise, and she had + hidden the officer in the dressing-room. It had all happened exactly as in + the drama that Melmoth had displayed for his victim. Presently the + house-door was slammed violently, and Castanier reappeared. + </p> + <p> + “What ails you?” cried the horror-struck Aquilina. + </p> + <p> + There was a change in the cashier’s appearance. A strange pallor + overspread his once rubicund countenance; it wore the peculiarly sinister + and stony look of the mysterious visitor. The sullen glare of his eyes was + intolerable, the fierce light in them seemed to scorch. The man who had + looked so good-humored and good-natured had suddenly grown tyrannical and + proud. The courtesan thought that Castanier had grown thinner; there was a + terrible majesty in his brow; it was as if a dragon breathed forth a + malignant influence that weighed upon the others like a close, heavy + atmosphere. For a moment Aquilina knew not what to do. + </p> + <p> + “What has passed between you and that diabolical-looking man in those few + minutes?” she asked at length. + </p> + <p> + “I have sold my soul to him. I feel it; I am no longer the same. He has + taken my <i>self</i>, and given me his soul in exchange.” + </p> + <p> + “What?” + </p> + <p> + “You would not understand it at all.... Ah! he was right,” Castanier went + on, “the fiend was right! I see everything and know all things.—You + have been deceiving me!” + </p> + <p> + Aquilina turned cold with terror. Castanier lighted a candle and went into + the dressing-room. The unhappy girl followed him with dazed bewilderment, + and great was her astonishment when Castanier drew the dresses that hung + there aside and disclosed the sergeant. + </p> + <p> + “Come out, my boy,” said the cashier; and, taking Leon by a button of his + overcoat, he drew the officer into his room. + </p> + <p> + The Piedmontese, haggard and desperate, had flung herself into her + easy-chair. Castanier seated himself on a sofa by the fire, and left + Aquilina’s lover in a standing position. + </p> + <p> + “You have been in the army,” said Leon; “I am ready to give you + satisfaction.” + </p> + <p> + “You are a fool,” said Castanier drily. “I have no occasion to fight. I + could kill you by a look if I had any mind to do it. I will tell you what + it is, youngster; why should I kill you? I can see a red line round your + neck—the guillotine is waiting for you. Yes, you will end in the + Place de Greve. You are the headsman’s property! there is no escape for + you. You belong to a vendita, of the Carbonari. You are plotting against + the Government.” + </p> + <p> + “You did not tell me that,” cried the Piedmontese, turning to Leon. + </p> + <p> + “So you do not know that the Minister decided this morning to put down + your Society?” the cashier continued. “The Procureur-General has a list of + your names. You have been betrayed. They are busy drawing up the + indictment at this moment.” + </p> + <p> + “Then was it you who betrayed him?” cried Aquilina, and with a hoarse + sound in her throat like the growl of a tigress she rose to her feet; she + seemed as if she would tear Castanier in pieces. + </p> + <p> + “You know me too well to believe it,” Castanier retorted. Aquilina was + benumbed by his coolness. + </p> + <p> + “Then how do you know it?” she murmured. + </p> + <p> + “I did not know it until I went into the drawing-room; now I know it—now + I see and know all things, and can do all things.” + </p> + <p> + The sergeant was overcome with amazement. + </p> + <p> + “Very well then, save him, save him, dear!” cried the girl, flinging + herself at Castanier’s feet. “If nothing is impossible to you, save him! I + will love you, I will adore you, I will be your slave and not your + mistress. I will obey your wildest whims; you shall do as you will with + me. Yes, yes, I will give you more than love; you shall have a daughter’s + devotion as well as... Rodolphe! why will you not understand! After all, + however violent my passions may be, I shall be yours for ever! What should + I say to persuade you? I will invent pleasures... I... Great heavens! one + moment! whatever you shall ask of me—to fling myself from the window + for instance—you will need to say but one word, ‘Leon!’ and I will + plunge down into hell. I would bear any torture, any pain of body or soul, + anything you might inflict upon me!” + </p> + <p> + Castanier heard her with indifference. For an answer, he indicated Leon to + her with a fiendish laugh. + </p> + <p> + “The guillotine is waiting for him,” he repeated. + </p> + <p> + “No, no, no! He shall not leave this house. I will save him!” she cried. + “Yes; I will kill any one who lays a finger upon him! Why will you not + save him?” she shrieked aloud; her eyes were blazing, her hair unbound. + “Can you save him?” + </p> + <p> + “I can do everything.” + </p> + <p> + “Why do you not save him?” + </p> + <p> + “Why?” shouted Castanier, and his voice made the ceiling ring.—“Eh! + it is my revenge! Doing evil is my trade!” + </p> + <p> + “Die?” said Aquilina; “must he die, my lover? Is it possible?” + </p> + <p> + She sprang up and snatched a stiletto from a basket that stood on the + chest of drawers and went to Castanier, who now began to laugh. + </p> + <p> + “You know very well that steel cannot hurt me now——” + </p> + <p> + Aquilina’s arm suddenly dropped like a snapped harp string. + </p> + <p> + “Out with you, my good friend,” said the cashier, turning to the sergeant, + “and go about your business.” + </p> + <p> + He held out his hand; the other felt Castanier’s superior power, and could + not choose but to obey. + </p> + <p> + “This house is mine; I could send for the commissary of police if I chose, + and give you up as a man who has hidden himself on my premises, but I + would rather let you go; I am a fiend, I am not a spy.” + </p> + <p> + “I shall follow him!” said Aquilina. + </p> + <p> + “Then follow him,” returned Castanier.—“Here, Jenny——” + </p> + <p> + Jenny appeared. + </p> + <p> + “Tell the porter to hail a cab for them.—Here Naqui,” said + Castanier, drawing a bundle of bank-notes from his pocket; “you shall not + go away like a pauper from a man who loves you still.” + </p> + <p> + He held out three hundred thousand francs. Aquilina took the notes, flung + them on the floor, spat on them, and trampled upon them in a frenzy of + despair. + </p> + <p> + “We will leave this house on foot,” she cried, “without a farthing of your + money.—Jenny, stay where you are.” + </p> + <p> + “Good-evening!” answered the cashier, as he gathered up the notes again. + “I have come back from my journey.—Jenny,” he added, looking at the + bewildered waiting-maid, “you seem to me to be a good sort of girl. You + have no mistress now. Come here. This evening you shall have a master.” + </p> + <p> + Aquilina, who felt safe nowhere, went at once with the sergeant to the + house of one of her friends. But all Leon’s movements were suspiciously + watched by the police, and after a time he and three of his friends were + arrested. The whole story may be found in the newspapers of that day. + </p> + <p> + Castanier felt that he had undergone a mental as well as a physical + transformation. The Castanier of old no longer existed—the boy, the + young Lothario, the soldier who had proved his courage, who had been + tricked into a marriage and disillusioned, the cashier, the passionate + lover who had committed a crime for Aquilina’s sake. His inmost nature had + suddenly asserted itself. His brain had expanded, his senses had + developed. His thoughts comprehended the whole world; he saw all the + things of earth as if he had been raised to some high pinnacle above the + world. + </p> + <p> + Until that evening at the play he had loved Aquilina to distraction. + Rather than give her up he would have shut his eyes to her infidelities; + and now all that blind passion had passed away as a cloud vanishes in the + sunlight. + </p> + <p> + Jenny was delighted to succeed to her mistress’ position and fortune, and + did the cashier’s will in all things; but Castanier, who could read the + inmost thoughts of the soul, discovered the real motive underlying this + purely physical devotion. He amused himself with her, however, like a + mischievous child who greedily sucks the juice of the cherry and flings + away the stone. The next morning at breakfast time, when she was fully + convinced that she was a lady and the mistress of the house, Castanier + uttered one by one the thoughts that filled her mind as she drank her + coffee. + </p> + <p> + “Do you know what you are thinking, child?” he said, smiling. “I will tell + you: ‘So all that lovely rosewood furniture that I coveted so much, and + the pretty dresses that I used to try on, are mine now! All on easy terms + that Madame refused, I do no know why. My word! if I might drive about in + a carriage, have jewels and pretty things, a box at the theatre, and put + something by! with me he should lead a life of pleasure fit to kill him if + he were not as strong as a Turk! I never saw such a man!’—Was not + that just what you were thinking,” he went on, and something in his voice + made Jenny turn pale. “Well, yes, child; you could not stand it, and I am + sending you away for your own good; you would perish in the attempt. Come, + let us part good friends,” and he coolly dismissed her with a very small + sum of money. + </p> + <p> + The first use that Castanier had promised himself that he would make of + the terrible power brought at the price of his eternal happiness, was the + full and complete indulgence of all his tastes. + </p> + <p> + He first put his affairs in order, readily settled his accounts with M. de + Nucingen, who found a worthy German to succeed him, and then determined on + a carouse worthy of the palmiest days of the Roman Empire. He plunged into + dissipation as recklessly as Belshazzar of old went to that last feast in + Babylon. Like Belshazzar, he saw clearly through his revels a gleaming + hand that traced his doom in letters of flame, not on the narrow walls of + the banqueting-chamber, but over the vast spaces of heaven that the + rainbow spans. His feast was not, indeed, an orgy confined within the + limits of a banquet, for he squandered all the powers of soul and body in + exhausting all the pleasures of earth. The table was in some sort earth + itself, the earth that trembled beneath his feet. His was the last + festival of the reckless spendthrift who has thrown all prudence to the + winds. The devil had given him the key of the storehouse of human + pleasures; he had filled and refilled his hands, and he was fast nearing + the bottom. In a moment he had felt all that that enormous power could + accomplish; in a moment he had exercised it, proved it, wearied of it. + What had hitherto been the sum of human desires became as nothing. So + often it happens that with possession the vast poetry of desire must end, + and the thing possessed is seldom the thing that we dreamed of. + </p> + <p> + Beneath Melmoth’s omnipotence lurked this tragical anticlimax of so many a + passion, and now the inanity of human nature was revealed to his + successor, to whom infinite power brought Nothingness as a dowry. + </p> + <p> + To come to a clear understanding of Castanier’s strange position, it must + be borne in mind how suddenly these revolutions of thought and feeling had + been wrought; how quickly they had succeeded each other; and of these + things it is hard to give any idea to those who have never broken the + prison bonds of time, and space, and distance. His relation to the world + without had been entirely changed with the expansion of his faculties. + </p> + <p> + Like Melmoth himself, Castanier could travel in a few moments over the + fertile plains of India, could soar on the wings of demons above African + desert spaces, or skim the surface of the seas. The same insight that + could read the inmost thoughts of others, could apprehend at a glance the + nature of any material object, just as he caught as it were all flavors at + once upon his tongue. He took his pleasure like a despot; a blow of the + axe felled the tree that he might eat its fruits. The transitions, the + alternations that measure joy and pain, and diversify human happiness, no + longer existed for him. He had so completely glutted his appetites that + pleasure must overpass the limits of pleasure to tickle a palate cloyed + with satiety, and suddenly grown fastidious beyond all measure, so that + ordinary pleasures became distasteful. Conscious that at will he was the + master of all the women that he could desire, knowing that his power was + irresistible, he did not care to exercise it; they were pliant to his + unexpressed wishes, to his most extravagant caprices, until he felt a + horrible thirst for love, and would have love beyond their power to give. + </p> + <p> + The world refused him nothing save faith and prayer, the soothing and + consoling love that is not of this world. He was obeyed—it was a + horrible position. + </p> + <p> + The torrents of pain, and pleasure, and thought that shook his soul and + his bodily frame would have overwhelmed the strongest human being; but in + him there was a power of vitality proportioned to the power of the + sensations that assailed him. He felt within him a vague immensity of + longing that earth could not satisfy. He spent his days on outspread + wings, longing to traverse the luminous fields of space to other spheres + that he knew afar by intuitive perception, a clear and hopeless knowledge. + His soul dried up within him, for he hungered and thirsted after things + that can neither be drunk nor eaten, but for which he could not choose but + crave. His lips, like Melmoth’s, burned with desire; he panted for the + unknown, for he knew all things. + </p> + <p> + The mechanism and the scheme of the world was apparent to him, and its + working interested him no longer; he did not long disguise the profound + scorn that makes of a man of extraordinary powers a sphinx who knows + everything and says nothing, and sees all things with an unmoved + countenance. He felt not the slightest wish to communicate his knowledge + to other men. He was rich with all the wealth of the world, with one + effort he could make the circle of the globe, and riches and power were + meaningless for him. He felt the awful melancholy of omnipotence, a + melancholy which Satan and God relieve by the exercise of infinite power + in mysterious ways known to them alone. Castanier had not, like his + Master, the inextinguishable energy of hate and malice; he felt that he + was a devil, but a devil whose time was not yet come, while Satan is a + devil through all eternity, and being damned beyond redemption, delights + to stir up the world, like a dung heap, with his triple fork and to thwart + therein the designs of God. But Castanier, for his misfortune, had one + hope left. + </p> + <p> + If in a moment he could move from one pole to the other as a bird springs + restlessly from side to side in its cage, when, like the bird, he has + crossed his prison, he saw the vast immensity of space beyond it. That + vision of the Infinite left him for ever unable to see humanity and its + affairs as other men saw them. The insensate fools who long for the power + of the Devil gauge its desirability from a human standpoint; they do not + see that with the Devil’s power they will likewise assume his thoughts, + and that they will be doomed to remain as men among creatures who will no + longer understand them. The Nero unknown to history who dreams of setting + Paris on fire for his private entertainment, like an exhibition of a + burning house on the boards of a theatre, does not suspect that if he had + the power, Paris would become for him as little interesting as an ant-heap + by the roadside to a hurrying passer-by. The circle of the sciences was + for Castanier something like a logogriph for a man who does not know the + key to it. Kings and Governments were despicable in his eyes. His great + debauch had been in some sort a deplorable farewell to his life as a man. + The earth had grown too narrow for him, for the infernal gifts laid bare + for him the secrets of creation—he saw the cause and foresaw its + end. He was shut out from all that men call “heaven” in all languages + under the sun; he could no longer think of heaven. + </p> + <p> + Then he came to understand the look on his predecessor’s face and the + drying up of the life within; then he knew all that was meant by the + baffled hope that gleamed in Melmoth’s eyes; he, too, knew the thirst that + burned those red lips, and the agony of a continual struggle between two + natures grown to giant size. Even yet he might be an angel, and he knew + himself to be a fiend. His was the fate of a sweet and gentle creature + that a wizard’s malice has imprisoned in a mis-shapen form, entrapping it + by a pact, so that another’s will must set it free from its detested + envelope. + </p> + <p> + As a deception only increases the ardor with which a man of really great + nature explores the infinite of sentiment in a woman’s heart, so Castanier + awoke to find that one idea lay like a weight upon his soul, an idea which + was perhaps the key to loftier spheres. The very fact that he had bartered + away his eternal happiness led him to dwell in thought upon the future of + those who pray and believe. On the morrow of his debauch, when he entered + into the sober possession of his power, this idea made him feel himself a + prisoner; he knew the burden of the woe that poets, and prophets, and + great oracles of faith have set forth for us in such mighty words; he felt + the point of the Flaming Sword plunged into his side, and hurried in + search of Melmoth. What had become of his predecessor? + </p> + <p> + The Englishman was living in a mansion in the Rue Ferou, near + Saint-Sulpice—a gloomy, dark, damp, and cold abode. The Rue Ferou + itself is one of the most dismal streets in Paris; it has a north aspect + like all the streets that lie at right angles to the left bank of the + Seine, and the houses are in keeping with the site. As Castanier stood on + the threshold he found that the door itself, like the vaulted roof, was + hung with black; rows of lighted tapers shone brilliantly as though some + king were lying in state; and a priest stood on either side of a + catafalque that had been raised there. + </p> + <p> + “There is no need to ask why you have come, sir,” the old hall porter said + to Castanier; “you are so like our poor dear master that is gone. But if + you are his brother, you have come too late to bid him good-bye. The good + gentleman died the night before last.” + </p> + <p> + “How did he die?” Castanier asked of one of the priests. + </p> + <p> + “Set your mind at rest,” said the old priest; he partly raised as he spoke + the black pall that covered the catafalque. + </p> + <p> + Castanier, looking at him, saw one of those faces that faith has made + sublime; the soul seemed to shine forth from every line of it, bringing + light and warmth for other men, kindled by the unfailing charity within. + This was Sir John Melmoth’s confessor. + </p> + <p> + “Your brother made an end that men may envy, and that must rejoice the + angels. Do you know what joy there is in heaven over a sinner that + repents? His tears of penitence, excited by grace, flowed without ceasing; + death alone checked them. The Holy Spirit dwelt in him. His burning words, + full of lively faith, were worthy of the Prophet-King. If, in the course + of my life, I have never heard a more dreadful confession than from the + lips of this Irish gentleman, I have likewise never heard such fervent and + passionate prayers. However great the measures of his sins may have been, + his repentance has filled the abyss to overflowing. The hand of God was + visibly stretched out above him, for he was completely changed, there was + such heavenly beauty in his face. The hard eyes were softened by tears; + the resonant voice that struck terror into those who heard it took the + tender and compassionate tones of those who themselves have passed through + deep humiliation. He so edified those who heard his words, that some who + had felt drawn to see the spectacle of a Christian’s death fell on their + knees as he spoke of heavenly things, and of the infinite glory of God, + and gave thanks and praise to Him. If he is leaving no worldly wealth to + his family, no family can possess a greater blessing than this that he + surely gained for them, a soul among the blessed, who will watch over you + all and direct you in the path to heaven.” + </p> + <p> + These words made such a vivid impression upon Castanier that he instantly + hurried from the house to the Church of Saint-Sulpice, obeying what might + be called a decree of fate. Melmoth’s repentance had stupefied him. + </p> + <p> + At that time, on certain mornings in the week, a preacher, famed for his + eloquence, was wont to hold conferences, in the course of which he + demonstrated the truths of the Catholic faith for the youth of a + generation proclaimed to be indifferent in matters of belief by another + voice no less eloquent than his own. The conference had been put off to a + later hour on account of Melmoth’s funeral, so Castanier arrived just as + the great preacher was epitomizing the proofs of a future existence of + happiness with all the charm of eloquence and force of expression which + have made him famous. The seeds of divine doctrine fell into a soil + prepared for them in the old dragoon, into whom the Devil had glided. + Indeed, if there is a phenomenon well attested by experience, is it not + the spiritual phenomenon commonly called “the faith of the peasant”? The + strength of belief varies inversely with the amount of use that a man has + made of his reasoning faculties. Simple people and soldiers belong to the + unreasoning class. Those who have marched through life beneath the banner + of instinct are far more ready to receive the light than minds and hearts + overwearied with the world’s sophistries. + </p> + <p> + Castanier had the southern temperament; he had joined the army as a lad of + sixteen, and had followed the French flag till he was nearly forty years + old. As a common trooper, he had fought day and night, and day after day, + and, as in duty bound, had thought of his horse first, and of himself + afterwards. While he served his military apprenticeship, therefore, he had + but little leisure in which to reflect on the destiny of man, and when he + became an officer he had his men to think of. He had been swept from + battlefield to battlefield, but he had never thought of what comes after + death. A soldier’s life does not demand much thinking. Those who cannot + understand the lofty political ends involved and the interests of nation + and nation; who cannot grasp political schemes as well as plans of + campaign, and combine the science of the tactician with that of the + administrator, are bound to live in a state of ignorance; the most boorish + peasant in the most backward district in France is scarcely in a worse + case. Such men as these bear the brunt of war, yield passive obedience to + the brain that directs them, and strike down the men opposed to them as + the woodcutter fells timber in the forest. Violent physical exertion is + succeeded by times of inertia, when they repair the waste. They fight and + drink, fight and eat, fight and sleep, that they may the better deal hard + blows; the powers of the mind are not greatly exercised in this turbulent + round of existence, and the character is as simple as heretofore. + </p> + <p> + When the men who have shown such energy on the battlefield return to + ordinary civilization, most of those who have not risen to high rank seem + to have acquired no ideas, and to have no aptitude, no capacity, for + grasping new ideas. To the utter amazement of a younger generation, those + who made our armies so glorious and so terrible are as simple as children, + and as slow-witted as a clerk at his worst, and the captain of a + thundering squadron is scarcely fit to keep a merchant’s day-book. Old + soldiers of this stamp, therefore being innocent of any attempt to use + their reasoning faculties, act upon their strongest impulses. Castanier’s + crime was one of those matters that raise so many questions, that, in + order to debate about it, a moralist might call for its “discussion by + clauses,” to make use of a parliamentary expression. + </p> + <p> + Passion had counseled the crime; the cruelly irresistible power of + feminine witchery had driven him to commit it; no man can say of himself, + “I will never do that,” when a siren joins in the combat and throws her + spells over him. + </p> + <p> + So the word of life fell upon a conscience newly awakened to the truths of + religion which the French Revolution and a soldier’s career had forced + Castanier to neglect. The solemn words, “You will be happy or miserable + for all eternity!” made but the more terrible impression upon him, because + he had exhausted earth and shaken it like a barren tree; because his + desires could effect all things, so that it was enough that any spot in + earth or heaven should be forbidden him, and he forthwith thought of + nothing else. If it were allowable to compare such great things with + social follies, Castanier’s position was not unlike that of a banker who, + finding that his all-powerful millions cannot obtain for him an entrance + into the society of the noblesse, must set his heart upon entering that + circle, and all the social privileges that he has already acquired are as + nothing in his eyes from the moment when he discovers that a single one is + lacking. + </p> + <p> + Here is a man more powerful than all the kings on earth put together; a + man who, like Satan, could wrestle with God Himself; leaning against one + of the pillars in the Church of Saint-Sulpice, weighed down by the + feelings and thoughts that oppressed him, and absorbed in the thought of a + Future, the same thought that had engulfed Melmoth. + </p> + <p> + “He was very happy, was Melmoth!” cried Castanier. “He died in the certain + knowledge that he would go to heaven.” + </p> + <p> + In a moment the greatest possible change had been wrought in the cashier’s + ideas. For several days he had been a devil, now he was nothing but a man; + an image of the fallen Adam, of the sacred tradition embodied in all + cosmogonies. But while he had thus shrunk he retained a germ of greatness, + he had been steeped in the Infinite. The power of hell had revealed the + divine power. He thirsted for heaven as he had never thirsted after the + pleasures of earth, that are so soon exhausted. The enjoyments which the + fiend promises are but the enjoyments of earth on a larger scale, but to + the joys of heaven there is no limit. He believed in God, and the spell + that gave him the treasures of the world was as nothing to him now; the + treasures themselves seemed to him as contemptible as pebbles to an + admirer of diamonds; they were but gewgaws compared with the eternal + glories of the other life. A curse lay, he thought, on all things that + came to him from this source. He sounded dark depths of painful thought as + he listened to the service performed for Melmoth. The <i>Dies irae</i> + filled him with awe; he felt all the grandeur of that cry of a repentant + soul trembling before the Throne of God. The Holy Spirit, like a devouring + flame, passed through him as fire consumes straw. + </p> + <p> + The tears were falling from his eyes when—“Are you a relation of the + dead?” the beadle asked him. + </p> + <p> + “I am his heir,” Castanier answered. + </p> + <p> + “Give something for the expenses of the services!” cried the man. + </p> + <p> + “No,” said the cashier. (The Devil’s money should not go to the Church.) + </p> + <p> + “For the poor!” + </p> + <p> + “No.” + </p> + <p> + “For repairing the Church!” + </p> + <p> + “No.” + </p> + <p> + “The Lady Chapel!” + </p> + <p> + “No.” + </p> + <p> + “For the schools!” + </p> + <p> + “No.” + </p> + <p> + Castanier went, not caring to expose himself to the sour looks that the + irritated functionaries gave him. + </p> + <p> + Outside, in the street, he looked up at the Church of Saint-Sulpice. “What + made people build the giant cathedrals I have seen in every country?” he + asked himself. “The feeling shared so widely throughout all time must + surely be based upon something.” + </p> + <p> + “Something! Do you call God <i>something</i>?” cried his conscience. “God! + God! God!...” + </p> + <p> + The word was echoed and re-echoed by an inner voice, til it overwhelmed + him; but his feeling of terror subsided as he heard sweet distant sounds + of music that he had caught faintly before. They were singing in the + church, he thought, and his eyes scanned the great doorway. But as he + listened more closely, the sounds poured upon him from all sides; he + looked round the square, but there was no sign of any musicians. The + melody brought visions of a distant heaven and far-off gleams of hope; but + it also quickened the remorse that had set the lost soul in a ferment. He + went on his way through Paris, walking as men walk who are crushed beneath + the burden of their sorrow, seeing everything with unseeing eyes, + loitering like an idler, stopping without cause, muttering to himself, + careless of the traffic, making no effort to avoid a blow from a plank of + timber. + </p> + <p> + Imperceptibly repentance brought him under the influence of the divine + grace that soothes while it bruises the heart so terribly. His face came + to wear a look of Melmoth, something great, with a trace of madness in the + greatness—a look of dull and hopeless distress, mingled with the + excited eagerness of hope, and, beneath it all, a gnawing sense of + loathing for all that the world can give. The humblest of prayers lurked + in the eyes that saw with such dreadful clearness. His power was the + measure of his anguish. His body was bowed down by the fearful storm that + shook his soul, as the tall pines bend before the blast. Like his + predecessor, he could not refuse to bear the burden of life; he was afraid + to die while he bore the yoke of hell. The torment grew intolerable. + </p> + <p> + At last, one morning, he bethought himself how that Melmoth (now among the + blessed) had made the proposal of an exchange, and how that he had + accepted it; others, doubtless, would follow his example; for in an age + proclaimed, by the inheritors of the eloquence of the Fathers of the + Church, to be fatally indifferent to religion, it should be easy to find a + man who would accept the conditions of the contract in order to prove its + advantages. + </p> + <p> + “There is one place where you can learn what kings will fetch in the + market; where nations are weighed in the balance and systems appraised; + where the value of a government is stated in terms of the five-franc + piece; where ideas and beliefs have their price, and everything is + discounted; where God Himself, in a manner, borrows on the security of His + revenue of souls, for the Pope has a running account there. Is it not + there that I should go to traffic in souls?” + </p> + <p> + Castanier went quite joyously on ‘Change, thinking that it would be as + easy to buy a soul as to invest money in the Funds. Any ordinary person + would have feared ridicule, but Castanier knew by experience that a + desperate man takes everything seriously. A prisoner lying under sentence + of death would listen to the madman who should tell him that by + pronouncing some gibberish he could escape through the keyhole; for + suffering is credulous, and clings to an idea until it fails, as the + swimmer borne along by the current clings to the branch that snaps in his + hand. + </p> + <p> + Towards four o’clock that afternoon Castanier appeared among the little + knots of men who were transacting private business after ‘Change. He was + personally known to some of the brokers; and while affecting to be in + search of an acquaintance, he managed to pick up the current gossip and + rumors of failure. + </p> + <p> + “Catch me negotiating bills for Claparon & Co., my boy. The bank + collector went round to return their acceptances to them this morning,” + said a fat banker in his outspoken way. “If you have any of their paper, + look out.” + </p> + <p> + Claparon was in the building, in deep consultation with a man well known + for the ruinous rate at which he lent money. Castanier went forthwith in + search of the said Claparon, a merchant who had a reputation for taking + heavy risks that meant wealth or utter ruin. The money-lender walked away + as Castanier came up. A gesture betrayed the speculator’s despair. + </p> + <p> + “Well, Claparon, the Bank wants a hundred thousand francs of you, and it + is four o’clock; the thing is known, and it is too late to arrange your + little failure comfortably,” said Castanier. + </p> + <p> + “Sir!” + </p> + <p> + “Speak lower,” the cashier went on. “How if I were to propose a piece of + business that would bring you in as much money as you require?” + </p> + <p> + “It would not discharge my liabilities; every business that I ever heard + of wants a little time to simmer in.” + </p> + <p> + “I know of something that will set you straight in a moment,” answered + Castanier; “but first you would have to——” + </p> + <p> + “Do what?” + </p> + <p> + “Sell your share of paradise. It is a matter of business like anything + else, isn’t it? We all hold shares in the great Speculation of Eternity.” + </p> + <p> + “I tell you this,” said Claparon angrily, “that I am just the man to lend + you a slap in the face. When a man is in trouble, it is no time to pay + silly jokes on him.” + </p> + <p> + “I am talking seriously,” said Castanier, and he drew a bundle of notes + from his pocket. + </p> + <p> + “In the first place,” said Claparon, “I am not going to sell my soul to + the Devil for a trifle. I want five hundred thousand francs before I + strike——” + </p> + <p> + “Who talks of stinting you?” asked Castanier, cutting him short. “You + shall have more gold than you could stow in the cellars of the Bank of + France.” + </p> + <p> + He held out a handful of notes. That decided Claparon. + </p> + <p> + “Done,” he cried; “but how is the bargain to be make?” + </p> + <p> + “Let us go over yonder, no one is standing there,” said Castanier, + pointing to a corner of the court. + </p> + <p> + Claparon and his tempter exchanged a few words, with their faces turned to + the wall. None of the onlookers guessed the nature of this by-play, though + their curiosity was keenly excited by the strange gestures of the two + contracting parties. When Castanier returned, there was a sudden outburst + of amazed exclamation. As in the Assembly where the least event + immediately attracts attention, all faces were turned to the two men who + had caused the sensation, and a shiver passed through all beholders at the + change that had taken place in them. + </p> + <p> + The men who form the moving crowd that fills the Stock Exchange are soon + known to each other by sight. They watch each other like players round a + card-table. Some shrewd observers can tell how a man will play and the + condition of his exchequer from a survey of his face; and the Stock + Exchange is simply a vast card-table. Every one, therefore, had noticed + Claparon and Castanier. The latter (like the Irishman before him) had been + muscular and powerful, his eyes were full of light, his color high. The + dignity and power in his face had struck awe into them all; they wondered + how old Castanier had come by it; and now they beheld Castanier divested + of his power, shrunken, wrinkled, aged, and feeble. He had drawn Claparon + out of the crowd with the energy of a sick man in a fever fit; he had + looked like an opium-eater during the brief period of excitement that the + drug can give; now, on his return, he seemed to be in the condition of + utter exhaustion in which the patient dies after the fever departs, or to + be suffering from the horrible prostration that follows on excessive + indulgence in the delights of narcotics. The infernal power that had + upheld him through his debauches had left him, and the body was left + unaided and alone to endure the agony of remorse and the heavy burden of + sincere repentance. Claparon’s troubles every one could guess; but + Claparon reappeared, on the other hand, with sparkling eyes, holding his + head high with the pride of Lucifer. The crisis had passed from the one + man to the other. + </p> + <p> + “Now you can drop off with an easy mind, old man,” said Claparon to + Castanier. + </p> + <p> + “For pity’s sake, send for a cab and for a priest; send for the curate of + Saint-Sulpice!” answered the old dragoon, sinking down upon the curbstone. + </p> + <p> + The words “a priest” reached the ears of several people, and produced + uproarious jeering among the stockbrokers, for faith with these gentlemen + means a belief that a scrap of paper called a mortgage represents an + estate, and the List of Fundholders is their Bible. + </p> + <p> + “Shall I have time to repent?” said Castanier to himself, in a piteous + voice, that impressed Claparon. + </p> + <p> + A cab carried away the dying man; the speculator went to the bank at once + to meet his bills; and the momentary sensation produced upon the throng of + business men by the sudden change on the two faces, vanished like the + furrow cut by a ship’s keel in the sea. News of the greatest importance + kept the attention of the world of commerce on the alert; and when + commercial interests are at stake, Moses might appear with his two + luminous horns, and his coming would scarcely receive the honors of a pun, + the gentlemen whose business it is to write the Market Reports would + ignore his existence. + </p> + <p> + When Claparon had made his payments, fear seized upon him. There was no + mistake about his power. He went on ‘Change again, and offered his bargain + to other men in embarrassed circumstances. The Devil’s bond, “together + with the rights, easements, and privileges appertaining thereunto,”—to + use the expression of the notary who succeeded Claparon, changed hands for + the sum of seven hundred thousand francs. The notary in his turn parted + with the agreement with the Devil for five hundred thousand francs to a + building contractor in difficulties, who likewise was rid of it to an iron + merchant in consideration of a hundred thousand crowns. In fact, by five + o’clock people had ceased to believe in the strange contract, and + purchasers were lacking for want of confidence. + </p> + <p> + At half-past five the holder of the bond was a house-painter, who was + lounging by the door of the building in the Rue Feydeau, where at that + time stockbrokers temporarily congregated. The house-painter, simple + fellow, could not think what was the matter with him. He “felt all + anyhow”; so he told his wife when he went home. + </p> + <p> + The Rue Feydeau, as idlers about town are aware, is a place of pilgrimage + for youths who for lack of a mistress bestow their ardent affection upon + the whole sex. On the first floor of the most rigidly respectable domicile + therein dwelt one of those exquisite creatures whom it has pleased heaven + to endow with the rarest and most surpassing beauty. As it is impossible + that they should all be duchesses or queens (since there are many more + pretty women in the world than titles and thrones for them to adorn), they + are content to make a stockbroker or a banker happy at a fixed price. To + this good-natured beauty, Euphrasia by name, an unbounded ambition had led + a notary’s clerk to aspire. In short, the second clerk in the office of + Maitre Crottat, notary, had fallen in love with her, as youth at + two-and-twenty can fall in love. The scrivener would have murdered the + Pope and run amuck through the whole sacred college to procure the + miserable sum of a hundred louis to pay for a shawl which had turned + Euphrasia’s head, at which price her waiting-woman had promised that + Euphrasia should be his. The infatuated youth walked to and fro under + Madame Euphrasia’s windows, like the polar bears in their cage at the + Jardin des Plantes, with his right hand thrust beneath his waistcoat in + the region of the heart, which he was fit to tear from his bosom, but as + yet he had only wrenched at the elastic of his braces. + </p> + <p> + “What can one do to raise ten thousand francs?” he asked himself. “Shall I + make off with the money that I must pay on the registration of that + conveyance? Good heavens! my loan would not ruin the purchaser, a man with + seven millions! And then next day I would fling myself at his feet and + say, ‘I have taken ten thousand francs belonging to you, sir; I am + twenty-two years of age, and I am in love with Euphrasia—that is my + story. My father is rich, he will pay you back; do not ruin me! Have not + you yourself been twenty-two years old and madly in love?’ But these + beggarly landowners have no souls! He would be quite likely to give me up + to the public prosecutor, instead of taking pity upon me. Good God! if it + were only possible to sell your soul to the Devil! But there is neither a + God nor a Devil; it is all nonsense out of nursery tales and old wives’ + talk. What shall I do?” + </p> + <p> + “If you have a mind to sell your soul to the Devil, sir,” said the + house-painter, who had overheard something that the clerk let fall, “you + can have the ten thousand francs.” + </p> + <p> + “And Euphrasia!” cried the clerk, as he struck a bargain with the devil + that inhabited the house-painter. + </p> + <p> + The pact concluded, the frantic clerk went to find the shawl, and mounted + Madame Euphrasia’s staircase; and as (literally) the devil was in him, he + did not come down for twelve days, drowning the thought of hell and of his + privileges in twelve days of love and riot and forgetfulness, for which he + had bartered away all his hopes of a paradise to come. + </p> + <p> + And in this way the secret of the vast power discovered and acquired by + the Irishman, the offspring of Maturin’s brain, was lost to mankind; and + the various Orientalists, Mystics, and Archaeologists who take an interest + in these matters were unable to hand down to posterity the proper method + of invoking the Devil, for the following sufficient reasons: + </p> + <p> + On the thirteenth day after these frenzied nuptials the wretched clerk lay + on a pallet bed in a garret in his master’s house in the Rue Saint-Honore. + Shame, the stupid goddess who dares not behold herself, had taken + possession of the young man. He had fallen ill; he would nurse himself; + misjudged the quantity of a remedy devised by the skill of a practitioner + well known on the walls of Paris, and succumbed to the effects of an + overdose of mercury. His corpse was as black as a mole’s back. A devil had + left unmistakable traces of its passage there; could it have been + Ashtaroth? + </p> + <p> + “The estimable youth to whom you refer has been carried away to the planet + Mercury,” said the head clerk to a German demonologist who came to + investigate the matter at first hand. + </p> + <p> + “I am quite prepared to believe it,” answered the Teuton. + </p> + <p> + “Oh!” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, sir,” returned the other. “The opinion you advance coincides with + the very words of Jacob Boehme. In the forty-eighth proposition of <i>The + Threefold Life of Man</i> he says that ‘if God hath brought all things to + pass with a LET THERE BE, the FIAT is the secret matrix which comprehends + and apprehends the nature which is formed by the spirit born of Mercury + and of God.’” + </p> + <p> + “What do you say, sir?” + </p> + <p> + The German delivered his quotation afresh. + </p> + <p> + “We do not know it,” said the clerks. + </p> + <p> + “<i>Fiat</i>?...” said a clerk. “<i>Fiat lux</i>!” + </p> + <p> + “You can verify the citation for yourselves,” said the German. “You will + find the passage in the <i>Treatise of the Threefold Life of Man</i>, page + 75; the edition was published by M. Migneret in 1809. It was translated + into French by a philosopher who had a great admiration for the famous + shoemaker.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh! he was a shoemaker, was he?” said the head clerk. + </p> + <p> + “In Prussia,” said the German. + </p> + <p> + “Did he work for the King of Prussia?” inquired a Boeotian of a second + clerk. + </p> + <p> + “He must have vamped up his prose,” said a third. + </p> + <p> + “That man is colossal!” cried the fourth, pointing to the Teuton. + </p> + <p> + That gentleman, though a demonologist of the first rank, did not know the + amount of devilry to be found in a notary’s clerk. He went away without + the least idea that they were making game of him, and fully under the + impression that the young fellows regarded Boehme as a colossal genius. + </p> + <p> + “Education is making strides in France,” said he to himself. + </p> + <p> + PARIS, May 6, 1835. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0002" id="link2H_4_0002"> + <!-- 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"> + Aquilina + The Magic Skin + + Claparon, Charles + A Bachelor’s Establishment + Cesar Birotteau + The Firm of Nucingen + A Man of Business + The Middle Classes + + Euphrasia + The Magic Skin + + Nucingen, Baronne Delphine de + Father Goriot + The Thirteen + Eugenie Grandet + Cesar Birotteau + Lost Illusions + A Distinguished Provincial at Paris + The Commission in Lunacy + Scenes from a Courtesan’s Life + Modeste Mignon + The Firm of Nucingen + Another Study of Woman + A Daughter of Eve + The Member for Arcis + + Tillet, Ferdinand du + Cesar Birotteau + The Firm of Nucingen + The Middle Classes + A Bachelor’s Establishment + Pierrette + A Distinguished Provencial at Paris + The Secrets of a Princess + A Daughter of Eve + The Member for Arcis + Cousin Betty + The Unconscious Humorists +</pre> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <div>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 1277 ***</div> +</body> +</html> |