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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/1352-0.txt b/1352-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..3c83f80 --- /dev/null +++ b/1352-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,5120 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 1352 *** + +AN OLD MAID + + +By Honore De Balzac + + + +Translated by Katharine Prescott Wormeley + + + + DEDICATION + + To Monsieur Eugene-Auguste-Georges-Louis Midy de la Greneraye + Surville, Royal Engineer of the Ponts at Chausses. + + As a testimony to the affection of his brother-in-law, + + De Balzac + + + + + +AN OLD MAID + + + + +CHAPTER I. ONE OF MANY CHEVALIERS DE VALOIS + + +Most persons have encountered, in certain provinces in France, a number +of Chevaliers de Valois. One lived in Normandy, another at Bourges, +a third (with whom we have here to do) flourished in Alencon, and +doubtless the South possesses others. The number of the Valesian +tribe is, however, of no consequence to the present tale. All these +chevaliers, among whom were doubtless some who were Valois as Louis XIV. +was Bourbon, knew so little of one another that it was not advisable +to speak to one about the others. They were all willing to leave the +Bourbons in tranquil possession of the throne of France; for it was too +plainly established that Henri IV. became king for want of a male heir +in the first Orleans branch called the Valois. If there are any Valois, +they descend from Charles de Valois, Duc d’Angouleme, son of Charles +IX. and Marie Touchet, the male line from whom ended, until proof to +the contrary be produced, in the person of the Abbe de Rothelin. The +Valois-Saint-Remy, who descended from Henri II., also came to an end +in the famous Lamothe-Valois implicated in the affair of the Diamond +Necklace. + +Each of these many chevaliers, if we may believe reports, was, like +the Chevalier of Alencon, an old gentleman, tall, thin, withered, and +moneyless. He of Bourges had emigrated; he of Touraine hid himself; he +of Alencon fought in La Vendee and “chouanized” somewhat. The youth of +the latter was spend in Paris, where the Revolution overtook him when +thirty years of age in the midst of his conquests and gallantries. + +The Chevalier de Valois of Alencon was accepted by the highest +aristocracy of the province as a genuine Valois; and he distinguished +himself, like the rest of his homonyms, by excellent manners, which +proved him a man of society. He dined out every day, and played cards +every evening. He was thought witty, thanks to his foible for relating +a quantity of anecdotes on the reign of Louis XV. and the beginnings +of the Revolution. When these tales were heard for the first time, they +were held to be well narrated. He had, moreover, the great merit of +not repeating his personal bons mots and of never speaking of +his love-affairs, though his smiles and his airs and graces were +delightfully indiscreet. The worthy gentleman used his privilege as a +Voltairean noble to stay away from mass; and great indulgence was shown +to his irreligion because of his devotion to the royal cause. One of his +particular graces was the air and manner (imitated, no doubt, from Mole) +with which he took snuff from a gold box adorned with the portrait of +the Princess Goritza,--a charming Hungarian, celebrated for her beauty +in the last years of the reign of Louis XV. Having been attached during +his youth to that illustrious stranger, he still mentioned her with +emotion. For her sake he had fought a duel with Monsieur de Lauzun. + +The chevalier, now fifty-eight years of age, owned to only fifty; and he +might well allow himself that innocent deception, for, among the other +advantages granted to fair thin persons, he managed to preserve +the still youthful figure which saves men as well as women from an +appearance of old age. Yes, remember this: all of life, or rather +all the elegance that expresses life, is in the figure. Among the +chevalier’s other possessions must be counted an enormous nose with +which nature had endowed him. This nose vigorously divided a pale face +into two sections which seemed to have no knowledge of each other, for +one side would redden under the process of digestion, while the +other continued white. This fact is worthy of remark at a period when +physiology is so busy with the human heart. The incandescence, so to +call it, was on the left side. Though his long slim legs, supporting a +lank body, and his pallid skin, were not indicative of health, Monsieur +de Valois ate like an ogre and declared he had a malady called in the +provinces “hot liver,” perhaps to excuse his monstrous appetite. The +circumstance of his singular flush confirmed this declaration; but in a +region where repasts are developed on the line of thirty or forty dishes +and last four hours, the chevalier’s stomach would seem to have been a +blessing bestowed by Providence on the good town of Alencon. According +to certain doctors, heat on the left side denotes a prodigal heart. +The chevalier’s gallantries confirmed this scientific assertion, the +responsibility for which does not rest, fortunately, on the historian. + +In spite of these symptoms, Monsieur de Valois’ constitution was +vigorous, consequently long-lived. If his liver “heated,” to use an +old-fashioned word, his heart was not less inflammable. His face was +wrinkled and his hair silvered; but an intelligent observer would have +recognized at once the stigmata of passion and the furrows of pleasure +which appeared in the crow’s-feet and the marches-du-palais, so prized +at the court of Cythera. Everything about this dainty chevalier bespoke +the “ladies’ man.” He was so minute in his ablutions that his cheeks +were a pleasure to look upon; they seemed to have been laved in some +miraculous water. The part of his skull which his hair refused to cover +shone like ivory. His eyebrows, like his hair, affected youth by the +care and regularity with which they were combed. His skin, already +white, seemed to have been extra-whitened by some secret compound. +Without using perfumes, the chevalier exhaled a certain fragrance of +youth, that refreshed the atmosphere. His hands, which were those of +a gentleman, and were cared for like the hands of a pretty woman, +attracted the eye to their rosy, well-shaped nails. In short, had it not +been for his magisterial and stupendous nose, the chevalier might have +been thought a trifle too dainty. + +We must here compel ourselves to spoil this portrait by the avowal of a +littleness. The chevalier put cotton in his ears, and wore, appended to +them, two little ear-rings representing negroes’ heads in diamonds, of +admirable workmanship. He clung to these singular appendages, explaining +that since his ears had been bored he had ceased to have headaches (he +had had headaches). We do not present the chevalier as an accomplished +man; but surely we can pardon, in an old celibate whose heart sends +so much blood to his left cheek, these adorable qualities, founded, +perhaps, on some sublime secret history. + +Besides, the Chevalier de Valois redeemed those negroes’ heads by so +many other graces that society felt itself sufficiently compensated. He +really took such immense trouble to conceal his age and give pleasure to +his friends. In the first place, we must call attention to the extreme +care he gave to his linen, the only distinction that well-bred men +can nowadays exhibit in their clothes. The linen of the chevalier was +invariably of a fineness and whiteness that were truly aristocratic. As +for his coat, though remarkable for its cleanliness, it was always half +worn-out, but without spots or creases. The preservation of that garment +was something marvellous to those who noticed the chevalier’s high-bred +indifference to its shabbiness. He did not go so far as to scrape the +seams with glass,--a refinement invented by the Prince of Wales; but +he did practice the rudiments of English elegance with a personal +satisfaction little understood by the people of Alencon. The world owes +a great deal to persons who take such pains to please it. In this there +is certainly some accomplishment of that most difficult precept of the +Gospel about rendering good for evil. This freshness of ablution and +all the other little cares harmonized charmingly with the blue eyes, the +ivory teeth, and the blond person of the old chevalier. + +The only blemish was that this retired Adonis had nothing manly about +him; he seemed to be employing this toilet varnish to hide the ruins +occasioned by the military service of gallantry only. But we must hasten +to add that his voice produced what might be called an antithesis to his +blond delicacy. Unless you adopted the opinion of certain observers of +the human heart, and thought that the chevalier had the voice of +his nose, his organ of speech would have amazed you by its full and +redundant sound. Without possessing the volume of classical bass voices, +the tone of it was pleasing from a slightly muffled quality like that of +an English bugle, which is firm and sweet, strong but velvety. + +The chevalier had repudiated the ridiculous costume still preserved by +certain monarchical old men; he had frankly modernized himself. He +was always seen in a maroon-colored coat with gilt buttons, half-tight +breeches of poult-de-soie with gold buckles, a white waistcoat without +embroidery, and a tight cravat showing no shirt-collar,--a last vestige +of the old French costume which he did not renounce, perhaps, because +it enabled him to show a neck like that of the sleekest abbe. His shoes +were noticeable for their square buckles, a style of which the present +generation has no knowledge; these buckles were fastened to a square of +polished black leather. The chevalier allowed two watch-chains to hang +parallel to each other from each of his waistcoat pockets,--another +vestige of the eighteenth century, which the Incroyables had not +disdained to use under the Directory. This transition costume, uniting +as it did two centuries, was worn by the chevalier with the high-bred +grace of an old French marquis, the secret of which is lost to France +since the day when Fleury, Mole’s last pupil, vanished. + +The private life of this old bachelor was apparently open to all eyes, +though in fact it was quite mysterious. He lived in a lodging that was +modest, to say the best of it, in the rue du Cours, on the second floor +of a house belonging to Madame Lardot, the best and busiest washerwoman +in the town. This circumstance will explain the excessive nicety of his +linen. Ill-luck would have it that the day came when Alencon was guilty +of believing that the chevalier had not always comported himself as a +gentleman should, and that in fact he was secretly married in his old +age to a certain Cesarine,--the mother of a child which had had the +impertinence to come into the world without being called for. + +“He had given his hand,” as a certain Monsieur du Bousquier remarked, +“to the person who had long had him under irons.” + +This horrible calumny embittered the last days of the dainty chevalier +all the more because, as the present Scene will show, he had lost a hope +long cherished to which he had made many sacrifices. + +Madame Lardot leased to the chevalier two rooms on the second floor of +her house, for the modest sum of one hundred francs a year. The worthy +gentleman dined out every day, returning only in time to go to bed. His +sole expense therefore was for breakfast, invariably composed of a cup +of chocolate, with bread and butter and fruits in their season. He made +no fire except in the coldest winter, and then only enough to get up +by. Between eleven and four o’clock he walked about, went to read the +papers, and paid visits. From the time of his settling in Alencon he had +nobly admitted his poverty, saying that his whole fortune consisted in +an annuity of six hundred francs a year, the sole remains of his former +opulence,--a property which obliged him to see his man of business (who +held the annuity papers) quarterly. In truth, one of the Alencon bankers +paid him every three months one hundred and fifty francs, sent down +by Monsieur Bordin of Paris, the last of the _procureurs du Chatelet_. +Every one knew these details because the chevalier exacted the utmost +secrecy from the persons to whom he first confided them. + +Monsieur de Valois gathered the fruit of his misfortunes. His place at +table was laid in all the most distinguished houses in Alencon, and he +was bidden to all soirees. His talents as a card-player, a narrator, an +amiable man of the highest breeding, were so well known and appreciated +that parties would have seemed a failure if the dainty connoisseur was +absent. Masters of houses and their wives felt the need of his approving +grimace. When a young woman heard the chevalier say at a ball, “You are +delightfully well-dressed!” she was more pleased at such praise than she +would have been at mortifying a rival. Monsieur de Valois was the only +man who could perfectly pronounce certain phrases of the olden time. +The words, “my heart,” “my jewel,” “my little pet,” “my queen,” and the +amorous diminutives of 1770, had a grace that was quite irresistible +when they came from his lips. In short, the chevalier had the privilege +of superlatives. His compliments, of which he was stingy, won the good +graces of all the old women; he made himself agreeable to every one, +even to the officials of the government, from whom he wanted nothing. +His behavior at cards had a lofty distinction which everybody noticed: +he never complained; he praised his adversaries when they lost; he did +not rebuke or teach his partners by showing them how they ought to have +played. When, in the course of a deal, those sickening dissertations +on the game would take place, the chevalier invariably drew out his +snuff-box with a gesture that was worthy of Mole, looked at the Princess +Goritza, raised the cover with dignity, shook, sifted, massed the snuff, +and gathered his pinch, so that by the time the cards were dealt he +had decorated both nostrils and replaced the princess in his waistcoat +pocket,--always on his left side. A gentleman of the “good” century (in +distinction from the “grand” century) could alone have invented that +compromise between contemptuous silence and a sarcasm which might not +have been understood. He accepted poor players and knew how to make +the best of them. His delightful equability of temper made many persons +say,-- + +“I do admire the Chevalier de Valois!” + +His conversation, his manners, seemed bland, like his person. He +endeavored to shock neither man nor woman. Indulgent to defects both +physical and mental, he listened patiently (by the help of the Princess +Goritza) to the many dull people who related to him the petty miseries +of provincial life,--an egg ill-boiled for breakfast, coffee with +feathered cream, burlesque details about health, disturbed sleep, +dreams, visits. The chevalier could call up a languishing look, he could +take on a classic attitude to feign compassion, which made him a most +valuable listener; he could put in an “Ah!” and a “Bah!” and a “What +DID you do?” with charming appropriateness. He died without any one +suspecting him of even an allusion to the tender passages of his romance +with the Princess Goritza. Has any one ever reflected on the service a +dead sentiment can do to society; how love may become both social and +useful? This will serve to explain why, in spite of his constant winning +at play (he never left a salon without carrying off with him about six +francs), the old chevalier remained the spoilt darling of the town. His +losses--which, by the bye, he always proclaimed, were very rare. + +All who know him declare that they have never met, not even in the +Egyptian museum at Turin, so agreeable a mummy. In no country in +the world did parasitism ever take on so pleasant a form. Never did +selfishness of a most concentrated kind appear less forth-putting, less +offensive, than in this old gentleman; it stood him in place of devoted +friendship. If some one asked Monsieur de Valois to do him a little +service which might have discommoded him, that some one did not part +from the worthy chevalier without being truly enchanted with him, and +quite convinced that he either could not do the service demanded, or +that he should injure the affair if he meddled in it. + +To explain the problematic existence of the chevalier, the historian, +whom Truth, that cruel wanton, grasps by the throat, is compelled to say +that after the “glorious” sad days of July, Alencon discovered that the +chevalier’s nightly winnings amounted to about one hundred and fifty +francs every three months; and that the clever old nobleman had had the +pluck to send to himself his annuity in order not to appear in the eyes +of a community, which loves the main chance, to be entirely without +resources. Many of his friends (he was by that time dead, you will +please remark) have contested mordicus this curious fact, declaring it +to be a fable, and upholding the Chevalier de Valois as a respectable +and worthy gentleman whom the liberals calumniated. Luckily for shrewd +players, there are people to be found among the spectators who will +always sustain them. Ashamed of having to defend a piece of wrong-doing, +they stoutly deny it. Do not accuse them of wilful infatuation; such +men have a sense of their dignity; governments set them the example of a +virtue which consists in burying their dead without chanting the Misere +of their defeats. If the chevalier did allow himself this bit of shrewd +practice,--which, by the bye, would have won him the regard of the +Chevalier de Gramont, a smile from the Baron de Foeneste, a shake of +the hand from the Marquis de Moncade,--was he any the less that amiable +guest, that witty talker, that imperturbable card-player, that famous +teller of anecdotes, in whom all Alencon took delight? Besides, in what +way was this action, which is certainly within the rights of a man’s own +will,--in what way was it contrary to the ethics of a gentleman? When +so many persons are forced to pay annuities to others, what more natural +than to pay one to his own best friend? But Laius is dead-- + +To return to the period of which we are writing: after about fifteen +years of this way of life the chevalier had amassed ten thousand and +some odd hundred francs. On the return of the Bourbons, one of his old +friends, the Marquis de Pombreton, formerly lieutenant in the Black +mousquetaires, returned to him--so he said--twelve hundred pistoles +which he had lent to the marquis for the purpose of emigrating. This +event made a sensation; it was used later to refute the sarcasms of +the “Constitutionnel,” on the method employed by some emigres in paying +their debts. When this noble act of the Marquis de Pombreton was lauded +before the chevalier, the good man reddened even to his right cheek. +Every one rejoiced frankly at this windfall for Monsieur de Valois, +who went about consulting moneyed people as to the safest manner of +investing this fragment of his past opulence. Confiding in the future of +the Restoration, he finally placed his money on the Grand-Livre at the +moment when the funds were at fifty-six francs and twenty-five centimes. +Messieurs de Lenoncourt, de Navarreins, de Verneuil, de Fontaine, and La +Billardiere, to whom he was known, he said, obtained for him, from the +king’s privy purse, a pension of three hundred francs, and sent him, +moreover, the cross of Saint-Louis. Never was it known positively by +what means the old chevalier obtained these two solemn consecrations of +his title and merits. But one thing is certain; the cross of Saint-Louis +authorized him to take the rank of retired colonel in view of his +service in the Catholic armies of the West. + +Besides his fiction of an annuity, about which no one at the present +time knew anything, the chevalier really had, therefore, a bona fide +income of a thousand francs. But in spite of this bettering of his +circumstances, he made no change in his life, manners, or appearance, +except that the red ribbon made a fine effect on his maroon-colored +coat, and completed, so to speak, the physiognomy of a gentleman. +After 1802, the chevalier sealed his letters with a very old seal, +ill-engraved to be sure, by which the Casterans, the d’Esgrignons, the +Troisvilles were enabled to see that he bore: _Party of France, two +cottises gemelled gules, and gules, five mascles or, placed end to end; +on a chief sable, a cross argent_. For crest, a knight’s helmet. For +motto: “Valeo.” Bearing such noble arms, the so-called bastard of the +Valois had the right to get into all the royal carriages of the world. + +Many persons envied the quiet existence of this old bachelor, spent +on whist, boston, backgammon, reversi, and piquet, all well played, +on dinners well digested, snuff gracefully inhaled, and tranquil walks +about the town. Nearly all Alencon believed this life to be exempt from +ambitions and serious interests; but no man has a life as simple as +envious neighbors attribute to him. You will find in the most out-of-the +way villages human mollusks, creatures apparently dead, who have +passions for lepidoptera or for conchology, let us say,--beings who will +give themselves infinite pains about moths, butterflies, or the concha +Veneris. Not only did the chevalier have his own particular shells, +but he cherished an ambitious desire which he pursued with a craft +so profound as to be worthy of Sixtus the Fifth: he wanted to marry a +certain rich old maid, with the intention, no doubt, of making her a +stepping-stone by which to reach the more elevated regions of the court. +There, then, lay the secret of his royal bearing and of his residence in +Alencon. + + + + +CHAPTER II. SUSANNAH AND THE ELDERS + + +On a Wednesday morning, early, toward the middle of spring, in the year +16,--such was his mode of reckoning,--at the moment when the chevalier +was putting on his old green-flowered damask dressing-gown, he heard, +despite the cotton in his ears, the light step of a young girl who was +running up the stairway. Presently three taps were discreetly struck +upon the door; then, without waiting for any response, a handsome girl +slipped like an eel into the room occupied by the old bachelor. + +“Ah! is it you, Suzanne?” said the Chevalier de Valois, without +discontinuing his occupation, which was that of stropping his razor. +“What have you come for, my dear little jewel of mischief?” + +“I have come to tell you something which may perhaps give you as much +pleasure as pain?” + +“Is it anything about Cesarine?” + +“Cesarine! much I care about your Cesarine!” she said with a saucy air, +half serious, half indifferent. + +This charming Suzanne, whose present comical performance was to exercise +a great influence in the principal personages of our history, was a +work-girl at Madame Lardot’s. One word here on the topography of the +house. The wash-rooms occupied the whole of the ground floor. The little +courtyard was used to hang out on wire cords embroidered handkerchiefs, +collarets, capes, cuffs, frilled shirts, cravats, laces, embroidered +dresses,--in short, all the fine linen of the best families of the town. +The chevalier assumed to know from the number of her capes in the wash +how the love-affairs of the wife of the prefect were going on. Though +he guessed much from observations of this kind, the chevalier was +discretion itself; he was never betrayed into an epigram (he had plenty +of wit) which might have closed to him an agreeable salon. You are +therefore to consider Monsieur de Valois as a man of superior manners, +whose talents, like those of many others, were lost in a narrow sphere. +Only--for, after all, he was a man--he permitted himself certain +penetrating glances which could make some women tremble; although they +all loved him heartily as soon as they discovered the depth of his +discretion and the sympathy that he felt for their little weaknesses. + +The head woman, Madame Lardot’s factotum, an old maid of forty-six, +hideous to behold, lived on the opposite side of the passage to the +chevalier. Above them were the attics where the linen was dried in +winter. Each apartment had two rooms,--one lighted from the street, the +other from the courtyard. Beneath the chevalier’s room there lived a +paralytic, Madame Lardot’s grandfather, an old buccaneer named Grevin, +who had served under Admiral Simeuse in India, and was now stone-deaf. +As for Madame Lardot, who occupied the other lodging on the first floor, +she had so great a weakness for persons of condition that she may well +have been thought blind to the ways of the chevalier. To her, Monsieur +de Valois was a despotic monarch who did right in all things. Had any of +her workwomen been guilty of a happiness attributed to the chevalier +she would have said, “He is so lovable!” Thus, though the house was of +glass, like all provincial houses, it was discreet as a robber’s cave. + +A born confidant to all the little intrigues of the work-rooms, the +chevalier never passed the door, which usually stood open, without +giving something to his little ducks,--chocolate, bonbons, ribbons, +laces, gilt crosses, and such like trifles adored by grisettes; +consequently, the kind old gentleman was adored in return. Women have an +instinct which enables them to divine the men who love them, who like +to be near them, and exact no payment for gallantries. In this respect +women have the instinct of dogs, who in a mixed company will go straight +to the man to whom animals are sacred. + +The poor Chevalier de Valois retained from his former life the need of +bestowing gallant protection, a quality of the seigneurs of other +days. Faithful to the system of the “petite maison,” he liked to enrich +women,--the only beings who know how to receive, because they can +always return. But the poor chevalier could no longer ruin himself for +a mistress. Instead of the choicest bonbons wrapped in bank-bills, he +gallantly presented paper-bags full of toffee. Let us say to the glory +of Alencon that the toffee was accepted with more joy than la Duthe +ever showed at a gilt service or a fine equipage offered by the Comte +d’Artois. All these grisettes fully understood the fallen majesty of the +Chevalier de Valois, and they kept their private familiarities with him +a profound secret for his sake. If they were questioned about him in +certain houses when they carried home the linen, they always spoke +respectfully of the chevalier, and made him out older than he really +was; they talked of him as a most respectable monsieur, whose life was +a flower of sanctity; but once in their own regions they perched on his +shoulders like so many parrots. He liked to be told the secrets which +washerwomen discover in the bosom of households, and day after day these +girls would tell him the cancans which were going the round of Alencon. +He called them his “petticoat gazettes,” his “talking feuilletons.” + Never did Monsieur de Sartines have spies more intelligent and less +expensive, or minions who showed more honor while displaying their +rascality of mind. So it may be said that in the mornings, while +breakfasting, the chevalier usually amused himself as much as the saints +in heaven. + +Suzanne was one of his favorites, a clever, ambitious girl, made of +the stuff of a Sophie Arnold, and handsome withal, as the handsomest +courtesan invited by Titian to pose on black velvet for a model of +Venus; although her face, fine about the eyes and forehead, degenerated, +lower down, into commonness of outline. Hers was a Norman beauty, fresh, +high-colored, redundant, the flesh of Rubens covering the muscles of +the Farnese Hercules, and not the slender articulations of the Venus de’ +Medici, Apollo’s graceful consort. + +“Well, my child, tell me your great or your little adventure, whatever +it is.” + +The particular point about the chevalier which would have made him +noticeable from Paris to Pekin, was the gentle paternity of his manner +to grisettes. They reminded him of the illustrious operatic queens of +his early days, whose celebrity was European during a good third of the +eighteenth century. It is certain that the old gentleman, who had lived +in days gone by with that feminine nation now as much forgotten as many +other great things,--like the Jesuits, the Buccaneers, the Abbes, and +the Farmers-General,--had acquired an irresistible good-humor, a kindly +ease, a laisser-aller devoid of egotism, the self-effacement of +Jupiter with Alcmene, of the king intending to be duped, who casts his +thunderbolts to the devil, wants his Olympus full of follies, little +suppers, feminine profusions--but with Juno out of the way, be it +understood. + +In spite of his old green damask dressing-gown and the bareness of the +room in which he sat, where the floor was covered with a shabby tapestry +in place of carpet, and the walls were hung with tavern-paper presenting +the profiles of Louis XVI. and members of his family, traced among the +branches of a weeping willow with other sentimentalities invented by +royalism during the Terror,--in spite of his ruins, the chevalier, +trimming his beard before a shabby old toilet-table, draped with +trumpery lace, exhaled an essence of the eighteenth century. All the +libertine graces of his youth reappeared; he seemed to have the wealth +of three hundred thousand francs of debt, while his vis-a-vis waited +before the door. He was grand,--like Berthier on the retreat from +Moscow, issuing orders to an army that existed no longer. + +“Monsieur le chevalier,” replied Suzanne, drolly, “seems to me I needn’t +tell you anything; you’ve only to look.” + +And Suzanne presented a side view of herself which gave a sort of +lawyer’s comment to her words. The chevalier, who, you must know, was a +sly old bird, lowered his right eye on the grisette, still holding the +razor at his throat, and pretended to understand. + +“Well, well, my little duck, we’ll talk about that presently. But you +are rather previous, it seems to me.” + +“Why, Monsieur le chevalier, ought I to wait until my mother beats me +and Madame Lardot turns me off? If I don’t get away soon to Paris, I +shall never be able to marry here, where men are so ridiculous.” + +“It can’t be helped, my dear; society is changing; women are just as +much victims to the present state of things as the nobility themselves. +After political overturn comes the overturn of morals. Alas! before long +woman won’t exist” (he took out the cotton-wool to arrange his ears): +“she’ll lose everything by rushing into sentiment; she’ll wring her +nerves; good-bye to all the good little pleasures of our time, desired +without shame, accepted without nonsense.” (He polished up the little +negroes’ heads.) “Women had hysterics in those days to get their ends, +but now” (he began to laugh) “their vapors end in charcoal. In short, +marriage” (here he picked up his pincers to remove a hair) “will become +a thing intolerable; whereas it used to be so gay in my day! The reigns +of Louis XIV. and Louis XV.--remember this, my child--said farewell to +the finest manners and morals ever known to the world.” + +“But, Monsieur le chevalier,” said the grisette, “the matter now +concerns the morals and honor of your poor little Suzanne, and I hope +you won’t abandon her.” + +“Abandon her!” cried the chevalier, finishing his hair; “I’d sooner +abandon my own name.” + +“Ah!” exclaimed Suzanne. + +“Now, listen to me, you little mischief,” said the chevalier, sitting +down on a huge sofa, formerly called a duchesse, which Madame Lardot had +been at some pains to find for him. + +He drew the magnificent Suzanne before him, holding her legs between his +knees. She let him do as he liked, although in the street she was offish +enough to other men, refusing their familiarities partly from decorum +and partly for contempt for their commonness. She now stood audaciously +in front of the chevalier, who, having fathomed in his day many other +mysteries in minds that were far more wily, took in the situation at a +single glance. He knew very well that no young girl would joke about +a real dishonor; but he took good care not to knock over the pretty +scaffolding of her lie as he touched it. + +“We slander ourselves,” he said with inimitable craft; “we are as +virtuous as that beautiful biblical girl whose name we bear; we can +always marry as we please, but we are thirsty for Paris, where charming +creatures--and we are no fool--get rich without trouble. We want to go +and see if the great capital of pleasures hasn’t some young Chevalier de +Valois in store for us, with a carriage, diamonds, an opera-box, and so +forth. Russians, Austrians, Britons, have millions on which we have an +eye. Besides, we are patriotic; we want to help France in getting back +her money from the pockets of those gentry. Hey! hey! my dear little +devil’s duck! it isn’t a bad plan. The world you live in may cry out a +bit, but success justifies all things. The worst thing in this world, +my dear, is to be without money; that’s our disease, yours and mine. Now +inasmuch as we have plenty of wit, we thought it would be a good thing +to parade our dear little honor, or dishonor, to catch an old boy; +but that old boy, my dear heart, knows the Alpha and Omega of female +tricks,--which means that you could easier put salt on a sparrow’s tail +than to make me believe I have anything to do with your little affair. +Go to Paris, my dear; go at the cost of an old celibate, I won’t prevent +it; in fact, I’ll help you, for an old bachelor, Suzanne, is the natural +money-box of a young girl. But don’t drag me into the matter. Listen, my +queen, you who know life pretty well; you would me great harm and give +me much pain,--harm, because you would prevent my marriage in a town +where people cling to morality; pain, because if you are in trouble +(which I deny, you sly puss!) I haven’t a penny to get you out of it. +I’m as poor as a church mouse; you know that, my dear. Ah! if I marry +Mademoiselle Cormon, if I am once more rich, of course I would prefer +you to Cesarine. You’ve always seemed to me as fine as the gold they +gild on lead; you were made to be the love of a great seigneur. I think +you so clever that the trick you are trying to play off on me doesn’t +surprise me one bit; I expected it. You are flinging the scabbard after +the sword, and that’s daring for a girl. It takes nerve and superior +ideas to do it, my angel, and therefore you have won my respectful +esteem.” + +“Monsieur le chevalier, I assure you, you are mistaken, and--” + +She colored, and did not dare to say more. The chevalier, with a single +glance, had guessed and fathomed her whole plan. + +“Yes, yes! I understand: you want me to believe it,” he said. “Well! I +do believe it. But take my advice: go to Monsieur du Bousquier. Haven’t +you taken linen there for the last six or eight months? I’m not asking +what went on between you; but I know the man: he has immense conceit; +he is an old bachelor, and very rich; and he only spends a quarter of +a comfortable income. If you are as clever as I suppose, you can go to +Paris at his expense. There, run along, my little doe; go and twist him +round your finger. Only, mind this: be as supple as silk; at every +word take a double turn round him and make a knot. He is a man to fear +scandal, and if he has given you a chance to put him in the pillory--in +short, understand; threaten him with the ladies of the Maternity +Hospital. Besides, he’s ambitious. A man succeeds through his wife, and +you are handsome and clever enough to make the fortune of a husband. +Hey! the mischief! you could hold your own against all the court +ladies.” + +Suzanne, whose mind took in at a flash the chevalier’s last words, +was eager to run off to du Bousquier, but, not wishing to depart too +abruptly, she questioned the chevalier about Paris, all the while +helping him to dress. The chevalier, however, divined her desire to +be off, and favored it by asking her to tell Cesarine to bring up his +chocolate, which Madame Lardot made for him every morning. Suzanne then +slipped away to her new victim, whose biography must here be given. + +Born of an old Alencon family, du Bousquier was a cross between the +bourgeois and the country squire. Finding himself without means on the +death of his father, he went, like other ruined provincials, to Paris. +On the breaking out of the Revolution he took part in public affairs. +In spite of revolutionary principles, which made a hobby of republican +honesty, the management of public business in those days was by no +means clean. A political spy, a stock-jobber, a contractor, a man who +confiscated in collusion with the syndic of a commune the property of +emigres in order to sell them and buy them in, a minister, and a general +were all equally engaged in public business. From 1793 to 1799 du +Bousquier was commissary of provisions to the French armies. He lived in +a magnificent hotel and was one of the matadors of finance, did business +with Ouvrard, kept open house, and led the scandalous life of the +period,--the life of a Cincinnatus, on sacks of corn harvested without +trouble, stolen rations, “little houses” full of mistresses, in which +were given splendid fetes to the Directors of the Republic. + +The citizen du Bousquier was one of Barras’ familiars; he was on the +best of terms with Fouche, stood very well with Bernadotte, and fully +expected to become a minister by throwing himself into the party which +secretly caballed against Bonaparte until Marengo. If it had not been +for Kellermann’s charge and Desaix’s death, du Bousquier would probably +have become a minister. He was one of the chief assistances of that +secret government whom Napoleon’s luck sent behind the scenes in 1793. +(See “An Historical Mystery.”) The unexpected victory of Marengo was +the defeat of that party who actually had their proclamations printed +to return to the principles of the Montagne in case the First Consul +succumbed. + +Convinced of the impossibility of Bonaparte’s triumph, du Bousquier +staked the greater part of his property on a fall in the Funds, and kept +two couriers on the field of battle. The first started for Paris when +Melas’ victory was certain; the second, starting four hours later, +brought the news of the defeat of the Austrians. Du Bousquier cursed +Kellermann and Desaix; he dared not curse Bonaparte, who might owe him +millions. This alternative of millions to be earned and present ruin +staring him in the face, deprived the purveyor of most of his faculties: +he became nearly imbecile for several days; the man had so abused his +health by excesses that when the thunderbolt fell upon him he had no +strength to resist. The payment of his bills against the Exchequer +gave him some hopes for the future, but, in spite of all efforts +to ingratiate himself, Napoleon’s hatred to the contractors who had +speculated on his defeat made itself felt; du Bousquier was left without +a sou. The immorality of his private life, his intimacy with Barras and +Bernadotte, displeased the First Consul even more than his manoeuvres +at the Bourse, and he struck du Bousquier’s name from the list of the +government contractors. + +Out of all his past opulence du Bousquier saved only twelve hundred +francs a year from an investment in the Grand Livre, which he had +happened to place there by pure caprice, and which saved him from +penury. A man ruined by the First Consul interested the town of Alencon, +to which he now returned, where royalism was secretly dominant. Du +Bousquier, furious against Bonaparte, relating stories against him of +his meanness, of Josephine’s improprieties, and all the other scandalous +anecdotes of the last ten years, was well received. + +About this time, when he was somewhere between forty and fifty, du +Bousquier’s appearance was that of a bachelor of thirty-six, of medium +height, plump as a purveyor, proud of his vigorous calves, with a +strongly marked countenance, a flattened nose, the nostrils garnished +with hair, black eyes with thick lashes, from which darted shrewd +glances like those of Monsieur de Talleyrand, though somewhat dulled. +He still wore republican whiskers and his hair very long; his hands, +adorned with bunches of hair on each knuckle, showed the power of his +muscular system in their prominent blue veins. He had the chest of the +Farnese Hercules, and shoulders fit to carry the stocks. Such shoulders +are seen nowadays only at Tortoni’s. This wealth of masculine vigor +counted for much in du Bousquier’s relations with others. And yet in +him, as in the chevalier, symptoms appeared which contrasted oddly with +the general aspect of their persons. The late purveyor had not the voice +of his muscles. We do not mean that his voice was a mere thread, such +as we sometimes hear issuing from the mouth of these walruses; on the +contrary, it was a strong voice, but stifled, an idea of which can be +given only by comparing it with the noise of a saw cutting into soft and +moistened wood,--the voice of a worn-out speculator. + +In spite of the claims which the enmity of the First Consul gave +Monsieur du Bousquier to enter the royalist society of the province, +he was not received in the seven or eight families who composed the +faubourg Saint-Germain of Alencon, among whom the Chevalier de Valois +was welcome. He had offered himself in marriage, through her notary, +to Mademoiselle Armande, sister of the most distinguished noble in the +town; to which offer he received a refusal. He consoled himself as best +he could in the society of a dozen rich families, former manufacturers +of the old point d’Alencon, owners of pastures and cattle, or merchants +doing a wholesale business in linen, among whom, as he hoped, he +might find a wealthy wife. In fact, all his hopes now converged to +the perspective of a fortunate marriage. He was not without a certain +financial ability, which many persons used to their profit. Like a +ruined gambler who advises neophytes, he pointed out enterprises and +speculations, together with the means and chances of conducting them. He +was thought a good administrator, and it was often a question of making +him mayor of Alencon; but the memory of his underhand jobbery still +clung to him, and he was never received at the prefecture. All the +succeeding governments, even that of the Hundred Days, refused to +appoint him mayor of Alencon,--a place he coveted, which, could he have +had it, would, he thought, have won him the hand of a certain old maid +on whom his matrimonial views now turned. + +Du Bousquier’s aversion to the Imperial government had thrown him at +first into the royalist circles of Alencon, where he remained in spite +of the rebuffs he received there; but when, after the first return +of the Bourbons, he was still excluded from the prefecture, that +mortification inspired him with a hatred as deep as it was secret +against the royalists. He now returned to his old opinions, and became +the leader of the liberal party in Alencon, the invisible manipulator of +elections, and did immense harm to the Restoration by the cleverness of +his underhand proceedings and the perfidy of his outward behavior. Du +Bousquier, like all those who live by their heads only, carried on his +hatreds with the quiet tranquillity of a rivulet, feeble apparently, +but inexhaustible. His hatred was that of a negro, so peaceful that it +deceived the enemy. His vengeance, brooded over for fifteen years, was +as yet satisfied by no victory, not even that of July, 1830. + +It was not without some private intention that the Chevalier de Valois +had turned Suzanne’s designs upon Monsieur du Bousquier. The liberal +and the royalist had mutually divined each other in spite of the wide +dissimulation with which they hid their common hope from the rest of the +town. The two old bachelors were secretly rivals. Each had formed a plan +to marry the Demoiselle Cormon, whom Monsieur de Valois had mentioned to +Suzanne. Both, ensconced in their idea and wearing the armor of apparent +indifference, awaited the moment when some lucky chance might deliver +the old maid over to them. Thus, if the two old bachelors had not been +kept asunder by the two political systems of which they each offered +a living expression, their private rivalry would still have made them +enemies. Epochs put their mark on men. These two individuals proved the +truth of that axiom by the opposing historic tints that were visible +in their faces, in their conversation, in their ideas, and in their +clothes. One, abrupt, energetic, with loud, brusque manners, curt, rude +speech, dark in tone, in hair, in look, terrible apparently, in reality +as impotent as an insurrection, represented the republic admirably. The +other, gentle and polished, elegant and nice, attaining his ends by the +slow and infallible means of diplomacy, faithful to good taste, was the +express image of the old courtier regime. + +The two enemies met nearly every evening on the same ground. The war +was courteous and benign on the side of the chevalier; but du Bousquier +showed less ceremony on his, though still preserving the outward +appearances demanded by society, for he did not wish to be driven from +the place. They themselves fully understood each other; but in spite of +the shrewd observation which provincials bestow on the petty interests +of their own little centre, no one in the town suspected the rivalry +of these two men. Monsieur le Chevalier de Valois occupied a +vantage-ground: he had never asked for the hand of Mademoiselle Cormon; +whereas du Bousquier, who entered the lists soon after his rejection by +the most distinguished family in the place, had been refused. But the +chevalier believed that his rival had still such strong chances of +success that he dealt him this coup de Jarnac with a blade (namely, +Suzanne) that was finely tempered for the purpose. The chevalier had +cast his plummet-line into the waters of du Bousquier; and, as we shall +see by the sequel, he was not mistaken in any of his conjectures. + +Suzanne tripped with a light foot from the rue du Cours, by the rue de +la Porte de Seez and the rue du Bercail, to the rue du Cygne, where, +about five years earlier, du Bousquier had bought a little house built +of gray Jura stone, which is something between Breton slate and +Norman granite. There he established himself more comfortably than any +householder in town; for he had managed to preserve certain furniture +and decorations from the days of his splendor. But provincial manners +and morals obscured, little by little, the rays of this fallen +Sardanapalus; these vestiges of his former luxury now produced the +effect of a glass chandelier in a barn. Harmony, that bond of all work, +human or divine, was lacking in great things as well as in little ones. +The stairs, up which everybody mounted without wiping their feet, were +never polished; the walls, painted by some wretched artisan of the +neighborhood, were a terror to the eye; the stone mantel-piece, +ill-carved, “swore” with the handsome clock, which was further degraded +by the company of contemptible candlesticks. Like the period which +du Bousquier himself represented, the house was a jumble of dirt and +magnificence. Being considered a man of leisure, du Bousquier led the +same parasite life as the chevalier; and he who does not spend his +income is always rich. His only servant was a sort of Jocrisse, a lad of +the neighborhood, rather a ninny, trained slowly and with difficulty to +du Bousquier’s requirements. His master had taught him, as he might an +orang-outang, to rub the floors, dust the furniture, black his boots, +brush his coats, and bring a lantern to guide him home at night if +the weather were cloudy, and clogs if it rained. Like many other human +beings, this lad hadn’t stuff enough in him for more than one vice; he +was a glutton. Often, when du Bousquier went to a grand dinner, he would +take Rene to wait at table; on such occasions he made him take off his +blue cotton jacket, with its big pockets hanging round his hips, and +always bulging with handkerchiefs, clasp-knives, fruits, or a handful of +nuts, and forced him to put on a regulation coat. Rene would then stuff +his fill with the other servants. This duty, which du Bousquier had +turned into a reward, won him the most absolute discretion from the +Breton servant. + +“You here, mademoiselle!” said Rene to Suzanne when she entered; +“‘t’isn’t your day. We haven’t any linen for the wash, tell Madame +Lardot.” + +“Old stupid!” said Suzanne, laughing. + +The pretty girl went upstairs, leaving Rene to finish his porringer of +buckwheat in boiled milk. Du Bousquier, still in bed, was revolving in +his mind his plans of fortune; for ambition was all that was left +to him, as to other men who have sucked dry the orange of pleasure. +Ambition and play are inexhaustible; in a well-organized man the +passions which proceed from the brain will always survive the passions +of the heart. + +“Here am I,” said Suzanne, sitting down on the bed and jangling the +curtain-rings back along the rod with despotic vehemence. + +“Quesaco, my charmer?” said the old bachelor, sitting up in bed. + +“Monsieur,” said Suzanne, gravely, “you must be astonished to see me +here at this hour; but I find myself in a condition which obliges me not +to care for what people may say about it.” + +“What does all that mean?” said du Bousquier, crossing his arms. + +“Don’t you understand me?” said Suzanne. “I know,” she continued, making +a pretty little face, “how ridiculous it is in a poor girl to come and +nag at a man for what he thinks a mere nothing. But if you really knew +me, monsieur, if you knew all that I am capable of for a man who would +attach himself to me as much as I’m attached to you, you would never +repent having married me. Of course it isn’t here, in Alencon, that +I should be of service to you; but if we went to Paris, you would see +where I could lead a man with your mind and your capacities; and just +at this time too, when they are remaking the government from top to toe. +So--between ourselves, be it said--_is_ what has happened a misfortune? +Isn’t it rather a piece of luck, which will pay you well? Who and what +are you working for now?” + +“For myself, of course!” cried du Bousquier, brutally. + +“Monster! you’ll never be a father!” said Suzanne, giving a tone of +prophetic malediction to the words. + +“Come, don’t talk nonsense, Suzanne,” replied du Bousquier; “I really +think I am still dreaming.” + +“How much more reality do you want?” cried Suzanne, standing up. + +Du Bousquier rubbed his cotton night-cap to the top of his head with a +rotatory motion, which plainly indicated the tremendous fermentation of +his ideas. + +“He actually believes it!” thought Suzanne, “and he’s flattered. Heaven! +how easy it is to gull men!” + +“Suzanne, what the devil must I do? It is so extraordinary--I, who +thought--The fact is that--No, no, it can’t be--” + +“What? you can’t marry me?” + +“Oh! as for that, no; I have engagements.” + +“With Mademoiselle Armande or Mademoiselle Cormon, who have both +refused you? Listen to me, Monsieur du Bousquier, my honor doesn’t +need gendarmes to drag you to the mayor’s office. I sha’n’t lack for +husbands, thank goodness! and I don’t want a man who can’t appreciate +what I’m worth. But some day you’ll repent of the way you are behaving; +for I tell you now that nothing on earth, neither gold nor silver, will +induce me to return the good thing that belongs to you, if you refuse to +accept it to-day.” + +“But, Suzanne, are you sure?” + +“Oh, monsieur!” cried the grisette, wrapping her virtue round her, “what +do you take me for? I don’t remind you of the promises you made me, +which have ruined a poor young girl whose only blame was to have as much +ambition as love.” + +Du Bousquier was torn with conflicting sentiments, joy, distrust, +calculation. He had long determined to marry Mademoiselle Cormon; +for the Charter, on which he had just been ruminating, offered to his +ambition, through the half of her property, the political career of a +deputy. Besides, his marriage with the old maid would put him socially +so high in the town that he would have great influence. Consequently, +the storm upraised by that malicious Suzanne drove him into the wildest +embarrassment. Without this secret scheme, he would have married Suzanne +without hesitation. In which case, he could openly assume the leadership +of the liberal party in Alencon. After such a marriage he would, of +course, renounce the best society and take up with the bourgeois class +of tradesmen, rich manufacturers and graziers, who would certainly carry +him in triumph as their candidate. Du Bousquier already foresaw the Left +side. + +This solemn deliberation he did not conceal; he rubbed his hands over +his head, displacing the cap which covered its disastrous baldness. +Suzanne, meantime, like all those persons who succeed beyond their +hopes, was silent and amazed. To hide her astonishment, she assumed the +melancholy pose of an injured girl at the mercy of her seducer; inwardly +she was laughing like a grisette at her clever trick. + +“My dear child,” said du Bousquier at length, “I’m not to be taken in +with such _bosh_, not I!” + +Such was the curt remark which ended du Bousquier’s meditation. He +plumed himself on belonging to the class of cynical philosophers who +could never be “taken in” by women,--putting them, one and all, unto the +same category, as _suspicious_. These strong-minded persons are usually +weak men who have a special catechism in the matter of womenkind. To +them the whole sex, from queens of France to milliners, are essentially +depraved, licentious, intriguing, not a little rascally, fundamentally +deceitful, and incapable of thought about anything but trifles. To them, +women are evil-doing queens, who must be allowed to dance and sing and +laugh as they please; they see nothing sacred or saintly in them, nor +anything grand; to them there is no poetry in the senses, only gross +sensuality. Where such jurisprudence prevails, if a woman is not +perpetually tyrannized over, she reduces the man to the condition of a +slave. Under this aspect du Bousquier was again the antithesis of the +chevalier. When he made his final remark, he flung his night-cap to the +foot of the bed, as Pope Gregory did the taper when he fulminated +an excommunication; Suzanne then learned for the first time that du +Bousquier wore a toupet covering his bald spot. + +“Please to remember, Monsieur du Bousquier,” she replied majestically, +“that in coming here to tell you of this matter I have done my duty; +remember that I have offered you my hand, and asked for yours; but +remember also that I behaved with the dignity of a woman who respects +herself. I have not abased myself to weep like a silly fool; I have not +insisted; I have not tormented you. You now know my situation. You must +see that I cannot stay in Alencon: my mother would beat me, and Madame +Lardot rides a hobby of principles; she’ll turn me off. Poor work-girl +that I am, must I go to the hospital? must I beg my bread? No! I’d +rather throw myself into the Brillante or the Sarthe. But isn’t it +better that I should go to Paris? My mother could find an excuse to send +me there,--an uncle who wants me, or a dying aunt, or a lady who sends +for me. But I must have some money for the journey and for--you know +what.” + +This extraordinary piece of news was far more startling to du Bousquier +than to the Chevalier de Valois. Suzanne’s fiction introduced such +confusion into the ideas of the old bachelor that he was literally +incapable of sober reflection. Without this agitation and without his +inward delight (for vanity is a swindler which never fails of its dupe), +he would certainly have reflected that, supposing it were true, a +girl like Suzanne, whose heart was not yet spoiled, would have died a +thousand deaths before beginning a discussion of this kind and asking +for money. + +“Will you really go to Paris, then?” he said. + +A flash of gayety lighted Suzanne’s gray eyes as she heard these words; +but the self-satisfied du Bousquier saw nothing. + +“Yes, monsieur,” she said. + +Du Bousquier then began bitter lamentations: he had the last payments +to make on his house; the painter, the mason, the upholsterers must +be paid. Suzanne let him run on; she was listening for the figures. Du +Bousquier offered her three hundred francs. Suzanne made what is called +on the stage a false exit; that is, she marched toward the door. + +“Stop, stop! where are you going?” said du Bousquier, uneasily. “This +is what comes of a bachelor’s life!” thought he. “The devil take me if +I ever did anything more than rumple her collar, and, lo and behold! she +makes THAT a ground to put her hand in one’s pocket!” + +“I’m going, monsieur,” replied Suzanne, “to Madame Granson, the +treasurer of the Maternity Society, who, to my knowledge, has saved many +a poor girl in my condition from suicide.” + +“Madame Granson!” + +“Yes,” said Suzanne, “a relation of Mademoiselle Cormon, the president +of the Maternity Society. Saving your presence, the ladies of the town +have created an institution to protect poor creatures from destroying +their infants, like that handsome Faustine of Argentan who was executed +for it three years ago.” + +“Here, Suzanne,” said du Bousquier, giving her a key, “open that +secretary, and take out the bag you’ll find there: there’s about six +hundred francs in it; it is all I possess.” + +“Old cheat!” thought Suzanne, doing as he told her, “I’ll tell about +your false toupet.” + +She compared du Bousquier with that charming chevalier, who had given +her nothing, it is true, but who had comprehended her, advised her, and +carried all grisettes in his heart. + +“If you deceive me, Suzanne,” cried du Bousquier, as he saw her with her +hand in the drawer, “you--” + +“Monsieur,” she said, interrupting him with ineffable impertinence, +“wouldn’t you have given me money if I had asked for it?” + +Recalled to a sense of gallantry, du Bousquier had a remembrance of past +happiness and grunted his assent. Suzanne took the bag and departed, +after allowing the old bachelor to kiss her, which he did with an air +that seemed to say, “It is a right which costs me dear; but it is better +than being harried by a lawyer in the court of assizes as the seducer of +a girl accused of infanticide.” + +Suzanne hid the sack in a sort of gamebag made of osier which she had on +her arm, all the while cursing du Bousquier for his stinginess; for one +thousand francs was the sum she wanted. Once tempted of the devil to +desire that sum, a girl will go far when she has set foot on the path of +trickery. As she made her way along the rue du Bercail, it came into her +head that the Maternity Society, presided over by Mademoiselle Cormon, +might be induced to complete the sum at which she had reckoned her +journey to Paris, which to a grisette of Alencon seemed considerable. +Besides, she hated du Bousquier. The latter had evidently feared a +revelation of his supposed misconduct to Madame Granson; and Suzanne, at +the risk of not getting a penny from the society, was possessed with +the desire, on leaving Alencon, of entangling the old bachelor in the +inextricable meshes of a provincial slander. In all grisettes there is +something of the malevolent mischief of a monkey. Accordingly, Suzanne +now went to see Madame Granson, composing her face to an expression of +the deepest dejection. + + + + +CHAPTER III. ATHANASE + + +Madame Granson, widow of a lieutenant-colonel of artillery killed at +Jena, possessed, as her whole means of livelihood, a meagre pension of +nine hundred francs a year, and three hundred francs from property of +her own, plus a son whose support and education had eaten up all her +savings. She occupied, in the rue du Bercail, one of those melancholy +ground-floor apartments which a traveller passing along the principal +street of a little provincial town can look through at a glance. The +street door opened at the top of three steep steps; a passage led to an +interior courtyard, at the end of which was the staircase covered by a +wooden gallery. On one side of the passage was the dining-room and the +kitchen; on the other side, a salon put to many uses, and the widow’s +bedchamber. + +Athanase Granson, a young man twenty-three years of age, who slept in an +attic room above the second floor of the house, added six hundred francs +to the income of his poor mother, by the salary of a little place which +the influence of his relation, Mademoiselle Cormon, had obtained for him +in the mayor’s office, where he was placed in charge of the archives. + +From these indications it is easy to imagine Madame Granson in her +cold salon with its yellow curtains and Utrecht velvet furniture, also +yellow, as she straightened the round straw mats which were placed +before each chair, that visitors might not soil the red-tiled floor +while they sat there; after which she returned to her cushioned +armchair and little work-table placed beneath the portrait of the +lieutenant-colonel of artillery between two windows,--a point from which +her eye could rake the rue du Bercail and see all comers. She was a good +woman, dressed with bourgeois simplicity in keeping with her wan face +furrowed by grief. The rigorous humbleness of poverty made itself felt +in all the accessories of this household, the very air of which was +charged with the stern and upright morals of the provinces. At this +moment the son and mother were together in the dining-room, where +they were breakfasting with a cup of coffee, with bread and butter and +radishes. To make the pleasure which Suzanne’s visit was to give to +Madame Granson intelligible, we must explain certain secret interests of +the mother and son. + +Athanase Granson was a thin and pale young man, of medium height, with +a hollow face in which his two black eyes, sparkling with thoughts, gave +the effect of bits of coal. The rather irregular lines of his face, the +curve of his lips, a prominent chin, the fine modelling of his forehead, +his melancholy countenance, caused by a sense of his poverty warring +with the powers that he felt within him, were all indications of +repressed and imprisoned talent. In any other place than the town of +Alencon the mere aspect of his person would have won him the assistance +of superior men, or of women who are able to recognize genius in +obscurity. If his was not genius, it was at any rate the form and aspect +of it; if he had not the actual force of a great heart, the glow of such +a heart was in his glance. Although he was capable of expressing the +highest feeling, a casing of timidity destroyed all the graces of his +youth, just as the ice of poverty kept him from daring to put forth all +his powers. Provincial life, without an opening, without appreciation, +without encouragement, described a circle about him in which languished +and died the power of thought,--a power which as yet had scarcely +reached its dawn. Moreover, Athanase possessed that savage pride which +poverty intensifies in noble minds, exalting them in their struggle with +men and things; although at their start in life it is an obstacle to +their advancement. Genius proceeds in two ways: either it takes its +opportunity--like Napoleon, like Moliere--the moment that it sees it, +or it waits to be sought when it has patiently revealed itself. Young +Granson belonged to that class of men of talent who distrust themselves +and are easily discouraged. His soul was contemplative. He lived more +by thought than by action. Perhaps he might have seemed deficient or +incomplete to those who cannot conceive of genius without the sparkle +of French passion; but he was powerful in the world of mind, and he was +liable to reach, through a series of emotions imperceptible to common +souls, those sudden determinations which make fools say of a man, “He is +mad.” + +The contempt which the world pours out on poverty was death to Athanase; +the enervating heat of solitude, without a breath or current of air, +relaxed the bow which ever strove to tighten itself; his soul grew weary +in this painful effort without results. Athanase was a man who might +have taken his place among the glories of France; but, eagle as he was, +cooped in a cage without his proper nourishment, he was about to die of +hunger after contemplating with an ardent eye the fields of air and +the mountain heights where genius soars. His work in the city library +escaped attention, and he buried in his soul his thoughts of fame, +fearing that they might injure him; but deeper than all lay buried +within him the secret of his heart,--a passion which hollowed his +cheeks and yellowed his brow. He loved his distant cousin, this very +Mademoiselle Cormon whom the Chevalier de Valois and du Bousquier, +his hidden rivals, were stalking. This love had had its origin in +calculation. Mademoiselle Cormon was thought to be one of the richest +persons in the town: the poor lad had therefore been led to love her by +desires for material happiness, by the hope, long indulged, of gilding +with comfort his mother’s last years, by eager longing for the ease of +life so needful to men who live by thought; but this most innocent point +of departure degraded his passion in his own eyes. Moreover, he feared +the ridicule the world would cast upon the love of a young man of +twenty-three for an old maid of forty. + +And yet his passion was real; whatever may seem false about such a love +elsewhere, it can be realized as a fact in the provinces, where, manners +and morals being without change or chance or movement or mystery, +marriage becomes a necessity of life. No family will accept a young man +of dissolute habits. However natural the liaison of a young man, like +Athanase, with a handsome girl, like Suzanne, for instance, might seem +in a capital, it alarms provincial parents, and destroys the hopes of +marriage of a poor young man when possibly the fortune of a rich one +might cause such an unfortunate antecedent to be overlooked. Between the +depravity of certain liaisons and a sincere love, a man of honor and no +fortune will not hesitate: he prefers the misfortunes of virtue to the +evils of vice. But in the provinces women with whom a young man call +fall in love are rare. A rich young girl he cannot obtain in a region +where all is calculation; a poor young girl he is prevented from loving; +it would be, as provincials say, marrying hunger and thirst. Such +monkish solitude is, however, dangerous to youth. + +These reflections explain why provincial life is so firmly based on +marriage. Thus we find that ardent and vigorous genius, forced to rely +on the independence of its own poverty, quits these cold regions where +thought is persecuted by brutal indifference, where no woman is willing +to be a sister of charity to a man of talent, of art, of science. + +Who will really understand Athanase Granson’s love for Mademoiselle +Cormon? Certainly neither rich men--those sultans of society who fill +their harems--nor middle-class men, who follow the well-beaten high-road +of prejudices; nor women who, not choosing to understand the passions of +artists, impose the yoke of their virtues upon men of genius, imagining +that the two sexes are governed by the same laws. + +Here, perhaps, we should appeal to those young men who suffer from the +repression of their first desires at the moment when all their forces +are developing; to artists sick of their own genius smothering under the +pressure of poverty; to men of talent, persecuted and without influence, +often without friends at the start, who have ended by triumphing over +that double anguish, equally agonizing, of soul and body. Such men +will well understand the lancinating pains of the cancer which was +now consuming Athanase; they have gone through those long and bitter +deliberations made in presence of some grandiose purpose they had not +the means to carry out; they have endured those secret miscarriages in +which the fructifying seed of genius falls on arid soil. Such men know +that the grandeur of desires is in proportion to the height and breadth +of the imagination. The higher they spring, the lower they fall; and how +can it be that ties and bonds should not be broken by such a fall? +Their piercing eye has seen--as did Athanase--the brilliant future which +awaited them, and from which they fancied that only a thin gauze parted +them; but that gauze through which their eyes could see is changed by +Society into a wall of iron. Impelled by a vocation, by a sentiment of +art, they endeavor again and again to live by sentiments which society +as incessantly materializes. Alas! the provinces calculate and arrange +marriage with the one view of material comfort, and a poor artist or man +of science is forbidden to double its purpose and make it the saviour of +his genius by securing to him the means of subsistence! + +Moved by such ideas, Athanase Granson first thought of marriage with +Mademoiselle Cormon as a means of obtaining a livelihood which would +be permanent. Thence he could rise to fame, and make his mother happy, +knowing at the same time that he was capable of faithfully loving his +wife. But soon his own will created, although he did not know it, a +genuine passion. He began to study the old maid, and, by dint of the +charm which habit gives, he ended by seeing only her beauties and +ignoring her defects. + +In a young man of twenty-three the senses count for much in love; their +fire produces a sort of prism between his eyes and the woman. From +this point of view the clasp with which Beaumarchis’ Cherubin seizes +Marceline is a stroke of genius. But when we reflect that in the utter +isolation to which poverty condemned poor Athanase, Mademoiselle Cormon +was the only figure presented to his gaze, that she attracted his eye +incessantly, that all the light he had was concentrated on her, surely +his love may be considered natural. + +This sentiment, so carefully hidden, increased from day to day. Desires, +sufferings, hopes, and meditations swelled in quietness and silence the +lake widening ever in the young man’s breast, as hour by hour added its +drop of water to the volume. And the wider this inward circle, drawn +by the imagination, aided by the senses, grew, the more imposing +Mademoiselle Cormon appeared to Athanase, and the more his own timidity +increased. + +The mother had divined the truth. Like all provincial mothers, she +calculated candidly in her own mind the advantages of the match. She +told herself that Mademoiselle Cormon would be very lucky to secure a +husband in a young man of twenty-three, full of talent, who would always +be an honor to his family and the neighborhood; at the same time the +obstacles which her son’s want of fortune and Mademoiselle Cormon’s age +presented to the marriage seemed to her almost insurmountable; she could +think of nothing but patience as being able to vanquish them. Like du +Bousquier, like the Chevalier de Valois, she had a policy of her own; +she was on the watch for circumstances, awaiting the propitious moment +for a move with the shrewdness of maternal instinct. Madame Granson +had no fears at all as to the chevalier, but she did suppose that du +Bousquier, although refused, retained certain hopes. As an able and +underhand enemy to the latter, she did him much secret harm in the +interests of her son; from whom, by the bye, she carefully concealed all +such proceedings. + +After this explanation it is easy to understand the importance which +Suzanne’s lie, confided to Madame Granson, was about to acquire. What a +weapon put into the hands of this charitable lady, the treasurer of the +Maternity Society! How she would gently and demurely spread the news +while collecting assistance for the chaste Suzanne! + +At the present moment Athanase, leaning pensively on his elbow at +the breakfast table, was twirling his spoon in his empty cup and +contemplating with a preoccupied eye the poor room with its red brick +floor, its straw chairs, its painted wooden buffet, its pink and white +curtains chequered like a backgammon board, which communicated with the +kitchen through a glass door. As his back was to the chimney which his +mother faced, and as the chimney was opposite to the door, his pallid +face, strongly lighted from the window, framed in beautiful black hair, +the eyes gleaming with despair and fiery with morning thoughts, was the +first object which met the eyes of the incoming Suzanne. The grisette, +who belonged to a class which certainly has the instinct of misery and +the sufferings of the heart, suddenly felt that electric spark, darting +from Heaven knows where, which can never be explained, which some strong +minds deny, but the sympathetic stroke of which has been felt by many +men and many women. It is at once a light which lightens the darkness +of the future, a presentiment of the sacred joys of a shared love, the +certainty of mutual comprehension. Above all, it is like the touch of +a firm and able hand on the keyboard of the senses. The eyes are +fascinated by an irresistible attraction; the heart is stirred; the +melodies of happiness echo in the soul and in the ears; a voice cries +out, “It is he!” Often reflection casts a douche of cold water on this +boiling emotion, and all is over. + +In a moment, as rapid as the flash of the lightning, Suzanne received +the broadside of this emotion in her heart. The flame of a real love +burned up the evil weeds fostered by a libertine and dissipated life. +She saw how much she was losing of decency and value by accusing herself +falsely. What had seemed to her a joke the night before became to her +eyes a serious charge against herself. She recoiled at her own success. +But the impossibility of any result; the poverty of the young man; a +vague hope of enriching herself, of going to Paris, and returning with +full hands to say, “I love you! here are the means of happiness!” + or mere fate, if you will have it so, dried up the next moment this +beneficent dew. + +The ambitious grisette asked with a timid air for a moment’s interview +with Madame Granson, who took her at once into her bedchamber. When +Suzanne came out she looked again at Athanase; he was still in the same +position, and the tears came into her eyes. As for Madame Granson, she +was radiant with joy. At last she had a weapon, and a terrible one, +against du Bousquier; she could now deal him a mortal blow. She had +of course promised the poor seduced girl the support of all charitable +ladies and that of the members of the Maternity Society in particular; +she foresaw a dozen visits which would occupy her whole day, and brew up +a frightful storm on the head of the guilty du Bousquier. The Chevalier +de Valois, while foreseeing the turn the affair would take, had really +no idea of the scandal which would result from his own action. + +“My dear child,” said Madame Granson to her son, “we are to dine, +you know, with Mademoiselle Cormon; do take a little pains with your +appearance. You are wrong to neglect your dress as you do. Put on that +handsome frilled shirt and your green coat of Elbeuf cloth. I have my +reasons,” she added slyly. “Besides, Mademoiselle Cormon is going to +Prebaudet, and many persons will doubtless call to bid her good-bye. +When a young man is marriageable he ought to take every means to make +himself agreeable. If girls would only tell the truth, heavens! my +dear boy, you’d be astonished at what makes them fall in love. Often +it suffices for a man to ride past them at the head of a company of +artillery, or show himself at a ball in tight clothes. Sometimes a mere +turn of the head, a melancholy attitude, makes them suppose a man’s +whole life; they’ll invent a romance to match the hero--who is often +a mere brute, but the marriage is made. Watch the Chevalier de Valois: +study him; copy his manners; see with what ease he presents himself; +he never puts on a stiff air, as you do. Talk a little more; one would +really think you didn’t know anything,--you, who know Hebrew by heart.” + +Athanase listened to his mother with a surprised but submissive air; +then he rose, took his cap, and went off to the mayor’s office, saying +to himself, “Can my mother suspect my secret?” + +He passed through the rue du Val-Noble, where Mademoiselle Cormon +lived,--a little pleasure which he gave himself every morning, thinking, +as usual, a variety of fanciful things:-- + +“How little she knows that a young man is passing before her house who +loves her well, who would be faithful to her, who would never cause +her any grief; who would leave her the entire management of her fortune +without interference. Good God! what fatality! here, side by side, in +the same town, are two persons in our mutual condition, and yet nothing +can bring them together. Suppose I were to speak to her this evening?” + +During this time Suzanne had returned to her mother’s house thinking of +Athanase; and, like many other women who have longed to help an adored +man beyond the limit of human powers, she felt herself capable of making +her body a stepping-stone on which he could rise to attain his throne. + +It is now necessary to enter the house of this old maid toward whom so +many interests are converging, where the actors in this scene, with +the exception of Suzanne, were all to meet this very evening. As for +Suzanne, that handsome individual bold enough to burn her ships like +Alexander at her start in life, and to begin the battle by a falsehood, +she disappears from the stage, having introduced upon it a violent +element of interest. Her utmost wishes were gratified. She quitted her +native town a few days later, well supplied with money and good clothes, +among which was a fine dress of green reps and a charming green bonnet +lined with pink, the gift of Monsieur de Valois,--a present which she +preferred to all the rest, even the money. If the chevalier had gone +to Paris in the days of her future brilliancy, she would certainly have +left every one for him. Like the chaste Susannah of the Bible, whom the +Elders hardly saw, she established herself joyously and full of hope in +Paris, while all Alencon was deploring her misfortunes, for which the +ladies of two Societies (Charity and Maternity) manifested the liveliest +sympathy. Though Suzanne is a fair specimen of those handsome Norman +women whom a learned physician reckons as comprising one third of her +fallen class whom our monstrous Paris absorbs, it must be stated that +she remained in the upper and more decent regions of gallantry. At an +epoch when, as Monsieur de Valois said, Woman no longer existed, she was +simply “Madame du Val-Noble”; in other days she would have rivalled +the Rhodopes, the Imperias, the Ninons of the past. One of the most +distinguished writers of the Restoration has taken her under his +protection; perhaps he may marry her. He is a journalist, and +consequently above public opinion, inasmuch as he manufactures it afresh +every year or two. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. MADEMOISELLE CORMON + + +In nearly all the second-class prefectures of France there exists +one salon which is the meeting-ground of those considerable and +well-considered persons of the community who are, nevertheless, _not_ +the cream of the best society. The master and mistress of such an +establishment are counted among the leading persons of the town; they +are received wherever it may please them to visit; no fete is given, no +formal or diplomatic dinner takes place, to which they are not invited. +But the chateau people, heads of families possessing great estates, +in short, the highest personages in the department, do not go to their +houses; social intercourse between them is carried on by cards from one +to the other, and a dinner or soiree accepted and returned. + +This salon, in which the lesser nobility, the clergy, and the magistracy +meet together, exerts a great influence. The judgment and mind of the +region reside in that solid, unostentatious society, where each man +knows the resources of his neighbor, where complete indifference is +shown to luxury and dress,--pleasures which are thought childish in +comparison to that of obtaining ten or twelve acres of pasture land,--a +purchase coveted for years, which has probably given rise to endless +diplomatic combinations. Immovable in its prejudices, good or evil, +this social circle follows a beaten track, looking neither before it nor +behind it. It accepts nothing from Paris without long examination and +trial; it rejects cashmeres as it does investments on the Grand-Livre; +it scoffs at fashions and novelties; reads nothing, prefers ignorance, +whether of science, literature, or industrial inventions. It insists on +the removal of a prefect when that official does not suit it; and if the +administration resists, it isolates him, after the manner of bees who +wall up a snail in wax when it gets into their hive. + +In this society gossip is often turned into solemn verdicts. Young women +are seldom seen there; when they come it is to seek approbation of +their conduct,--a consecration of their self-importance. This supremacy +granted to one house is apt to wound the sensibilities of other natives +of the region, who console themselves by adding up the cost it involves, +and by which they profit. If it so happens that there is no fortune +large enough to keep open house in this way, the big-wigs of the place +choose a place of meeting, as they did at Alencon, in the house of some +inoffensive person, whose settled life and character and position offers +no umbrage to the vanities or the interests of any one. + +For some years the upper classes of Alencon had met in this way at the +house of an old maid, whose fortune was, unknown to herself, the aim +and object of Madame Granson, her second cousin, and of the two old +bachelors whose secret hopes in that direction we have just unveiled. +This lady lived with her maternal uncle, a former grand-vicar of the +bishopric of Seez, once her guardian, and whose heir she was. The family +of which Rose-Marie-Victoire Cormon was the present representative had +been in earlier days among the most considerable in the province. Though +belonging to the middle classes, she consorted with the nobility, among +whom she was more or less allied, her family having furnished, in past +years, stewards to the Duc d’Alencon, many magistrates to the long robe, +and various bishops to the clergy. Monsieur de Sponde, the maternal +grandfather of Mademoiselle Cormon, was elected by the Nobility to the +States-General, and Monsieur Cormon, her father, by the Tiers-Etat, +though neither accepted the mission. For the last hundred years the +daughters of the family had married nobles belonging to the provinces; +consequently, this family had thrown out so many suckers throughout the +duchy as to appear on nearly all the genealogical trees. No bourgeois +family had ever seemed so like nobility. + +The house in which Mademoiselle Cormon lived, build in Henri IV.’s time, +by Pierre Cormon, the steward of the last Duc d’Alencon, had always +belonged to the family; and among the old maid’s visible possessions +this one was particularly stimulating to the covetous desires of the two +old lovers. Yet, far from producing revenue, the house was a cause of +expense. But it is so rare to find in the very centre of a provincial +town a private dwelling without unpleasant surroundings, handsome in +outward structure and convenient within, that Alencon shared the envy of +the lovers. + +This old mansion stands exactly in the middle of the rue du Val-Noble. +It is remarkable for the strength of its construction,--a style of +building introduced by Marie de’ Medici. Though built of granite,--a +stone which is hard to work,--its angles, and the casings of the doors +and windows, are decorated with corner blocks cut into diamond facets. +It has only one clear story above the ground-floor; but the roof, rising +steeply, has several projecting windows, with carved spandrels rather +elegantly enclosed in oaken frames, and externally adorned with +balustrades. Between each of these windows is a gargoyle presenting the +fantastic jaws of an animal without a body, vomiting the rain-water upon +large stones pierced with five holes. The two gables are surmounted by +leaden bouquets,--a symbol of the bourgeoisie; for nobles alone had +the privilege in former days of having weather-vanes. To right of +the courtyard are the stables and coach-house; to left, the kitchen, +wood-house, and laundry. + +One side of the porte-cochere, being left open, allowed the passers in +the street to see in the midst of the vast courtyard a flower-bed, the +raised earth of which was held in place by a low privet hedge. A few +monthly roses, pinkes, lilies, and Spanish broom filled this bed, around +which in the summer season boxes of paurestinus, pomegranates, and +myrtle were placed. Struck by the scrupulous cleanliness of the +courtyard and its dependencies, a stranger would at once have divined +that the place belonged to an old maid. The eye which presided there +must have been an unoccupied, ferreting eye; minutely careful, less from +nature than for want of something to do. An old maid, forced to employ +her vacant days, could alone see to the grass being hoed from between +the paving stones, the tops of the walls kept clean, the broom +continually going, and the leather curtains of the coach-house always +closed. She alone would have introduced, out of busy idleness, a sort +of Dutch cleanliness into a house on the confines of Bretagne and +Normandie,--a region where they take pride in professing an utter +indifference to comfort. + +Never did the Chevalier de Valois, or du Bousquier, mount the steps of +the double stairway leading to the portico of this house without saying +to himself, one, that it was fit for a peer of France, the other, that +the mayor of the town ought to live there. + +A glass door gave entrance from this portico into an antechamber, a +species of gallery paved in red tiles and wainscoted, which served as a +hospital for the family portraits,--some having an eye put out, others +suffering from a dislocated shoulder; this one held his hat in a hand +that no longer existed; that one was a case of amputation at the knee. +Here were deposited the cloaks, clogs, overshoes, umbrellas, hoods, and +pelisses of the guests. It was an arsenal where each arrival left his +baggage on arriving, and took it up when departing. Along each wall was +a bench for the servants who arrived with lanterns, and a large stove, +to counteract the north wind, which blew through this hall from the +garden to the courtyard. + +The house was divided in two equal parts. On one side, toward the +courtyard, was the well of the staircase, a large dining-room looking to +the garden, and an office or pantry which communicated with the kitchen. +On the other side was the salon, with four windows, beyond which were +two smaller rooms,--one looking on the garden, and used as a boudoir, +the other lighted from the courtyard, and used as a sort of office. + +The upper floor contained a complete apartment for a family household, +and a suite of rooms where the venerable Abbe de Sponde had his abode. +The garrets offered fine quarters to the rats and mice, whose nocturnal +performances were related by Mademoiselle Cormon to the Chevalier +de Valois, with many expressions of surprise at the inutility of her +efforts to get rid of them. The garden, about half an acre in size, is +margined by the Brillante, so named from the particles of mica which +sparkle in its bed elsewhere than in the Val-Noble, where its shallow +waters are stained by the dyehouses, and loaded with refuse from +the other industries of the town. The shore opposite to Mademoiselle +Cormon’s garden is crowded with houses where a variety of trades are +carried on; happily for her, the occupants are quiet people,--a baker, +a cleaner, an upholsterer, and several bourgeois. The garden, full of +common flowers, ends in a natural terrace, forming a quay, down which +are several steps leading to the river. Imagine on the balustrade of +this terrace a number of tall vases of blue and white pottery, in which +are gilliflowers; and to right and left, along the neighboring walls, +hedges of linden closely trimmed in, and you will gain an idea of +the landscape, full of tranquil chastity, modest cheerfulness, but +commonplace withal, which surrounded the venerable edifice of the Cormon +family. What peace! what tranquillity! nothing pretentious, but nothing +transitory; all seems eternal there! + +The ground-floor is devoted wholly to the reception-rooms. The old, +unchangeable provincial spirit pervades them. The great square salon has +four windows, modestly cased in woodwork painted gray. A single oblong +mirror is placed above the fireplace; the top of its frame represented +the Dawn led by the Hours, and painted in camaieu (two shades of one +color). This style of painting infested the decorative art of the day, +especially above door-frames, where the artist displayed his eternal +Seasons, and made you, in most houses in the centre of France, abhor +the odious Cupids, endlessly employed in skating, gleaning, twirling, +or garlanding one another with flowers. Each window was draped in green +damask curtains, looped up by heavy cords, which made them resemble a +vast dais. The furniture, covered with tapestry, the woodwork, painted +and varnished, and remarkable for the twisted forms so much the fashion +in the last century, bore scenes from the fables of La Fontaine on the +chair-backs; some of this tapestry had been mended. The ceiling was +divided at the centre of the room by a huge beam, from which depended an +old chandelier of rock-crystal swathed in green gauze. On the fireplace +were two vases in Sevres blue, and two old girandoles attached to the +frame of the mirror, and a clock, the subject of which, taken from +the last scene of the “Deserteur,” proved the enormous popularity of +Sedaine’s work. This clock, of bronze-gilt, bore eleven personages +upon it, each about four inches tall. At the back the Deserter was seen +issuing from prison between the soldiers; in the foreground the young +woman lay fainting, and pointing to his pardon. On the walls of this +salon were several of the more recent portraits of the family,--one +or two by Rigaud, and three pastels by Latour. Four card tables, a +backgammon board, and a piquet table occupied the vast room, the only +one in the house, by the bye, which was ceiled. + +The dining-room, paved in black and white stone, not ceiled, and its +beams painted, was furnished with one of those enormous sideboards with +marble tops, required by the war waged in the provinces against the +human stomach. The walls, painted in fresco, represented a flowery +trellis. The seats were of varnished cane, and the doors of natural +wood. All things about the place carried out the patriarchal air which +emanated from the inside as well as the outside of the house. The genius +of the provinces preserved everything; nothing was new or old, neither +young nor decrepit. A cold precision made itself felt throughout. + +Tourists in Normandy, Brittany, Maine, and Anjou must all have seen in +the capitals of those provinces many houses which resemble more or less +that of the Cormons; for it is, in its way, an archetype of the burgher +houses in that region of France, and it deserves a place in this history +because it serves to explain manners and customs, and represents ideas. +Who does not already feel that life must have been calm and monotonously +regular in this old edifice? It contained a library; but that was placed +below the level of the river. The books were well bound and shelved, +and the dust, far from injuring them, only made them valuable. They were +preserved with the care given in these provinces deprived of vineyards +to other native products, desirable for their antique perfume, and +issued by the presses of Bourgogne, Touraine, Gascogne, and the South. +The cost of transportation was too great to allow any but the best +products to be imported. + +The basis of Mademoiselle Cormon’s society consisted of about one +hundred and fifty persons; some went at times to the country; others +were occasionally ill; a few travelled about the department on business; +but certain of the faithful came every night (unless invited elsewhere), +and so did certain others compelled by duties or by habit to live +permanently in the town. All the personages were of ripe age; few +among them had ever travelled; nearly all had spent their lives in the +provinces, and some had taken part in the chouannerie. The latter were +beginning to speak fearlessly of that war, now that rewards were being +showered on the defenders of the good cause. Monsieur de Valois, one of +the movers in the last uprising (during which the Marquis de Montauran, +betrayed by his mistress, perished in spite of the devotion of +Marche-a-Terre, now tranquilly raising cattle for the market near +Mayenne),--Monsieur de Valois had, during the last six months, given the +key to several choice stratagems practised upon an old republican named +Hulot, the commander of a demi-brigade stationed at Alencon from 1798 to +1800, who had left many memories in the place. [See “The Chouans.”] + +The women of this society took little pains with their dress, except on +Wednesdays, when Mademoiselle Cormon gave a dinner, on which occasion +the guests invited on the previous Wednesday paid their “visit of +digestion.” Wednesdays were gala days: the assembly was numerous; guests +and visitors appeared in fiocchi; some women brought their sewing, +knitting, or worsted work; the young girls were not ashamed to make +patterns for the Alencon point lace, with the proceeds of which they +paid for their personal expenses. Certain husbands brought their wives +out of policy, for young men were few in that house; not a word could be +whispered in any ear without attracting the attention of all; there was +therefore no danger, either for young girls or wives, of love-making. + +Every evening, at six o’clock, the long antechamber received its +furniture. Each habitue brought his cane, his cloak, his lantern. All +these persons knew each other so well, and their habits and ways were +so familiarly patriarchal, that if by chance the old Abbe de Sponde was +lying down, or Mademoiselle Cormon was in her chamber, neither Josette, +the maid, nor Jacquelin, the man-servant, nor Mariette, the cook, +informed them. The first comer received the second; then, when the +company were sufficiently numerous for whist, piquet, or boston, +they began the game without awaiting either the Abbe de Sponde or +mademoiselle. If it was dark, Josette or Jacquelin would hasten to light +the candles as soon as the first bell rang. Seeing the salon lighted up, +the abbe would slowly hurry to come down. Every evening the backgammon +and the piquet tables, the three boston tables, and the whist table were +filled,--which gave occupation to twenty-five or thirty persons; but +as many as forty were usually present. Jacquelin would then light the +candles in the other rooms. + +Between eight and nine o’clock the servants began to arrive in the +antechamber to accompany their masters home; and, short of a revolution, +no one remained in the salon at ten o’clock. At that hour the guests +were departing in groups along the street, discoursing on the game, or +continuing conversations on the land they were covetous of buying, on +the terms of some one’s will, on quarrels among heirs, on the haughty +assumption of the aristocratic portion of the community. It was like +Paris when the audience of a theatre disperses. + +Certain persons who talk much of poesy and know nothing about it, +declaim against the habits of life in the provinces. But put your +forehead in your left hand, rest one foot on the fender, and your elbow +on your knee; then, if you compass the idea of this quiet and uniform +scene, this house and its interior, this company and its interests, +heightened by the pettiness of its intellect like goldleaf beaten +between sheets of parchment, ask yourself, What is human life? Try to +decide between him who scribbles jokes on Egyptian obelisks, and him who +has “bostoned” for twenty years with Du Bousquier, Monsieur de Valois, +Mademoiselle Cormon, the judge of the court, the king’s attorney, the +Abbe de Sponde, Madame Granson, and tutti quanti. If the daily and +punctual return of the same steps to the same path is not happiness, it +imitates happiness so well that men driven by the storms of an agitated +life to reflect upon the blessings of tranquillity would say that here +was happiness _enough_. + +To reckon the importance of Mademoiselle Cormon’s salon at its true +value, it will suffice to say that the born statistician of the +society, du Bousquier, had estimated that the persons who frequented it +controlled one hundred and thirty-one votes in the electoral college, +and mustered among themselves eighteen hundred thousand francs a year +from landed estate in the neighborhood. + +The town of Alencon, however, was not entirely represented by this +salon. The higher aristocracy had a salon of their own; moreover, that +of the receiver-general was like an administration inn kept by the +government, where society danced, plotted, fluttered, loved, and supped. +These two salons communicated by means of certain mixed individuals with +the house of Cormon, and vice-versa; but the Cormon establishment sat +severely in judgment on the two other camps. The luxury of their dinners +was criticised; the ices at their balls were pondered; the behavior of +the women, the dresses, and “novelties” there produced were discussed +and disapproved. + +Mademoiselle Cormon, a species of firm, as one might say, under whose +name was comprised an imposing coterie, was naturally the aim and object +of two ambitious men as deep and wily as the Chevalier de Valois and +du Bousquier. To the one as well as to the other, she meant election as +deputy, resulting, for the noble, in the peerage, for the purveyor, in +a receiver-generalship. A leading salon is a difficult thing to create, +whether in Paris or the provinces, and here was one already created. To +marry Mademoiselle Cormon was to reign in Alencon. Athanase Granson, the +only one of the three suitors for the hand of the old maid who no longer +calculated profits, now loved her person as well as her fortune. + +To employ the jargon of the day, is there not a singular drama in the +situation of these four personages? Surely there is something odd and +fantastic in three rivalries silently encompassing a woman who never +guessed their existence, in spite of an eager and legitimate desire +to be married. And yet, though all these circumstances make the +spinsterhood of this old maid an extraordinary thing, it is not +difficult to explain how and why, in spite of her fortune and her +three lovers, she was still unmarried. In the first place, Mademoiselle +Cormon, following the custom and rule of her house, had always desired +to marry a nobleman; but from 1788 to 1798 public circumstances were +very unfavorable to such pretensions. Though she wanted to be a woman +of condition, as the saying is, she was horribly afraid of the +Revolutionary tribunal. The two sentiments, equal in force, kept her +stationary by a law as true in ethics as it is in statics. This state +of uncertain expectation is pleasing to unmarried women as long as they +feel themselves young, and in a position to choose a husband. France +knows that the political system of Napoleon resulted in making many +widows. Under that regime heiresses were entirely out of proportion +in numbers to the bachelors who wanted to marry. When the Consulate +restored internal order, external difficulties made the marriage of +Mademoiselle Cormon as difficult to arrange as it had been in the past. +If, on the one hand, Rose-Marie-Victoire refused to marry an old man, on +the other, the fear of ridicule forbade her to marry a very young one. + +In the provinces, families marry their sons early to escape the +conscription. In addition to all this, she was obstinately determined +not to marry a soldier: she did not intend to take a man and then give +him up to the Emperor; she wanted him for herself alone. With these +views, she found it therefore impossible, from 1804 to 1815, to enter +the lists with young girls who were rivalling each other for suitable +matches. + +Besides her predilection for the nobility, Mademoiselle Cormon had +another and very excusable mania: that of being loved for herself. +You could hardly believe the lengths to which this desire led her. She +employed her mind on setting traps for her possible lovers, in order to +test their real sentiments. Her nets were so well laid that the luckless +suitors were all caught, and succumbed to the test she applied to them +without their knowledge. Mademoiselle Cormon did not study them; she +watched them. A single word said heedlessly, a joke (that she often +was unable to understand), sufficed to make her reject an aspirant as +unworthy: this one had neither heart nor delicacy; that one told lies, +and was not religious; a third only wanted to coin money under the cloak +of marriage; another was not of a nature to make a woman happy; here +she suspected hereditary gout; there certain immoral antecedents alarmed +her. Like the Church, she required a noble priest at her altar; she even +wanted to be married for imaginary ugliness and pretended defects, just +as other women wish to be loved for the good qualities they have not, +and for imaginary beauties. Mademoiselle Cormon’s ambition took its +rise in the most delicate and sensitive feminine feeling; she longed to +reward a lover by revealing to him a thousand virtues after marriage, as +other women then betray the imperfections they have hitherto concealed. +But she was ill understood. The noble woman met with none but common +souls in whom the reckoning of actual interests was paramount, and who +knew nothing of the nobler calculations of sentiment. + +The farther she advanced towards that fatal epoch so adroitly called the +“second youth,” the more her distrust increased. She affected to present +herself in the most unfavorable light, and played her part so well that +the last wooers hesitated to link their fate to that of a person whose +virtuous blind-man’s-buff required an amount of penetration that men who +want the virtuous ready-made would not bestow upon it. The constant fear +of being married for her money rendered her suspicious and uneasy beyond +all reason. She turned to the rich men; but the rich are in search +of great marriages; she feared the poor men, in whom she denied the +disinterestedness she sought so eagerly. After each disappointment in +marriage, the poor lady, led to despise mankind, began to see them +all in a false light. Her character acquired, necessarily, a secret +misanthropy, which threw a tinge of bitterness into her conversation, +and some severity into her eyes. Celibacy gave to her manners and habits +a certain increasing rigidity; for she endeavored to sanctify herself +in despair of fate. Noble vengeance! she was cutting for God the rough +diamond rejected by man. Before long public opinion was against her; for +society accepts the verdict an independent woman renders on herself by +not marrying, either through losing suitors or rejecting them. Everybody +supposed that these rejections were founded on secret reasons, always +ill interpreted. One said she was deformed; another suggested some +hidden fault; but the poor girl was really as pure as a saint, as +healthy as an infant, and full of loving kindness; Nature had intended +her for all the pleasures, all the joys, and all the fatigues of +motherhood. + +Mademoiselle Cormon did not possess in her person an obliging auxiliary +to her desires. She had no other beauty than that very improperly called +la beaute du diable, which consists of a buxom freshness of youth that +the devil, theologically speaking, could never have,--though perhaps +the expression may be explained by the constant desire that must surely +possess him to cool and refresh himself. The feet of the heiress were +broad and flat. Her leg, which she often exposed to sight by her manner +(be it said without malice) of lifting her gown when it rained, could +never have been taken for the leg of a woman. It was sinewy, with a +thick projecting calf like a sailor’s. A stout waist, the plumpness of a +wet-nurse, strong dimpled arms, red hands, were all in keeping with the +swelling outlines and the fat whiteness of Norman beauty. Projecting +eyes, undecided in color, gave to her face, the rounded outline of which +had no dignity, an air of surprise and sheepish simplicity, which was +suitable perhaps for an old maid. If Rose had not been, as she was, +really innocent, she would have seemed so. An aquiline nose contrasted +curiously with the narrowness of her forehead; for it is rare that that +form of nose does not carry with it a fine brow. In spite of her thick +red lips, a sign of great kindliness, the forehead revealed too great a +lack of ideas to allow of the heart being guided by intellect; she was +evidently benevolent without grace. How severely we reproach Virtue for +its defects, and how full of indulgence we all are for the pleasanter +qualities of Vice! + +Chestnut hair of extraordinary length gave to Rose Cormon’s face a +beauty which results from vigor and abundance,--the physical qualities +most apparent in her person. In the days of her chief pretensions, +Rose affected to hold her head at the three-quarter angle, in order to +exhibit a very pretty ear, which detached itself from the blue-veined +whiteness of her throat and temples, set off, as it was, by her wealth +of hair. Seen thus in a ball-dress, she might have seemed handsome. Her +protuberant outlines and her vigorous health did, in fact, draw from the +officers of the Empire the approving exclamation,-- + +“What a fine slip of a girl!” + +But, as years rolled on, this plumpness, encouraged by a tranquil, +wholesome life, had insensibly so ill spread itself over the whole +of Mademoiselle Cormon’s body that her primitive proportions were +destroyed. At the present moment, no corset could restore a pair of hips +to the poor lady, who seemed to have been cast in a single mould. The +youthful harmony of her bosom existed no longer; and its excessive +amplitude made the spectator fear that if she stooped its heavy masses +might topple her over. But nature had provided against this by giving +her a natural counterpoise, which rendered needless the deceitful +adjunct of a bustle; in Rose Cormon everything was genuine. Her chin, +as it doubled, reduced the length of her neck, and hindered the easy +carriage of her head. Rose had no wrinkles, but she had folds of flesh; +and jesters declared that to save chafing she powdered her skin as they +do an infant’s. + +This ample person offered to a young man full of ardent desires like +Athanase an attraction to which he had succumbed. Young imaginations, +essentially eager and courageous, like to rove upon these fine living +sheets of flesh. Rose was like a plump partridge attracting the knife +of a gourmet. Many an elegant deep in debt would very willingly have +resigned himself to make the happiness of Mademoiselle Cormon. But, +alas! the poor girl was now forty years old. At this period, after +vainly seeking to put into her life those interests which make the +Woman, and finding herself forced to be still unmarried, she fortified +her virtue by stern religious practices. She had recourse to religion, +the great consoler of oppressed virginity. A confessor had, for the last +three years, directed Mademoiselle Cormon rather stupidly in the path +of maceration; he advised the use of scourging, which, if modern medical +science is to be believed, produces an effect quite the contrary to +that expected by the worthy priest, whose hygienic knowledge was not +extensive. + +These absurd practices were beginning to shed a monastic tint over the +face of Rose Cormon, who now saw with something like despair her white +skin assuming the yellow tones which proclaim maturity. A slight down +on her upper lip, about the corners, began to spread and darken like a +trail of smoke; her temples grew shiny; decadence was beginning! It +was authentic in Alencon that Mademoiselle Cormon suffered from rush +of blood to the head. She confided her ills to the Chevalier de Valois, +enumerating her foot-baths, and consulting him as to refrigerants. On +such occasions the shrewd old gentleman would pull out his snuff-box, +gaze at the Princess Goritza, and say, by way of conclusion:-- + +“The right composing draught, my dear lady, is a good and kind husband.” + +“But whom can one trust?” she replied. + +The chevalier would then brush away the snuff which had settled in the +folds of his waistcoat or his paduasoy breeches. To the world at large +this gesture would have seemed very natural; but it always gave extreme +uneasiness to the poor woman. + +The violence of this hope without an object was so great that Rose was +afraid to look a man in the face lest he should perceive in her eyes the +feelings that filled her soul. By a wilfulness, which was perhaps +only the continuation of her earlier methods, though she felt herself +attracted toward the men who might still suit her, she was so afraid of +being accused of folly that she treated them ungraciously. Most persons +in her society, being incapable of appreciating her motives, which +were always noble, explained her manner towards her co-celibates as the +revenge of a refusal received or expected. When the year 1815 began, +Rose had reached that fatal age which she dared not avow. She was +forty-two years old. Her desire for marriage then acquired an intensity +which bordered on monomania, for she saw plainly that all chance of +progeny was about to escape her; and the thing which in her celestial +ignorance she desired above all things was the possession of children. +Not a person in all Alencon ever attributed to this virtuous woman +a single desire for amorous license. She loved, as it were, in bulk +without the slightest imagination of love. Rose was a Catholic Agnes, +incapable of inventing even one of the wiles of Moliere’s Agnes. + +For some months past she had counted on chance. The disbandment of the +Imperial troops and the reorganization of the Royal army caused a change +in the destination of many officers, who returned, some on half-pay, +others with or without a pension, to their native towns,--all having a +desire to counteract their luckless fate, and to end their life in a way +which might to Rose Cormon be a happy beginning of hers. It would surely +be strange if, among those who returned to Alencon or its neighborhood, +no brave, honorable, and, above all, sound and healthy officer of +suitable age could be found, whose character would be a passport among +Bonaparte opinions; or some ci-devant noble who, to regain his lost +position, would join the ranks of the royalists. This hope kept +Mademoiselle Cormon in heart during the early months of that year. But, +alas! all the soldiers who thus returned were either too old or too +young; too aggressively Bonapartist, or too dissipated; in short, their +several situations were out of keeping with the rank, fortune, and +morals of Mademoiselle Cormon, who now grew daily more and more +desperate. The poor woman in vain prayed to God to send her a husband +with whom she could be piously happy: it was doubtless written above +that she should die both virgin and martyr; no man suitable for a +husband presented himself. The conversations in her salon every evening +kept her informed of the arrival of all strangers in Alencon, and of +the facts of their fortunes, rank, and habits. But Alencon is not a +town which attracts visitors; it is not on the road to any capital; +even sailors, travelling from Brest to Paris, never stop there. The +poor woman ended by admitting to herself that she was reduced to the +aborigines. Her eye now began to assume a certain savage expression, to +which the malicious chevalier responded by a shrewd look as he drew out +his snuff-box and gazed at the Princess Goritza. Monsieur de Valois +was well aware that in the feminine ethics of love fidelity to a first +attachment is considered a pledge for the future. + +But Mademoiselle Cormon--we must admit it--was wanting in intellect, +and did not understand the snuff-box performance. She redoubled her +vigilance against “the evil spirit”; her rigid devotion and fixed +principles kept her cruel sufferings hidden among the mysteries of +private life. Every evening, after the company had left her, she thought +of her lost youth, her faded bloom, the hopes of thwarted nature; and, +all the while immolating her passions at the feet of the Cross (like +poems condemned to stay in a desk), she resolved firmly that if, by +chance, any suitor presented himself, to subject him to no tests, but to +accept him at once for whatever he might be. She even went so far as to +think of marrying a sub-lieutenant, a man who smoked tobacco, whom she +proposed to render, by dint of care and kindness, one of the best men in +the world, although he was hampered with debts. + +But it was only in the silence of night watches that these fantastic +marriages, in which she played the sublime role of guardian angel, took +place. The next day, though Josette found her mistress’ bed in a tossed +and tumbled condition, Mademoiselle Cormon had recovered her dignity, +and could only think of a man of forty, a land-owner, well preserved, +and a quasi-young man. + +The Abbe de Sponde was incapable of giving his niece the slightest aid +in her matrimonial manoeuvres. The worthy soul, now seventy years of +age, attributed the disasters of the French Revolution to the design of +Providence, eager to punish a dissolute Church. He had therefore flung +himself into the path, long since abandoned, which anchorites once +followed in order to reach heaven: he led an ascetic life without +proclaiming it, and without external credit. He hid from the world his +works of charity, his continual prayers, his penances; he thought that +all priests should have acted thus during the days of wrath and terror, +and he preached by example. While presenting to the world a calm and +smiling face, he had ended by detaching himself utterly from earthly +interests; his mind turned exclusively to sufferers, to the needs of the +Church, and to his own salvation. He left the management of his property +to his niece, who gave him the income of it, and to whom he paid a +slender board in order to spend the surplus in secret alms and gifts to +the Church. + +All the abbe’s affections were concentrated on his niece, who regarded +him as a father, but an abstracted father, unable to conceive the +agitations of the flesh, and thanking God for maintaining his dear +daughter in a state of celibacy; for he had, from his youth up, adopted +the principles of Saint John Chrysostom, who wrote that “the virgin +state is as far above the marriage state as the angel is above +humanity.” Accustomed to reverence her uncle, Mademoiselle Cormon dared +not initiate him into the desires which filled her soul for a change +of state. The worthy man, accustomed, on his side, to the ways of +the house, would scarcely have liked the introduction of a husband. +Preoccupied by the sufferings he soothed, lost in the depths of prayer, +the Abbe de Sponde had periods of abstraction which the habitues of the +house regarded as absent-mindedness. In any case, he talked little; but +his silence was affable and benevolent. He was a man of great height +and spare, with grave and solemn manners, though his face expressed all +gentle sentiments and an inward calm; while his mere presence carried +with it a sacred authority. He was very fond of the Voltairean +chevalier. Those two majestic relics of the nobility and clergy, though +of very different habits and morals, recognized each other by their +generous traits. Besides, the chevalier was as unctuous with the abbe as +he was paternal with the grisettes. + +Some persons may fancy that Mademoiselle Cormon used every means to +attain her end; and that among the legitimate lures of womanhood she +devoted herself to dress, wore low-necked gowns, and employed the +negative coquetries of a magnificent display of arms. Not at all! She +was as heroic and immovable in her high-necked chemisette as a sentry in +his box. Her gowns, bonnets, and chiffons were all cut and made by the +dressmaker and the milliner of Alencon, two hump-backed sisters, +who were not without some taste. In spite of the entreaties of these +artists, Mademoiselle Cormon refused to employ the airy deceits of +elegance; she chose to be substantial in all things, flesh and feathers. +But perhaps the heavy fashion of her gowns was best suited to her cast +of countenance. Let those laugh who will at this poor girl; you would +have thought her sublime, O generous souls! who care but little what +form true feeling takes, but admire it where it _is_. + +Here some light-minded person may exclaim against the truth of this +statement; they will say that there is not in all France a girl so +silly as to be ignorant of the art of angling for men; that Mademoiselle +Cormon is one of those monstrous exceptions which commonsense should +prevent a writer from using as a type; that the most virtuous and also +the silliest girl who desires to catch her fish knows well how to bait +the hook. But these criticisms fall before the fact that the noble +catholic, apostolic, and Roman religion is still erect in Brittany and +in the ancient duchy of Alencon. Faith and piety admit of no subtleties. +Mademoiselle Cormon trod the path of salvation, preferring the sorrows +of her virginity so cruelly prolonged to the evils of trickery and +the sin of a snare. In a woman armed with a scourge virtue could never +compromise; consequently both love and self-interest were forced to seek +her, and seek her resolutely. And here let us have the courage to make +a cruel observation, in days when religion is nothing more than a +useful means to some, and a poesy to others. Devotion causes a moral +ophthalmia. By some providential grace, it takes from souls on the road +to eternity the sight of many little earthly things. In a word, pious +persons, devotes, are stupid on various points. This stupidity proves +with what force they turn their minds to celestial matters; although the +Voltairean Chevalier de Valois declared that it was difficult to decide +whether stupid people became naturally pious, or whether piety had the +effect of making intelligent young women stupid. But reflect upon this +carefully: the purest catholic virtue, with its loving acceptance of all +cups, with its pious submission to the will of God, with its belief in +the print of the divine finger on the clay of all earthly life, is the +mysterious light which glides into the innermost folds of human history, +setting them in relief and magnifying them in the eyes of those who +still have Faith. Besides, if there be stupidity, why not concern +ourselves with the sorrows of stupidity as well as with the sorrows of +genius? The former is a social element infinitely more abundant than the +latter. + +So, then, Mademoiselle Cormon was guilty in the eyes of the world of the +divine ignorance of virgins. She was no observer, and her behavior with +her suitors proved it. At this very moment, a young girl of sixteen, who +had never opened a novel, would have read a hundred chapters of a love +story in the eyes of Athanase Granson, where Mademoiselle Cormon saw +absolutely nothing. Shy herself, she never suspected shyness in others; +she did not recognize in the quavering tones of his speech the force of +a sentiment he could not utter. Capable of inventing those refinements +of sentimental grandeur which hindered her marriage in her early years, +she yet could not recognize them in Athanase. This moral phenomenon will +not seem surprising to persons who know that the qualities of the heart +are as distinct from those of the mind as the faculties of genius are +from the nobility of soul. A perfect, all-rounded man is so rare +that Socrates, one of the noblest pearls of humanity, declared (as a +phrenologist of that day) that he was born to be a scamp, and a very +bad one. A great general may save his country at Zurich, and take +commissions from purveyors. A great musician may conceive the sublimest +music and commit a forgery. A woman of true feeling may be a fool. In +short, a devote may have a sublime soul and yet be unable to recognize +the tones of a noble soul beside her. The caprices produced by physical +infirmities are equally to be met with in the mental and moral regions. + +This good creature, who grieved at making her yearly preserves for no +one but her uncle and herself, was becoming almost ridiculous. Those who +felt a sympathy for her on account of her good qualities, and others +on account of her defects, now made fun of her abortive marriages. +More than one conversation was based on what would become of so fine +a property, together with the old maid’s savings and her uncle’s +inheritance. For some time past she had been suspected of being au fond, +in spite of appearances, an “original.” In the provinces it was not +permissible to be original: being original means having ideas that are +not understood by others; the provinces demand equality of mind as well +as equality of manners and customs. + +The marriage of Mademoiselle Cormon seemed, after 1804, a thing so +problematical that the saying “married like Mademoiselle Cormon” became +proverbial in Alencon as applied to ridiculous failures. Surely the +sarcastic mood must be an imperative need in France, that so excellent +a woman should excite the laughter of Alencon. Not only did she +receive the whole society of the place at her house, not only was she +charitable, pious, incapable of saying an unkind thing, but she was +fully in accord with the spirit of the place and the habits and customs +of the inhabitants, who liked her as the symbol of their lives; she was +absolutely inlaid into the ways of the provinces; she had never +quitted them; she imbibed all their prejudices; she espoused all their +interests; she adored them. + +In spite of her income of eighteen thousand francs from landed property, +a very considerable fortune in the provinces, she lived on a footing +with families who were less rich. When she went to her country-place at +Prebaudet, she drove there in an old wicker carriole, hung on two straps +of white leather, drawn by a wheezy mare, and scarcely protected by two +leather curtains rusty with age. This carriole, known to all the town, +was cared for by Jacquelin as though it were the finest coupe in all +Paris. Mademoiselle valued it; she had used it for twelve years,--a fact +to which she called attention with the triumphant joy of happy avarice. +Most of the inhabitants of the town were grateful to Mademoiselle Cormon +for not humiliating them by the luxury she could have displayed; we may +even believe that had she imported a caleche from Paris they would have +gossiped more about that than about her various matrimonial failures. +The most brilliant equipage would, after all, have only taken her, like +the old carriole, to Prebaudet. Now the provinces, which look solely to +results, care little about the beauty or elegance of the means, provided +they are efficient. + + + + +CHAPTER V. AN OLD MAID’S HOUSEHOLD + + +To complete the picture of the internal habits and ways of this house, +it is necessary to group around Mademoiselle Cormon and the Abbe +de Sponde Jacquelin, Josette, and Mariette, the cook, who employed +themselves in providing for the comfort of uncle and niece. + +Jacquelin, a man of forty, short, fat, ruddy, and brown, with a +face like a Breton sailor, had been in the service of the house for +twenty-two years. He waited at table, groomed the mare, gardened, +blacked the abbe’s boots, went on errands, chopped the wood, drove the +carriole, and fetched the oats, straw, and hay from Prebaudet. He sat in +the antechamber during the evening, where he slept like a dormouse. He +was in love with Josette, a girl of thirty, whom Mademoiselle would +have dismissed had she married him. So the poor fond pair laid by their +wages, and loved each other silently, waiting, hoping for mademoiselle’s +own marriage, as the Jews are waiting for the Messiah. Josette, born +between Alencon and Mortagne, was short and plump; her face, which +looked like a dirty apricot, was not wanting in sense and character; +it was said that she ruled her mistress. Josette and Jacquelin, sure of +results, endeavored to hide an inward satisfaction which allows it to be +supposed that, as lovers, they had discounted the future. Mariette, the +cook, who had been fifteen years in the household, knew how to make all +the dishes held in most honor in Alencon. + +Perhaps we ought to count for much the fat old Norman brown-bay mare, +which drew Mademoiselle Cormon to her country-seat at Prebaudet; for the +five inhabitants of the house bore to this animal a maniacal affection. +She was called Penelope, and had served the family for eighteen +years; but she was kept so carefully and fed with such regularity that +mademoiselle and Jacquelin both hoped to use her for ten years longer. +This beast was the subject of perpetual talk and occupation; it seemed +as if poor Mademoiselle Cormon, having no children on whom her repressed +motherly feelings could expend themselves, had turned those sentiments +wholly on this most fortunate animal. + +The four faithful servants--for Penelope’s intelligence raised her to +the level of the other good servants; while they, on the other hand, had +lowered themselves to the mute, submissive regularity of the beast--went +and came daily in the same occupations with the infallible accuracy of +mechanism. But, as they said in their idiom, they had eaten their white +bread first. Mademoiselle Cormon, like all persons nervously agitated +by a fixed idea, became hard to please, and nagging, less by nature than +from the need of employing her activity. Having no husband or children +to occupy her, she fell back on petty details. She talked for hours +about mere nothings, on a dozen napkins marked “Z,” placed in the closet +before the “O’s.” + +“What can Josette be thinking of?” she exclaimed. “Josette is beginning +to neglect things.” + +Mademoiselle inquired for eight days running whether Penelope had had +her oats at two o’clock, because on one occasion Jacquelin was a trifle +late. Her narrow imagination spent itself on trifles. A layer of dust +forgotten by the feather-duster, a slice of toast ill-made by Mariette, +Josette’s delay in closing the blinds when the sun came round to fade +the colors of the furniture,--all these great little things gave rise +to serious quarrels in which mademoiselle grew angry. “Everything was +changing,” she would cry; “she did not know her own servants; the fact +was she spoiled them!” On one occasion Josette gave her the “Journee du +Chretien” instead of the “Quinzaine de Paques.” The whole town heard of +this disaster the same evening. Mademoiselle had been forced to leave +the church and return home; and her sudden departure, upsetting +the chairs, made people suppose a catastrophe had happened. She was +therefore obliged to explain the facts to her friends. + +“Josette,” she said gently, “such a thing must never happen again.” + +Mademoiselle Cormon was, without being aware of it, made happier by such +little quarrels, which served as cathartics to relieve her bitterness. +The soul has its needs, and, like the body, its gymnastics. These +uncertainties of temper were accepted by Josette and Jacquelin as +changes in the weather are accepted by husbandmen. Those worthy souls +remark, “It is fine to-day,” or “It rains,” without arraigning the +heavens. And so when they met in the morning the servants would wonder +in what humor mademoiselle would get up, just as a farmer wonders about +the mists at dawn. + +Mademoiselle Cormon had ended, as it was natural she should end, in +contemplating herself only in the infinite pettinesses of her life. +Herself and God, her confessor and the weekly wash, her preserves and +the church services, and her uncle to care for, absorbed her feeble +intellect. To her the atoms of life were magnified by an optic peculiar +to persons who are selfish by nature or self-absorbed by some accident. +Her perfect health gave alarming meaning to the least little derangement +of her digestive organs. She lived under the iron rod of the medical +science of our forefathers, and took yearly four precautionary doses, +strong enough to have killed Penelope, though they seemed to rejuvenate +her mistress. If Josette, when dressing her, chanced to discover a +little pimple on the still satiny shoulders of mademoiselle, it became +the subject of endless inquiries as to the various alimentary articles +of the preceding week. And what a triumph when Josette reminded her +mistress of a certain hare that was rather “high,” and had doubtless +raised that accursed pimple! With what joy they said to each other: “No +doubt, no doubt, it _was_ the hare!” + +“Mariette over-seasoned it,” said mademoiselle. “I am always telling +her to do so lightly for my uncle and for me; but Mariette has no more +memory than--” + +“The hare,” said Josette. + +“Just so,” replied Mademoiselle; “she has no more memory than a hare,--a +very just remark.” + +Four times a year, at the beginning of each season, Mademoiselle Cormon +went to pass a certain number of days on her estate of Prebaudet. It +was now the middle of May, the period at which she wished to see how her +apple-trees had “snowed,” a saying of that region which expressed the +effect produced beneath the trees by the falling of their blossoms. When +the circular deposit of these fallen petals resembled a layer of snow +the owner of the trees might hope for an abundant supply of cider. +While she thus gauged her vats, Mademoiselle Cormon also attended to the +repairs which the winter necessitated; she ordered the digging of her +flower-beds and her vegetable garden, from which she supplied her table. +Every season had its own business. Mademoiselle always gave a dinner of +farewell to her intimate friends the day before her departure, although +she was certain to see them again within three weeks. It was always +a piece of news which echoed through Alencon when Mademoiselle Cormon +departed. All her visitors, especially those who had missed a visit, +came to bid her good-bye; the salon was thronged, and every one said +farewell as though she were starting for Calcutta. The next day the +shopkeepers would stand at their doors to see the old carriole pass, and +they seemed to be telling one another some news by repeating from shop +to shop:-- + +“So Mademoiselle Cormon is going to Prebaudet!” + +Some said: “_Her_ bread is baked.” + +“Hey! my lad,” replied the next man. “She’s a worthy woman; if money +always came into such hands we shouldn’t see a beggar in the country.” + +Another said: “Dear me, I shouldn’t be surprised if the vineyards were +in bloom; here’s Mademoiselle Cormon going to Prebaudet. How happens it +she doesn’t marry?” + +“I’d marry her myself,” said a wag; “in fact, the marriage is half-made, +for here’s one consenting party; but the other side won’t. Pooh! the +oven is heating for Monsieur du Bousquier.” + +“Monsieur du Bousquier! Why, she has refused him.” + +That evening at all the gatherings it was told gravely:-- + +“Mademoiselle Cormon has gone.” + +Or:-- + +“So you have really let Mademoiselle Cormon go.” + +The Wednesday chosen by Suzanne to make known her scandal happened to +be this farewell Wednesday,--a day on which Mademoiselle Cormon drove +Josette distracted on the subject of packing. During the morning, +therefore, things had been said and done in the town which lent the +utmost interest to this farewell meeting. Madame Granson had gone the +round of a dozen houses while the old maid was deliberating on the +things she needed for the journey; and the malicious Chevalier de Valois +was playing piquet with Mademoiselle Armande, sister of a distinguished +old marquis, and the queen of the salon of the aristocrats. If it was +not uninteresting to any one to see what figure the seducer would cut +that evening, it was all important for the chevalier and Madame Granson +to know how Mademoiselle Cormon would take the news in her double +capacity of marriageable woman and president of the Maternity Society. +As for the innocent du Bousquier, he was taking a walk on the promenade, +and beginning to suspect that Suzanne had tricked him; this suspicion +confirmed him in his principles as to women. + +On gala days the table was laid at Mademoiselle Cormon’s about half-past +three o’clock. At that period the fashionable people of Alencon dined at +four. Under the Empire they still dined as in former times at half-past +two; but then they supped! One of the pleasures which Mademoiselle +Cormon valued most was (without meaning any malice, although the fact +certainly rests on egotism) the unspeakable satisfaction she derived +from seeing herself dressed as mistress of the house to receive her +guests. When she was thus under arms a ray of hope would glide into +the darkness of her heart; a voice told her that nature had not so +abundantly provided for her in vain, and that some man, brave and +enterprising, would surely present himself. Her desire was refreshed +like her person; she contemplated herself in her heavy stuffs with a +sort of intoxication, and this satisfaction continued when she descended +the stairs to cast her redoubtable eye on the salon, the dinner-table, +and the boudoir. She would then walk about with the naive contentment of +the rich,--who remember at all moments that they are rich and will never +want for anything. She looked at her eternal furniture, her curiosities, +her lacquers, and said to herself that all these fine things wanted was +a master. After admiring the dining-room, and the oblong dinner-table, +on which was spread a snow-white cloth adorned with twenty covers placed +at equal distances; after verifying the squadron of bottles she had +ordered to be brought up, and which all bore honorable labels; after +carefully verifying the names written on little bits of paper in the +trembling handwriting of the abbe (the only duty he assumed in the +household, and one which gave rise to grave discussions on the place +of each guest),--after going through all these preliminary acts +mademoiselle went, in her fine clothes, to her uncle, who was accustomed +at this, the best hour in the day, to take his walk on the terrace which +overlooked the Brillante, where he could listen to the warble of birds +which were resting in the coppice, unafraid of either sportsmen or +children. At such times of waiting she never joined the Abbe de Sponde +without asking him some ridiculous question, in order to draw the old +man into a discussion which might serve to amuse him. And her reason +was this,--which will serve to complete our picture of this excellent +woman’s nature:-- + +Mademoiselle Cormon regarded it as one of her duties to talk; not that +she was talkative, for she had unfortunately too few ideas, and did +not know enough phrases to converse readily. But she believed she was +accomplishing one of the social duties enjoined by religion, which +orders us to make ourselves agreeable to our neighbor. This obligation +cost her so much that she consulted her director, the Abbe Couturier, +upon the subject of this honest but puerile civility. In spite of the +humble remark of his penitent, confessing the inward labor of her +mind in finding anything to say, the old priest, rigid on the point +of discipline, read her a passage from Saint-Francois de Sales on the +duties of women in society, which dwelt on the decent gayety of +pious Christian women, who were bound to reserve their sternness for +themselves, and to be amiable and pleasing in their homes, and see that +their neighbors enjoyed themselves. Thus, filled with a sense of duty, +and wishing, at all costs, to obey her director, who bade her converse +with amenity, the poor soul perspired in her corset when the talk around +her languished, so much did she suffer from the effort of emitting ideas +in order to revive it. Under such circumstances she would put forth +the silliest statements, such as: “No one can be in two places at +once--unless it is a little bird,” by which she one day roused, and not +without success, a discussion on the ubiquity of the apostles, which +she was unable to comprehend. Such efforts at conversation won her the +appellation of “that good Mademoiselle Cormon,” which, from the lips of +the beaux esprits of society, means that she was as ignorant as a carp, +and rather a poor fool; but many persons of her own calibre took the +remark in its literal sense, and answered:-- + +“Yes; oh yes! Mademoiselle Cormon is an excellent woman.” + +Sometimes she would put such absurd questions (always for the purpose +of fulfilling her duties to society, and making herself agreeable to her +guests) that everybody burst out laughing. She asked, for instance, what +the government did with the taxes they were always receiving; and why +the Bible had not been printed in the days of Jesus Christ, inasmuch +as it was written by Moses. Her mental powers were those of the English +“country gentleman” who, hearing constant mention of “posterity” in +the House of Commons, rose to make the speech that has since become +celebrated: “Gentlemen,” he said, “I hear much talk in this place about +Posterity. I should be glad to know what that power has ever done for +England.” + +Under these circumstances the heroic Chevalier de Valois would bring +to the succor of the old maid all the powers of his clever diplomacy, +whenever he saw the pitiless smile of wiser heads. The old gentleman, +who loved to assist women, turned Mademoiselle Cormon’s sayings into wit +by sustaining them paradoxically, and he often covered the retreat so +well that it seemed as if the good woman had said nothing silly. She +asserted very seriously one evening that she did not see any difference +between an ox and a bull. The dear chevalier instantly arrested the +peals of laughter by asserting that there was only the difference +between a sheep and a lamb. + +But the Chevalier de Valois served an ungrateful dame, for never did +Mademoiselle Cormon comprehend his chivalrous services. Observing that +the conversation grew lively, she simply thought that she was not so +stupid as she was,--the result being that she settled down into her +ignorance with some complacency; she lost her timidity, and acquired a +self-possession which gave to her “speeches” something of the solemnity +with which the British enunciate their patriotic absurdities,--the +self-conceit of stupidity, as it may be called. + +As she approached her uncle, on this occasion, with a majestic step, she +was ruminating over a question that might draw him from a silence, which +always troubled her, for she feared he was dull. + +“Uncle,” she said, leaning on his arm and clinging to his side (this +was one of her fictions; for she said to herself “If I had a husband I +should do just so”),--“uncle, if everything here below happens according +to the will of God, there must be a reason for everything.” + +“Certainly,” replied the abbe, gravely. The worthy man, who cherished +his niece, always allowed her to tear him from his meditations with +angelic patience. + +“Then if I remain unmarried,--supposing that I do,--God wills it?” + +“Yes, my child,” replied the abbe. + +“And yet, as nothing prevents me from marrying to-morrow if I choose, +His will can be destroyed by mine?” + +“That would be true if we knew what was really the will of God,” replied +the former prior of the Sorbonne. “Observe, my daughter, that you put in +an _if_.” + +The poor woman, who expected to draw her uncle into a matrimonial +discussion by an argument ad omnipotentem, was stupefied; but persons +of obtuse mind have the terrible logic of children, which consists +in turning from answer to question,--a logic that is frequently +embarrassing. + +“But, uncle, God did not make women intending them not to marry; +otherwise they ought all to stay unmarried; if not, they ought all to +marry. There’s great injustice in the distribution of parts.” + +“Daughter,” said the worthy abbe, “you are blaming the Church, which +declares celibacy to be the better way to God.” + +“But if the Church is right, and all the world were good Catholics, +wouldn’t the human race come to an end, uncle?” + +“You have too much mind, Rose; you don’t need so much to be happy.” + +That remark brought a smile of satisfaction to the lips of the poor +woman, and confirmed her in the good opinion she was beginning to +acquire about herself. That is how the world, our friends, and our +enemies are the accomplices of our defects! + +At this moment the conversation was interrupted by the successive +arrival of the guests. On these ceremonial days, friendly familiarities +were exchanged between the servants of the house and the company. +Mariette remarked to the chief-justice as he passed the kitchen:-- + +“Ah, Monsieur du Ronceret, I’ve cooked the cauliflowers au gratin +expressly for you, for mademoiselle knows how you like them; and she +said to me: ‘Now don’t forget, Mariette, for Monsieur du Ronceret is +coming.’” + +“That good Mademoiselle Cormon!” ejaculated the chief legal authority of +the town. “Mariette, did you steep them in gravy instead of soup-stock? +it is much richer.” + +The chief-justice was not above entering the chamber of council where +Mariette held court; he cast the eye of a gastronome around it, and +offered the advice of a past master in cookery. + +“Good-day, madame,” said Josette to Madame Granson, who courted the +maid. “Mademoiselle has thought of you, and there’s fish for dinner.” + +As for the Chevalier de Valois, he remarked to Mariette, in the easy +tone of a great seigneur who condescends to be familiar:-- + +“Well, my dear cordon-bleu, to whom I should give the cross of the +Legion of honor, is there some little dainty for which I had better +reserve myself?” + +“Yes, yes, Monsieur de Valois,--a hare sent from Prebaudet; weighs +fourteen pounds.” + +Du Bousquier was not invited. Mademoiselle Cormon, faithful to the +system which we know of, treated that fifty-year-old suitor extremely +ill, although she felt inexplicable sentiments towards him in the depths +of her heart. She had refused him; yet at times she repented; and a +presentiment that she should yet marry him, together with a terror at +the idea which prevented her from wishing for the marriage, assailed +her. Her mind, stimulated by these feelings, was much occupied by +du Bousquier. Without being aware of it, she was influenced by the +herculean form of the republican. Madame Granson and the Chevalier +de Valois, although they could not explain to themselves Mademoiselle +Cormon’s inconsistencies, had detected her naive glances in that +direction, the meaning of which seemed clear enough to make them both +resolve to ruin the hopes of the already rejected purveyor,--hopes which +it was evident he still indulged. + +Two guests, whose functions excused them, kept the dinner waiting. One +was Monsieur du Coudrai, the recorder of mortgages; the other Monsieur +Choisnel, former bailiff to the house of Esgrignon, and now the notary +of the upper aristocracy, by whom he was received with a distinction due +to his virtues; he was also a man of considerable wealth. When the two +belated guests arrived, Jacquelin said to them as he saw them about to +enter the salon:-- + +“_They_ are all in the garden.” + +No doubt the assembled stomachs were impatient; for on the appearance +of the register of mortgages--who had no defect except that of having +married for her money an intolerable old woman, and of perpetrating +endless puns, at which he was the first to laugh--the gentle murmur by +which such late-comers are welcomed arose. While awaiting the official +announcement of dinner, the company were sauntering on the terrace above +the river, and gazing at the water-plants, the mosaic of the currents, +and the various pretty details of the houses clustering across the +river, their old wooden galleries, their mouldering window-frames, their +little gardens where clothes were drying, the cabinet-maker’s shop,--in +short, the many details of a small community to which the vicinity of +a river, a weeping willow, flowers, rose-bushes, added a certain grace, +making the scene quite worthy of a landscape painter. + +The chevalier studied all faces, for he knew that his firebrand had been +very successfully introduced into the chief houses of the place. But +no one as yet referred openly to the great news of Suzanne and du +Bousquier. Provincials possess in the highest degree the art of +distilling gossip; the right moment for openly discussing this strange +affair had not arrived; it was first necessary that all present should +put themselves on record. So the whispers went round from ear to ear:-- + +“You have heard?” + +“Yes.” + +“Du Bousquier?” + +“And that handsome Suzanne.” + +“Does Mademoiselle Cormon know of it?” + +“No.” + +“Ha!” + +This was the _piano_ of the scandal; the _rinforzando_ would break +forth as soon as the first course had been removed. Suddenly Monsieur de +Valois’s eyes lighted on Madame Granson, arrayed in her green hat with +bunches of auriculas, and beaming with evident joy. Was it merely the +joy of opening the concert? Though such a piece of news was like a gold +mine to work in the monotonous lives of these personages, the observant +and distrustful chevalier thought he recognized in the worthy woman a +far more extended sentiment; namely, the joy caused by the triumph of +self-interest. Instantly he turned to examine Athanase, and detected him +in the significant silence of deep meditation. Presently, a look cast +by the young man on Mademoiselle Cormon carried to the soul of the +chevalier a sudden gleam. That momentary flash of lightning enabled him +to read the past. + +“Ha! the devil!” he said to himself; “what a checkmate I’m exposed to!” + +Monsieur de Valois now approached Mademoiselle Cormon, and offered his +arm. The old maid’s feeling to the chevalier was that of respectful +consideration; and certainly his name, together with the position he +occupied among the aristocratic constellations of the department +made him the most brilliant ornament of her salon. In her inmost mind +Mademoiselle Cormon had wished for the last dozen years to become Madame +de Valois. That name was like the branch of a tree, to which the ideas +which _swarmed_ in her mind about rank, nobility, and the external +qualities of a husband had fastened. But, though the Chevalier de Valois +was the man chosen by her heart, and mind, and ambition, that elderly +ruin, combed and curled like a little Saint-John in a procession, +alarmed Mademoiselle Cormon. She saw the gentleman in him, but she could +not see a husband. The indifference which the chevalier affected as to +marriage, above all, the apparent purity of his morals in a house which +abounded in grisettes, did singular harm in her mind to Monsieur +de Valois against his expectations. The worthy man, who showed such +judgment in the matter of his annuity, was at fault here. Without being +herself aware of it, the thoughts of Mademoiselle Cormon on the too +virtuous chevalier might be translated thus:-- + +“What a pity that he isn’t a trifle dissipated!” + +Observers of the human heart have remarked the leaning of pious women +toward scamps; some have expressed surprise at this taste, considering +it opposed to Christian virtue. But, in the first place, what nobler +destiny can you offer to a virtuous woman than to purify, like charcoal, +the muddy waters of vice? How is it some observers fail to see that +these noble creatures, obliged by the sternness of their own principles +never to infringe on conjugal fidelity, must naturally desire a husband +of wider practical experience than their own? The scamps of social life +are great men in love. Thus the poor woman groaned in spirit at finding +her chosen vessel parted into two pieces. God alone could solder +together a Chevalier de Valois and a du Bousquier. + +In order to explain the importance of the few words which the chevalier +and Mademoiselle Cormon are about to say to each other, it is necessary +to reveal two serious matters which agitated the town, and about which +opinions were divided; besides, du Bousquier was mysteriously connected +with them. + +One concerns the rector of Alencon, who had formerly taken the +constitutional oath, and who was now conquering the repugnance of the +Catholics by a display of the highest virtues. He was Cheverus on a +small scale, and became in time so fully appreciated that when he died +the whole town mourned him. Mademoiselle Cormon and the Abbe de Sponde +belonged to that “little Church,” sublime in its orthodoxy, which was to +the court of Rome what the Ultras were to be to Louis XVIII. The abbe, +more especially, refused to recognize a Church which had compromised +with the constitutionals. The rector was therefore not received in +the Cormon household, whose sympathies were all given to the curate of +Saint-Leonard, the aristocratic parish of Alencon. Du Bousquier, that +fanatic liberal now concealed under the skin of a royalist, knowing how +necessary rallying points are to all discontents (which are really at +the bottom of all oppositions), had drawn the sympathies of the middle +classes around the rector. So much for the first case; the second was +this:-- + +Under the secret inspiration of du Bousquier the idea of building a +theatre had dawned on Alencon. The henchmen of the purveyor did not know +their Mohammed; and they thought they were ardent in carrying out their +own conception. Athanase Granson was one of the warmest partisans for +the theatre; and of late he had urged at the mayor’s office a cause +which all the other young clerks had eagerly adopted. + +The chevalier, as we have said, offered his arm to the old maid for +a turn on the terrace. She accepted it, not without thanking him by +a happy look for this attention, to which the chevalier replied by +motioning toward Athanase with a meaning eye. + +“Mademoiselle,” he began, “you have so much sense and judgment in social +proprieties, and also, you are connected with that young man by certain +ties--” + +“Distant ones,” she said, interrupting him. + +“Ought you not,” he continued, “to use the influence you have over his +mother and over himself by saving him from perdition? He is not very +religious, as you know; indeed he approves of the rector; but that is +not all; there is something far more serious; isn’t he throwing himself +headlong into an opposition without considering what influence his +present conduct may exert upon his future? He is working for the +construction of a theatre. In this affair he is simply the dupe of that +disguised republican du Bousquier--” + +“Good gracious! Monsieur de Valois,” she replied; “his mother is always +telling me he has so much mind, and yet he can’t say two words; he +stands planted before me as mum as a post--” + +“Which doesn’t think at all!” cried the recorder of mortgages. “I caught +your words on the fly. I present my compliments to Monsieur de Valois,” + he added, bowing to that gentleman with much emphasis. + +The chevalier returned the salutation stiffly, and drew Mademoiselle +Cormon toward some flower-pots at a little distance, in order to show +the interrupter that he did not choose to be spied upon. + +“How is it possible,” he continued, lowering his voice, and leaning +towards Mademoiselle Cormon’s ear, “that a young man brought up in those +detestable lyceums should have ideas? Only sound morals and noble habits +will ever produce great ideas and a true love. It is easy to see by a +mere look at him that the poor lad is likely to be imbecile, and come, +perhaps, to some sad end. See how pale and haggard he is!” + +“His mother declares he works too hard,” replied the old maid, +innocently. “He sits up late, and for what? reading books and writing! +What business ought to require a young man to write at night?” + +“It exhausts him,” replied the chevalier, trying to bring the old maid’s +thoughts back to the ground where he hoped to inspire her with horror +for her youthful lover. “The morals of those Imperial lyceums are really +shocking.” + +“Oh, yes!” said the ingenuous creature. “They march the pupils about +with drums at their head. The masters have no more religion than pagans. +And they put the poor lads in uniform, as if they were troops. What +ideas!” + +“And behold the product!” said the chevalier, motioning to Athanase. “In +my day, young men were not so shy of looking at a pretty woman. As for +him, he drops his eyes whenever he sees you. That young man frightens me +because I am really interested in him. Tell him not to intrigue with +the Bonapartists, as he is now doing about that theatre. When all these +petty folks cease to ask for it insurrectionally,--which to my mind is +the synonym of constitutionally,--the government will build it. Besides +which, tell his mother to keep an eye on him.” + +“Oh, I’m sure she will prevent him from seeing those half-pay, +questionable people. I’ll talk to her,” said Mademoiselle Cormon, “for +he might lose his place in the mayor’s office; and then what would he +and his mother have to live on? It makes me shudder.” + +As Monsieur de Talleyrand said of his wife, so the chevalier said to +himself, looking at Mademoiselle Cormon:-- + +“Find me another as stupid! Good powers! isn’t virtue which drives out +intellect vice? But what an adorable wife for a man of my age! What +principles! what ignorance!” + +Remember that this monologue, addressed to the Princess Goritza, was +mentally uttered while he took a pinch of snuff. + +Madame Granson had divined that the chevalier was talking about +Athanase. Eager to know the result of the conversation, she followed +Mademoiselle Cormon, who was now approaching the young man with +much dignity. But at this moment Jacquelin appeared to announce that +mademoiselle was served. The old maid gave a glance of appeal to the +chevalier; but the gallant recorder of mortgages, who was beginning to +see in the manners of that gentleman the barrier which the provincial +nobles were setting up about this time between themselves and the +bourgeoisie, made the most of his chance to cut out Monsieur de Valois. +He was close to Mademoiselle Cormon, and promptly offered his arm, which +she found herself compelled to accept. The chevalier then darted, out of +policy, upon Madame Granson. + +“Mademoiselle Cormon, my dear lady,” he said to her, walking slowly +after all the other guests, “feels the liveliest interest in your +dear Athanase; but I fear it will vanish through his own fault. He is +irreligious and liberal; he is agitating this matter of the theatre; +he frequents the Bonapartists; he takes the side of that rector. Such +conduct may make him lose his place in the mayor’s office. You know with +what care the government is beginning to weed out such opinions. If your +dear Athanase loses his place, where can he find other employment? I +advise him not to get himself in bad odor with the administration.” + +“Monsieur le Chevalier,” said the poor frightened mother, “how grateful +I am to you! You are right: my son is the tool of a bad set of people; I +shall enlighten him.” + +The chevalier had long since fathomed the nature of Athanase, and +recognized in it that unyielding element of republican convictions +to which in his youth a young man is willing to sacrifice everything, +carried away by the word “liberty,” so ill-defined and so little +understood, but which to persons disdained by fate is a banner of +revolt; and to such, revolt is vengeance. Athanase would certainly +persist in that faith, for his opinions were woven in with his artistic +sorrows, with his bitter contemplation of the social state. He was +ignorant of the fact that at thirty-six years of age,--the period of +life when a man has judged men and social interests and relations,--the +opinions for which he was ready to sacrifice his future would be +modified in him, as they are in all men of real superiority. To remain +faithful to the Left side of Alencon was to gain the aversion of +Mademoiselle Cormon. There, indeed, the chevalier saw true. + +Thus we see that this society, so peaceful in appearance, was internally +as agitated as any diplomatic circle, where craft, ability, and passions +group themselves around the grave questions of an empire. The guests +were now seated at the table laden with the first course, which they ate +as provincials eat, without shame at possessing a good appetite, and +not as in Paris, where it seems as if jaws gnashed under sumptuary laws, +which made it their business to contradict the laws of anatomy. In Paris +people eat with their teeth, and trifle with their pleasure; in the +provinces things are done naturally, and interest is perhaps rather too +much concentrated on the grand and universal means of existence to which +God has condemned his creatures. + +It was at the end of the first course that Mademoiselle Cormon made the +most celebrated of her “speeches”; it was talked about for fully two +years, and is still told at the gatherings of the lesser bourgeoisie +whenever the topic of her marriage comes up. + +The conversation, becoming lively as the penultimate entree was +reached, had turned naturally on the affair of the theatre and the +constitutionally sworn rector. In the first fervor of royalty, during +the year 1816, those who later were called Jesuits were all for the +expulsion of the Abbe Francois from his parish. Du Bousquier, suspected +by Monsieur de Valois of sustaining the priest and being at the bottom +of the theatre intrigues, and on whose back the adroit chevalier would +in any case have put those sins with his customary cleverness, was in +the dock with no lawyer to defend him. Athanase, the only guest loyal +enough to stand by du Bousquier, had not the nerve to emit his ideas +in the presence of those potentates of Alencon, whom in his heart he +thought stupid. None but provincial youths now retain a respectful +demeanor before men of a certain age, and dare neither to censure +nor contradict them. The talk, diminished under the effect of certain +delicious ducks dressed with olives, was falling flat. Mademoiselle +Cormon, feeling the necessity of maintaining it against her own ducks, +attempted to defend du Bousquier, who was being represented as a +pernicious fomenter of intrigues, capable of any trickery. + +“As for me,” she said, “I thought that Monsieur du Bousquier cared +chiefly for childish things.” + +Under existing circumstances the remark had enormous success. +Mademoiselle Cormon obtained a great triumph; she brought the nose +of the Princess Goritza flat on the table. The chevalier, who little +expected such an apt remark from his Dulcinea, was so amazed that he +could at first find no words to express his admiration; he applauded +noiselessly, as they do at the Opera, tapping his fingers together to +imitate applause. + +“She is adorably witty,” he said to Madame Granson. “I always said that +some day she would unmask her batteries.” + +“In private she is always charming,” replied the widow. + +“In private, madame, all women have wit,” returned the chevalier. + +The Homeric laugh thus raised having subsided, Mademoiselle Cormon asked +the reason of her success. Then began the _forte_ of the gossip. Du +Bousquier was depicted as a species of celibate Pere Gigogne, a monster, +who for the last fifteen years had kept the Foundling Hospital supplied. +His immoral habits were at last revealed! these Parisian saturnalias +were the result of them, etc., etc. Conducted by the Chevalier de +Valois, a most able leader of an orchestra of this kind, the opening of +the _cancan_ was magnificent. + +“I really don’t know,” he said, “what should hinder a du Bousquier from +marrying a Mademoiselle Suzanne What’s-her-name. What _is_ her name, do +you know? Suzette! Though I have lodgings at Madame Lardot’s, I know her +girls only by sight. If this Suzette is a tall, fine, saucy girl, with +gray eyes, a slim waist, and a pretty foot, whom I have occasionally +seen, and whose behavior always seemed to me extremely insolent, she +is far superior in manners to du Bousquier. Besides, the girl has the +nobility of beauty; from that point of view the marriage would be a poor +one for her; she might do better. You know how the Emperor Joseph had +the curiosity to see the du Barry at Luciennes. He offered her his arm +to walk about, and the poor thing was so surprised at the honor that she +hesitated to accept it: ‘Beauty is ever a queen,’ said the Emperor. And +he, you know, was an Austrian-German,” added the chevalier. “But I can +tell you that Germany, which is thought here very rustic, is a land +of noble chivalry and fine manners, especially in Poland and Hungary, +where--” + +Here the chevalier stopped, fearing to slip into some allusion to his +personal happiness; he took out his snuff-box, and confided the rest +of his remarks to the princess, who had smiled upon him for thirty-six +years and more. + +“That speech was rather a delicate one for Louis XV.,” said du Ronceret. + +“But it was, I think, the Emperor Joseph who made it, and not Louis +XV.,” remarked Mademoiselle Cormon, in a correcting tone. + +“Mademoiselle,” said the chevalier, observing the malicious glance +exchanged between the judge, the notary, and the recorder, “Madame du +Barry was the Suzanne of Louis XV.,--a circumstance well known to scamps +like ourselves, but unsuitable for the knowledge of young ladies. Your +ignorance proves you to be a flawless diamond; historical corruptions do +not enter your mind.” + +The Abbe de Sponde looked graciously at the Chevalier de Valois, and +nodded his head in sign of his laudatory approbation. + +“Doesn’t mademoiselle know history?” asked the recorder of mortgages. + +“If you mix up Louis XV. and this girl Suzanne, how am I to know +history?” replied Mademoiselle Cormon, angelically, glad to see that the +dish of ducks was empty at last, and the conversation so ready to revive +that all present laughed with their mouths full at her last remark. + +“Poor girl!” said the Abbe de Sponde. “When a great misfortune happens, +charity, which is divine love, and as blind as pagan love, ought not to +look into the causes of it. Niece, you are president of the Maternity +Society; you must succor that poor girl, who will now find it difficult +to marry.” + +“Poor child!” ejaculated Mademoiselle Cormon. + +“Do you suppose du Bousquier would marry her?” asked the judge. + +“If he is an honorable man he ought to do so,” said Madame Granson; “but +really, to tell the truth, my dog has better morals than he--” + +“Azor is, however, a good purveyor,” said the recorder of mortgages, +with the air of saying a witty thing. + +At dessert du Bousquier was still the topic of conversation, having +given rise to various little jokes which the wine rendered sparkling. +Following the example of the recorder, each guest capped his neighbor’s +joke with another: Du Bousquier was a father, but not a confessor; he +was father less; he was father LY; he was not a reverend father; nor yet +a conscript-father-- + +“Nor can he be a foster-father,” said the Abbe de Sponde, with a gravity +which stopped the laughter. + +“Nor a noble father,” added the chevalier. + +The Church and the nobility descended thus into the arena of puns, +without, however, losing their dignity. + +“Hush!” exclaimed the recorder of mortgages. “I hear the creaking of du +Bousquier’s boots.” + +It usually happens that a man is ignorant of rumors that are afloat +about him. A whole town may be talking of his affairs; may calumniate +and decry him, but if he has no good friends, he will know nothing about +it. Now the innocent du Bousquier was superb in his ignorance. No one +had told him as yet of Suzanne’s revelations; he therefore appeared very +jaunty and slightly conceited when the company, leaving the dining-room, +returned to the salon for their coffee; several other guests had +meantime assembled for the evening. Mademoiselle Cormon, from a sense of +shamefacedness, dared not look at the terrible seducer. She seized upon +Athanase, and began to lecture him with the queerest platitudes about +royalist politics and religious morality. Not possessing, like the +Chevalier de Valois, a snuff-box adorned with a princess, by the help of +which he could stand this torrent of silliness, the poor poet listened +to the words of her whom he loved with a stupid air, gazing, meanwhile, +at her enormous bust, which held itself before him in that still repose +which is the attribute of all great masses. His love produced in him a +sort of intoxication which changed the shrill voice of the old maid into +a soft murmur, and her flat remarks into witty speeches. Love is a maker +of false coin, continually changing copper pennies into gold-pieces, and +sometimes turning its real gold into copper. + +“Well, Athanase, will you promise me?” + +This final sentence struck the ear of the absorbed young man like one of +those noises which wake us with a bound. + +“What, mademoiselle?” + +Mademoiselle Cormon rose hastily, and looked at du Bousquier, who at +that moment resembled the stout god of Fable which the Republic stamped +upon her coins. She walked up to Madame Granson, and said in her ear:-- + +“My dear friend, you son is an idiot. That lyceum has ruined him,” she +added, remembering the insistence with which the chevalier had spoken of +the evils of education in such schools. + +What a catastrophe! Unknown to himself, the luckless Athanase had had +an occasion to fling an ember of his own fire upon the pile of brush +gathered in the heart of the old maid. Had he listened to her, he +might have made her, then and there, perceive his passion; for, in the +agitated state of Mademoiselle Cormon’s mind, a single word would +have sufficed. But that stupid absorption in his own sentiments, which +characterizes young and true love, had ruined him, as a child full of +life sometimes kills itself out of ignorance. + +“What have you been saying to Mademoiselle Cormon?” demanded his mother. + +“Nothing.” + +“Nothing; well, I can explain that,” she thought to herself, putting off +till the next day all further reflection on the matter, and attaching +but little importance to Mademoiselle Cormon’s words; for she fully +believed that du Bousquier was forever lost in the old maid’s esteem +after the revelation of that evening. + +Soon the four tables were filled with their sixteen players. Four +persons were playing piquet,--an expensive game, at which the most money +was lost. Monsieur Choisnel, the procureur-du-roi, and two ladies +went into the boudoir for a game at backgammon. The glass lustres were +lighted; and then the flower of Mademoiselle Cormon’s company gathered +before the fireplace, on sofas, and around the tables, and each couple +said to her as they arrived,-- + +“So you are going to-morrow to Prebaudet?” + +“Yes, I really must,” she replied. + +On this occasion the mistress of the house appeared preoccupied. Madame +Granson was the first to perceive the quite unnatural state of the old +maid’s mind,--Mademoiselle Cormon was thinking! + +“What are you thinking of, cousin?” she said at last, finding her seated +in the boudoir. + +“I am thinking,” she replied, “of that poor girl. As the president of +the Maternity Society, I will give you fifty francs for her.” + +“Fifty francs!” cried Madame Granson. “But you have never given as much +as that.” + +“But, my dear cousin, it is so natural to have children.” + +That immoral speech coming from the heart of the old maid staggered the +treasurer of the Maternity Society. Du Bousquier had evidently advanced +in the estimation of Mademoiselle Cormon. + +“Upon my word,” said Madame Granson, “du Bousquier is not only a +monster, he is a villain. When a man has done a wrong like that, he +ought to pay the indemnity. Isn’t it his place rather than ours to +look after the girl?--who, to tell you the truth, seems to me rather +questionable; there are plenty of better men in Alencon than that cynic +du Bousquier. A girl must be depraved, indeed, to go after him.” + +“Cynic! Your son teaches you to talk Latin, my dear, which is wholly +incomprehensible. Certainly I don’t wish to excuse Monsieur du +Bousquier; but pray explain to me why a woman is depraved because she +prefers one man to another.” + +“My dear cousin, suppose you married my son Athanase; nothing could be +more natural. He is young and handsome, full of promise, and he will be +the glory of Alencon; and yet everybody will exclaim against you: evil +tongues will say all sorts of things; jealous women will accuse you +of depravity,--but what will that matter? you will be loved, and loved +truly. If Athanase seemed to you an idiot, my dear, it is that he has +too many ideas; extremes meet. He lives the life of a girl of fifteen; +he has never wallowed in the impurities of Paris, not he! Well, change +the terms, as my poor husband used to say; it is the same thing with du +Bousquier in connection with Suzanne. _You_ would be calumniated; but in +the case of du Bousquier, the charge would be true. Don’t you understand +me?” + +“No more than if you were talking Greek,” replied Mademoiselle Cormon, +who opened her eyes wide, and strained all the forces of her intellect. + +“Well, cousin, if I must dot all the i’s, it is impossible for Suzanne +to love du Bousquier. And if the heart counts for nothing in this +affair--” + +“But, cousin, what do people love with if not their hearts?” + +Here Madame Granson said to herself, as the chevalier had previously +thought: “My poor cousin is altogether too innocent; such stupidity +passes all bounds!--Dear child,” she continued aloud, “it seems to me +that children are not conceived by the spirit only.” + +“Why, yes, my dear; the Holy Virgin herself--” + +“But, my love, du Bousquier isn’t the Holy Ghost!” + +“True,” said the old maid; “he is a man!--a man whose personal +appearance makes him dangerous enough for his friends to advise him to +marry.” + +“You could yourself bring about that result, cousin.” + +“How so?” said the old maid, with the meekness of Christian charity. + +“By not receiving him in your house until he marries. You owe it to good +morals and to religion to manifest under such circumstances an exemplary +displeasure.” + +“On my return from Prebaudet we will talk further of this, my dear +Madame Granson. I will consult my uncle and the Abbe Couturier,” said +Mademoiselle Cormon, returning to the salon, where the animation was now +at its height. + +The lights, the group of women in their best clothes, the solemn tone, +the dignified air of the assembly, made Mademoiselle Cormon not a little +proud of her company. To many persons nothing better could be seen in +Paris in the highest society. + +At this moment du Bousquier, who was playing whist with the chevalier +and two old ladies,--Madame du Coudrai and Madame du Ronceret,--was the +object of deep but silent curiosity. A few young women arrived, who, +under pretext of watching the game, gazed fixedly at him in so singular +a manner, though slyly, that the old bachelor began to think that there +must be some deficiency in his toilet. + +“Can my false front be crooked?” he asked himself, seized by one of +those anxieties which beset old bachelors. + +He took advantage of a lost trick, which ended a seventh rubber, to rise +and leave the table. + +“I can’t touch a card without losing,” he said. “I am decidedly too +unlucky.” + +“But you are lucky in other ways,” said the chevalier, giving him a sly +look. + +That speech naturally made the rounds of the salon, where every one +exclaimed on the exquisite taste of the chevalier, the Prince de +Talleyrand of the province. + +“There’s no one like Monsieur de Valois for such wit.” + +Du Bousquier went to look at himself in a little oblong mirror, placed +above the “Deserter,” but he saw nothing strange in his appearance. + +After innumerable repetitions of the same text, varied in all keys, the +departure of the company took place about ten o’clock, through the long +antechamber, Mademoiselle Cormon conducting certain of her favorite +guests to the portico. There the groups parted; some followed the +Bretagne road towards the chateau; the others went in the direction of +the river Sarthe. Then began the usual conversation, which for twenty +years had echoed at that hour through this particular street of Alencon. +It was invariably:-- + +“Mademoiselle Cormon looked very well to-night.” + +“Mademoiselle Cormon? why, I thought her rather strange.” + +“How that poor abbe fails! Did you notice that he slept? He does not +know what cards he holds; he is getting very absent-minded.” + +“We shall soon have the grief of losing him.” + +“What a fine night! It will be a fine day to-morrow.” + +“Good weather for the apple-blossoms.” + +“You beat us; but when you play with Monsieur de Valois you never do +otherwise.” + +“How much did he win?” + +“Well, to-night, three or four francs; he never loses.” + +“True; and don’t you know there are three hundred and sixty-five days a +year? At that price his gains are the value of a farm.” + +“Ah! what hands we had to-night!” + +“Here you are at home, monsieur and madame, how lucky you are, while we +have half the town to cross!” + +“I don’t pity you; you could afford a carriage, and dispense with the +fatigue of going on foot.” + +“Ah, monsieur! we have a daughter to marry, which takes off one wheel, +and the support of our son in Paris carries off another.” + +“You persist in making a magistrate of him?” + +“What else can be done with a young man? Besides, there’s no shame in +serving the king.” + +Sometimes a discussion on ciders and flax, always couched in the same +terms, and returning at the same time of year, was continued on the +homeward way. If any observer of human customs had lived in this street, +he would have known the months and seasons by simply overhearing the +conversations. + +On this occasion it was exclusively jocose; for du Bousquier, who +chanced to march alone in front of the groups, was humming the +well-known air,--little thinking of its appropriateness,--“Tender woman! +hear the warble of the birds,” etc. To some, du Bousquier was a strong +man and a misjudged man. Ever since he had been confirmed in his present +office by a royal decree, Monsieur du Ronceret had been in favor of +du Bousquier. To others the purveyor seemed dangerous,--a man of bad +habits, capable of anything. In the provinces, as in Paris, men before +the public eye are like that statue in the fine allegorical tale of +Addison, for which two knights on arriving near it fought; for one saw +it white, the other saw it black. Then, when they were both off their +horses, they saw it was white one side and black the other. A third +knight coming along declared it red. + +When the chevalier went home that night, he made many reflections, as +follows:-- + +“It is high time now to spread a rumor of my marriage with Mademoiselle +Cormon. It will leak out from the d’Esgrignon salon, and go straight +to the bishop at Seez, and so get round through the grand vicars to the +curate of Saint-Leonard’s, who will be certain to tell it to the Abbe +Couturier; and Mademoiselle Cormon will get the shot in her upper works. +The old Marquis d’Esgrignon shall invite the Abbe de Sponde to dinner, +so as to stop all gossip about Mademoiselle Cormon if I decide against +her, or about me if she refuses me. The abbe shall be well cajoled; and +Mademoiselle Cormon will certainly not hold out against a visit from +Mademoiselle Armande, who will show her the grandeur and future chances +of such an alliance. The abbe’s property is undoubtedly as much as three +hundred thousand; her own savings must amount to more than two hundred +thousand; she has her house and Prebaudet and fifteen thousand francs a +year. A word to my friend the Comte de Fontaine, and I should be +mayor of Alencon to-morrow, and deputy. Then, once seated on the Right +benches, we shall reach the peerage, shouting, ‘Cloture!’ ‘Ordre!’” + +As soon as she reached home Madame Granson had a lively argument with +her son, who could not be made to see the connection which existed +between his love and his political opinions. It was the first quarrel +that had ever troubled that poor household. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. FINAL DISAPPOINTMENT AND ITS FIRST RESULT + + +The next day, Mademoiselle Cormon, packed into the old carriole with +Josette, and looking like a pyramid on a vast sea of parcels, drove up +the rue Saint-Blaise on her way to Prebaudet, where she was overtaken by +an event which hurried on her marriage,--an event entirely unlooked +for by either Madame Granson, du Bousquier, Monsieur de Valois, or +Mademoiselle Cormon himself. Chance is the greatest of all artificers. + +The day after her arrival at Prebaudet, she was innocently employed, +about eight o’clock in the morning, in listening, as she breakfasted, to +the various reports of her keeper and her gardener, when Jacquelin made +a violent irruption into the dining-room. + +“Mademoiselle,” he cried, out of breath, “Monsieur l’abbe sends you an +express, the son of Mere Grosmort, with a letter. The lad left Alencon +before daylight, and he has just arrived; he ran like Penelope! Can’t I +give him a glass of wine?” + +“What can have happened, Josette? Do you think my uncle can be--” + +“He couldn’t write if he were,” said Josette, guessing her mistress’s +fears. + +“Quick! quick!” cried Mademoiselle Cormon, as soon as she had read the +first lines. “Tell Jacquelin to harness Penelope--Get ready, Josette; +pack up everything in half an hour. We must go back to town--” + +“Jacquelin!” called Josette, excited by the sentiment she saw on her +mistress’s face. + +Jacquelin, informed by Josette, came in to say,-- + +“But, mademoiselle, Penelope is eating her oats.” + +“What does that signify? I must start at once.” + +“But, mademoiselle, it is going to rain.” + +“Then we shall get wet.” + +“The house is on fire!” muttered Josette, piqued at the silence her +mistress kept as to the contents of the letter, which she read and +reread. + +“Finish your coffee, at any rate, mademoiselle; don’t excite your blood; +just see how red you are.” + +“Am I red, Josette?” she said, going to a mirror, from which the +quicksilver was peeling, and which presented her features to her upside +down. + +“Good heavens!” thought Mademoiselle Cormon, “suppose I should look +ugly! Come, Josette; come, my dear, dress me at once; I want to be ready +before Jacquelin has harnessed Penelope. If you can’t pack my things in +time, I will leave them here rather than lose a single minute.” + +If you have thoroughly comprehended the positive monomania to which the +desire of marriage had brought Mademoiselle Cormon, you will share her +emotion. The worthy uncle announced in this sudden missive that Monsieur +de Troisville, of the Russian army during the Emigration, grandson of +one of his best friends, was desirous of retiring to Alencon, and asked +his, the abbe’s hospitality, on the ground of his friendship for his +grandfather, the Vicomte de Troisville. The old abbe, alarmed at the +responsibility, entreated his niece to return instantly and help him to +receive this guest, and do the honors of the house; for the viscount’s +letter had been delayed, and he might descend upon his shoulders that +very night. + +After reading this missive could there be a question of the demands +of Prebaudet? The keeper and the gardener, witnesses to Mademoiselle +Cormon’s excitement, stood aside and awaited her orders. But when, +as she was about to leave the room, they stopped her to ask for +instructions, for the first time in her life the despotic old maid, +who saw to everything at Prebaudet with her own eyes, said, to their +stupefaction, “Do what you like.” This from a mistress who carried her +administration to the point of counting her fruits, and marking them so +as to order their consumption according to the number and condition of +each! + +“I believe I’m dreaming,” thought Josette, as she saw her mistress +flying down the staircase like an elephant to which God has given wings. + +Presently, in spite of a driving rain, Mademoiselle Cormon drove away +from Prebaudet, leaving her factotums with the reins on their necks. +Jacquelin dared not take upon himself to hasten the usual little trot +of the peaceable Penelope, who, like the beautiful queen whose name she +bore, had an appearance of making as many steps backward as she made +forward. Impatient with the pace, mademoiselle ordered Jacquelin in a +sharp voice to drive at a gallop, with the whip, if necessary, to the +great astonishment of the poor beast, so afraid was she of not having +time to arrange the house suitably to receive Monsieur de Troisville. +She calculated that the grandson of her uncle’s friend was probably +about forty years of age; a soldier just from service was undoubtedly +a bachelor; and she resolved, her uncle aiding, not to let Monsieur +de Troisville quit their house in the condition he entered it. Though +Penelope galloped, Mademoiselle Cormon, absorbed in thoughts of her +trousseau and the wedding-day, declared again and again that Jacquelin +made no way at all. She twisted about in the carriole without replying +to Josette’s questions, and talked to herself like a person who is +mentally revolving important designs. + +The carriole at last arrived in the main street of Alencon, called the +rue Saint-Blaise at the end toward Montagne, but near the hotel du More +it takes the name of the rue de la Porte-de-Seez, and becomes the rue +du Bercail as it enters the road to Brittany. If the departure of +Mademoiselle Cormon made a great noise in Alencon, it is easy to imagine +the uproar caused by her sudden return on the following day, in a +pouring rain which beat her face without her apparently minding it. +Penelope at a full gallop was observed by every one, and Jacquelin’s +grin, the early hour, the parcels stuffed into the carriole topsy-turvy, +and the evident impatience of Mademoiselle Cormon were all noted. + +The property of the house of Troisville lay between Alencon and +Mortagne. Josette knew the various branches of the family. A word +dropped by mademoiselle as they entered Alencon had put Josette on the +scent of the affair; and a discussion having started between them, it +was settled that the expected de Troisville must be between forty +and forty-two years of age, a bachelor, and neither rich nor poor. +Mademoiselle Cormon beheld herself speedily Vicomtesse de Troisville. + +“And to think that my uncle told me nothing! thinks of nothing! inquires +nothing! That’s my uncle all over. He’d forget his own nose if it wasn’t +fastened to his face.” + +Have you never remarked that, under circumstances such as these, +old maids become, like Richard III., keen-witted, fierce, bold, +promissory,--if one may so use the word,--and, like inebriate clerks, no +longer in awe of anything? + +Immediately the town of Alencon, speedily informed from the farther +end of the rue de Saint-Blaise to the gate of Seez of this precipitate +return, accompanied by singular circumstances, was perturbed throughout +its viscera, both public and domestic. Cooks, shopkeepers, street +passengers, told the news from door to door; thence it rose to the upper +regions. Soon the words: “Mademoiselle Cormon has returned!” burst like +a bombshell into all households. At that moment Jacquelin was descending +from his wooden seat (polished by a process unknown to cabinet-makers), +on which he perched in front of the carriole. He opened the great green +gate, round at the top, and closed in sign of mourning; for during +Mademoiselle Cormon’s absence the evening assemblies did not take place. +The faithful invited the Abbe de Sponde to their several houses; and +Monsieur de Valois paid his debt by inviting him to dine at the Marquis +d’Esgrignon’s. Jacquelin, having opened the gate, called familiarly to +Penelope, whom he had left in the middle of the street. That animal, +accustomed to this proceeding, turned in of herself, and circled round +the courtyard in a manner to avoid injuring the flower-bed. Jacquelin +then took her bridle, and led the carriage to the portico. + +“Mariette!” cried Mademoiselle Cormon. + +“Mademoiselle!” exclaimed Mariette, who was occupied in closing the +gate. + +“Has the gentleman arrived?” + +“No, mademoiselle.” + +“Where’s my uncle?” + +“He is at church, mademoiselle.” + +Jacquelin and Josette were by this time on the first step of the +portico, holding out their hands to manoeuvre the exit of their mistress +from the carriole as she pulled herself up by the sides of the vehicle +and clung to the curtains. Mademoiselle then threw herself into their +arms; because for the last two years she dared not risk her weight +on the iron step, affixed to the frame of the carriage by a horrible +mechanism of clumsy bolts. + +When Mademoiselle Cormon reached the level of the portico she looked +about her courtyard with an air of satisfaction. + +“Come, come, Mariette, leave that gate alone; I want you.” + +“There’s something in the wind,” whispered Jacquelin, as Mariette passed +the carriole. + +“Mariette, what provisions have you in the house?” asked Mademoiselle +Cormon, sitting down on the bench in the long antechamber like a person +overcome with fatigue. + +“I haven’t anything,” replied Mariette, with her hands on her hips. +“Mademoiselle knows very well that during her absence Monsieur l’abbe +dines out every day. Yesterday I went to fetch him from Mademoiselle +Armande’s.” + +“Where is he now?” + +“Monsieur l’abbe? Why, at church; he won’t be in before three o’clock.” + +“He thinks of nothing! he ought to have told you to go to market. +Mariette, go at once; and without wasting money, don’t spare it; get all +there is that is good and delicate. Go to the diligence office and see +if you can send for pates; and I want shrimps from the Brillante. What +o’clock is it?” + +“A quarter to nine.” + +“Good heavens! Mariette, don’t stop to chatter. The person my uncle +expects may arrive at any moment. If we had to give him breakfast, where +should we be with nothing in the house?” + +Mariette turned back to Penelope in a lather, and looked at Jacquelin +as if she would say, “Mademoiselle has put her hand on a husband _this_ +time.” + +“Now, Josette,” continued the old maid, “let us see where we had better +put Monsieur de Troisville to sleep.” + +With what joy she said the words, “Put Monsieur de Troisville” + (pronounced Treville) “to sleep.” How many ideas in those few words! The +old maid was bathed in hope. + +“Will you put him in the green chamber?” + +“The bishop’s room? No; that’s too near mine,” said Mademoiselle Cormon. +“All very well for monseigneur; he’s a saintly man.” + +“Give him your uncle’s room.” + +“Oh, that’s so bare; it is actually indecent.” + +“Well, then, mademoiselle, why not arrange a bed in your boudoir? It is +easily done; and there’s a fire-place. Moreau can certainly find in his +warerooms a bed to match the hangings.” + +“You are right, Josette. Go yourself to Moreau; consult with him what +to do; I authorize you to get what is wanted. If the bed could be put up +to-night without Monsieur de Troisville observing it (in case Monsieur +de Troisville arrives while Moreau is here), I should like it. If Moreau +won’t engage to do this, then I must put Monsieur de Troisville in the +green room, although Monsieur de Troisville would be so very near to +me.” + +Josette was departing when her mistress recalled her. + +“Stop! explain the matter to Jacquelin,” she cried, in a loud nervous +tone. “Tell _him_ to go to Moreau; I must be dressed! Fancy if Monsieur +de Troisville surprised me as I am now! and my uncle not here to receive +him! Oh, uncle, uncle! Come, Josette; come and dress me at once.” + +“But Penelope?” said Josette, imprudently. + +“Always Penelope! Penelope this, Penelope that! Is Penelope the mistress +of this house?” + +“But she is all of a lather, and she hasn’t had time to eat her oats.” + +“Then let her starve!” cried Mademoiselle Cormon; “provided I marry,” + she thought to herself. + +Hearing these words, which seemed to her like homicide, Josette stood +still for a moment, speechless. Then, at a gesture from her mistress, +she ran headlong down the steps of the portico. + +“The devil is in her, Jacquelin,” were the first words she uttered. + +Thus all things conspired on this fateful day to produce the great +scenic effect which decided the future life of Mademoiselle Cormon. +The town was already topsy-turvy in mind, as a consequence of the five +extraordinary circumstances which accompanied Mademoiselle Cormon’s +return; to wit, the pouring rain; Penelope at a gallop, in a lather, and +blown; the early hour; the parcels half-packed; and the singular air of +the excited old maid. But when Mariette made an invasion of the market, +and bought all the best things; when Jacquelin went to the principal +upholsterer in Alencon, two doors from the church, in search of a +bed,--there was matter for the gravest conjectures. These extraordinary +events were discussed on all sides; they occupied the minds of every +one, even Mademoiselle Armande herself, with whom was Monsieur de +Valois. Within two days the town of Alencon had been agitated by such +startling events that certain good women were heard to remark that the +world was coming to an end. This last news, however, resolved itself +into a single question, “What is happening at the Cormons?” + +The Abbe de Sponde, adroitly questioned when he left Saint-Leonard’s +to take his daily walk with the Abbe Couturier, replied with his usual +kindliness that he expected the Vicomte de Troisville, a nobleman in the +service of Russia during the Emigration, who was returning to Alencon +to settle there. From two to five o’clock a species of labial telegraphy +went on throughout the town; and all the inhabitants learned that +Mademoiselle Cormon had at last found a husband by letter, and was about +to marry the Vicomte de Troisville. Some said, “Moreau has sold them a +bed.” The bed was six feet wide in that quarter; it was four feet wide +at Madame Granson’s, in the rue du Bercail; but it was reduced to a +simple couch at Monsieur du Ronceret’s, where du Bousquier was dining. +The lesser bourgeoisie declared that the cost was eleven hundred francs. +But generally it was thought that, as to this, rumor was counting the +chickens before they were hatched. In other quarters it was said that +Mariette had made such a raid on the market that the price of carp had +risen. At the end of the rue Saint-Blaise, Penelope had dropped dead. +This decease was doubted in the house of the receiver-general; but at +the Prefecture it was authenticated that the poor beast had expired as +she turned into the courtyard of the hotel Cormon, with such velocity +had the old maid flown to meet her husband. The harness-maker, who lived +at the corner of the rue de Seez, was bold enough to call at the house +and ask if anything had happened to Mademoiselle Cormon’s carriage, in +order to discover whether Penelope was really dead. From the end of +the rue Saint-Blaise to the end of the rue du Bercail, it was then made +known that, thanks to Jacquelin’s devotion, Penelope, that silent victim +of her mistress’s impetuosity, still lived, though she seemed to be +suffering. + +Along the road to Brittany the Vicomte de Troisville was stated to be a +younger son without a penny, for the estates in Perche belonged to the +Marquis de Troisville, peer of France, who had children; the marriage +would be, therefore, an enormous piece of luck for a poor emigre. The +aristocracy along that road approved of the marriage; Mademoiselle +Cormon could not do better with her money. But among the Bourgeoisie, +the Vicomte de Troisville was a Russian general who had fought against +France, and was now returning with a great fortune made at the court of +Saint-Petersburg; he was a _foreigner_; one of those _allies_ so hated +by the liberals; the Abbe de Sponde had slyly negotiated this marriage. +All the persons who had a right to call upon Mademoiselle Cormon +determined to do so that very evening. + +During this transurban excitement, which made that of Suzanne almost +a forgotten affair, Mademoiselle was not less agitated; she was filled +with a variety of novel emotions. Looking about her salon, dining-room, +and boudoir, cruel apprehensions took possession of her. A species of +demon showed her with a sneer her old-fashioned luxury. The handsome +things she had admired from her youth up she suddenly suspected of age +and absurdity. In short, she felt that fear which takes possession of +nearly all authors when they read over a work they have hitherto thought +proof against every exacting or blase critic: new situations seem +timeworn; the best-turned and most highly polished phrases limp and +squint; metaphors and images grin or contradict each other; whatsoever +is false strikes the eye. In like manner this poor woman trembled lest +she should see on the lips of Monsieur de Troisville a smile of contempt +for this episcopal salon; she dreaded the cold look he might cast over +that ancient dining-room; in short, she feared the frame might injure +and age the portrait. Suppose these antiquities should cast a reflected +light of old age upon herself? This question made her flesh creep. She +would gladly, at that moment, spend half her savings on refitting her +house if some fairy wand could do it in a moment. Where is the general +who has not trembled on the eve of a battle? The poor woman was now +between her Austerlitz and her Waterloo. + +“Madame la Vicomtesse de Troisville,” she said to herself; “a noble +name! Our property will go to a good family, at any rate.” + +She fell a prey to an irritation which made every fibre of her nerves +quiver to all their papillae, long sunk in flesh. Her blood, lashed +by this new hope, was in motion. She felt the strength to converse, if +necessary, with Monsieur de Troisville. + +It is useless to relate the activity with which Josette, Jacquelin, +Mariette, Moreau, and his agents went about their functions. It was like +the busyness of ants about their eggs. All that daily care had already +rendered neat and clean was again gone over and brushed and rubbed and +scrubbed. The china of ceremony saw the light; the damask linen marked +“A, B, C” was drawn from depths where it lay under a triple guard of +wrappings, still further defended by formidable lines of pins. Above +all, Mademoiselle Cormon sacrificed on the altar of her hopes three +bottles of the famous liqueurs of Madame Amphoux, the most illustrious +of all the distillers of the tropics,--a name very dear to gourmets. +Thanks to the devotion of her lieutenants, mademoiselle was soon ready +for the conflict. The different weapons--furniture, cookery, provisions, +in short, all the various munitions of war, together with a body of +reserve forces--were ready along the whole line. Jacquelin, Mariette, +and Josette received orders to appear in full dress. The garden was +raked. The old maid regretted that she couldn’t come to an understanding +with the nightingales nesting in the trees, in order to obtain their +finest trilling. + +At last, about four o’clock, at the very moment when the Abbe de Sponde +returned home, and just as mademoiselle began to think she had set the +table with the best plate and linen and prepared the choicest dishes to +no purpose, the click-clack of a postilion was heard in the Val-Noble. + +“‘Tis he!” she said to herself, the snap of the whip echoing in her +heart. + +True enough; heralded by all this gossip, a post-chaise, in which was +a single gentleman, made so great a sensation coming down the rue +Saint-Blaise and turning into the rue du Cours that several little +gamains and some grown persons followed it, and stood in groups about +the gate of the hotel Cormon to see it enter. Jacquelin, who foresaw his +own marriage in that of his mistress, had also heard the click-clack in +the rue Saint-Blaise, and had opened wide the gates into the courtyard. +The postilion, a friend of his, took pride in making a fine turn-in, and +drew up sharply before the portico. The abbe came forward to greet his +guest, whose carriage was emptied with a speed that highwaymen might put +into the operation; the chaise itself was rolled into the coach-house, +the gates closed, and in a few moments all signs of Monsieur de +Troisville’s arrival had disappeared. Never did two chemicals blend +into each other with greater rapidity than the hotel Cormon displayed in +absorbing the Vicomte de Troisville. + +Mademoiselle, whose heart was beating like a lizard caught by a +herdsman, sat heroically still on her sofa, beside the fire in the +salon. Josette opened the door; and the Vicomte de Troisville, followed +by the Abbe de Sponde, presented himself to the eyes of the spinster. + +“Niece, this is Monsieur le Vicomte de Troisville, the grandson of one +of my old schoolmates; Monsieur de Troisville, my niece, Mademoiselle +Cormon.” + +“Ah! that good uncle; how well he does it!” thought Rose-Marie-Victoire. + +The Vicomte de Troisville was, to paint him in two words, du Bousquier +ennobled. Between the two men there was precisely the difference which +separates the vulgar style from the noble style. If they had both been +present, the most fanatic liberal would not have denied the existence +of aristocracy. The viscount’s strength had all the distinction of +elegance; his figure had preserved its magnificent dignity. He had blue +eyes, black hair, an olive skin, and looked to be about forty-six years +of age. You might have thought him a handsome Spaniard preserved in +the ice of Russia. His manner, carriage, and attitude, all denoted +a diplomat who had seen Europe. His dress was that of a well-bred +traveller. As he seemed fatigued, the abbe offered to show him to his +room, and was much amazed when his niece threw open the door of the +boudoir, transformed into a bedroom. + +Mademoiselle Cormon and her uncle then left the noble stranger to attend +to his own affairs, aided by Jacquelin, who brought up his luggage, and +went themselves to walk beside the river until their guest had made +his toilet. Although the Abbe de Sponde chanced to be even more +absent-minded than usual, Mademoiselle Cormon was not less preoccupied. +They both walked on in silence. The old maid had never before met any +man as seductive as this Olympean viscount. She might have said to +herself, as the Germans do, “This is my ideal!” instead of which she +felt herself bound from head to foot, and could only say, “Here’s my +affair!” Then she flew to Mariette to know if the dinner could be put +back a while without loss of excellence. + +“Uncle, your Monsieur de Troisville is very amiable,” she said, on +returning. + +“Why, niece, he hasn’t as yet said a word.” + +“But you can see it in his ways, his manners, his face. Is he a +bachelor?” + +“I’m sure I don’t know,” replied the abbe, who was thinking of a +discussion on mercy, lately begun between the Abbe Couturier and +himself. “Monsieur de Troisville wrote me that he wanted to buy a house +here. If he was married, he wouldn’t come alone on such an errand,” + added the abbe, carelessly, not conceiving the idea that his niece could +be thinking of marriage. + +“Is he rich?” + +“He is a younger son of the younger branch,” replied her uncle. “His +grandfather commanded a squadron, but the father of this young man made +a bad marriage.” + +“Young man!” exclaimed the old maid. “It seems to me, uncle, that he +must be at least forty-five.” She felt the strongest desire to put their +years on a par. + +“Yes,” said the abbe; “but to a poor priest of seventy, Rose, a man of +forty seems a youth.” + +All Alencon knew by this time that Monsieur de Troisville had arrived at +the Cormons. The traveller soon rejoined his hosts, and began to admire +the Brillante, the garden, and the house. + +“Monsieur l’abbe,” he said, “my whole ambition is to have a house like +this.” The old maid fancied a declaration lurked in that speech, and she +lowered her eyes. “You must enjoy it very much, mademoiselle,” added the +viscount. + +“How could it be otherwise? It has been in our family since 1574, the +period at which one of our ancestors, steward to the Duc d’Alencon, +acquired the land and built the house,” replied Mademoiselle Cormon. “It +is built on piles,” she added. + +Jacquelin announced dinner. Monsieur de Troisville offered his arm to +the happy woman, who endeavored not to lean too heavily upon it; she +feared, as usual, to seem to make advances. + +“Everything is so harmonious here,” said the viscount, as he seated +himself at table. + +“Yes, our trees are full of birds, which give us concerts for nothing; +no one ever frightens them; and the nightingales sing at night,” said +Mademoiselle Cormon. + +“I was speaking of the interior of the house,” remarked the viscount, +who did not trouble himself to observe Mademoiselle Cormon, and +therefore did not perceive the dulness of her mind. “Everything is so in +keeping,--the tones of color, the furniture, the general character.” + +“But it costs a great deal; taxes are enormous,” responded the excellent +woman. + +“Ah! taxes are high, are they?” said the viscount, preoccupied with his +own ideas. + +“I don’t know,” replied the abbe. “My niece manages the property of each +of us.” + +“Taxes are not of much importance to the rich,” said Mademoiselle +Cormon, not wishing to be thought miserly. “As for the furniture, I +shall leave it as it is, and change nothing,--unless I marry; and then, +of course, everything here must suit the husband.” + +“You have noble principles, mademoiselle,” said the viscount, smiling. +“You will make one happy man.” + +“No one ever made to me such a pretty speech,” thought the old maid. + +The viscount complimented Mademoiselle Cormon on the excellence of her +service and the admirable arrangements of the house, remarking that he +had supposed the provinces behind the age in that respect; but, on the +contrary, he found them, as the English say, “very comfortable.” + +“What can that word mean?” she thought. “Oh, where is the chevalier to +explain it to me? ‘Comfortable,’--there seem to be several words in it. +Well, courage!” she said to herself. “I can’t be expected to answer a +foreign language--But,” she continued aloud, feeling her tongue untied +by the eloquence which nearly all human creatures find in momentous +circumstances, “we have a very brilliant society here, monsieur. It +assembles at my house, and you shall judge of it this evening, for +some of my faithful friends have no doubt heard of my return and your +arrival. Among them is the Chevalier de Valois, a seigneur of the +old court, a man of infinite wit and taste; then there is Monsieur le +Marquis d’Esgrignon and Mademoiselle Armande, his sister” (she bit her +tongue with vexation),--“a woman remarkable in her way,” she added. “She +resolved to remain unmarried in order to leave all her fortune to her +brother and nephew.” + +“Ah!” exclaimed the viscount. “Yes, the d’Esgrignons,--I remember them.” + +“Alencon is very gay,” continued the old maid, now fairly launched. +“There’s much amusement: the receiver-general gives balls; the prefect +is an amiable man; and Monseigneur the bishop sometimes honors us with a +visit--” + +“Well, then,” said the viscount, smiling, “I have done wisely to come +back, like the hare, to die in my form.” + +“Yes,” she said. “I, too, attach myself or I die.” + +The viscount smiled. + +“Ah!” thought the old maid, “all is well; he understands me.” + +The conversation continued on generalities. By one of those mysterious +unknown and undefinable faculties, Mademoiselle Cormon found in her +brain, under the pressure of her desire to be agreeable, all the phrases +and opinions of the Chevalier de Valois. It was like a duel in which the +devil himself pointed the pistol. Never was any adversary better aimed +at. The viscount was far too well-bred to speak of the excellence of +the dinner; but his silence was praise. As he drank the delicious wines +which Jacquelin served to him profusely, he seemed to feel he was with +friends, and to meet them with pleasure; for the true connoisseur does +not applaud, he enjoys. He inquired the price of land, of houses, of +estates; he made Mademoiselle Cormon describe at length the confluence +of the Sarthe and the Brillante; he expressed surprise that the town was +placed so far from the river, and seemed to be much interested in the +topography of the place. + +The silent abbe left his niece to throw the dice of conversation; and +she truly felt that she pleased Monsieur de Troisville, who smiled at +her gracefully, and committed himself during this dinner far more than +her most eager suitors had ever done in ten days. Imagine, therefore, +the little attentions with which he was petted; you might have thought +him a cherished lover, whose return brought joy to the household. +Mademoiselle foresaw the moment when the viscount wanted bread; she +watched his every look; when he turned his head she adroitly put upon +his plate a portion of some dish he seemed to like; had he been a +gourmand, she would almost have killed him; but what a delightful +specimen of the attentions she would show to a husband! She did not +commit the folly of depreciating herself; on the contrary, she set every +sail bravely, ran up all her flags, assumed the bearing of the queen of +Alencon, and boasted of her excellent preserves. In fact, she fished +for compliments in speaking of herself, for she saw that she pleased the +viscount; the truth being that her eager desire had so transformed her +that she became almost a woman. + +At dessert she heard, not without emotions of delight, certain sounds in +the antechamber and salon which denoted the arrival of her usual guests. +She called the attention of her uncle and Monsieur de Troisville to this +prompt attendance as a proof of the affection that was felt for her; +whereas it was really the result of the poignant curiosity which had +seized upon the town. Impatient to show herself in all her glory, +Mademoiselle Cormon told Jacquelin to serve coffee and liqueurs in +the salon, where he presently set out, in view of the whole company, +a magnificent liqueur-stand of Dresden china which saw the light only +twice a year. This circumstance was taken note of by the company, +standing ready to gossip over the merest trifle:-- + +“The deuce!” muttered du Bousquier. “Actually Madame Amphoux’s liqueurs, +which they only serve at the four church festivals!” + +“Undoubtedly the marriage was arranged a year ago by letter,” said +the chief-justice du Ronceret. “The postmaster tells me his office has +received letters postmarked Odessa for more than a year.” + +Madame Granson trembled. The Chevalier de Valois, though he had dined +with the appetite of four men, turned pale even to the left section +of his face. Feeling that he was about to betray himself, he said +hastily,-- + +“Don’t you think it is very cold to-day? I am almost frozen.” + +“The neighborhood of Russia, perhaps,” said du Bousquier. + +The chevalier looked at him as if to say, “Well played!” + +Mademoiselle Cormon appeared so radiant, so triumphant, that the company +thought her handsome. This extraordinary brilliancy was not the effect +of sentiment only. Since early morning her blood had been whirling +tempestuously within her, and her nerves were agitated by the +presentiment of some great crisis. It required all these circumstances +combined to make her so unlike herself. With what joy did she now make +her solemn presentation of the viscount to the chevalier, the chevalier +to the viscount, and all Alencon to Monsieur de Troisville, and Monsieur +de Troisville to all Alencon! + +By an accident wholly explainable, the viscount and chevalier, +aristocrats by nature, came instantly into unison; they recognized each +other at once as men belonging to the same sphere. Accordingly, they +began to converse together, standing before the fireplace. A circle +formed around them; and their conversation, though uttered in a low +voice, was listened to in religious silence. To give the effect of +this scene it is necessary to dramatize it, and to picture Mademoiselle +Cormon occupied in pouring out the coffee of her imaginary suitor, with +her back to the fireplace. + +Monsieur de Valois. “Monsieur le vicomte has come, I am told, to settle +in Alencon?” + +Monsieur de Troisville. “Yes, monsieur, I am looking for a house.” + [Mademoiselle Cormon, cup in hand, turns round.] “It must be a large +house” [Mademoiselle Cormon offers him the cup] “to lodge my whole +family.” [The eyes of the old maid are troubled.] + +Monsieur de Valois. “Are you married?” + +Monsieur de Troisville. “Yes, for the last sixteen years, to a daughter +of the Princess Scherbellof.” + +Mademoiselle Cormon fainted; du Bousquier, who saw her stagger, sprang +forward and received her in his arms; some one opened the door and +allowed him to pass out with his enormous burden. The fiery republican, +instructed by Josette, found strength to carry the old maid to her +bedroom, where he laid her out on the bed. Josette, armed with scissors, +cut the corset, which was terribly tight. Du Bousquier flung water on +Mademoiselle Cormon’s face and bosom, which, released from the corset, +overflowed like the Loire in flood. The poor woman opened her eyes, +saw du Bousquier, and gave a cry of modesty at the sight of him. Du +Bousquier retired at once, leaving six women, at the head of whom was +Madame Granson, radiant with joy, to take care of the invalid. + +What had the Chevalier de Valois been about all this time? Faithful to +his system, he had covered the retreat. + +“That poor Mademoiselle Cormon,” he said to Monsieur de Troisville, +gazing at the assembly, whose laughter was repressed by his cool +aristocratic glances, “her blood is horribly out of order; she wouldn’t +be bled before going to Prebaudet (her estate),--and see the result!” + +“She came back this morning in the rain,” said the Abbe de Sponde, “and +she may have taken cold. It won’t be anything; it is only a little upset +she is subject to.” + +“She told me yesterday she had not had one for three months, adding that +she was afraid it would play her a trick at last,” said the chevalier. + +“Ha! so you are married?” said Jacquelin to himself as he looked at +Monsieur de Troisville, who was quietly sipping his coffee. + +The faithful servant espoused his mistress’s disappointment; he divined +it, and he promptly carried away the liqueurs of Madame Amphoux, which +were offered to a bachelor, and not to the husband of a Russian woman. + +All these details were noticed and laughed at. The Abbe de Sponde knew +the object of Monsieur de Troisville’s journey; but, absent-minded +as usual, he forgot it, not supposing that his niece could have the +slightest interest in Monsieur de Troisville’s marriage. As for the +viscount, preoccupied with the object of his journey, and, like many +husbands, not eager to talk about his wife, he had had no occasion +to say he was married; besides, he would naturally suppose that +Mademoiselle Cormon knew it. + +Du Bousquier reappeared, and was questioned furiously. One of the six +women came down soon after, and announced that Mademoiselle Cormon was +much better, and that the doctor had come. She intended to stay in bed, +as it was necessary to bleed her. The salon was now full. Mademoiselle +Cormon’s absence allowed the ladies present to discuss the tragi-comic +scene--embellished, extended, historified, embroidered, wreathed, +colored, and adorned--which had just taken place, and which, on the +morrow, was destined to occupy all Alencon. + +“That good Monsieur du Bousquier! how well he carried you!” said Josette +to her mistress. “He was really pale at the sight of you; he loves you +still.” + +That speech served as closure to this solemn and terrible evening. + +Throughout the morning of the next day every circumstance of the late +comedy was known in the household of Alencon, and--let us say it to the +shame of that town,--they caused inextinguishable laughter. But on that +day Mademoiselle Cormon (much benefited by the bleeding) would have +seemed sublime even to the boldest scoffers, had they witnessed the +noble dignity, the splendid Christian resignation which influenced her +as she gave her arm to her involuntary deceiver to go into breakfast. +Cruel jesters! why could you not have seen her as she said to the +viscount,-- + +“Madame de Troisville will have difficulty in finding a suitable house; +do me the favor, monsieur, of accepting the use of mine during the time +you are in search of yours.” + +“But, mademoiselle, I have two sons and two daughters; we should greatly +inconvenience you.” + +“Pray do not refuse me,” she said earnestly. + +“I made you the same offer in the answer I wrote to your letter,” said +the abbe; “but you did not receive it.” + +“What, uncle! then you knew--” + +The poor woman stopped. Josette sighed. Neither the viscount nor the +abbe observed anything amiss. After breakfast the Abbe de Sponde carried +off his guest, as agreed upon the previous evening, to show him the +various houses in Alencon which could be bought, and the lots of lands +on which he might build. + +Left alone in the salon, Mademoiselle Cormon said to Josette, with a +deeply distressed air, “My child, I am now the talk of the whole town.” + +“Well, then, mademoiselle, you should marry.” + +“But I am not prepared to make a choice.” + +“Bah! if I were in your place, I should take Monsieur du Bousquier.” + +“Josette, Monsieur de Valois says he is so republican.” + +“They don’t know what they say, your gentlemen: sometimes they declare +that he robbed the republic; he couldn’t love it if he did that,” said +Josette, departing. + +“That girl has an amazing amount of sense,” thought Mademoiselle Cormon, +who remained alone, a prey to her perplexities. + +She saw plainly that a prompt marriage was the only way to silence the +town. This last checkmate, so evidently mortifying, was of a nature to +drive her into some extreme action; for persons deficient in mind find +difficulty in getting out of any path, either good or evil, into which +they have entered. + +Each of the two old bachelors had fully understood the situation in +which Mademoiselle Cormon was about to find herself; consequently, each +resolved to call in the course of that morning to ask after her health, +and take occasion, in bachelor language, to “press his point.” Monsieur +de Valois considered that such an occasion demanded a painstaking +toilet; he therefore took a bath and groomed himself with extraordinary +care. For the first and last time Cesarine observed him putting on with +incredible art a suspicion of rouge. Du Bousquier, on the other hand, +that coarse republican, spurred by a brisk will, paid no attention to +his dress, and arrived the first. + +Such little things decide the fortunes of men, as they do of empires. +Kellerman’s charge at Marengo, Blucher’s arrival at Waterloo, Louis +XIV.’s disdain for Prince Eugene, the rector of Denain,--all these great +causes of fortune or catastrophe history has recorded; but no one +ever profits by them to avoid the small neglects of their own life. +Consequently, observe what happens: the Duchesse de Langeais (see +“History of the Thirteen”) makes herself a nun for the lack of ten +minutes’ patience; Judge Popinot (see “Commission in Lunacy”) puts off +till the morrow the duty of examining the Marquis d’Espard; Charles +Grandet (see “Eugenie Grandet”) goes to Paris from Bordeaux instead of +returning by Nantes; and such events are called chance or fatality! A +touch of rouge carefully applied destroyed the hopes of the Chevalier de +Valois; could that nobleman perish in any other way? He had lived by the +Graces, and he was doomed to die by their hand. While the chevalier was +giving this last touch to his toilet the rough du Bousquier was entering +the salon of the desolate old maid. This entrance produced a thought +in Mademoiselle Cormon’s mind which was favorable to the republican, +although in all other respects the Chevalier de Valois held the +advantages. + +“God wills it!” she said piously, on seeing du Bousquier. + +“Mademoiselle, you will not, I trust, think my eagerness importunate. I +could not trust to my stupid Rene to bring news of your condition, and +therefore I have come myself.” + +“I am perfectly recovered,” she replied, in a tone of emotion. “I thank +you, Monsieur du Bousquier,” she added, after a slight pause, and in a +significant tone of voice, “for the trouble you have taken, and for that +which I gave you yesterday--” + +She remembered having been in his arms, and that again seemed to her an +order from heaven. She had been seen for the first time by a man with +her laces cut, her treasures violently bursting from their casket. + +“I carried you with such joy that you seemed to me light.” + +Here Mademoiselle Cormon looked at du Bousquier as she had never yet +looked at any man in the world. Thus encouraged, the purveyor cast upon +the old maid a glance which reached her heart. + +“I would,” he said, “that that moment had given me the right to keep +you as mine forever” [she listened with a delighted air]; “as you lay +fainting upon that bed, you were enchanting. I have never in my life +seen a more beautiful person,--and I have seen many handsome women. +Plump ladies have this advantage: they are superb to look upon; they +have only to show themselves and they triumph.” + +“I fear you are making fun of me,” said the old maid, “and that is not +kind when all the town will probably misinterpret what happened to me +yesterday.” + +“As true as my name is du Bousquier, mademoiselle, I have never changed +in my feelings toward you; and your first refusal has not discouraged +me.” + +The old maid’s eyes were lowered. There was a moment of cruel silence +for du Bousquier, and then Mademoiselle Cormon decided on her course. +She raised her eyelids; tears flowed from her eyes, and she gave du +Bousquier a tender glance. + +“If that is so, monsieur,” she said, in a trembling voice, “promise me +to live in a Christian manner, and not oppose my religious customs, but +to leave me the right to select my confessors, and I will grant you my +hand”; as she said the words, she held it out to him. + +Du Bousquier seized the good fat hand so full of money, and kissed it +solemnly. + +“But,” she said, allowing him to kiss it, “one thing more I must require +of you.” + +“If it is a possible thing, it is granted,” replied the purveyor. + +“Alas!” returned the old maid. “For my sake, I must ask you to take upon +yourself a sin which I feel to be enormous,--for to lie is one of the +capital sins. But you will confess it, will you not? We will do penance +for it together” [they looked at each other tenderly]. “Besides, it may +be one of those lies which the Church permits as necessary--” + +“Can she be as Suzanne says she is?” thought du Bousquier. “What luck! +Well, mademoiselle, what is it?” he said aloud. + +“That you will take upon yourself to--” + +“What?” + +“To say that this marriage has been agreed upon between us for the last +six months.” + +“Charming woman,” said the purveyor, in the tone of a man willing to +devote himself, “such sacrifices can be made only for a creature adored +these ten years.” + +“In spite of my harshness?” she said. + +“Yes, in spite of your harshness.” + +“Monsieur du Bousquier, I have misjudged you.” + +Again she held out the fat red hand, which du Bousquier kissed again. + +At this moment the door opened; the betrothed pair, looking round to see +who entered, beheld the delightful, but tardy Chevalier de Valois. + +“Ah!” he said, on entering, “I see you are about to be up, fair queen.” + +She smiled at the chevalier, feeling a weight upon her heart. Monsieur +de Valois, remarkably young and seductive, had the air of a Lauzun +re-entering the apartments of the Grande Mademoiselle in the +Palais-Royal. + +“Hey! dear du Bousquier,” said he, in a jaunty tone, so sure was he of +success, “Monsieur de Troisville and the Abbe de Sponde are examining +your house like appraisers.” + +“Faith!” said du Bousquier, “if the Vicomte de Troisville wants it, +it it is his for forty thousand francs. It is useless to me now. If +mademoiselle will permit--it must soon be known--Mademoiselle, may I +tell it?--Yes! Well, then, be the first, _my dear Chevalier_, to hear” + [Mademoiselle Cormon dropped her eyes] “of the honor that mademoiselle +has done me, the secret of which I have kept for some months. We shall +be married in a few days; the contract is already drawn, and we shall +sign it to-morrow. You see, therefore, that my house in the rue du Cygne +is useless to me. I have been privately looking for a purchaser for some +time; and the Abbe de Sponde, who knew that fact, has naturally taken +Monsieur de Troisville to see the house.” + +This falsehood bore such an appearance of truth that the chevalier was +taken in by it. That “my dear chevalier” was like the revenge taken by +Peter the Great on Charles XII. at Pultawa for all his past defeats. Du +Bousquier revenged himself deliciously for the thousand little shafts he +had long borne in silence; but in his triumph he made a lively +youthful gesture by running his hands through his hair, and in so doing +he--knocked aside his false front. + +“I congratulate you both,” said the chevalier, with an agreeable air; +“and I wish that the marriage may end like a fairy tale: _They were +happy ever after, and had--many--children_!” So saying, he took a pinch +of snuff. “But, monsieur,” he added satirically, “you forget--that you +are wearing a false front.” + +Du Bousquier blushed. The false front was hanging half a dozen inches +from his skull. Mademoiselle Cormon raised her eyes, saw that skull in +all its nudity, and lowered them, abashed. Du Bousquier cast upon the +chevalier the most venomous look that toad ever darted on its prey. + +“Dogs of aristocrats who despise me,” thought he, “I’ll crush you some +day.” + +The chevalier thought he had recovered his advantage. But Mademoiselle +Cormon was not a woman to understand the connection which the chevalier +intimated between his congratulatory wish and the false front. Besides, +even if she had comprehended it, her word was passed, her hand given. +Monsieur de Valois saw at once that all was lost. The innocent woman, +with the two now silent men before her, wished, true to her sense of +duty, to amuse them. + +“Why not play a game of piquet together?” she said artlessly, without +the slightest malice. + +Du Bousquier smiled, and went, as the future master of the house, to +fetch the piquet table. Whether the Chevalier de Valois lost his head, +or whether he wanted to stay and study the causes of his disaster and +remedy it, certain it is that he allowed himself to be led like a lamb +to the slaughter. He had received the most violent knock-down blow that +ever struck a man; any nobleman would have lost his senses for less. + +The Abbe de Sponde and the Vicomte de Troisville soon returned. +Mademoiselle Cormon instantly rose, hurried into the antechamber, and +took her uncle apart to tell him her resolution. Learning that the house +in the rue du Cygne exactly suited the viscount, she begged her future +husband to do her the kindness to tell him that her uncle knew it +was for sale. She dared not confide that lie to the abbe, fearing his +absent-mindedness. The lie, however, prospered better than if it had +been a virtuous action. In the course of that evening all Alencon heard +the news. For the last four days the town had had as much to think of +as during the fatal days of 1814 and 1815. Some laughed; others admitted +the marriage. These blamed it; those approved it. The middle classes +of Alencon rejoiced; they regarded it as a victory. The next day, among +friends, the Chevalier de Valois said a cruel thing:-- + +“The Cormons end as they began; there’s only a hand’s breadth between a +steward and a purveyor.” + + + + +CHAPTER VII. OTHER RESULTS + + +The news of Mademoiselle Cormon’s choice stabbed poor Athanase Granson +to the heart; but he showed no outward sign of the terrible agitation +within him. When he first heard of the marriage he was at the house of +the chief-justice, du Ronceret, where his mother was playing boston. +Madame Granson looked at her son in a mirror, and thought him pale; +but he had been so all day, for a vague rumor of the matter had already +reached him. + +Mademoiselle Cormon was the card on which Athanase had staked his life; +and the cold presentiment of a catastrophe was already upon him. When +the soul and the imagination have magnified a misfortune and made it +too heavy for the shoulders and the brain to bear; when a hope long +cherished, the realization of which would pacify the vulture feeding on +the heart, is balked, and the man has faith neither in himself, despite +his powers, nor in the future, despite of the Divine power,--then that +man is lost. Athanase was a fruit of the Imperial system of education. +Fatality, the Emperor’s religion, had filtered down from the throne to +the lowest ranks of the army and the benches of the lyceums. Athanase +sat still, with his eyes fixed on Madame du Ronceret’s cards, in a +stupor that might so well pass for indifference that Madame Granson +herself was deceived about his feelings. This apparent unconcern +explained her son’s refusal to make a sacrifice for this marriage of his +_liberal_ opinions,--the term “liberal” having lately been created for +the Emperor Alexander by, I think, Madame de Stael, through the lips of +Benjamin Constant. + +After that fatal evening the young man took to rambling among the +picturesque regions of the Sarthe, the banks of which are much +frequented by sketchers who come to Alencon for points of view. +Windmills are there, and the river is gay in the meadows. The shores of +the Sarthe are bordered with beautiful trees, well grouped. Though +the landscape is flat, it is not without those modest graces which +distinguish France, where the eye is never wearied by the brilliancy of +Oriental skies, nor saddened by constant fog. The place is solitary. In +the provinces no one pays much attention to a fine view, either because +provincials are blases on the beauty around them, or because they have +no poesy in their souls. If there exists in the provinces a mall, a +promenade, a vantage-ground from which a fine view can be obtained, that +is the point to which no one goes. Athanase was fond of this solitude, +enlivened by the sparkling water, where the fields were the first to +green under the earliest smiling of the springtide sun. Those persons +who saw him sitting beneath a poplar, and who noticed the vacant eye +which he turned to them, would say to Madame Granson:-- + +“Something is the matter with your son.” + +“I know what it is,” the mother would reply; hinting that he was +meditating over some great work. + +Athanase no longer took part in politics: he ceased to have opinions; +but he appeared at times quite gay,--gay with the satire of those who +think to insult a whole world with their own individual scorn. This +young man, outside of all the ideas and all the pleasures of the +provinces, interested few persons; he was not even an object of +curiosity. If persons spoke of him to his mother, it was for her sake, +not his. There was not a single soul in Alencon that sympathized with +his; not a woman, not a friend came near to dry his tears; they dropped +into the Sarthe. If the gorgeous Suzanne had happened that way, how many +young miseries might have been born of the meeting! for the two would +surely have loved each other. + +She did come, however. Suzanne’s ambition was early excited by the tale +of a strange adventure which had happened at the tavern of the More,--a +tale which had taken possession of her childish brain. A Parisian woman, +beautiful as the angels, was sent by Fouche to entangle the Marquis +de Montauran, otherwise called “The Gars,” in a love-affair (see “The +Chouans”). She met him at the tavern of the More on his return from an +expedition to Mortagne; she cajoled him, made him love her, and then +betrayed him. That fantastic power--the power of beauty over mankind; +in fact, the whole story of Marie de Verneuil and the Gars--dazzled +Suzanne; she longed to grow up in order to play upon men. Some months +after her hasty departure she passed through her native town with an +artist on his way to Brittany. She wanted to see Fougeres, where the +adventure of the Marquis de Montauran culminated, and to stand upon the +scene of that picturesque war, the tragedies of which, still so little +known, had filled her childish mind. Besides this, she had a fancy to +pass through Alencon so elegantly equipped that no one could recognize +her; to put her mother above the reach of necessity, and also to send to +poor Athanase, in a delicate manner, a sum of money,--which in our age +is to genius what in the middle ages was the charger and the coat of +mail that Rebecca conveyed to Ivanhoe. + +One month passed away in the strangest uncertainties respecting the +marriage of Mademoiselle Cormon. A party of unbelievers denied the +marriage altogether; the believers, on the other hand, affirmed it. At +the end of two weeks, the faction of unbelief received a vigorous blow +in the sale of du Bousquier’s house to the Marquis de Troisville, who +only wanted a simple establishment in Alencon, intending to go to Paris +after the death of the Princess Scherbellof; he proposed to await that +inheritance in retirement, and then to reconstitute his estates. This +seemed positive. The unbelievers, however, were not crushed. They +declared that du Bousquier, married or not, had made an excellent +sale, for the house had only cost him twenty-seven thousand francs. +The believers were depressed by this practical observation of the +incredulous. Choisnel, Mademoiselle Cormon’s notary, asserted the +latter, had heard nothing about the marriage contract; but the +believers, still firm in their faith, carried off, on the twentieth day, +a signal victory: Monsieur Lepressoir, the notary of the liberals, went +to Mademoiselle Cormon’s house, and the contract was signed. + +This was the first of the numerous sacrifices which Mademoiselle Cormon +was destined to make to her husband. Du Bousquier bore the deepest +hatred to Choisnel; to him he owed the refusal of the hand of +Mademoiselle Armande,--a refusal which, as he believed, had influenced +that of Mademoiselle Cormon. This circumstance alone made the marriage +drag along. Mademoiselle received several anonymous letters. She +learned, to her great astonishment, that Suzanne was as truly a virgin +as herself so far as du Bousquier was concerned, for that seducer +with the false toupet could never be the hero of any such adventure. +Mademoiselle Cormon disdained anonymous letters; but she wrote to +Suzanne herself, on the ground of enlightening the Maternity Society. +Suzanne, who had no doubt heard of du Bousquier’s proposed marriage, +acknowledged her trick, sent a thousand francs to the society, and did +all the harm she could to the old purveyor. Mademoiselle Cormon convoked +the Maternity Society, which held a special meeting at which it was +voted that the association would not in future assist any misfortunes +about to happen, but solely those that had happened. + +In spite of all these various events which kept the town in the choicest +gossip, the banns were published in the churches and at the mayor’s +office. Athanase prepared the deeds. As a matter of propriety and public +decency, the bride retired to Prebaudet, where du Bousquier, bearing +sumptuous and horrible bouquets, betook himself every morning, returning +home for dinner. + +At last, on a dull and rainy morning in June, the marriage of +Mademoiselle Cormon and the Sieur du Bousquier took place at noon in the +parish church of Alencon, in sight of the whole town. The bridal pair +went from their own house to the mayor’s office, and from the mayor’s +office to the church in an open caleche, a magnificent vehicle for +Alencon, which du Bousquier had sent for secretly to Paris. The loss of +the old carriole was a species of calamity in the eyes of the community. +The harness-maker of the Porte de Seez bemoaned it, for he lost the +fifty francs a year which it cost in repairs. Alencon saw with alarm +the possibility of luxury being thus introduced into the town. Every +one feared a rise in the price of rents and provisions, and a coming +invasion of Parisian furniture. Some persons were sufficiently pricked +by curiosity to give ten sous to Jacquelin to allow them a close +inspection of the vehicle which threatened to upset the whole economy +of the region. A pair of horses, bought in Normandie, were also most +alarming. + +“If we bought our own horses,” said the Ronceret circle, “we couldn’t +sell them to those who come to buy.” + +Stupid as it was, this reasoning seemed sound; for surely such a course +would prevent the region from grasping the money of foreigners. In the +eyes of the provinces wealth consisted less in the rapid turning over +of money than in sterile accumulation. It may be mentioned here that +Penelope succumbed to a pleurisy which she acquired about six weeks +before the marriage; nothing could save her. + +Madame Granson, Mariette, Madame du Coudrai, Madame du Ronceret, and +through them the whole town, remarked that Madame du Bousquier entered +the church _with her left foot_,--an omen all the more dreadful because +the term Left was beginning to acquire a political meaning. The priest +whose duty it was to read the opening formula opened his book by chance +at the De Profundis. Thus the marriage was accompanied by circumstances +so fateful, so alarming, so annihilating that no one dared to augur well +of it. Matters, in fact, went from bad to worse. There was no wedding +party; the married pair departed immediately for Prebaudet. Parisian +customs, said the community, were about to triumph over time-honored +provincial ways. + +The marriage of Jacquelin and Josette now took place: it was gay; and +they were the only two persons in Alencon who refuted the sinister +prophecies relating to the marriage of their mistress. + +Du Bousquier determined to use the proceeds of the sale of his late +residence in restoring and modernizing the hotel Cormon. He decided to +remain through two seasons at Prebaudet, and took the Abbe de Sponde +with them. This news spread terror through the town, where every +individual felt that du Bousquier was about to drag the community into +the fatal path of “comfort.” This fear increased when the inhabitants +of Alencon saw the bridegroom driving in from Prebaudet one morning to +inspect his works, in a fine tilbury drawn by a new horse, having Rene +at his side in livery. The first act of his administration had been to +place his wife’s savings on the Grand-Livre, which was then quoted at 67 +fr. 50 cent. In the space of one year, during which he played constantly +for a rise, he made himself a personal fortune almost as considerable as +that of his wife. + +But all these foreboding prophecies, these perturbing innovations, were +superseded and surpassed by an event connected with this marriage which +gave a still more fatal aspect to it. + +On the very evening of the ceremony, Athanase and his mother were +sitting, after their dinner, over a little fire of fagots, which the +servant lighted usually at dessert. + +“Well, we will go this evening to the du Roncerets’, inasmuch as we have +lost Mademoiselle Cormon,” said Madame Granson. “Heavens! how shall I +ever accustom myself to call her Madame du Bousquier! that name burns my +lips.” + +Athanase looked at his mother with a constrained and melancholy air; he +could not smile; but he seemed to wish to welcome that naive sentiment +which soothed his wound, though it could not cure his anguish. + +“Mamma,” he said, in the voice of his childhood, so tender was it, and +using the name he had abandoned for several years,--“my dear mamma, do +not let us go out just yet; it is so pleasant here before the fire.” + +The mother heard, without comprehending, that supreme prayer of a mortal +sorrow. + +“Yes, let us stay, my child,” she said. “I like much better to talk +with you and listen to your projects than to play at boston and lose my +money.” + +“You are so handsome to-night I love to look at you. Besides, I am in +a current of ideas which harmonize with this poor little salon where we +have suffered so much.” + +“And where we shall still suffer, my poor Athanase, until your works +succeed. For myself, I am trained to poverty; but you, my treasure! to +see your youth go by without a joy! nothing but toil for my poor boy +in life! That thought is like an illness to a mother; it tortures me +at night; it wakes me in the morning. O God! what have I done? for what +crime dost thou punish me thus?” + +She left her sofa, took a little chair, and sat close to Athanase, so as +to lay her head on the bosom of her child. There is always the grace of +love in true motherhood. Athanase kissed her on the eyes, on her +gray hair, on her forehead, with the sacred desire of laying his soul +wherever he applied his lips. + +“I shall never succeed,” he said, trying to deceive his mother as to the +fatal resolution he was revolving in his mind. + +“Pooh! don’t get discouraged. As you often say, thought can do all +things. With ten bottles of ink, ten reams of paper, and his powerful +will, Luther upset all Europe. Well, you’ll make yourself famous; you +will do good things by the same means which he used to do evil things. +Haven’t you said so yourself? For my part, I listen to you; I understand +you a great deal more than you think I do,--for I still bear you in my +bosom, and your every thought still stirs me as your slightest motion +did in other days.” + +“I shall never succeed here, mamma; and I don’t want you to witness the +sight of my struggles, my misery, my anguish. Oh, mother, let me leave +Alencon! I want to suffer away from you.” + +“And I wish to be at your side,” replied his mother, proudly. “Suffer +without your mother!--that poor mother who would be your servant if +necessary; who will efface herself rather than injure you; your mother, +who will never shame you. No, no, Athanase; we must not part.” + +Athanase clung to his mother with the ardor of a dying man who clings to +life. + +“But I wish it, nevertheless. If not, you will lose me; this double +grief, yours and mine, is killing me. You would rather I lived than +died?” + +Madame Granson looked at her son with a haggard eye. + +“So this is what you have been brooding?” she said. “They told me right. +Do you really mean to go?” + +“Yes.” + +“You will not go without telling me; without warning me? You must have +an outfit and money. I have some louis sewn into my petticoat; I shall +give them to you.” + +Athanase wept. + +“That’s all I wanted to tell you,” he said. “Now I’ll take you to the du +Roncerets’. Come.” + +The mother and the son went out. Athanase left his mother at the door of +the house where she intended to pass the evening. He looked long at the +light which came through the shutters; he clung closely to the wall, and +a frenzied joy came over him when he presently heard his mother say, “He +has great independence of heart.” + +“Poor mother! I have deceived her,” he cried, as he made his way to the +Sarthe. + +He reached the noble poplar beneath which he had meditated so much for +the last forty days, and where he had placed two heavy stones on which +he now sat down. He contemplated that beautiful nature lighted by the +moon; he reviewed once more the glorious future he had longed for; +he passed through towns that were stirred by his name; he heard the +applauding crowds; he breathed the incense of his fame; he adored that +life long dreamed of; radiant, he sprang to radiant triumphs; he raised +his stature; he evoked his illusions to bid them farewell in a last +Olympic feast. The magic had been potent for a moment; but now it +vanished forever. In that awful hour he clung to the beautiful tree +to which, as to a friend, he had attached himself; then he put the two +stones into the pockets of his overcoat, which he buttoned across his +breast. He had come intentionally without a hat. He now went to the deep +pool he had long selected, and glided into it resolutely, trying to make +as little noise as possible, and, in fact, making scarcely any. + +When, at half-past nine o’clock, Madame Granson returned home, her +servant said nothing of Athanase, but gave her a letter. She opened it +and read these few words,-- + +“My good mother, I have departed; don’t be angry with me.” + +“A pretty trick he has played me!” she thought. “And his linen! and the +money! Well, he will write to me, and then I’ll follow him. These +poor children think they are so much cleverer than their fathers and +mothers.” + +And she went to bed in peace. + +During the preceding morning the Sarthe had risen to a height foreseen +by the fisherman. These sudden rises of muddy water brought eels from +their various runlets. It so happened that a fisherman had spread his +net at the very place where poor Athanase had flung himself, believing +that no one would ever find him. About six o’clock in the morning the +man drew in his net, and with it the young body. The few friends of +the poor mother took every precaution in preparing her to receive +the dreadful remains. The news of this suicide made, as may well be +supposed, a great excitement in Alencon. The poor young man of genius +had no protector the night before, but on the morrow of his death a +thousand voices cried aloud, “I would have helped him.” It is so easy +and convenient to be charitable gratis! + +The suicide was explained by the Chevalier de Valois. He revealed, in +a spirit of revenge, the artless, sincere, and genuine love of Athanase +for Mademoiselle Cormon. Madame Granson, enlightened by the chevalier, +remembered a thousand little circumstances which confirmed the +chevalier’s statement. The story then became touching, and many women +wept over it. Madame Granson’s grief was silent, concentrated, and +little understood. There are two forms of mourning for mothers. Often +the world can enter fully into the nature of their loss: their son, +admired, appreciated, young, perhaps handsome, with a noble path before +him, leading to fortune, possibly to fame, excites universal regret; +society joins in the grief, and alleviates while it magnifies it. But +there is another sorrow of mothers who alone know what their child was +really; who alone have received his smiles and observed the treasures of +a life too soon cut short. That sorrow hides its woe, the blackness +of which surpasses all other mourning; it cannot be described; happily +there are but few women whose heart-strings are thus severed. + +Before Madame du Bousquier returned to town, Madame du Ronceret, one of +her good friends, had driven out to Prebaudet to fling this corpse upon +the roses of her joy, to show her the love she had ignored, and sweetly +shed a thousand drops of wormwood into the honey of her bridal month. +As Madame du Bousquier drove back to Alencon, she chanced to meet Madame +Granson at the corner of the rue Val-Noble. The glance of the mother, +dying of her grief, struck to the heart of the poor woman. A thousand +maledictions, a thousand flaming reproaches, were in that look: Madame +du Bousquier was horror-struck; that glance predicted and called down +evil upon her head. + +The evening after the catastrophe, Madame Granson, one of the persons +most opposed to the rector of the town, and who had hitherto supported +the minister of Saint-Leonard, began to tremble as she thought of the +inflexible Catholic doctrines professed by her own party. After placing +her son’s body in its shroud with her own hands, thinking of the mother +of the Saviour, she went, with a soul convulsed by anguish, to the house +of the hated rector. There she found the modest priest in an outer room, +engaged in putting away the flax and yarns with which he supplied poor +women, in order that they might never be wholly out of work,--a form +of charity which saved many who were incapable of begging from actual +penury. The rector left his yarns and hastened to take Madame Granson +into his dining-room, where the wretched mother noticed, as she looked +at his supper, the frugal method of his own living. + +“Monsieur l’abbe,” she said, “I have come to implore you--” She burst +into tears, unable to continue. + +“I know what brings you,” replied the saintly man. “I must trust to you, +madame, and to your relation, Madame du Bousquier, to pacify Monseigneur +the Bishop at Seez. Yes, I will pray for your unhappy child; yes, I will +say the masses. But we must avoid all scandal, and give no opportunity +for evil-judging persons to assemble in the church. I alone, without +other clergy, at night--” + +“Yes, yes, as you think best; if only he may lie in consecrated ground,” + said the poor mother, taking the priest’s hand and kissing it. + +Toward midnight a coffin was clandestinely borne to the parish church by +four young men, comrades whom Athanase had liked the best. A few friends +of Madame Granson, women dressed in black, and veiled, were present; and +half a dozen other young men who had been somewhat intimate with this +lost genius. Four torches flickered on the coffin, which was covered +with crape. The rector, assisted by one discreet choirboy, said the +mortuary mass. Then the body of the suicide was noiselessly carried to a +corner of the cemetery, where a black wooden cross, without inscription, +was all that indicated its place hereafter to the mother. Athanase lived +and died in shadow. No voice was raised to blame the rector; the bishop +kept silence. The piety of the mother redeemed the impiety of the son’s +last act. + +Some months later, the poor woman, half beside herself with grief, and +moved by one of those inexplicable thirsts which misery feels to steep +its lips in the bitter chalice, determined to see the spot where her son +was drowned. Her instinct may have told her that thoughts of his could +be recovered beneath that poplar; perhaps, too, she desired to see +what his eyes had seen for the last time. Some mothers would die of the +sight; others give themselves up to it in saintly adoration. Patient +anatomists of human nature cannot too often enunciate the truths before +which all educations, laws, and philosophical systems must give way. +Let us repeat continually: it is absurd to force sentiments into one +formula: appearing as they do, in each individual man, they combine with +the elements that form his nature and take his own physiognomy. + +Madame Granson, as she stood on that fatal spot, saw a woman approach +it, who exclaimed,-- + +“Was it here?” + +That woman wept as the mother wept. It was Suzanne. Arriving that +morning at the hotel du More, she had been told of the catastrophe. If +poor Athanase had been living, she meant to do as many noble souls, +who are moneyless, dream of doing, and as the rich never think of +doing,--she meant to have sent him several thousand francs, writing up +the envelope the words: “Money due to your father from a comrade who +makes restitution to you.” This tender scheme had been arranged by +Suzanne during her journey. + +The courtesan caught sight of Madame Granson and moved rapidly away, +whispering as she passed her, “I loved him!” + +Suzanne, faithful to her nature, did not leave Alencon on this occasion +without changing the orange-blossoms of the bride to rue. She was the +first to declare that Madame du Bousquier would never be anything but +Mademoiselle Cormon. With one stab of her tongue she revenged poor +Athanase and her dear chevalier. + +Alencon now witnessed a suicide that was slower and quite differently +pitiful from that of poor Athanase, who was quickly forgotten by +society, which always makes haste to forget its dead. The poor Chevalier +de Valois died in life; his suicide was a daily occurrence for fourteen +years. Three months after the du Bousquier marriage society remarked, +not without astonishment, that the linen of the chevalier was frayed and +rusty, that his hair was irregularly combed and brushed. With a frowsy +head the Chevalier de Valois could no longer be said to exist! A few +of his ivory teeth deserted, though the keenest observers of human life +were unable to discover to what body they had hitherto belonged, whether +to a foreign legion or whether they were indigenous, vegetable or +animal; whether age had pulled them from the chevalier’s mouth, or +whether they were left forgotten in the drawer of his dressing-table. +The cravat was crooked, indifferent to elegance. The negroes’ heads grew +pale with dust and grease. The wrinkles of the face were blackened and +puckered; the skin became parchment. The nails, neglected, were often +seen, alas! with a black velvet edging. The waistcoat was tracked and +stained with droppings which spread upon its surface like autumn leaves. +The cotton in the ears was seldom changed. Sadness reigned upon that +brow, and slipped its yellowing tints into the depths of each furrow. +In short, the ruins, hitherto so cleverly hidden, now showed through the +cracks and crevices of that fine edifice, and proved the power of the +soul over the body; for the fair and dainty man, the cavalier, the young +blood, died when hope deserted him. Until then the nose of the chevalier +was ever delicate and nice; never had a damp black blotch, nor an amber +drop fall from it; but now that nose, smeared with tobacco around the +nostrils, degraded by the driblets which took advantage of the natural +gutter placed between itself and the upper lip,--that nose, which no +longer cared to seem agreeable, revealed the infinite pains which +the chevalier had formerly taken with his person, and made observers +comprehend, by the extent of its degradation, the greatness and +persistence of the man’s designs upon Mademoiselle Cormon. + +Alas, too, the anecdotes went the way of the teeth; the clever sayings +grew rare. The appetite, however, remained; the old nobleman saved +nothing but his stomach from the wreck of his hopes; though he languidly +prepared his pinches of snuff, he ate alarming dinners. Perhaps you will +more fully understand the disaster that this marriage was to the mind +and heart of the chevalier when you learn that his intercourse with the +Princess Goritza became less frequent. + +One day he appeared in Mademoiselle Armande’s salon with the calf of +his leg on the shin-bone. This bankruptcy of the graces was, I do assure +you, terrible, and struck all Alencon with horror. The late young man +had become an old one; this human being, who, by the breaking-down +of his spirit, had passed at once from fifty to ninety years of age, +frightened society. Besides, his secret was betrayed; he had waited and +watched for Mademoiselle Cormon; he had, like a patient hunter, adjusted +his aim for ten whole years, and finally had missed the game! In short, +the impotent Republic had won the day from Valiant Chivalry, and that, +too, under the Restoration! Form triumphed; mind was vanquished by +matter, diplomacy by insurrection. And, O final blow! a mortified +grisette revealed the secret of the chevalier’s mornings, and he now +passed for a libertine. The liberals cast at his door all the foundlings +hitherto attributed to du Bousquier. But the faubourg Saint-Germain of +Alencon accepted them proudly: it even said, “That poor chevalier, what +else could he do?” The faubourg pitied him, gathered him closer to their +circle, and brought back a few rare smiles to his face; but frightful +enmity was piled upon the head of du Bousquier. Eleven persons deserted +the Cormon salon, and passed to that of the d’Esgrignons. + +The old maid’s marriage had a signal effect in defining the two parties +in Alencon. The salon d’Esgrignon represented the upper aristocracy +(the returning Troisvilles attached themselves to it); the Cormon salon +represented, under the clever influence of du Bousquier, that fatal +class of opinions which, without being truly liberal or resolutely +royalist, gave birth to the 221 on that famous day when the struggle +openly began between the most august, grandest, and only true power, +_royalty_, and the most false, most changeful, most oppressive of all +powers,--the power called _parliamentary_, which elective assemblies +exercise. The salon du Ronceret, secretly allied to the Cormon salon, +was boldly liberal. + +The Abbe de Sponde, after his return from Prebaudet, bore many and +continual sufferings, which he kept within his breast, saying no word +of them to his niece. But to Mademoiselle Armande he opened his heart, +admitting that, folly for folly, he would much have preferred the +Chevalier de Valois to Monsieur du Bousquier. Never would the dear +chevalier have had the bad taste to contradict and oppose a poor old +man who had but a few days more to live; du Bousquier had destroyed +everything in the good old home. The abbe said, with scanty tears +moistening his aged eyes,-- + +“Mademoiselle, I haven’t even the little grove where I have walked for +fifty years. My beloved lindens are all cut down! At the moment of my +death the Republic appears to me more than ever under the form of a +horrible destruction of the Home.” + +“You must pardon your niece,” said the Chevalier de Valois. “Republican +ideas are the first error of youth which seeks for liberty; later it +finds it the worst of despotisms,--that of an impotent canaille. Your +poor niece is punished where she sinned.” + +“What will become of me in a house where naked women are painted on the +walls?” said the poor abbe. “Where shall I find other lindens beneath +which to read my breviary?” + +Like Kant, who was unable to collect his thoughts after the fir-tree at +which he was accustomed to gaze while meditating was cut down, so the +poor abbe could never attain the ardor of his former prayers while +walking up and down the shadeless paths. Du Bousquier had planted an +English garden. + +“It was best,” said Madame du Bousquier, without thinking so; but the +Abbe Couterier had authorized her to commit many wrongs to please her +husband. + +These restorations destroyed all the venerable dignity, cordiality, and +patriarchal air of the old house. Like the Chevalier de Valois, whose +personal neglect might be called an abdication, the bourgeois dignity of +the Cormon salon no longer existed when it was turned to white and gold, +with mahogany ottomans covered in blue satin. The dining-room, adorned +in modern taste, was colder in tone than it used to be, and the dinners +were eaten with less appetite than formerly. Monsieur du Coudrai +declared that he felt his puns stick in his throat as he glanced at +the figures painted on the walls, which looked him out of countenance. +Externally, the house was still provincial; but internally everything +revealed the purveyor of the Directory and the bad taste of the +money-changer,--for instance, columns in stucco, glass doors, Greek +mouldings, meaningless outlines, all styles conglomerated, magnificence +out of place and out of season. + +The town of Alencon gabbled for two weeks over this luxury, which seemed +unparalleled; but a few months later the community was proud of it, and +several rich manufacturers restored their houses and set up fine salons. +Modern furniture came into the town, and astral lamps were seen! + +The Abbe de Sponde was among the first to perceive the secret +unhappiness this marriage now brought to the private life of his beloved +niece. The character of noble simplicity which had hitherto ruled their +lives was lost during the first winter, when du Bousquier gave two balls +every month. Oh, to hear violins and profane music at these worldly +entertainments in the sacred old house! The abbe prayed on his knees +while the revels lasted. Next the political system of the sober salon +was slowly perverted. The abbe fathomed du Bousquier; he shuddered at +his imperious tone; he saw the tears in his niece’s eyes when she felt +herself losing all control over her own property; for her husband now +left nothing in her hands but the management of the linen, the table, +and things of a kind which are the lot of women. Rose had no longer any +orders to give. Monsieur’s will was alone regarded by Jacquelin, now +become coachman, by Rene, the groom, and by the chef, who came from +Paris, Mariette being reduced to kitchen maid. Madame du Bousquier had +no one to rule but Josette. Who knows what it costs to relinquish the +delights of power? If the triumph of the will is one of the intoxicating +pleasures in the lives of great men, it is the ALL of life to narrow +minds. One must needs have been a minister dismissed from power to +comprehend the bitter pain which came upon Madame du Bousquier when she +found herself reduced to this absolute servitude. She often got into the +carriage against her will; she saw herself surrounded by servants who +were distasteful to her; she no longer had the handling of her dear +money,--she who had known herself free to spend money, and did not spend +it. + +All imposed limits make the human being desire to go beyond them. The +keenest sufferings come from the thwarting of self-will. The beginning +of this state of things was, however, rose-colored. Every concession +made to marital authority was an effect of the love which the poor +woman felt for her husband. Du Bousquier behaved, in the first instance, +admirably to his wife: he was wise; he was excellent; he gave her the +best of reasons for each new encroachment. So for the first two years of +her marriage Madame du Bousquier appeared to be satisfied. She had that +deliberate, demure little air which distinguishes young women who have +married for love. The rush of blood to her head no longer tormented +her. This appearance of satisfaction routed the scoffers, contradicted +certain rumors about du Bousquier, and puzzled all observers of the +human heart. Rose-Marie-Victoire was so afraid that if she displeased +her husband or opposed him, she would lose his affection and be deprived +of his company, that she would willingly have sacrificed all to him, +even her uncle. Her silly little forms of pleasure deceived even the +poor abbe for a time, who endured his own trials all the better for +thinking that his niece was happy, after all. + +Alencon at first thought the same. But there was one man more difficult +to deceive than the whole town put together. The Chevalier de Valois, +who had taken refuge on the Sacred Mount of the upper aristocracy, now +passed his life at the d’Esgrignons. He listened to the gossip and the +gabble, and he thought day and night upon his vengeance. He meant to +strike du Bousquier to the heart. + +The poor abbe fully understood the baseness of this first and last +love of his niece; he shuddered as, little by little, he perceived the +hypocritical nature of his nephew and his treacherous manoeuvres. Though +du Bousquier restrained himself, as he thought of the abbe’s property, +and wished not to cause him vexation, it was his hand that dealt the +blow that sent the old priest to his grave. If you will interpret the +word _intolerance_ as _firmness of principle_, if you do not wish to +condemn in the catholic soul of the Abbe de Sponde the stoicism which +Walter Scott has made you admire in the puritan soul of Jeanie Deans’ +father; if you are willing to recognize in the Roman Church the Potius +mori quam foedari that you admire in republican tenets,--you will +understand the sorrow of the Abbe de Sponde when he saw in his niece’s +salon the apostate priest, the renegade, the pervert, the heretic, that +enemy of the Church, the guilty taker of the Constitutional oath. Du +Bousquier, whose secret ambition was to lay down the law to the town, +wished, as a first proof of his power, to reconcile the minister of +Saint-Leonard with the rector of the parish, and he succeeded. His wife +thought he had accomplished a work of peace where the immovable abbe saw +only treachery. The bishop came to visit du Bousquier, and seemed glad +of the cessation of hostilities. The virtues of the Abbe Francois +had conquered prejudice, except that of the aged Roman Catholic, who +exclaimed with Cornelle, “Alas! what virtues do you make me hate!” + +The abbe died when orthodoxy thus expired in the diocese. + +In 1819, the property of the Abbe de Sponde increased Madame du +Bousquier’s income from real estate to twenty-five thousand francs +without counting Prebaudet or the house in the Val-Noble. About this +time du Bousquier returned to his wife the capital of her savings which +she had yielded to him; and he made her use it in purchasing lands +contiguous to Prebaudet, which made that domain one of the most +considerable in the department, for the estates of the Abbe de Sponde +also adjoined it. Du Bousquier thus passed for one of the richest men of +the department. This able man, the constant candidate of the liberals, +missing by seven or eight votes only in all the electoral battles fought +under the Restoration, and who ostensibly repudiated the liberals by +trying to be elected as a ministerial royalist (without ever being +able to conquer the aversion of the administration),--this rancorous +republican, mad with ambition, resolved to rival the royalism and +aristocracy of Alencon at the moment when they once more had the +upper hand. He strengthened himself with the Church by the deceitful +appearance of a well-feigned piety: he accompanied his wife to mass; he +gave money for the convents of the town; he assisted the congregation of +the Sacre-Coeur; he took sides with the clergy on all occasions when the +clergy came into collision with the town, the department, or the State. +Secretly supported by the liberals, protected by the Church, calling +himself a constitutional royalist, he kept beside the aristocracy of the +department in the one hope of ruining it,--and he did ruin it. Ever +on the watch for the faults and blunders of the nobility and +the government, he laid plans for his vengeance against the +“chateau-people,” and especially against the d’Esgrignons, in whose +bosom he was one day to thrust a poisoned dagger. + +Among other benefits to the town he gave money liberally to revive the +manufacture of point d’Alencon; he renewed the trade in linens, and the +town had a factory. Inscribing himself thus upon the interests and heart +of the masses, by doing what the royalists did not do, du Bousquier did +not really risk a farthing. Backed by his fortune, he could afford +to wait results which enterprising persons who involve themselves are +forced to abandon to luckier successors. + +Du Bousquier now posed as a banker. This miniature Lafitte was a partner +in all new enterprises, taking good security. He served himself while +apparently serving the interests of the community. He was the prime +mover of insurance companies, the protector of new enterprises for +public conveyance; he suggested petitions for asking the administration +for the necessary roads and bridges. Thus warned, the government +considered this action an encroachment of its own authority. A struggle +was begun injudiciously, for the good of the community compelled the +authorities to yield in the end. Du Bousquier embittered the provincial +nobility against the court nobility and the peerage; and finally he +brought about the shocking adhesion of a strong party of constitutional +royalists to the warfare sustained by the “Journal des Debats,” and M. +de Chateaubriand against the throne,--an ungrateful opposition based on +ignoble interests, which was one cause of the triumph of the bourgeoisie +and journalism in 1830. + +Thus du Bousquier, in common with the class he represented, had the +satisfaction of beholding the funeral of royalty. The old republican, +smothered with masses, who for fifteen years had played that comedy to +satisfy his vendetta, himself threw down with his own hand the white +flag of the mayoralty to the applause of the multitude. No man in +France cast upon the new throne raised in August, 1830, a glance of more +intoxicated, joyous vengeance. The accession of the Younger Branch was +the triumph of the Revolution. To him the victory of the tricolor meant +the resurrection of Montagne, which this time should surely bring +the nobility down to the dust by means more certain than that of the +guillotine, because less violent. The peerage without heredity; the +National Guard, which puts on the same camp-bed the corner grocer +and the marquis; the abolition of the entails demanded by a bourgeois +lawyer; the Catholic Church deprived of its supremacy; and all the other +legislative inventions of August, 1830,--were to du Bousquier the wisest +possible application of the principles of 1793. + +Since 1830 this man has been a receiver-general. He relied for his +advancement on his relations with the Duc d’Orleans, father of +Louis Philippe, and with Monsieur de Folmon, formerly steward to the +Duchess-dowager of Orleans. He receives about eighty thousand francs a +year. In the eyes of the people about him Monsieur du Bousquier is a +man of means,--a respectable man, steady in his principles, upright, +and obliging. Alencon owes to him its connection with the industrial +movement by which Brittany may possibly some day be joined to what is +popularly called modern civilization. Alencon, which up to 1816 could +boast of only two private carriages, saw, without amazement, in the +course of ten years, coupes, landaus, tilburies, and cabriolets rolling +through her streets. The burghers and the land-owners, alarmed at first +lest the price of everything should increase, recognized later that +this increase in the style of living had a contrary effect upon their +revenues. The prophetic remark of du Ronceret, “Du Bousquier is a very +strong man,” was adopted by the whole country-side. + +But, unhappily for the wife, that saying has a double meaning. The +husband does not in any way resemble the public politician. This great +citizen, so liberal to the world about him, so kindly inspired with love +for his native place, is a despot in his own house, and utterly devoid +of conjugal affection. This man, so profoundly astute, hypocritical, and +sly; this Cromwell of the Val-Noble,--behaves in his home as he behaves +to the aristocracy, whom he caresses in hopes to throttle them. Like his +friend Bernadotte, he wears a velvet glove upon his iron hand. His +wife has given him no children. Suzanne’s remark and the chevalier’s +insinuations were therefore justified. But the liberal bourgeoisie, +the constitutional-royalist-bourgeoisie, the country-squires, the +magistracy, and the “church party” laid the blame on Madame du +Bousquier. “She was too old,” they said; “Monsieur du Bousquier had +married her too late. Besides, it was very lucky for the poor woman; +it was dangerous at her age to bear children!” When Madame du Bousquier +confided, weeping, her periodic despair to Mesdames du Coudrai and du +Ronceret, those ladies would reply,-- + +“But you are crazy, my dear; you don’t know what you are wishing for; a +child would be your death.” + +Many men, whose hopes were fastened on du Bousquier’s triumph, sang his +praises to their wives, who in turn repeated them to the poor wife in +some such speech as this:-- + +“You are very lucky, dear, to have married such an able man; you’ll +escape the misery of women whose husbands are men without energy, +incapable of managing their property, or bringing up their children.” + +“Your husband is making you queen of the department, my love. He’ll +never leave you embarrassed, not he! Why, he leads all Alencon.” + +“But I wish,” said the poor wife, “that he gave less time to the public +and--” + +“You are hard to please, my dear Madame du Bousquier. I assure you that +all the women in town envy you your husband.” + +Misjudged by society, which began by blaming her, the pious woman found +ample opportunity in her home to display her virtues. She lived in +tears, but she never ceased to present to others a placid face. To so +Christian a soul a certain thought which pecked forever at her heart was +a crime: “I loved the Chevalier de Valois,” it said; “but I have married +du Bousquier.” The love of poor Athanase Granson also rose like a +phantom of remorse, and pursued her even in her dreams. The death of her +uncle, whose griefs at the last burst forth, made her life still more +sorrowful; for she now felt the suffering her uncle must have endured +in witnessing the change of political and religious opinion in the +old house. Sorrow often falls like a thunderbolt, as it did on Madame +Granson; but in this old maid it slowly spread like a drop of oil, which +never leaves the stuff that slowly imbibes it. + +The Chevalier de Valois was the malicious manipulator who brought about +the crowning misfortune of Madame du Bousquier’s life. His heart was set +on undeceiving her pious simplicity; for the chevalier, expert in love, +divined du Bousquier, the married man, as he had divined du Bousquier, +the bachelor. But the wary republican was difficult of attack. His salon +was, of course, closed to the Chevalier de Valois, as to all those who, +in the early days of his marriage, had slighted the Cormon mansion. He +was, moreover, impervious to ridicule; he possessed a vast fortune; +he reigned in Alencon; he cared as little for his wife as Richard III. +cared for the dead horse which had helped him win a battle. To please +her husband, Madame du Bousquier had broken off relations with the +d’Esgrignon household, where she went no longer, except that sometimes +when her husband left her during his trips to Paris, she would pay a +brief visit to Mademoiselle Armande. + +About three years after her marriage, at the time of the Abbe de +Sponde’s death, Mademoiselle Armande joined Madame du Bousquier as they +were leaving Saint-Leonard’s, where they had gone to hear a requiem said +for him. The generous demoiselle thought that on this occasion she owed +her sympathy to the niece in trouble. They walked together, talking of +the dear deceased, until they reached the forbidden house, into which +Mademoiselle Armande enticed Madame du Bousquier by the charm of her +manner and conversation. The poor desolate woman was glad to talk of her +uncle with one whom he truly loved. Moreover, she wanted to receive the +condolences of the old marquis, whom she had not seen for nearly +three years. It was half-past one o’clock, and she found at the hotel +d’Esgrignon the Chevalier de Valois, who had come to dinner. As he bowed +to her, he took her by the hands. + +“Well, dear, virtuous, and beloved lady,” he said, in a tone of emotion, +“we have lost our sainted friend; we share your grief. Yes, your loss is +as keenly felt here as in your own home,--more so,” he added, alluding +to du Bousquier. + +After a few more words of funeral oration, in which all present spoke +from the heart, the chevalier took Madame du Bousquier’s arm, and, +gallantly placing it within his own, pressed it adoringly as he led her +to the recess of a window. + +“Are you happy?” he said in a fatherly voice. + +“Yes,” she said, dropping her eyes. + +Hearing that “Yes,” Madame de Troisville, the daughter of the Princess +Scherbellof, and the old Marquise de Casteran came up and joined the +chevalier, together with Mademoiselle Armande. They all went to walk in +the garden until dinner was served, without any perception on the part +of Madame du Bousquier that a little conspiracy was afoot. “We have her! +now let us find out the secret of the case,” were the words written in +the eyes of all present. + +“To make your happiness complete,” said Mademoiselle Armande, “you ought +to have children,--a fine lad like my nephew--” + +Tears seemed to start in Madame du Bousquier’s eyes. + +“I have heard it said that you were the one to blame in the matter, and +that you feared the dangers of a pregnancy,” said the chevalier. + +“I!” she said artlessly. “I would buy a child with a hundred years of +purgatory if I could.” + +On the question thus started a discussion arose, conducted by Madame +de Troisville and the old Marquise de Casteran with such delicacy and +adroitness that the poor victim revealed, without being aware of it, +the secrets of her house. Mademoiselle Armande had taken the chevalier’s +arm, and walked away so as to leave the three women free to discuss +wedlock. Madame du Bousquier was then enlightened on the various +deceptions of her marriage; and as she was still the same simpleton she +had always been, she amused her advisers by delightful naivetes. + +Although at first the deceptive marriage of Mademoiselle Cormon made a +laugh throughout the town, which was soon initiated into the story of +the case, before long Madame du Bousquier won the esteem and sympathy +of all the women. The fact that Mademoiselle Cormon had flung herself +headlong into marriage without succeeding in being married, made +everybody laugh at her; but when they learned the exceptional position +in which the sternness of her religious principles placed her, all the +world admired her. “That poor Madame du Bousquier” took the place of +“That good Mademoiselle Cormon.” + +Thus the chevalier contrived to render du Bousquier both ridiculous and +odious for a time; but ridicule ends by weakening; when all had said +their say about him, the gossip died out. Besides, at fifty-seven years +of age the dumb republican seemed to many people to have a right to +retire. This affair, however, envenomed the hatred which du Bousquier +already bore to the house of Esgrignon to such a degree that it made +him pitiless when the day of vengeance came. [See “The Gallery of +Antiquities.”] Madame du Bousquier received orders never again to set +foot into that house. By way of reprisals upon the chevalier for the +trick thus played him, du Bousquier, who had just created the journal +called the “Courrier de l’Orne,” caused the following notice to be +inserted in it:-- + + “Bonds to the amount of one thousand francs a year will be paid to + any person who can prove the existence of one Monsieur de + Pombreton before, during, or after the Emigration.” + +Although her marriage was essentially negative, Madame du Bousquier saw +some advantages in it: was it not better to interest herself in the +most remarkable man in the town than to live alone? Du Bousquier was +preferable to a dog, or cat, or those canaries that spinsters love. He +showed for his wife a sentiment more real and less selfish than that +which is felt by servants, confessors, and hopeful heirs. Later in life +she came to consider her husband as the instrument of divine wrath; for +she then saw innumerable sins in her former desires for marriage; she +regarded herself as justly punished for the sorrow she had brought on +Madame Granson, and for the hastened death of her uncle. Obedient +to that religion which commands us to kiss the rod with which the +punishment is inflicted, she praised her husband, and publicly approved +him. But in the confessional, or at night, when praying, she wept often, +imploring God’s forgiveness for the apostasy of the man who thought the +contrary of what he professed, and who desired the destruction of the +aristocracy and the Church,--the two religions of the house of Cormon. + +With all her feelings bruised and immolated within her, compelled by +duty to make her husband happy, attached to him by a certain indefinable +affection, born, perhaps, of habit, her life became one perpetual +contradiction. She had married a man whose conduct and opinions she +hated, but whom she was bound to care for with dutiful tenderness. +Often she walked with the angels when du Bousquier ate her preserves or +thought the dinner good. She watched to see that his slightest wish was +satisfied. If he tore off the cover of his newspaper and left it on a +table, instead of throwing it away, she would say:-- + +“Rene, leave that where it is; monsieur did not place it there without +intention.” + +If du Bousquier had a journey to take, she was anxious about his +trunk, his linen; she took the most minute precautions for his material +benefit. If he went to Prebaudet, she consulted the barometer the +evening before to know if the weather would be fine. She watched for +his will in his eyes, like a dog which hears and sees its master while +sleeping. When the stout du Bousquier, touched by this scrupulous love, +would take her round the waist and kiss her forehead, saying, “What a +good woman you are!” tears of pleasure would come into the eyes of the +poor creature. It is probably that du Bousquier felt himself obliged +to make certain concessions which obtained for him the respect +of Rose-Marie-Victoire; for Catholic virtue does not require a +dissimulation as complete as that of Madame du Bousquier. Often the +good saint sat mutely by and listened to the hatred of men who concealed +themselves under the cloak of constitutional royalists. She shuddered +as she foresaw the ruin of the Church. Occasionally she risked a stupid +word, an observation which du Bousquier cut short with a glance. + +The worries of such an existence ended by stupefying Madame du +Bousquier, who found it easier and also more dignified to concentrate +her intelligence on her own thoughts and resign herself to lead a life +that was purely animal. She then adopted the submission of a slave, and +regarded it as a meritorious deed to accept the degradation in which her +husband placed her. The fulfilment of his will never once caused her to +murmur. The timid sheep went henceforth in the way the shepherd led her; +she gave herself up to the severest religious practices, and thought no +more of Satan and his works and vanities. Thus she presented to the +eyes of the world a union of all Christian virtues; and du Bousquier +was certainly one of the luckiest men in the kingdom of France and of +Navarre. + +“She will be a simpleton to her last breath,” said the former collector, +who, however, dined with her twice a week. + +This history would be strangely incomplete if no mention were made of +the coincidence of the Chevalier de Valois’s death occurring at the same +time as that of Suzanne’s mother. The chevalier died with the monarchy, +in August, 1830. He had joined the cortege of Charles X. at Nonancourt, +and piously escorted it to Cherbourg with the Troisvilles, Casterans, +d’Esgrignons, Verneuils, etc. The old gentleman had taken with him fifty +thousand francs,--the sum to which his savings then amounted. He offered +them to one of the faithful friends of the king for transmission to his +master, speaking of his approaching death, and declaring that the money +came originally from the goodness of the king, and, moreover, that the +property of the last of the Valois belonged of right to the crown. It is +not known whether the fervor of his zeal conquered the reluctance of the +Bourbon, who abandoned his fine kingdom of France without carrying away +with him a farthing, and who ought to have been touched by the devotion +of the chevalier. It is certain, however, that Cesarine, the residuary +legate of the old man, received from his estate only six hundred francs +a year. The chevalier returned to Alencon, cruelly weakened by grief and +by fatigue; he died on the very day when Charles X. arrived on a foreign +shore. + +Madame du Val-Noble and her protector, who was just then afraid of +the vengeance of the liberal party, were glad of a pretext to remain +incognito in the village where Suzanne’s mother died. At the sale of the +chevalier’s effects, which took place at that time, Suzanne, anxious to +obtain a souvenir of her first and last friend, pushed up the price +of the famous snuff-box, which was finally knocked down to her for a +thousand francs. The portrait of the Princess Goritza was alone worth +that sum. Two years later, a young dandy, who was making a collection +of the fine snuff-boxes of the last century, obtained from Madame du +Val-Noble the chevalier’s treasure. The charming confidant of many a +love and the pleasure of an old age is now on exhibition in a species +of private museum. If the dead could know what happens after them, the +chevalier’s head would surely blush upon its left cheek. + +If this history has no other effect than to inspire the possessors of +precious relics with holy fear, and induce them to make codicils to +secure these touching souvenirs of joys that are no more by bequeathing +them to loving hands, it will have done an immense service to the +chivalrous and romantic portion of the community; but it does, in truth, +contain a far higher moral. Does it not show the necessity for a +new species of education? Does it not invoke, from the enlightened +solicitude of the ministers of Public Instruction, the creation of +chairs of anthropology,--a science in which Germany outstrips us? Modern +myths are even less understood than ancient ones, harried as we are with +myths. Myths are pressing us from every point; they serve all theories, +they explain all questions. They are, according to human ideas, the +torches of history; they would save empires from revolution if only the +professors of history would force the explanations they give into the +mind of the provincial masses. If Mademoiselle Cormon had been a reader +or a student, and if there had existed in the department of the Orne a +professor of anthropology, or even had she read Ariosto, the frightful +disasters of her conjugal life would never have occurred. She would +probably have known why the Italian poet makes Angelica prefer Medoro, +who was a blond Chevalier de Valois, to Orlando, whose mare was dead, +and who knew no better than to fly into a passion. Is not Medoro the +mythic form for all courtiers of feminine royalty, and Orlando the myth +of disorderly, furious, and impotent revolutions, which destroy but +cannot produce? We publish, but without assuming any responsibility for +it, this opinion of a pupil of Monsieur Ballanche. + +No information has reached us as to the fate of the negroes’ heads in +diamonds. You may see Madame du Val-Noble every evening at the Opera. +Thanks to the education given her by the Chevalier de Valois, she has +almost the air of a well-bred woman. + +Madame du Bousquier still lives; is not that as much as to say she still +suffers? After reaching the age of sixty--the period at which women +allow themselves to make confessions--she said confidentially to Madame +du Coudrai, that she had never been able to endure the idea of dying an +old maid. + + + + +ADDENDUM + +The following personages appear in other stories of the Human Comedy. + +(Note: The Collection of Antiquities is a companion piece to The Old +Maid. In other Addendum appearances they are combined under the title of +The Jealousies of a Country Town.) + + Bordin + The Gondreville Mystery + The Seamy Side of History + The Commission in Lunacy + + Bousquier, Du (or Du Croisier or Du Bourguier) + The Collection of Antiquities (companion piece) + The Middle Classes + + Bousquier, Madame du (du Croisier) (Mlle. Cormon) + The Collection of Antiquities (companion piece) + + Casteran, De + The Chouans + The Seamy Side of History + The Collection of Antiquities (companion piece) + Beatrix + The Peasantry + + Chesnel (or Choisnel) + The Seamy Side of History + The Collection of Antiquities (companion piece) + + Coudrai, Du + The Collection of Antiquities (companion piece) + + Esgrignon, Charles-Marie-Victor-Ange-Carol, Marquis d’ (or Des Grignons) + The Chouans + The Collection of Antiquities (companion piece) + + Esgrignon, Marie-Armande-Claire d’ + The Collection of Antiquities (companion piece) + + Gaillard, Madame Theodore (Suzanne) + A Distinguished Provincial at Paris + A Bachelor’s Establishment + Scenes from a Courtesan’s Life + Beatrix + The Unconscious Humorists + + Granson, Athanase + The Government Clerks (mentioned only) + + Lenoncourt, Duc de + The Lily of the Valley + Cesar Birotteau + The Collection of Antiquities (companion piece) + The Gondreville Mystery + Beatrix + + Navarreins, Duc de + Colonel Chabert + The Muse of the Department + The Thirteen + The Peasantry + Scenes from a Courtesan’s Life + The Country Parson + The Magic Skin + The Gondreville Mystery + The Secrets of a Princess + Cousin Betty + + Pombreton, Marquis de + Lost Illusions + A Distinguished Provincial at Paris + + Ronceret, Du + The Collection of Antiquities (companion piece) + Beatrix + + Ronceret, Madame Du + The Collection of Antiquities (companion piece) + + Simeuse, Admiral de + Beatrix + The Gondreville Mystery + + Troisville, Guibelin, Vicomte de + The Seamy Side of History + The Chouans + The Collection of Antiquities (companion piece) + The Peasantry + + Valois, Chevalier de + The Chouans + The Collection of Antiquities (companion piece) + + Verneuil, Duc de + The Chouans + The Collection of Antiquities (companion piece) + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of An Old Maid, by Honore de Balzac + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 1352 *** diff --git a/1352-h/1352-h.htm b/1352-h/1352-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..c5631c2 --- /dev/null +++ b/1352-h/1352-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,5846 @@ +<?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> + An Old Maid, 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 1352 ***</div> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <h1> + AN OLD MAID + </h1> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <h2> + By Honore De Balzac + </h2> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <h3> + Translated by Katharine Prescott Wormeley + </h3> + <p> + <br /><br /> <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <h3> + DEDICATION<br /><br /> To Monsieur Eugene-Auguste-Georges-Louis Midy de la + Greneraye<br /> Surville, Royal Engineer of the Ponts at Chausses.<br /><br /> + As a testimony to the affection of his brother-in-law,<br /><br /> De Balzac<br /> + </h3> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <h2> + Contents + </h2> + <h3> + <a href="#link2H_4_0001"> <b>AN OLD MAID</b> </a> + </h3> + <h3> + </h3> + <table summary="" style="margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto"> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="#link2HCH0001"> CHAPTER I. </a> + </td> + <td> + ONE OF MANY CHEVALIERS DE VALOIS + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="#link2HCH0002"> CHAPTER II. </a> + </td> + <td> + SUSANNAH AND THE ELDERS + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="#link2HCH0003"> CHAPTER III. </a> + </td> + <td> + ATHANASE + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="#link2HCH0004"> CHAPTER IV. </a> + </td> + <td> + MADEMOISELLE CORMON + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="#link2HCH0005"> CHAPTER V. </a> + </td> + <td> + AN OLD MAID’S HOUSEHOLD + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="#link2HCH0006"> CHAPTER VI. </a> + </td> + <td> + FINAL DISAPPOINTMENT AND ITS FIRST RESULT + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="#link2HCH0007"> CHAPTER VII. </a> + </td> + <td> + OTHER RESULTS + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + </td> + </tr> + </table> + <h3> + <a href="#link2H_4_0009"> ADDENDUM </a> + </h3> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> <a name="link2H_4_0001" id="link2H_4_0001"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <h1> + AN OLD MAID + </h1> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0001" id="link2HCH0001"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER I. ONE OF MANY CHEVALIERS DE VALOIS + </h2> + <p> + Most persons have encountered, in certain provinces in France, a number of + Chevaliers de Valois. One lived in Normandy, another at Bourges, a third + (with whom we have here to do) flourished in Alencon, and doubtless the + South possesses others. The number of the Valesian tribe is, however, of + no consequence to the present tale. All these chevaliers, among whom were + doubtless some who were Valois as Louis XIV. was Bourbon, knew so little + of one another that it was not advisable to speak to one about the others. + They were all willing to leave the Bourbons in tranquil possession of the + throne of France; for it was too plainly established that Henri IV. became + king for want of a male heir in the first Orleans branch called the + Valois. If there are any Valois, they descend from Charles de Valois, Duc + d’Angouleme, son of Charles IX. and Marie Touchet, the male line from whom + ended, until proof to the contrary be produced, in the person of the Abbe + de Rothelin. The Valois-Saint-Remy, who descended from Henri II., also + came to an end in the famous Lamothe-Valois implicated in the affair of + the Diamond Necklace. + </p> + <p> + Each of these many chevaliers, if we may believe reports, was, like the + Chevalier of Alencon, an old gentleman, tall, thin, withered, and + moneyless. He of Bourges had emigrated; he of Touraine hid himself; he of + Alencon fought in La Vendee and “chouanized” somewhat. The youth of the + latter was spend in Paris, where the Revolution overtook him when thirty + years of age in the midst of his conquests and gallantries. + </p> + <p> + The Chevalier de Valois of Alencon was accepted by the highest aristocracy + of the province as a genuine Valois; and he distinguished himself, like + the rest of his homonyms, by excellent manners, which proved him a man of + society. He dined out every day, and played cards every evening. He was + thought witty, thanks to his foible for relating a quantity of anecdotes + on the reign of Louis XV. and the beginnings of the Revolution. When these + tales were heard for the first time, they were held to be well narrated. + He had, moreover, the great merit of not repeating his personal bons mots + and of never speaking of his love-affairs, though his smiles and his airs + and graces were delightfully indiscreet. The worthy gentleman used his + privilege as a Voltairean noble to stay away from mass; and great + indulgence was shown to his irreligion because of his devotion to the + royal cause. One of his particular graces was the air and manner + (imitated, no doubt, from Mole) with which he took snuff from a gold box + adorned with the portrait of the Princess Goritza,—a charming + Hungarian, celebrated for her beauty in the last years of the reign of + Louis XV. Having been attached during his youth to that illustrious + stranger, he still mentioned her with emotion. For her sake he had fought + a duel with Monsieur de Lauzun. + </p> + <p> + The chevalier, now fifty-eight years of age, owned to only fifty; and he + might well allow himself that innocent deception, for, among the other + advantages granted to fair thin persons, he managed to preserve the still + youthful figure which saves men as well as women from an appearance of old + age. Yes, remember this: all of life, or rather all the elegance that + expresses life, is in the figure. Among the chevalier’s other possessions + must be counted an enormous nose with which nature had endowed him. This + nose vigorously divided a pale face into two sections which seemed to have + no knowledge of each other, for one side would redden under the process of + digestion, while the other continued white. This fact is worthy of remark + at a period when physiology is so busy with the human heart. The + incandescence, so to call it, was on the left side. Though his long slim + legs, supporting a lank body, and his pallid skin, were not indicative of + health, Monsieur de Valois ate like an ogre and declared he had a malady + called in the provinces “hot liver,” perhaps to excuse his monstrous + appetite. The circumstance of his singular flush confirmed this + declaration; but in a region where repasts are developed on the line of + thirty or forty dishes and last four hours, the chevalier’s stomach would + seem to have been a blessing bestowed by Providence on the good town of + Alencon. According to certain doctors, heat on the left side denotes a + prodigal heart. The chevalier’s gallantries confirmed this scientific + assertion, the responsibility for which does not rest, fortunately, on the + historian. + </p> + <p> + In spite of these symptoms, Monsieur de Valois’ constitution was vigorous, + consequently long-lived. If his liver “heated,” to use an old-fashioned + word, his heart was not less inflammable. His face was wrinkled and his + hair silvered; but an intelligent observer would have recognized at once + the stigmata of passion and the furrows of pleasure which appeared in the + crow’s-feet and the marches-du-palais, so prized at the court of Cythera. + Everything about this dainty chevalier bespoke the “ladies’ man.” He was + so minute in his ablutions that his cheeks were a pleasure to look upon; + they seemed to have been laved in some miraculous water. The part of his + skull which his hair refused to cover shone like ivory. His eyebrows, like + his hair, affected youth by the care and regularity with which they were + combed. His skin, already white, seemed to have been extra-whitened by + some secret compound. Without using perfumes, the chevalier exhaled a + certain fragrance of youth, that refreshed the atmosphere. His hands, + which were those of a gentleman, and were cared for like the hands of a + pretty woman, attracted the eye to their rosy, well-shaped nails. In + short, had it not been for his magisterial and stupendous nose, the + chevalier might have been thought a trifle too dainty. + </p> + <p> + We must here compel ourselves to spoil this portrait by the avowal of a + littleness. The chevalier put cotton in his ears, and wore, appended to + them, two little ear-rings representing negroes’ heads in diamonds, of + admirable workmanship. He clung to these singular appendages, explaining + that since his ears had been bored he had ceased to have headaches (he had + had headaches). We do not present the chevalier as an accomplished man; + but surely we can pardon, in an old celibate whose heart sends so much + blood to his left cheek, these adorable qualities, founded, perhaps, on + some sublime secret history. + </p> + <p> + Besides, the Chevalier de Valois redeemed those negroes’ heads by so many + other graces that society felt itself sufficiently compensated. He really + took such immense trouble to conceal his age and give pleasure to his + friends. In the first place, we must call attention to the extreme care he + gave to his linen, the only distinction that well-bred men can nowadays + exhibit in their clothes. The linen of the chevalier was invariably of a + fineness and whiteness that were truly aristocratic. As for his coat, + though remarkable for its cleanliness, it was always half worn-out, but + without spots or creases. The preservation of that garment was something + marvellous to those who noticed the chevalier’s high-bred indifference to + its shabbiness. He did not go so far as to scrape the seams with glass,—a + refinement invented by the Prince of Wales; but he did practice the + rudiments of English elegance with a personal satisfaction little + understood by the people of Alencon. The world owes a great deal to + persons who take such pains to please it. In this there is certainly some + accomplishment of that most difficult precept of the Gospel about + rendering good for evil. This freshness of ablution and all the other + little cares harmonized charmingly with the blue eyes, the ivory teeth, + and the blond person of the old chevalier. + </p> + <p> + The only blemish was that this retired Adonis had nothing manly about him; + he seemed to be employing this toilet varnish to hide the ruins occasioned + by the military service of gallantry only. But we must hasten to add that + his voice produced what might be called an antithesis to his blond + delicacy. Unless you adopted the opinion of certain observers of the human + heart, and thought that the chevalier had the voice of his nose, his organ + of speech would have amazed you by its full and redundant sound. Without + possessing the volume of classical bass voices, the tone of it was + pleasing from a slightly muffled quality like that of an English bugle, + which is firm and sweet, strong but velvety. + </p> + <p> + The chevalier had repudiated the ridiculous costume still preserved by + certain monarchical old men; he had frankly modernized himself. He was + always seen in a maroon-colored coat with gilt buttons, half-tight + breeches of poult-de-soie with gold buckles, a white waistcoat without + embroidery, and a tight cravat showing no shirt-collar,—a last + vestige of the old French costume which he did not renounce, perhaps, + because it enabled him to show a neck like that of the sleekest abbe. His + shoes were noticeable for their square buckles, a style of which the + present generation has no knowledge; these buckles were fastened to a + square of polished black leather. The chevalier allowed two watch-chains + to hang parallel to each other from each of his waistcoat pockets,—another + vestige of the eighteenth century, which the Incroyables had not disdained + to use under the Directory. This transition costume, uniting as it did two + centuries, was worn by the chevalier with the high-bred grace of an old + French marquis, the secret of which is lost to France since the day when + Fleury, Mole’s last pupil, vanished. + </p> + <p> + The private life of this old bachelor was apparently open to all eyes, + though in fact it was quite mysterious. He lived in a lodging that was + modest, to say the best of it, in the rue du Cours, on the second floor of + a house belonging to Madame Lardot, the best and busiest washerwoman in + the town. This circumstance will explain the excessive nicety of his + linen. Ill-luck would have it that the day came when Alencon was guilty of + believing that the chevalier had not always comported himself as a + gentleman should, and that in fact he was secretly married in his old age + to a certain Cesarine,—the mother of a child which had had the + impertinence to come into the world without being called for. + </p> + <p> + “He had given his hand,” as a certain Monsieur du Bousquier remarked, “to + the person who had long had him under irons.” + </p> + <p> + This horrible calumny embittered the last days of the dainty chevalier all + the more because, as the present Scene will show, he had lost a hope long + cherished to which he had made many sacrifices. + </p> + <p> + Madame Lardot leased to the chevalier two rooms on the second floor of her + house, for the modest sum of one hundred francs a year. The worthy + gentleman dined out every day, returning only in time to go to bed. His + sole expense therefore was for breakfast, invariably composed of a cup of + chocolate, with bread and butter and fruits in their season. He made no + fire except in the coldest winter, and then only enough to get up by. + Between eleven and four o’clock he walked about, went to read the papers, + and paid visits. From the time of his settling in Alencon he had nobly + admitted his poverty, saying that his whole fortune consisted in an + annuity of six hundred francs a year, the sole remains of his former + opulence,—a property which obliged him to see his man of business + (who held the annuity papers) quarterly. In truth, one of the Alencon + bankers paid him every three months one hundred and fifty francs, sent + down by Monsieur Bordin of Paris, the last of the <i>procureurs du + Chatelet</i>. Every one knew these details because the chevalier exacted + the utmost secrecy from the persons to whom he first confided them. + </p> + <p> + Monsieur de Valois gathered the fruit of his misfortunes. His place at + table was laid in all the most distinguished houses in Alencon, and he was + bidden to all soirees. His talents as a card-player, a narrator, an + amiable man of the highest breeding, were so well known and appreciated + that parties would have seemed a failure if the dainty connoisseur was + absent. Masters of houses and their wives felt the need of his approving + grimace. When a young woman heard the chevalier say at a ball, “You are + delightfully well-dressed!” she was more pleased at such praise than she + would have been at mortifying a rival. Monsieur de Valois was the only man + who could perfectly pronounce certain phrases of the olden time. The + words, “my heart,” “my jewel,” “my little pet,” “my queen,” and the + amorous diminutives of 1770, had a grace that was quite irresistible when + they came from his lips. In short, the chevalier had the privilege of + superlatives. His compliments, of which he was stingy, won the good graces + of all the old women; he made himself agreeable to every one, even to the + officials of the government, from whom he wanted nothing. His behavior at + cards had a lofty distinction which everybody noticed: he never + complained; he praised his adversaries when they lost; he did not rebuke + or teach his partners by showing them how they ought to have played. When, + in the course of a deal, those sickening dissertations on the game would + take place, the chevalier invariably drew out his snuff-box with a gesture + that was worthy of Mole, looked at the Princess Goritza, raised the cover + with dignity, shook, sifted, massed the snuff, and gathered his pinch, so + that by the time the cards were dealt he had decorated both nostrils and + replaced the princess in his waistcoat pocket,—always on his left + side. A gentleman of the “good” century (in distinction from the “grand” + century) could alone have invented that compromise between contemptuous + silence and a sarcasm which might not have been understood. He accepted + poor players and knew how to make the best of them. His delightful + equability of temper made many persons say,— + </p> + <p> + “I do admire the Chevalier de Valois!” + </p> + <p> + His conversation, his manners, seemed bland, like his person. He + endeavored to shock neither man nor woman. Indulgent to defects both + physical and mental, he listened patiently (by the help of the Princess + Goritza) to the many dull people who related to him the petty miseries of + provincial life,—an egg ill-boiled for breakfast, coffee with + feathered cream, burlesque details about health, disturbed sleep, dreams, + visits. The chevalier could call up a languishing look, he could take on a + classic attitude to feign compassion, which made him a most valuable + listener; he could put in an “Ah!” and a “Bah!” and a “What DID you do?” + with charming appropriateness. He died without any one suspecting him of + even an allusion to the tender passages of his romance with the Princess + Goritza. Has any one ever reflected on the service a dead sentiment can do + to society; how love may become both social and useful? This will serve to + explain why, in spite of his constant winning at play (he never left a + salon without carrying off with him about six francs), the old chevalier + remained the spoilt darling of the town. His losses—which, by the + bye, he always proclaimed, were very rare. + </p> + <p> + All who know him declare that they have never met, not even in the + Egyptian museum at Turin, so agreeable a mummy. In no country in the world + did parasitism ever take on so pleasant a form. Never did selfishness of a + most concentrated kind appear less forth-putting, less offensive, than in + this old gentleman; it stood him in place of devoted friendship. If some + one asked Monsieur de Valois to do him a little service which might have + discommoded him, that some one did not part from the worthy chevalier + without being truly enchanted with him, and quite convinced that he either + could not do the service demanded, or that he should injure the affair if + he meddled in it. + </p> + <p> + To explain the problematic existence of the chevalier, the historian, whom + Truth, that cruel wanton, grasps by the throat, is compelled to say that + after the “glorious” sad days of July, Alencon discovered that the + chevalier’s nightly winnings amounted to about one hundred and fifty + francs every three months; and that the clever old nobleman had had the + pluck to send to himself his annuity in order not to appear in the eyes of + a community, which loves the main chance, to be entirely without + resources. Many of his friends (he was by that time dead, you will please + remark) have contested mordicus this curious fact, declaring it to be a + fable, and upholding the Chevalier de Valois as a respectable and worthy + gentleman whom the liberals calumniated. Luckily for shrewd players, there + are people to be found among the spectators who will always sustain them. + Ashamed of having to defend a piece of wrong-doing, they stoutly deny it. + Do not accuse them of wilful infatuation; such men have a sense of their + dignity; governments set them the example of a virtue which consists in + burying their dead without chanting the Misere of their defeats. If the + chevalier did allow himself this bit of shrewd practice,—which, by + the bye, would have won him the regard of the Chevalier de Gramont, a + smile from the Baron de Foeneste, a shake of the hand from the Marquis de + Moncade,—was he any the less that amiable guest, that witty talker, + that imperturbable card-player, that famous teller of anecdotes, in whom + all Alencon took delight? Besides, in what way was this action, which is + certainly within the rights of a man’s own will,—in what way was it + contrary to the ethics of a gentleman? When so many persons are forced to + pay annuities to others, what more natural than to pay one to his own best + friend? But Laius is dead— + </p> + <p> + To return to the period of which we are writing: after about fifteen years + of this way of life the chevalier had amassed ten thousand and some odd + hundred francs. On the return of the Bourbons, one of his old friends, the + Marquis de Pombreton, formerly lieutenant in the Black mousquetaires, + returned to him—so he said—twelve hundred pistoles which he + had lent to the marquis for the purpose of emigrating. This event made a + sensation; it was used later to refute the sarcasms of the + “Constitutionnel,” on the method employed by some emigres in paying their + debts. When this noble act of the Marquis de Pombreton was lauded before + the chevalier, the good man reddened even to his right cheek. Every one + rejoiced frankly at this windfall for Monsieur de Valois, who went about + consulting moneyed people as to the safest manner of investing this + fragment of his past opulence. Confiding in the future of the Restoration, + he finally placed his money on the Grand-Livre at the moment when the + funds were at fifty-six francs and twenty-five centimes. Messieurs de + Lenoncourt, de Navarreins, de Verneuil, de Fontaine, and La Billardiere, + to whom he was known, he said, obtained for him, from the king’s privy + purse, a pension of three hundred francs, and sent him, moreover, the + cross of Saint-Louis. Never was it known positively by what means the old + chevalier obtained these two solemn consecrations of his title and merits. + But one thing is certain; the cross of Saint-Louis authorized him to take + the rank of retired colonel in view of his service in the Catholic armies + of the West. + </p> + <p> + Besides his fiction of an annuity, about which no one at the present time + knew anything, the chevalier really had, therefore, a bona fide income of + a thousand francs. But in spite of this bettering of his circumstances, he + made no change in his life, manners, or appearance, except that the red + ribbon made a fine effect on his maroon-colored coat, and completed, so to + speak, the physiognomy of a gentleman. After 1802, the chevalier sealed + his letters with a very old seal, ill-engraved to be sure, by which the + Casterans, the d’Esgrignons, the Troisvilles were enabled to see that he + bore: <i>Party of France, two cottises gemelled gules, and gules, five + mascles or, placed end to end; on a chief sable, a cross argent</i>. For + crest, a knight’s helmet. For motto: “Valeo.” Bearing such noble arms, the + so-called bastard of the Valois had the right to get into all the royal + carriages of the world. + </p> + <p> + Many persons envied the quiet existence of this old bachelor, spent on + whist, boston, backgammon, reversi, and piquet, all well played, on + dinners well digested, snuff gracefully inhaled, and tranquil walks about + the town. Nearly all Alencon believed this life to be exempt from + ambitions and serious interests; but no man has a life as simple as + envious neighbors attribute to him. You will find in the most out-of-the + way villages human mollusks, creatures apparently dead, who have passions + for lepidoptera or for conchology, let us say,—beings who will give + themselves infinite pains about moths, butterflies, or the concha Veneris. + Not only did the chevalier have his own particular shells, but he + cherished an ambitious desire which he pursued with a craft so profound as + to be worthy of Sixtus the Fifth: he wanted to marry a certain rich old + maid, with the intention, no doubt, of making her a stepping-stone by + which to reach the more elevated regions of the court. There, then, lay + the secret of his royal bearing and of his residence in Alencon. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0002" id="link2HCH0002"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER II. SUSANNAH AND THE ELDERS + </h2> + <p> + On a Wednesday morning, early, toward the middle of spring, in the year + 16,—such was his mode of reckoning,—at the moment when the + chevalier was putting on his old green-flowered damask dressing-gown, he + heard, despite the cotton in his ears, the light step of a young girl who + was running up the stairway. Presently three taps were discreetly struck + upon the door; then, without waiting for any response, a handsome girl + slipped like an eel into the room occupied by the old bachelor. + </p> + <p> + “Ah! is it you, Suzanne?” said the Chevalier de Valois, without + discontinuing his occupation, which was that of stropping his razor. “What + have you come for, my dear little jewel of mischief?” + </p> + <p> + “I have come to tell you something which may perhaps give you as much + pleasure as pain?” + </p> + <p> + “Is it anything about Cesarine?” + </p> + <p> + “Cesarine! much I care about your Cesarine!” she said with a saucy air, + half serious, half indifferent. + </p> + <p> + This charming Suzanne, whose present comical performance was to exercise a + great influence in the principal personages of our history, was a + work-girl at Madame Lardot’s. One word here on the topography of the + house. The wash-rooms occupied the whole of the ground floor. The little + courtyard was used to hang out on wire cords embroidered handkerchiefs, + collarets, capes, cuffs, frilled shirts, cravats, laces, embroidered + dresses,—in short, all the fine linen of the best families of the + town. The chevalier assumed to know from the number of her capes in the + wash how the love-affairs of the wife of the prefect were going on. Though + he guessed much from observations of this kind, the chevalier was + discretion itself; he was never betrayed into an epigram (he had plenty of + wit) which might have closed to him an agreeable salon. You are therefore + to consider Monsieur de Valois as a man of superior manners, whose + talents, like those of many others, were lost in a narrow sphere. Only—for, + after all, he was a man—he permitted himself certain penetrating + glances which could make some women tremble; although they all loved him + heartily as soon as they discovered the depth of his discretion and the + sympathy that he felt for their little weaknesses. + </p> + <p> + The head woman, Madame Lardot’s factotum, an old maid of forty-six, + hideous to behold, lived on the opposite side of the passage to the + chevalier. Above them were the attics where the linen was dried in winter. + Each apartment had two rooms,—one lighted from the street, the other + from the courtyard. Beneath the chevalier’s room there lived a paralytic, + Madame Lardot’s grandfather, an old buccaneer named Grevin, who had served + under Admiral Simeuse in India, and was now stone-deaf. As for Madame + Lardot, who occupied the other lodging on the first floor, she had so + great a weakness for persons of condition that she may well have been + thought blind to the ways of the chevalier. To her, Monsieur de Valois was + a despotic monarch who did right in all things. Had any of her workwomen + been guilty of a happiness attributed to the chevalier she would have + said, “He is so lovable!” Thus, though the house was of glass, like all + provincial houses, it was discreet as a robber’s cave. + </p> + <p> + A born confidant to all the little intrigues of the work-rooms, the + chevalier never passed the door, which usually stood open, without giving + something to his little ducks,—chocolate, bonbons, ribbons, laces, + gilt crosses, and such like trifles adored by grisettes; consequently, the + kind old gentleman was adored in return. Women have an instinct which + enables them to divine the men who love them, who like to be near them, + and exact no payment for gallantries. In this respect women have the + instinct of dogs, who in a mixed company will go straight to the man to + whom animals are sacred. + </p> + <p> + The poor Chevalier de Valois retained from his former life the need of + bestowing gallant protection, a quality of the seigneurs of other days. + Faithful to the system of the “petite maison,” he liked to enrich women,—the + only beings who know how to receive, because they can always return. But + the poor chevalier could no longer ruin himself for a mistress. Instead of + the choicest bonbons wrapped in bank-bills, he gallantly presented + paper-bags full of toffee. Let us say to the glory of Alencon that the + toffee was accepted with more joy than la Duthe ever showed at a gilt + service or a fine equipage offered by the Comte d’Artois. All these + grisettes fully understood the fallen majesty of the Chevalier de Valois, + and they kept their private familiarities with him a profound secret for + his sake. If they were questioned about him in certain houses when they + carried home the linen, they always spoke respectfully of the chevalier, + and made him out older than he really was; they talked of him as a most + respectable monsieur, whose life was a flower of sanctity; but once in + their own regions they perched on his shoulders like so many parrots. He + liked to be told the secrets which washerwomen discover in the bosom of + households, and day after day these girls would tell him the cancans which + were going the round of Alencon. He called them his “petticoat gazettes,” + his “talking feuilletons.” Never did Monsieur de Sartines have spies more + intelligent and less expensive, or minions who showed more honor while + displaying their rascality of mind. So it may be said that in the + mornings, while breakfasting, the chevalier usually amused himself as much + as the saints in heaven. + </p> + <p> + Suzanne was one of his favorites, a clever, ambitious girl, made of the + stuff of a Sophie Arnold, and handsome withal, as the handsomest courtesan + invited by Titian to pose on black velvet for a model of Venus; although + her face, fine about the eyes and forehead, degenerated, lower down, into + commonness of outline. Hers was a Norman beauty, fresh, high-colored, + redundant, the flesh of Rubens covering the muscles of the Farnese + Hercules, and not the slender articulations of the Venus de’ Medici, + Apollo’s graceful consort. + </p> + <p> + “Well, my child, tell me your great or your little adventure, whatever it + is.” + </p> + <p> + The particular point about the chevalier which would have made him + noticeable from Paris to Pekin, was the gentle paternity of his manner to + grisettes. They reminded him of the illustrious operatic queens of his + early days, whose celebrity was European during a good third of the + eighteenth century. It is certain that the old gentleman, who had lived in + days gone by with that feminine nation now as much forgotten as many other + great things,—like the Jesuits, the Buccaneers, the Abbes, and the + Farmers-General,—had acquired an irresistible good-humor, a kindly + ease, a laisser-aller devoid of egotism, the self-effacement of Jupiter + with Alcmene, of the king intending to be duped, who casts his + thunderbolts to the devil, wants his Olympus full of follies, little + suppers, feminine profusions—but with Juno out of the way, be it + understood. + </p> + <p> + In spite of his old green damask dressing-gown and the bareness of the + room in which he sat, where the floor was covered with a shabby tapestry + in place of carpet, and the walls were hung with tavern-paper presenting + the profiles of Louis XVI. and members of his family, traced among the + branches of a weeping willow with other sentimentalities invented by + royalism during the Terror,—in spite of his ruins, the chevalier, + trimming his beard before a shabby old toilet-table, draped with trumpery + lace, exhaled an essence of the eighteenth century. All the libertine + graces of his youth reappeared; he seemed to have the wealth of three + hundred thousand francs of debt, while his vis-a-vis waited before the + door. He was grand,—like Berthier on the retreat from Moscow, + issuing orders to an army that existed no longer. + </p> + <p> + “Monsieur le chevalier,” replied Suzanne, drolly, “seems to me I needn’t + tell you anything; you’ve only to look.” + </p> + <p> + And Suzanne presented a side view of herself which gave a sort of lawyer’s + comment to her words. The chevalier, who, you must know, was a sly old + bird, lowered his right eye on the grisette, still holding the razor at + his throat, and pretended to understand. + </p> + <p> + “Well, well, my little duck, we’ll talk about that presently. But you are + rather previous, it seems to me.” + </p> + <p> + “Why, Monsieur le chevalier, ought I to wait until my mother beats me and + Madame Lardot turns me off? If I don’t get away soon to Paris, I shall + never be able to marry here, where men are so ridiculous.” + </p> + <p> + “It can’t be helped, my dear; society is changing; women are just as much + victims to the present state of things as the nobility themselves. After + political overturn comes the overturn of morals. Alas! before long woman + won’t exist” (he took out the cotton-wool to arrange his ears): “she’ll + lose everything by rushing into sentiment; she’ll wring her nerves; + good-bye to all the good little pleasures of our time, desired without + shame, accepted without nonsense.” (He polished up the little negroes’ + heads.) “Women had hysterics in those days to get their ends, but now” (he + began to laugh) “their vapors end in charcoal. In short, marriage” (here + he picked up his pincers to remove a hair) “will become a thing + intolerable; whereas it used to be so gay in my day! The reigns of Louis + XIV. and Louis XV.—remember this, my child—said farewell to + the finest manners and morals ever known to the world.” + </p> + <p> + “But, Monsieur le chevalier,” said the grisette, “the matter now concerns + the morals and honor of your poor little Suzanne, and I hope you won’t + abandon her.” + </p> + <p> + “Abandon her!” cried the chevalier, finishing his hair; “I’d sooner + abandon my own name.” + </p> + <p> + “Ah!” exclaimed Suzanne. + </p> + <p> + “Now, listen to me, you little mischief,” said the chevalier, sitting down + on a huge sofa, formerly called a duchesse, which Madame Lardot had been + at some pains to find for him. + </p> + <p> + He drew the magnificent Suzanne before him, holding her legs between his + knees. She let him do as he liked, although in the street she was offish + enough to other men, refusing their familiarities partly from decorum and + partly for contempt for their commonness. She now stood audaciously in + front of the chevalier, who, having fathomed in his day many other + mysteries in minds that were far more wily, took in the situation at a + single glance. He knew very well that no young girl would joke about a + real dishonor; but he took good care not to knock over the pretty + scaffolding of her lie as he touched it. + </p> + <p> + “We slander ourselves,” he said with inimitable craft; “we are as virtuous + as that beautiful biblical girl whose name we bear; we can always marry as + we please, but we are thirsty for Paris, where charming creatures—and + we are no fool—get rich without trouble. We want to go and see if + the great capital of pleasures hasn’t some young Chevalier de Valois in + store for us, with a carriage, diamonds, an opera-box, and so forth. + Russians, Austrians, Britons, have millions on which we have an eye. + Besides, we are patriotic; we want to help France in getting back her + money from the pockets of those gentry. Hey! hey! my dear little devil’s + duck! it isn’t a bad plan. The world you live in may cry out a bit, but + success justifies all things. The worst thing in this world, my dear, is + to be without money; that’s our disease, yours and mine. Now inasmuch as + we have plenty of wit, we thought it would be a good thing to parade our + dear little honor, or dishonor, to catch an old boy; but that old boy, my + dear heart, knows the Alpha and Omega of female tricks,—which means + that you could easier put salt on a sparrow’s tail than to make me believe + I have anything to do with your little affair. Go to Paris, my dear; go at + the cost of an old celibate, I won’t prevent it; in fact, I’ll help you, + for an old bachelor, Suzanne, is the natural money-box of a young girl. + But don’t drag me into the matter. Listen, my queen, you who know life + pretty well; you would me great harm and give me much pain,—harm, + because you would prevent my marriage in a town where people cling to + morality; pain, because if you are in trouble (which I deny, you sly + puss!) I haven’t a penny to get you out of it. I’m as poor as a church + mouse; you know that, my dear. Ah! if I marry Mademoiselle Cormon, if I am + once more rich, of course I would prefer you to Cesarine. You’ve always + seemed to me as fine as the gold they gild on lead; you were made to be + the love of a great seigneur. I think you so clever that the trick you are + trying to play off on me doesn’t surprise me one bit; I expected it. You + are flinging the scabbard after the sword, and that’s daring for a girl. + It takes nerve and superior ideas to do it, my angel, and therefore you + have won my respectful esteem.” + </p> + <p> + “Monsieur le chevalier, I assure you, you are mistaken, and—” + </p> + <p> + She colored, and did not dare to say more. The chevalier, with a single + glance, had guessed and fathomed her whole plan. + </p> + <p> + “Yes, yes! I understand: you want me to believe it,” he said. “Well! I do + believe it. But take my advice: go to Monsieur du Bousquier. Haven’t you + taken linen there for the last six or eight months? I’m not asking what + went on between you; but I know the man: he has immense conceit; he is an + old bachelor, and very rich; and he only spends a quarter of a comfortable + income. If you are as clever as I suppose, you can go to Paris at his + expense. There, run along, my little doe; go and twist him round your + finger. Only, mind this: be as supple as silk; at every word take a double + turn round him and make a knot. He is a man to fear scandal, and if he has + given you a chance to put him in the pillory—in short, understand; + threaten him with the ladies of the Maternity Hospital. Besides, he’s + ambitious. A man succeeds through his wife, and you are handsome and + clever enough to make the fortune of a husband. Hey! the mischief! you + could hold your own against all the court ladies.” + </p> + <p> + Suzanne, whose mind took in at a flash the chevalier’s last words, was + eager to run off to du Bousquier, but, not wishing to depart too abruptly, + she questioned the chevalier about Paris, all the while helping him to + dress. The chevalier, however, divined her desire to be off, and favored + it by asking her to tell Cesarine to bring up his chocolate, which Madame + Lardot made for him every morning. Suzanne then slipped away to her new + victim, whose biography must here be given. + </p> + <p> + Born of an old Alencon family, du Bousquier was a cross between the + bourgeois and the country squire. Finding himself without means on the + death of his father, he went, like other ruined provincials, to Paris. On + the breaking out of the Revolution he took part in public affairs. In + spite of revolutionary principles, which made a hobby of republican + honesty, the management of public business in those days was by no means + clean. A political spy, a stock-jobber, a contractor, a man who + confiscated in collusion with the syndic of a commune the property of + emigres in order to sell them and buy them in, a minister, and a general + were all equally engaged in public business. From 1793 to 1799 du + Bousquier was commissary of provisions to the French armies. He lived in a + magnificent hotel and was one of the matadors of finance, did business + with Ouvrard, kept open house, and led the scandalous life of the period,—the + life of a Cincinnatus, on sacks of corn harvested without trouble, stolen + rations, “little houses” full of mistresses, in which were given splendid + fetes to the Directors of the Republic. + </p> + <p> + The citizen du Bousquier was one of Barras’ familiars; he was on the best + of terms with Fouche, stood very well with Bernadotte, and fully expected + to become a minister by throwing himself into the party which secretly + caballed against Bonaparte until Marengo. If it had not been for + Kellermann’s charge and Desaix’s death, du Bousquier would probably have + become a minister. He was one of the chief assistances of that secret + government whom Napoleon’s luck sent behind the scenes in 1793. (See “An + Historical Mystery.”) The unexpected victory of Marengo was the defeat of + that party who actually had their proclamations printed to return to the + principles of the Montagne in case the First Consul succumbed. + </p> + <p> + Convinced of the impossibility of Bonaparte’s triumph, du Bousquier staked + the greater part of his property on a fall in the Funds, and kept two + couriers on the field of battle. The first started for Paris when Melas’ + victory was certain; the second, starting four hours later, brought the + news of the defeat of the Austrians. Du Bousquier cursed Kellermann and + Desaix; he dared not curse Bonaparte, who might owe him millions. This + alternative of millions to be earned and present ruin staring him in the + face, deprived the purveyor of most of his faculties: he became nearly + imbecile for several days; the man had so abused his health by excesses + that when the thunderbolt fell upon him he had no strength to resist. The + payment of his bills against the Exchequer gave him some hopes for the + future, but, in spite of all efforts to ingratiate himself, Napoleon’s + hatred to the contractors who had speculated on his defeat made itself + felt; du Bousquier was left without a sou. The immorality of his private + life, his intimacy with Barras and Bernadotte, displeased the First Consul + even more than his manoeuvres at the Bourse, and he struck du Bousquier’s + name from the list of the government contractors. + </p> + <p> + Out of all his past opulence du Bousquier saved only twelve hundred francs + a year from an investment in the Grand Livre, which he had happened to + place there by pure caprice, and which saved him from penury. A man ruined + by the First Consul interested the town of Alencon, to which he now + returned, where royalism was secretly dominant. Du Bousquier, furious + against Bonaparte, relating stories against him of his meanness, of + Josephine’s improprieties, and all the other scandalous anecdotes of the + last ten years, was well received. + </p> + <p> + About this time, when he was somewhere between forty and fifty, du + Bousquier’s appearance was that of a bachelor of thirty-six, of medium + height, plump as a purveyor, proud of his vigorous calves, with a strongly + marked countenance, a flattened nose, the nostrils garnished with hair, + black eyes with thick lashes, from which darted shrewd glances like those + of Monsieur de Talleyrand, though somewhat dulled. He still wore + republican whiskers and his hair very long; his hands, adorned with + bunches of hair on each knuckle, showed the power of his muscular system + in their prominent blue veins. He had the chest of the Farnese Hercules, + and shoulders fit to carry the stocks. Such shoulders are seen nowadays + only at Tortoni’s. This wealth of masculine vigor counted for much in du + Bousquier’s relations with others. And yet in him, as in the chevalier, + symptoms appeared which contrasted oddly with the general aspect of their + persons. The late purveyor had not the voice of his muscles. We do not + mean that his voice was a mere thread, such as we sometimes hear issuing + from the mouth of these walruses; on the contrary, it was a strong voice, + but stifled, an idea of which can be given only by comparing it with the + noise of a saw cutting into soft and moistened wood,—the voice of a + worn-out speculator. + </p> + <p> + In spite of the claims which the enmity of the First Consul gave Monsieur + du Bousquier to enter the royalist society of the province, he was not + received in the seven or eight families who composed the faubourg + Saint-Germain of Alencon, among whom the Chevalier de Valois was welcome. + He had offered himself in marriage, through her notary, to Mademoiselle + Armande, sister of the most distinguished noble in the town; to which + offer he received a refusal. He consoled himself as best he could in the + society of a dozen rich families, former manufacturers of the old point + d’Alencon, owners of pastures and cattle, or merchants doing a wholesale + business in linen, among whom, as he hoped, he might find a wealthy wife. + In fact, all his hopes now converged to the perspective of a fortunate + marriage. He was not without a certain financial ability, which many + persons used to their profit. Like a ruined gambler who advises neophytes, + he pointed out enterprises and speculations, together with the means and + chances of conducting them. He was thought a good administrator, and it + was often a question of making him mayor of Alencon; but the memory of his + underhand jobbery still clung to him, and he was never received at the + prefecture. All the succeeding governments, even that of the Hundred Days, + refused to appoint him mayor of Alencon,—a place he coveted, which, + could he have had it, would, he thought, have won him the hand of a + certain old maid on whom his matrimonial views now turned. + </p> + <p> + Du Bousquier’s aversion to the Imperial government had thrown him at first + into the royalist circles of Alencon, where he remained in spite of the + rebuffs he received there; but when, after the first return of the + Bourbons, he was still excluded from the prefecture, that mortification + inspired him with a hatred as deep as it was secret against the royalists. + He now returned to his old opinions, and became the leader of the liberal + party in Alencon, the invisible manipulator of elections, and did immense + harm to the Restoration by the cleverness of his underhand proceedings and + the perfidy of his outward behavior. Du Bousquier, like all those who live + by their heads only, carried on his hatreds with the quiet tranquillity of + a rivulet, feeble apparently, but inexhaustible. His hatred was that of a + negro, so peaceful that it deceived the enemy. His vengeance, brooded over + for fifteen years, was as yet satisfied by no victory, not even that of + July, 1830. + </p> + <p> + It was not without some private intention that the Chevalier de Valois had + turned Suzanne’s designs upon Monsieur du Bousquier. The liberal and the + royalist had mutually divined each other in spite of the wide + dissimulation with which they hid their common hope from the rest of the + town. The two old bachelors were secretly rivals. Each had formed a plan + to marry the Demoiselle Cormon, whom Monsieur de Valois had mentioned to + Suzanne. Both, ensconced in their idea and wearing the armor of apparent + indifference, awaited the moment when some lucky chance might deliver the + old maid over to them. Thus, if the two old bachelors had not been kept + asunder by the two political systems of which they each offered a living + expression, their private rivalry would still have made them enemies. + Epochs put their mark on men. These two individuals proved the truth of + that axiom by the opposing historic tints that were visible in their + faces, in their conversation, in their ideas, and in their clothes. One, + abrupt, energetic, with loud, brusque manners, curt, rude speech, dark in + tone, in hair, in look, terrible apparently, in reality as impotent as an + insurrection, represented the republic admirably. The other, gentle and + polished, elegant and nice, attaining his ends by the slow and infallible + means of diplomacy, faithful to good taste, was the express image of the + old courtier regime. + </p> + <p> + The two enemies met nearly every evening on the same ground. The war was + courteous and benign on the side of the chevalier; but du Bousquier showed + less ceremony on his, though still preserving the outward appearances + demanded by society, for he did not wish to be driven from the place. They + themselves fully understood each other; but in spite of the shrewd + observation which provincials bestow on the petty interests of their own + little centre, no one in the town suspected the rivalry of these two men. + Monsieur le Chevalier de Valois occupied a vantage-ground: he had never + asked for the hand of Mademoiselle Cormon; whereas du Bousquier, who + entered the lists soon after his rejection by the most distinguished + family in the place, had been refused. But the chevalier believed that his + rival had still such strong chances of success that he dealt him this coup + de Jarnac with a blade (namely, Suzanne) that was finely tempered for the + purpose. The chevalier had cast his plummet-line into the waters of du + Bousquier; and, as we shall see by the sequel, he was not mistaken in any + of his conjectures. + </p> + <p> + Suzanne tripped with a light foot from the rue du Cours, by the rue de la + Porte de Seez and the rue du Bercail, to the rue du Cygne, where, about + five years earlier, du Bousquier had bought a little house built of gray + Jura stone, which is something between Breton slate and Norman granite. + There he established himself more comfortably than any householder in + town; for he had managed to preserve certain furniture and decorations + from the days of his splendor. But provincial manners and morals obscured, + little by little, the rays of this fallen Sardanapalus; these vestiges of + his former luxury now produced the effect of a glass chandelier in a barn. + Harmony, that bond of all work, human or divine, was lacking in great + things as well as in little ones. The stairs, up which everybody mounted + without wiping their feet, were never polished; the walls, painted by some + wretched artisan of the neighborhood, were a terror to the eye; the stone + mantel-piece, ill-carved, “swore” with the handsome clock, which was + further degraded by the company of contemptible candlesticks. Like the + period which du Bousquier himself represented, the house was a jumble of + dirt and magnificence. Being considered a man of leisure, du Bousquier led + the same parasite life as the chevalier; and he who does not spend his + income is always rich. His only servant was a sort of Jocrisse, a lad of + the neighborhood, rather a ninny, trained slowly and with difficulty to du + Bousquier’s requirements. His master had taught him, as he might an + orang-outang, to rub the floors, dust the furniture, black his boots, + brush his coats, and bring a lantern to guide him home at night if the + weather were cloudy, and clogs if it rained. Like many other human beings, + this lad hadn’t stuff enough in him for more than one vice; he was a + glutton. Often, when du Bousquier went to a grand dinner, he would take + Rene to wait at table; on such occasions he made him take off his blue + cotton jacket, with its big pockets hanging round his hips, and always + bulging with handkerchiefs, clasp-knives, fruits, or a handful of nuts, + and forced him to put on a regulation coat. Rene would then stuff his fill + with the other servants. This duty, which du Bousquier had turned into a + reward, won him the most absolute discretion from the Breton servant. + </p> + <p> + “You here, mademoiselle!” said Rene to Suzanne when she entered; “‘t’isn’t + your day. We haven’t any linen for the wash, tell Madame Lardot.” + </p> + <p> + “Old stupid!” said Suzanne, laughing. + </p> + <p> + The pretty girl went upstairs, leaving Rene to finish his porringer of + buckwheat in boiled milk. Du Bousquier, still in bed, was revolving in his + mind his plans of fortune; for ambition was all that was left to him, as + to other men who have sucked dry the orange of pleasure. Ambition and play + are inexhaustible; in a well-organized man the passions which proceed from + the brain will always survive the passions of the heart. + </p> + <p> + “Here am I,” said Suzanne, sitting down on the bed and jangling the + curtain-rings back along the rod with despotic vehemence. + </p> + <p> + “Quesaco, my charmer?” said the old bachelor, sitting up in bed. + </p> + <p> + “Monsieur,” said Suzanne, gravely, “you must be astonished to see me here + at this hour; but I find myself in a condition which obliges me not to + care for what people may say about it.” + </p> + <p> + “What does all that mean?” said du Bousquier, crossing his arms. + </p> + <p> + “Don’t you understand me?” said Suzanne. “I know,” she continued, making a + pretty little face, “how ridiculous it is in a poor girl to come and nag + at a man for what he thinks a mere nothing. But if you really knew me, + monsieur, if you knew all that I am capable of for a man who would attach + himself to me as much as I’m attached to you, you would never repent + having married me. Of course it isn’t here, in Alencon, that I should be + of service to you; but if we went to Paris, you would see where I could + lead a man with your mind and your capacities; and just at this time too, + when they are remaking the government from top to toe. So—between + ourselves, be it said—<i>is</i> what has happened a misfortune? + Isn’t it rather a piece of luck, which will pay you well? Who and what are + you working for now?” + </p> + <p> + “For myself, of course!” cried du Bousquier, brutally. + </p> + <p> + “Monster! you’ll never be a father!” said Suzanne, giving a tone of + prophetic malediction to the words. + </p> + <p> + “Come, don’t talk nonsense, Suzanne,” replied du Bousquier; “I really + think I am still dreaming.” + </p> + <p> + “How much more reality do you want?” cried Suzanne, standing up. + </p> + <p> + Du Bousquier rubbed his cotton night-cap to the top of his head with a + rotatory motion, which plainly indicated the tremendous fermentation of + his ideas. + </p> + <p> + “He actually believes it!” thought Suzanne, “and he’s flattered. Heaven! + how easy it is to gull men!” + </p> + <p> + “Suzanne, what the devil must I do? It is so extraordinary—I, who + thought—The fact is that—No, no, it can’t be—” + </p> + <p> + “What? you can’t marry me?” + </p> + <p> + “Oh! as for that, no; I have engagements.” + </p> + <p> + “With Mademoiselle Armande or Mademoiselle Cormon, who have both refused + you? Listen to me, Monsieur du Bousquier, my honor doesn’t need gendarmes + to drag you to the mayor’s office. I sha’n’t lack for husbands, thank + goodness! and I don’t want a man who can’t appreciate what I’m worth. But + some day you’ll repent of the way you are behaving; for I tell you now + that nothing on earth, neither gold nor silver, will induce me to return + the good thing that belongs to you, if you refuse to accept it to-day.” + </p> + <p> + “But, Suzanne, are you sure?” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, monsieur!” cried the grisette, wrapping her virtue round her, “what + do you take me for? I don’t remind you of the promises you made me, which + have ruined a poor young girl whose only blame was to have as much + ambition as love.” + </p> + <p> + Du Bousquier was torn with conflicting sentiments, joy, distrust, + calculation. He had long determined to marry Mademoiselle Cormon; for the + Charter, on which he had just been ruminating, offered to his ambition, + through the half of her property, the political career of a deputy. + Besides, his marriage with the old maid would put him socially so high in + the town that he would have great influence. Consequently, the storm + upraised by that malicious Suzanne drove him into the wildest + embarrassment. Without this secret scheme, he would have married Suzanne + without hesitation. In which case, he could openly assume the leadership + of the liberal party in Alencon. After such a marriage he would, of + course, renounce the best society and take up with the bourgeois class of + tradesmen, rich manufacturers and graziers, who would certainly carry him + in triumph as their candidate. Du Bousquier already foresaw the Left side. + </p> + <p> + This solemn deliberation he did not conceal; he rubbed his hands over his + head, displacing the cap which covered its disastrous baldness. Suzanne, + meantime, like all those persons who succeed beyond their hopes, was + silent and amazed. To hide her astonishment, she assumed the melancholy + pose of an injured girl at the mercy of her seducer; inwardly she was + laughing like a grisette at her clever trick. + </p> + <p> + “My dear child,” said du Bousquier at length, “I’m not to be taken in with + such <i>bosh</i>, not I!” + </p> + <p> + Such was the curt remark which ended du Bousquier’s meditation. He plumed + himself on belonging to the class of cynical philosophers who could never + be “taken in” by women,—putting them, one and all, unto the same + category, as <i>suspicious</i>. These strong-minded persons are usually + weak men who have a special catechism in the matter of womenkind. To them + the whole sex, from queens of France to milliners, are essentially + depraved, licentious, intriguing, not a little rascally, fundamentally + deceitful, and incapable of thought about anything but trifles. To them, + women are evil-doing queens, who must be allowed to dance and sing and + laugh as they please; they see nothing sacred or saintly in them, nor + anything grand; to them there is no poetry in the senses, only gross + sensuality. Where such jurisprudence prevails, if a woman is not + perpetually tyrannized over, she reduces the man to the condition of a + slave. Under this aspect du Bousquier was again the antithesis of the + chevalier. When he made his final remark, he flung his night-cap to the + foot of the bed, as Pope Gregory did the taper when he fulminated an + excommunication; Suzanne then learned for the first time that du Bousquier + wore a toupet covering his bald spot. + </p> + <p> + “Please to remember, Monsieur du Bousquier,” she replied majestically, + “that in coming here to tell you of this matter I have done my duty; + remember that I have offered you my hand, and asked for yours; but + remember also that I behaved with the dignity of a woman who respects + herself. I have not abased myself to weep like a silly fool; I have not + insisted; I have not tormented you. You now know my situation. You must + see that I cannot stay in Alencon: my mother would beat me, and Madame + Lardot rides a hobby of principles; she’ll turn me off. Poor work-girl + that I am, must I go to the hospital? must I beg my bread? No! I’d rather + throw myself into the Brillante or the Sarthe. But isn’t it better that I + should go to Paris? My mother could find an excuse to send me there,—an + uncle who wants me, or a dying aunt, or a lady who sends for me. But I + must have some money for the journey and for—you know what.” + </p> + <p> + This extraordinary piece of news was far more startling to du Bousquier + than to the Chevalier de Valois. Suzanne’s fiction introduced such + confusion into the ideas of the old bachelor that he was literally + incapable of sober reflection. Without this agitation and without his + inward delight (for vanity is a swindler which never fails of its dupe), + he would certainly have reflected that, supposing it were true, a girl + like Suzanne, whose heart was not yet spoiled, would have died a thousand + deaths before beginning a discussion of this kind and asking for money. + </p> + <p> + “Will you really go to Paris, then?” he said. + </p> + <p> + A flash of gayety lighted Suzanne’s gray eyes as she heard these words; + but the self-satisfied du Bousquier saw nothing. + </p> + <p> + “Yes, monsieur,” she said. + </p> + <p> + Du Bousquier then began bitter lamentations: he had the last payments to + make on his house; the painter, the mason, the upholsterers must be paid. + Suzanne let him run on; she was listening for the figures. Du Bousquier + offered her three hundred francs. Suzanne made what is called on the stage + a false exit; that is, she marched toward the door. + </p> + <p> + “Stop, stop! where are you going?” said du Bousquier, uneasily. “This is + what comes of a bachelor’s life!” thought he. “The devil take me if I ever + did anything more than rumple her collar, and, lo and behold! she makes + THAT a ground to put her hand in one’s pocket!” + </p> + <p> + “I’m going, monsieur,” replied Suzanne, “to Madame Granson, the treasurer + of the Maternity Society, who, to my knowledge, has saved many a poor girl + in my condition from suicide.” + </p> + <p> + “Madame Granson!” + </p> + <p> + “Yes,” said Suzanne, “a relation of Mademoiselle Cormon, the president of + the Maternity Society. Saving your presence, the ladies of the town have + created an institution to protect poor creatures from destroying their + infants, like that handsome Faustine of Argentan who was executed for it + three years ago.” + </p> + <p> + “Here, Suzanne,” said du Bousquier, giving her a key, “open that + secretary, and take out the bag you’ll find there: there’s about six + hundred francs in it; it is all I possess.” + </p> + <p> + “Old cheat!” thought Suzanne, doing as he told her, “I’ll tell about your + false toupet.” + </p> + <p> + She compared du Bousquier with that charming chevalier, who had given her + nothing, it is true, but who had comprehended her, advised her, and + carried all grisettes in his heart. + </p> + <p> + “If you deceive me, Suzanne,” cried du Bousquier, as he saw her with her + hand in the drawer, “you—” + </p> + <p> + “Monsieur,” she said, interrupting him with ineffable impertinence, + “wouldn’t you have given me money if I had asked for it?” + </p> + <p> + Recalled to a sense of gallantry, du Bousquier had a remembrance of past + happiness and grunted his assent. Suzanne took the bag and departed, after + allowing the old bachelor to kiss her, which he did with an air that + seemed to say, “It is a right which costs me dear; but it is better than + being harried by a lawyer in the court of assizes as the seducer of a girl + accused of infanticide.” + </p> + <p> + Suzanne hid the sack in a sort of gamebag made of osier which she had on + her arm, all the while cursing du Bousquier for his stinginess; for one + thousand francs was the sum she wanted. Once tempted of the devil to + desire that sum, a girl will go far when she has set foot on the path of + trickery. As she made her way along the rue du Bercail, it came into her + head that the Maternity Society, presided over by Mademoiselle Cormon, + might be induced to complete the sum at which she had reckoned her journey + to Paris, which to a grisette of Alencon seemed considerable. Besides, she + hated du Bousquier. The latter had evidently feared a revelation of his + supposed misconduct to Madame Granson; and Suzanne, at the risk of not + getting a penny from the society, was possessed with the desire, on + leaving Alencon, of entangling the old bachelor in the inextricable meshes + of a provincial slander. In all grisettes there is something of the + malevolent mischief of a monkey. Accordingly, Suzanne now went to see + Madame Granson, composing her face to an expression of the deepest + dejection. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0003" id="link2HCH0003"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER III. ATHANASE + </h2> + <p> + Madame Granson, widow of a lieutenant-colonel of artillery killed at Jena, + possessed, as her whole means of livelihood, a meagre pension of nine + hundred francs a year, and three hundred francs from property of her own, + plus a son whose support and education had eaten up all her savings. She + occupied, in the rue du Bercail, one of those melancholy ground-floor + apartments which a traveller passing along the principal street of a + little provincial town can look through at a glance. The street door + opened at the top of three steep steps; a passage led to an interior + courtyard, at the end of which was the staircase covered by a wooden + gallery. On one side of the passage was the dining-room and the kitchen; + on the other side, a salon put to many uses, and the widow’s bedchamber. + </p> + <p> + Athanase Granson, a young man twenty-three years of age, who slept in an + attic room above the second floor of the house, added six hundred francs + to the income of his poor mother, by the salary of a little place which + the influence of his relation, Mademoiselle Cormon, had obtained for him + in the mayor’s office, where he was placed in charge of the archives. + </p> + <p> + From these indications it is easy to imagine Madame Granson in her cold + salon with its yellow curtains and Utrecht velvet furniture, also yellow, + as she straightened the round straw mats which were placed before each + chair, that visitors might not soil the red-tiled floor while they sat + there; after which she returned to her cushioned armchair and little + work-table placed beneath the portrait of the lieutenant-colonel of + artillery between two windows,—a point from which her eye could rake + the rue du Bercail and see all comers. She was a good woman, dressed with + bourgeois simplicity in keeping with her wan face furrowed by grief. The + rigorous humbleness of poverty made itself felt in all the accessories of + this household, the very air of which was charged with the stern and + upright morals of the provinces. At this moment the son and mother were + together in the dining-room, where they were breakfasting with a cup of + coffee, with bread and butter and radishes. To make the pleasure which + Suzanne’s visit was to give to Madame Granson intelligible, we must + explain certain secret interests of the mother and son. + </p> + <p> + Athanase Granson was a thin and pale young man, of medium height, with a + hollow face in which his two black eyes, sparkling with thoughts, gave the + effect of bits of coal. The rather irregular lines of his face, the curve + of his lips, a prominent chin, the fine modelling of his forehead, his + melancholy countenance, caused by a sense of his poverty warring with the + powers that he felt within him, were all indications of repressed and + imprisoned talent. In any other place than the town of Alencon the mere + aspect of his person would have won him the assistance of superior men, or + of women who are able to recognize genius in obscurity. If his was not + genius, it was at any rate the form and aspect of it; if he had not the + actual force of a great heart, the glow of such a heart was in his glance. + Although he was capable of expressing the highest feeling, a casing of + timidity destroyed all the graces of his youth, just as the ice of poverty + kept him from daring to put forth all his powers. Provincial life, without + an opening, without appreciation, without encouragement, described a + circle about him in which languished and died the power of thought,—a + power which as yet had scarcely reached its dawn. Moreover, Athanase + possessed that savage pride which poverty intensifies in noble minds, + exalting them in their struggle with men and things; although at their + start in life it is an obstacle to their advancement. Genius proceeds in + two ways: either it takes its opportunity—like Napoleon, like + Moliere—the moment that it sees it, or it waits to be sought when it + has patiently revealed itself. Young Granson belonged to that class of men + of talent who distrust themselves and are easily discouraged. His soul was + contemplative. He lived more by thought than by action. Perhaps he might + have seemed deficient or incomplete to those who cannot conceive of genius + without the sparkle of French passion; but he was powerful in the world of + mind, and he was liable to reach, through a series of emotions + imperceptible to common souls, those sudden determinations which make + fools say of a man, “He is mad.” + </p> + <p> + The contempt which the world pours out on poverty was death to Athanase; + the enervating heat of solitude, without a breath or current of air, + relaxed the bow which ever strove to tighten itself; his soul grew weary + in this painful effort without results. Athanase was a man who might have + taken his place among the glories of France; but, eagle as he was, cooped + in a cage without his proper nourishment, he was about to die of hunger + after contemplating with an ardent eye the fields of air and the mountain + heights where genius soars. His work in the city library escaped + attention, and he buried in his soul his thoughts of fame, fearing that + they might injure him; but deeper than all lay buried within him the + secret of his heart,—a passion which hollowed his cheeks and + yellowed his brow. He loved his distant cousin, this very Mademoiselle + Cormon whom the Chevalier de Valois and du Bousquier, his hidden rivals, + were stalking. This love had had its origin in calculation. Mademoiselle + Cormon was thought to be one of the richest persons in the town: the poor + lad had therefore been led to love her by desires for material happiness, + by the hope, long indulged, of gilding with comfort his mother’s last + years, by eager longing for the ease of life so needful to men who live by + thought; but this most innocent point of departure degraded his passion in + his own eyes. Moreover, he feared the ridicule the world would cast upon + the love of a young man of twenty-three for an old maid of forty. + </p> + <p> + And yet his passion was real; whatever may seem false about such a love + elsewhere, it can be realized as a fact in the provinces, where, manners + and morals being without change or chance or movement or mystery, marriage + becomes a necessity of life. No family will accept a young man of + dissolute habits. However natural the liaison of a young man, like + Athanase, with a handsome girl, like Suzanne, for instance, might seem in + a capital, it alarms provincial parents, and destroys the hopes of + marriage of a poor young man when possibly the fortune of a rich one might + cause such an unfortunate antecedent to be overlooked. Between the + depravity of certain liaisons and a sincere love, a man of honor and no + fortune will not hesitate: he prefers the misfortunes of virtue to the + evils of vice. But in the provinces women with whom a young man call fall + in love are rare. A rich young girl he cannot obtain in a region where all + is calculation; a poor young girl he is prevented from loving; it would + be, as provincials say, marrying hunger and thirst. Such monkish solitude + is, however, dangerous to youth. + </p> + <p> + These reflections explain why provincial life is so firmly based on + marriage. Thus we find that ardent and vigorous genius, forced to rely on + the independence of its own poverty, quits these cold regions where + thought is persecuted by brutal indifference, where no woman is willing to + be a sister of charity to a man of talent, of art, of science. + </p> + <p> + Who will really understand Athanase Granson’s love for Mademoiselle + Cormon? Certainly neither rich men—those sultans of society who fill + their harems—nor middle-class men, who follow the well-beaten + high-road of prejudices; nor women who, not choosing to understand the + passions of artists, impose the yoke of their virtues upon men of genius, + imagining that the two sexes are governed by the same laws. + </p> + <p> + Here, perhaps, we should appeal to those young men who suffer from the + repression of their first desires at the moment when all their forces are + developing; to artists sick of their own genius smothering under the + pressure of poverty; to men of talent, persecuted and without influence, + often without friends at the start, who have ended by triumphing over that + double anguish, equally agonizing, of soul and body. Such men will well + understand the lancinating pains of the cancer which was now consuming + Athanase; they have gone through those long and bitter deliberations made + in presence of some grandiose purpose they had not the means to carry out; + they have endured those secret miscarriages in which the fructifying seed + of genius falls on arid soil. Such men know that the grandeur of desires + is in proportion to the height and breadth of the imagination. The higher + they spring, the lower they fall; and how can it be that ties and bonds + should not be broken by such a fall? Their piercing eye has seen—as + did Athanase—the brilliant future which awaited them, and from which + they fancied that only a thin gauze parted them; but that gauze through + which their eyes could see is changed by Society into a wall of iron. + Impelled by a vocation, by a sentiment of art, they endeavor again and + again to live by sentiments which society as incessantly materializes. + Alas! the provinces calculate and arrange marriage with the one view of + material comfort, and a poor artist or man of science is forbidden to + double its purpose and make it the saviour of his genius by securing to + him the means of subsistence! + </p> + <p> + Moved by such ideas, Athanase Granson first thought of marriage with + Mademoiselle Cormon as a means of obtaining a livelihood which would be + permanent. Thence he could rise to fame, and make his mother happy, + knowing at the same time that he was capable of faithfully loving his + wife. But soon his own will created, although he did not know it, a + genuine passion. He began to study the old maid, and, by dint of the charm + which habit gives, he ended by seeing only her beauties and ignoring her + defects. + </p> + <p> + In a young man of twenty-three the senses count for much in love; their + fire produces a sort of prism between his eyes and the woman. From this + point of view the clasp with which Beaumarchis’ Cherubin seizes Marceline + is a stroke of genius. But when we reflect that in the utter isolation to + which poverty condemned poor Athanase, Mademoiselle Cormon was the only + figure presented to his gaze, that she attracted his eye incessantly, that + all the light he had was concentrated on her, surely his love may be + considered natural. + </p> + <p> + This sentiment, so carefully hidden, increased from day to day. Desires, + sufferings, hopes, and meditations swelled in quietness and silence the + lake widening ever in the young man’s breast, as hour by hour added its + drop of water to the volume. And the wider this inward circle, drawn by + the imagination, aided by the senses, grew, the more imposing Mademoiselle + Cormon appeared to Athanase, and the more his own timidity increased. + </p> + <p> + The mother had divined the truth. Like all provincial mothers, she + calculated candidly in her own mind the advantages of the match. She told + herself that Mademoiselle Cormon would be very lucky to secure a husband + in a young man of twenty-three, full of talent, who would always be an + honor to his family and the neighborhood; at the same time the obstacles + which her son’s want of fortune and Mademoiselle Cormon’s age presented to + the marriage seemed to her almost insurmountable; she could think of + nothing but patience as being able to vanquish them. Like du Bousquier, + like the Chevalier de Valois, she had a policy of her own; she was on the + watch for circumstances, awaiting the propitious moment for a move with + the shrewdness of maternal instinct. Madame Granson had no fears at all as + to the chevalier, but she did suppose that du Bousquier, although refused, + retained certain hopes. As an able and underhand enemy to the latter, she + did him much secret harm in the interests of her son; from whom, by the + bye, she carefully concealed all such proceedings. + </p> + <p> + After this explanation it is easy to understand the importance which + Suzanne’s lie, confided to Madame Granson, was about to acquire. What a + weapon put into the hands of this charitable lady, the treasurer of the + Maternity Society! How she would gently and demurely spread the news while + collecting assistance for the chaste Suzanne! + </p> + <p> + At the present moment Athanase, leaning pensively on his elbow at the + breakfast table, was twirling his spoon in his empty cup and contemplating + with a preoccupied eye the poor room with its red brick floor, its straw + chairs, its painted wooden buffet, its pink and white curtains chequered + like a backgammon board, which communicated with the kitchen through a + glass door. As his back was to the chimney which his mother faced, and as + the chimney was opposite to the door, his pallid face, strongly lighted + from the window, framed in beautiful black hair, the eyes gleaming with + despair and fiery with morning thoughts, was the first object which met + the eyes of the incoming Suzanne. The grisette, who belonged to a class + which certainly has the instinct of misery and the sufferings of the + heart, suddenly felt that electric spark, darting from Heaven knows where, + which can never be explained, which some strong minds deny, but the + sympathetic stroke of which has been felt by many men and many women. It + is at once a light which lightens the darkness of the future, a + presentiment of the sacred joys of a shared love, the certainty of mutual + comprehension. Above all, it is like the touch of a firm and able hand on + the keyboard of the senses. The eyes are fascinated by an irresistible + attraction; the heart is stirred; the melodies of happiness echo in the + soul and in the ears; a voice cries out, “It is he!” Often reflection + casts a douche of cold water on this boiling emotion, and all is over. + </p> + <p> + In a moment, as rapid as the flash of the lightning, Suzanne received the + broadside of this emotion in her heart. The flame of a real love burned up + the evil weeds fostered by a libertine and dissipated life. She saw how + much she was losing of decency and value by accusing herself falsely. What + had seemed to her a joke the night before became to her eyes a serious + charge against herself. She recoiled at her own success. But the + impossibility of any result; the poverty of the young man; a vague hope of + enriching herself, of going to Paris, and returning with full hands to + say, “I love you! here are the means of happiness!” or mere fate, if you + will have it so, dried up the next moment this beneficent dew. + </p> + <p> + The ambitious grisette asked with a timid air for a moment’s interview + with Madame Granson, who took her at once into her bedchamber. When + Suzanne came out she looked again at Athanase; he was still in the same + position, and the tears came into her eyes. As for Madame Granson, she was + radiant with joy. At last she had a weapon, and a terrible one, against du + Bousquier; she could now deal him a mortal blow. She had of course + promised the poor seduced girl the support of all charitable ladies and + that of the members of the Maternity Society in particular; she foresaw a + dozen visits which would occupy her whole day, and brew up a frightful + storm on the head of the guilty du Bousquier. The Chevalier de Valois, + while foreseeing the turn the affair would take, had really no idea of the + scandal which would result from his own action. + </p> + <p> + “My dear child,” said Madame Granson to her son, “we are to dine, you + know, with Mademoiselle Cormon; do take a little pains with your + appearance. You are wrong to neglect your dress as you do. Put on that + handsome frilled shirt and your green coat of Elbeuf cloth. I have my + reasons,” she added slyly. “Besides, Mademoiselle Cormon is going to + Prebaudet, and many persons will doubtless call to bid her good-bye. When + a young man is marriageable he ought to take every means to make himself + agreeable. If girls would only tell the truth, heavens! my dear boy, you’d + be astonished at what makes them fall in love. Often it suffices for a man + to ride past them at the head of a company of artillery, or show himself + at a ball in tight clothes. Sometimes a mere turn of the head, a + melancholy attitude, makes them suppose a man’s whole life; they’ll invent + a romance to match the hero—who is often a mere brute, but the + marriage is made. Watch the Chevalier de Valois: study him; copy his + manners; see with what ease he presents himself; he never puts on a stiff + air, as you do. Talk a little more; one would really think you didn’t know + anything,—you, who know Hebrew by heart.” + </p> + <p> + Athanase listened to his mother with a surprised but submissive air; then + he rose, took his cap, and went off to the mayor’s office, saying to + himself, “Can my mother suspect my secret?” + </p> + <p> + He passed through the rue du Val-Noble, where Mademoiselle Cormon lived,—a + little pleasure which he gave himself every morning, thinking, as usual, a + variety of fanciful things:— + </p> + <p> + “How little she knows that a young man is passing before her house who + loves her well, who would be faithful to her, who would never cause her + any grief; who would leave her the entire management of her fortune + without interference. Good God! what fatality! here, side by side, in the + same town, are two persons in our mutual condition, and yet nothing can + bring them together. Suppose I were to speak to her this evening?” + </p> + <p> + During this time Suzanne had returned to her mother’s house thinking of + Athanase; and, like many other women who have longed to help an adored man + beyond the limit of human powers, she felt herself capable of making her + body a stepping-stone on which he could rise to attain his throne. + </p> + <p> + It is now necessary to enter the house of this old maid toward whom so + many interests are converging, where the actors in this scene, with the + exception of Suzanne, were all to meet this very evening. As for Suzanne, + that handsome individual bold enough to burn her ships like Alexander at + her start in life, and to begin the battle by a falsehood, she disappears + from the stage, having introduced upon it a violent element of interest. + Her utmost wishes were gratified. She quitted her native town a few days + later, well supplied with money and good clothes, among which was a fine + dress of green reps and a charming green bonnet lined with pink, the gift + of Monsieur de Valois,—a present which she preferred to all the + rest, even the money. If the chevalier had gone to Paris in the days of + her future brilliancy, she would certainly have left every one for him. + Like the chaste Susannah of the Bible, whom the Elders hardly saw, she + established herself joyously and full of hope in Paris, while all Alencon + was deploring her misfortunes, for which the ladies of two Societies + (Charity and Maternity) manifested the liveliest sympathy. Though Suzanne + is a fair specimen of those handsome Norman women whom a learned physician + reckons as comprising one third of her fallen class whom our monstrous + Paris absorbs, it must be stated that she remained in the upper and more + decent regions of gallantry. At an epoch when, as Monsieur de Valois said, + Woman no longer existed, she was simply “Madame du Val-Noble”; in other + days she would have rivalled the Rhodopes, the Imperias, the Ninons of the + past. One of the most distinguished writers of the Restoration has taken + her under his protection; perhaps he may marry her. He is a journalist, + and consequently above public opinion, inasmuch as he manufactures it + afresh every year or two. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0004" id="link2HCH0004"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER IV. MADEMOISELLE CORMON + </h2> + <p> + In nearly all the second-class prefectures of France there exists one + salon which is the meeting-ground of those considerable and + well-considered persons of the community who are, nevertheless, <i>not</i> + the cream of the best society. The master and mistress of such an + establishment are counted among the leading persons of the town; they are + received wherever it may please them to visit; no fete is given, no formal + or diplomatic dinner takes place, to which they are not invited. But the + chateau people, heads of families possessing great estates, in short, the + highest personages in the department, do not go to their houses; social + intercourse between them is carried on by cards from one to the other, and + a dinner or soiree accepted and returned. + </p> + <p> + This salon, in which the lesser nobility, the clergy, and the magistracy + meet together, exerts a great influence. The judgment and mind of the + region reside in that solid, unostentatious society, where each man knows + the resources of his neighbor, where complete indifference is shown to + luxury and dress,—pleasures which are thought childish in comparison + to that of obtaining ten or twelve acres of pasture land,—a purchase + coveted for years, which has probably given rise to endless diplomatic + combinations. Immovable in its prejudices, good or evil, this social + circle follows a beaten track, looking neither before it nor behind it. It + accepts nothing from Paris without long examination and trial; it rejects + cashmeres as it does investments on the Grand-Livre; it scoffs at fashions + and novelties; reads nothing, prefers ignorance, whether of science, + literature, or industrial inventions. It insists on the removal of a + prefect when that official does not suit it; and if the administration + resists, it isolates him, after the manner of bees who wall up a snail in + wax when it gets into their hive. + </p> + <p> + In this society gossip is often turned into solemn verdicts. Young women + are seldom seen there; when they come it is to seek approbation of their + conduct,—a consecration of their self-importance. This supremacy + granted to one house is apt to wound the sensibilities of other natives of + the region, who console themselves by adding up the cost it involves, and + by which they profit. If it so happens that there is no fortune large + enough to keep open house in this way, the big-wigs of the place choose a + place of meeting, as they did at Alencon, in the house of some inoffensive + person, whose settled life and character and position offers no umbrage to + the vanities or the interests of any one. + </p> + <p> + For some years the upper classes of Alencon had met in this way at the + house of an old maid, whose fortune was, unknown to herself, the aim and + object of Madame Granson, her second cousin, and of the two old bachelors + whose secret hopes in that direction we have just unveiled. This lady + lived with her maternal uncle, a former grand-vicar of the bishopric of + Seez, once her guardian, and whose heir she was. The family of which + Rose-Marie-Victoire Cormon was the present representative had been in + earlier days among the most considerable in the province. Though belonging + to the middle classes, she consorted with the nobility, among whom she was + more or less allied, her family having furnished, in past years, stewards + to the Duc d’Alencon, many magistrates to the long robe, and various + bishops to the clergy. Monsieur de Sponde, the maternal grandfather of + Mademoiselle Cormon, was elected by the Nobility to the States-General, + and Monsieur Cormon, her father, by the Tiers-Etat, though neither + accepted the mission. For the last hundred years the daughters of the + family had married nobles belonging to the provinces; consequently, this + family had thrown out so many suckers throughout the duchy as to appear on + nearly all the genealogical trees. No bourgeois family had ever seemed so + like nobility. + </p> + <p> + The house in which Mademoiselle Cormon lived, build in Henri IV.‘s time, + by Pierre Cormon, the steward of the last Duc d’Alencon, had always + belonged to the family; and among the old maid’s visible possessions this + one was particularly stimulating to the covetous desires of the two old + lovers. Yet, far from producing revenue, the house was a cause of expense. + But it is so rare to find in the very centre of a provincial town a + private dwelling without unpleasant surroundings, handsome in outward + structure and convenient within, that Alencon shared the envy of the + lovers. + </p> + <p> + This old mansion stands exactly in the middle of the rue du Val-Noble. It + is remarkable for the strength of its construction,—a style of + building introduced by Marie de’ Medici. Though built of granite,—a + stone which is hard to work,—its angles, and the casings of the + doors and windows, are decorated with corner blocks cut into diamond + facets. It has only one clear story above the ground-floor; but the roof, + rising steeply, has several projecting windows, with carved spandrels + rather elegantly enclosed in oaken frames, and externally adorned with + balustrades. Between each of these windows is a gargoyle presenting the + fantastic jaws of an animal without a body, vomiting the rain-water upon + large stones pierced with five holes. The two gables are surmounted by + leaden bouquets,—a symbol of the bourgeoisie; for nobles alone had + the privilege in former days of having weather-vanes. To right of the + courtyard are the stables and coach-house; to left, the kitchen, + wood-house, and laundry. + </p> + <p> + One side of the porte-cochere, being left open, allowed the passers in the + street to see in the midst of the vast courtyard a flower-bed, the raised + earth of which was held in place by a low privet hedge. A few monthly + roses, pinkes, lilies, and Spanish broom filled this bed, around which in + the summer season boxes of paurestinus, pomegranates, and myrtle were + placed. Struck by the scrupulous cleanliness of the courtyard and its + dependencies, a stranger would at once have divined that the place + belonged to an old maid. The eye which presided there must have been an + unoccupied, ferreting eye; minutely careful, less from nature than for + want of something to do. An old maid, forced to employ her vacant days, + could alone see to the grass being hoed from between the paving stones, + the tops of the walls kept clean, the broom continually going, and the + leather curtains of the coach-house always closed. She alone would have + introduced, out of busy idleness, a sort of Dutch cleanliness into a house + on the confines of Bretagne and Normandie,—a region where they take + pride in professing an utter indifference to comfort. + </p> + <p> + Never did the Chevalier de Valois, or du Bousquier, mount the steps of the + double stairway leading to the portico of this house without saying to + himself, one, that it was fit for a peer of France, the other, that the + mayor of the town ought to live there. + </p> + <p> + A glass door gave entrance from this portico into an antechamber, a + species of gallery paved in red tiles and wainscoted, which served as a + hospital for the family portraits,—some having an eye put out, + others suffering from a dislocated shoulder; this one held his hat in a + hand that no longer existed; that one was a case of amputation at the + knee. Here were deposited the cloaks, clogs, overshoes, umbrellas, hoods, + and pelisses of the guests. It was an arsenal where each arrival left his + baggage on arriving, and took it up when departing. Along each wall was a + bench for the servants who arrived with lanterns, and a large stove, to + counteract the north wind, which blew through this hall from the garden to + the courtyard. + </p> + <p> + The house was divided in two equal parts. On one side, toward the + courtyard, was the well of the staircase, a large dining-room looking to + the garden, and an office or pantry which communicated with the kitchen. + On the other side was the salon, with four windows, beyond which were two + smaller rooms,—one looking on the garden, and used as a boudoir, the + other lighted from the courtyard, and used as a sort of office. + </p> + <p> + The upper floor contained a complete apartment for a family household, and + a suite of rooms where the venerable Abbe de Sponde had his abode. The + garrets offered fine quarters to the rats and mice, whose nocturnal + performances were related by Mademoiselle Cormon to the Chevalier de + Valois, with many expressions of surprise at the inutility of her efforts + to get rid of them. The garden, about half an acre in size, is margined by + the Brillante, so named from the particles of mica which sparkle in its + bed elsewhere than in the Val-Noble, where its shallow waters are stained + by the dyehouses, and loaded with refuse from the other industries of the + town. The shore opposite to Mademoiselle Cormon’s garden is crowded with + houses where a variety of trades are carried on; happily for her, the + occupants are quiet people,—a baker, a cleaner, an upholsterer, and + several bourgeois. The garden, full of common flowers, ends in a natural + terrace, forming a quay, down which are several steps leading to the + river. Imagine on the balustrade of this terrace a number of tall vases of + blue and white pottery, in which are gilliflowers; and to right and left, + along the neighboring walls, hedges of linden closely trimmed in, and you + will gain an idea of the landscape, full of tranquil chastity, modest + cheerfulness, but commonplace withal, which surrounded the venerable + edifice of the Cormon family. What peace! what tranquillity! nothing + pretentious, but nothing transitory; all seems eternal there! + </p> + <p> + The ground-floor is devoted wholly to the reception-rooms. The old, + unchangeable provincial spirit pervades them. The great square salon has + four windows, modestly cased in woodwork painted gray. A single oblong + mirror is placed above the fireplace; the top of its frame represented the + Dawn led by the Hours, and painted in camaieu (two shades of one color). + This style of painting infested the decorative art of the day, especially + above door-frames, where the artist displayed his eternal Seasons, and + made you, in most houses in the centre of France, abhor the odious Cupids, + endlessly employed in skating, gleaning, twirling, or garlanding one + another with flowers. Each window was draped in green damask curtains, + looped up by heavy cords, which made them resemble a vast dais. The + furniture, covered with tapestry, the woodwork, painted and varnished, and + remarkable for the twisted forms so much the fashion in the last century, + bore scenes from the fables of La Fontaine on the chair-backs; some of + this tapestry had been mended. The ceiling was divided at the centre of + the room by a huge beam, from which depended an old chandelier of + rock-crystal swathed in green gauze. On the fireplace were two vases in + Sevres blue, and two old girandoles attached to the frame of the mirror, + and a clock, the subject of which, taken from the last scene of the + “Deserteur,” proved the enormous popularity of Sedaine’s work. This clock, + of bronze-gilt, bore eleven personages upon it, each about four inches + tall. At the back the Deserter was seen issuing from prison between the + soldiers; in the foreground the young woman lay fainting, and pointing to + his pardon. On the walls of this salon were several of the more recent + portraits of the family,—one or two by Rigaud, and three pastels by + Latour. Four card tables, a backgammon board, and a piquet table occupied + the vast room, the only one in the house, by the bye, which was ceiled. + </p> + <p> + The dining-room, paved in black and white stone, not ceiled, and its beams + painted, was furnished with one of those enormous sideboards with marble + tops, required by the war waged in the provinces against the human + stomach. The walls, painted in fresco, represented a flowery trellis. The + seats were of varnished cane, and the doors of natural wood. All things + about the place carried out the patriarchal air which emanated from the + inside as well as the outside of the house. The genius of the provinces + preserved everything; nothing was new or old, neither young nor decrepit. + A cold precision made itself felt throughout. + </p> + <p> + Tourists in Normandy, Brittany, Maine, and Anjou must all have seen in the + capitals of those provinces many houses which resemble more or less that + of the Cormons; for it is, in its way, an archetype of the burgher houses + in that region of France, and it deserves a place in this history because + it serves to explain manners and customs, and represents ideas. Who does + not already feel that life must have been calm and monotonously regular in + this old edifice? It contained a library; but that was placed below the + level of the river. The books were well bound and shelved, and the dust, + far from injuring them, only made them valuable. They were preserved with + the care given in these provinces deprived of vineyards to other native + products, desirable for their antique perfume, and issued by the presses + of Bourgogne, Touraine, Gascogne, and the South. The cost of + transportation was too great to allow any but the best products to be + imported. + </p> + <p> + The basis of Mademoiselle Cormon’s society consisted of about one hundred + and fifty persons; some went at times to the country; others were + occasionally ill; a few travelled about the department on business; but + certain of the faithful came every night (unless invited elsewhere), and + so did certain others compelled by duties or by habit to live permanently + in the town. All the personages were of ripe age; few among them had ever + travelled; nearly all had spent their lives in the provinces, and some had + taken part in the chouannerie. The latter were beginning to speak + fearlessly of that war, now that rewards were being showered on the + defenders of the good cause. Monsieur de Valois, one of the movers in the + last uprising (during which the Marquis de Montauran, betrayed by his + mistress, perished in spite of the devotion of Marche-a-Terre, now + tranquilly raising cattle for the market near Mayenne),—Monsieur de + Valois had, during the last six months, given the key to several choice + stratagems practised upon an old republican named Hulot, the commander of + a demi-brigade stationed at Alencon from 1798 to 1800, who had left many + memories in the place. [See “The Chouans.”] + </p> + <p> + The women of this society took little pains with their dress, except on + Wednesdays, when Mademoiselle Cormon gave a dinner, on which occasion the + guests invited on the previous Wednesday paid their “visit of digestion.” + Wednesdays were gala days: the assembly was numerous; guests and visitors + appeared in fiocchi; some women brought their sewing, knitting, or worsted + work; the young girls were not ashamed to make patterns for the Alencon + point lace, with the proceeds of which they paid for their personal + expenses. Certain husbands brought their wives out of policy, for young + men were few in that house; not a word could be whispered in any ear + without attracting the attention of all; there was therefore no danger, + either for young girls or wives, of love-making. + </p> + <p> + Every evening, at six o’clock, the long antechamber received its + furniture. Each habitue brought his cane, his cloak, his lantern. All + these persons knew each other so well, and their habits and ways were so + familiarly patriarchal, that if by chance the old Abbe de Sponde was lying + down, or Mademoiselle Cormon was in her chamber, neither Josette, the + maid, nor Jacquelin, the man-servant, nor Mariette, the cook, informed + them. The first comer received the second; then, when the company were + sufficiently numerous for whist, piquet, or boston, they began the game + without awaiting either the Abbe de Sponde or mademoiselle. If it was + dark, Josette or Jacquelin would hasten to light the candles as soon as + the first bell rang. Seeing the salon lighted up, the abbe would slowly + hurry to come down. Every evening the backgammon and the piquet tables, + the three boston tables, and the whist table were filled,—which gave + occupation to twenty-five or thirty persons; but as many as forty were + usually present. Jacquelin would then light the candles in the other + rooms. + </p> + <p> + Between eight and nine o’clock the servants began to arrive in the + antechamber to accompany their masters home; and, short of a revolution, + no one remained in the salon at ten o’clock. At that hour the guests were + departing in groups along the street, discoursing on the game, or + continuing conversations on the land they were covetous of buying, on the + terms of some one’s will, on quarrels among heirs, on the haughty + assumption of the aristocratic portion of the community. It was like Paris + when the audience of a theatre disperses. + </p> + <p> + Certain persons who talk much of poesy and know nothing about it, declaim + against the habits of life in the provinces. But put your forehead in your + left hand, rest one foot on the fender, and your elbow on your knee; then, + if you compass the idea of this quiet and uniform scene, this house and + its interior, this company and its interests, heightened by the pettiness + of its intellect like goldleaf beaten between sheets of parchment, ask + yourself, What is human life? Try to decide between him who scribbles + jokes on Egyptian obelisks, and him who has “bostoned” for twenty years + with Du Bousquier, Monsieur de Valois, Mademoiselle Cormon, the judge of + the court, the king’s attorney, the Abbe de Sponde, Madame Granson, and + tutti quanti. If the daily and punctual return of the same steps to the + same path is not happiness, it imitates happiness so well that men driven + by the storms of an agitated life to reflect upon the blessings of + tranquillity would say that here was happiness <i>enough</i>. + </p> + <p> + To reckon the importance of Mademoiselle Cormon’s salon at its true value, + it will suffice to say that the born statistician of the society, du + Bousquier, had estimated that the persons who frequented it controlled one + hundred and thirty-one votes in the electoral college, and mustered among + themselves eighteen hundred thousand francs a year from landed estate in + the neighborhood. + </p> + <p> + The town of Alencon, however, was not entirely represented by this salon. + The higher aristocracy had a salon of their own; moreover, that of the + receiver-general was like an administration inn kept by the government, + where society danced, plotted, fluttered, loved, and supped. These two + salons communicated by means of certain mixed individuals with the house + of Cormon, and vice-versa; but the Cormon establishment sat severely in + judgment on the two other camps. The luxury of their dinners was + criticised; the ices at their balls were pondered; the behavior of the + women, the dresses, and “novelties” there produced were discussed and + disapproved. + </p> + <p> + Mademoiselle Cormon, a species of firm, as one might say, under whose name + was comprised an imposing coterie, was naturally the aim and object of two + ambitious men as deep and wily as the Chevalier de Valois and du + Bousquier. To the one as well as to the other, she meant election as + deputy, resulting, for the noble, in the peerage, for the purveyor, in a + receiver-generalship. A leading salon is a difficult thing to create, + whether in Paris or the provinces, and here was one already created. To + marry Mademoiselle Cormon was to reign in Alencon. Athanase Granson, the + only one of the three suitors for the hand of the old maid who no longer + calculated profits, now loved her person as well as her fortune. + </p> + <p> + To employ the jargon of the day, is there not a singular drama in the + situation of these four personages? Surely there is something odd and + fantastic in three rivalries silently encompassing a woman who never + guessed their existence, in spite of an eager and legitimate desire to be + married. And yet, though all these circumstances make the spinsterhood of + this old maid an extraordinary thing, it is not difficult to explain how + and why, in spite of her fortune and her three lovers, she was still + unmarried. In the first place, Mademoiselle Cormon, following the custom + and rule of her house, had always desired to marry a nobleman; but from + 1788 to 1798 public circumstances were very unfavorable to such + pretensions. Though she wanted to be a woman of condition, as the saying + is, she was horribly afraid of the Revolutionary tribunal. The two + sentiments, equal in force, kept her stationary by a law as true in ethics + as it is in statics. This state of uncertain expectation is pleasing to + unmarried women as long as they feel themselves young, and in a position + to choose a husband. France knows that the political system of Napoleon + resulted in making many widows. Under that regime heiresses were entirely + out of proportion in numbers to the bachelors who wanted to marry. When + the Consulate restored internal order, external difficulties made the + marriage of Mademoiselle Cormon as difficult to arrange as it had been in + the past. If, on the one hand, Rose-Marie-Victoire refused to marry an old + man, on the other, the fear of ridicule forbade her to marry a very young + one. + </p> + <p> + In the provinces, families marry their sons early to escape the + conscription. In addition to all this, she was obstinately determined not + to marry a soldier: she did not intend to take a man and then give him up + to the Emperor; she wanted him for herself alone. With these views, she + found it therefore impossible, from 1804 to 1815, to enter the lists with + young girls who were rivalling each other for suitable matches. + </p> + <p> + Besides her predilection for the nobility, Mademoiselle Cormon had another + and very excusable mania: that of being loved for herself. You could + hardly believe the lengths to which this desire led her. She employed her + mind on setting traps for her possible lovers, in order to test their real + sentiments. Her nets were so well laid that the luckless suitors were all + caught, and succumbed to the test she applied to them without their + knowledge. Mademoiselle Cormon did not study them; she watched them. A + single word said heedlessly, a joke (that she often was unable to + understand), sufficed to make her reject an aspirant as unworthy: this one + had neither heart nor delicacy; that one told lies, and was not religious; + a third only wanted to coin money under the cloak of marriage; another was + not of a nature to make a woman happy; here she suspected hereditary gout; + there certain immoral antecedents alarmed her. Like the Church, she + required a noble priest at her altar; she even wanted to be married for + imaginary ugliness and pretended defects, just as other women wish to be + loved for the good qualities they have not, and for imaginary beauties. + Mademoiselle Cormon’s ambition took its rise in the most delicate and + sensitive feminine feeling; she longed to reward a lover by revealing to + him a thousand virtues after marriage, as other women then betray the + imperfections they have hitherto concealed. But she was ill understood. + The noble woman met with none but common souls in whom the reckoning of + actual interests was paramount, and who knew nothing of the nobler + calculations of sentiment. + </p> + <p> + The farther she advanced towards that fatal epoch so adroitly called the + “second youth,” the more her distrust increased. She affected to present + herself in the most unfavorable light, and played her part so well that + the last wooers hesitated to link their fate to that of a person whose + virtuous blind-man’s-buff required an amount of penetration that men who + want the virtuous ready-made would not bestow upon it. The constant fear + of being married for her money rendered her suspicious and uneasy beyond + all reason. She turned to the rich men; but the rich are in search of + great marriages; she feared the poor men, in whom she denied the + disinterestedness she sought so eagerly. After each disappointment in + marriage, the poor lady, led to despise mankind, began to see them all in + a false light. Her character acquired, necessarily, a secret misanthropy, + which threw a tinge of bitterness into her conversation, and some severity + into her eyes. Celibacy gave to her manners and habits a certain + increasing rigidity; for she endeavored to sanctify herself in despair of + fate. Noble vengeance! she was cutting for God the rough diamond rejected + by man. Before long public opinion was against her; for society accepts + the verdict an independent woman renders on herself by not marrying, + either through losing suitors or rejecting them. Everybody supposed that + these rejections were founded on secret reasons, always ill interpreted. + One said she was deformed; another suggested some hidden fault; but the + poor girl was really as pure as a saint, as healthy as an infant, and full + of loving kindness; Nature had intended her for all the pleasures, all the + joys, and all the fatigues of motherhood. + </p> + <p> + Mademoiselle Cormon did not possess in her person an obliging auxiliary to + her desires. She had no other beauty than that very improperly called la + beaute du diable, which consists of a buxom freshness of youth that the + devil, theologically speaking, could never have,—though perhaps the + expression may be explained by the constant desire that must surely + possess him to cool and refresh himself. The feet of the heiress were + broad and flat. Her leg, which she often exposed to sight by her manner + (be it said without malice) of lifting her gown when it rained, could + never have been taken for the leg of a woman. It was sinewy, with a thick + projecting calf like a sailor’s. A stout waist, the plumpness of a + wet-nurse, strong dimpled arms, red hands, were all in keeping with the + swelling outlines and the fat whiteness of Norman beauty. Projecting eyes, + undecided in color, gave to her face, the rounded outline of which had no + dignity, an air of surprise and sheepish simplicity, which was suitable + perhaps for an old maid. If Rose had not been, as she was, really + innocent, she would have seemed so. An aquiline nose contrasted curiously + with the narrowness of her forehead; for it is rare that that form of nose + does not carry with it a fine brow. In spite of her thick red lips, a sign + of great kindliness, the forehead revealed too great a lack of ideas to + allow of the heart being guided by intellect; she was evidently benevolent + without grace. How severely we reproach Virtue for its defects, and how + full of indulgence we all are for the pleasanter qualities of Vice! + </p> + <p> + Chestnut hair of extraordinary length gave to Rose Cormon’s face a beauty + which results from vigor and abundance,—the physical qualities most + apparent in her person. In the days of her chief pretensions, Rose + affected to hold her head at the three-quarter angle, in order to exhibit + a very pretty ear, which detached itself from the blue-veined whiteness of + her throat and temples, set off, as it was, by her wealth of hair. Seen + thus in a ball-dress, she might have seemed handsome. Her protuberant + outlines and her vigorous health did, in fact, draw from the officers of + the Empire the approving exclamation,— + </p> + <p> + “What a fine slip of a girl!” + </p> + <p> + But, as years rolled on, this plumpness, encouraged by a tranquil, + wholesome life, had insensibly so ill spread itself over the whole of + Mademoiselle Cormon’s body that her primitive proportions were destroyed. + At the present moment, no corset could restore a pair of hips to the poor + lady, who seemed to have been cast in a single mould. The youthful harmony + of her bosom existed no longer; and its excessive amplitude made the + spectator fear that if she stooped its heavy masses might topple her over. + But nature had provided against this by giving her a natural counterpoise, + which rendered needless the deceitful adjunct of a bustle; in Rose Cormon + everything was genuine. Her chin, as it doubled, reduced the length of her + neck, and hindered the easy carriage of her head. Rose had no wrinkles, + but she had folds of flesh; and jesters declared that to save chafing she + powdered her skin as they do an infant’s. + </p> + <p> + This ample person offered to a young man full of ardent desires like + Athanase an attraction to which he had succumbed. Young imaginations, + essentially eager and courageous, like to rove upon these fine living + sheets of flesh. Rose was like a plump partridge attracting the knife of a + gourmet. Many an elegant deep in debt would very willingly have resigned + himself to make the happiness of Mademoiselle Cormon. But, alas! the poor + girl was now forty years old. At this period, after vainly seeking to put + into her life those interests which make the Woman, and finding herself + forced to be still unmarried, she fortified her virtue by stern religious + practices. She had recourse to religion, the great consoler of oppressed + virginity. A confessor had, for the last three years, directed + Mademoiselle Cormon rather stupidly in the path of maceration; he advised + the use of scourging, which, if modern medical science is to be believed, + produces an effect quite the contrary to that expected by the worthy + priest, whose hygienic knowledge was not extensive. + </p> + <p> + These absurd practices were beginning to shed a monastic tint over the + face of Rose Cormon, who now saw with something like despair her white + skin assuming the yellow tones which proclaim maturity. A slight down on + her upper lip, about the corners, began to spread and darken like a trail + of smoke; her temples grew shiny; decadence was beginning! It was + authentic in Alencon that Mademoiselle Cormon suffered from rush of blood + to the head. She confided her ills to the Chevalier de Valois, enumerating + her foot-baths, and consulting him as to refrigerants. On such occasions + the shrewd old gentleman would pull out his snuff-box, gaze at the + Princess Goritza, and say, by way of conclusion:— + </p> + <p> + “The right composing draught, my dear lady, is a good and kind husband.” + </p> + <p> + “But whom can one trust?” she replied. + </p> + <p> + The chevalier would then brush away the snuff which had settled in the + folds of his waistcoat or his paduasoy breeches. To the world at large + this gesture would have seemed very natural; but it always gave extreme + uneasiness to the poor woman. + </p> + <p> + The violence of this hope without an object was so great that Rose was + afraid to look a man in the face lest he should perceive in her eyes the + feelings that filled her soul. By a wilfulness, which was perhaps only the + continuation of her earlier methods, though she felt herself attracted + toward the men who might still suit her, she was so afraid of being + accused of folly that she treated them ungraciously. Most persons in her + society, being incapable of appreciating her motives, which were always + noble, explained her manner towards her co-celibates as the revenge of a + refusal received or expected. When the year 1815 began, Rose had reached + that fatal age which she dared not avow. She was forty-two years old. Her + desire for marriage then acquired an intensity which bordered on + monomania, for she saw plainly that all chance of progeny was about to + escape her; and the thing which in her celestial ignorance she desired + above all things was the possession of children. Not a person in all + Alencon ever attributed to this virtuous woman a single desire for amorous + license. She loved, as it were, in bulk without the slightest imagination + of love. Rose was a Catholic Agnes, incapable of inventing even one of the + wiles of Moliere’s Agnes. + </p> + <p> + For some months past she had counted on chance. The disbandment of the + Imperial troops and the reorganization of the Royal army caused a change + in the destination of many officers, who returned, some on half-pay, + others with or without a pension, to their native towns,—all having + a desire to counteract their luckless fate, and to end their life in a way + which might to Rose Cormon be a happy beginning of hers. It would surely + be strange if, among those who returned to Alencon or its neighborhood, no + brave, honorable, and, above all, sound and healthy officer of suitable + age could be found, whose character would be a passport among Bonaparte + opinions; or some ci-devant noble who, to regain his lost position, would + join the ranks of the royalists. This hope kept Mademoiselle Cormon in + heart during the early months of that year. But, alas! all the soldiers + who thus returned were either too old or too young; too aggressively + Bonapartist, or too dissipated; in short, their several situations were + out of keeping with the rank, fortune, and morals of Mademoiselle Cormon, + who now grew daily more and more desperate. The poor woman in vain prayed + to God to send her a husband with whom she could be piously happy: it was + doubtless written above that she should die both virgin and martyr; no man + suitable for a husband presented himself. The conversations in her salon + every evening kept her informed of the arrival of all strangers in + Alencon, and of the facts of their fortunes, rank, and habits. But Alencon + is not a town which attracts visitors; it is not on the road to any + capital; even sailors, travelling from Brest to Paris, never stop there. + The poor woman ended by admitting to herself that she was reduced to the + aborigines. Her eye now began to assume a certain savage expression, to + which the malicious chevalier responded by a shrewd look as he drew out + his snuff-box and gazed at the Princess Goritza. Monsieur de Valois was + well aware that in the feminine ethics of love fidelity to a first + attachment is considered a pledge for the future. + </p> + <p> + But Mademoiselle Cormon—we must admit it—was wanting in + intellect, and did not understand the snuff-box performance. She redoubled + her vigilance against “the evil spirit”; her rigid devotion and fixed + principles kept her cruel sufferings hidden among the mysteries of private + life. Every evening, after the company had left her, she thought of her + lost youth, her faded bloom, the hopes of thwarted nature; and, all the + while immolating her passions at the feet of the Cross (like poems + condemned to stay in a desk), she resolved firmly that if, by chance, any + suitor presented himself, to subject him to no tests, but to accept him at + once for whatever he might be. She even went so far as to think of + marrying a sub-lieutenant, a man who smoked tobacco, whom she proposed to + render, by dint of care and kindness, one of the best men in the world, + although he was hampered with debts. + </p> + <p> + But it was only in the silence of night watches that these fantastic + marriages, in which she played the sublime role of guardian angel, took + place. The next day, though Josette found her mistress’ bed in a tossed + and tumbled condition, Mademoiselle Cormon had recovered her dignity, and + could only think of a man of forty, a land-owner, well preserved, and a + quasi-young man. + </p> + <p> + The Abbe de Sponde was incapable of giving his niece the slightest aid in + her matrimonial manoeuvres. The worthy soul, now seventy years of age, + attributed the disasters of the French Revolution to the design of + Providence, eager to punish a dissolute Church. He had therefore flung + himself into the path, long since abandoned, which anchorites once + followed in order to reach heaven: he led an ascetic life without + proclaiming it, and without external credit. He hid from the world his + works of charity, his continual prayers, his penances; he thought that all + priests should have acted thus during the days of wrath and terror, and he + preached by example. While presenting to the world a calm and smiling + face, he had ended by detaching himself utterly from earthly interests; + his mind turned exclusively to sufferers, to the needs of the Church, and + to his own salvation. He left the management of his property to his niece, + who gave him the income of it, and to whom he paid a slender board in + order to spend the surplus in secret alms and gifts to the Church. + </p> + <p> + All the abbe’s affections were concentrated on his niece, who regarded him + as a father, but an abstracted father, unable to conceive the agitations + of the flesh, and thanking God for maintaining his dear daughter in a + state of celibacy; for he had, from his youth up, adopted the principles + of Saint John Chrysostom, who wrote that “the virgin state is as far above + the marriage state as the angel is above humanity.” Accustomed to + reverence her uncle, Mademoiselle Cormon dared not initiate him into the + desires which filled her soul for a change of state. The worthy man, + accustomed, on his side, to the ways of the house, would scarcely have + liked the introduction of a husband. Preoccupied by the sufferings he + soothed, lost in the depths of prayer, the Abbe de Sponde had periods of + abstraction which the habitues of the house regarded as absent-mindedness. + In any case, he talked little; but his silence was affable and benevolent. + He was a man of great height and spare, with grave and solemn manners, + though his face expressed all gentle sentiments and an inward calm; while + his mere presence carried with it a sacred authority. He was very fond of + the Voltairean chevalier. Those two majestic relics of the nobility and + clergy, though of very different habits and morals, recognized each other + by their generous traits. Besides, the chevalier was as unctuous with the + abbe as he was paternal with the grisettes. + </p> + <p> + Some persons may fancy that Mademoiselle Cormon used every means to attain + her end; and that among the legitimate lures of womanhood she devoted + herself to dress, wore low-necked gowns, and employed the negative + coquetries of a magnificent display of arms. Not at all! She was as heroic + and immovable in her high-necked chemisette as a sentry in his box. Her + gowns, bonnets, and chiffons were all cut and made by the dressmaker and + the milliner of Alencon, two hump-backed sisters, who were not without + some taste. In spite of the entreaties of these artists, Mademoiselle + Cormon refused to employ the airy deceits of elegance; she chose to be + substantial in all things, flesh and feathers. But perhaps the heavy + fashion of her gowns was best suited to her cast of countenance. Let those + laugh who will at this poor girl; you would have thought her sublime, O + generous souls! who care but little what form true feeling takes, but + admire it where it <i>is</i>. + </p> + <p> + Here some light-minded person may exclaim against the truth of this + statement; they will say that there is not in all France a girl so silly + as to be ignorant of the art of angling for men; that Mademoiselle Cormon + is one of those monstrous exceptions which commonsense should prevent a + writer from using as a type; that the most virtuous and also the silliest + girl who desires to catch her fish knows well how to bait the hook. But + these criticisms fall before the fact that the noble catholic, apostolic, + and Roman religion is still erect in Brittany and in the ancient duchy of + Alencon. Faith and piety admit of no subtleties. Mademoiselle Cormon trod + the path of salvation, preferring the sorrows of her virginity so cruelly + prolonged to the evils of trickery and the sin of a snare. In a woman + armed with a scourge virtue could never compromise; consequently both love + and self-interest were forced to seek her, and seek her resolutely. And + here let us have the courage to make a cruel observation, in days when + religion is nothing more than a useful means to some, and a poesy to + others. Devotion causes a moral ophthalmia. By some providential grace, it + takes from souls on the road to eternity the sight of many little earthly + things. In a word, pious persons, devotes, are stupid on various points. + This stupidity proves with what force they turn their minds to celestial + matters; although the Voltairean Chevalier de Valois declared that it was + difficult to decide whether stupid people became naturally pious, or + whether piety had the effect of making intelligent young women stupid. But + reflect upon this carefully: the purest catholic virtue, with its loving + acceptance of all cups, with its pious submission to the will of God, with + its belief in the print of the divine finger on the clay of all earthly + life, is the mysterious light which glides into the innermost folds of + human history, setting them in relief and magnifying them in the eyes of + those who still have Faith. Besides, if there be stupidity, why not + concern ourselves with the sorrows of stupidity as well as with the + sorrows of genius? The former is a social element infinitely more abundant + than the latter. + </p> + <p> + So, then, Mademoiselle Cormon was guilty in the eyes of the world of the + divine ignorance of virgins. She was no observer, and her behavior with + her suitors proved it. At this very moment, a young girl of sixteen, who + had never opened a novel, would have read a hundred chapters of a love + story in the eyes of Athanase Granson, where Mademoiselle Cormon saw + absolutely nothing. Shy herself, she never suspected shyness in others; + she did not recognize in the quavering tones of his speech the force of a + sentiment he could not utter. Capable of inventing those refinements of + sentimental grandeur which hindered her marriage in her early years, she + yet could not recognize them in Athanase. This moral phenomenon will not + seem surprising to persons who know that the qualities of the heart are as + distinct from those of the mind as the faculties of genius are from the + nobility of soul. A perfect, all-rounded man is so rare that Socrates, one + of the noblest pearls of humanity, declared (as a phrenologist of that + day) that he was born to be a scamp, and a very bad one. A great general + may save his country at Zurich, and take commissions from purveyors. A + great musician may conceive the sublimest music and commit a forgery. A + woman of true feeling may be a fool. In short, a devote may have a sublime + soul and yet be unable to recognize the tones of a noble soul beside her. + The caprices produced by physical infirmities are equally to be met with + in the mental and moral regions. + </p> + <p> + This good creature, who grieved at making her yearly preserves for no one + but her uncle and herself, was becoming almost ridiculous. Those who felt + a sympathy for her on account of her good qualities, and others on account + of her defects, now made fun of her abortive marriages. More than one + conversation was based on what would become of so fine a property, + together with the old maid’s savings and her uncle’s inheritance. For some + time past she had been suspected of being au fond, in spite of + appearances, an “original.” In the provinces it was not permissible to be + original: being original means having ideas that are not understood by + others; the provinces demand equality of mind as well as equality of + manners and customs. + </p> + <p> + The marriage of Mademoiselle Cormon seemed, after 1804, a thing so + problematical that the saying “married like Mademoiselle Cormon” became + proverbial in Alencon as applied to ridiculous failures. Surely the + sarcastic mood must be an imperative need in France, that so excellent a + woman should excite the laughter of Alencon. Not only did she receive the + whole society of the place at her house, not only was she charitable, + pious, incapable of saying an unkind thing, but she was fully in accord + with the spirit of the place and the habits and customs of the + inhabitants, who liked her as the symbol of their lives; she was + absolutely inlaid into the ways of the provinces; she had never quitted + them; she imbibed all their prejudices; she espoused all their interests; + she adored them. + </p> + <p> + In spite of her income of eighteen thousand francs from landed property, a + very considerable fortune in the provinces, she lived on a footing with + families who were less rich. When she went to her country-place at + Prebaudet, she drove there in an old wicker carriole, hung on two straps + of white leather, drawn by a wheezy mare, and scarcely protected by two + leather curtains rusty with age. This carriole, known to all the town, was + cared for by Jacquelin as though it were the finest coupe in all Paris. + Mademoiselle valued it; she had used it for twelve years,—a fact to + which she called attention with the triumphant joy of happy avarice. Most + of the inhabitants of the town were grateful to Mademoiselle Cormon for + not humiliating them by the luxury she could have displayed; we may even + believe that had she imported a caleche from Paris they would have + gossiped more about that than about her various matrimonial failures. The + most brilliant equipage would, after all, have only taken her, like the + old carriole, to Prebaudet. Now the provinces, which look solely to + results, care little about the beauty or elegance of the means, provided + they are efficient. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0005" id="link2HCH0005"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER V. AN OLD MAID’S HOUSEHOLD + </h2> + <p> + To complete the picture of the internal habits and ways of this house, it + is necessary to group around Mademoiselle Cormon and the Abbe de Sponde + Jacquelin, Josette, and Mariette, the cook, who employed themselves in + providing for the comfort of uncle and niece. + </p> + <p> + Jacquelin, a man of forty, short, fat, ruddy, and brown, with a face like + a Breton sailor, had been in the service of the house for twenty-two + years. He waited at table, groomed the mare, gardened, blacked the abbe’s + boots, went on errands, chopped the wood, drove the carriole, and fetched + the oats, straw, and hay from Prebaudet. He sat in the antechamber during + the evening, where he slept like a dormouse. He was in love with Josette, + a girl of thirty, whom Mademoiselle would have dismissed had she married + him. So the poor fond pair laid by their wages, and loved each other + silently, waiting, hoping for mademoiselle’s own marriage, as the Jews are + waiting for the Messiah. Josette, born between Alencon and Mortagne, was + short and plump; her face, which looked like a dirty apricot, was not + wanting in sense and character; it was said that she ruled her mistress. + Josette and Jacquelin, sure of results, endeavored to hide an inward + satisfaction which allows it to be supposed that, as lovers, they had + discounted the future. Mariette, the cook, who had been fifteen years in + the household, knew how to make all the dishes held in most honor in + Alencon. + </p> + <p> + Perhaps we ought to count for much the fat old Norman brown-bay mare, + which drew Mademoiselle Cormon to her country-seat at Prebaudet; for the + five inhabitants of the house bore to this animal a maniacal affection. + She was called Penelope, and had served the family for eighteen years; but + she was kept so carefully and fed with such regularity that mademoiselle + and Jacquelin both hoped to use her for ten years longer. This beast was + the subject of perpetual talk and occupation; it seemed as if poor + Mademoiselle Cormon, having no children on whom her repressed motherly + feelings could expend themselves, had turned those sentiments wholly on + this most fortunate animal. + </p> + <p> + The four faithful servants—for Penelope’s intelligence raised her to + the level of the other good servants; while they, on the other hand, had + lowered themselves to the mute, submissive regularity of the beast—went + and came daily in the same occupations with the infallible accuracy of + mechanism. But, as they said in their idiom, they had eaten their white + bread first. Mademoiselle Cormon, like all persons nervously agitated by a + fixed idea, became hard to please, and nagging, less by nature than from + the need of employing her activity. Having no husband or children to + occupy her, she fell back on petty details. She talked for hours about + mere nothings, on a dozen napkins marked “Z,” placed in the closet before + the “O’s.” + </p> + <p> + “What can Josette be thinking of?” she exclaimed. “Josette is beginning to + neglect things.” + </p> + <p> + Mademoiselle inquired for eight days running whether Penelope had had her + oats at two o’clock, because on one occasion Jacquelin was a trifle late. + Her narrow imagination spent itself on trifles. A layer of dust forgotten + by the feather-duster, a slice of toast ill-made by Mariette, Josette’s + delay in closing the blinds when the sun came round to fade the colors of + the furniture,—all these great little things gave rise to serious + quarrels in which mademoiselle grew angry. “Everything was changing,” she + would cry; “she did not know her own servants; the fact was she spoiled + them!” On one occasion Josette gave her the “Journee du Chretien” instead + of the “Quinzaine de Paques.” The whole town heard of this disaster the + same evening. Mademoiselle had been forced to leave the church and return + home; and her sudden departure, upsetting the chairs, made people suppose + a catastrophe had happened. She was therefore obliged to explain the facts + to her friends. + </p> + <p> + “Josette,” she said gently, “such a thing must never happen again.” + </p> + <p> + Mademoiselle Cormon was, without being aware of it, made happier by such + little quarrels, which served as cathartics to relieve her bitterness. The + soul has its needs, and, like the body, its gymnastics. These + uncertainties of temper were accepted by Josette and Jacquelin as changes + in the weather are accepted by husbandmen. Those worthy souls remark, “It + is fine to-day,” or “It rains,” without arraigning the heavens. And so + when they met in the morning the servants would wonder in what humor + mademoiselle would get up, just as a farmer wonders about the mists at + dawn. + </p> + <p> + Mademoiselle Cormon had ended, as it was natural she should end, in + contemplating herself only in the infinite pettinesses of her life. + Herself and God, her confessor and the weekly wash, her preserves and the + church services, and her uncle to care for, absorbed her feeble intellect. + To her the atoms of life were magnified by an optic peculiar to persons + who are selfish by nature or self-absorbed by some accident. Her perfect + health gave alarming meaning to the least little derangement of her + digestive organs. She lived under the iron rod of the medical science of + our forefathers, and took yearly four precautionary doses, strong enough + to have killed Penelope, though they seemed to rejuvenate her mistress. If + Josette, when dressing her, chanced to discover a little pimple on the + still satiny shoulders of mademoiselle, it became the subject of endless + inquiries as to the various alimentary articles of the preceding week. And + what a triumph when Josette reminded her mistress of a certain hare that + was rather “high,” and had doubtless raised that accursed pimple! With + what joy they said to each other: “No doubt, no doubt, it <i>was</i> the + hare!” + </p> + <p> + “Mariette over-seasoned it,” said mademoiselle. “I am always telling her + to do so lightly for my uncle and for me; but Mariette has no more memory + than—” + </p> + <p> + “The hare,” said Josette. + </p> + <p> + “Just so,” replied Mademoiselle; “she has no more memory than a hare,—a + very just remark.” + </p> + <p> + Four times a year, at the beginning of each season, Mademoiselle Cormon + went to pass a certain number of days on her estate of Prebaudet. It was + now the middle of May, the period at which she wished to see how her + apple-trees had “snowed,” a saying of that region which expressed the + effect produced beneath the trees by the falling of their blossoms. When + the circular deposit of these fallen petals resembled a layer of snow the + owner of the trees might hope for an abundant supply of cider. While she + thus gauged her vats, Mademoiselle Cormon also attended to the repairs + which the winter necessitated; she ordered the digging of her flower-beds + and her vegetable garden, from which she supplied her table. Every season + had its own business. Mademoiselle always gave a dinner of farewell to her + intimate friends the day before her departure, although she was certain to + see them again within three weeks. It was always a piece of news which + echoed through Alencon when Mademoiselle Cormon departed. All her + visitors, especially those who had missed a visit, came to bid her + good-bye; the salon was thronged, and every one said farewell as though + she were starting for Calcutta. The next day the shopkeepers would stand + at their doors to see the old carriole pass, and they seemed to be telling + one another some news by repeating from shop to shop:— + </p> + <p> + “So Mademoiselle Cormon is going to Prebaudet!” + </p> + <p> + Some said: “<i>Her</i> bread is baked.” + </p> + <p> + “Hey! my lad,” replied the next man. “She’s a worthy woman; if money + always came into such hands we shouldn’t see a beggar in the country.” + </p> + <p> + Another said: “Dear me, I shouldn’t be surprised if the vineyards were in + bloom; here’s Mademoiselle Cormon going to Prebaudet. How happens it she + doesn’t marry?” + </p> + <p> + “I’d marry her myself,” said a wag; “in fact, the marriage is half-made, + for here’s one consenting party; but the other side won’t. Pooh! the oven + is heating for Monsieur du Bousquier.” + </p> + <p> + “Monsieur du Bousquier! Why, she has refused him.” + </p> + <p> + That evening at all the gatherings it was told gravely:— + </p> + <p> + “Mademoiselle Cormon has gone.” + </p> + <p> + Or:— + </p> + <p> + “So you have really let Mademoiselle Cormon go.” + </p> + <p> + The Wednesday chosen by Suzanne to make known her scandal happened to be + this farewell Wednesday,—a day on which Mademoiselle Cormon drove + Josette distracted on the subject of packing. During the morning, + therefore, things had been said and done in the town which lent the utmost + interest to this farewell meeting. Madame Granson had gone the round of a + dozen houses while the old maid was deliberating on the things she needed + for the journey; and the malicious Chevalier de Valois was playing piquet + with Mademoiselle Armande, sister of a distinguished old marquis, and the + queen of the salon of the aristocrats. If it was not uninteresting to any + one to see what figure the seducer would cut that evening, it was all + important for the chevalier and Madame Granson to know how Mademoiselle + Cormon would take the news in her double capacity of marriageable woman + and president of the Maternity Society. As for the innocent du Bousquier, + he was taking a walk on the promenade, and beginning to suspect that + Suzanne had tricked him; this suspicion confirmed him in his principles as + to women. + </p> + <p> + On gala days the table was laid at Mademoiselle Cormon’s about half-past + three o’clock. At that period the fashionable people of Alencon dined at + four. Under the Empire they still dined as in former times at half-past + two; but then they supped! One of the pleasures which Mademoiselle Cormon + valued most was (without meaning any malice, although the fact certainly + rests on egotism) the unspeakable satisfaction she derived from seeing + herself dressed as mistress of the house to receive her guests. When she + was thus under arms a ray of hope would glide into the darkness of her + heart; a voice told her that nature had not so abundantly provided for her + in vain, and that some man, brave and enterprising, would surely present + himself. Her desire was refreshed like her person; she contemplated + herself in her heavy stuffs with a sort of intoxication, and this + satisfaction continued when she descended the stairs to cast her + redoubtable eye on the salon, the dinner-table, and the boudoir. She would + then walk about with the naive contentment of the rich,—who remember + at all moments that they are rich and will never want for anything. She + looked at her eternal furniture, her curiosities, her lacquers, and said + to herself that all these fine things wanted was a master. After admiring + the dining-room, and the oblong dinner-table, on which was spread a + snow-white cloth adorned with twenty covers placed at equal distances; + after verifying the squadron of bottles she had ordered to be brought up, + and which all bore honorable labels; after carefully verifying the names + written on little bits of paper in the trembling handwriting of the abbe + (the only duty he assumed in the household, and one which gave rise to + grave discussions on the place of each guest),—after going through + all these preliminary acts mademoiselle went, in her fine clothes, to her + uncle, who was accustomed at this, the best hour in the day, to take his + walk on the terrace which overlooked the Brillante, where he could listen + to the warble of birds which were resting in the coppice, unafraid of + either sportsmen or children. At such times of waiting she never joined + the Abbe de Sponde without asking him some ridiculous question, in order + to draw the old man into a discussion which might serve to amuse him. And + her reason was this,—which will serve to complete our picture of + this excellent woman’s nature:— + </p> + <p> + Mademoiselle Cormon regarded it as one of her duties to talk; not that she + was talkative, for she had unfortunately too few ideas, and did not know + enough phrases to converse readily. But she believed she was accomplishing + one of the social duties enjoined by religion, which orders us to make + ourselves agreeable to our neighbor. This obligation cost her so much that + she consulted her director, the Abbe Couturier, upon the subject of this + honest but puerile civility. In spite of the humble remark of his + penitent, confessing the inward labor of her mind in finding anything to + say, the old priest, rigid on the point of discipline, read her a passage + from Saint-Francois de Sales on the duties of women in society, which + dwelt on the decent gayety of pious Christian women, who were bound to + reserve their sternness for themselves, and to be amiable and pleasing in + their homes, and see that their neighbors enjoyed themselves. Thus, filled + with a sense of duty, and wishing, at all costs, to obey her director, who + bade her converse with amenity, the poor soul perspired in her corset when + the talk around her languished, so much did she suffer from the effort of + emitting ideas in order to revive it. Under such circumstances she would + put forth the silliest statements, such as: “No one can be in two places + at once—unless it is a little bird,” by which she one day roused, + and not without success, a discussion on the ubiquity of the apostles, + which she was unable to comprehend. Such efforts at conversation won her + the appellation of “that good Mademoiselle Cormon,” which, from the lips + of the beaux esprits of society, means that she was as ignorant as a carp, + and rather a poor fool; but many persons of her own calibre took the + remark in its literal sense, and answered:— + </p> + <p> + “Yes; oh yes! Mademoiselle Cormon is an excellent woman.” + </p> + <p> + Sometimes she would put such absurd questions (always for the purpose of + fulfilling her duties to society, and making herself agreeable to her + guests) that everybody burst out laughing. She asked, for instance, what + the government did with the taxes they were always receiving; and why the + Bible had not been printed in the days of Jesus Christ, inasmuch as it was + written by Moses. Her mental powers were those of the English “country + gentleman” who, hearing constant mention of “posterity” in the House of + Commons, rose to make the speech that has since become celebrated: + “Gentlemen,” he said, “I hear much talk in this place about Posterity. I + should be glad to know what that power has ever done for England.” + </p> + <p> + Under these circumstances the heroic Chevalier de Valois would bring to + the succor of the old maid all the powers of his clever diplomacy, + whenever he saw the pitiless smile of wiser heads. The old gentleman, who + loved to assist women, turned Mademoiselle Cormon’s sayings into wit by + sustaining them paradoxically, and he often covered the retreat so well + that it seemed as if the good woman had said nothing silly. She asserted + very seriously one evening that she did not see any difference between an + ox and a bull. The dear chevalier instantly arrested the peals of laughter + by asserting that there was only the difference between a sheep and a + lamb. + </p> + <p> + But the Chevalier de Valois served an ungrateful dame, for never did + Mademoiselle Cormon comprehend his chivalrous services. Observing that the + conversation grew lively, she simply thought that she was not so stupid as + she was,—the result being that she settled down into her ignorance + with some complacency; she lost her timidity, and acquired a + self-possession which gave to her “speeches” something of the solemnity + with which the British enunciate their patriotic absurdities,—the + self-conceit of stupidity, as it may be called. + </p> + <p> + As she approached her uncle, on this occasion, with a majestic step, she + was ruminating over a question that might draw him from a silence, which + always troubled her, for she feared he was dull. + </p> + <p> + “Uncle,” she said, leaning on his arm and clinging to his side (this was + one of her fictions; for she said to herself “If I had a husband I should + do just so”),—“uncle, if everything here below happens according to + the will of God, there must be a reason for everything.” + </p> + <p> + “Certainly,” replied the abbe, gravely. The worthy man, who cherished his + niece, always allowed her to tear him from his meditations with angelic + patience. + </p> + <p> + “Then if I remain unmarried,—supposing that I do,—God wills + it?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, my child,” replied the abbe. + </p> + <p> + “And yet, as nothing prevents me from marrying to-morrow if I choose, His + will can be destroyed by mine?” + </p> + <p> + “That would be true if we knew what was really the will of God,” replied + the former prior of the Sorbonne. “Observe, my daughter, that you put in + an <i>if</i>.” + </p> + <p> + The poor woman, who expected to draw her uncle into a matrimonial + discussion by an argument ad omnipotentem, was stupefied; but persons of + obtuse mind have the terrible logic of children, which consists in turning + from answer to question,—a logic that is frequently embarrassing. + </p> + <p> + “But, uncle, God did not make women intending them not to marry; otherwise + they ought all to stay unmarried; if not, they ought all to marry. There’s + great injustice in the distribution of parts.” + </p> + <p> + “Daughter,” said the worthy abbe, “you are blaming the Church, which + declares celibacy to be the better way to God.” + </p> + <p> + “But if the Church is right, and all the world were good Catholics, + wouldn’t the human race come to an end, uncle?” + </p> + <p> + “You have too much mind, Rose; you don’t need so much to be happy.” + </p> + <p> + That remark brought a smile of satisfaction to the lips of the poor woman, + and confirmed her in the good opinion she was beginning to acquire about + herself. That is how the world, our friends, and our enemies are the + accomplices of our defects! + </p> + <p> + At this moment the conversation was interrupted by the successive arrival + of the guests. On these ceremonial days, friendly familiarities were + exchanged between the servants of the house and the company. Mariette + remarked to the chief-justice as he passed the kitchen:— + </p> + <p> + “Ah, Monsieur du Ronceret, I’ve cooked the cauliflowers au gratin + expressly for you, for mademoiselle knows how you like them; and she said + to me: ‘Now don’t forget, Mariette, for Monsieur du Ronceret is coming.’” + </p> + <p> + “That good Mademoiselle Cormon!” ejaculated the chief legal authority of + the town. “Mariette, did you steep them in gravy instead of soup-stock? it + is much richer.” + </p> + <p> + The chief-justice was not above entering the chamber of council where + Mariette held court; he cast the eye of a gastronome around it, and + offered the advice of a past master in cookery. + </p> + <p> + “Good-day, madame,” said Josette to Madame Granson, who courted the maid. + “Mademoiselle has thought of you, and there’s fish for dinner.” + </p> + <p> + As for the Chevalier de Valois, he remarked to Mariette, in the easy tone + of a great seigneur who condescends to be familiar:— + </p> + <p> + “Well, my dear cordon-bleu, to whom I should give the cross of the Legion + of honor, is there some little dainty for which I had better reserve + myself?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, yes, Monsieur de Valois,—a hare sent from Prebaudet; weighs + fourteen pounds.” + </p> + <p> + Du Bousquier was not invited. Mademoiselle Cormon, faithful to the system + which we know of, treated that fifty-year-old suitor extremely ill, + although she felt inexplicable sentiments towards him in the depths of her + heart. She had refused him; yet at times she repented; and a presentiment + that she should yet marry him, together with a terror at the idea which + prevented her from wishing for the marriage, assailed her. Her mind, + stimulated by these feelings, was much occupied by du Bousquier. Without + being aware of it, she was influenced by the herculean form of the + republican. Madame Granson and the Chevalier de Valois, although they + could not explain to themselves Mademoiselle Cormon’s inconsistencies, had + detected her naive glances in that direction, the meaning of which seemed + clear enough to make them both resolve to ruin the hopes of the already + rejected purveyor,—hopes which it was evident he still indulged. + </p> + <p> + Two guests, whose functions excused them, kept the dinner waiting. One was + Monsieur du Coudrai, the recorder of mortgages; the other Monsieur + Choisnel, former bailiff to the house of Esgrignon, and now the notary of + the upper aristocracy, by whom he was received with a distinction due to + his virtues; he was also a man of considerable wealth. When the two + belated guests arrived, Jacquelin said to them as he saw them about to + enter the salon:— + </p> + <p> + “<i>They</i> are all in the garden.” + </p> + <p> + No doubt the assembled stomachs were impatient; for on the appearance of + the register of mortgages—who had no defect except that of having + married for her money an intolerable old woman, and of perpetrating + endless puns, at which he was the first to laugh—the gentle murmur + by which such late-comers are welcomed arose. While awaiting the official + announcement of dinner, the company were sauntering on the terrace above + the river, and gazing at the water-plants, the mosaic of the currents, and + the various pretty details of the houses clustering across the river, + their old wooden galleries, their mouldering window-frames, their little + gardens where clothes were drying, the cabinet-maker’s shop,—in + short, the many details of a small community to which the vicinity of a + river, a weeping willow, flowers, rose-bushes, added a certain grace, + making the scene quite worthy of a landscape painter. + </p> + <p> + The chevalier studied all faces, for he knew that his firebrand had been + very successfully introduced into the chief houses of the place. But no + one as yet referred openly to the great news of Suzanne and du Bousquier. + Provincials possess in the highest degree the art of distilling gossip; + the right moment for openly discussing this strange affair had not + arrived; it was first necessary that all present should put themselves on + record. So the whispers went round from ear to ear:— + </p> + <p> + “You have heard?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes.” + </p> + <p> + “Du Bousquier?” + </p> + <p> + “And that handsome Suzanne.” + </p> + <p> + “Does Mademoiselle Cormon know of it?” + </p> + <p> + “No.” + </p> + <p> + “Ha!” + </p> + <p> + This was the <i>piano</i> of the scandal; the <i>rinforzando</i> would + break forth as soon as the first course had been removed. Suddenly + Monsieur de Valois’s eyes lighted on Madame Granson, arrayed in her green + hat with bunches of auriculas, and beaming with evident joy. Was it merely + the joy of opening the concert? Though such a piece of news was like a + gold mine to work in the monotonous lives of these personages, the + observant and distrustful chevalier thought he recognized in the worthy + woman a far more extended sentiment; namely, the joy caused by the triumph + of self-interest. Instantly he turned to examine Athanase, and detected + him in the significant silence of deep meditation. Presently, a look cast + by the young man on Mademoiselle Cormon carried to the soul of the + chevalier a sudden gleam. That momentary flash of lightning enabled him to + read the past. + </p> + <p> + “Ha! the devil!” he said to himself; “what a checkmate I’m exposed to!” + </p> + <p> + Monsieur de Valois now approached Mademoiselle Cormon, and offered his + arm. The old maid’s feeling to the chevalier was that of respectful + consideration; and certainly his name, together with the position he + occupied among the aristocratic constellations of the department made him + the most brilliant ornament of her salon. In her inmost mind Mademoiselle + Cormon had wished for the last dozen years to become Madame de Valois. + That name was like the branch of a tree, to which the ideas which <i>swarmed</i> + in her mind about rank, nobility, and the external qualities of a husband + had fastened. But, though the Chevalier de Valois was the man chosen by + her heart, and mind, and ambition, that elderly ruin, combed and curled + like a little Saint-John in a procession, alarmed Mademoiselle Cormon. She + saw the gentleman in him, but she could not see a husband. The + indifference which the chevalier affected as to marriage, above all, the + apparent purity of his morals in a house which abounded in grisettes, did + singular harm in her mind to Monsieur de Valois against his expectations. + The worthy man, who showed such judgment in the matter of his annuity, was + at fault here. Without being herself aware of it, the thoughts of + Mademoiselle Cormon on the too virtuous chevalier might be translated + thus:— + </p> + <p> + “What a pity that he isn’t a trifle dissipated!” + </p> + <p> + Observers of the human heart have remarked the leaning of pious women + toward scamps; some have expressed surprise at this taste, considering it + opposed to Christian virtue. But, in the first place, what nobler destiny + can you offer to a virtuous woman than to purify, like charcoal, the muddy + waters of vice? How is it some observers fail to see that these noble + creatures, obliged by the sternness of their own principles never to + infringe on conjugal fidelity, must naturally desire a husband of wider + practical experience than their own? The scamps of social life are great + men in love. Thus the poor woman groaned in spirit at finding her chosen + vessel parted into two pieces. God alone could solder together a Chevalier + de Valois and a du Bousquier. + </p> + <p> + In order to explain the importance of the few words which the chevalier + and Mademoiselle Cormon are about to say to each other, it is necessary to + reveal two serious matters which agitated the town, and about which + opinions were divided; besides, du Bousquier was mysteriously connected + with them. + </p> + <p> + One concerns the rector of Alencon, who had formerly taken the + constitutional oath, and who was now conquering the repugnance of the + Catholics by a display of the highest virtues. He was Cheverus on a small + scale, and became in time so fully appreciated that when he died the whole + town mourned him. Mademoiselle Cormon and the Abbe de Sponde belonged to + that “little Church,” sublime in its orthodoxy, which was to the court of + Rome what the Ultras were to be to Louis XVIII. The abbe, more especially, + refused to recognize a Church which had compromised with the + constitutionals. The rector was therefore not received in the Cormon + household, whose sympathies were all given to the curate of Saint-Leonard, + the aristocratic parish of Alencon. Du Bousquier, that fanatic liberal now + concealed under the skin of a royalist, knowing how necessary rallying + points are to all discontents (which are really at the bottom of all + oppositions), had drawn the sympathies of the middle classes around the + rector. So much for the first case; the second was this:— + </p> + <p> + Under the secret inspiration of du Bousquier the idea of building a + theatre had dawned on Alencon. The henchmen of the purveyor did not know + their Mohammed; and they thought they were ardent in carrying out their + own conception. Athanase Granson was one of the warmest partisans for the + theatre; and of late he had urged at the mayor’s office a cause which all + the other young clerks had eagerly adopted. + </p> + <p> + The chevalier, as we have said, offered his arm to the old maid for a turn + on the terrace. She accepted it, not without thanking him by a happy look + for this attention, to which the chevalier replied by motioning toward + Athanase with a meaning eye. + </p> + <p> + “Mademoiselle,” he began, “you have so much sense and judgment in social + proprieties, and also, you are connected with that young man by certain + ties—” + </p> + <p> + “Distant ones,” she said, interrupting him. + </p> + <p> + “Ought you not,” he continued, “to use the influence you have over his + mother and over himself by saving him from perdition? He is not very + religious, as you know; indeed he approves of the rector; but that is not + all; there is something far more serious; isn’t he throwing himself + headlong into an opposition without considering what influence his present + conduct may exert upon his future? He is working for the construction of a + theatre. In this affair he is simply the dupe of that disguised republican + du Bousquier—” + </p> + <p> + “Good gracious! Monsieur de Valois,” she replied; “his mother is always + telling me he has so much mind, and yet he can’t say two words; he stands + planted before me as mum as a post—” + </p> + <p> + “Which doesn’t think at all!” cried the recorder of mortgages. “I caught + your words on the fly. I present my compliments to Monsieur de Valois,” he + added, bowing to that gentleman with much emphasis. + </p> + <p> + The chevalier returned the salutation stiffly, and drew Mademoiselle + Cormon toward some flower-pots at a little distance, in order to show the + interrupter that he did not choose to be spied upon. + </p> + <p> + “How is it possible,” he continued, lowering his voice, and leaning + towards Mademoiselle Cormon’s ear, “that a young man brought up in those + detestable lyceums should have ideas? Only sound morals and noble habits + will ever produce great ideas and a true love. It is easy to see by a mere + look at him that the poor lad is likely to be imbecile, and come, perhaps, + to some sad end. See how pale and haggard he is!” + </p> + <p> + “His mother declares he works too hard,” replied the old maid, innocently. + “He sits up late, and for what? reading books and writing! What business + ought to require a young man to write at night?” + </p> + <p> + “It exhausts him,” replied the chevalier, trying to bring the old maid’s + thoughts back to the ground where he hoped to inspire her with horror for + her youthful lover. “The morals of those Imperial lyceums are really + shocking.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, yes!” said the ingenuous creature. “They march the pupils about with + drums at their head. The masters have no more religion than pagans. And + they put the poor lads in uniform, as if they were troops. What ideas!” + </p> + <p> + “And behold the product!” said the chevalier, motioning to Athanase. “In + my day, young men were not so shy of looking at a pretty woman. As for + him, he drops his eyes whenever he sees you. That young man frightens me + because I am really interested in him. Tell him not to intrigue with the + Bonapartists, as he is now doing about that theatre. When all these petty + folks cease to ask for it insurrectionally,—which to my mind is the + synonym of constitutionally,—the government will build it. Besides + which, tell his mother to keep an eye on him.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, I’m sure she will prevent him from seeing those half-pay, + questionable people. I’ll talk to her,” said Mademoiselle Cormon, “for he + might lose his place in the mayor’s office; and then what would he and his + mother have to live on? It makes me shudder.” + </p> + <p> + As Monsieur de Talleyrand said of his wife, so the chevalier said to + himself, looking at Mademoiselle Cormon:— + </p> + <p> + “Find me another as stupid! Good powers! isn’t virtue which drives out + intellect vice? But what an adorable wife for a man of my age! What + principles! what ignorance!” + </p> + <p> + Remember that this monologue, addressed to the Princess Goritza, was + mentally uttered while he took a pinch of snuff. + </p> + <p> + Madame Granson had divined that the chevalier was talking about Athanase. + Eager to know the result of the conversation, she followed Mademoiselle + Cormon, who was now approaching the young man with much dignity. But at + this moment Jacquelin appeared to announce that mademoiselle was served. + The old maid gave a glance of appeal to the chevalier; but the gallant + recorder of mortgages, who was beginning to see in the manners of that + gentleman the barrier which the provincial nobles were setting up about + this time between themselves and the bourgeoisie, made the most of his + chance to cut out Monsieur de Valois. He was close to Mademoiselle Cormon, + and promptly offered his arm, which she found herself compelled to accept. + The chevalier then darted, out of policy, upon Madame Granson. + </p> + <p> + “Mademoiselle Cormon, my dear lady,” he said to her, walking slowly after + all the other guests, “feels the liveliest interest in your dear Athanase; + but I fear it will vanish through his own fault. He is irreligious and + liberal; he is agitating this matter of the theatre; he frequents the + Bonapartists; he takes the side of that rector. Such conduct may make him + lose his place in the mayor’s office. You know with what care the + government is beginning to weed out such opinions. If your dear Athanase + loses his place, where can he find other employment? I advise him not to + get himself in bad odor with the administration.” + </p> + <p> + “Monsieur le Chevalier,” said the poor frightened mother, “how grateful I + am to you! You are right: my son is the tool of a bad set of people; I + shall enlighten him.” + </p> + <p> + The chevalier had long since fathomed the nature of Athanase, and + recognized in it that unyielding element of republican convictions to + which in his youth a young man is willing to sacrifice everything, carried + away by the word “liberty,” so ill-defined and so little understood, but + which to persons disdained by fate is a banner of revolt; and to such, + revolt is vengeance. Athanase would certainly persist in that faith, for + his opinions were woven in with his artistic sorrows, with his bitter + contemplation of the social state. He was ignorant of the fact that at + thirty-six years of age,—the period of life when a man has judged + men and social interests and relations,—the opinions for which he + was ready to sacrifice his future would be modified in him, as they are in + all men of real superiority. To remain faithful to the Left side of + Alencon was to gain the aversion of Mademoiselle Cormon. There, indeed, + the chevalier saw true. + </p> + <p> + Thus we see that this society, so peaceful in appearance, was internally + as agitated as any diplomatic circle, where craft, ability, and passions + group themselves around the grave questions of an empire. The guests were + now seated at the table laden with the first course, which they ate as + provincials eat, without shame at possessing a good appetite, and not as + in Paris, where it seems as if jaws gnashed under sumptuary laws, which + made it their business to contradict the laws of anatomy. In Paris people + eat with their teeth, and trifle with their pleasure; in the provinces + things are done naturally, and interest is perhaps rather too much + concentrated on the grand and universal means of existence to which God + has condemned his creatures. + </p> + <p> + It was at the end of the first course that Mademoiselle Cormon made the + most celebrated of her “speeches”; it was talked about for fully two + years, and is still told at the gatherings of the lesser bourgeoisie + whenever the topic of her marriage comes up. + </p> + <p> + The conversation, becoming lively as the penultimate entree was reached, + had turned naturally on the affair of the theatre and the constitutionally + sworn rector. In the first fervor of royalty, during the year 1816, those + who later were called Jesuits were all for the expulsion of the Abbe + Francois from his parish. Du Bousquier, suspected by Monsieur de Valois of + sustaining the priest and being at the bottom of the theatre intrigues, + and on whose back the adroit chevalier would in any case have put those + sins with his customary cleverness, was in the dock with no lawyer to + defend him. Athanase, the only guest loyal enough to stand by du + Bousquier, had not the nerve to emit his ideas in the presence of those + potentates of Alencon, whom in his heart he thought stupid. None but + provincial youths now retain a respectful demeanor before men of a certain + age, and dare neither to censure nor contradict them. The talk, diminished + under the effect of certain delicious ducks dressed with olives, was + falling flat. Mademoiselle Cormon, feeling the necessity of maintaining it + against her own ducks, attempted to defend du Bousquier, who was being + represented as a pernicious fomenter of intrigues, capable of any + trickery. + </p> + <p> + “As for me,” she said, “I thought that Monsieur du Bousquier cared chiefly + for childish things.” + </p> + <p> + Under existing circumstances the remark had enormous success. Mademoiselle + Cormon obtained a great triumph; she brought the nose of the Princess + Goritza flat on the table. The chevalier, who little expected such an apt + remark from his Dulcinea, was so amazed that he could at first find no + words to express his admiration; he applauded noiselessly, as they do at + the Opera, tapping his fingers together to imitate applause. + </p> + <p> + “She is adorably witty,” he said to Madame Granson. “I always said that + some day she would unmask her batteries.” + </p> + <p> + “In private she is always charming,” replied the widow. + </p> + <p> + “In private, madame, all women have wit,” returned the chevalier. + </p> + <p> + The Homeric laugh thus raised having subsided, Mademoiselle Cormon asked + the reason of her success. Then began the <i>forte</i> of the gossip. Du + Bousquier was depicted as a species of celibate Pere Gigogne, a monster, + who for the last fifteen years had kept the Foundling Hospital supplied. + His immoral habits were at last revealed! these Parisian saturnalias were + the result of them, etc., etc. Conducted by the Chevalier de Valois, a + most able leader of an orchestra of this kind, the opening of the <i>cancan</i> + was magnificent. + </p> + <p> + “I really don’t know,” he said, “what should hinder a du Bousquier from + marrying a Mademoiselle Suzanne What’s-her-name. What <i>is</i> her name, + do you know? Suzette! Though I have lodgings at Madame Lardot’s, I know + her girls only by sight. If this Suzette is a tall, fine, saucy girl, with + gray eyes, a slim waist, and a pretty foot, whom I have occasionally seen, + and whose behavior always seemed to me extremely insolent, she is far + superior in manners to du Bousquier. Besides, the girl has the nobility of + beauty; from that point of view the marriage would be a poor one for her; + she might do better. You know how the Emperor Joseph had the curiosity to + see the du Barry at Luciennes. He offered her his arm to walk about, and + the poor thing was so surprised at the honor that she hesitated to accept + it: ‘Beauty is ever a queen,’ said the Emperor. And he, you know, was an + Austrian-German,” added the chevalier. “But I can tell you that Germany, + which is thought here very rustic, is a land of noble chivalry and fine + manners, especially in Poland and Hungary, where—” + </p> + <p> + Here the chevalier stopped, fearing to slip into some allusion to his + personal happiness; he took out his snuff-box, and confided the rest of + his remarks to the princess, who had smiled upon him for thirty-six years + and more. + </p> + <p> + “That speech was rather a delicate one for Louis XV.,” said du Ronceret. + </p> + <p> + “But it was, I think, the Emperor Joseph who made it, and not Louis XV.,” + remarked Mademoiselle Cormon, in a correcting tone. + </p> + <p> + “Mademoiselle,” said the chevalier, observing the malicious glance + exchanged between the judge, the notary, and the recorder, “Madame du + Barry was the Suzanne of Louis XV.,—a circumstance well known to + scamps like ourselves, but unsuitable for the knowledge of young ladies. + Your ignorance proves you to be a flawless diamond; historical corruptions + do not enter your mind.” + </p> + <p> + The Abbe de Sponde looked graciously at the Chevalier de Valois, and + nodded his head in sign of his laudatory approbation. + </p> + <p> + “Doesn’t mademoiselle know history?” asked the recorder of mortgages. + </p> + <p> + “If you mix up Louis XV. and this girl Suzanne, how am I to know history?” + replied Mademoiselle Cormon, angelically, glad to see that the dish of + ducks was empty at last, and the conversation so ready to revive that all + present laughed with their mouths full at her last remark. + </p> + <p> + “Poor girl!” said the Abbe de Sponde. “When a great misfortune happens, + charity, which is divine love, and as blind as pagan love, ought not to + look into the causes of it. Niece, you are president of the Maternity + Society; you must succor that poor girl, who will now find it difficult to + marry.” + </p> + <p> + “Poor child!” ejaculated Mademoiselle Cormon. + </p> + <p> + “Do you suppose du Bousquier would marry her?” asked the judge. + </p> + <p> + “If he is an honorable man he ought to do so,” said Madame Granson; “but + really, to tell the truth, my dog has better morals than he—” + </p> + <p> + “Azor is, however, a good purveyor,” said the recorder of mortgages, with + the air of saying a witty thing. + </p> + <p> + At dessert du Bousquier was still the topic of conversation, having given + rise to various little jokes which the wine rendered sparkling. Following + the example of the recorder, each guest capped his neighbor’s joke with + another: Du Bousquier was a father, but not a confessor; he was father + less; he was father LY; he was not a reverend father; nor yet a + conscript-father— + </p> + <p> + “Nor can he be a foster-father,” said the Abbe de Sponde, with a gravity + which stopped the laughter. + </p> + <p> + “Nor a noble father,” added the chevalier. + </p> + <p> + The Church and the nobility descended thus into the arena of puns, + without, however, losing their dignity. + </p> + <p> + “Hush!” exclaimed the recorder of mortgages. “I hear the creaking of du + Bousquier’s boots.” + </p> + <p> + It usually happens that a man is ignorant of rumors that are afloat about + him. A whole town may be talking of his affairs; may calumniate and decry + him, but if he has no good friends, he will know nothing about it. Now the + innocent du Bousquier was superb in his ignorance. No one had told him as + yet of Suzanne’s revelations; he therefore appeared very jaunty and + slightly conceited when the company, leaving the dining-room, returned to + the salon for their coffee; several other guests had meantime assembled + for the evening. Mademoiselle Cormon, from a sense of shamefacedness, + dared not look at the terrible seducer. She seized upon Athanase, and + began to lecture him with the queerest platitudes about royalist politics + and religious morality. Not possessing, like the Chevalier de Valois, a + snuff-box adorned with a princess, by the help of which he could stand + this torrent of silliness, the poor poet listened to the words of her whom + he loved with a stupid air, gazing, meanwhile, at her enormous bust, which + held itself before him in that still repose which is the attribute of all + great masses. His love produced in him a sort of intoxication which + changed the shrill voice of the old maid into a soft murmur, and her flat + remarks into witty speeches. Love is a maker of false coin, continually + changing copper pennies into gold-pieces, and sometimes turning its real + gold into copper. + </p> + <p> + “Well, Athanase, will you promise me?” + </p> + <p> + This final sentence struck the ear of the absorbed young man like one of + those noises which wake us with a bound. + </p> + <p> + “What, mademoiselle?” + </p> + <p> + Mademoiselle Cormon rose hastily, and looked at du Bousquier, who at that + moment resembled the stout god of Fable which the Republic stamped upon + her coins. She walked up to Madame Granson, and said in her ear:— + </p> + <p> + “My dear friend, you son is an idiot. That lyceum has ruined him,” she + added, remembering the insistence with which the chevalier had spoken of + the evils of education in such schools. + </p> + <p> + What a catastrophe! Unknown to himself, the luckless Athanase had had an + occasion to fling an ember of his own fire upon the pile of brush gathered + in the heart of the old maid. Had he listened to her, he might have made + her, then and there, perceive his passion; for, in the agitated state of + Mademoiselle Cormon’s mind, a single word would have sufficed. But that + stupid absorption in his own sentiments, which characterizes young and + true love, had ruined him, as a child full of life sometimes kills itself + out of ignorance. + </p> + <p> + “What have you been saying to Mademoiselle Cormon?” demanded his mother. + </p> + <p> + “Nothing.” + </p> + <p> + “Nothing; well, I can explain that,” she thought to herself, putting off + till the next day all further reflection on the matter, and attaching but + little importance to Mademoiselle Cormon’s words; for she fully believed + that du Bousquier was forever lost in the old maid’s esteem after the + revelation of that evening. + </p> + <p> + Soon the four tables were filled with their sixteen players. Four persons + were playing piquet,—an expensive game, at which the most money was + lost. Monsieur Choisnel, the procureur-du-roi, and two ladies went into + the boudoir for a game at backgammon. The glass lustres were lighted; and + then the flower of Mademoiselle Cormon’s company gathered before the + fireplace, on sofas, and around the tables, and each couple said to her as + they arrived,— + </p> + <p> + “So you are going to-morrow to Prebaudet?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, I really must,” she replied. + </p> + <p> + On this occasion the mistress of the house appeared preoccupied. Madame + Granson was the first to perceive the quite unnatural state of the old + maid’s mind,—Mademoiselle Cormon was thinking! + </p> + <p> + “What are you thinking of, cousin?” she said at last, finding her seated + in the boudoir. + </p> + <p> + “I am thinking,” she replied, “of that poor girl. As the president of the + Maternity Society, I will give you fifty francs for her.” + </p> + <p> + “Fifty francs!” cried Madame Granson. “But you have never given as much as + that.” + </p> + <p> + “But, my dear cousin, it is so natural to have children.” + </p> + <p> + That immoral speech coming from the heart of the old maid staggered the + treasurer of the Maternity Society. Du Bousquier had evidently advanced in + the estimation of Mademoiselle Cormon. + </p> + <p> + “Upon my word,” said Madame Granson, “du Bousquier is not only a monster, + he is a villain. When a man has done a wrong like that, he ought to pay + the indemnity. Isn’t it his place rather than ours to look after the girl?—who, + to tell you the truth, seems to me rather questionable; there are plenty + of better men in Alencon than that cynic du Bousquier. A girl must be + depraved, indeed, to go after him.” + </p> + <p> + “Cynic! Your son teaches you to talk Latin, my dear, which is wholly + incomprehensible. Certainly I don’t wish to excuse Monsieur du Bousquier; + but pray explain to me why a woman is depraved because she prefers one man + to another.” + </p> + <p> + “My dear cousin, suppose you married my son Athanase; nothing could be + more natural. He is young and handsome, full of promise, and he will be + the glory of Alencon; and yet everybody will exclaim against you: evil + tongues will say all sorts of things; jealous women will accuse you of + depravity,—but what will that matter? you will be loved, and loved + truly. If Athanase seemed to you an idiot, my dear, it is that he has too + many ideas; extremes meet. He lives the life of a girl of fifteen; he has + never wallowed in the impurities of Paris, not he! Well, change the terms, + as my poor husband used to say; it is the same thing with du Bousquier in + connection with Suzanne. <i>You</i> would be calumniated; but in the case + of du Bousquier, the charge would be true. Don’t you understand me?” + </p> + <p> + “No more than if you were talking Greek,” replied Mademoiselle Cormon, who + opened her eyes wide, and strained all the forces of her intellect. + </p> + <p> + “Well, cousin, if I must dot all the i’s, it is impossible for Suzanne to + love du Bousquier. And if the heart counts for nothing in this affair—” + </p> + <p> + “But, cousin, what do people love with if not their hearts?” + </p> + <p> + Here Madame Granson said to herself, as the chevalier had previously + thought: “My poor cousin is altogether too innocent; such stupidity passes + all bounds!—Dear child,” she continued aloud, “it seems to me that + children are not conceived by the spirit only.” + </p> + <p> + “Why, yes, my dear; the Holy Virgin herself—” + </p> + <p> + “But, my love, du Bousquier isn’t the Holy Ghost!” + </p> + <p> + “True,” said the old maid; “he is a man!—a man whose personal + appearance makes him dangerous enough for his friends to advise him to + marry.” + </p> + <p> + “You could yourself bring about that result, cousin.” + </p> + <p> + “How so?” said the old maid, with the meekness of Christian charity. + </p> + <p> + “By not receiving him in your house until he marries. You owe it to good + morals and to religion to manifest under such circumstances an exemplary + displeasure.” + </p> + <p> + “On my return from Prebaudet we will talk further of this, my dear Madame + Granson. I will consult my uncle and the Abbe Couturier,” said + Mademoiselle Cormon, returning to the salon, where the animation was now + at its height. + </p> + <p> + The lights, the group of women in their best clothes, the solemn tone, the + dignified air of the assembly, made Mademoiselle Cormon not a little proud + of her company. To many persons nothing better could be seen in Paris in + the highest society. + </p> + <p> + At this moment du Bousquier, who was playing whist with the chevalier and + two old ladies,—Madame du Coudrai and Madame du Ronceret,—was + the object of deep but silent curiosity. A few young women arrived, who, + under pretext of watching the game, gazed fixedly at him in so singular a + manner, though slyly, that the old bachelor began to think that there must + be some deficiency in his toilet. + </p> + <p> + “Can my false front be crooked?” he asked himself, seized by one of those + anxieties which beset old bachelors. + </p> + <p> + He took advantage of a lost trick, which ended a seventh rubber, to rise + and leave the table. + </p> + <p> + “I can’t touch a card without losing,” he said. “I am decidedly too + unlucky.” + </p> + <p> + “But you are lucky in other ways,” said the chevalier, giving him a sly + look. + </p> + <p> + That speech naturally made the rounds of the salon, where every one + exclaimed on the exquisite taste of the chevalier, the Prince de + Talleyrand of the province. + </p> + <p> + “There’s no one like Monsieur de Valois for such wit.” + </p> + <p> + Du Bousquier went to look at himself in a little oblong mirror, placed + above the “Deserter,” but he saw nothing strange in his appearance. + </p> + <p> + After innumerable repetitions of the same text, varied in all keys, the + departure of the company took place about ten o’clock, through the long + antechamber, Mademoiselle Cormon conducting certain of her favorite guests + to the portico. There the groups parted; some followed the Bretagne road + towards the chateau; the others went in the direction of the river Sarthe. + Then began the usual conversation, which for twenty years had echoed at + that hour through this particular street of Alencon. It was invariably:— + </p> + <p> + “Mademoiselle Cormon looked very well to-night.” + </p> + <p> + “Mademoiselle Cormon? why, I thought her rather strange.” + </p> + <p> + “How that poor abbe fails! Did you notice that he slept? He does not know + what cards he holds; he is getting very absent-minded.” + </p> + <p> + “We shall soon have the grief of losing him.” + </p> + <p> + “What a fine night! It will be a fine day to-morrow.” + </p> + <p> + “Good weather for the apple-blossoms.” + </p> + <p> + “You beat us; but when you play with Monsieur de Valois you never do + otherwise.” + </p> + <p> + “How much did he win?” + </p> + <p> + “Well, to-night, three or four francs; he never loses.” + </p> + <p> + “True; and don’t you know there are three hundred and sixty-five days a + year? At that price his gains are the value of a farm.” + </p> + <p> + “Ah! what hands we had to-night!” + </p> + <p> + “Here you are at home, monsieur and madame, how lucky you are, while we + have half the town to cross!” + </p> + <p> + “I don’t pity you; you could afford a carriage, and dispense with the + fatigue of going on foot.” + </p> + <p> + “Ah, monsieur! we have a daughter to marry, which takes off one wheel, and + the support of our son in Paris carries off another.” + </p> + <p> + “You persist in making a magistrate of him?” + </p> + <p> + “What else can be done with a young man? Besides, there’s no shame in + serving the king.” + </p> + <p> + Sometimes a discussion on ciders and flax, always couched in the same + terms, and returning at the same time of year, was continued on the + homeward way. If any observer of human customs had lived in this street, + he would have known the months and seasons by simply overhearing the + conversations. + </p> + <p> + On this occasion it was exclusively jocose; for du Bousquier, who chanced + to march alone in front of the groups, was humming the well-known air,—little + thinking of its appropriateness,—“Tender woman! hear the warble of + the birds,” etc. To some, du Bousquier was a strong man and a misjudged + man. Ever since he had been confirmed in his present office by a royal + decree, Monsieur du Ronceret had been in favor of du Bousquier. To others + the purveyor seemed dangerous,—a man of bad habits, capable of + anything. In the provinces, as in Paris, men before the public eye are + like that statue in the fine allegorical tale of Addison, for which two + knights on arriving near it fought; for one saw it white, the other saw it + black. Then, when they were both off their horses, they saw it was white + one side and black the other. A third knight coming along declared it red. + </p> + <p> + When the chevalier went home that night, he made many reflections, as + follows:— + </p> + <p> + “It is high time now to spread a rumor of my marriage with Mademoiselle + Cormon. It will leak out from the d’Esgrignon salon, and go straight to + the bishop at Seez, and so get round through the grand vicars to the + curate of Saint-Leonard’s, who will be certain to tell it to the Abbe + Couturier; and Mademoiselle Cormon will get the shot in her upper works. + The old Marquis d’Esgrignon shall invite the Abbe de Sponde to dinner, so + as to stop all gossip about Mademoiselle Cormon if I decide against her, + or about me if she refuses me. The abbe shall be well cajoled; and + Mademoiselle Cormon will certainly not hold out against a visit from + Mademoiselle Armande, who will show her the grandeur and future chances of + such an alliance. The abbe’s property is undoubtedly as much as three + hundred thousand; her own savings must amount to more than two hundred + thousand; she has her house and Prebaudet and fifteen thousand francs a + year. A word to my friend the Comte de Fontaine, and I should be mayor of + Alencon to-morrow, and deputy. Then, once seated on the Right benches, we + shall reach the peerage, shouting, ‘Cloture!’ ‘Ordre!’” + </p> + <p> + As soon as she reached home Madame Granson had a lively argument with her + son, who could not be made to see the connection which existed between his + love and his political opinions. It was the first quarrel that had ever + troubled that poor household. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0006" id="link2HCH0006"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER VI. FINAL DISAPPOINTMENT AND ITS FIRST RESULT + </h2> + <p> + The next day, Mademoiselle Cormon, packed into the old carriole with + Josette, and looking like a pyramid on a vast sea of parcels, drove up the + rue Saint-Blaise on her way to Prebaudet, where she was overtaken by an + event which hurried on her marriage,—an event entirely unlooked for + by either Madame Granson, du Bousquier, Monsieur de Valois, or + Mademoiselle Cormon himself. Chance is the greatest of all artificers. + </p> + <p> + The day after her arrival at Prebaudet, she was innocently employed, about + eight o’clock in the morning, in listening, as she breakfasted, to the + various reports of her keeper and her gardener, when Jacquelin made a + violent irruption into the dining-room. + </p> + <p> + “Mademoiselle,” he cried, out of breath, “Monsieur l’abbe sends you an + express, the son of Mere Grosmort, with a letter. The lad left Alencon + before daylight, and he has just arrived; he ran like Penelope! Can’t I + give him a glass of wine?” + </p> + <p> + “What can have happened, Josette? Do you think my uncle can be—” + </p> + <p> + “He couldn’t write if he were,” said Josette, guessing her mistress’s + fears. + </p> + <p> + “Quick! quick!” cried Mademoiselle Cormon, as soon as she had read the + first lines. “Tell Jacquelin to harness Penelope—Get ready, Josette; + pack up everything in half an hour. We must go back to town—” + </p> + <p> + “Jacquelin!” called Josette, excited by the sentiment she saw on her + mistress’s face. + </p> + <p> + Jacquelin, informed by Josette, came in to say,— + </p> + <p> + “But, mademoiselle, Penelope is eating her oats.” + </p> + <p> + “What does that signify? I must start at once.” + </p> + <p> + “But, mademoiselle, it is going to rain.” + </p> + <p> + “Then we shall get wet.” + </p> + <p> + “The house is on fire!” muttered Josette, piqued at the silence her + mistress kept as to the contents of the letter, which she read and reread. + </p> + <p> + “Finish your coffee, at any rate, mademoiselle; don’t excite your blood; + just see how red you are.” + </p> + <p> + “Am I red, Josette?” she said, going to a mirror, from which the + quicksilver was peeling, and which presented her features to her upside + down. + </p> + <p> + “Good heavens!” thought Mademoiselle Cormon, “suppose I should look ugly! + Come, Josette; come, my dear, dress me at once; I want to be ready before + Jacquelin has harnessed Penelope. If you can’t pack my things in time, I + will leave them here rather than lose a single minute.” + </p> + <p> + If you have thoroughly comprehended the positive monomania to which the + desire of marriage had brought Mademoiselle Cormon, you will share her + emotion. The worthy uncle announced in this sudden missive that Monsieur + de Troisville, of the Russian army during the Emigration, grandson of one + of his best friends, was desirous of retiring to Alencon, and asked his, + the abbe’s hospitality, on the ground of his friendship for his + grandfather, the Vicomte de Troisville. The old abbe, alarmed at the + responsibility, entreated his niece to return instantly and help him to + receive this guest, and do the honors of the house; for the viscount’s + letter had been delayed, and he might descend upon his shoulders that very + night. + </p> + <p> + After reading this missive could there be a question of the demands of + Prebaudet? The keeper and the gardener, witnesses to Mademoiselle Cormon’s + excitement, stood aside and awaited her orders. But when, as she was about + to leave the room, they stopped her to ask for instructions, for the first + time in her life the despotic old maid, who saw to everything at Prebaudet + with her own eyes, said, to their stupefaction, “Do what you like.” This + from a mistress who carried her administration to the point of counting + her fruits, and marking them so as to order their consumption according to + the number and condition of each! + </p> + <p> + “I believe I’m dreaming,” thought Josette, as she saw her mistress flying + down the staircase like an elephant to which God has given wings. + </p> + <p> + Presently, in spite of a driving rain, Mademoiselle Cormon drove away from + Prebaudet, leaving her factotums with the reins on their necks. Jacquelin + dared not take upon himself to hasten the usual little trot of the + peaceable Penelope, who, like the beautiful queen whose name she bore, had + an appearance of making as many steps backward as she made forward. + Impatient with the pace, mademoiselle ordered Jacquelin in a sharp voice + to drive at a gallop, with the whip, if necessary, to the great + astonishment of the poor beast, so afraid was she of not having time to + arrange the house suitably to receive Monsieur de Troisville. She + calculated that the grandson of her uncle’s friend was probably about + forty years of age; a soldier just from service was undoubtedly a + bachelor; and she resolved, her uncle aiding, not to let Monsieur de + Troisville quit their house in the condition he entered it. Though + Penelope galloped, Mademoiselle Cormon, absorbed in thoughts of her + trousseau and the wedding-day, declared again and again that Jacquelin + made no way at all. She twisted about in the carriole without replying to + Josette’s questions, and talked to herself like a person who is mentally + revolving important designs. + </p> + <p> + The carriole at last arrived in the main street of Alencon, called the rue + Saint-Blaise at the end toward Montagne, but near the hotel du More it + takes the name of the rue de la Porte-de-Seez, and becomes the rue du + Bercail as it enters the road to Brittany. If the departure of + Mademoiselle Cormon made a great noise in Alencon, it is easy to imagine + the uproar caused by her sudden return on the following day, in a pouring + rain which beat her face without her apparently minding it. Penelope at a + full gallop was observed by every one, and Jacquelin’s grin, the early + hour, the parcels stuffed into the carriole topsy-turvy, and the evident + impatience of Mademoiselle Cormon were all noted. + </p> + <p> + The property of the house of Troisville lay between Alencon and Mortagne. + Josette knew the various branches of the family. A word dropped by + mademoiselle as they entered Alencon had put Josette on the scent of the + affair; and a discussion having started between them, it was settled that + the expected de Troisville must be between forty and forty-two years of + age, a bachelor, and neither rich nor poor. Mademoiselle Cormon beheld + herself speedily Vicomtesse de Troisville. + </p> + <p> + “And to think that my uncle told me nothing! thinks of nothing! inquires + nothing! That’s my uncle all over. He’d forget his own nose if it wasn’t + fastened to his face.” + </p> + <p> + Have you never remarked that, under circumstances such as these, old maids + become, like Richard III., keen-witted, fierce, bold, promissory,—if + one may so use the word,—and, like inebriate clerks, no longer in + awe of anything? + </p> + <p> + Immediately the town of Alencon, speedily informed from the farther end of + the rue de Saint-Blaise to the gate of Seez of this precipitate return, + accompanied by singular circumstances, was perturbed throughout its + viscera, both public and domestic. Cooks, shopkeepers, street passengers, + told the news from door to door; thence it rose to the upper regions. Soon + the words: “Mademoiselle Cormon has returned!” burst like a bombshell into + all households. At that moment Jacquelin was descending from his wooden + seat (polished by a process unknown to cabinet-makers), on which he + perched in front of the carriole. He opened the great green gate, round at + the top, and closed in sign of mourning; for during Mademoiselle Cormon’s + absence the evening assemblies did not take place. The faithful invited + the Abbe de Sponde to their several houses; and Monsieur de Valois paid + his debt by inviting him to dine at the Marquis d’Esgrignon’s. Jacquelin, + having opened the gate, called familiarly to Penelope, whom he had left in + the middle of the street. That animal, accustomed to this proceeding, + turned in of herself, and circled round the courtyard in a manner to avoid + injuring the flower-bed. Jacquelin then took her bridle, and led the + carriage to the portico. + </p> + <p> + “Mariette!” cried Mademoiselle Cormon. + </p> + <p> + “Mademoiselle!” exclaimed Mariette, who was occupied in closing the gate. + </p> + <p> + “Has the gentleman arrived?” + </p> + <p> + “No, mademoiselle.” + </p> + <p> + “Where’s my uncle?” + </p> + <p> + “He is at church, mademoiselle.” + </p> + <p> + Jacquelin and Josette were by this time on the first step of the portico, + holding out their hands to manoeuvre the exit of their mistress from the + carriole as she pulled herself up by the sides of the vehicle and clung to + the curtains. Mademoiselle then threw herself into their arms; because for + the last two years she dared not risk her weight on the iron step, affixed + to the frame of the carriage by a horrible mechanism of clumsy bolts. + </p> + <p> + When Mademoiselle Cormon reached the level of the portico she looked about + her courtyard with an air of satisfaction. + </p> + <p> + “Come, come, Mariette, leave that gate alone; I want you.” + </p> + <p> + “There’s something in the wind,” whispered Jacquelin, as Mariette passed + the carriole. + </p> + <p> + “Mariette, what provisions have you in the house?” asked Mademoiselle + Cormon, sitting down on the bench in the long antechamber like a person + overcome with fatigue. + </p> + <p> + “I haven’t anything,” replied Mariette, with her hands on her hips. + “Mademoiselle knows very well that during her absence Monsieur l’abbe + dines out every day. Yesterday I went to fetch him from Mademoiselle + Armande’s.” + </p> + <p> + “Where is he now?” + </p> + <p> + “Monsieur l’abbe? Why, at church; he won’t be in before three o’clock.” + </p> + <p> + “He thinks of nothing! he ought to have told you to go to market. + Mariette, go at once; and without wasting money, don’t spare it; get all + there is that is good and delicate. Go to the diligence office and see if + you can send for pates; and I want shrimps from the Brillante. What + o’clock is it?” + </p> + <p> + “A quarter to nine.” + </p> + <p> + “Good heavens! Mariette, don’t stop to chatter. The person my uncle + expects may arrive at any moment. If we had to give him breakfast, where + should we be with nothing in the house?” + </p> + <p> + Mariette turned back to Penelope in a lather, and looked at Jacquelin as + if she would say, “Mademoiselle has put her hand on a husband <i>this</i> + time.” + </p> + <p> + “Now, Josette,” continued the old maid, “let us see where we had better + put Monsieur de Troisville to sleep.” + </p> + <p> + With what joy she said the words, “Put Monsieur de Troisville” (pronounced + Treville) “to sleep.” How many ideas in those few words! The old maid was + bathed in hope. + </p> + <p> + “Will you put him in the green chamber?” + </p> + <p> + “The bishop’s room? No; that’s too near mine,” said Mademoiselle Cormon. + “All very well for monseigneur; he’s a saintly man.” + </p> + <p> + “Give him your uncle’s room.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, that’s so bare; it is actually indecent.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, then, mademoiselle, why not arrange a bed in your boudoir? It is + easily done; and there’s a fire-place. Moreau can certainly find in his + warerooms a bed to match the hangings.” + </p> + <p> + “You are right, Josette. Go yourself to Moreau; consult with him what to + do; I authorize you to get what is wanted. If the bed could be put up + to-night without Monsieur de Troisville observing it (in case Monsieur de + Troisville arrives while Moreau is here), I should like it. If Moreau + won’t engage to do this, then I must put Monsieur de Troisville in the + green room, although Monsieur de Troisville would be so very near to me.” + </p> + <p> + Josette was departing when her mistress recalled her. + </p> + <p> + “Stop! explain the matter to Jacquelin,” she cried, in a loud nervous + tone. “Tell <i>him</i> to go to Moreau; I must be dressed! Fancy if + Monsieur de Troisville surprised me as I am now! and my uncle not here to + receive him! Oh, uncle, uncle! Come, Josette; come and dress me at once.” + </p> + <p> + “But Penelope?” said Josette, imprudently. + </p> + <p> + “Always Penelope! Penelope this, Penelope that! Is Penelope the mistress + of this house?” + </p> + <p> + “But she is all of a lather, and she hasn’t had time to eat her oats.” + </p> + <p> + “Then let her starve!” cried Mademoiselle Cormon; “provided I marry,” she + thought to herself. + </p> + <p> + Hearing these words, which seemed to her like homicide, Josette stood + still for a moment, speechless. Then, at a gesture from her mistress, she + ran headlong down the steps of the portico. + </p> + <p> + “The devil is in her, Jacquelin,” were the first words she uttered. + </p> + <p> + Thus all things conspired on this fateful day to produce the great scenic + effect which decided the future life of Mademoiselle Cormon. The town was + already topsy-turvy in mind, as a consequence of the five extraordinary + circumstances which accompanied Mademoiselle Cormon’s return; to wit, the + pouring rain; Penelope at a gallop, in a lather, and blown; the early + hour; the parcels half-packed; and the singular air of the excited old + maid. But when Mariette made an invasion of the market, and bought all the + best things; when Jacquelin went to the principal upholsterer in Alencon, + two doors from the church, in search of a bed,—there was matter for + the gravest conjectures. These extraordinary events were discussed on all + sides; they occupied the minds of every one, even Mademoiselle Armande + herself, with whom was Monsieur de Valois. Within two days the town of + Alencon had been agitated by such startling events that certain good women + were heard to remark that the world was coming to an end. This last news, + however, resolved itself into a single question, “What is happening at the + Cormons?” + </p> + <p> + The Abbe de Sponde, adroitly questioned when he left Saint-Leonard’s to + take his daily walk with the Abbe Couturier, replied with his usual + kindliness that he expected the Vicomte de Troisville, a nobleman in the + service of Russia during the Emigration, who was returning to Alencon to + settle there. From two to five o’clock a species of labial telegraphy went + on throughout the town; and all the inhabitants learned that Mademoiselle + Cormon had at last found a husband by letter, and was about to marry the + Vicomte de Troisville. Some said, “Moreau has sold them a bed.” The bed + was six feet wide in that quarter; it was four feet wide at Madame + Granson’s, in the rue du Bercail; but it was reduced to a simple couch at + Monsieur du Ronceret’s, where du Bousquier was dining. The lesser + bourgeoisie declared that the cost was eleven hundred francs. But + generally it was thought that, as to this, rumor was counting the chickens + before they were hatched. In other quarters it was said that Mariette had + made such a raid on the market that the price of carp had risen. At the + end of the rue Saint-Blaise, Penelope had dropped dead. This decease was + doubted in the house of the receiver-general; but at the Prefecture it was + authenticated that the poor beast had expired as she turned into the + courtyard of the hotel Cormon, with such velocity had the old maid flown + to meet her husband. The harness-maker, who lived at the corner of the rue + de Seez, was bold enough to call at the house and ask if anything had + happened to Mademoiselle Cormon’s carriage, in order to discover whether + Penelope was really dead. From the end of the rue Saint-Blaise to the end + of the rue du Bercail, it was then made known that, thanks to Jacquelin’s + devotion, Penelope, that silent victim of her mistress’s impetuosity, + still lived, though she seemed to be suffering. + </p> + <p> + Along the road to Brittany the Vicomte de Troisville was stated to be a + younger son without a penny, for the estates in Perche belonged to the + Marquis de Troisville, peer of France, who had children; the marriage + would be, therefore, an enormous piece of luck for a poor emigre. The + aristocracy along that road approved of the marriage; Mademoiselle Cormon + could not do better with her money. But among the Bourgeoisie, the Vicomte + de Troisville was a Russian general who had fought against France, and was + now returning with a great fortune made at the court of Saint-Petersburg; + he was a <i>foreigner</i>; one of those <i>allies</i> so hated by the + liberals; the Abbe de Sponde had slyly negotiated this marriage. All the + persons who had a right to call upon Mademoiselle Cormon determined to do + so that very evening. + </p> + <p> + During this transurban excitement, which made that of Suzanne almost a + forgotten affair, Mademoiselle was not less agitated; she was filled with + a variety of novel emotions. Looking about her salon, dining-room, and + boudoir, cruel apprehensions took possession of her. A species of demon + showed her with a sneer her old-fashioned luxury. The handsome things she + had admired from her youth up she suddenly suspected of age and absurdity. + In short, she felt that fear which takes possession of nearly all authors + when they read over a work they have hitherto thought proof against every + exacting or blase critic: new situations seem timeworn; the best-turned + and most highly polished phrases limp and squint; metaphors and images + grin or contradict each other; whatsoever is false strikes the eye. In + like manner this poor woman trembled lest she should see on the lips of + Monsieur de Troisville a smile of contempt for this episcopal salon; she + dreaded the cold look he might cast over that ancient dining-room; in + short, she feared the frame might injure and age the portrait. Suppose + these antiquities should cast a reflected light of old age upon herself? + This question made her flesh creep. She would gladly, at that moment, + spend half her savings on refitting her house if some fairy wand could do + it in a moment. Where is the general who has not trembled on the eve of a + battle? The poor woman was now between her Austerlitz and her Waterloo. + </p> + <p> + “Madame la Vicomtesse de Troisville,” she said to herself; “a noble name! + Our property will go to a good family, at any rate.” + </p> + <p> + She fell a prey to an irritation which made every fibre of her nerves + quiver to all their papillae, long sunk in flesh. Her blood, lashed by + this new hope, was in motion. She felt the strength to converse, if + necessary, with Monsieur de Troisville. + </p> + <p> + It is useless to relate the activity with which Josette, Jacquelin, + Mariette, Moreau, and his agents went about their functions. It was like + the busyness of ants about their eggs. All that daily care had already + rendered neat and clean was again gone over and brushed and rubbed and + scrubbed. The china of ceremony saw the light; the damask linen marked “A, + B, C” was drawn from depths where it lay under a triple guard of + wrappings, still further defended by formidable lines of pins. Above all, + Mademoiselle Cormon sacrificed on the altar of her hopes three bottles of + the famous liqueurs of Madame Amphoux, the most illustrious of all the + distillers of the tropics,—a name very dear to gourmets. Thanks to + the devotion of her lieutenants, mademoiselle was soon ready for the + conflict. The different weapons—furniture, cookery, provisions, in + short, all the various munitions of war, together with a body of reserve + forces—were ready along the whole line. Jacquelin, Mariette, and + Josette received orders to appear in full dress. The garden was raked. The + old maid regretted that she couldn’t come to an understanding with the + nightingales nesting in the trees, in order to obtain their finest + trilling. + </p> + <p> + At last, about four o’clock, at the very moment when the Abbe de Sponde + returned home, and just as mademoiselle began to think she had set the + table with the best plate and linen and prepared the choicest dishes to no + purpose, the click-clack of a postilion was heard in the Val-Noble. + </p> + <p> + “‘Tis he!” she said to herself, the snap of the whip echoing in her heart. + </p> + <p> + True enough; heralded by all this gossip, a post-chaise, in which was a + single gentleman, made so great a sensation coming down the rue + Saint-Blaise and turning into the rue du Cours that several little gamains + and some grown persons followed it, and stood in groups about the gate of + the hotel Cormon to see it enter. Jacquelin, who foresaw his own marriage + in that of his mistress, had also heard the click-clack in the rue + Saint-Blaise, and had opened wide the gates into the courtyard. The + postilion, a friend of his, took pride in making a fine turn-in, and drew + up sharply before the portico. The abbe came forward to greet his guest, + whose carriage was emptied with a speed that highwaymen might put into the + operation; the chaise itself was rolled into the coach-house, the gates + closed, and in a few moments all signs of Monsieur de Troisville’s arrival + had disappeared. Never did two chemicals blend into each other with + greater rapidity than the hotel Cormon displayed in absorbing the Vicomte + de Troisville. + </p> + <p> + Mademoiselle, whose heart was beating like a lizard caught by a herdsman, + sat heroically still on her sofa, beside the fire in the salon. Josette + opened the door; and the Vicomte de Troisville, followed by the Abbe de + Sponde, presented himself to the eyes of the spinster. + </p> + <p> + “Niece, this is Monsieur le Vicomte de Troisville, the grandson of one of + my old schoolmates; Monsieur de Troisville, my niece, Mademoiselle + Cormon.” + </p> + <p> + “Ah! that good uncle; how well he does it!” thought Rose-Marie-Victoire. + </p> + <p> + The Vicomte de Troisville was, to paint him in two words, du Bousquier + ennobled. Between the two men there was precisely the difference which + separates the vulgar style from the noble style. If they had both been + present, the most fanatic liberal would not have denied the existence of + aristocracy. The viscount’s strength had all the distinction of elegance; + his figure had preserved its magnificent dignity. He had blue eyes, black + hair, an olive skin, and looked to be about forty-six years of age. You + might have thought him a handsome Spaniard preserved in the ice of Russia. + His manner, carriage, and attitude, all denoted a diplomat who had seen + Europe. His dress was that of a well-bred traveller. As he seemed + fatigued, the abbe offered to show him to his room, and was much amazed + when his niece threw open the door of the boudoir, transformed into a + bedroom. + </p> + <p> + Mademoiselle Cormon and her uncle then left the noble stranger to attend + to his own affairs, aided by Jacquelin, who brought up his luggage, and + went themselves to walk beside the river until their guest had made his + toilet. Although the Abbe de Sponde chanced to be even more absent-minded + than usual, Mademoiselle Cormon was not less preoccupied. They both walked + on in silence. The old maid had never before met any man as seductive as + this Olympean viscount. She might have said to herself, as the Germans do, + “This is my ideal!” instead of which she felt herself bound from head to + foot, and could only say, “Here’s my affair!” Then she flew to Mariette to + know if the dinner could be put back a while without loss of excellence. + </p> + <p> + “Uncle, your Monsieur de Troisville is very amiable,” she said, on + returning. + </p> + <p> + “Why, niece, he hasn’t as yet said a word.” + </p> + <p> + “But you can see it in his ways, his manners, his face. Is he a bachelor?” + </p> + <p> + “I’m sure I don’t know,” replied the abbe, who was thinking of a + discussion on mercy, lately begun between the Abbe Couturier and himself. + “Monsieur de Troisville wrote me that he wanted to buy a house here. If he + was married, he wouldn’t come alone on such an errand,” added the abbe, + carelessly, not conceiving the idea that his niece could be thinking of + marriage. + </p> + <p> + “Is he rich?” + </p> + <p> + “He is a younger son of the younger branch,” replied her uncle. “His + grandfather commanded a squadron, but the father of this young man made a + bad marriage.” + </p> + <p> + “Young man!” exclaimed the old maid. “It seems to me, uncle, that he must + be at least forty-five.” She felt the strongest desire to put their years + on a par. + </p> + <p> + “Yes,” said the abbe; “but to a poor priest of seventy, Rose, a man of + forty seems a youth.” + </p> + <p> + All Alencon knew by this time that Monsieur de Troisville had arrived at + the Cormons. The traveller soon rejoined his hosts, and began to admire + the Brillante, the garden, and the house. + </p> + <p> + “Monsieur l’abbe,” he said, “my whole ambition is to have a house like + this.” The old maid fancied a declaration lurked in that speech, and she + lowered her eyes. “You must enjoy it very much, mademoiselle,” added the + viscount. + </p> + <p> + “How could it be otherwise? It has been in our family since 1574, the + period at which one of our ancestors, steward to the Duc d’Alencon, + acquired the land and built the house,” replied Mademoiselle Cormon. “It + is built on piles,” she added. + </p> + <p> + Jacquelin announced dinner. Monsieur de Troisville offered his arm to the + happy woman, who endeavored not to lean too heavily upon it; she feared, + as usual, to seem to make advances. + </p> + <p> + “Everything is so harmonious here,” said the viscount, as he seated + himself at table. + </p> + <p> + “Yes, our trees are full of birds, which give us concerts for nothing; no + one ever frightens them; and the nightingales sing at night,” said + Mademoiselle Cormon. + </p> + <p> + “I was speaking of the interior of the house,” remarked the viscount, who + did not trouble himself to observe Mademoiselle Cormon, and therefore did + not perceive the dulness of her mind. “Everything is so in keeping,—the + tones of color, the furniture, the general character.” + </p> + <p> + “But it costs a great deal; taxes are enormous,” responded the excellent + woman. + </p> + <p> + “Ah! taxes are high, are they?” said the viscount, preoccupied with his + own ideas. + </p> + <p> + “I don’t know,” replied the abbe. “My niece manages the property of each + of us.” + </p> + <p> + “Taxes are not of much importance to the rich,” said Mademoiselle Cormon, + not wishing to be thought miserly. “As for the furniture, I shall leave it + as it is, and change nothing,—unless I marry; and then, of course, + everything here must suit the husband.” + </p> + <p> + “You have noble principles, mademoiselle,” said the viscount, smiling. + “You will make one happy man.” + </p> + <p> + “No one ever made to me such a pretty speech,” thought the old maid. + </p> + <p> + The viscount complimented Mademoiselle Cormon on the excellence of her + service and the admirable arrangements of the house, remarking that he had + supposed the provinces behind the age in that respect; but, on the + contrary, he found them, as the English say, “very comfortable.” + </p> + <p> + “What can that word mean?” she thought. “Oh, where is the chevalier to + explain it to me? ‘Comfortable,’—there seem to be several words in + it. Well, courage!” she said to herself. “I can’t be expected to answer a + foreign language—But,” she continued aloud, feeling her tongue + untied by the eloquence which nearly all human creatures find in momentous + circumstances, “we have a very brilliant society here, monsieur. It + assembles at my house, and you shall judge of it this evening, for some of + my faithful friends have no doubt heard of my return and your arrival. + Among them is the Chevalier de Valois, a seigneur of the old court, a man + of infinite wit and taste; then there is Monsieur le Marquis d’Esgrignon + and Mademoiselle Armande, his sister” (she bit her tongue with vexation),—“a + woman remarkable in her way,” she added. “She resolved to remain unmarried + in order to leave all her fortune to her brother and nephew.” + </p> + <p> + “Ah!” exclaimed the viscount. “Yes, the d’Esgrignons,—I remember + them.” + </p> + <p> + “Alencon is very gay,” continued the old maid, now fairly launched. + “There’s much amusement: the receiver-general gives balls; the prefect is + an amiable man; and Monseigneur the bishop sometimes honors us with a + visit—” + </p> + <p> + “Well, then,” said the viscount, smiling, “I have done wisely to come + back, like the hare, to die in my form.” + </p> + <p> + “Yes,” she said. “I, too, attach myself or I die.” + </p> + <p> + The viscount smiled. + </p> + <p> + “Ah!” thought the old maid, “all is well; he understands me.” + </p> + <p> + The conversation continued on generalities. By one of those mysterious + unknown and undefinable faculties, Mademoiselle Cormon found in her brain, + under the pressure of her desire to be agreeable, all the phrases and + opinions of the Chevalier de Valois. It was like a duel in which the devil + himself pointed the pistol. Never was any adversary better aimed at. The + viscount was far too well-bred to speak of the excellence of the dinner; + but his silence was praise. As he drank the delicious wines which + Jacquelin served to him profusely, he seemed to feel he was with friends, + and to meet them with pleasure; for the true connoisseur does not applaud, + he enjoys. He inquired the price of land, of houses, of estates; he made + Mademoiselle Cormon describe at length the confluence of the Sarthe and + the Brillante; he expressed surprise that the town was placed so far from + the river, and seemed to be much interested in the topography of the + place. + </p> + <p> + The silent abbe left his niece to throw the dice of conversation; and she + truly felt that she pleased Monsieur de Troisville, who smiled at her + gracefully, and committed himself during this dinner far more than her + most eager suitors had ever done in ten days. Imagine, therefore, the + little attentions with which he was petted; you might have thought him a + cherished lover, whose return brought joy to the household. Mademoiselle + foresaw the moment when the viscount wanted bread; she watched his every + look; when he turned his head she adroitly put upon his plate a portion of + some dish he seemed to like; had he been a gourmand, she would almost have + killed him; but what a delightful specimen of the attentions she would + show to a husband! She did not commit the folly of depreciating herself; + on the contrary, she set every sail bravely, ran up all her flags, assumed + the bearing of the queen of Alencon, and boasted of her excellent + preserves. In fact, she fished for compliments in speaking of herself, for + she saw that she pleased the viscount; the truth being that her eager + desire had so transformed her that she became almost a woman. + </p> + <p> + At dessert she heard, not without emotions of delight, certain sounds in + the antechamber and salon which denoted the arrival of her usual guests. + She called the attention of her uncle and Monsieur de Troisville to this + prompt attendance as a proof of the affection that was felt for her; + whereas it was really the result of the poignant curiosity which had + seized upon the town. Impatient to show herself in all her glory, + Mademoiselle Cormon told Jacquelin to serve coffee and liqueurs in the + salon, where he presently set out, in view of the whole company, a + magnificent liqueur-stand of Dresden china which saw the light only twice + a year. This circumstance was taken note of by the company, standing ready + to gossip over the merest trifle:— + </p> + <p> + “The deuce!” muttered du Bousquier. “Actually Madame Amphoux’s liqueurs, + which they only serve at the four church festivals!” + </p> + <p> + “Undoubtedly the marriage was arranged a year ago by letter,” said the + chief-justice du Ronceret. “The postmaster tells me his office has + received letters postmarked Odessa for more than a year.” + </p> + <p> + Madame Granson trembled. The Chevalier de Valois, though he had dined with + the appetite of four men, turned pale even to the left section of his + face. Feeling that he was about to betray himself, he said hastily,— + </p> + <p> + “Don’t you think it is very cold to-day? I am almost frozen.” + </p> + <p> + “The neighborhood of Russia, perhaps,” said du Bousquier. + </p> + <p> + The chevalier looked at him as if to say, “Well played!” + </p> + <p> + Mademoiselle Cormon appeared so radiant, so triumphant, that the company + thought her handsome. This extraordinary brilliancy was not the effect of + sentiment only. Since early morning her blood had been whirling + tempestuously within her, and her nerves were agitated by the presentiment + of some great crisis. It required all these circumstances combined to make + her so unlike herself. With what joy did she now make her solemn + presentation of the viscount to the chevalier, the chevalier to the + viscount, and all Alencon to Monsieur de Troisville, and Monsieur de + Troisville to all Alencon! + </p> + <p> + By an accident wholly explainable, the viscount and chevalier, aristocrats + by nature, came instantly into unison; they recognized each other at once + as men belonging to the same sphere. Accordingly, they began to converse + together, standing before the fireplace. A circle formed around them; and + their conversation, though uttered in a low voice, was listened to in + religious silence. To give the effect of this scene it is necessary to + dramatize it, and to picture Mademoiselle Cormon occupied in pouring out + the coffee of her imaginary suitor, with her back to the fireplace. + </p> + <p> + Monsieur de Valois. “Monsieur le vicomte has come, I am told, to settle in + Alencon?” + </p> + <p> + Monsieur de Troisville. “Yes, monsieur, I am looking for a house.” + [Mademoiselle Cormon, cup in hand, turns round.] “It must be a large + house” [Mademoiselle Cormon offers him the cup] “to lodge my whole + family.” [The eyes of the old maid are troubled.] + </p> + <p> + Monsieur de Valois. “Are you married?” + </p> + <p> + Monsieur de Troisville. “Yes, for the last sixteen years, to a daughter of + the Princess Scherbellof.” + </p> + <p> + Mademoiselle Cormon fainted; du Bousquier, who saw her stagger, sprang + forward and received her in his arms; some one opened the door and allowed + him to pass out with his enormous burden. The fiery republican, instructed + by Josette, found strength to carry the old maid to her bedroom, where he + laid her out on the bed. Josette, armed with scissors, cut the corset, + which was terribly tight. Du Bousquier flung water on Mademoiselle + Cormon’s face and bosom, which, released from the corset, overflowed like + the Loire in flood. The poor woman opened her eyes, saw du Bousquier, and + gave a cry of modesty at the sight of him. Du Bousquier retired at once, + leaving six women, at the head of whom was Madame Granson, radiant with + joy, to take care of the invalid. + </p> + <p> + What had the Chevalier de Valois been about all this time? Faithful to his + system, he had covered the retreat. + </p> + <p> + “That poor Mademoiselle Cormon,” he said to Monsieur de Troisville, gazing + at the assembly, whose laughter was repressed by his cool aristocratic + glances, “her blood is horribly out of order; she wouldn’t be bled before + going to Prebaudet (her estate),—and see the result!” + </p> + <p> + “She came back this morning in the rain,” said the Abbe de Sponde, “and + she may have taken cold. It won’t be anything; it is only a little upset + she is subject to.” + </p> + <p> + “She told me yesterday she had not had one for three months, adding that + she was afraid it would play her a trick at last,” said the chevalier. + </p> + <p> + “Ha! so you are married?” said Jacquelin to himself as he looked at + Monsieur de Troisville, who was quietly sipping his coffee. + </p> + <p> + The faithful servant espoused his mistress’s disappointment; he divined + it, and he promptly carried away the liqueurs of Madame Amphoux, which + were offered to a bachelor, and not to the husband of a Russian woman. + </p> + <p> + All these details were noticed and laughed at. The Abbe de Sponde knew the + object of Monsieur de Troisville’s journey; but, absent-minded as usual, + he forgot it, not supposing that his niece could have the slightest + interest in Monsieur de Troisville’s marriage. As for the viscount, + preoccupied with the object of his journey, and, like many husbands, not + eager to talk about his wife, he had had no occasion to say he was + married; besides, he would naturally suppose that Mademoiselle Cormon knew + it. + </p> + <p> + Du Bousquier reappeared, and was questioned furiously. One of the six + women came down soon after, and announced that Mademoiselle Cormon was + much better, and that the doctor had come. She intended to stay in bed, as + it was necessary to bleed her. The salon was now full. Mademoiselle + Cormon’s absence allowed the ladies present to discuss the tragi-comic + scene—embellished, extended, historified, embroidered, wreathed, + colored, and adorned—which had just taken place, and which, on the + morrow, was destined to occupy all Alencon. + </p> + <p> + “That good Monsieur du Bousquier! how well he carried you!” said Josette + to her mistress. “He was really pale at the sight of you; he loves you + still.” + </p> + <p> + That speech served as closure to this solemn and terrible evening. + </p> + <p> + Throughout the morning of the next day every circumstance of the late + comedy was known in the household of Alencon, and—let us say it to + the shame of that town,—they caused inextinguishable laughter. But + on that day Mademoiselle Cormon (much benefited by the bleeding) would + have seemed sublime even to the boldest scoffers, had they witnessed the + noble dignity, the splendid Christian resignation which influenced her as + she gave her arm to her involuntary deceiver to go into breakfast. Cruel + jesters! why could you not have seen her as she said to the viscount,— + </p> + <p> + “Madame de Troisville will have difficulty in finding a suitable house; do + me the favor, monsieur, of accepting the use of mine during the time you + are in search of yours.” + </p> + <p> + “But, mademoiselle, I have two sons and two daughters; we should greatly + inconvenience you.” + </p> + <p> + “Pray do not refuse me,” she said earnestly. + </p> + <p> + “I made you the same offer in the answer I wrote to your letter,” said the + abbe; “but you did not receive it.” + </p> + <p> + “What, uncle! then you knew—” + </p> + <p> + The poor woman stopped. Josette sighed. Neither the viscount nor the abbe + observed anything amiss. After breakfast the Abbe de Sponde carried off + his guest, as agreed upon the previous evening, to show him the various + houses in Alencon which could be bought, and the lots of lands on which he + might build. + </p> + <p> + Left alone in the salon, Mademoiselle Cormon said to Josette, with a + deeply distressed air, “My child, I am now the talk of the whole town.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, then, mademoiselle, you should marry.” + </p> + <p> + “But I am not prepared to make a choice.” + </p> + <p> + “Bah! if I were in your place, I should take Monsieur du Bousquier.” + </p> + <p> + “Josette, Monsieur de Valois says he is so republican.” + </p> + <p> + “They don’t know what they say, your gentlemen: sometimes they declare + that he robbed the republic; he couldn’t love it if he did that,” said + Josette, departing. + </p> + <p> + “That girl has an amazing amount of sense,” thought Mademoiselle Cormon, + who remained alone, a prey to her perplexities. + </p> + <p> + She saw plainly that a prompt marriage was the only way to silence the + town. This last checkmate, so evidently mortifying, was of a nature to + drive her into some extreme action; for persons deficient in mind find + difficulty in getting out of any path, either good or evil, into which + they have entered. + </p> + <p> + Each of the two old bachelors had fully understood the situation in which + Mademoiselle Cormon was about to find herself; consequently, each resolved + to call in the course of that morning to ask after her health, and take + occasion, in bachelor language, to “press his point.” Monsieur de Valois + considered that such an occasion demanded a painstaking toilet; he + therefore took a bath and groomed himself with extraordinary care. For the + first and last time Cesarine observed him putting on with incredible art a + suspicion of rouge. Du Bousquier, on the other hand, that coarse + republican, spurred by a brisk will, paid no attention to his dress, and + arrived the first. + </p> + <p> + Such little things decide the fortunes of men, as they do of empires. + Kellerman’s charge at Marengo, Blucher’s arrival at Waterloo, Louis XIV.‘s + disdain for Prince Eugene, the rector of Denain,—all these great + causes of fortune or catastrophe history has recorded; but no one ever + profits by them to avoid the small neglects of their own life. + Consequently, observe what happens: the Duchesse de Langeais (see “History + of the Thirteen”) makes herself a nun for the lack of ten minutes’ + patience; Judge Popinot (see “Commission in Lunacy”) puts off till the + morrow the duty of examining the Marquis d’Espard; Charles Grandet (see + “Eugenie Grandet”) goes to Paris from Bordeaux instead of returning by + Nantes; and such events are called chance or fatality! A touch of rouge + carefully applied destroyed the hopes of the Chevalier de Valois; could + that nobleman perish in any other way? He had lived by the Graces, and he + was doomed to die by their hand. While the chevalier was giving this last + touch to his toilet the rough du Bousquier was entering the salon of the + desolate old maid. This entrance produced a thought in Mademoiselle + Cormon’s mind which was favorable to the republican, although in all other + respects the Chevalier de Valois held the advantages. + </p> + <p> + “God wills it!” she said piously, on seeing du Bousquier. + </p> + <p> + “Mademoiselle, you will not, I trust, think my eagerness importunate. I + could not trust to my stupid Rene to bring news of your condition, and + therefore I have come myself.” + </p> + <p> + “I am perfectly recovered,” she replied, in a tone of emotion. “I thank + you, Monsieur du Bousquier,” she added, after a slight pause, and in a + significant tone of voice, “for the trouble you have taken, and for that + which I gave you yesterday—” + </p> + <p> + She remembered having been in his arms, and that again seemed to her an + order from heaven. She had been seen for the first time by a man with her + laces cut, her treasures violently bursting from their casket. + </p> + <p> + “I carried you with such joy that you seemed to me light.” + </p> + <p> + Here Mademoiselle Cormon looked at du Bousquier as she had never yet + looked at any man in the world. Thus encouraged, the purveyor cast upon + the old maid a glance which reached her heart. + </p> + <p> + “I would,” he said, “that that moment had given me the right to keep you + as mine forever” [she listened with a delighted air]; “as you lay fainting + upon that bed, you were enchanting. I have never in my life seen a more + beautiful person,—and I have seen many handsome women. Plump ladies + have this advantage: they are superb to look upon; they have only to show + themselves and they triumph.” + </p> + <p> + “I fear you are making fun of me,” said the old maid, “and that is not + kind when all the town will probably misinterpret what happened to me + yesterday.” + </p> + <p> + “As true as my name is du Bousquier, mademoiselle, I have never changed in + my feelings toward you; and your first refusal has not discouraged me.” + </p> + <p> + The old maid’s eyes were lowered. There was a moment of cruel silence for + du Bousquier, and then Mademoiselle Cormon decided on her course. She + raised her eyelids; tears flowed from her eyes, and she gave du Bousquier + a tender glance. + </p> + <p> + “If that is so, monsieur,” she said, in a trembling voice, “promise me to + live in a Christian manner, and not oppose my religious customs, but to + leave me the right to select my confessors, and I will grant you my hand”; + as she said the words, she held it out to him. + </p> + <p> + Du Bousquier seized the good fat hand so full of money, and kissed it + solemnly. + </p> + <p> + “But,” she said, allowing him to kiss it, “one thing more I must require + of you.” + </p> + <p> + “If it is a possible thing, it is granted,” replied the purveyor. + </p> + <p> + “Alas!” returned the old maid. “For my sake, I must ask you to take upon + yourself a sin which I feel to be enormous,—for to lie is one of the + capital sins. But you will confess it, will you not? We will do penance + for it together” [they looked at each other tenderly]. “Besides, it may be + one of those lies which the Church permits as necessary—” + </p> + <p> + “Can she be as Suzanne says she is?” thought du Bousquier. “What luck! + Well, mademoiselle, what is it?” he said aloud. + </p> + <p> + “That you will take upon yourself to—” + </p> + <p> + “What?” + </p> + <p> + “To say that this marriage has been agreed upon between us for the last + six months.” + </p> + <p> + “Charming woman,” said the purveyor, in the tone of a man willing to + devote himself, “such sacrifices can be made only for a creature adored + these ten years.” + </p> + <p> + “In spite of my harshness?” she said. + </p> + <p> + “Yes, in spite of your harshness.” + </p> + <p> + “Monsieur du Bousquier, I have misjudged you.” + </p> + <p> + Again she held out the fat red hand, which du Bousquier kissed again. + </p> + <p> + At this moment the door opened; the betrothed pair, looking round to see + who entered, beheld the delightful, but tardy Chevalier de Valois. + </p> + <p> + “Ah!” he said, on entering, “I see you are about to be up, fair queen.” + </p> + <p> + She smiled at the chevalier, feeling a weight upon her heart. Monsieur de + Valois, remarkably young and seductive, had the air of a Lauzun + re-entering the apartments of the Grande Mademoiselle in the Palais-Royal. + </p> + <p> + “Hey! dear du Bousquier,” said he, in a jaunty tone, so sure was he of + success, “Monsieur de Troisville and the Abbe de Sponde are examining your + house like appraisers.” + </p> + <p> + “Faith!” said du Bousquier, “if the Vicomte de Troisville wants it, it it + is his for forty thousand francs. It is useless to me now. If mademoiselle + will permit—it must soon be known—Mademoiselle, may I tell it?—Yes! + Well, then, be the first, <i>my dear Chevalier</i>, to hear” [Mademoiselle + Cormon dropped her eyes] “of the honor that mademoiselle has done me, the + secret of which I have kept for some months. We shall be married in a few + days; the contract is already drawn, and we shall sign it to-morrow. You + see, therefore, that my house in the rue du Cygne is useless to me. I have + been privately looking for a purchaser for some time; and the Abbe de + Sponde, who knew that fact, has naturally taken Monsieur de Troisville to + see the house.” + </p> + <p> + This falsehood bore such an appearance of truth that the chevalier was + taken in by it. That “my dear chevalier” was like the revenge taken by + Peter the Great on Charles XII. at Pultawa for all his past defeats. Du + Bousquier revenged himself deliciously for the thousand little shafts he + had long borne in silence; but in his triumph he made a lively youthful + gesture by running his hands through his hair, and in so doing he—knocked + aside his false front. + </p> + <p> + “I congratulate you both,” said the chevalier, with an agreeable air; “and + I wish that the marriage may end like a fairy tale: <i>They were happy + ever after, and had—many—children</i>!” So saying, he took a + pinch of snuff. “But, monsieur,” he added satirically, “you forget—that + you are wearing a false front.” + </p> + <p> + Du Bousquier blushed. The false front was hanging half a dozen inches from + his skull. Mademoiselle Cormon raised her eyes, saw that skull in all its + nudity, and lowered them, abashed. Du Bousquier cast upon the chevalier + the most venomous look that toad ever darted on its prey. + </p> + <p> + “Dogs of aristocrats who despise me,” thought he, “I’ll crush you some + day.” + </p> + <p> + The chevalier thought he had recovered his advantage. But Mademoiselle + Cormon was not a woman to understand the connection which the chevalier + intimated between his congratulatory wish and the false front. Besides, + even if she had comprehended it, her word was passed, her hand given. + Monsieur de Valois saw at once that all was lost. The innocent woman, with + the two now silent men before her, wished, true to her sense of duty, to + amuse them. + </p> + <p> + “Why not play a game of piquet together?” she said artlessly, without the + slightest malice. + </p> + <p> + Du Bousquier smiled, and went, as the future master of the house, to fetch + the piquet table. Whether the Chevalier de Valois lost his head, or + whether he wanted to stay and study the causes of his disaster and remedy + it, certain it is that he allowed himself to be led like a lamb to the + slaughter. He had received the most violent knock-down blow that ever + struck a man; any nobleman would have lost his senses for less. + </p> + <p> + The Abbe de Sponde and the Vicomte de Troisville soon returned. + Mademoiselle Cormon instantly rose, hurried into the antechamber, and took + her uncle apart to tell him her resolution. Learning that the house in the + rue du Cygne exactly suited the viscount, she begged her future husband to + do her the kindness to tell him that her uncle knew it was for sale. She + dared not confide that lie to the abbe, fearing his absent-mindedness. The + lie, however, prospered better than if it had been a virtuous action. In + the course of that evening all Alencon heard the news. For the last four + days the town had had as much to think of as during the fatal days of 1814 + and 1815. Some laughed; others admitted the marriage. These blamed it; + those approved it. The middle classes of Alencon rejoiced; they regarded + it as a victory. The next day, among friends, the Chevalier de Valois said + a cruel thing:— + </p> + <p> + “The Cormons end as they began; there’s only a hand’s breadth between a + steward and a purveyor.” + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0007" id="link2HCH0007"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER VII. OTHER RESULTS + </h2> + <p> + The news of Mademoiselle Cormon’s choice stabbed poor Athanase Granson to + the heart; but he showed no outward sign of the terrible agitation within + him. When he first heard of the marriage he was at the house of the + chief-justice, du Ronceret, where his mother was playing boston. Madame + Granson looked at her son in a mirror, and thought him pale; but he had + been so all day, for a vague rumor of the matter had already reached him. + </p> + <p> + Mademoiselle Cormon was the card on which Athanase had staked his life; + and the cold presentiment of a catastrophe was already upon him. When the + soul and the imagination have magnified a misfortune and made it too heavy + for the shoulders and the brain to bear; when a hope long cherished, the + realization of which would pacify the vulture feeding on the heart, is + balked, and the man has faith neither in himself, despite his powers, nor + in the future, despite of the Divine power,—then that man is lost. + Athanase was a fruit of the Imperial system of education. Fatality, the + Emperor’s religion, had filtered down from the throne to the lowest ranks + of the army and the benches of the lyceums. Athanase sat still, with his + eyes fixed on Madame du Ronceret’s cards, in a stupor that might so well + pass for indifference that Madame Granson herself was deceived about his + feelings. This apparent unconcern explained her son’s refusal to make a + sacrifice for this marriage of his <i>liberal</i> opinions,—the term + “liberal” having lately been created for the Emperor Alexander by, I + think, Madame de Stael, through the lips of Benjamin Constant. + </p> + <p> + After that fatal evening the young man took to rambling among the + picturesque regions of the Sarthe, the banks of which are much frequented + by sketchers who come to Alencon for points of view. Windmills are there, + and the river is gay in the meadows. The shores of the Sarthe are bordered + with beautiful trees, well grouped. Though the landscape is flat, it is + not without those modest graces which distinguish France, where the eye is + never wearied by the brilliancy of Oriental skies, nor saddened by + constant fog. The place is solitary. In the provinces no one pays much + attention to a fine view, either because provincials are blases on the + beauty around them, or because they have no poesy in their souls. If there + exists in the provinces a mall, a promenade, a vantage-ground from which a + fine view can be obtained, that is the point to which no one goes. + Athanase was fond of this solitude, enlivened by the sparkling water, + where the fields were the first to green under the earliest smiling of the + springtide sun. Those persons who saw him sitting beneath a poplar, and + who noticed the vacant eye which he turned to them, would say to Madame + Granson:— + </p> + <p> + “Something is the matter with your son.” + </p> + <p> + “I know what it is,” the mother would reply; hinting that he was + meditating over some great work. + </p> + <p> + Athanase no longer took part in politics: he ceased to have opinions; but + he appeared at times quite gay,—gay with the satire of those who + think to insult a whole world with their own individual scorn. This young + man, outside of all the ideas and all the pleasures of the provinces, + interested few persons; he was not even an object of curiosity. If persons + spoke of him to his mother, it was for her sake, not his. There was not a + single soul in Alencon that sympathized with his; not a woman, not a + friend came near to dry his tears; they dropped into the Sarthe. If the + gorgeous Suzanne had happened that way, how many young miseries might have + been born of the meeting! for the two would surely have loved each other. + </p> + <p> + She did come, however. Suzanne’s ambition was early excited by the tale of + a strange adventure which had happened at the tavern of the More,—a + tale which had taken possession of her childish brain. A Parisian woman, + beautiful as the angels, was sent by Fouche to entangle the Marquis de + Montauran, otherwise called “The Gars,” in a love-affair (see “The + Chouans”). She met him at the tavern of the More on his return from an + expedition to Mortagne; she cajoled him, made him love her, and then + betrayed him. That fantastic power—the power of beauty over mankind; + in fact, the whole story of Marie de Verneuil and the Gars—dazzled + Suzanne; she longed to grow up in order to play upon men. Some months + after her hasty departure she passed through her native town with an + artist on his way to Brittany. She wanted to see Fougeres, where the + adventure of the Marquis de Montauran culminated, and to stand upon the + scene of that picturesque war, the tragedies of which, still so little + known, had filled her childish mind. Besides this, she had a fancy to pass + through Alencon so elegantly equipped that no one could recognize her; to + put her mother above the reach of necessity, and also to send to poor + Athanase, in a delicate manner, a sum of money,—which in our age is + to genius what in the middle ages was the charger and the coat of mail + that Rebecca conveyed to Ivanhoe. + </p> + <p> + One month passed away in the strangest uncertainties respecting the + marriage of Mademoiselle Cormon. A party of unbelievers denied the + marriage altogether; the believers, on the other hand, affirmed it. At the + end of two weeks, the faction of unbelief received a vigorous blow in the + sale of du Bousquier’s house to the Marquis de Troisville, who only wanted + a simple establishment in Alencon, intending to go to Paris after the + death of the Princess Scherbellof; he proposed to await that inheritance + in retirement, and then to reconstitute his estates. This seemed positive. + The unbelievers, however, were not crushed. They declared that du + Bousquier, married or not, had made an excellent sale, for the house had + only cost him twenty-seven thousand francs. The believers were depressed + by this practical observation of the incredulous. Choisnel, Mademoiselle + Cormon’s notary, asserted the latter, had heard nothing about the marriage + contract; but the believers, still firm in their faith, carried off, on + the twentieth day, a signal victory: Monsieur Lepressoir, the notary of + the liberals, went to Mademoiselle Cormon’s house, and the contract was + signed. + </p> + <p> + This was the first of the numerous sacrifices which Mademoiselle Cormon + was destined to make to her husband. Du Bousquier bore the deepest hatred + to Choisnel; to him he owed the refusal of the hand of Mademoiselle + Armande,—a refusal which, as he believed, had influenced that of + Mademoiselle Cormon. This circumstance alone made the marriage drag along. + Mademoiselle received several anonymous letters. She learned, to her great + astonishment, that Suzanne was as truly a virgin as herself so far as du + Bousquier was concerned, for that seducer with the false toupet could + never be the hero of any such adventure. Mademoiselle Cormon disdained + anonymous letters; but she wrote to Suzanne herself, on the ground of + enlightening the Maternity Society. Suzanne, who had no doubt heard of du + Bousquier’s proposed marriage, acknowledged her trick, sent a thousand + francs to the society, and did all the harm she could to the old purveyor. + Mademoiselle Cormon convoked the Maternity Society, which held a special + meeting at which it was voted that the association would not in future + assist any misfortunes about to happen, but solely those that had + happened. + </p> + <p> + In spite of all these various events which kept the town in the choicest + gossip, the banns were published in the churches and at the mayor’s + office. Athanase prepared the deeds. As a matter of propriety and public + decency, the bride retired to Prebaudet, where du Bousquier, bearing + sumptuous and horrible bouquets, betook himself every morning, returning + home for dinner. + </p> + <p> + At last, on a dull and rainy morning in June, the marriage of Mademoiselle + Cormon and the Sieur du Bousquier took place at noon in the parish church + of Alencon, in sight of the whole town. The bridal pair went from their + own house to the mayor’s office, and from the mayor’s office to the church + in an open caleche, a magnificent vehicle for Alencon, which du Bousquier + had sent for secretly to Paris. The loss of the old carriole was a species + of calamity in the eyes of the community. The harness-maker of the Porte + de Seez bemoaned it, for he lost the fifty francs a year which it cost in + repairs. Alencon saw with alarm the possibility of luxury being thus + introduced into the town. Every one feared a rise in the price of rents + and provisions, and a coming invasion of Parisian furniture. Some persons + were sufficiently pricked by curiosity to give ten sous to Jacquelin to + allow them a close inspection of the vehicle which threatened to upset the + whole economy of the region. A pair of horses, bought in Normandie, were + also most alarming. + </p> + <p> + “If we bought our own horses,” said the Ronceret circle, “we couldn’t sell + them to those who come to buy.” + </p> + <p> + Stupid as it was, this reasoning seemed sound; for surely such a course + would prevent the region from grasping the money of foreigners. In the + eyes of the provinces wealth consisted less in the rapid turning over of + money than in sterile accumulation. It may be mentioned here that Penelope + succumbed to a pleurisy which she acquired about six weeks before the + marriage; nothing could save her. + </p> + <p> + Madame Granson, Mariette, Madame du Coudrai, Madame du Ronceret, and + through them the whole town, remarked that Madame du Bousquier entered the + church <i>with her left foot</i>,—an omen all the more dreadful + because the term Left was beginning to acquire a political meaning. The + priest whose duty it was to read the opening formula opened his book by + chance at the De Profundis. Thus the marriage was accompanied by + circumstances so fateful, so alarming, so annihilating that no one dared + to augur well of it. Matters, in fact, went from bad to worse. There was + no wedding party; the married pair departed immediately for Prebaudet. + Parisian customs, said the community, were about to triumph over + time-honored provincial ways. + </p> + <p> + The marriage of Jacquelin and Josette now took place: it was gay; and they + were the only two persons in Alencon who refuted the sinister prophecies + relating to the marriage of their mistress. + </p> + <p> + Du Bousquier determined to use the proceeds of the sale of his late + residence in restoring and modernizing the hotel Cormon. He decided to + remain through two seasons at Prebaudet, and took the Abbe de Sponde with + them. This news spread terror through the town, where every individual + felt that du Bousquier was about to drag the community into the fatal path + of “comfort.” This fear increased when the inhabitants of Alencon saw the + bridegroom driving in from Prebaudet one morning to inspect his works, in + a fine tilbury drawn by a new horse, having Rene at his side in livery. + The first act of his administration had been to place his wife’s savings + on the Grand-Livre, which was then quoted at 67 fr. 50 cent. In the space + of one year, during which he played constantly for a rise, he made himself + a personal fortune almost as considerable as that of his wife. + </p> + <p> + But all these foreboding prophecies, these perturbing innovations, were + superseded and surpassed by an event connected with this marriage which + gave a still more fatal aspect to it. + </p> + <p> + On the very evening of the ceremony, Athanase and his mother were sitting, + after their dinner, over a little fire of fagots, which the servant + lighted usually at dessert. + </p> + <p> + “Well, we will go this evening to the du Roncerets’, inasmuch as we have + lost Mademoiselle Cormon,” said Madame Granson. “Heavens! how shall I ever + accustom myself to call her Madame du Bousquier! that name burns my lips.” + </p> + <p> + Athanase looked at his mother with a constrained and melancholy air; he + could not smile; but he seemed to wish to welcome that naive sentiment + which soothed his wound, though it could not cure his anguish. + </p> + <p> + “Mamma,” he said, in the voice of his childhood, so tender was it, and + using the name he had abandoned for several years,—“my dear mamma, + do not let us go out just yet; it is so pleasant here before the fire.” + </p> + <p> + The mother heard, without comprehending, that supreme prayer of a mortal + sorrow. + </p> + <p> + “Yes, let us stay, my child,” she said. “I like much better to talk with + you and listen to your projects than to play at boston and lose my money.” + </p> + <p> + “You are so handsome to-night I love to look at you. Besides, I am in a + current of ideas which harmonize with this poor little salon where we have + suffered so much.” + </p> + <p> + “And where we shall still suffer, my poor Athanase, until your works + succeed. For myself, I am trained to poverty; but you, my treasure! to see + your youth go by without a joy! nothing but toil for my poor boy in life! + That thought is like an illness to a mother; it tortures me at night; it + wakes me in the morning. O God! what have I done? for what crime dost thou + punish me thus?” + </p> + <p> + She left her sofa, took a little chair, and sat close to Athanase, so as + to lay her head on the bosom of her child. There is always the grace of + love in true motherhood. Athanase kissed her on the eyes, on her gray + hair, on her forehead, with the sacred desire of laying his soul wherever + he applied his lips. + </p> + <p> + “I shall never succeed,” he said, trying to deceive his mother as to the + fatal resolution he was revolving in his mind. + </p> + <p> + “Pooh! don’t get discouraged. As you often say, thought can do all things. + With ten bottles of ink, ten reams of paper, and his powerful will, Luther + upset all Europe. Well, you’ll make yourself famous; you will do good + things by the same means which he used to do evil things. Haven’t you said + so yourself? For my part, I listen to you; I understand you a great deal + more than you think I do,—for I still bear you in my bosom, and your + every thought still stirs me as your slightest motion did in other days.” + </p> + <p> + “I shall never succeed here, mamma; and I don’t want you to witness the + sight of my struggles, my misery, my anguish. Oh, mother, let me leave + Alencon! I want to suffer away from you.” + </p> + <p> + “And I wish to be at your side,” replied his mother, proudly. “Suffer + without your mother!—that poor mother who would be your servant if + necessary; who will efface herself rather than injure you; your mother, + who will never shame you. No, no, Athanase; we must not part.” + </p> + <p> + Athanase clung to his mother with the ardor of a dying man who clings to + life. + </p> + <p> + “But I wish it, nevertheless. If not, you will lose me; this double grief, + yours and mine, is killing me. You would rather I lived than died?” + </p> + <p> + Madame Granson looked at her son with a haggard eye. + </p> + <p> + “So this is what you have been brooding?” she said. “They told me right. + Do you really mean to go?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes.” + </p> + <p> + “You will not go without telling me; without warning me? You must have an + outfit and money. I have some louis sewn into my petticoat; I shall give + them to you.” + </p> + <p> + Athanase wept. + </p> + <p> + “That’s all I wanted to tell you,” he said. “Now I’ll take you to the du + Roncerets’. Come.” + </p> + <p> + The mother and the son went out. Athanase left his mother at the door of + the house where she intended to pass the evening. He looked long at the + light which came through the shutters; he clung closely to the wall, and a + frenzied joy came over him when he presently heard his mother say, “He has + great independence of heart.” + </p> + <p> + “Poor mother! I have deceived her,” he cried, as he made his way to the + Sarthe. + </p> + <p> + He reached the noble poplar beneath which he had meditated so much for the + last forty days, and where he had placed two heavy stones on which he now + sat down. He contemplated that beautiful nature lighted by the moon; he + reviewed once more the glorious future he had longed for; he passed + through towns that were stirred by his name; he heard the applauding + crowds; he breathed the incense of his fame; he adored that life long + dreamed of; radiant, he sprang to radiant triumphs; he raised his stature; + he evoked his illusions to bid them farewell in a last Olympic feast. The + magic had been potent for a moment; but now it vanished forever. In that + awful hour he clung to the beautiful tree to which, as to a friend, he had + attached himself; then he put the two stones into the pockets of his + overcoat, which he buttoned across his breast. He had come intentionally + without a hat. He now went to the deep pool he had long selected, and + glided into it resolutely, trying to make as little noise as possible, + and, in fact, making scarcely any. + </p> + <p> + When, at half-past nine o’clock, Madame Granson returned home, her servant + said nothing of Athanase, but gave her a letter. She opened it and read + these few words,— + </p> + <p> + “My good mother, I have departed; don’t be angry with me.” + </p> + <p> + “A pretty trick he has played me!” she thought. “And his linen! and the + money! Well, he will write to me, and then I’ll follow him. These poor + children think they are so much cleverer than their fathers and mothers.” + </p> + <p> + And she went to bed in peace. + </p> + <p> + During the preceding morning the Sarthe had risen to a height foreseen by + the fisherman. These sudden rises of muddy water brought eels from their + various runlets. It so happened that a fisherman had spread his net at the + very place where poor Athanase had flung himself, believing that no one + would ever find him. About six o’clock in the morning the man drew in his + net, and with it the young body. The few friends of the poor mother took + every precaution in preparing her to receive the dreadful remains. The + news of this suicide made, as may well be supposed, a great excitement in + Alencon. The poor young man of genius had no protector the night before, + but on the morrow of his death a thousand voices cried aloud, “I would + have helped him.” It is so easy and convenient to be charitable gratis! + </p> + <p> + The suicide was explained by the Chevalier de Valois. He revealed, in a + spirit of revenge, the artless, sincere, and genuine love of Athanase for + Mademoiselle Cormon. Madame Granson, enlightened by the chevalier, + remembered a thousand little circumstances which confirmed the chevalier’s + statement. The story then became touching, and many women wept over it. + Madame Granson’s grief was silent, concentrated, and little understood. + There are two forms of mourning for mothers. Often the world can enter + fully into the nature of their loss: their son, admired, appreciated, + young, perhaps handsome, with a noble path before him, leading to fortune, + possibly to fame, excites universal regret; society joins in the grief, + and alleviates while it magnifies it. But there is another sorrow of + mothers who alone know what their child was really; who alone have + received his smiles and observed the treasures of a life too soon cut + short. That sorrow hides its woe, the blackness of which surpasses all + other mourning; it cannot be described; happily there are but few women + whose heart-strings are thus severed. + </p> + <p> + Before Madame du Bousquier returned to town, Madame du Ronceret, one of + her good friends, had driven out to Prebaudet to fling this corpse upon + the roses of her joy, to show her the love she had ignored, and sweetly + shed a thousand drops of wormwood into the honey of her bridal month. As + Madame du Bousquier drove back to Alencon, she chanced to meet Madame + Granson at the corner of the rue Val-Noble. The glance of the mother, + dying of her grief, struck to the heart of the poor woman. A thousand + maledictions, a thousand flaming reproaches, were in that look: Madame du + Bousquier was horror-struck; that glance predicted and called down evil + upon her head. + </p> + <p> + The evening after the catastrophe, Madame Granson, one of the persons most + opposed to the rector of the town, and who had hitherto supported the + minister of Saint-Leonard, began to tremble as she thought of the + inflexible Catholic doctrines professed by her own party. After placing + her son’s body in its shroud with her own hands, thinking of the mother of + the Saviour, she went, with a soul convulsed by anguish, to the house of + the hated rector. There she found the modest priest in an outer room, + engaged in putting away the flax and yarns with which he supplied poor + women, in order that they might never be wholly out of work,—a form + of charity which saved many who were incapable of begging from actual + penury. The rector left his yarns and hastened to take Madame Granson into + his dining-room, where the wretched mother noticed, as she looked at his + supper, the frugal method of his own living. + </p> + <p> + “Monsieur l’abbe,” she said, “I have come to implore you—” She burst + into tears, unable to continue. + </p> + <p> + “I know what brings you,” replied the saintly man. “I must trust to you, + madame, and to your relation, Madame du Bousquier, to pacify Monseigneur + the Bishop at Seez. Yes, I will pray for your unhappy child; yes, I will + say the masses. But we must avoid all scandal, and give no opportunity for + evil-judging persons to assemble in the church. I alone, without other + clergy, at night—” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, yes, as you think best; if only he may lie in consecrated ground,” + said the poor mother, taking the priest’s hand and kissing it. + </p> + <p> + Toward midnight a coffin was clandestinely borne to the parish church by + four young men, comrades whom Athanase had liked the best. A few friends + of Madame Granson, women dressed in black, and veiled, were present; and + half a dozen other young men who had been somewhat intimate with this lost + genius. Four torches flickered on the coffin, which was covered with + crape. The rector, assisted by one discreet choirboy, said the mortuary + mass. Then the body of the suicide was noiselessly carried to a corner of + the cemetery, where a black wooden cross, without inscription, was all + that indicated its place hereafter to the mother. Athanase lived and died + in shadow. No voice was raised to blame the rector; the bishop kept + silence. The piety of the mother redeemed the impiety of the son’s last + act. + </p> + <p> + Some months later, the poor woman, half beside herself with grief, and + moved by one of those inexplicable thirsts which misery feels to steep its + lips in the bitter chalice, determined to see the spot where her son was + drowned. Her instinct may have told her that thoughts of his could be + recovered beneath that poplar; perhaps, too, she desired to see what his + eyes had seen for the last time. Some mothers would die of the sight; + others give themselves up to it in saintly adoration. Patient anatomists + of human nature cannot too often enunciate the truths before which all + educations, laws, and philosophical systems must give way. Let us repeat + continually: it is absurd to force sentiments into one formula: appearing + as they do, in each individual man, they combine with the elements that + form his nature and take his own physiognomy. + </p> + <p> + Madame Granson, as she stood on that fatal spot, saw a woman approach it, + who exclaimed,— + </p> + <p> + “Was it here?” + </p> + <p> + That woman wept as the mother wept. It was Suzanne. Arriving that morning + at the hotel du More, she had been told of the catastrophe. If poor + Athanase had been living, she meant to do as many noble souls, who are + moneyless, dream of doing, and as the rich never think of doing,—she + meant to have sent him several thousand francs, writing up the envelope + the words: “Money due to your father from a comrade who makes restitution + to you.” This tender scheme had been arranged by Suzanne during her + journey. + </p> + <p> + The courtesan caught sight of Madame Granson and moved rapidly away, + whispering as she passed her, “I loved him!” + </p> + <p> + Suzanne, faithful to her nature, did not leave Alencon on this occasion + without changing the orange-blossoms of the bride to rue. She was the + first to declare that Madame du Bousquier would never be anything but + Mademoiselle Cormon. With one stab of her tongue she revenged poor + Athanase and her dear chevalier. + </p> + <p> + Alencon now witnessed a suicide that was slower and quite differently + pitiful from that of poor Athanase, who was quickly forgotten by society, + which always makes haste to forget its dead. The poor Chevalier de Valois + died in life; his suicide was a daily occurrence for fourteen years. Three + months after the du Bousquier marriage society remarked, not without + astonishment, that the linen of the chevalier was frayed and rusty, that + his hair was irregularly combed and brushed. With a frowsy head the + Chevalier de Valois could no longer be said to exist! A few of his ivory + teeth deserted, though the keenest observers of human life were unable to + discover to what body they had hitherto belonged, whether to a foreign + legion or whether they were indigenous, vegetable or animal; whether age + had pulled them from the chevalier’s mouth, or whether they were left + forgotten in the drawer of his dressing-table. The cravat was crooked, + indifferent to elegance. The negroes’ heads grew pale with dust and + grease. The wrinkles of the face were blackened and puckered; the skin + became parchment. The nails, neglected, were often seen, alas! with a + black velvet edging. The waistcoat was tracked and stained with droppings + which spread upon its surface like autumn leaves. The cotton in the ears + was seldom changed. Sadness reigned upon that brow, and slipped its + yellowing tints into the depths of each furrow. In short, the ruins, + hitherto so cleverly hidden, now showed through the cracks and crevices of + that fine edifice, and proved the power of the soul over the body; for the + fair and dainty man, the cavalier, the young blood, died when hope + deserted him. Until then the nose of the chevalier was ever delicate and + nice; never had a damp black blotch, nor an amber drop fall from it; but + now that nose, smeared with tobacco around the nostrils, degraded by the + driblets which took advantage of the natural gutter placed between itself + and the upper lip,—that nose, which no longer cared to seem + agreeable, revealed the infinite pains which the chevalier had formerly + taken with his person, and made observers comprehend, by the extent of its + degradation, the greatness and persistence of the man’s designs upon + Mademoiselle Cormon. + </p> + <p> + Alas, too, the anecdotes went the way of the teeth; the clever sayings + grew rare. The appetite, however, remained; the old nobleman saved nothing + but his stomach from the wreck of his hopes; though he languidly prepared + his pinches of snuff, he ate alarming dinners. Perhaps you will more fully + understand the disaster that this marriage was to the mind and heart of + the chevalier when you learn that his intercourse with the Princess + Goritza became less frequent. + </p> + <p> + One day he appeared in Mademoiselle Armande’s salon with the calf of his + leg on the shin-bone. This bankruptcy of the graces was, I do assure you, + terrible, and struck all Alencon with horror. The late young man had + become an old one; this human being, who, by the breaking-down of his + spirit, had passed at once from fifty to ninety years of age, frightened + society. Besides, his secret was betrayed; he had waited and watched for + Mademoiselle Cormon; he had, like a patient hunter, adjusted his aim for + ten whole years, and finally had missed the game! In short, the impotent + Republic had won the day from Valiant Chivalry, and that, too, under the + Restoration! Form triumphed; mind was vanquished by matter, diplomacy by + insurrection. And, O final blow! a mortified grisette revealed the secret + of the chevalier’s mornings, and he now passed for a libertine. The + liberals cast at his door all the foundlings hitherto attributed to du + Bousquier. But the faubourg Saint-Germain of Alencon accepted them + proudly: it even said, “That poor chevalier, what else could he do?” The + faubourg pitied him, gathered him closer to their circle, and brought back + a few rare smiles to his face; but frightful enmity was piled upon the + head of du Bousquier. Eleven persons deserted the Cormon salon, and passed + to that of the d’Esgrignons. + </p> + <p> + The old maid’s marriage had a signal effect in defining the two parties in + Alencon. The salon d’Esgrignon represented the upper aristocracy (the + returning Troisvilles attached themselves to it); the Cormon salon + represented, under the clever influence of du Bousquier, that fatal class + of opinions which, without being truly liberal or resolutely royalist, + gave birth to the 221 on that famous day when the struggle openly began + between the most august, grandest, and only true power, <i>royalty</i>, + and the most false, most changeful, most oppressive of all powers,—the + power called <i>parliamentary</i>, which elective assemblies exercise. The + salon du Ronceret, secretly allied to the Cormon salon, was boldly + liberal. + </p> + <p> + The Abbe de Sponde, after his return from Prebaudet, bore many and + continual sufferings, which he kept within his breast, saying no word of + them to his niece. But to Mademoiselle Armande he opened his heart, + admitting that, folly for folly, he would much have preferred the + Chevalier de Valois to Monsieur du Bousquier. Never would the dear + chevalier have had the bad taste to contradict and oppose a poor old man + who had but a few days more to live; du Bousquier had destroyed everything + in the good old home. The abbe said, with scanty tears moistening his aged + eyes,— + </p> + <p> + “Mademoiselle, I haven’t even the little grove where I have walked for + fifty years. My beloved lindens are all cut down! At the moment of my + death the Republic appears to me more than ever under the form of a + horrible destruction of the Home.” + </p> + <p> + “You must pardon your niece,” said the Chevalier de Valois. “Republican + ideas are the first error of youth which seeks for liberty; later it finds + it the worst of despotisms,—that of an impotent canaille. Your poor + niece is punished where she sinned.” + </p> + <p> + “What will become of me in a house where naked women are painted on the + walls?” said the poor abbe. “Where shall I find other lindens beneath + which to read my breviary?” + </p> + <p> + Like Kant, who was unable to collect his thoughts after the fir-tree at + which he was accustomed to gaze while meditating was cut down, so the poor + abbe could never attain the ardor of his former prayers while walking up + and down the shadeless paths. Du Bousquier had planted an English garden. + </p> + <p> + “It was best,” said Madame du Bousquier, without thinking so; but the Abbe + Couterier had authorized her to commit many wrongs to please her husband. + </p> + <p> + These restorations destroyed all the venerable dignity, cordiality, and + patriarchal air of the old house. Like the Chevalier de Valois, whose + personal neglect might be called an abdication, the bourgeois dignity of + the Cormon salon no longer existed when it was turned to white and gold, + with mahogany ottomans covered in blue satin. The dining-room, adorned in + modern taste, was colder in tone than it used to be, and the dinners were + eaten with less appetite than formerly. Monsieur du Coudrai declared that + he felt his puns stick in his throat as he glanced at the figures painted + on the walls, which looked him out of countenance. Externally, the house + was still provincial; but internally everything revealed the purveyor of + the Directory and the bad taste of the money-changer,—for instance, + columns in stucco, glass doors, Greek mouldings, meaningless outlines, all + styles conglomerated, magnificence out of place and out of season. + </p> + <p> + The town of Alencon gabbled for two weeks over this luxury, which seemed + unparalleled; but a few months later the community was proud of it, and + several rich manufacturers restored their houses and set up fine salons. + Modern furniture came into the town, and astral lamps were seen! + </p> + <p> + The Abbe de Sponde was among the first to perceive the secret unhappiness + this marriage now brought to the private life of his beloved niece. The + character of noble simplicity which had hitherto ruled their lives was + lost during the first winter, when du Bousquier gave two balls every + month. Oh, to hear violins and profane music at these worldly + entertainments in the sacred old house! The abbe prayed on his knees while + the revels lasted. Next the political system of the sober salon was slowly + perverted. The abbe fathomed du Bousquier; he shuddered at his imperious + tone; he saw the tears in his niece’s eyes when she felt herself losing + all control over her own property; for her husband now left nothing in her + hands but the management of the linen, the table, and things of a kind + which are the lot of women. Rose had no longer any orders to give. + Monsieur’s will was alone regarded by Jacquelin, now become coachman, by + Rene, the groom, and by the chef, who came from Paris, Mariette being + reduced to kitchen maid. Madame du Bousquier had no one to rule but + Josette. Who knows what it costs to relinquish the delights of power? If + the triumph of the will is one of the intoxicating pleasures in the lives + of great men, it is the ALL of life to narrow minds. One must needs have + been a minister dismissed from power to comprehend the bitter pain which + came upon Madame du Bousquier when she found herself reduced to this + absolute servitude. She often got into the carriage against her will; she + saw herself surrounded by servants who were distasteful to her; she no + longer had the handling of her dear money,—she who had known herself + free to spend money, and did not spend it. + </p> + <p> + All imposed limits make the human being desire to go beyond them. The + keenest sufferings come from the thwarting of self-will. The beginning of + this state of things was, however, rose-colored. Every concession made to + marital authority was an effect of the love which the poor woman felt for + her husband. Du Bousquier behaved, in the first instance, admirably to his + wife: he was wise; he was excellent; he gave her the best of reasons for + each new encroachment. So for the first two years of her marriage Madame + du Bousquier appeared to be satisfied. She had that deliberate, demure + little air which distinguishes young women who have married for love. The + rush of blood to her head no longer tormented her. This appearance of + satisfaction routed the scoffers, contradicted certain rumors about du + Bousquier, and puzzled all observers of the human heart. + Rose-Marie-Victoire was so afraid that if she displeased her husband or + opposed him, she would lose his affection and be deprived of his company, + that she would willingly have sacrificed all to him, even her uncle. Her + silly little forms of pleasure deceived even the poor abbe for a time, who + endured his own trials all the better for thinking that his niece was + happy, after all. + </p> + <p> + Alencon at first thought the same. But there was one man more difficult to + deceive than the whole town put together. The Chevalier de Valois, who had + taken refuge on the Sacred Mount of the upper aristocracy, now passed his + life at the d’Esgrignons. He listened to the gossip and the gabble, and he + thought day and night upon his vengeance. He meant to strike du Bousquier + to the heart. + </p> + <p> + The poor abbe fully understood the baseness of this first and last love of + his niece; he shuddered as, little by little, he perceived the + hypocritical nature of his nephew and his treacherous manoeuvres. Though + du Bousquier restrained himself, as he thought of the abbe’s property, and + wished not to cause him vexation, it was his hand that dealt the blow that + sent the old priest to his grave. If you will interpret the word <i>intolerance</i> + as <i>firmness of principle</i>, if you do not wish to condemn in the + catholic soul of the Abbe de Sponde the stoicism which Walter Scott has + made you admire in the puritan soul of Jeanie Deans’ father; if you are + willing to recognize in the Roman Church the Potius mori quam foedari that + you admire in republican tenets,—you will understand the sorrow of + the Abbe de Sponde when he saw in his niece’s salon the apostate priest, + the renegade, the pervert, the heretic, that enemy of the Church, the + guilty taker of the Constitutional oath. Du Bousquier, whose secret + ambition was to lay down the law to the town, wished, as a first proof of + his power, to reconcile the minister of Saint-Leonard with the rector of + the parish, and he succeeded. His wife thought he had accomplished a work + of peace where the immovable abbe saw only treachery. The bishop came to + visit du Bousquier, and seemed glad of the cessation of hostilities. The + virtues of the Abbe Francois had conquered prejudice, except that of the + aged Roman Catholic, who exclaimed with Cornelle, “Alas! what virtues do + you make me hate!” + </p> + <p> + The abbe died when orthodoxy thus expired in the diocese. + </p> + <p> + In 1819, the property of the Abbe de Sponde increased Madame du + Bousquier’s income from real estate to twenty-five thousand francs without + counting Prebaudet or the house in the Val-Noble. About this time du + Bousquier returned to his wife the capital of her savings which she had + yielded to him; and he made her use it in purchasing lands contiguous to + Prebaudet, which made that domain one of the most considerable in the + department, for the estates of the Abbe de Sponde also adjoined it. Du + Bousquier thus passed for one of the richest men of the department. This + able man, the constant candidate of the liberals, missing by seven or + eight votes only in all the electoral battles fought under the + Restoration, and who ostensibly repudiated the liberals by trying to be + elected as a ministerial royalist (without ever being able to conquer the + aversion of the administration),—this rancorous republican, mad with + ambition, resolved to rival the royalism and aristocracy of Alencon at the + moment when they once more had the upper hand. He strengthened himself + with the Church by the deceitful appearance of a well-feigned piety: he + accompanied his wife to mass; he gave money for the convents of the town; + he assisted the congregation of the Sacre-Coeur; he took sides with the + clergy on all occasions when the clergy came into collision with the town, + the department, or the State. Secretly supported by the liberals, + protected by the Church, calling himself a constitutional royalist, he + kept beside the aristocracy of the department in the one hope of ruining + it,—and he did ruin it. Ever on the watch for the faults and + blunders of the nobility and the government, he laid plans for his + vengeance against the “chateau-people,” and especially against the + d’Esgrignons, in whose bosom he was one day to thrust a poisoned dagger. + </p> + <p> + Among other benefits to the town he gave money liberally to revive the + manufacture of point d’Alencon; he renewed the trade in linens, and the + town had a factory. Inscribing himself thus upon the interests and heart + of the masses, by doing what the royalists did not do, du Bousquier did + not really risk a farthing. Backed by his fortune, he could afford to wait + results which enterprising persons who involve themselves are forced to + abandon to luckier successors. + </p> + <p> + Du Bousquier now posed as a banker. This miniature Lafitte was a partner + in all new enterprises, taking good security. He served himself while + apparently serving the interests of the community. He was the prime mover + of insurance companies, the protector of new enterprises for public + conveyance; he suggested petitions for asking the administration for the + necessary roads and bridges. Thus warned, the government considered this + action an encroachment of its own authority. A struggle was begun + injudiciously, for the good of the community compelled the authorities to + yield in the end. Du Bousquier embittered the provincial nobility against + the court nobility and the peerage; and finally he brought about the + shocking adhesion of a strong party of constitutional royalists to the + warfare sustained by the “Journal des Debats,” and M. de Chateaubriand + against the throne,—an ungrateful opposition based on ignoble + interests, which was one cause of the triumph of the bourgeoisie and + journalism in 1830. + </p> + <p> + Thus du Bousquier, in common with the class he represented, had the + satisfaction of beholding the funeral of royalty. The old republican, + smothered with masses, who for fifteen years had played that comedy to + satisfy his vendetta, himself threw down with his own hand the white flag + of the mayoralty to the applause of the multitude. No man in France cast + upon the new throne raised in August, 1830, a glance of more intoxicated, + joyous vengeance. The accession of the Younger Branch was the triumph of + the Revolution. To him the victory of the tricolor meant the resurrection + of Montagne, which this time should surely bring the nobility down to the + dust by means more certain than that of the guillotine, because less + violent. The peerage without heredity; the National Guard, which puts on + the same camp-bed the corner grocer and the marquis; the abolition of the + entails demanded by a bourgeois lawyer; the Catholic Church deprived of + its supremacy; and all the other legislative inventions of August, 1830,—were + to du Bousquier the wisest possible application of the principles of 1793. + </p> + <p> + Since 1830 this man has been a receiver-general. He relied for his + advancement on his relations with the Duc d’Orleans, father of Louis + Philippe, and with Monsieur de Folmon, formerly steward to the + Duchess-dowager of Orleans. He receives about eighty thousand francs a + year. In the eyes of the people about him Monsieur du Bousquier is a man + of means,—a respectable man, steady in his principles, upright, and + obliging. Alencon owes to him its connection with the industrial movement + by which Brittany may possibly some day be joined to what is popularly + called modern civilization. Alencon, which up to 1816 could boast of only + two private carriages, saw, without amazement, in the course of ten years, + coupes, landaus, tilburies, and cabriolets rolling through her streets. + The burghers and the land-owners, alarmed at first lest the price of + everything should increase, recognized later that this increase in the + style of living had a contrary effect upon their revenues. The prophetic + remark of du Ronceret, “Du Bousquier is a very strong man,” was adopted by + the whole country-side. + </p> + <p> + But, unhappily for the wife, that saying has a double meaning. The husband + does not in any way resemble the public politician. This great citizen, so + liberal to the world about him, so kindly inspired with love for his + native place, is a despot in his own house, and utterly devoid of conjugal + affection. This man, so profoundly astute, hypocritical, and sly; this + Cromwell of the Val-Noble,—behaves in his home as he behaves to the + aristocracy, whom he caresses in hopes to throttle them. Like his friend + Bernadotte, he wears a velvet glove upon his iron hand. His wife has given + him no children. Suzanne’s remark and the chevalier’s insinuations were + therefore justified. But the liberal bourgeoisie, the + constitutional-royalist-bourgeoisie, the country-squires, the magistracy, + and the “church party” laid the blame on Madame du Bousquier. “She was too + old,” they said; “Monsieur du Bousquier had married her too late. Besides, + it was very lucky for the poor woman; it was dangerous at her age to bear + children!” When Madame du Bousquier confided, weeping, her periodic + despair to Mesdames du Coudrai and du Ronceret, those ladies would reply,— + </p> + <p> + “But you are crazy, my dear; you don’t know what you are wishing for; a + child would be your death.” + </p> + <p> + Many men, whose hopes were fastened on du Bousquier’s triumph, sang his + praises to their wives, who in turn repeated them to the poor wife in some + such speech as this:— + </p> + <p> + “You are very lucky, dear, to have married such an able man; you’ll escape + the misery of women whose husbands are men without energy, incapable of + managing their property, or bringing up their children.” + </p> + <p> + “Your husband is making you queen of the department, my love. He’ll never + leave you embarrassed, not he! Why, he leads all Alencon.” + </p> + <p> + “But I wish,” said the poor wife, “that he gave less time to the public + and—” + </p> + <p> + “You are hard to please, my dear Madame du Bousquier. I assure you that + all the women in town envy you your husband.” + </p> + <p> + Misjudged by society, which began by blaming her, the pious woman found + ample opportunity in her home to display her virtues. She lived in tears, + but she never ceased to present to others a placid face. To so Christian a + soul a certain thought which pecked forever at her heart was a crime: “I + loved the Chevalier de Valois,” it said; “but I have married du + Bousquier.” The love of poor Athanase Granson also rose like a phantom of + remorse, and pursued her even in her dreams. The death of her uncle, whose + griefs at the last burst forth, made her life still more sorrowful; for + she now felt the suffering her uncle must have endured in witnessing the + change of political and religious opinion in the old house. Sorrow often + falls like a thunderbolt, as it did on Madame Granson; but in this old + maid it slowly spread like a drop of oil, which never leaves the stuff + that slowly imbibes it. + </p> + <p> + The Chevalier de Valois was the malicious manipulator who brought about + the crowning misfortune of Madame du Bousquier’s life. His heart was set + on undeceiving her pious simplicity; for the chevalier, expert in love, + divined du Bousquier, the married man, as he had divined du Bousquier, the + bachelor. But the wary republican was difficult of attack. His salon was, + of course, closed to the Chevalier de Valois, as to all those who, in the + early days of his marriage, had slighted the Cormon mansion. He was, + moreover, impervious to ridicule; he possessed a vast fortune; he reigned + in Alencon; he cared as little for his wife as Richard III. cared for the + dead horse which had helped him win a battle. To please her husband, + Madame du Bousquier had broken off relations with the d’Esgrignon + household, where she went no longer, except that sometimes when her + husband left her during his trips to Paris, she would pay a brief visit to + Mademoiselle Armande. + </p> + <p> + About three years after her marriage, at the time of the Abbe de Sponde’s + death, Mademoiselle Armande joined Madame du Bousquier as they were + leaving Saint-Leonard’s, where they had gone to hear a requiem said for + him. The generous demoiselle thought that on this occasion she owed her + sympathy to the niece in trouble. They walked together, talking of the + dear deceased, until they reached the forbidden house, into which + Mademoiselle Armande enticed Madame du Bousquier by the charm of her + manner and conversation. The poor desolate woman was glad to talk of her + uncle with one whom he truly loved. Moreover, she wanted to receive the + condolences of the old marquis, whom she had not seen for nearly three + years. It was half-past one o’clock, and she found at the hotel + d’Esgrignon the Chevalier de Valois, who had come to dinner. As he bowed + to her, he took her by the hands. + </p> + <p> + “Well, dear, virtuous, and beloved lady,” he said, in a tone of emotion, + “we have lost our sainted friend; we share your grief. Yes, your loss is + as keenly felt here as in your own home,—more so,” he added, + alluding to du Bousquier. + </p> + <p> + After a few more words of funeral oration, in which all present spoke from + the heart, the chevalier took Madame du Bousquier’s arm, and, gallantly + placing it within his own, pressed it adoringly as he led her to the + recess of a window. + </p> + <p> + “Are you happy?” he said in a fatherly voice. + </p> + <p> + “Yes,” she said, dropping her eyes. + </p> + <p> + Hearing that “Yes,” Madame de Troisville, the daughter of the Princess + Scherbellof, and the old Marquise de Casteran came up and joined the + chevalier, together with Mademoiselle Armande. They all went to walk in + the garden until dinner was served, without any perception on the part of + Madame du Bousquier that a little conspiracy was afoot. “We have her! now + let us find out the secret of the case,” were the words written in the + eyes of all present. + </p> + <p> + “To make your happiness complete,” said Mademoiselle Armande, “you ought + to have children,—a fine lad like my nephew—” + </p> + <p> + Tears seemed to start in Madame du Bousquier’s eyes. + </p> + <p> + “I have heard it said that you were the one to blame in the matter, and + that you feared the dangers of a pregnancy,” said the chevalier. + </p> + <p> + “I!” she said artlessly. “I would buy a child with a hundred years of + purgatory if I could.” + </p> + <p> + On the question thus started a discussion arose, conducted by Madame de + Troisville and the old Marquise de Casteran with such delicacy and + adroitness that the poor victim revealed, without being aware of it, the + secrets of her house. Mademoiselle Armande had taken the chevalier’s arm, + and walked away so as to leave the three women free to discuss wedlock. + Madame du Bousquier was then enlightened on the various deceptions of her + marriage; and as she was still the same simpleton she had always been, she + amused her advisers by delightful naivetes. + </p> + <p> + Although at first the deceptive marriage of Mademoiselle Cormon made a + laugh throughout the town, which was soon initiated into the story of the + case, before long Madame du Bousquier won the esteem and sympathy of all + the women. The fact that Mademoiselle Cormon had flung herself headlong + into marriage without succeeding in being married, made everybody laugh at + her; but when they learned the exceptional position in which the sternness + of her religious principles placed her, all the world admired her. “That + poor Madame du Bousquier” took the place of “That good Mademoiselle + Cormon.” + </p> + <p> + Thus the chevalier contrived to render du Bousquier both ridiculous and + odious for a time; but ridicule ends by weakening; when all had said their + say about him, the gossip died out. Besides, at fifty-seven years of age + the dumb republican seemed to many people to have a right to retire. This + affair, however, envenomed the hatred which du Bousquier already bore to + the house of Esgrignon to such a degree that it made him pitiless when the + day of vengeance came. [See “The Gallery of Antiquities.”] Madame du + Bousquier received orders never again to set foot into that house. By way + of reprisals upon the chevalier for the trick thus played him, du + Bousquier, who had just created the journal called the “Courrier de + l’Orne,” caused the following notice to be inserted in it:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Bonds to the amount of one thousand francs a year will be paid to + any person who can prove the existence of one Monsieur de + Pombreton before, during, or after the Emigration.” + </pre> + <p> + Although her marriage was essentially negative, Madame du Bousquier saw + some advantages in it: was it not better to interest herself in the most + remarkable man in the town than to live alone? Du Bousquier was preferable + to a dog, or cat, or those canaries that spinsters love. He showed for his + wife a sentiment more real and less selfish than that which is felt by + servants, confessors, and hopeful heirs. Later in life she came to + consider her husband as the instrument of divine wrath; for she then saw + innumerable sins in her former desires for marriage; she regarded herself + as justly punished for the sorrow she had brought on Madame Granson, and + for the hastened death of her uncle. Obedient to that religion which + commands us to kiss the rod with which the punishment is inflicted, she + praised her husband, and publicly approved him. But in the confessional, + or at night, when praying, she wept often, imploring God’s forgiveness for + the apostasy of the man who thought the contrary of what he professed, and + who desired the destruction of the aristocracy and the Church,—the + two religions of the house of Cormon. + </p> + <p> + With all her feelings bruised and immolated within her, compelled by duty + to make her husband happy, attached to him by a certain indefinable + affection, born, perhaps, of habit, her life became one perpetual + contradiction. She had married a man whose conduct and opinions she hated, + but whom she was bound to care for with dutiful tenderness. Often she + walked with the angels when du Bousquier ate her preserves or thought the + dinner good. She watched to see that his slightest wish was satisfied. If + he tore off the cover of his newspaper and left it on a table, instead of + throwing it away, she would say:— + </p> + <p> + “Rene, leave that where it is; monsieur did not place it there without + intention.” + </p> + <p> + If du Bousquier had a journey to take, she was anxious about his trunk, + his linen; she took the most minute precautions for his material benefit. + If he went to Prebaudet, she consulted the barometer the evening before to + know if the weather would be fine. She watched for his will in his eyes, + like a dog which hears and sees its master while sleeping. When the stout + du Bousquier, touched by this scrupulous love, would take her round the + waist and kiss her forehead, saying, “What a good woman you are!” tears of + pleasure would come into the eyes of the poor creature. It is probably + that du Bousquier felt himself obliged to make certain concessions which + obtained for him the respect of Rose-Marie-Victoire; for Catholic virtue + does not require a dissimulation as complete as that of Madame du + Bousquier. Often the good saint sat mutely by and listened to the hatred + of men who concealed themselves under the cloak of constitutional + royalists. She shuddered as she foresaw the ruin of the Church. + Occasionally she risked a stupid word, an observation which du Bousquier + cut short with a glance. + </p> + <p> + The worries of such an existence ended by stupefying Madame du Bousquier, + who found it easier and also more dignified to concentrate her + intelligence on her own thoughts and resign herself to lead a life that + was purely animal. She then adopted the submission of a slave, and + regarded it as a meritorious deed to accept the degradation in which her + husband placed her. The fulfilment of his will never once caused her to + murmur. The timid sheep went henceforth in the way the shepherd led her; + she gave herself up to the severest religious practices, and thought no + more of Satan and his works and vanities. Thus she presented to the eyes + of the world a union of all Christian virtues; and du Bousquier was + certainly one of the luckiest men in the kingdom of France and of Navarre. + </p> + <p> + “She will be a simpleton to her last breath,” said the former collector, + who, however, dined with her twice a week. + </p> + <p> + This history would be strangely incomplete if no mention were made of the + coincidence of the Chevalier de Valois’s death occurring at the same time + as that of Suzanne’s mother. The chevalier died with the monarchy, in + August, 1830. He had joined the cortege of Charles X. at Nonancourt, and + piously escorted it to Cherbourg with the Troisvilles, Casterans, + d’Esgrignons, Verneuils, etc. The old gentleman had taken with him fifty + thousand francs,—the sum to which his savings then amounted. He + offered them to one of the faithful friends of the king for transmission + to his master, speaking of his approaching death, and declaring that the + money came originally from the goodness of the king, and, moreover, that + the property of the last of the Valois belonged of right to the crown. It + is not known whether the fervor of his zeal conquered the reluctance of + the Bourbon, who abandoned his fine kingdom of France without carrying + away with him a farthing, and who ought to have been touched by the + devotion of the chevalier. It is certain, however, that Cesarine, the + residuary legate of the old man, received from his estate only six hundred + francs a year. The chevalier returned to Alencon, cruelly weakened by + grief and by fatigue; he died on the very day when Charles X. arrived on a + foreign shore. + </p> + <p> + Madame du Val-Noble and her protector, who was just then afraid of the + vengeance of the liberal party, were glad of a pretext to remain incognito + in the village where Suzanne’s mother died. At the sale of the chevalier’s + effects, which took place at that time, Suzanne, anxious to obtain a + souvenir of her first and last friend, pushed up the price of the famous + snuff-box, which was finally knocked down to her for a thousand francs. + The portrait of the Princess Goritza was alone worth that sum. Two years + later, a young dandy, who was making a collection of the fine snuff-boxes + of the last century, obtained from Madame du Val-Noble the chevalier’s + treasure. The charming confidant of many a love and the pleasure of an old + age is now on exhibition in a species of private museum. If the dead could + know what happens after them, the chevalier’s head would surely blush upon + its left cheek. + </p> + <p> + If this history has no other effect than to inspire the possessors of + precious relics with holy fear, and induce them to make codicils to secure + these touching souvenirs of joys that are no more by bequeathing them to + loving hands, it will have done an immense service to the chivalrous and + romantic portion of the community; but it does, in truth, contain a far + higher moral. Does it not show the necessity for a new species of + education? Does it not invoke, from the enlightened solicitude of the + ministers of Public Instruction, the creation of chairs of anthropology,—a + science in which Germany outstrips us? Modern myths are even less + understood than ancient ones, harried as we are with myths. Myths are + pressing us from every point; they serve all theories, they explain all + questions. They are, according to human ideas, the torches of history; + they would save empires from revolution if only the professors of history + would force the explanations they give into the mind of the provincial + masses. If Mademoiselle Cormon had been a reader or a student, and if + there had existed in the department of the Orne a professor of + anthropology, or even had she read Ariosto, the frightful disasters of her + conjugal life would never have occurred. She would probably have known why + the Italian poet makes Angelica prefer Medoro, who was a blond Chevalier + de Valois, to Orlando, whose mare was dead, and who knew no better than to + fly into a passion. Is not Medoro the mythic form for all courtiers of + feminine royalty, and Orlando the myth of disorderly, furious, and + impotent revolutions, which destroy but cannot produce? We publish, but + without assuming any responsibility for it, this opinion of a pupil of + Monsieur Ballanche. + </p> + <p> + No information has reached us as to the fate of the negroes’ heads in + diamonds. You may see Madame du Val-Noble every evening at the Opera. + Thanks to the education given her by the Chevalier de Valois, she has + almost the air of a well-bred woman. + </p> + <p> + Madame du Bousquier still lives; is not that as much as to say she still + suffers? After reaching the age of sixty—the period at which women + allow themselves to make confessions—she said confidentially to + Madame du Coudrai, that she had never been able to endure the idea of + dying an old maid. + </p> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> <a name="link2H_4_0009" id="link2H_4_0009"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <h2> + ADDENDUM + </h2> + <h3> + The following personages appear in other stories of the Human Comedy. + </h3> + <p> + (Note: The Collection of Antiquities is a companion piece to The Old Maid. + In other Addendum appearances they are combined under the title of The + Jealousies of a Country Town.) + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Bordin + The Gondreville Mystery + The Seamy Side of History + The Commission in Lunacy + + Bousquier, Du (or Du Croisier or Du Bourguier) + The Collection of Antiquities (companion piece) + The Middle Classes + + Bousquier, Madame du (du Croisier) (Mlle. Cormon) + The Collection of Antiquities (companion piece) + + Casteran, De + The Chouans + The Seamy Side of History + The Collection of Antiquities (companion piece) + Beatrix + The Peasantry + + Chesnel (or Choisnel) + The Seamy Side of History + The Collection of Antiquities (companion piece) + + Coudrai, Du + The Collection of Antiquities (companion piece) + + Esgrignon, Charles-Marie-Victor-Ange-Carol, Marquis d’ (or Des Grignons) + The Chouans + The Collection of Antiquities (companion piece) + + Esgrignon, Marie-Armande-Claire d’ + The Collection of Antiquities (companion piece) + + Gaillard, Madame Theodore (Suzanne) + A Distinguished Provincial at Paris + A Bachelor’s Establishment + Scenes from a Courtesan’s Life + Beatrix + The Unconscious Humorists + + Granson, Athanase + The Government Clerks (mentioned only) + + Lenoncourt, Duc de + The Lily of the Valley + Cesar Birotteau + The Collection of Antiquities (companion piece) + The Gondreville Mystery + Beatrix + + Navarreins, Duc de + Colonel Chabert + The Muse of the Department + The Thirteen + The Peasantry + Scenes from a Courtesan’s Life + The Country Parson + The Magic Skin + The Gondreville Mystery + The Secrets of a Princess + Cousin Betty + + Pombreton, Marquis de + Lost Illusions + A Distinguished Provincial at Paris + + Ronceret, Du + The Collection of Antiquities (companion piece) + Beatrix + + Ronceret, Madame Du + The Collection of Antiquities (companion piece) + + Simeuse, Admiral de + Beatrix + The Gondreville Mystery + + Troisville, Guibelin, Vicomte de + The Seamy Side of History + The Chouans + The Collection of Antiquities (companion piece) + The Peasantry + + Valois, Chevalier de + The Chouans + The Collection of Antiquities (companion piece) + + Verneuil, Duc de + The Chouans + The Collection of Antiquities (companion piece) +</pre> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <div>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 1352 ***</div> +</body> +</html> diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..c0cc49a --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #1352 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1352) diff --git a/old/1352-0.txt b/old/1352-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..f1f32c4 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/1352-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,5509 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of An Old Maid, by Honore de Balzac + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: An Old Maid + +Author: Honore de Balzac + +Translator: Katharine Prescott Wormeley + +Release Date: June, 1998 [Etext #1352] +Posting Date: February 23, 2010 +Last Updated: November 23, 2016 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AN OLD MAID *** + + + + +Produced by John Bickers, and Dagny + + + + + +AN OLD MAID + + +By Honore De Balzac + + + +Translated by Katharine Prescott Wormeley + + + + DEDICATION + + To Monsieur Eugene-Auguste-Georges-Louis Midy de la Greneraye + Surville, Royal Engineer of the Ponts at Chausses. + + As a testimony to the affection of his brother-in-law, + + De Balzac + + + + + +AN OLD MAID + + + + +CHAPTER I. ONE OF MANY CHEVALIERS DE VALOIS + + +Most persons have encountered, in certain provinces in France, a number +of Chevaliers de Valois. One lived in Normandy, another at Bourges, +a third (with whom we have here to do) flourished in Alencon, and +doubtless the South possesses others. The number of the Valesian +tribe is, however, of no consequence to the present tale. All these +chevaliers, among whom were doubtless some who were Valois as Louis XIV. +was Bourbon, knew so little of one another that it was not advisable +to speak to one about the others. They were all willing to leave the +Bourbons in tranquil possession of the throne of France; for it was too +plainly established that Henri IV. became king for want of a male heir +in the first Orleans branch called the Valois. If there are any Valois, +they descend from Charles de Valois, Duc d’Angouleme, son of Charles +IX. and Marie Touchet, the male line from whom ended, until proof to +the contrary be produced, in the person of the Abbe de Rothelin. The +Valois-Saint-Remy, who descended from Henri II., also came to an end +in the famous Lamothe-Valois implicated in the affair of the Diamond +Necklace. + +Each of these many chevaliers, if we may believe reports, was, like +the Chevalier of Alencon, an old gentleman, tall, thin, withered, and +moneyless. He of Bourges had emigrated; he of Touraine hid himself; he +of Alencon fought in La Vendee and “chouanized” somewhat. The youth of +the latter was spend in Paris, where the Revolution overtook him when +thirty years of age in the midst of his conquests and gallantries. + +The Chevalier de Valois of Alencon was accepted by the highest +aristocracy of the province as a genuine Valois; and he distinguished +himself, like the rest of his homonyms, by excellent manners, which +proved him a man of society. He dined out every day, and played cards +every evening. He was thought witty, thanks to his foible for relating +a quantity of anecdotes on the reign of Louis XV. and the beginnings +of the Revolution. When these tales were heard for the first time, they +were held to be well narrated. He had, moreover, the great merit of +not repeating his personal bons mots and of never speaking of +his love-affairs, though his smiles and his airs and graces were +delightfully indiscreet. The worthy gentleman used his privilege as a +Voltairean noble to stay away from mass; and great indulgence was shown +to his irreligion because of his devotion to the royal cause. One of his +particular graces was the air and manner (imitated, no doubt, from Mole) +with which he took snuff from a gold box adorned with the portrait of +the Princess Goritza,--a charming Hungarian, celebrated for her beauty +in the last years of the reign of Louis XV. Having been attached during +his youth to that illustrious stranger, he still mentioned her with +emotion. For her sake he had fought a duel with Monsieur de Lauzun. + +The chevalier, now fifty-eight years of age, owned to only fifty; and he +might well allow himself that innocent deception, for, among the other +advantages granted to fair thin persons, he managed to preserve +the still youthful figure which saves men as well as women from an +appearance of old age. Yes, remember this: all of life, or rather +all the elegance that expresses life, is in the figure. Among the +chevalier’s other possessions must be counted an enormous nose with +which nature had endowed him. This nose vigorously divided a pale face +into two sections which seemed to have no knowledge of each other, for +one side would redden under the process of digestion, while the +other continued white. This fact is worthy of remark at a period when +physiology is so busy with the human heart. The incandescence, so to +call it, was on the left side. Though his long slim legs, supporting a +lank body, and his pallid skin, were not indicative of health, Monsieur +de Valois ate like an ogre and declared he had a malady called in the +provinces “hot liver,” perhaps to excuse his monstrous appetite. The +circumstance of his singular flush confirmed this declaration; but in a +region where repasts are developed on the line of thirty or forty dishes +and last four hours, the chevalier’s stomach would seem to have been a +blessing bestowed by Providence on the good town of Alencon. According +to certain doctors, heat on the left side denotes a prodigal heart. +The chevalier’s gallantries confirmed this scientific assertion, the +responsibility for which does not rest, fortunately, on the historian. + +In spite of these symptoms, Monsieur de Valois’ constitution was +vigorous, consequently long-lived. If his liver “heated,” to use an +old-fashioned word, his heart was not less inflammable. His face was +wrinkled and his hair silvered; but an intelligent observer would have +recognized at once the stigmata of passion and the furrows of pleasure +which appeared in the crow’s-feet and the marches-du-palais, so prized +at the court of Cythera. Everything about this dainty chevalier bespoke +the “ladies’ man.” He was so minute in his ablutions that his cheeks +were a pleasure to look upon; they seemed to have been laved in some +miraculous water. The part of his skull which his hair refused to cover +shone like ivory. His eyebrows, like his hair, affected youth by the +care and regularity with which they were combed. His skin, already +white, seemed to have been extra-whitened by some secret compound. +Without using perfumes, the chevalier exhaled a certain fragrance of +youth, that refreshed the atmosphere. His hands, which were those of +a gentleman, and were cared for like the hands of a pretty woman, +attracted the eye to their rosy, well-shaped nails. In short, had it not +been for his magisterial and stupendous nose, the chevalier might have +been thought a trifle too dainty. + +We must here compel ourselves to spoil this portrait by the avowal of a +littleness. The chevalier put cotton in his ears, and wore, appended to +them, two little ear-rings representing negroes’ heads in diamonds, of +admirable workmanship. He clung to these singular appendages, explaining +that since his ears had been bored he had ceased to have headaches (he +had had headaches). We do not present the chevalier as an accomplished +man; but surely we can pardon, in an old celibate whose heart sends +so much blood to his left cheek, these adorable qualities, founded, +perhaps, on some sublime secret history. + +Besides, the Chevalier de Valois redeemed those negroes’ heads by so +many other graces that society felt itself sufficiently compensated. He +really took such immense trouble to conceal his age and give pleasure to +his friends. In the first place, we must call attention to the extreme +care he gave to his linen, the only distinction that well-bred men +can nowadays exhibit in their clothes. The linen of the chevalier was +invariably of a fineness and whiteness that were truly aristocratic. As +for his coat, though remarkable for its cleanliness, it was always half +worn-out, but without spots or creases. The preservation of that garment +was something marvellous to those who noticed the chevalier’s high-bred +indifference to its shabbiness. He did not go so far as to scrape the +seams with glass,--a refinement invented by the Prince of Wales; but +he did practice the rudiments of English elegance with a personal +satisfaction little understood by the people of Alencon. The world owes +a great deal to persons who take such pains to please it. In this there +is certainly some accomplishment of that most difficult precept of the +Gospel about rendering good for evil. This freshness of ablution and +all the other little cares harmonized charmingly with the blue eyes, the +ivory teeth, and the blond person of the old chevalier. + +The only blemish was that this retired Adonis had nothing manly about +him; he seemed to be employing this toilet varnish to hide the ruins +occasioned by the military service of gallantry only. But we must hasten +to add that his voice produced what might be called an antithesis to his +blond delicacy. Unless you adopted the opinion of certain observers of +the human heart, and thought that the chevalier had the voice of +his nose, his organ of speech would have amazed you by its full and +redundant sound. Without possessing the volume of classical bass voices, +the tone of it was pleasing from a slightly muffled quality like that of +an English bugle, which is firm and sweet, strong but velvety. + +The chevalier had repudiated the ridiculous costume still preserved by +certain monarchical old men; he had frankly modernized himself. He +was always seen in a maroon-colored coat with gilt buttons, half-tight +breeches of poult-de-soie with gold buckles, a white waistcoat without +embroidery, and a tight cravat showing no shirt-collar,--a last vestige +of the old French costume which he did not renounce, perhaps, because +it enabled him to show a neck like that of the sleekest abbe. His shoes +were noticeable for their square buckles, a style of which the present +generation has no knowledge; these buckles were fastened to a square of +polished black leather. The chevalier allowed two watch-chains to hang +parallel to each other from each of his waistcoat pockets,--another +vestige of the eighteenth century, which the Incroyables had not +disdained to use under the Directory. This transition costume, uniting +as it did two centuries, was worn by the chevalier with the high-bred +grace of an old French marquis, the secret of which is lost to France +since the day when Fleury, Mole’s last pupil, vanished. + +The private life of this old bachelor was apparently open to all eyes, +though in fact it was quite mysterious. He lived in a lodging that was +modest, to say the best of it, in the rue du Cours, on the second floor +of a house belonging to Madame Lardot, the best and busiest washerwoman +in the town. This circumstance will explain the excessive nicety of his +linen. Ill-luck would have it that the day came when Alencon was guilty +of believing that the chevalier had not always comported himself as a +gentleman should, and that in fact he was secretly married in his old +age to a certain Cesarine,--the mother of a child which had had the +impertinence to come into the world without being called for. + +“He had given his hand,” as a certain Monsieur du Bousquier remarked, +“to the person who had long had him under irons.” + +This horrible calumny embittered the last days of the dainty chevalier +all the more because, as the present Scene will show, he had lost a hope +long cherished to which he had made many sacrifices. + +Madame Lardot leased to the chevalier two rooms on the second floor of +her house, for the modest sum of one hundred francs a year. The worthy +gentleman dined out every day, returning only in time to go to bed. His +sole expense therefore was for breakfast, invariably composed of a cup +of chocolate, with bread and butter and fruits in their season. He made +no fire except in the coldest winter, and then only enough to get up +by. Between eleven and four o’clock he walked about, went to read the +papers, and paid visits. From the time of his settling in Alencon he had +nobly admitted his poverty, saying that his whole fortune consisted in +an annuity of six hundred francs a year, the sole remains of his former +opulence,--a property which obliged him to see his man of business (who +held the annuity papers) quarterly. In truth, one of the Alencon bankers +paid him every three months one hundred and fifty francs, sent down +by Monsieur Bordin of Paris, the last of the _procureurs du Chatelet_. +Every one knew these details because the chevalier exacted the utmost +secrecy from the persons to whom he first confided them. + +Monsieur de Valois gathered the fruit of his misfortunes. His place at +table was laid in all the most distinguished houses in Alencon, and he +was bidden to all soirees. His talents as a card-player, a narrator, an +amiable man of the highest breeding, were so well known and appreciated +that parties would have seemed a failure if the dainty connoisseur was +absent. Masters of houses and their wives felt the need of his approving +grimace. When a young woman heard the chevalier say at a ball, “You are +delightfully well-dressed!” she was more pleased at such praise than she +would have been at mortifying a rival. Monsieur de Valois was the only +man who could perfectly pronounce certain phrases of the olden time. +The words, “my heart,” “my jewel,” “my little pet,” “my queen,” and the +amorous diminutives of 1770, had a grace that was quite irresistible +when they came from his lips. In short, the chevalier had the privilege +of superlatives. His compliments, of which he was stingy, won the good +graces of all the old women; he made himself agreeable to every one, +even to the officials of the government, from whom he wanted nothing. +His behavior at cards had a lofty distinction which everybody noticed: +he never complained; he praised his adversaries when they lost; he did +not rebuke or teach his partners by showing them how they ought to have +played. When, in the course of a deal, those sickening dissertations +on the game would take place, the chevalier invariably drew out his +snuff-box with a gesture that was worthy of Mole, looked at the Princess +Goritza, raised the cover with dignity, shook, sifted, massed the snuff, +and gathered his pinch, so that by the time the cards were dealt he +had decorated both nostrils and replaced the princess in his waistcoat +pocket,--always on his left side. A gentleman of the “good” century (in +distinction from the “grand” century) could alone have invented that +compromise between contemptuous silence and a sarcasm which might not +have been understood. He accepted poor players and knew how to make +the best of them. His delightful equability of temper made many persons +say,-- + +“I do admire the Chevalier de Valois!” + +His conversation, his manners, seemed bland, like his person. He +endeavored to shock neither man nor woman. Indulgent to defects both +physical and mental, he listened patiently (by the help of the Princess +Goritza) to the many dull people who related to him the petty miseries +of provincial life,--an egg ill-boiled for breakfast, coffee with +feathered cream, burlesque details about health, disturbed sleep, +dreams, visits. The chevalier could call up a languishing look, he could +take on a classic attitude to feign compassion, which made him a most +valuable listener; he could put in an “Ah!” and a “Bah!” and a “What +DID you do?” with charming appropriateness. He died without any one +suspecting him of even an allusion to the tender passages of his romance +with the Princess Goritza. Has any one ever reflected on the service a +dead sentiment can do to society; how love may become both social and +useful? This will serve to explain why, in spite of his constant winning +at play (he never left a salon without carrying off with him about six +francs), the old chevalier remained the spoilt darling of the town. His +losses--which, by the bye, he always proclaimed, were very rare. + +All who know him declare that they have never met, not even in the +Egyptian museum at Turin, so agreeable a mummy. In no country in +the world did parasitism ever take on so pleasant a form. Never did +selfishness of a most concentrated kind appear less forth-putting, less +offensive, than in this old gentleman; it stood him in place of devoted +friendship. If some one asked Monsieur de Valois to do him a little +service which might have discommoded him, that some one did not part +from the worthy chevalier without being truly enchanted with him, and +quite convinced that he either could not do the service demanded, or +that he should injure the affair if he meddled in it. + +To explain the problematic existence of the chevalier, the historian, +whom Truth, that cruel wanton, grasps by the throat, is compelled to say +that after the “glorious” sad days of July, Alencon discovered that the +chevalier’s nightly winnings amounted to about one hundred and fifty +francs every three months; and that the clever old nobleman had had the +pluck to send to himself his annuity in order not to appear in the eyes +of a community, which loves the main chance, to be entirely without +resources. Many of his friends (he was by that time dead, you will +please remark) have contested mordicus this curious fact, declaring it +to be a fable, and upholding the Chevalier de Valois as a respectable +and worthy gentleman whom the liberals calumniated. Luckily for shrewd +players, there are people to be found among the spectators who will +always sustain them. Ashamed of having to defend a piece of wrong-doing, +they stoutly deny it. Do not accuse them of wilful infatuation; such +men have a sense of their dignity; governments set them the example of a +virtue which consists in burying their dead without chanting the Misere +of their defeats. If the chevalier did allow himself this bit of shrewd +practice,--which, by the bye, would have won him the regard of the +Chevalier de Gramont, a smile from the Baron de Foeneste, a shake of +the hand from the Marquis de Moncade,--was he any the less that amiable +guest, that witty talker, that imperturbable card-player, that famous +teller of anecdotes, in whom all Alencon took delight? Besides, in what +way was this action, which is certainly within the rights of a man’s own +will,--in what way was it contrary to the ethics of a gentleman? When +so many persons are forced to pay annuities to others, what more natural +than to pay one to his own best friend? But Laius is dead-- + +To return to the period of which we are writing: after about fifteen +years of this way of life the chevalier had amassed ten thousand and +some odd hundred francs. On the return of the Bourbons, one of his old +friends, the Marquis de Pombreton, formerly lieutenant in the Black +mousquetaires, returned to him--so he said--twelve hundred pistoles +which he had lent to the marquis for the purpose of emigrating. This +event made a sensation; it was used later to refute the sarcasms of +the “Constitutionnel,” on the method employed by some emigres in paying +their debts. When this noble act of the Marquis de Pombreton was lauded +before the chevalier, the good man reddened even to his right cheek. +Every one rejoiced frankly at this windfall for Monsieur de Valois, +who went about consulting moneyed people as to the safest manner of +investing this fragment of his past opulence. Confiding in the future of +the Restoration, he finally placed his money on the Grand-Livre at the +moment when the funds were at fifty-six francs and twenty-five centimes. +Messieurs de Lenoncourt, de Navarreins, de Verneuil, de Fontaine, and La +Billardiere, to whom he was known, he said, obtained for him, from the +king’s privy purse, a pension of three hundred francs, and sent him, +moreover, the cross of Saint-Louis. Never was it known positively by +what means the old chevalier obtained these two solemn consecrations of +his title and merits. But one thing is certain; the cross of Saint-Louis +authorized him to take the rank of retired colonel in view of his +service in the Catholic armies of the West. + +Besides his fiction of an annuity, about which no one at the present +time knew anything, the chevalier really had, therefore, a bona fide +income of a thousand francs. But in spite of this bettering of his +circumstances, he made no change in his life, manners, or appearance, +except that the red ribbon made a fine effect on his maroon-colored +coat, and completed, so to speak, the physiognomy of a gentleman. +After 1802, the chevalier sealed his letters with a very old seal, +ill-engraved to be sure, by which the Casterans, the d’Esgrignons, the +Troisvilles were enabled to see that he bore: _Party of France, two +cottises gemelled gules, and gules, five mascles or, placed end to end; +on a chief sable, a cross argent_. For crest, a knight’s helmet. For +motto: “Valeo.” Bearing such noble arms, the so-called bastard of the +Valois had the right to get into all the royal carriages of the world. + +Many persons envied the quiet existence of this old bachelor, spent +on whist, boston, backgammon, reversi, and piquet, all well played, +on dinners well digested, snuff gracefully inhaled, and tranquil walks +about the town. Nearly all Alencon believed this life to be exempt from +ambitions and serious interests; but no man has a life as simple as +envious neighbors attribute to him. You will find in the most out-of-the +way villages human mollusks, creatures apparently dead, who have +passions for lepidoptera or for conchology, let us say,--beings who will +give themselves infinite pains about moths, butterflies, or the concha +Veneris. Not only did the chevalier have his own particular shells, +but he cherished an ambitious desire which he pursued with a craft +so profound as to be worthy of Sixtus the Fifth: he wanted to marry a +certain rich old maid, with the intention, no doubt, of making her a +stepping-stone by which to reach the more elevated regions of the court. +There, then, lay the secret of his royal bearing and of his residence in +Alencon. + + + + +CHAPTER II. SUSANNAH AND THE ELDERS + + +On a Wednesday morning, early, toward the middle of spring, in the year +16,--such was his mode of reckoning,--at the moment when the chevalier +was putting on his old green-flowered damask dressing-gown, he heard, +despite the cotton in his ears, the light step of a young girl who was +running up the stairway. Presently three taps were discreetly struck +upon the door; then, without waiting for any response, a handsome girl +slipped like an eel into the room occupied by the old bachelor. + +“Ah! is it you, Suzanne?” said the Chevalier de Valois, without +discontinuing his occupation, which was that of stropping his razor. +“What have you come for, my dear little jewel of mischief?” + +“I have come to tell you something which may perhaps give you as much +pleasure as pain?” + +“Is it anything about Cesarine?” + +“Cesarine! much I care about your Cesarine!” she said with a saucy air, +half serious, half indifferent. + +This charming Suzanne, whose present comical performance was to exercise +a great influence in the principal personages of our history, was a +work-girl at Madame Lardot’s. One word here on the topography of the +house. The wash-rooms occupied the whole of the ground floor. The little +courtyard was used to hang out on wire cords embroidered handkerchiefs, +collarets, capes, cuffs, frilled shirts, cravats, laces, embroidered +dresses,--in short, all the fine linen of the best families of the town. +The chevalier assumed to know from the number of her capes in the wash +how the love-affairs of the wife of the prefect were going on. Though +he guessed much from observations of this kind, the chevalier was +discretion itself; he was never betrayed into an epigram (he had plenty +of wit) which might have closed to him an agreeable salon. You are +therefore to consider Monsieur de Valois as a man of superior manners, +whose talents, like those of many others, were lost in a narrow sphere. +Only--for, after all, he was a man--he permitted himself certain +penetrating glances which could make some women tremble; although they +all loved him heartily as soon as they discovered the depth of his +discretion and the sympathy that he felt for their little weaknesses. + +The head woman, Madame Lardot’s factotum, an old maid of forty-six, +hideous to behold, lived on the opposite side of the passage to the +chevalier. Above them were the attics where the linen was dried in +winter. Each apartment had two rooms,--one lighted from the street, the +other from the courtyard. Beneath the chevalier’s room there lived a +paralytic, Madame Lardot’s grandfather, an old buccaneer named Grevin, +who had served under Admiral Simeuse in India, and was now stone-deaf. +As for Madame Lardot, who occupied the other lodging on the first floor, +she had so great a weakness for persons of condition that she may well +have been thought blind to the ways of the chevalier. To her, Monsieur +de Valois was a despotic monarch who did right in all things. Had any of +her workwomen been guilty of a happiness attributed to the chevalier +she would have said, “He is so lovable!” Thus, though the house was of +glass, like all provincial houses, it was discreet as a robber’s cave. + +A born confidant to all the little intrigues of the work-rooms, the +chevalier never passed the door, which usually stood open, without +giving something to his little ducks,--chocolate, bonbons, ribbons, +laces, gilt crosses, and such like trifles adored by grisettes; +consequently, the kind old gentleman was adored in return. Women have an +instinct which enables them to divine the men who love them, who like +to be near them, and exact no payment for gallantries. In this respect +women have the instinct of dogs, who in a mixed company will go straight +to the man to whom animals are sacred. + +The poor Chevalier de Valois retained from his former life the need of +bestowing gallant protection, a quality of the seigneurs of other +days. Faithful to the system of the “petite maison,” he liked to enrich +women,--the only beings who know how to receive, because they can +always return. But the poor chevalier could no longer ruin himself for +a mistress. Instead of the choicest bonbons wrapped in bank-bills, he +gallantly presented paper-bags full of toffee. Let us say to the glory +of Alencon that the toffee was accepted with more joy than la Duthe +ever showed at a gilt service or a fine equipage offered by the Comte +d’Artois. All these grisettes fully understood the fallen majesty of the +Chevalier de Valois, and they kept their private familiarities with him +a profound secret for his sake. If they were questioned about him in +certain houses when they carried home the linen, they always spoke +respectfully of the chevalier, and made him out older than he really +was; they talked of him as a most respectable monsieur, whose life was +a flower of sanctity; but once in their own regions they perched on his +shoulders like so many parrots. He liked to be told the secrets which +washerwomen discover in the bosom of households, and day after day these +girls would tell him the cancans which were going the round of Alencon. +He called them his “petticoat gazettes,” his “talking feuilletons.” + Never did Monsieur de Sartines have spies more intelligent and less +expensive, or minions who showed more honor while displaying their +rascality of mind. So it may be said that in the mornings, while +breakfasting, the chevalier usually amused himself as much as the saints +in heaven. + +Suzanne was one of his favorites, a clever, ambitious girl, made of +the stuff of a Sophie Arnold, and handsome withal, as the handsomest +courtesan invited by Titian to pose on black velvet for a model of +Venus; although her face, fine about the eyes and forehead, degenerated, +lower down, into commonness of outline. Hers was a Norman beauty, fresh, +high-colored, redundant, the flesh of Rubens covering the muscles of +the Farnese Hercules, and not the slender articulations of the Venus de’ +Medici, Apollo’s graceful consort. + +“Well, my child, tell me your great or your little adventure, whatever +it is.” + +The particular point about the chevalier which would have made him +noticeable from Paris to Pekin, was the gentle paternity of his manner +to grisettes. They reminded him of the illustrious operatic queens of +his early days, whose celebrity was European during a good third of the +eighteenth century. It is certain that the old gentleman, who had lived +in days gone by with that feminine nation now as much forgotten as many +other great things,--like the Jesuits, the Buccaneers, the Abbes, and +the Farmers-General,--had acquired an irresistible good-humor, a kindly +ease, a laisser-aller devoid of egotism, the self-effacement of +Jupiter with Alcmene, of the king intending to be duped, who casts his +thunderbolts to the devil, wants his Olympus full of follies, little +suppers, feminine profusions--but with Juno out of the way, be it +understood. + +In spite of his old green damask dressing-gown and the bareness of the +room in which he sat, where the floor was covered with a shabby tapestry +in place of carpet, and the walls were hung with tavern-paper presenting +the profiles of Louis XVI. and members of his family, traced among the +branches of a weeping willow with other sentimentalities invented by +royalism during the Terror,--in spite of his ruins, the chevalier, +trimming his beard before a shabby old toilet-table, draped with +trumpery lace, exhaled an essence of the eighteenth century. All the +libertine graces of his youth reappeared; he seemed to have the wealth +of three hundred thousand francs of debt, while his vis-a-vis waited +before the door. He was grand,--like Berthier on the retreat from +Moscow, issuing orders to an army that existed no longer. + +“Monsieur le chevalier,” replied Suzanne, drolly, “seems to me I needn’t +tell you anything; you’ve only to look.” + +And Suzanne presented a side view of herself which gave a sort of +lawyer’s comment to her words. The chevalier, who, you must know, was a +sly old bird, lowered his right eye on the grisette, still holding the +razor at his throat, and pretended to understand. + +“Well, well, my little duck, we’ll talk about that presently. But you +are rather previous, it seems to me.” + +“Why, Monsieur le chevalier, ought I to wait until my mother beats me +and Madame Lardot turns me off? If I don’t get away soon to Paris, I +shall never be able to marry here, where men are so ridiculous.” + +“It can’t be helped, my dear; society is changing; women are just as +much victims to the present state of things as the nobility themselves. +After political overturn comes the overturn of morals. Alas! before long +woman won’t exist” (he took out the cotton-wool to arrange his ears): +“she’ll lose everything by rushing into sentiment; she’ll wring her +nerves; good-bye to all the good little pleasures of our time, desired +without shame, accepted without nonsense.” (He polished up the little +negroes’ heads.) “Women had hysterics in those days to get their ends, +but now” (he began to laugh) “their vapors end in charcoal. In short, +marriage” (here he picked up his pincers to remove a hair) “will become +a thing intolerable; whereas it used to be so gay in my day! The reigns +of Louis XIV. and Louis XV.--remember this, my child--said farewell to +the finest manners and morals ever known to the world.” + +“But, Monsieur le chevalier,” said the grisette, “the matter now +concerns the morals and honor of your poor little Suzanne, and I hope +you won’t abandon her.” + +“Abandon her!” cried the chevalier, finishing his hair; “I’d sooner +abandon my own name.” + +“Ah!” exclaimed Suzanne. + +“Now, listen to me, you little mischief,” said the chevalier, sitting +down on a huge sofa, formerly called a duchesse, which Madame Lardot had +been at some pains to find for him. + +He drew the magnificent Suzanne before him, holding her legs between his +knees. She let him do as he liked, although in the street she was offish +enough to other men, refusing their familiarities partly from decorum +and partly for contempt for their commonness. She now stood audaciously +in front of the chevalier, who, having fathomed in his day many other +mysteries in minds that were far more wily, took in the situation at a +single glance. He knew very well that no young girl would joke about +a real dishonor; but he took good care not to knock over the pretty +scaffolding of her lie as he touched it. + +“We slander ourselves,” he said with inimitable craft; “we are as +virtuous as that beautiful biblical girl whose name we bear; we can +always marry as we please, but we are thirsty for Paris, where charming +creatures--and we are no fool--get rich without trouble. We want to go +and see if the great capital of pleasures hasn’t some young Chevalier de +Valois in store for us, with a carriage, diamonds, an opera-box, and so +forth. Russians, Austrians, Britons, have millions on which we have an +eye. Besides, we are patriotic; we want to help France in getting back +her money from the pockets of those gentry. Hey! hey! my dear little +devil’s duck! it isn’t a bad plan. The world you live in may cry out a +bit, but success justifies all things. The worst thing in this world, +my dear, is to be without money; that’s our disease, yours and mine. Now +inasmuch as we have plenty of wit, we thought it would be a good thing +to parade our dear little honor, or dishonor, to catch an old boy; +but that old boy, my dear heart, knows the Alpha and Omega of female +tricks,--which means that you could easier put salt on a sparrow’s tail +than to make me believe I have anything to do with your little affair. +Go to Paris, my dear; go at the cost of an old celibate, I won’t prevent +it; in fact, I’ll help you, for an old bachelor, Suzanne, is the natural +money-box of a young girl. But don’t drag me into the matter. Listen, my +queen, you who know life pretty well; you would me great harm and give +me much pain,--harm, because you would prevent my marriage in a town +where people cling to morality; pain, because if you are in trouble +(which I deny, you sly puss!) I haven’t a penny to get you out of it. +I’m as poor as a church mouse; you know that, my dear. Ah! if I marry +Mademoiselle Cormon, if I am once more rich, of course I would prefer +you to Cesarine. You’ve always seemed to me as fine as the gold they +gild on lead; you were made to be the love of a great seigneur. I think +you so clever that the trick you are trying to play off on me doesn’t +surprise me one bit; I expected it. You are flinging the scabbard after +the sword, and that’s daring for a girl. It takes nerve and superior +ideas to do it, my angel, and therefore you have won my respectful +esteem.” + +“Monsieur le chevalier, I assure you, you are mistaken, and--” + +She colored, and did not dare to say more. The chevalier, with a single +glance, had guessed and fathomed her whole plan. + +“Yes, yes! I understand: you want me to believe it,” he said. “Well! I +do believe it. But take my advice: go to Monsieur du Bousquier. Haven’t +you taken linen there for the last six or eight months? I’m not asking +what went on between you; but I know the man: he has immense conceit; +he is an old bachelor, and very rich; and he only spends a quarter of +a comfortable income. If you are as clever as I suppose, you can go to +Paris at his expense. There, run along, my little doe; go and twist him +round your finger. Only, mind this: be as supple as silk; at every +word take a double turn round him and make a knot. He is a man to fear +scandal, and if he has given you a chance to put him in the pillory--in +short, understand; threaten him with the ladies of the Maternity +Hospital. Besides, he’s ambitious. A man succeeds through his wife, and +you are handsome and clever enough to make the fortune of a husband. +Hey! the mischief! you could hold your own against all the court +ladies.” + +Suzanne, whose mind took in at a flash the chevalier’s last words, +was eager to run off to du Bousquier, but, not wishing to depart too +abruptly, she questioned the chevalier about Paris, all the while +helping him to dress. The chevalier, however, divined her desire to +be off, and favored it by asking her to tell Cesarine to bring up his +chocolate, which Madame Lardot made for him every morning. Suzanne then +slipped away to her new victim, whose biography must here be given. + +Born of an old Alencon family, du Bousquier was a cross between the +bourgeois and the country squire. Finding himself without means on the +death of his father, he went, like other ruined provincials, to Paris. +On the breaking out of the Revolution he took part in public affairs. +In spite of revolutionary principles, which made a hobby of republican +honesty, the management of public business in those days was by no +means clean. A political spy, a stock-jobber, a contractor, a man who +confiscated in collusion with the syndic of a commune the property of +emigres in order to sell them and buy them in, a minister, and a general +were all equally engaged in public business. From 1793 to 1799 du +Bousquier was commissary of provisions to the French armies. He lived in +a magnificent hotel and was one of the matadors of finance, did business +with Ouvrard, kept open house, and led the scandalous life of the +period,--the life of a Cincinnatus, on sacks of corn harvested without +trouble, stolen rations, “little houses” full of mistresses, in which +were given splendid fetes to the Directors of the Republic. + +The citizen du Bousquier was one of Barras’ familiars; he was on the +best of terms with Fouche, stood very well with Bernadotte, and fully +expected to become a minister by throwing himself into the party which +secretly caballed against Bonaparte until Marengo. If it had not been +for Kellermann’s charge and Desaix’s death, du Bousquier would probably +have become a minister. He was one of the chief assistances of that +secret government whom Napoleon’s luck sent behind the scenes in 1793. +(See “An Historical Mystery.”) The unexpected victory of Marengo was +the defeat of that party who actually had their proclamations printed +to return to the principles of the Montagne in case the First Consul +succumbed. + +Convinced of the impossibility of Bonaparte’s triumph, du Bousquier +staked the greater part of his property on a fall in the Funds, and kept +two couriers on the field of battle. The first started for Paris when +Melas’ victory was certain; the second, starting four hours later, +brought the news of the defeat of the Austrians. Du Bousquier cursed +Kellermann and Desaix; he dared not curse Bonaparte, who might owe him +millions. This alternative of millions to be earned and present ruin +staring him in the face, deprived the purveyor of most of his faculties: +he became nearly imbecile for several days; the man had so abused his +health by excesses that when the thunderbolt fell upon him he had no +strength to resist. The payment of his bills against the Exchequer +gave him some hopes for the future, but, in spite of all efforts +to ingratiate himself, Napoleon’s hatred to the contractors who had +speculated on his defeat made itself felt; du Bousquier was left without +a sou. The immorality of his private life, his intimacy with Barras and +Bernadotte, displeased the First Consul even more than his manoeuvres +at the Bourse, and he struck du Bousquier’s name from the list of the +government contractors. + +Out of all his past opulence du Bousquier saved only twelve hundred +francs a year from an investment in the Grand Livre, which he had +happened to place there by pure caprice, and which saved him from +penury. A man ruined by the First Consul interested the town of Alencon, +to which he now returned, where royalism was secretly dominant. Du +Bousquier, furious against Bonaparte, relating stories against him of +his meanness, of Josephine’s improprieties, and all the other scandalous +anecdotes of the last ten years, was well received. + +About this time, when he was somewhere between forty and fifty, du +Bousquier’s appearance was that of a bachelor of thirty-six, of medium +height, plump as a purveyor, proud of his vigorous calves, with a +strongly marked countenance, a flattened nose, the nostrils garnished +with hair, black eyes with thick lashes, from which darted shrewd +glances like those of Monsieur de Talleyrand, though somewhat dulled. +He still wore republican whiskers and his hair very long; his hands, +adorned with bunches of hair on each knuckle, showed the power of his +muscular system in their prominent blue veins. He had the chest of the +Farnese Hercules, and shoulders fit to carry the stocks. Such shoulders +are seen nowadays only at Tortoni’s. This wealth of masculine vigor +counted for much in du Bousquier’s relations with others. And yet in +him, as in the chevalier, symptoms appeared which contrasted oddly with +the general aspect of their persons. The late purveyor had not the voice +of his muscles. We do not mean that his voice was a mere thread, such +as we sometimes hear issuing from the mouth of these walruses; on the +contrary, it was a strong voice, but stifled, an idea of which can be +given only by comparing it with the noise of a saw cutting into soft and +moistened wood,--the voice of a worn-out speculator. + +In spite of the claims which the enmity of the First Consul gave +Monsieur du Bousquier to enter the royalist society of the province, +he was not received in the seven or eight families who composed the +faubourg Saint-Germain of Alencon, among whom the Chevalier de Valois +was welcome. He had offered himself in marriage, through her notary, +to Mademoiselle Armande, sister of the most distinguished noble in the +town; to which offer he received a refusal. He consoled himself as best +he could in the society of a dozen rich families, former manufacturers +of the old point d’Alencon, owners of pastures and cattle, or merchants +doing a wholesale business in linen, among whom, as he hoped, he +might find a wealthy wife. In fact, all his hopes now converged to +the perspective of a fortunate marriage. He was not without a certain +financial ability, which many persons used to their profit. Like a +ruined gambler who advises neophytes, he pointed out enterprises and +speculations, together with the means and chances of conducting them. He +was thought a good administrator, and it was often a question of making +him mayor of Alencon; but the memory of his underhand jobbery still +clung to him, and he was never received at the prefecture. All the +succeeding governments, even that of the Hundred Days, refused to +appoint him mayor of Alencon,--a place he coveted, which, could he have +had it, would, he thought, have won him the hand of a certain old maid +on whom his matrimonial views now turned. + +Du Bousquier’s aversion to the Imperial government had thrown him at +first into the royalist circles of Alencon, where he remained in spite +of the rebuffs he received there; but when, after the first return +of the Bourbons, he was still excluded from the prefecture, that +mortification inspired him with a hatred as deep as it was secret +against the royalists. He now returned to his old opinions, and became +the leader of the liberal party in Alencon, the invisible manipulator of +elections, and did immense harm to the Restoration by the cleverness of +his underhand proceedings and the perfidy of his outward behavior. Du +Bousquier, like all those who live by their heads only, carried on his +hatreds with the quiet tranquillity of a rivulet, feeble apparently, +but inexhaustible. His hatred was that of a negro, so peaceful that it +deceived the enemy. His vengeance, brooded over for fifteen years, was +as yet satisfied by no victory, not even that of July, 1830. + +It was not without some private intention that the Chevalier de Valois +had turned Suzanne’s designs upon Monsieur du Bousquier. The liberal +and the royalist had mutually divined each other in spite of the wide +dissimulation with which they hid their common hope from the rest of the +town. The two old bachelors were secretly rivals. Each had formed a plan +to marry the Demoiselle Cormon, whom Monsieur de Valois had mentioned to +Suzanne. Both, ensconced in their idea and wearing the armor of apparent +indifference, awaited the moment when some lucky chance might deliver +the old maid over to them. Thus, if the two old bachelors had not been +kept asunder by the two political systems of which they each offered +a living expression, their private rivalry would still have made them +enemies. Epochs put their mark on men. These two individuals proved the +truth of that axiom by the opposing historic tints that were visible +in their faces, in their conversation, in their ideas, and in their +clothes. One, abrupt, energetic, with loud, brusque manners, curt, rude +speech, dark in tone, in hair, in look, terrible apparently, in reality +as impotent as an insurrection, represented the republic admirably. The +other, gentle and polished, elegant and nice, attaining his ends by the +slow and infallible means of diplomacy, faithful to good taste, was the +express image of the old courtier regime. + +The two enemies met nearly every evening on the same ground. The war +was courteous and benign on the side of the chevalier; but du Bousquier +showed less ceremony on his, though still preserving the outward +appearances demanded by society, for he did not wish to be driven from +the place. They themselves fully understood each other; but in spite of +the shrewd observation which provincials bestow on the petty interests +of their own little centre, no one in the town suspected the rivalry +of these two men. Monsieur le Chevalier de Valois occupied a +vantage-ground: he had never asked for the hand of Mademoiselle Cormon; +whereas du Bousquier, who entered the lists soon after his rejection by +the most distinguished family in the place, had been refused. But the +chevalier believed that his rival had still such strong chances of +success that he dealt him this coup de Jarnac with a blade (namely, +Suzanne) that was finely tempered for the purpose. The chevalier had +cast his plummet-line into the waters of du Bousquier; and, as we shall +see by the sequel, he was not mistaken in any of his conjectures. + +Suzanne tripped with a light foot from the rue du Cours, by the rue de +la Porte de Seez and the rue du Bercail, to the rue du Cygne, where, +about five years earlier, du Bousquier had bought a little house built +of gray Jura stone, which is something between Breton slate and +Norman granite. There he established himself more comfortably than any +householder in town; for he had managed to preserve certain furniture +and decorations from the days of his splendor. But provincial manners +and morals obscured, little by little, the rays of this fallen +Sardanapalus; these vestiges of his former luxury now produced the +effect of a glass chandelier in a barn. Harmony, that bond of all work, +human or divine, was lacking in great things as well as in little ones. +The stairs, up which everybody mounted without wiping their feet, were +never polished; the walls, painted by some wretched artisan of the +neighborhood, were a terror to the eye; the stone mantel-piece, +ill-carved, “swore” with the handsome clock, which was further degraded +by the company of contemptible candlesticks. Like the period which +du Bousquier himself represented, the house was a jumble of dirt and +magnificence. Being considered a man of leisure, du Bousquier led the +same parasite life as the chevalier; and he who does not spend his +income is always rich. His only servant was a sort of Jocrisse, a lad of +the neighborhood, rather a ninny, trained slowly and with difficulty to +du Bousquier’s requirements. His master had taught him, as he might an +orang-outang, to rub the floors, dust the furniture, black his boots, +brush his coats, and bring a lantern to guide him home at night if +the weather were cloudy, and clogs if it rained. Like many other human +beings, this lad hadn’t stuff enough in him for more than one vice; he +was a glutton. Often, when du Bousquier went to a grand dinner, he would +take Rene to wait at table; on such occasions he made him take off his +blue cotton jacket, with its big pockets hanging round his hips, and +always bulging with handkerchiefs, clasp-knives, fruits, or a handful of +nuts, and forced him to put on a regulation coat. Rene would then stuff +his fill with the other servants. This duty, which du Bousquier had +turned into a reward, won him the most absolute discretion from the +Breton servant. + +“You here, mademoiselle!” said Rene to Suzanne when she entered; +“‘t’isn’t your day. We haven’t any linen for the wash, tell Madame +Lardot.” + +“Old stupid!” said Suzanne, laughing. + +The pretty girl went upstairs, leaving Rene to finish his porringer of +buckwheat in boiled milk. Du Bousquier, still in bed, was revolving in +his mind his plans of fortune; for ambition was all that was left +to him, as to other men who have sucked dry the orange of pleasure. +Ambition and play are inexhaustible; in a well-organized man the +passions which proceed from the brain will always survive the passions +of the heart. + +“Here am I,” said Suzanne, sitting down on the bed and jangling the +curtain-rings back along the rod with despotic vehemence. + +“Quesaco, my charmer?” said the old bachelor, sitting up in bed. + +“Monsieur,” said Suzanne, gravely, “you must be astonished to see me +here at this hour; but I find myself in a condition which obliges me not +to care for what people may say about it.” + +“What does all that mean?” said du Bousquier, crossing his arms. + +“Don’t you understand me?” said Suzanne. “I know,” she continued, making +a pretty little face, “how ridiculous it is in a poor girl to come and +nag at a man for what he thinks a mere nothing. But if you really knew +me, monsieur, if you knew all that I am capable of for a man who would +attach himself to me as much as I’m attached to you, you would never +repent having married me. Of course it isn’t here, in Alencon, that +I should be of service to you; but if we went to Paris, you would see +where I could lead a man with your mind and your capacities; and just +at this time too, when they are remaking the government from top to toe. +So--between ourselves, be it said--_is_ what has happened a misfortune? +Isn’t it rather a piece of luck, which will pay you well? Who and what +are you working for now?” + +“For myself, of course!” cried du Bousquier, brutally. + +“Monster! you’ll never be a father!” said Suzanne, giving a tone of +prophetic malediction to the words. + +“Come, don’t talk nonsense, Suzanne,” replied du Bousquier; “I really +think I am still dreaming.” + +“How much more reality do you want?” cried Suzanne, standing up. + +Du Bousquier rubbed his cotton night-cap to the top of his head with a +rotatory motion, which plainly indicated the tremendous fermentation of +his ideas. + +“He actually believes it!” thought Suzanne, “and he’s flattered. Heaven! +how easy it is to gull men!” + +“Suzanne, what the devil must I do? It is so extraordinary--I, who +thought--The fact is that--No, no, it can’t be--” + +“What? you can’t marry me?” + +“Oh! as for that, no; I have engagements.” + +“With Mademoiselle Armande or Mademoiselle Cormon, who have both +refused you? Listen to me, Monsieur du Bousquier, my honor doesn’t +need gendarmes to drag you to the mayor’s office. I sha’n’t lack for +husbands, thank goodness! and I don’t want a man who can’t appreciate +what I’m worth. But some day you’ll repent of the way you are behaving; +for I tell you now that nothing on earth, neither gold nor silver, will +induce me to return the good thing that belongs to you, if you refuse to +accept it to-day.” + +“But, Suzanne, are you sure?” + +“Oh, monsieur!” cried the grisette, wrapping her virtue round her, “what +do you take me for? I don’t remind you of the promises you made me, +which have ruined a poor young girl whose only blame was to have as much +ambition as love.” + +Du Bousquier was torn with conflicting sentiments, joy, distrust, +calculation. He had long determined to marry Mademoiselle Cormon; +for the Charter, on which he had just been ruminating, offered to his +ambition, through the half of her property, the political career of a +deputy. Besides, his marriage with the old maid would put him socially +so high in the town that he would have great influence. Consequently, +the storm upraised by that malicious Suzanne drove him into the wildest +embarrassment. Without this secret scheme, he would have married Suzanne +without hesitation. In which case, he could openly assume the leadership +of the liberal party in Alencon. After such a marriage he would, of +course, renounce the best society and take up with the bourgeois class +of tradesmen, rich manufacturers and graziers, who would certainly carry +him in triumph as their candidate. Du Bousquier already foresaw the Left +side. + +This solemn deliberation he did not conceal; he rubbed his hands over +his head, displacing the cap which covered its disastrous baldness. +Suzanne, meantime, like all those persons who succeed beyond their +hopes, was silent and amazed. To hide her astonishment, she assumed the +melancholy pose of an injured girl at the mercy of her seducer; inwardly +she was laughing like a grisette at her clever trick. + +“My dear child,” said du Bousquier at length, “I’m not to be taken in +with such _bosh_, not I!” + +Such was the curt remark which ended du Bousquier’s meditation. He +plumed himself on belonging to the class of cynical philosophers who +could never be “taken in” by women,--putting them, one and all, unto the +same category, as _suspicious_. These strong-minded persons are usually +weak men who have a special catechism in the matter of womenkind. To +them the whole sex, from queens of France to milliners, are essentially +depraved, licentious, intriguing, not a little rascally, fundamentally +deceitful, and incapable of thought about anything but trifles. To them, +women are evil-doing queens, who must be allowed to dance and sing and +laugh as they please; they see nothing sacred or saintly in them, nor +anything grand; to them there is no poetry in the senses, only gross +sensuality. Where such jurisprudence prevails, if a woman is not +perpetually tyrannized over, she reduces the man to the condition of a +slave. Under this aspect du Bousquier was again the antithesis of the +chevalier. When he made his final remark, he flung his night-cap to the +foot of the bed, as Pope Gregory did the taper when he fulminated +an excommunication; Suzanne then learned for the first time that du +Bousquier wore a toupet covering his bald spot. + +“Please to remember, Monsieur du Bousquier,” she replied majestically, +“that in coming here to tell you of this matter I have done my duty; +remember that I have offered you my hand, and asked for yours; but +remember also that I behaved with the dignity of a woman who respects +herself. I have not abased myself to weep like a silly fool; I have not +insisted; I have not tormented you. You now know my situation. You must +see that I cannot stay in Alencon: my mother would beat me, and Madame +Lardot rides a hobby of principles; she’ll turn me off. Poor work-girl +that I am, must I go to the hospital? must I beg my bread? No! I’d +rather throw myself into the Brillante or the Sarthe. But isn’t it +better that I should go to Paris? My mother could find an excuse to send +me there,--an uncle who wants me, or a dying aunt, or a lady who sends +for me. But I must have some money for the journey and for--you know +what.” + +This extraordinary piece of news was far more startling to du Bousquier +than to the Chevalier de Valois. Suzanne’s fiction introduced such +confusion into the ideas of the old bachelor that he was literally +incapable of sober reflection. Without this agitation and without his +inward delight (for vanity is a swindler which never fails of its dupe), +he would certainly have reflected that, supposing it were true, a +girl like Suzanne, whose heart was not yet spoiled, would have died a +thousand deaths before beginning a discussion of this kind and asking +for money. + +“Will you really go to Paris, then?” he said. + +A flash of gayety lighted Suzanne’s gray eyes as she heard these words; +but the self-satisfied du Bousquier saw nothing. + +“Yes, monsieur,” she said. + +Du Bousquier then began bitter lamentations: he had the last payments +to make on his house; the painter, the mason, the upholsterers must +be paid. Suzanne let him run on; she was listening for the figures. Du +Bousquier offered her three hundred francs. Suzanne made what is called +on the stage a false exit; that is, she marched toward the door. + +“Stop, stop! where are you going?” said du Bousquier, uneasily. “This +is what comes of a bachelor’s life!” thought he. “The devil take me if +I ever did anything more than rumple her collar, and, lo and behold! she +makes THAT a ground to put her hand in one’s pocket!” + +“I’m going, monsieur,” replied Suzanne, “to Madame Granson, the +treasurer of the Maternity Society, who, to my knowledge, has saved many +a poor girl in my condition from suicide.” + +“Madame Granson!” + +“Yes,” said Suzanne, “a relation of Mademoiselle Cormon, the president +of the Maternity Society. Saving your presence, the ladies of the town +have created an institution to protect poor creatures from destroying +their infants, like that handsome Faustine of Argentan who was executed +for it three years ago.” + +“Here, Suzanne,” said du Bousquier, giving her a key, “open that +secretary, and take out the bag you’ll find there: there’s about six +hundred francs in it; it is all I possess.” + +“Old cheat!” thought Suzanne, doing as he told her, “I’ll tell about +your false toupet.” + +She compared du Bousquier with that charming chevalier, who had given +her nothing, it is true, but who had comprehended her, advised her, and +carried all grisettes in his heart. + +“If you deceive me, Suzanne,” cried du Bousquier, as he saw her with her +hand in the drawer, “you--” + +“Monsieur,” she said, interrupting him with ineffable impertinence, +“wouldn’t you have given me money if I had asked for it?” + +Recalled to a sense of gallantry, du Bousquier had a remembrance of past +happiness and grunted his assent. Suzanne took the bag and departed, +after allowing the old bachelor to kiss her, which he did with an air +that seemed to say, “It is a right which costs me dear; but it is better +than being harried by a lawyer in the court of assizes as the seducer of +a girl accused of infanticide.” + +Suzanne hid the sack in a sort of gamebag made of osier which she had on +her arm, all the while cursing du Bousquier for his stinginess; for one +thousand francs was the sum she wanted. Once tempted of the devil to +desire that sum, a girl will go far when she has set foot on the path of +trickery. As she made her way along the rue du Bercail, it came into her +head that the Maternity Society, presided over by Mademoiselle Cormon, +might be induced to complete the sum at which she had reckoned her +journey to Paris, which to a grisette of Alencon seemed considerable. +Besides, she hated du Bousquier. The latter had evidently feared a +revelation of his supposed misconduct to Madame Granson; and Suzanne, at +the risk of not getting a penny from the society, was possessed with +the desire, on leaving Alencon, of entangling the old bachelor in the +inextricable meshes of a provincial slander. In all grisettes there is +something of the malevolent mischief of a monkey. Accordingly, Suzanne +now went to see Madame Granson, composing her face to an expression of +the deepest dejection. + + + + +CHAPTER III. ATHANASE + + +Madame Granson, widow of a lieutenant-colonel of artillery killed at +Jena, possessed, as her whole means of livelihood, a meagre pension of +nine hundred francs a year, and three hundred francs from property of +her own, plus a son whose support and education had eaten up all her +savings. She occupied, in the rue du Bercail, one of those melancholy +ground-floor apartments which a traveller passing along the principal +street of a little provincial town can look through at a glance. The +street door opened at the top of three steep steps; a passage led to an +interior courtyard, at the end of which was the staircase covered by a +wooden gallery. On one side of the passage was the dining-room and the +kitchen; on the other side, a salon put to many uses, and the widow’s +bedchamber. + +Athanase Granson, a young man twenty-three years of age, who slept in an +attic room above the second floor of the house, added six hundred francs +to the income of his poor mother, by the salary of a little place which +the influence of his relation, Mademoiselle Cormon, had obtained for him +in the mayor’s office, where he was placed in charge of the archives. + +From these indications it is easy to imagine Madame Granson in her +cold salon with its yellow curtains and Utrecht velvet furniture, also +yellow, as she straightened the round straw mats which were placed +before each chair, that visitors might not soil the red-tiled floor +while they sat there; after which she returned to her cushioned +armchair and little work-table placed beneath the portrait of the +lieutenant-colonel of artillery between two windows,--a point from which +her eye could rake the rue du Bercail and see all comers. She was a good +woman, dressed with bourgeois simplicity in keeping with her wan face +furrowed by grief. The rigorous humbleness of poverty made itself felt +in all the accessories of this household, the very air of which was +charged with the stern and upright morals of the provinces. At this +moment the son and mother were together in the dining-room, where +they were breakfasting with a cup of coffee, with bread and butter and +radishes. To make the pleasure which Suzanne’s visit was to give to +Madame Granson intelligible, we must explain certain secret interests of +the mother and son. + +Athanase Granson was a thin and pale young man, of medium height, with +a hollow face in which his two black eyes, sparkling with thoughts, gave +the effect of bits of coal. The rather irregular lines of his face, the +curve of his lips, a prominent chin, the fine modelling of his forehead, +his melancholy countenance, caused by a sense of his poverty warring +with the powers that he felt within him, were all indications of +repressed and imprisoned talent. In any other place than the town of +Alencon the mere aspect of his person would have won him the assistance +of superior men, or of women who are able to recognize genius in +obscurity. If his was not genius, it was at any rate the form and aspect +of it; if he had not the actual force of a great heart, the glow of such +a heart was in his glance. Although he was capable of expressing the +highest feeling, a casing of timidity destroyed all the graces of his +youth, just as the ice of poverty kept him from daring to put forth all +his powers. Provincial life, without an opening, without appreciation, +without encouragement, described a circle about him in which languished +and died the power of thought,--a power which as yet had scarcely +reached its dawn. Moreover, Athanase possessed that savage pride which +poverty intensifies in noble minds, exalting them in their struggle with +men and things; although at their start in life it is an obstacle to +their advancement. Genius proceeds in two ways: either it takes its +opportunity--like Napoleon, like Moliere--the moment that it sees it, +or it waits to be sought when it has patiently revealed itself. Young +Granson belonged to that class of men of talent who distrust themselves +and are easily discouraged. His soul was contemplative. He lived more +by thought than by action. Perhaps he might have seemed deficient or +incomplete to those who cannot conceive of genius without the sparkle +of French passion; but he was powerful in the world of mind, and he was +liable to reach, through a series of emotions imperceptible to common +souls, those sudden determinations which make fools say of a man, “He is +mad.” + +The contempt which the world pours out on poverty was death to Athanase; +the enervating heat of solitude, without a breath or current of air, +relaxed the bow which ever strove to tighten itself; his soul grew weary +in this painful effort without results. Athanase was a man who might +have taken his place among the glories of France; but, eagle as he was, +cooped in a cage without his proper nourishment, he was about to die of +hunger after contemplating with an ardent eye the fields of air and +the mountain heights where genius soars. His work in the city library +escaped attention, and he buried in his soul his thoughts of fame, +fearing that they might injure him; but deeper than all lay buried +within him the secret of his heart,--a passion which hollowed his +cheeks and yellowed his brow. He loved his distant cousin, this very +Mademoiselle Cormon whom the Chevalier de Valois and du Bousquier, +his hidden rivals, were stalking. This love had had its origin in +calculation. Mademoiselle Cormon was thought to be one of the richest +persons in the town: the poor lad had therefore been led to love her by +desires for material happiness, by the hope, long indulged, of gilding +with comfort his mother’s last years, by eager longing for the ease of +life so needful to men who live by thought; but this most innocent point +of departure degraded his passion in his own eyes. Moreover, he feared +the ridicule the world would cast upon the love of a young man of +twenty-three for an old maid of forty. + +And yet his passion was real; whatever may seem false about such a love +elsewhere, it can be realized as a fact in the provinces, where, manners +and morals being without change or chance or movement or mystery, +marriage becomes a necessity of life. No family will accept a young man +of dissolute habits. However natural the liaison of a young man, like +Athanase, with a handsome girl, like Suzanne, for instance, might seem +in a capital, it alarms provincial parents, and destroys the hopes of +marriage of a poor young man when possibly the fortune of a rich one +might cause such an unfortunate antecedent to be overlooked. Between the +depravity of certain liaisons and a sincere love, a man of honor and no +fortune will not hesitate: he prefers the misfortunes of virtue to the +evils of vice. But in the provinces women with whom a young man call +fall in love are rare. A rich young girl he cannot obtain in a region +where all is calculation; a poor young girl he is prevented from loving; +it would be, as provincials say, marrying hunger and thirst. Such +monkish solitude is, however, dangerous to youth. + +These reflections explain why provincial life is so firmly based on +marriage. Thus we find that ardent and vigorous genius, forced to rely +on the independence of its own poverty, quits these cold regions where +thought is persecuted by brutal indifference, where no woman is willing +to be a sister of charity to a man of talent, of art, of science. + +Who will really understand Athanase Granson’s love for Mademoiselle +Cormon? Certainly neither rich men--those sultans of society who fill +their harems--nor middle-class men, who follow the well-beaten high-road +of prejudices; nor women who, not choosing to understand the passions of +artists, impose the yoke of their virtues upon men of genius, imagining +that the two sexes are governed by the same laws. + +Here, perhaps, we should appeal to those young men who suffer from the +repression of their first desires at the moment when all their forces +are developing; to artists sick of their own genius smothering under the +pressure of poverty; to men of talent, persecuted and without influence, +often without friends at the start, who have ended by triumphing over +that double anguish, equally agonizing, of soul and body. Such men +will well understand the lancinating pains of the cancer which was +now consuming Athanase; they have gone through those long and bitter +deliberations made in presence of some grandiose purpose they had not +the means to carry out; they have endured those secret miscarriages in +which the fructifying seed of genius falls on arid soil. Such men know +that the grandeur of desires is in proportion to the height and breadth +of the imagination. The higher they spring, the lower they fall; and how +can it be that ties and bonds should not be broken by such a fall? +Their piercing eye has seen--as did Athanase--the brilliant future which +awaited them, and from which they fancied that only a thin gauze parted +them; but that gauze through which their eyes could see is changed by +Society into a wall of iron. Impelled by a vocation, by a sentiment of +art, they endeavor again and again to live by sentiments which society +as incessantly materializes. Alas! the provinces calculate and arrange +marriage with the one view of material comfort, and a poor artist or man +of science is forbidden to double its purpose and make it the saviour of +his genius by securing to him the means of subsistence! + +Moved by such ideas, Athanase Granson first thought of marriage with +Mademoiselle Cormon as a means of obtaining a livelihood which would +be permanent. Thence he could rise to fame, and make his mother happy, +knowing at the same time that he was capable of faithfully loving his +wife. But soon his own will created, although he did not know it, a +genuine passion. He began to study the old maid, and, by dint of the +charm which habit gives, he ended by seeing only her beauties and +ignoring her defects. + +In a young man of twenty-three the senses count for much in love; their +fire produces a sort of prism between his eyes and the woman. From +this point of view the clasp with which Beaumarchis’ Cherubin seizes +Marceline is a stroke of genius. But when we reflect that in the utter +isolation to which poverty condemned poor Athanase, Mademoiselle Cormon +was the only figure presented to his gaze, that she attracted his eye +incessantly, that all the light he had was concentrated on her, surely +his love may be considered natural. + +This sentiment, so carefully hidden, increased from day to day. Desires, +sufferings, hopes, and meditations swelled in quietness and silence the +lake widening ever in the young man’s breast, as hour by hour added its +drop of water to the volume. And the wider this inward circle, drawn +by the imagination, aided by the senses, grew, the more imposing +Mademoiselle Cormon appeared to Athanase, and the more his own timidity +increased. + +The mother had divined the truth. Like all provincial mothers, she +calculated candidly in her own mind the advantages of the match. She +told herself that Mademoiselle Cormon would be very lucky to secure a +husband in a young man of twenty-three, full of talent, who would always +be an honor to his family and the neighborhood; at the same time the +obstacles which her son’s want of fortune and Mademoiselle Cormon’s age +presented to the marriage seemed to her almost insurmountable; she could +think of nothing but patience as being able to vanquish them. Like du +Bousquier, like the Chevalier de Valois, she had a policy of her own; +she was on the watch for circumstances, awaiting the propitious moment +for a move with the shrewdness of maternal instinct. Madame Granson +had no fears at all as to the chevalier, but she did suppose that du +Bousquier, although refused, retained certain hopes. As an able and +underhand enemy to the latter, she did him much secret harm in the +interests of her son; from whom, by the bye, she carefully concealed all +such proceedings. + +After this explanation it is easy to understand the importance which +Suzanne’s lie, confided to Madame Granson, was about to acquire. What a +weapon put into the hands of this charitable lady, the treasurer of the +Maternity Society! How she would gently and demurely spread the news +while collecting assistance for the chaste Suzanne! + +At the present moment Athanase, leaning pensively on his elbow at +the breakfast table, was twirling his spoon in his empty cup and +contemplating with a preoccupied eye the poor room with its red brick +floor, its straw chairs, its painted wooden buffet, its pink and white +curtains chequered like a backgammon board, which communicated with the +kitchen through a glass door. As his back was to the chimney which his +mother faced, and as the chimney was opposite to the door, his pallid +face, strongly lighted from the window, framed in beautiful black hair, +the eyes gleaming with despair and fiery with morning thoughts, was the +first object which met the eyes of the incoming Suzanne. The grisette, +who belonged to a class which certainly has the instinct of misery and +the sufferings of the heart, suddenly felt that electric spark, darting +from Heaven knows where, which can never be explained, which some strong +minds deny, but the sympathetic stroke of which has been felt by many +men and many women. It is at once a light which lightens the darkness +of the future, a presentiment of the sacred joys of a shared love, the +certainty of mutual comprehension. Above all, it is like the touch of +a firm and able hand on the keyboard of the senses. The eyes are +fascinated by an irresistible attraction; the heart is stirred; the +melodies of happiness echo in the soul and in the ears; a voice cries +out, “It is he!” Often reflection casts a douche of cold water on this +boiling emotion, and all is over. + +In a moment, as rapid as the flash of the lightning, Suzanne received +the broadside of this emotion in her heart. The flame of a real love +burned up the evil weeds fostered by a libertine and dissipated life. +She saw how much she was losing of decency and value by accusing herself +falsely. What had seemed to her a joke the night before became to her +eyes a serious charge against herself. She recoiled at her own success. +But the impossibility of any result; the poverty of the young man; a +vague hope of enriching herself, of going to Paris, and returning with +full hands to say, “I love you! here are the means of happiness!” + or mere fate, if you will have it so, dried up the next moment this +beneficent dew. + +The ambitious grisette asked with a timid air for a moment’s interview +with Madame Granson, who took her at once into her bedchamber. When +Suzanne came out she looked again at Athanase; he was still in the same +position, and the tears came into her eyes. As for Madame Granson, she +was radiant with joy. At last she had a weapon, and a terrible one, +against du Bousquier; she could now deal him a mortal blow. She had +of course promised the poor seduced girl the support of all charitable +ladies and that of the members of the Maternity Society in particular; +she foresaw a dozen visits which would occupy her whole day, and brew up +a frightful storm on the head of the guilty du Bousquier. The Chevalier +de Valois, while foreseeing the turn the affair would take, had really +no idea of the scandal which would result from his own action. + +“My dear child,” said Madame Granson to her son, “we are to dine, +you know, with Mademoiselle Cormon; do take a little pains with your +appearance. You are wrong to neglect your dress as you do. Put on that +handsome frilled shirt and your green coat of Elbeuf cloth. I have my +reasons,” she added slyly. “Besides, Mademoiselle Cormon is going to +Prebaudet, and many persons will doubtless call to bid her good-bye. +When a young man is marriageable he ought to take every means to make +himself agreeable. If girls would only tell the truth, heavens! my +dear boy, you’d be astonished at what makes them fall in love. Often +it suffices for a man to ride past them at the head of a company of +artillery, or show himself at a ball in tight clothes. Sometimes a mere +turn of the head, a melancholy attitude, makes them suppose a man’s +whole life; they’ll invent a romance to match the hero--who is often +a mere brute, but the marriage is made. Watch the Chevalier de Valois: +study him; copy his manners; see with what ease he presents himself; +he never puts on a stiff air, as you do. Talk a little more; one would +really think you didn’t know anything,--you, who know Hebrew by heart.” + +Athanase listened to his mother with a surprised but submissive air; +then he rose, took his cap, and went off to the mayor’s office, saying +to himself, “Can my mother suspect my secret?” + +He passed through the rue du Val-Noble, where Mademoiselle Cormon +lived,--a little pleasure which he gave himself every morning, thinking, +as usual, a variety of fanciful things:-- + +“How little she knows that a young man is passing before her house who +loves her well, who would be faithful to her, who would never cause +her any grief; who would leave her the entire management of her fortune +without interference. Good God! what fatality! here, side by side, in +the same town, are two persons in our mutual condition, and yet nothing +can bring them together. Suppose I were to speak to her this evening?” + +During this time Suzanne had returned to her mother’s house thinking of +Athanase; and, like many other women who have longed to help an adored +man beyond the limit of human powers, she felt herself capable of making +her body a stepping-stone on which he could rise to attain his throne. + +It is now necessary to enter the house of this old maid toward whom so +many interests are converging, where the actors in this scene, with +the exception of Suzanne, were all to meet this very evening. As for +Suzanne, that handsome individual bold enough to burn her ships like +Alexander at her start in life, and to begin the battle by a falsehood, +she disappears from the stage, having introduced upon it a violent +element of interest. Her utmost wishes were gratified. She quitted her +native town a few days later, well supplied with money and good clothes, +among which was a fine dress of green reps and a charming green bonnet +lined with pink, the gift of Monsieur de Valois,--a present which she +preferred to all the rest, even the money. If the chevalier had gone +to Paris in the days of her future brilliancy, she would certainly have +left every one for him. Like the chaste Susannah of the Bible, whom the +Elders hardly saw, she established herself joyously and full of hope in +Paris, while all Alencon was deploring her misfortunes, for which the +ladies of two Societies (Charity and Maternity) manifested the liveliest +sympathy. Though Suzanne is a fair specimen of those handsome Norman +women whom a learned physician reckons as comprising one third of her +fallen class whom our monstrous Paris absorbs, it must be stated that +she remained in the upper and more decent regions of gallantry. At an +epoch when, as Monsieur de Valois said, Woman no longer existed, she was +simply “Madame du Val-Noble”; in other days she would have rivalled +the Rhodopes, the Imperias, the Ninons of the past. One of the most +distinguished writers of the Restoration has taken her under his +protection; perhaps he may marry her. He is a journalist, and +consequently above public opinion, inasmuch as he manufactures it afresh +every year or two. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. MADEMOISELLE CORMON + + +In nearly all the second-class prefectures of France there exists +one salon which is the meeting-ground of those considerable and +well-considered persons of the community who are, nevertheless, _not_ +the cream of the best society. The master and mistress of such an +establishment are counted among the leading persons of the town; they +are received wherever it may please them to visit; no fete is given, no +formal or diplomatic dinner takes place, to which they are not invited. +But the chateau people, heads of families possessing great estates, +in short, the highest personages in the department, do not go to their +houses; social intercourse between them is carried on by cards from one +to the other, and a dinner or soiree accepted and returned. + +This salon, in which the lesser nobility, the clergy, and the magistracy +meet together, exerts a great influence. The judgment and mind of the +region reside in that solid, unostentatious society, where each man +knows the resources of his neighbor, where complete indifference is +shown to luxury and dress,--pleasures which are thought childish in +comparison to that of obtaining ten or twelve acres of pasture land,--a +purchase coveted for years, which has probably given rise to endless +diplomatic combinations. Immovable in its prejudices, good or evil, +this social circle follows a beaten track, looking neither before it nor +behind it. It accepts nothing from Paris without long examination and +trial; it rejects cashmeres as it does investments on the Grand-Livre; +it scoffs at fashions and novelties; reads nothing, prefers ignorance, +whether of science, literature, or industrial inventions. It insists on +the removal of a prefect when that official does not suit it; and if the +administration resists, it isolates him, after the manner of bees who +wall up a snail in wax when it gets into their hive. + +In this society gossip is often turned into solemn verdicts. Young women +are seldom seen there; when they come it is to seek approbation of +their conduct,--a consecration of their self-importance. This supremacy +granted to one house is apt to wound the sensibilities of other natives +of the region, who console themselves by adding up the cost it involves, +and by which they profit. If it so happens that there is no fortune +large enough to keep open house in this way, the big-wigs of the place +choose a place of meeting, as they did at Alencon, in the house of some +inoffensive person, whose settled life and character and position offers +no umbrage to the vanities or the interests of any one. + +For some years the upper classes of Alencon had met in this way at the +house of an old maid, whose fortune was, unknown to herself, the aim +and object of Madame Granson, her second cousin, and of the two old +bachelors whose secret hopes in that direction we have just unveiled. +This lady lived with her maternal uncle, a former grand-vicar of the +bishopric of Seez, once her guardian, and whose heir she was. The family +of which Rose-Marie-Victoire Cormon was the present representative had +been in earlier days among the most considerable in the province. Though +belonging to the middle classes, she consorted with the nobility, among +whom she was more or less allied, her family having furnished, in past +years, stewards to the Duc d’Alencon, many magistrates to the long robe, +and various bishops to the clergy. Monsieur de Sponde, the maternal +grandfather of Mademoiselle Cormon, was elected by the Nobility to the +States-General, and Monsieur Cormon, her father, by the Tiers-Etat, +though neither accepted the mission. For the last hundred years the +daughters of the family had married nobles belonging to the provinces; +consequently, this family had thrown out so many suckers throughout the +duchy as to appear on nearly all the genealogical trees. No bourgeois +family had ever seemed so like nobility. + +The house in which Mademoiselle Cormon lived, build in Henri IV.’s time, +by Pierre Cormon, the steward of the last Duc d’Alencon, had always +belonged to the family; and among the old maid’s visible possessions +this one was particularly stimulating to the covetous desires of the two +old lovers. Yet, far from producing revenue, the house was a cause of +expense. But it is so rare to find in the very centre of a provincial +town a private dwelling without unpleasant surroundings, handsome in +outward structure and convenient within, that Alencon shared the envy of +the lovers. + +This old mansion stands exactly in the middle of the rue du Val-Noble. +It is remarkable for the strength of its construction,--a style of +building introduced by Marie de’ Medici. Though built of granite,--a +stone which is hard to work,--its angles, and the casings of the doors +and windows, are decorated with corner blocks cut into diamond facets. +It has only one clear story above the ground-floor; but the roof, rising +steeply, has several projecting windows, with carved spandrels rather +elegantly enclosed in oaken frames, and externally adorned with +balustrades. Between each of these windows is a gargoyle presenting the +fantastic jaws of an animal without a body, vomiting the rain-water upon +large stones pierced with five holes. The two gables are surmounted by +leaden bouquets,--a symbol of the bourgeoisie; for nobles alone had +the privilege in former days of having weather-vanes. To right of +the courtyard are the stables and coach-house; to left, the kitchen, +wood-house, and laundry. + +One side of the porte-cochere, being left open, allowed the passers in +the street to see in the midst of the vast courtyard a flower-bed, the +raised earth of which was held in place by a low privet hedge. A few +monthly roses, pinkes, lilies, and Spanish broom filled this bed, around +which in the summer season boxes of paurestinus, pomegranates, and +myrtle were placed. Struck by the scrupulous cleanliness of the +courtyard and its dependencies, a stranger would at once have divined +that the place belonged to an old maid. The eye which presided there +must have been an unoccupied, ferreting eye; minutely careful, less from +nature than for want of something to do. An old maid, forced to employ +her vacant days, could alone see to the grass being hoed from between +the paving stones, the tops of the walls kept clean, the broom +continually going, and the leather curtains of the coach-house always +closed. She alone would have introduced, out of busy idleness, a sort +of Dutch cleanliness into a house on the confines of Bretagne and +Normandie,--a region where they take pride in professing an utter +indifference to comfort. + +Never did the Chevalier de Valois, or du Bousquier, mount the steps of +the double stairway leading to the portico of this house without saying +to himself, one, that it was fit for a peer of France, the other, that +the mayor of the town ought to live there. + +A glass door gave entrance from this portico into an antechamber, a +species of gallery paved in red tiles and wainscoted, which served as a +hospital for the family portraits,--some having an eye put out, others +suffering from a dislocated shoulder; this one held his hat in a hand +that no longer existed; that one was a case of amputation at the knee. +Here were deposited the cloaks, clogs, overshoes, umbrellas, hoods, and +pelisses of the guests. It was an arsenal where each arrival left his +baggage on arriving, and took it up when departing. Along each wall was +a bench for the servants who arrived with lanterns, and a large stove, +to counteract the north wind, which blew through this hall from the +garden to the courtyard. + +The house was divided in two equal parts. On one side, toward the +courtyard, was the well of the staircase, a large dining-room looking to +the garden, and an office or pantry which communicated with the kitchen. +On the other side was the salon, with four windows, beyond which were +two smaller rooms,--one looking on the garden, and used as a boudoir, +the other lighted from the courtyard, and used as a sort of office. + +The upper floor contained a complete apartment for a family household, +and a suite of rooms where the venerable Abbe de Sponde had his abode. +The garrets offered fine quarters to the rats and mice, whose nocturnal +performances were related by Mademoiselle Cormon to the Chevalier +de Valois, with many expressions of surprise at the inutility of her +efforts to get rid of them. The garden, about half an acre in size, is +margined by the Brillante, so named from the particles of mica which +sparkle in its bed elsewhere than in the Val-Noble, where its shallow +waters are stained by the dyehouses, and loaded with refuse from +the other industries of the town. The shore opposite to Mademoiselle +Cormon’s garden is crowded with houses where a variety of trades are +carried on; happily for her, the occupants are quiet people,--a baker, +a cleaner, an upholsterer, and several bourgeois. The garden, full of +common flowers, ends in a natural terrace, forming a quay, down which +are several steps leading to the river. Imagine on the balustrade of +this terrace a number of tall vases of blue and white pottery, in which +are gilliflowers; and to right and left, along the neighboring walls, +hedges of linden closely trimmed in, and you will gain an idea of +the landscape, full of tranquil chastity, modest cheerfulness, but +commonplace withal, which surrounded the venerable edifice of the Cormon +family. What peace! what tranquillity! nothing pretentious, but nothing +transitory; all seems eternal there! + +The ground-floor is devoted wholly to the reception-rooms. The old, +unchangeable provincial spirit pervades them. The great square salon has +four windows, modestly cased in woodwork painted gray. A single oblong +mirror is placed above the fireplace; the top of its frame represented +the Dawn led by the Hours, and painted in camaieu (two shades of one +color). This style of painting infested the decorative art of the day, +especially above door-frames, where the artist displayed his eternal +Seasons, and made you, in most houses in the centre of France, abhor +the odious Cupids, endlessly employed in skating, gleaning, twirling, +or garlanding one another with flowers. Each window was draped in green +damask curtains, looped up by heavy cords, which made them resemble a +vast dais. The furniture, covered with tapestry, the woodwork, painted +and varnished, and remarkable for the twisted forms so much the fashion +in the last century, bore scenes from the fables of La Fontaine on the +chair-backs; some of this tapestry had been mended. The ceiling was +divided at the centre of the room by a huge beam, from which depended an +old chandelier of rock-crystal swathed in green gauze. On the fireplace +were two vases in Sevres blue, and two old girandoles attached to the +frame of the mirror, and a clock, the subject of which, taken from +the last scene of the “Deserteur,” proved the enormous popularity of +Sedaine’s work. This clock, of bronze-gilt, bore eleven personages +upon it, each about four inches tall. At the back the Deserter was seen +issuing from prison between the soldiers; in the foreground the young +woman lay fainting, and pointing to his pardon. On the walls of this +salon were several of the more recent portraits of the family,--one +or two by Rigaud, and three pastels by Latour. Four card tables, a +backgammon board, and a piquet table occupied the vast room, the only +one in the house, by the bye, which was ceiled. + +The dining-room, paved in black and white stone, not ceiled, and its +beams painted, was furnished with one of those enormous sideboards with +marble tops, required by the war waged in the provinces against the +human stomach. The walls, painted in fresco, represented a flowery +trellis. The seats were of varnished cane, and the doors of natural +wood. All things about the place carried out the patriarchal air which +emanated from the inside as well as the outside of the house. The genius +of the provinces preserved everything; nothing was new or old, neither +young nor decrepit. A cold precision made itself felt throughout. + +Tourists in Normandy, Brittany, Maine, and Anjou must all have seen in +the capitals of those provinces many houses which resemble more or less +that of the Cormons; for it is, in its way, an archetype of the burgher +houses in that region of France, and it deserves a place in this history +because it serves to explain manners and customs, and represents ideas. +Who does not already feel that life must have been calm and monotonously +regular in this old edifice? It contained a library; but that was placed +below the level of the river. The books were well bound and shelved, +and the dust, far from injuring them, only made them valuable. They were +preserved with the care given in these provinces deprived of vineyards +to other native products, desirable for their antique perfume, and +issued by the presses of Bourgogne, Touraine, Gascogne, and the South. +The cost of transportation was too great to allow any but the best +products to be imported. + +The basis of Mademoiselle Cormon’s society consisted of about one +hundred and fifty persons; some went at times to the country; others +were occasionally ill; a few travelled about the department on business; +but certain of the faithful came every night (unless invited elsewhere), +and so did certain others compelled by duties or by habit to live +permanently in the town. All the personages were of ripe age; few +among them had ever travelled; nearly all had spent their lives in the +provinces, and some had taken part in the chouannerie. The latter were +beginning to speak fearlessly of that war, now that rewards were being +showered on the defenders of the good cause. Monsieur de Valois, one of +the movers in the last uprising (during which the Marquis de Montauran, +betrayed by his mistress, perished in spite of the devotion of +Marche-a-Terre, now tranquilly raising cattle for the market near +Mayenne),--Monsieur de Valois had, during the last six months, given the +key to several choice stratagems practised upon an old republican named +Hulot, the commander of a demi-brigade stationed at Alencon from 1798 to +1800, who had left many memories in the place. [See “The Chouans.”] + +The women of this society took little pains with their dress, except on +Wednesdays, when Mademoiselle Cormon gave a dinner, on which occasion +the guests invited on the previous Wednesday paid their “visit of +digestion.” Wednesdays were gala days: the assembly was numerous; guests +and visitors appeared in fiocchi; some women brought their sewing, +knitting, or worsted work; the young girls were not ashamed to make +patterns for the Alencon point lace, with the proceeds of which they +paid for their personal expenses. Certain husbands brought their wives +out of policy, for young men were few in that house; not a word could be +whispered in any ear without attracting the attention of all; there was +therefore no danger, either for young girls or wives, of love-making. + +Every evening, at six o’clock, the long antechamber received its +furniture. Each habitue brought his cane, his cloak, his lantern. All +these persons knew each other so well, and their habits and ways were +so familiarly patriarchal, that if by chance the old Abbe de Sponde was +lying down, or Mademoiselle Cormon was in her chamber, neither Josette, +the maid, nor Jacquelin, the man-servant, nor Mariette, the cook, +informed them. The first comer received the second; then, when the +company were sufficiently numerous for whist, piquet, or boston, +they began the game without awaiting either the Abbe de Sponde or +mademoiselle. If it was dark, Josette or Jacquelin would hasten to light +the candles as soon as the first bell rang. Seeing the salon lighted up, +the abbe would slowly hurry to come down. Every evening the backgammon +and the piquet tables, the three boston tables, and the whist table were +filled,--which gave occupation to twenty-five or thirty persons; but +as many as forty were usually present. Jacquelin would then light the +candles in the other rooms. + +Between eight and nine o’clock the servants began to arrive in the +antechamber to accompany their masters home; and, short of a revolution, +no one remained in the salon at ten o’clock. At that hour the guests +were departing in groups along the street, discoursing on the game, or +continuing conversations on the land they were covetous of buying, on +the terms of some one’s will, on quarrels among heirs, on the haughty +assumption of the aristocratic portion of the community. It was like +Paris when the audience of a theatre disperses. + +Certain persons who talk much of poesy and know nothing about it, +declaim against the habits of life in the provinces. But put your +forehead in your left hand, rest one foot on the fender, and your elbow +on your knee; then, if you compass the idea of this quiet and uniform +scene, this house and its interior, this company and its interests, +heightened by the pettiness of its intellect like goldleaf beaten +between sheets of parchment, ask yourself, What is human life? Try to +decide between him who scribbles jokes on Egyptian obelisks, and him who +has “bostoned” for twenty years with Du Bousquier, Monsieur de Valois, +Mademoiselle Cormon, the judge of the court, the king’s attorney, the +Abbe de Sponde, Madame Granson, and tutti quanti. If the daily and +punctual return of the same steps to the same path is not happiness, it +imitates happiness so well that men driven by the storms of an agitated +life to reflect upon the blessings of tranquillity would say that here +was happiness _enough_. + +To reckon the importance of Mademoiselle Cormon’s salon at its true +value, it will suffice to say that the born statistician of the +society, du Bousquier, had estimated that the persons who frequented it +controlled one hundred and thirty-one votes in the electoral college, +and mustered among themselves eighteen hundred thousand francs a year +from landed estate in the neighborhood. + +The town of Alencon, however, was not entirely represented by this +salon. The higher aristocracy had a salon of their own; moreover, that +of the receiver-general was like an administration inn kept by the +government, where society danced, plotted, fluttered, loved, and supped. +These two salons communicated by means of certain mixed individuals with +the house of Cormon, and vice-versa; but the Cormon establishment sat +severely in judgment on the two other camps. The luxury of their dinners +was criticised; the ices at their balls were pondered; the behavior of +the women, the dresses, and “novelties” there produced were discussed +and disapproved. + +Mademoiselle Cormon, a species of firm, as one might say, under whose +name was comprised an imposing coterie, was naturally the aim and object +of two ambitious men as deep and wily as the Chevalier de Valois and +du Bousquier. To the one as well as to the other, she meant election as +deputy, resulting, for the noble, in the peerage, for the purveyor, in +a receiver-generalship. A leading salon is a difficult thing to create, +whether in Paris or the provinces, and here was one already created. To +marry Mademoiselle Cormon was to reign in Alencon. Athanase Granson, the +only one of the three suitors for the hand of the old maid who no longer +calculated profits, now loved her person as well as her fortune. + +To employ the jargon of the day, is there not a singular drama in the +situation of these four personages? Surely there is something odd and +fantastic in three rivalries silently encompassing a woman who never +guessed their existence, in spite of an eager and legitimate desire +to be married. And yet, though all these circumstances make the +spinsterhood of this old maid an extraordinary thing, it is not +difficult to explain how and why, in spite of her fortune and her +three lovers, she was still unmarried. In the first place, Mademoiselle +Cormon, following the custom and rule of her house, had always desired +to marry a nobleman; but from 1788 to 1798 public circumstances were +very unfavorable to such pretensions. Though she wanted to be a woman +of condition, as the saying is, she was horribly afraid of the +Revolutionary tribunal. The two sentiments, equal in force, kept her +stationary by a law as true in ethics as it is in statics. This state +of uncertain expectation is pleasing to unmarried women as long as they +feel themselves young, and in a position to choose a husband. France +knows that the political system of Napoleon resulted in making many +widows. Under that regime heiresses were entirely out of proportion +in numbers to the bachelors who wanted to marry. When the Consulate +restored internal order, external difficulties made the marriage of +Mademoiselle Cormon as difficult to arrange as it had been in the past. +If, on the one hand, Rose-Marie-Victoire refused to marry an old man, on +the other, the fear of ridicule forbade her to marry a very young one. + +In the provinces, families marry their sons early to escape the +conscription. In addition to all this, she was obstinately determined +not to marry a soldier: she did not intend to take a man and then give +him up to the Emperor; she wanted him for herself alone. With these +views, she found it therefore impossible, from 1804 to 1815, to enter +the lists with young girls who were rivalling each other for suitable +matches. + +Besides her predilection for the nobility, Mademoiselle Cormon had +another and very excusable mania: that of being loved for herself. +You could hardly believe the lengths to which this desire led her. She +employed her mind on setting traps for her possible lovers, in order to +test their real sentiments. Her nets were so well laid that the luckless +suitors were all caught, and succumbed to the test she applied to them +without their knowledge. Mademoiselle Cormon did not study them; she +watched them. A single word said heedlessly, a joke (that she often +was unable to understand), sufficed to make her reject an aspirant as +unworthy: this one had neither heart nor delicacy; that one told lies, +and was not religious; a third only wanted to coin money under the cloak +of marriage; another was not of a nature to make a woman happy; here +she suspected hereditary gout; there certain immoral antecedents alarmed +her. Like the Church, she required a noble priest at her altar; she even +wanted to be married for imaginary ugliness and pretended defects, just +as other women wish to be loved for the good qualities they have not, +and for imaginary beauties. Mademoiselle Cormon’s ambition took its +rise in the most delicate and sensitive feminine feeling; she longed to +reward a lover by revealing to him a thousand virtues after marriage, as +other women then betray the imperfections they have hitherto concealed. +But she was ill understood. The noble woman met with none but common +souls in whom the reckoning of actual interests was paramount, and who +knew nothing of the nobler calculations of sentiment. + +The farther she advanced towards that fatal epoch so adroitly called the +“second youth,” the more her distrust increased. She affected to present +herself in the most unfavorable light, and played her part so well that +the last wooers hesitated to link their fate to that of a person whose +virtuous blind-man’s-buff required an amount of penetration that men who +want the virtuous ready-made would not bestow upon it. The constant fear +of being married for her money rendered her suspicious and uneasy beyond +all reason. She turned to the rich men; but the rich are in search +of great marriages; she feared the poor men, in whom she denied the +disinterestedness she sought so eagerly. After each disappointment in +marriage, the poor lady, led to despise mankind, began to see them +all in a false light. Her character acquired, necessarily, a secret +misanthropy, which threw a tinge of bitterness into her conversation, +and some severity into her eyes. Celibacy gave to her manners and habits +a certain increasing rigidity; for she endeavored to sanctify herself +in despair of fate. Noble vengeance! she was cutting for God the rough +diamond rejected by man. Before long public opinion was against her; for +society accepts the verdict an independent woman renders on herself by +not marrying, either through losing suitors or rejecting them. Everybody +supposed that these rejections were founded on secret reasons, always +ill interpreted. One said she was deformed; another suggested some +hidden fault; but the poor girl was really as pure as a saint, as +healthy as an infant, and full of loving kindness; Nature had intended +her for all the pleasures, all the joys, and all the fatigues of +motherhood. + +Mademoiselle Cormon did not possess in her person an obliging auxiliary +to her desires. She had no other beauty than that very improperly called +la beaute du diable, which consists of a buxom freshness of youth that +the devil, theologically speaking, could never have,--though perhaps +the expression may be explained by the constant desire that must surely +possess him to cool and refresh himself. The feet of the heiress were +broad and flat. Her leg, which she often exposed to sight by her manner +(be it said without malice) of lifting her gown when it rained, could +never have been taken for the leg of a woman. It was sinewy, with a +thick projecting calf like a sailor’s. A stout waist, the plumpness of a +wet-nurse, strong dimpled arms, red hands, were all in keeping with the +swelling outlines and the fat whiteness of Norman beauty. Projecting +eyes, undecided in color, gave to her face, the rounded outline of which +had no dignity, an air of surprise and sheepish simplicity, which was +suitable perhaps for an old maid. If Rose had not been, as she was, +really innocent, she would have seemed so. An aquiline nose contrasted +curiously with the narrowness of her forehead; for it is rare that that +form of nose does not carry with it a fine brow. In spite of her thick +red lips, a sign of great kindliness, the forehead revealed too great a +lack of ideas to allow of the heart being guided by intellect; she was +evidently benevolent without grace. How severely we reproach Virtue for +its defects, and how full of indulgence we all are for the pleasanter +qualities of Vice! + +Chestnut hair of extraordinary length gave to Rose Cormon’s face a +beauty which results from vigor and abundance,--the physical qualities +most apparent in her person. In the days of her chief pretensions, +Rose affected to hold her head at the three-quarter angle, in order to +exhibit a very pretty ear, which detached itself from the blue-veined +whiteness of her throat and temples, set off, as it was, by her wealth +of hair. Seen thus in a ball-dress, she might have seemed handsome. Her +protuberant outlines and her vigorous health did, in fact, draw from the +officers of the Empire the approving exclamation,-- + +“What a fine slip of a girl!” + +But, as years rolled on, this plumpness, encouraged by a tranquil, +wholesome life, had insensibly so ill spread itself over the whole +of Mademoiselle Cormon’s body that her primitive proportions were +destroyed. At the present moment, no corset could restore a pair of hips +to the poor lady, who seemed to have been cast in a single mould. The +youthful harmony of her bosom existed no longer; and its excessive +amplitude made the spectator fear that if she stooped its heavy masses +might topple her over. But nature had provided against this by giving +her a natural counterpoise, which rendered needless the deceitful +adjunct of a bustle; in Rose Cormon everything was genuine. Her chin, +as it doubled, reduced the length of her neck, and hindered the easy +carriage of her head. Rose had no wrinkles, but she had folds of flesh; +and jesters declared that to save chafing she powdered her skin as they +do an infant’s. + +This ample person offered to a young man full of ardent desires like +Athanase an attraction to which he had succumbed. Young imaginations, +essentially eager and courageous, like to rove upon these fine living +sheets of flesh. Rose was like a plump partridge attracting the knife +of a gourmet. Many an elegant deep in debt would very willingly have +resigned himself to make the happiness of Mademoiselle Cormon. But, +alas! the poor girl was now forty years old. At this period, after +vainly seeking to put into her life those interests which make the +Woman, and finding herself forced to be still unmarried, she fortified +her virtue by stern religious practices. She had recourse to religion, +the great consoler of oppressed virginity. A confessor had, for the last +three years, directed Mademoiselle Cormon rather stupidly in the path +of maceration; he advised the use of scourging, which, if modern medical +science is to be believed, produces an effect quite the contrary to +that expected by the worthy priest, whose hygienic knowledge was not +extensive. + +These absurd practices were beginning to shed a monastic tint over the +face of Rose Cormon, who now saw with something like despair her white +skin assuming the yellow tones which proclaim maturity. A slight down +on her upper lip, about the corners, began to spread and darken like a +trail of smoke; her temples grew shiny; decadence was beginning! It +was authentic in Alencon that Mademoiselle Cormon suffered from rush +of blood to the head. She confided her ills to the Chevalier de Valois, +enumerating her foot-baths, and consulting him as to refrigerants. On +such occasions the shrewd old gentleman would pull out his snuff-box, +gaze at the Princess Goritza, and say, by way of conclusion:-- + +“The right composing draught, my dear lady, is a good and kind husband.” + +“But whom can one trust?” she replied. + +The chevalier would then brush away the snuff which had settled in the +folds of his waistcoat or his paduasoy breeches. To the world at large +this gesture would have seemed very natural; but it always gave extreme +uneasiness to the poor woman. + +The violence of this hope without an object was so great that Rose was +afraid to look a man in the face lest he should perceive in her eyes the +feelings that filled her soul. By a wilfulness, which was perhaps +only the continuation of her earlier methods, though she felt herself +attracted toward the men who might still suit her, she was so afraid of +being accused of folly that she treated them ungraciously. Most persons +in her society, being incapable of appreciating her motives, which +were always noble, explained her manner towards her co-celibates as the +revenge of a refusal received or expected. When the year 1815 began, +Rose had reached that fatal age which she dared not avow. She was +forty-two years old. Her desire for marriage then acquired an intensity +which bordered on monomania, for she saw plainly that all chance of +progeny was about to escape her; and the thing which in her celestial +ignorance she desired above all things was the possession of children. +Not a person in all Alencon ever attributed to this virtuous woman +a single desire for amorous license. She loved, as it were, in bulk +without the slightest imagination of love. Rose was a Catholic Agnes, +incapable of inventing even one of the wiles of Moliere’s Agnes. + +For some months past she had counted on chance. The disbandment of the +Imperial troops and the reorganization of the Royal army caused a change +in the destination of many officers, who returned, some on half-pay, +others with or without a pension, to their native towns,--all having a +desire to counteract their luckless fate, and to end their life in a way +which might to Rose Cormon be a happy beginning of hers. It would surely +be strange if, among those who returned to Alencon or its neighborhood, +no brave, honorable, and, above all, sound and healthy officer of +suitable age could be found, whose character would be a passport among +Bonaparte opinions; or some ci-devant noble who, to regain his lost +position, would join the ranks of the royalists. This hope kept +Mademoiselle Cormon in heart during the early months of that year. But, +alas! all the soldiers who thus returned were either too old or too +young; too aggressively Bonapartist, or too dissipated; in short, their +several situations were out of keeping with the rank, fortune, and +morals of Mademoiselle Cormon, who now grew daily more and more +desperate. The poor woman in vain prayed to God to send her a husband +with whom she could be piously happy: it was doubtless written above +that she should die both virgin and martyr; no man suitable for a +husband presented himself. The conversations in her salon every evening +kept her informed of the arrival of all strangers in Alencon, and of +the facts of their fortunes, rank, and habits. But Alencon is not a +town which attracts visitors; it is not on the road to any capital; +even sailors, travelling from Brest to Paris, never stop there. The +poor woman ended by admitting to herself that she was reduced to the +aborigines. Her eye now began to assume a certain savage expression, to +which the malicious chevalier responded by a shrewd look as he drew out +his snuff-box and gazed at the Princess Goritza. Monsieur de Valois +was well aware that in the feminine ethics of love fidelity to a first +attachment is considered a pledge for the future. + +But Mademoiselle Cormon--we must admit it--was wanting in intellect, +and did not understand the snuff-box performance. She redoubled her +vigilance against “the evil spirit”; her rigid devotion and fixed +principles kept her cruel sufferings hidden among the mysteries of +private life. Every evening, after the company had left her, she thought +of her lost youth, her faded bloom, the hopes of thwarted nature; and, +all the while immolating her passions at the feet of the Cross (like +poems condemned to stay in a desk), she resolved firmly that if, by +chance, any suitor presented himself, to subject him to no tests, but to +accept him at once for whatever he might be. She even went so far as to +think of marrying a sub-lieutenant, a man who smoked tobacco, whom she +proposed to render, by dint of care and kindness, one of the best men in +the world, although he was hampered with debts. + +But it was only in the silence of night watches that these fantastic +marriages, in which she played the sublime role of guardian angel, took +place. The next day, though Josette found her mistress’ bed in a tossed +and tumbled condition, Mademoiselle Cormon had recovered her dignity, +and could only think of a man of forty, a land-owner, well preserved, +and a quasi-young man. + +The Abbe de Sponde was incapable of giving his niece the slightest aid +in her matrimonial manoeuvres. The worthy soul, now seventy years of +age, attributed the disasters of the French Revolution to the design of +Providence, eager to punish a dissolute Church. He had therefore flung +himself into the path, long since abandoned, which anchorites once +followed in order to reach heaven: he led an ascetic life without +proclaiming it, and without external credit. He hid from the world his +works of charity, his continual prayers, his penances; he thought that +all priests should have acted thus during the days of wrath and terror, +and he preached by example. While presenting to the world a calm and +smiling face, he had ended by detaching himself utterly from earthly +interests; his mind turned exclusively to sufferers, to the needs of the +Church, and to his own salvation. He left the management of his property +to his niece, who gave him the income of it, and to whom he paid a +slender board in order to spend the surplus in secret alms and gifts to +the Church. + +All the abbe’s affections were concentrated on his niece, who regarded +him as a father, but an abstracted father, unable to conceive the +agitations of the flesh, and thanking God for maintaining his dear +daughter in a state of celibacy; for he had, from his youth up, adopted +the principles of Saint John Chrysostom, who wrote that “the virgin +state is as far above the marriage state as the angel is above +humanity.” Accustomed to reverence her uncle, Mademoiselle Cormon dared +not initiate him into the desires which filled her soul for a change +of state. The worthy man, accustomed, on his side, to the ways of +the house, would scarcely have liked the introduction of a husband. +Preoccupied by the sufferings he soothed, lost in the depths of prayer, +the Abbe de Sponde had periods of abstraction which the habitues of the +house regarded as absent-mindedness. In any case, he talked little; but +his silence was affable and benevolent. He was a man of great height +and spare, with grave and solemn manners, though his face expressed all +gentle sentiments and an inward calm; while his mere presence carried +with it a sacred authority. He was very fond of the Voltairean +chevalier. Those two majestic relics of the nobility and clergy, though +of very different habits and morals, recognized each other by their +generous traits. Besides, the chevalier was as unctuous with the abbe as +he was paternal with the grisettes. + +Some persons may fancy that Mademoiselle Cormon used every means to +attain her end; and that among the legitimate lures of womanhood she +devoted herself to dress, wore low-necked gowns, and employed the +negative coquetries of a magnificent display of arms. Not at all! She +was as heroic and immovable in her high-necked chemisette as a sentry in +his box. Her gowns, bonnets, and chiffons were all cut and made by the +dressmaker and the milliner of Alencon, two hump-backed sisters, +who were not without some taste. In spite of the entreaties of these +artists, Mademoiselle Cormon refused to employ the airy deceits of +elegance; she chose to be substantial in all things, flesh and feathers. +But perhaps the heavy fashion of her gowns was best suited to her cast +of countenance. Let those laugh who will at this poor girl; you would +have thought her sublime, O generous souls! who care but little what +form true feeling takes, but admire it where it _is_. + +Here some light-minded person may exclaim against the truth of this +statement; they will say that there is not in all France a girl so +silly as to be ignorant of the art of angling for men; that Mademoiselle +Cormon is one of those monstrous exceptions which commonsense should +prevent a writer from using as a type; that the most virtuous and also +the silliest girl who desires to catch her fish knows well how to bait +the hook. But these criticisms fall before the fact that the noble +catholic, apostolic, and Roman religion is still erect in Brittany and +in the ancient duchy of Alencon. Faith and piety admit of no subtleties. +Mademoiselle Cormon trod the path of salvation, preferring the sorrows +of her virginity so cruelly prolonged to the evils of trickery and +the sin of a snare. In a woman armed with a scourge virtue could never +compromise; consequently both love and self-interest were forced to seek +her, and seek her resolutely. And here let us have the courage to make +a cruel observation, in days when religion is nothing more than a +useful means to some, and a poesy to others. Devotion causes a moral +ophthalmia. By some providential grace, it takes from souls on the road +to eternity the sight of many little earthly things. In a word, pious +persons, devotes, are stupid on various points. This stupidity proves +with what force they turn their minds to celestial matters; although the +Voltairean Chevalier de Valois declared that it was difficult to decide +whether stupid people became naturally pious, or whether piety had the +effect of making intelligent young women stupid. But reflect upon this +carefully: the purest catholic virtue, with its loving acceptance of all +cups, with its pious submission to the will of God, with its belief in +the print of the divine finger on the clay of all earthly life, is the +mysterious light which glides into the innermost folds of human history, +setting them in relief and magnifying them in the eyes of those who +still have Faith. Besides, if there be stupidity, why not concern +ourselves with the sorrows of stupidity as well as with the sorrows of +genius? The former is a social element infinitely more abundant than the +latter. + +So, then, Mademoiselle Cormon was guilty in the eyes of the world of the +divine ignorance of virgins. She was no observer, and her behavior with +her suitors proved it. At this very moment, a young girl of sixteen, who +had never opened a novel, would have read a hundred chapters of a love +story in the eyes of Athanase Granson, where Mademoiselle Cormon saw +absolutely nothing. Shy herself, she never suspected shyness in others; +she did not recognize in the quavering tones of his speech the force of +a sentiment he could not utter. Capable of inventing those refinements +of sentimental grandeur which hindered her marriage in her early years, +she yet could not recognize them in Athanase. This moral phenomenon will +not seem surprising to persons who know that the qualities of the heart +are as distinct from those of the mind as the faculties of genius are +from the nobility of soul. A perfect, all-rounded man is so rare +that Socrates, one of the noblest pearls of humanity, declared (as a +phrenologist of that day) that he was born to be a scamp, and a very +bad one. A great general may save his country at Zurich, and take +commissions from purveyors. A great musician may conceive the sublimest +music and commit a forgery. A woman of true feeling may be a fool. In +short, a devote may have a sublime soul and yet be unable to recognize +the tones of a noble soul beside her. The caprices produced by physical +infirmities are equally to be met with in the mental and moral regions. + +This good creature, who grieved at making her yearly preserves for no +one but her uncle and herself, was becoming almost ridiculous. Those who +felt a sympathy for her on account of her good qualities, and others +on account of her defects, now made fun of her abortive marriages. +More than one conversation was based on what would become of so fine +a property, together with the old maid’s savings and her uncle’s +inheritance. For some time past she had been suspected of being au fond, +in spite of appearances, an “original.” In the provinces it was not +permissible to be original: being original means having ideas that are +not understood by others; the provinces demand equality of mind as well +as equality of manners and customs. + +The marriage of Mademoiselle Cormon seemed, after 1804, a thing so +problematical that the saying “married like Mademoiselle Cormon” became +proverbial in Alencon as applied to ridiculous failures. Surely the +sarcastic mood must be an imperative need in France, that so excellent +a woman should excite the laughter of Alencon. Not only did she +receive the whole society of the place at her house, not only was she +charitable, pious, incapable of saying an unkind thing, but she was +fully in accord with the spirit of the place and the habits and customs +of the inhabitants, who liked her as the symbol of their lives; she was +absolutely inlaid into the ways of the provinces; she had never +quitted them; she imbibed all their prejudices; she espoused all their +interests; she adored them. + +In spite of her income of eighteen thousand francs from landed property, +a very considerable fortune in the provinces, she lived on a footing +with families who were less rich. When she went to her country-place at +Prebaudet, she drove there in an old wicker carriole, hung on two straps +of white leather, drawn by a wheezy mare, and scarcely protected by two +leather curtains rusty with age. This carriole, known to all the town, +was cared for by Jacquelin as though it were the finest coupe in all +Paris. Mademoiselle valued it; she had used it for twelve years,--a fact +to which she called attention with the triumphant joy of happy avarice. +Most of the inhabitants of the town were grateful to Mademoiselle Cormon +for not humiliating them by the luxury she could have displayed; we may +even believe that had she imported a caleche from Paris they would have +gossiped more about that than about her various matrimonial failures. +The most brilliant equipage would, after all, have only taken her, like +the old carriole, to Prebaudet. Now the provinces, which look solely to +results, care little about the beauty or elegance of the means, provided +they are efficient. + + + + +CHAPTER V. AN OLD MAID’S HOUSEHOLD + + +To complete the picture of the internal habits and ways of this house, +it is necessary to group around Mademoiselle Cormon and the Abbe +de Sponde Jacquelin, Josette, and Mariette, the cook, who employed +themselves in providing for the comfort of uncle and niece. + +Jacquelin, a man of forty, short, fat, ruddy, and brown, with a +face like a Breton sailor, had been in the service of the house for +twenty-two years. He waited at table, groomed the mare, gardened, +blacked the abbe’s boots, went on errands, chopped the wood, drove the +carriole, and fetched the oats, straw, and hay from Prebaudet. He sat in +the antechamber during the evening, where he slept like a dormouse. He +was in love with Josette, a girl of thirty, whom Mademoiselle would +have dismissed had she married him. So the poor fond pair laid by their +wages, and loved each other silently, waiting, hoping for mademoiselle’s +own marriage, as the Jews are waiting for the Messiah. Josette, born +between Alencon and Mortagne, was short and plump; her face, which +looked like a dirty apricot, was not wanting in sense and character; +it was said that she ruled her mistress. Josette and Jacquelin, sure of +results, endeavored to hide an inward satisfaction which allows it to be +supposed that, as lovers, they had discounted the future. Mariette, the +cook, who had been fifteen years in the household, knew how to make all +the dishes held in most honor in Alencon. + +Perhaps we ought to count for much the fat old Norman brown-bay mare, +which drew Mademoiselle Cormon to her country-seat at Prebaudet; for the +five inhabitants of the house bore to this animal a maniacal affection. +She was called Penelope, and had served the family for eighteen +years; but she was kept so carefully and fed with such regularity that +mademoiselle and Jacquelin both hoped to use her for ten years longer. +This beast was the subject of perpetual talk and occupation; it seemed +as if poor Mademoiselle Cormon, having no children on whom her repressed +motherly feelings could expend themselves, had turned those sentiments +wholly on this most fortunate animal. + +The four faithful servants--for Penelope’s intelligence raised her to +the level of the other good servants; while they, on the other hand, had +lowered themselves to the mute, submissive regularity of the beast--went +and came daily in the same occupations with the infallible accuracy of +mechanism. But, as they said in their idiom, they had eaten their white +bread first. Mademoiselle Cormon, like all persons nervously agitated +by a fixed idea, became hard to please, and nagging, less by nature than +from the need of employing her activity. Having no husband or children +to occupy her, she fell back on petty details. She talked for hours +about mere nothings, on a dozen napkins marked “Z,” placed in the closet +before the “O’s.” + +“What can Josette be thinking of?” she exclaimed. “Josette is beginning +to neglect things.” + +Mademoiselle inquired for eight days running whether Penelope had had +her oats at two o’clock, because on one occasion Jacquelin was a trifle +late. Her narrow imagination spent itself on trifles. A layer of dust +forgotten by the feather-duster, a slice of toast ill-made by Mariette, +Josette’s delay in closing the blinds when the sun came round to fade +the colors of the furniture,--all these great little things gave rise +to serious quarrels in which mademoiselle grew angry. “Everything was +changing,” she would cry; “she did not know her own servants; the fact +was she spoiled them!” On one occasion Josette gave her the “Journee du +Chretien” instead of the “Quinzaine de Paques.” The whole town heard of +this disaster the same evening. Mademoiselle had been forced to leave +the church and return home; and her sudden departure, upsetting +the chairs, made people suppose a catastrophe had happened. She was +therefore obliged to explain the facts to her friends. + +“Josette,” she said gently, “such a thing must never happen again.” + +Mademoiselle Cormon was, without being aware of it, made happier by such +little quarrels, which served as cathartics to relieve her bitterness. +The soul has its needs, and, like the body, its gymnastics. These +uncertainties of temper were accepted by Josette and Jacquelin as +changes in the weather are accepted by husbandmen. Those worthy souls +remark, “It is fine to-day,” or “It rains,” without arraigning the +heavens. And so when they met in the morning the servants would wonder +in what humor mademoiselle would get up, just as a farmer wonders about +the mists at dawn. + +Mademoiselle Cormon had ended, as it was natural she should end, in +contemplating herself only in the infinite pettinesses of her life. +Herself and God, her confessor and the weekly wash, her preserves and +the church services, and her uncle to care for, absorbed her feeble +intellect. To her the atoms of life were magnified by an optic peculiar +to persons who are selfish by nature or self-absorbed by some accident. +Her perfect health gave alarming meaning to the least little derangement +of her digestive organs. She lived under the iron rod of the medical +science of our forefathers, and took yearly four precautionary doses, +strong enough to have killed Penelope, though they seemed to rejuvenate +her mistress. If Josette, when dressing her, chanced to discover a +little pimple on the still satiny shoulders of mademoiselle, it became +the subject of endless inquiries as to the various alimentary articles +of the preceding week. And what a triumph when Josette reminded her +mistress of a certain hare that was rather “high,” and had doubtless +raised that accursed pimple! With what joy they said to each other: “No +doubt, no doubt, it _was_ the hare!” + +“Mariette over-seasoned it,” said mademoiselle. “I am always telling +her to do so lightly for my uncle and for me; but Mariette has no more +memory than--” + +“The hare,” said Josette. + +“Just so,” replied Mademoiselle; “she has no more memory than a hare,--a +very just remark.” + +Four times a year, at the beginning of each season, Mademoiselle Cormon +went to pass a certain number of days on her estate of Prebaudet. It +was now the middle of May, the period at which she wished to see how her +apple-trees had “snowed,” a saying of that region which expressed the +effect produced beneath the trees by the falling of their blossoms. When +the circular deposit of these fallen petals resembled a layer of snow +the owner of the trees might hope for an abundant supply of cider. +While she thus gauged her vats, Mademoiselle Cormon also attended to the +repairs which the winter necessitated; she ordered the digging of her +flower-beds and her vegetable garden, from which she supplied her table. +Every season had its own business. Mademoiselle always gave a dinner of +farewell to her intimate friends the day before her departure, although +she was certain to see them again within three weeks. It was always +a piece of news which echoed through Alencon when Mademoiselle Cormon +departed. All her visitors, especially those who had missed a visit, +came to bid her good-bye; the salon was thronged, and every one said +farewell as though she were starting for Calcutta. The next day the +shopkeepers would stand at their doors to see the old carriole pass, and +they seemed to be telling one another some news by repeating from shop +to shop:-- + +“So Mademoiselle Cormon is going to Prebaudet!” + +Some said: “_Her_ bread is baked.” + +“Hey! my lad,” replied the next man. “She’s a worthy woman; if money +always came into such hands we shouldn’t see a beggar in the country.” + +Another said: “Dear me, I shouldn’t be surprised if the vineyards were +in bloom; here’s Mademoiselle Cormon going to Prebaudet. How happens it +she doesn’t marry?” + +“I’d marry her myself,” said a wag; “in fact, the marriage is half-made, +for here’s one consenting party; but the other side won’t. Pooh! the +oven is heating for Monsieur du Bousquier.” + +“Monsieur du Bousquier! Why, she has refused him.” + +That evening at all the gatherings it was told gravely:-- + +“Mademoiselle Cormon has gone.” + +Or:-- + +“So you have really let Mademoiselle Cormon go.” + +The Wednesday chosen by Suzanne to make known her scandal happened to +be this farewell Wednesday,--a day on which Mademoiselle Cormon drove +Josette distracted on the subject of packing. During the morning, +therefore, things had been said and done in the town which lent the +utmost interest to this farewell meeting. Madame Granson had gone the +round of a dozen houses while the old maid was deliberating on the +things she needed for the journey; and the malicious Chevalier de Valois +was playing piquet with Mademoiselle Armande, sister of a distinguished +old marquis, and the queen of the salon of the aristocrats. If it was +not uninteresting to any one to see what figure the seducer would cut +that evening, it was all important for the chevalier and Madame Granson +to know how Mademoiselle Cormon would take the news in her double +capacity of marriageable woman and president of the Maternity Society. +As for the innocent du Bousquier, he was taking a walk on the promenade, +and beginning to suspect that Suzanne had tricked him; this suspicion +confirmed him in his principles as to women. + +On gala days the table was laid at Mademoiselle Cormon’s about half-past +three o’clock. At that period the fashionable people of Alencon dined at +four. Under the Empire they still dined as in former times at half-past +two; but then they supped! One of the pleasures which Mademoiselle +Cormon valued most was (without meaning any malice, although the fact +certainly rests on egotism) the unspeakable satisfaction she derived +from seeing herself dressed as mistress of the house to receive her +guests. When she was thus under arms a ray of hope would glide into +the darkness of her heart; a voice told her that nature had not so +abundantly provided for her in vain, and that some man, brave and +enterprising, would surely present himself. Her desire was refreshed +like her person; she contemplated herself in her heavy stuffs with a +sort of intoxication, and this satisfaction continued when she descended +the stairs to cast her redoubtable eye on the salon, the dinner-table, +and the boudoir. She would then walk about with the naive contentment of +the rich,--who remember at all moments that they are rich and will never +want for anything. She looked at her eternal furniture, her curiosities, +her lacquers, and said to herself that all these fine things wanted was +a master. After admiring the dining-room, and the oblong dinner-table, +on which was spread a snow-white cloth adorned with twenty covers placed +at equal distances; after verifying the squadron of bottles she had +ordered to be brought up, and which all bore honorable labels; after +carefully verifying the names written on little bits of paper in the +trembling handwriting of the abbe (the only duty he assumed in the +household, and one which gave rise to grave discussions on the place +of each guest),--after going through all these preliminary acts +mademoiselle went, in her fine clothes, to her uncle, who was accustomed +at this, the best hour in the day, to take his walk on the terrace which +overlooked the Brillante, where he could listen to the warble of birds +which were resting in the coppice, unafraid of either sportsmen or +children. At such times of waiting she never joined the Abbe de Sponde +without asking him some ridiculous question, in order to draw the old +man into a discussion which might serve to amuse him. And her reason +was this,--which will serve to complete our picture of this excellent +woman’s nature:-- + +Mademoiselle Cormon regarded it as one of her duties to talk; not that +she was talkative, for she had unfortunately too few ideas, and did +not know enough phrases to converse readily. But she believed she was +accomplishing one of the social duties enjoined by religion, which +orders us to make ourselves agreeable to our neighbor. This obligation +cost her so much that she consulted her director, the Abbe Couturier, +upon the subject of this honest but puerile civility. In spite of the +humble remark of his penitent, confessing the inward labor of her +mind in finding anything to say, the old priest, rigid on the point +of discipline, read her a passage from Saint-Francois de Sales on the +duties of women in society, which dwelt on the decent gayety of +pious Christian women, who were bound to reserve their sternness for +themselves, and to be amiable and pleasing in their homes, and see that +their neighbors enjoyed themselves. Thus, filled with a sense of duty, +and wishing, at all costs, to obey her director, who bade her converse +with amenity, the poor soul perspired in her corset when the talk around +her languished, so much did she suffer from the effort of emitting ideas +in order to revive it. Under such circumstances she would put forth +the silliest statements, such as: “No one can be in two places at +once--unless it is a little bird,” by which she one day roused, and not +without success, a discussion on the ubiquity of the apostles, which +she was unable to comprehend. Such efforts at conversation won her the +appellation of “that good Mademoiselle Cormon,” which, from the lips of +the beaux esprits of society, means that she was as ignorant as a carp, +and rather a poor fool; but many persons of her own calibre took the +remark in its literal sense, and answered:-- + +“Yes; oh yes! Mademoiselle Cormon is an excellent woman.” + +Sometimes she would put such absurd questions (always for the purpose +of fulfilling her duties to society, and making herself agreeable to her +guests) that everybody burst out laughing. She asked, for instance, what +the government did with the taxes they were always receiving; and why +the Bible had not been printed in the days of Jesus Christ, inasmuch +as it was written by Moses. Her mental powers were those of the English +“country gentleman” who, hearing constant mention of “posterity” in +the House of Commons, rose to make the speech that has since become +celebrated: “Gentlemen,” he said, “I hear much talk in this place about +Posterity. I should be glad to know what that power has ever done for +England.” + +Under these circumstances the heroic Chevalier de Valois would bring +to the succor of the old maid all the powers of his clever diplomacy, +whenever he saw the pitiless smile of wiser heads. The old gentleman, +who loved to assist women, turned Mademoiselle Cormon’s sayings into wit +by sustaining them paradoxically, and he often covered the retreat so +well that it seemed as if the good woman had said nothing silly. She +asserted very seriously one evening that she did not see any difference +between an ox and a bull. The dear chevalier instantly arrested the +peals of laughter by asserting that there was only the difference +between a sheep and a lamb. + +But the Chevalier de Valois served an ungrateful dame, for never did +Mademoiselle Cormon comprehend his chivalrous services. Observing that +the conversation grew lively, she simply thought that she was not so +stupid as she was,--the result being that she settled down into her +ignorance with some complacency; she lost her timidity, and acquired a +self-possession which gave to her “speeches” something of the solemnity +with which the British enunciate their patriotic absurdities,--the +self-conceit of stupidity, as it may be called. + +As she approached her uncle, on this occasion, with a majestic step, she +was ruminating over a question that might draw him from a silence, which +always troubled her, for she feared he was dull. + +“Uncle,” she said, leaning on his arm and clinging to his side (this +was one of her fictions; for she said to herself “If I had a husband I +should do just so”),--“uncle, if everything here below happens according +to the will of God, there must be a reason for everything.” + +“Certainly,” replied the abbe, gravely. The worthy man, who cherished +his niece, always allowed her to tear him from his meditations with +angelic patience. + +“Then if I remain unmarried,--supposing that I do,--God wills it?” + +“Yes, my child,” replied the abbe. + +“And yet, as nothing prevents me from marrying to-morrow if I choose, +His will can be destroyed by mine?” + +“That would be true if we knew what was really the will of God,” replied +the former prior of the Sorbonne. “Observe, my daughter, that you put in +an _if_.” + +The poor woman, who expected to draw her uncle into a matrimonial +discussion by an argument ad omnipotentem, was stupefied; but persons +of obtuse mind have the terrible logic of children, which consists +in turning from answer to question,--a logic that is frequently +embarrassing. + +“But, uncle, God did not make women intending them not to marry; +otherwise they ought all to stay unmarried; if not, they ought all to +marry. There’s great injustice in the distribution of parts.” + +“Daughter,” said the worthy abbe, “you are blaming the Church, which +declares celibacy to be the better way to God.” + +“But if the Church is right, and all the world were good Catholics, +wouldn’t the human race come to an end, uncle?” + +“You have too much mind, Rose; you don’t need so much to be happy.” + +That remark brought a smile of satisfaction to the lips of the poor +woman, and confirmed her in the good opinion she was beginning to +acquire about herself. That is how the world, our friends, and our +enemies are the accomplices of our defects! + +At this moment the conversation was interrupted by the successive +arrival of the guests. On these ceremonial days, friendly familiarities +were exchanged between the servants of the house and the company. +Mariette remarked to the chief-justice as he passed the kitchen:-- + +“Ah, Monsieur du Ronceret, I’ve cooked the cauliflowers au gratin +expressly for you, for mademoiselle knows how you like them; and she +said to me: ‘Now don’t forget, Mariette, for Monsieur du Ronceret is +coming.’” + +“That good Mademoiselle Cormon!” ejaculated the chief legal authority of +the town. “Mariette, did you steep them in gravy instead of soup-stock? +it is much richer.” + +The chief-justice was not above entering the chamber of council where +Mariette held court; he cast the eye of a gastronome around it, and +offered the advice of a past master in cookery. + +“Good-day, madame,” said Josette to Madame Granson, who courted the +maid. “Mademoiselle has thought of you, and there’s fish for dinner.” + +As for the Chevalier de Valois, he remarked to Mariette, in the easy +tone of a great seigneur who condescends to be familiar:-- + +“Well, my dear cordon-bleu, to whom I should give the cross of the +Legion of honor, is there some little dainty for which I had better +reserve myself?” + +“Yes, yes, Monsieur de Valois,--a hare sent from Prebaudet; weighs +fourteen pounds.” + +Du Bousquier was not invited. Mademoiselle Cormon, faithful to the +system which we know of, treated that fifty-year-old suitor extremely +ill, although she felt inexplicable sentiments towards him in the depths +of her heart. She had refused him; yet at times she repented; and a +presentiment that she should yet marry him, together with a terror at +the idea which prevented her from wishing for the marriage, assailed +her. Her mind, stimulated by these feelings, was much occupied by +du Bousquier. Without being aware of it, she was influenced by the +herculean form of the republican. Madame Granson and the Chevalier +de Valois, although they could not explain to themselves Mademoiselle +Cormon’s inconsistencies, had detected her naive glances in that +direction, the meaning of which seemed clear enough to make them both +resolve to ruin the hopes of the already rejected purveyor,--hopes which +it was evident he still indulged. + +Two guests, whose functions excused them, kept the dinner waiting. One +was Monsieur du Coudrai, the recorder of mortgages; the other Monsieur +Choisnel, former bailiff to the house of Esgrignon, and now the notary +of the upper aristocracy, by whom he was received with a distinction due +to his virtues; he was also a man of considerable wealth. When the two +belated guests arrived, Jacquelin said to them as he saw them about to +enter the salon:-- + +“_They_ are all in the garden.” + +No doubt the assembled stomachs were impatient; for on the appearance +of the register of mortgages--who had no defect except that of having +married for her money an intolerable old woman, and of perpetrating +endless puns, at which he was the first to laugh--the gentle murmur by +which such late-comers are welcomed arose. While awaiting the official +announcement of dinner, the company were sauntering on the terrace above +the river, and gazing at the water-plants, the mosaic of the currents, +and the various pretty details of the houses clustering across the +river, their old wooden galleries, their mouldering window-frames, their +little gardens where clothes were drying, the cabinet-maker’s shop,--in +short, the many details of a small community to which the vicinity of +a river, a weeping willow, flowers, rose-bushes, added a certain grace, +making the scene quite worthy of a landscape painter. + +The chevalier studied all faces, for he knew that his firebrand had been +very successfully introduced into the chief houses of the place. But +no one as yet referred openly to the great news of Suzanne and du +Bousquier. Provincials possess in the highest degree the art of +distilling gossip; the right moment for openly discussing this strange +affair had not arrived; it was first necessary that all present should +put themselves on record. So the whispers went round from ear to ear:-- + +“You have heard?” + +“Yes.” + +“Du Bousquier?” + +“And that handsome Suzanne.” + +“Does Mademoiselle Cormon know of it?” + +“No.” + +“Ha!” + +This was the _piano_ of the scandal; the _rinforzando_ would break +forth as soon as the first course had been removed. Suddenly Monsieur de +Valois’s eyes lighted on Madame Granson, arrayed in her green hat with +bunches of auriculas, and beaming with evident joy. Was it merely the +joy of opening the concert? Though such a piece of news was like a gold +mine to work in the monotonous lives of these personages, the observant +and distrustful chevalier thought he recognized in the worthy woman a +far more extended sentiment; namely, the joy caused by the triumph of +self-interest. Instantly he turned to examine Athanase, and detected him +in the significant silence of deep meditation. Presently, a look cast +by the young man on Mademoiselle Cormon carried to the soul of the +chevalier a sudden gleam. That momentary flash of lightning enabled him +to read the past. + +“Ha! the devil!” he said to himself; “what a checkmate I’m exposed to!” + +Monsieur de Valois now approached Mademoiselle Cormon, and offered his +arm. The old maid’s feeling to the chevalier was that of respectful +consideration; and certainly his name, together with the position he +occupied among the aristocratic constellations of the department +made him the most brilliant ornament of her salon. In her inmost mind +Mademoiselle Cormon had wished for the last dozen years to become Madame +de Valois. That name was like the branch of a tree, to which the ideas +which _swarmed_ in her mind about rank, nobility, and the external +qualities of a husband had fastened. But, though the Chevalier de Valois +was the man chosen by her heart, and mind, and ambition, that elderly +ruin, combed and curled like a little Saint-John in a procession, +alarmed Mademoiselle Cormon. She saw the gentleman in him, but she could +not see a husband. The indifference which the chevalier affected as to +marriage, above all, the apparent purity of his morals in a house which +abounded in grisettes, did singular harm in her mind to Monsieur +de Valois against his expectations. The worthy man, who showed such +judgment in the matter of his annuity, was at fault here. Without being +herself aware of it, the thoughts of Mademoiselle Cormon on the too +virtuous chevalier might be translated thus:-- + +“What a pity that he isn’t a trifle dissipated!” + +Observers of the human heart have remarked the leaning of pious women +toward scamps; some have expressed surprise at this taste, considering +it opposed to Christian virtue. But, in the first place, what nobler +destiny can you offer to a virtuous woman than to purify, like charcoal, +the muddy waters of vice? How is it some observers fail to see that +these noble creatures, obliged by the sternness of their own principles +never to infringe on conjugal fidelity, must naturally desire a husband +of wider practical experience than their own? The scamps of social life +are great men in love. Thus the poor woman groaned in spirit at finding +her chosen vessel parted into two pieces. God alone could solder +together a Chevalier de Valois and a du Bousquier. + +In order to explain the importance of the few words which the chevalier +and Mademoiselle Cormon are about to say to each other, it is necessary +to reveal two serious matters which agitated the town, and about which +opinions were divided; besides, du Bousquier was mysteriously connected +with them. + +One concerns the rector of Alencon, who had formerly taken the +constitutional oath, and who was now conquering the repugnance of the +Catholics by a display of the highest virtues. He was Cheverus on a +small scale, and became in time so fully appreciated that when he died +the whole town mourned him. Mademoiselle Cormon and the Abbe de Sponde +belonged to that “little Church,” sublime in its orthodoxy, which was to +the court of Rome what the Ultras were to be to Louis XVIII. The abbe, +more especially, refused to recognize a Church which had compromised +with the constitutionals. The rector was therefore not received in +the Cormon household, whose sympathies were all given to the curate of +Saint-Leonard, the aristocratic parish of Alencon. Du Bousquier, that +fanatic liberal now concealed under the skin of a royalist, knowing how +necessary rallying points are to all discontents (which are really at +the bottom of all oppositions), had drawn the sympathies of the middle +classes around the rector. So much for the first case; the second was +this:-- + +Under the secret inspiration of du Bousquier the idea of building a +theatre had dawned on Alencon. The henchmen of the purveyor did not know +their Mohammed; and they thought they were ardent in carrying out their +own conception. Athanase Granson was one of the warmest partisans for +the theatre; and of late he had urged at the mayor’s office a cause +which all the other young clerks had eagerly adopted. + +The chevalier, as we have said, offered his arm to the old maid for +a turn on the terrace. She accepted it, not without thanking him by +a happy look for this attention, to which the chevalier replied by +motioning toward Athanase with a meaning eye. + +“Mademoiselle,” he began, “you have so much sense and judgment in social +proprieties, and also, you are connected with that young man by certain +ties--” + +“Distant ones,” she said, interrupting him. + +“Ought you not,” he continued, “to use the influence you have over his +mother and over himself by saving him from perdition? He is not very +religious, as you know; indeed he approves of the rector; but that is +not all; there is something far more serious; isn’t he throwing himself +headlong into an opposition without considering what influence his +present conduct may exert upon his future? He is working for the +construction of a theatre. In this affair he is simply the dupe of that +disguised republican du Bousquier--” + +“Good gracious! Monsieur de Valois,” she replied; “his mother is always +telling me he has so much mind, and yet he can’t say two words; he +stands planted before me as mum as a post--” + +“Which doesn’t think at all!” cried the recorder of mortgages. “I caught +your words on the fly. I present my compliments to Monsieur de Valois,” + he added, bowing to that gentleman with much emphasis. + +The chevalier returned the salutation stiffly, and drew Mademoiselle +Cormon toward some flower-pots at a little distance, in order to show +the interrupter that he did not choose to be spied upon. + +“How is it possible,” he continued, lowering his voice, and leaning +towards Mademoiselle Cormon’s ear, “that a young man brought up in those +detestable lyceums should have ideas? Only sound morals and noble habits +will ever produce great ideas and a true love. It is easy to see by a +mere look at him that the poor lad is likely to be imbecile, and come, +perhaps, to some sad end. See how pale and haggard he is!” + +“His mother declares he works too hard,” replied the old maid, +innocently. “He sits up late, and for what? reading books and writing! +What business ought to require a young man to write at night?” + +“It exhausts him,” replied the chevalier, trying to bring the old maid’s +thoughts back to the ground where he hoped to inspire her with horror +for her youthful lover. “The morals of those Imperial lyceums are really +shocking.” + +“Oh, yes!” said the ingenuous creature. “They march the pupils about +with drums at their head. The masters have no more religion than pagans. +And they put the poor lads in uniform, as if they were troops. What +ideas!” + +“And behold the product!” said the chevalier, motioning to Athanase. “In +my day, young men were not so shy of looking at a pretty woman. As for +him, he drops his eyes whenever he sees you. That young man frightens me +because I am really interested in him. Tell him not to intrigue with +the Bonapartists, as he is now doing about that theatre. When all these +petty folks cease to ask for it insurrectionally,--which to my mind is +the synonym of constitutionally,--the government will build it. Besides +which, tell his mother to keep an eye on him.” + +“Oh, I’m sure she will prevent him from seeing those half-pay, +questionable people. I’ll talk to her,” said Mademoiselle Cormon, “for +he might lose his place in the mayor’s office; and then what would he +and his mother have to live on? It makes me shudder.” + +As Monsieur de Talleyrand said of his wife, so the chevalier said to +himself, looking at Mademoiselle Cormon:-- + +“Find me another as stupid! Good powers! isn’t virtue which drives out +intellect vice? But what an adorable wife for a man of my age! What +principles! what ignorance!” + +Remember that this monologue, addressed to the Princess Goritza, was +mentally uttered while he took a pinch of snuff. + +Madame Granson had divined that the chevalier was talking about +Athanase. Eager to know the result of the conversation, she followed +Mademoiselle Cormon, who was now approaching the young man with +much dignity. But at this moment Jacquelin appeared to announce that +mademoiselle was served. The old maid gave a glance of appeal to the +chevalier; but the gallant recorder of mortgages, who was beginning to +see in the manners of that gentleman the barrier which the provincial +nobles were setting up about this time between themselves and the +bourgeoisie, made the most of his chance to cut out Monsieur de Valois. +He was close to Mademoiselle Cormon, and promptly offered his arm, which +she found herself compelled to accept. The chevalier then darted, out of +policy, upon Madame Granson. + +“Mademoiselle Cormon, my dear lady,” he said to her, walking slowly +after all the other guests, “feels the liveliest interest in your +dear Athanase; but I fear it will vanish through his own fault. He is +irreligious and liberal; he is agitating this matter of the theatre; +he frequents the Bonapartists; he takes the side of that rector. Such +conduct may make him lose his place in the mayor’s office. You know with +what care the government is beginning to weed out such opinions. If your +dear Athanase loses his place, where can he find other employment? I +advise him not to get himself in bad odor with the administration.” + +“Monsieur le Chevalier,” said the poor frightened mother, “how grateful +I am to you! You are right: my son is the tool of a bad set of people; I +shall enlighten him.” + +The chevalier had long since fathomed the nature of Athanase, and +recognized in it that unyielding element of republican convictions +to which in his youth a young man is willing to sacrifice everything, +carried away by the word “liberty,” so ill-defined and so little +understood, but which to persons disdained by fate is a banner of +revolt; and to such, revolt is vengeance. Athanase would certainly +persist in that faith, for his opinions were woven in with his artistic +sorrows, with his bitter contemplation of the social state. He was +ignorant of the fact that at thirty-six years of age,--the period of +life when a man has judged men and social interests and relations,--the +opinions for which he was ready to sacrifice his future would be +modified in him, as they are in all men of real superiority. To remain +faithful to the Left side of Alencon was to gain the aversion of +Mademoiselle Cormon. There, indeed, the chevalier saw true. + +Thus we see that this society, so peaceful in appearance, was internally +as agitated as any diplomatic circle, where craft, ability, and passions +group themselves around the grave questions of an empire. The guests +were now seated at the table laden with the first course, which they ate +as provincials eat, without shame at possessing a good appetite, and +not as in Paris, where it seems as if jaws gnashed under sumptuary laws, +which made it their business to contradict the laws of anatomy. In Paris +people eat with their teeth, and trifle with their pleasure; in the +provinces things are done naturally, and interest is perhaps rather too +much concentrated on the grand and universal means of existence to which +God has condemned his creatures. + +It was at the end of the first course that Mademoiselle Cormon made the +most celebrated of her “speeches”; it was talked about for fully two +years, and is still told at the gatherings of the lesser bourgeoisie +whenever the topic of her marriage comes up. + +The conversation, becoming lively as the penultimate entree was +reached, had turned naturally on the affair of the theatre and the +constitutionally sworn rector. In the first fervor of royalty, during +the year 1816, those who later were called Jesuits were all for the +expulsion of the Abbe Francois from his parish. Du Bousquier, suspected +by Monsieur de Valois of sustaining the priest and being at the bottom +of the theatre intrigues, and on whose back the adroit chevalier would +in any case have put those sins with his customary cleverness, was in +the dock with no lawyer to defend him. Athanase, the only guest loyal +enough to stand by du Bousquier, had not the nerve to emit his ideas +in the presence of those potentates of Alencon, whom in his heart he +thought stupid. None but provincial youths now retain a respectful +demeanor before men of a certain age, and dare neither to censure +nor contradict them. The talk, diminished under the effect of certain +delicious ducks dressed with olives, was falling flat. Mademoiselle +Cormon, feeling the necessity of maintaining it against her own ducks, +attempted to defend du Bousquier, who was being represented as a +pernicious fomenter of intrigues, capable of any trickery. + +“As for me,” she said, “I thought that Monsieur du Bousquier cared +chiefly for childish things.” + +Under existing circumstances the remark had enormous success. +Mademoiselle Cormon obtained a great triumph; she brought the nose +of the Princess Goritza flat on the table. The chevalier, who little +expected such an apt remark from his Dulcinea, was so amazed that he +could at first find no words to express his admiration; he applauded +noiselessly, as they do at the Opera, tapping his fingers together to +imitate applause. + +“She is adorably witty,” he said to Madame Granson. “I always said that +some day she would unmask her batteries.” + +“In private she is always charming,” replied the widow. + +“In private, madame, all women have wit,” returned the chevalier. + +The Homeric laugh thus raised having subsided, Mademoiselle Cormon asked +the reason of her success. Then began the _forte_ of the gossip. Du +Bousquier was depicted as a species of celibate Pere Gigogne, a monster, +who for the last fifteen years had kept the Foundling Hospital supplied. +His immoral habits were at last revealed! these Parisian saturnalias +were the result of them, etc., etc. Conducted by the Chevalier de +Valois, a most able leader of an orchestra of this kind, the opening of +the _cancan_ was magnificent. + +“I really don’t know,” he said, “what should hinder a du Bousquier from +marrying a Mademoiselle Suzanne What’s-her-name. What _is_ her name, do +you know? Suzette! Though I have lodgings at Madame Lardot’s, I know her +girls only by sight. If this Suzette is a tall, fine, saucy girl, with +gray eyes, a slim waist, and a pretty foot, whom I have occasionally +seen, and whose behavior always seemed to me extremely insolent, she +is far superior in manners to du Bousquier. Besides, the girl has the +nobility of beauty; from that point of view the marriage would be a poor +one for her; she might do better. You know how the Emperor Joseph had +the curiosity to see the du Barry at Luciennes. He offered her his arm +to walk about, and the poor thing was so surprised at the honor that she +hesitated to accept it: ‘Beauty is ever a queen,’ said the Emperor. And +he, you know, was an Austrian-German,” added the chevalier. “But I can +tell you that Germany, which is thought here very rustic, is a land +of noble chivalry and fine manners, especially in Poland and Hungary, +where--” + +Here the chevalier stopped, fearing to slip into some allusion to his +personal happiness; he took out his snuff-box, and confided the rest +of his remarks to the princess, who had smiled upon him for thirty-six +years and more. + +“That speech was rather a delicate one for Louis XV.,” said du Ronceret. + +“But it was, I think, the Emperor Joseph who made it, and not Louis +XV.,” remarked Mademoiselle Cormon, in a correcting tone. + +“Mademoiselle,” said the chevalier, observing the malicious glance +exchanged between the judge, the notary, and the recorder, “Madame du +Barry was the Suzanne of Louis XV.,--a circumstance well known to scamps +like ourselves, but unsuitable for the knowledge of young ladies. Your +ignorance proves you to be a flawless diamond; historical corruptions do +not enter your mind.” + +The Abbe de Sponde looked graciously at the Chevalier de Valois, and +nodded his head in sign of his laudatory approbation. + +“Doesn’t mademoiselle know history?” asked the recorder of mortgages. + +“If you mix up Louis XV. and this girl Suzanne, how am I to know +history?” replied Mademoiselle Cormon, angelically, glad to see that the +dish of ducks was empty at last, and the conversation so ready to revive +that all present laughed with their mouths full at her last remark. + +“Poor girl!” said the Abbe de Sponde. “When a great misfortune happens, +charity, which is divine love, and as blind as pagan love, ought not to +look into the causes of it. Niece, you are president of the Maternity +Society; you must succor that poor girl, who will now find it difficult +to marry.” + +“Poor child!” ejaculated Mademoiselle Cormon. + +“Do you suppose du Bousquier would marry her?” asked the judge. + +“If he is an honorable man he ought to do so,” said Madame Granson; “but +really, to tell the truth, my dog has better morals than he--” + +“Azor is, however, a good purveyor,” said the recorder of mortgages, +with the air of saying a witty thing. + +At dessert du Bousquier was still the topic of conversation, having +given rise to various little jokes which the wine rendered sparkling. +Following the example of the recorder, each guest capped his neighbor’s +joke with another: Du Bousquier was a father, but not a confessor; he +was father less; he was father LY; he was not a reverend father; nor yet +a conscript-father-- + +“Nor can he be a foster-father,” said the Abbe de Sponde, with a gravity +which stopped the laughter. + +“Nor a noble father,” added the chevalier. + +The Church and the nobility descended thus into the arena of puns, +without, however, losing their dignity. + +“Hush!” exclaimed the recorder of mortgages. “I hear the creaking of du +Bousquier’s boots.” + +It usually happens that a man is ignorant of rumors that are afloat +about him. A whole town may be talking of his affairs; may calumniate +and decry him, but if he has no good friends, he will know nothing about +it. Now the innocent du Bousquier was superb in his ignorance. No one +had told him as yet of Suzanne’s revelations; he therefore appeared very +jaunty and slightly conceited when the company, leaving the dining-room, +returned to the salon for their coffee; several other guests had +meantime assembled for the evening. Mademoiselle Cormon, from a sense of +shamefacedness, dared not look at the terrible seducer. She seized upon +Athanase, and began to lecture him with the queerest platitudes about +royalist politics and religious morality. Not possessing, like the +Chevalier de Valois, a snuff-box adorned with a princess, by the help of +which he could stand this torrent of silliness, the poor poet listened +to the words of her whom he loved with a stupid air, gazing, meanwhile, +at her enormous bust, which held itself before him in that still repose +which is the attribute of all great masses. His love produced in him a +sort of intoxication which changed the shrill voice of the old maid into +a soft murmur, and her flat remarks into witty speeches. Love is a maker +of false coin, continually changing copper pennies into gold-pieces, and +sometimes turning its real gold into copper. + +“Well, Athanase, will you promise me?” + +This final sentence struck the ear of the absorbed young man like one of +those noises which wake us with a bound. + +“What, mademoiselle?” + +Mademoiselle Cormon rose hastily, and looked at du Bousquier, who at +that moment resembled the stout god of Fable which the Republic stamped +upon her coins. She walked up to Madame Granson, and said in her ear:-- + +“My dear friend, you son is an idiot. That lyceum has ruined him,” she +added, remembering the insistence with which the chevalier had spoken of +the evils of education in such schools. + +What a catastrophe! Unknown to himself, the luckless Athanase had had +an occasion to fling an ember of his own fire upon the pile of brush +gathered in the heart of the old maid. Had he listened to her, he +might have made her, then and there, perceive his passion; for, in the +agitated state of Mademoiselle Cormon’s mind, a single word would +have sufficed. But that stupid absorption in his own sentiments, which +characterizes young and true love, had ruined him, as a child full of +life sometimes kills itself out of ignorance. + +“What have you been saying to Mademoiselle Cormon?” demanded his mother. + +“Nothing.” + +“Nothing; well, I can explain that,” she thought to herself, putting off +till the next day all further reflection on the matter, and attaching +but little importance to Mademoiselle Cormon’s words; for she fully +believed that du Bousquier was forever lost in the old maid’s esteem +after the revelation of that evening. + +Soon the four tables were filled with their sixteen players. Four +persons were playing piquet,--an expensive game, at which the most money +was lost. Monsieur Choisnel, the procureur-du-roi, and two ladies +went into the boudoir for a game at backgammon. The glass lustres were +lighted; and then the flower of Mademoiselle Cormon’s company gathered +before the fireplace, on sofas, and around the tables, and each couple +said to her as they arrived,-- + +“So you are going to-morrow to Prebaudet?” + +“Yes, I really must,” she replied. + +On this occasion the mistress of the house appeared preoccupied. Madame +Granson was the first to perceive the quite unnatural state of the old +maid’s mind,--Mademoiselle Cormon was thinking! + +“What are you thinking of, cousin?” she said at last, finding her seated +in the boudoir. + +“I am thinking,” she replied, “of that poor girl. As the president of +the Maternity Society, I will give you fifty francs for her.” + +“Fifty francs!” cried Madame Granson. “But you have never given as much +as that.” + +“But, my dear cousin, it is so natural to have children.” + +That immoral speech coming from the heart of the old maid staggered the +treasurer of the Maternity Society. Du Bousquier had evidently advanced +in the estimation of Mademoiselle Cormon. + +“Upon my word,” said Madame Granson, “du Bousquier is not only a +monster, he is a villain. When a man has done a wrong like that, he +ought to pay the indemnity. Isn’t it his place rather than ours to +look after the girl?--who, to tell you the truth, seems to me rather +questionable; there are plenty of better men in Alencon than that cynic +du Bousquier. A girl must be depraved, indeed, to go after him.” + +“Cynic! Your son teaches you to talk Latin, my dear, which is wholly +incomprehensible. Certainly I don’t wish to excuse Monsieur du +Bousquier; but pray explain to me why a woman is depraved because she +prefers one man to another.” + +“My dear cousin, suppose you married my son Athanase; nothing could be +more natural. He is young and handsome, full of promise, and he will be +the glory of Alencon; and yet everybody will exclaim against you: evil +tongues will say all sorts of things; jealous women will accuse you +of depravity,--but what will that matter? you will be loved, and loved +truly. If Athanase seemed to you an idiot, my dear, it is that he has +too many ideas; extremes meet. He lives the life of a girl of fifteen; +he has never wallowed in the impurities of Paris, not he! Well, change +the terms, as my poor husband used to say; it is the same thing with du +Bousquier in connection with Suzanne. _You_ would be calumniated; but in +the case of du Bousquier, the charge would be true. Don’t you understand +me?” + +“No more than if you were talking Greek,” replied Mademoiselle Cormon, +who opened her eyes wide, and strained all the forces of her intellect. + +“Well, cousin, if I must dot all the i’s, it is impossible for Suzanne +to love du Bousquier. And if the heart counts for nothing in this +affair--” + +“But, cousin, what do people love with if not their hearts?” + +Here Madame Granson said to herself, as the chevalier had previously +thought: “My poor cousin is altogether too innocent; such stupidity +passes all bounds!--Dear child,” she continued aloud, “it seems to me +that children are not conceived by the spirit only.” + +“Why, yes, my dear; the Holy Virgin herself--” + +“But, my love, du Bousquier isn’t the Holy Ghost!” + +“True,” said the old maid; “he is a man!--a man whose personal +appearance makes him dangerous enough for his friends to advise him to +marry.” + +“You could yourself bring about that result, cousin.” + +“How so?” said the old maid, with the meekness of Christian charity. + +“By not receiving him in your house until he marries. You owe it to good +morals and to religion to manifest under such circumstances an exemplary +displeasure.” + +“On my return from Prebaudet we will talk further of this, my dear +Madame Granson. I will consult my uncle and the Abbe Couturier,” said +Mademoiselle Cormon, returning to the salon, where the animation was now +at its height. + +The lights, the group of women in their best clothes, the solemn tone, +the dignified air of the assembly, made Mademoiselle Cormon not a little +proud of her company. To many persons nothing better could be seen in +Paris in the highest society. + +At this moment du Bousquier, who was playing whist with the chevalier +and two old ladies,--Madame du Coudrai and Madame du Ronceret,--was the +object of deep but silent curiosity. A few young women arrived, who, +under pretext of watching the game, gazed fixedly at him in so singular +a manner, though slyly, that the old bachelor began to think that there +must be some deficiency in his toilet. + +“Can my false front be crooked?” he asked himself, seized by one of +those anxieties which beset old bachelors. + +He took advantage of a lost trick, which ended a seventh rubber, to rise +and leave the table. + +“I can’t touch a card without losing,” he said. “I am decidedly too +unlucky.” + +“But you are lucky in other ways,” said the chevalier, giving him a sly +look. + +That speech naturally made the rounds of the salon, where every one +exclaimed on the exquisite taste of the chevalier, the Prince de +Talleyrand of the province. + +“There’s no one like Monsieur de Valois for such wit.” + +Du Bousquier went to look at himself in a little oblong mirror, placed +above the “Deserter,” but he saw nothing strange in his appearance. + +After innumerable repetitions of the same text, varied in all keys, the +departure of the company took place about ten o’clock, through the long +antechamber, Mademoiselle Cormon conducting certain of her favorite +guests to the portico. There the groups parted; some followed the +Bretagne road towards the chateau; the others went in the direction of +the river Sarthe. Then began the usual conversation, which for twenty +years had echoed at that hour through this particular street of Alencon. +It was invariably:-- + +“Mademoiselle Cormon looked very well to-night.” + +“Mademoiselle Cormon? why, I thought her rather strange.” + +“How that poor abbe fails! Did you notice that he slept? He does not +know what cards he holds; he is getting very absent-minded.” + +“We shall soon have the grief of losing him.” + +“What a fine night! It will be a fine day to-morrow.” + +“Good weather for the apple-blossoms.” + +“You beat us; but when you play with Monsieur de Valois you never do +otherwise.” + +“How much did he win?” + +“Well, to-night, three or four francs; he never loses.” + +“True; and don’t you know there are three hundred and sixty-five days a +year? At that price his gains are the value of a farm.” + +“Ah! what hands we had to-night!” + +“Here you are at home, monsieur and madame, how lucky you are, while we +have half the town to cross!” + +“I don’t pity you; you could afford a carriage, and dispense with the +fatigue of going on foot.” + +“Ah, monsieur! we have a daughter to marry, which takes off one wheel, +and the support of our son in Paris carries off another.” + +“You persist in making a magistrate of him?” + +“What else can be done with a young man? Besides, there’s no shame in +serving the king.” + +Sometimes a discussion on ciders and flax, always couched in the same +terms, and returning at the same time of year, was continued on the +homeward way. If any observer of human customs had lived in this street, +he would have known the months and seasons by simply overhearing the +conversations. + +On this occasion it was exclusively jocose; for du Bousquier, who +chanced to march alone in front of the groups, was humming the +well-known air,--little thinking of its appropriateness,--“Tender woman! +hear the warble of the birds,” etc. To some, du Bousquier was a strong +man and a misjudged man. Ever since he had been confirmed in his present +office by a royal decree, Monsieur du Ronceret had been in favor of +du Bousquier. To others the purveyor seemed dangerous,--a man of bad +habits, capable of anything. In the provinces, as in Paris, men before +the public eye are like that statue in the fine allegorical tale of +Addison, for which two knights on arriving near it fought; for one saw +it white, the other saw it black. Then, when they were both off their +horses, they saw it was white one side and black the other. A third +knight coming along declared it red. + +When the chevalier went home that night, he made many reflections, as +follows:-- + +“It is high time now to spread a rumor of my marriage with Mademoiselle +Cormon. It will leak out from the d’Esgrignon salon, and go straight +to the bishop at Seez, and so get round through the grand vicars to the +curate of Saint-Leonard’s, who will be certain to tell it to the Abbe +Couturier; and Mademoiselle Cormon will get the shot in her upper works. +The old Marquis d’Esgrignon shall invite the Abbe de Sponde to dinner, +so as to stop all gossip about Mademoiselle Cormon if I decide against +her, or about me if she refuses me. The abbe shall be well cajoled; and +Mademoiselle Cormon will certainly not hold out against a visit from +Mademoiselle Armande, who will show her the grandeur and future chances +of such an alliance. The abbe’s property is undoubtedly as much as three +hundred thousand; her own savings must amount to more than two hundred +thousand; she has her house and Prebaudet and fifteen thousand francs a +year. A word to my friend the Comte de Fontaine, and I should be +mayor of Alencon to-morrow, and deputy. Then, once seated on the Right +benches, we shall reach the peerage, shouting, ‘Cloture!’ ‘Ordre!’” + +As soon as she reached home Madame Granson had a lively argument with +her son, who could not be made to see the connection which existed +between his love and his political opinions. It was the first quarrel +that had ever troubled that poor household. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. FINAL DISAPPOINTMENT AND ITS FIRST RESULT + + +The next day, Mademoiselle Cormon, packed into the old carriole with +Josette, and looking like a pyramid on a vast sea of parcels, drove up +the rue Saint-Blaise on her way to Prebaudet, where she was overtaken by +an event which hurried on her marriage,--an event entirely unlooked +for by either Madame Granson, du Bousquier, Monsieur de Valois, or +Mademoiselle Cormon himself. Chance is the greatest of all artificers. + +The day after her arrival at Prebaudet, she was innocently employed, +about eight o’clock in the morning, in listening, as she breakfasted, to +the various reports of her keeper and her gardener, when Jacquelin made +a violent irruption into the dining-room. + +“Mademoiselle,” he cried, out of breath, “Monsieur l’abbe sends you an +express, the son of Mere Grosmort, with a letter. The lad left Alencon +before daylight, and he has just arrived; he ran like Penelope! Can’t I +give him a glass of wine?” + +“What can have happened, Josette? Do you think my uncle can be--” + +“He couldn’t write if he were,” said Josette, guessing her mistress’s +fears. + +“Quick! quick!” cried Mademoiselle Cormon, as soon as she had read the +first lines. “Tell Jacquelin to harness Penelope--Get ready, Josette; +pack up everything in half an hour. We must go back to town--” + +“Jacquelin!” called Josette, excited by the sentiment she saw on her +mistress’s face. + +Jacquelin, informed by Josette, came in to say,-- + +“But, mademoiselle, Penelope is eating her oats.” + +“What does that signify? I must start at once.” + +“But, mademoiselle, it is going to rain.” + +“Then we shall get wet.” + +“The house is on fire!” muttered Josette, piqued at the silence her +mistress kept as to the contents of the letter, which she read and +reread. + +“Finish your coffee, at any rate, mademoiselle; don’t excite your blood; +just see how red you are.” + +“Am I red, Josette?” she said, going to a mirror, from which the +quicksilver was peeling, and which presented her features to her upside +down. + +“Good heavens!” thought Mademoiselle Cormon, “suppose I should look +ugly! Come, Josette; come, my dear, dress me at once; I want to be ready +before Jacquelin has harnessed Penelope. If you can’t pack my things in +time, I will leave them here rather than lose a single minute.” + +If you have thoroughly comprehended the positive monomania to which the +desire of marriage had brought Mademoiselle Cormon, you will share her +emotion. The worthy uncle announced in this sudden missive that Monsieur +de Troisville, of the Russian army during the Emigration, grandson of +one of his best friends, was desirous of retiring to Alencon, and asked +his, the abbe’s hospitality, on the ground of his friendship for his +grandfather, the Vicomte de Troisville. The old abbe, alarmed at the +responsibility, entreated his niece to return instantly and help him to +receive this guest, and do the honors of the house; for the viscount’s +letter had been delayed, and he might descend upon his shoulders that +very night. + +After reading this missive could there be a question of the demands +of Prebaudet? The keeper and the gardener, witnesses to Mademoiselle +Cormon’s excitement, stood aside and awaited her orders. But when, +as she was about to leave the room, they stopped her to ask for +instructions, for the first time in her life the despotic old maid, +who saw to everything at Prebaudet with her own eyes, said, to their +stupefaction, “Do what you like.” This from a mistress who carried her +administration to the point of counting her fruits, and marking them so +as to order their consumption according to the number and condition of +each! + +“I believe I’m dreaming,” thought Josette, as she saw her mistress +flying down the staircase like an elephant to which God has given wings. + +Presently, in spite of a driving rain, Mademoiselle Cormon drove away +from Prebaudet, leaving her factotums with the reins on their necks. +Jacquelin dared not take upon himself to hasten the usual little trot +of the peaceable Penelope, who, like the beautiful queen whose name she +bore, had an appearance of making as many steps backward as she made +forward. Impatient with the pace, mademoiselle ordered Jacquelin in a +sharp voice to drive at a gallop, with the whip, if necessary, to the +great astonishment of the poor beast, so afraid was she of not having +time to arrange the house suitably to receive Monsieur de Troisville. +She calculated that the grandson of her uncle’s friend was probably +about forty years of age; a soldier just from service was undoubtedly +a bachelor; and she resolved, her uncle aiding, not to let Monsieur +de Troisville quit their house in the condition he entered it. Though +Penelope galloped, Mademoiselle Cormon, absorbed in thoughts of her +trousseau and the wedding-day, declared again and again that Jacquelin +made no way at all. She twisted about in the carriole without replying +to Josette’s questions, and talked to herself like a person who is +mentally revolving important designs. + +The carriole at last arrived in the main street of Alencon, called the +rue Saint-Blaise at the end toward Montagne, but near the hotel du More +it takes the name of the rue de la Porte-de-Seez, and becomes the rue +du Bercail as it enters the road to Brittany. If the departure of +Mademoiselle Cormon made a great noise in Alencon, it is easy to imagine +the uproar caused by her sudden return on the following day, in a +pouring rain which beat her face without her apparently minding it. +Penelope at a full gallop was observed by every one, and Jacquelin’s +grin, the early hour, the parcels stuffed into the carriole topsy-turvy, +and the evident impatience of Mademoiselle Cormon were all noted. + +The property of the house of Troisville lay between Alencon and +Mortagne. Josette knew the various branches of the family. A word +dropped by mademoiselle as they entered Alencon had put Josette on the +scent of the affair; and a discussion having started between them, it +was settled that the expected de Troisville must be between forty +and forty-two years of age, a bachelor, and neither rich nor poor. +Mademoiselle Cormon beheld herself speedily Vicomtesse de Troisville. + +“And to think that my uncle told me nothing! thinks of nothing! inquires +nothing! That’s my uncle all over. He’d forget his own nose if it wasn’t +fastened to his face.” + +Have you never remarked that, under circumstances such as these, +old maids become, like Richard III., keen-witted, fierce, bold, +promissory,--if one may so use the word,--and, like inebriate clerks, no +longer in awe of anything? + +Immediately the town of Alencon, speedily informed from the farther +end of the rue de Saint-Blaise to the gate of Seez of this precipitate +return, accompanied by singular circumstances, was perturbed throughout +its viscera, both public and domestic. Cooks, shopkeepers, street +passengers, told the news from door to door; thence it rose to the upper +regions. Soon the words: “Mademoiselle Cormon has returned!” burst like +a bombshell into all households. At that moment Jacquelin was descending +from his wooden seat (polished by a process unknown to cabinet-makers), +on which he perched in front of the carriole. He opened the great green +gate, round at the top, and closed in sign of mourning; for during +Mademoiselle Cormon’s absence the evening assemblies did not take place. +The faithful invited the Abbe de Sponde to their several houses; and +Monsieur de Valois paid his debt by inviting him to dine at the Marquis +d’Esgrignon’s. Jacquelin, having opened the gate, called familiarly to +Penelope, whom he had left in the middle of the street. That animal, +accustomed to this proceeding, turned in of herself, and circled round +the courtyard in a manner to avoid injuring the flower-bed. Jacquelin +then took her bridle, and led the carriage to the portico. + +“Mariette!” cried Mademoiselle Cormon. + +“Mademoiselle!” exclaimed Mariette, who was occupied in closing the +gate. + +“Has the gentleman arrived?” + +“No, mademoiselle.” + +“Where’s my uncle?” + +“He is at church, mademoiselle.” + +Jacquelin and Josette were by this time on the first step of the +portico, holding out their hands to manoeuvre the exit of their mistress +from the carriole as she pulled herself up by the sides of the vehicle +and clung to the curtains. Mademoiselle then threw herself into their +arms; because for the last two years she dared not risk her weight +on the iron step, affixed to the frame of the carriage by a horrible +mechanism of clumsy bolts. + +When Mademoiselle Cormon reached the level of the portico she looked +about her courtyard with an air of satisfaction. + +“Come, come, Mariette, leave that gate alone; I want you.” + +“There’s something in the wind,” whispered Jacquelin, as Mariette passed +the carriole. + +“Mariette, what provisions have you in the house?” asked Mademoiselle +Cormon, sitting down on the bench in the long antechamber like a person +overcome with fatigue. + +“I haven’t anything,” replied Mariette, with her hands on her hips. +“Mademoiselle knows very well that during her absence Monsieur l’abbe +dines out every day. Yesterday I went to fetch him from Mademoiselle +Armande’s.” + +“Where is he now?” + +“Monsieur l’abbe? Why, at church; he won’t be in before three o’clock.” + +“He thinks of nothing! he ought to have told you to go to market. +Mariette, go at once; and without wasting money, don’t spare it; get all +there is that is good and delicate. Go to the diligence office and see +if you can send for pates; and I want shrimps from the Brillante. What +o’clock is it?” + +“A quarter to nine.” + +“Good heavens! Mariette, don’t stop to chatter. The person my uncle +expects may arrive at any moment. If we had to give him breakfast, where +should we be with nothing in the house?” + +Mariette turned back to Penelope in a lather, and looked at Jacquelin +as if she would say, “Mademoiselle has put her hand on a husband _this_ +time.” + +“Now, Josette,” continued the old maid, “let us see where we had better +put Monsieur de Troisville to sleep.” + +With what joy she said the words, “Put Monsieur de Troisville” + (pronounced Treville) “to sleep.” How many ideas in those few words! The +old maid was bathed in hope. + +“Will you put him in the green chamber?” + +“The bishop’s room? No; that’s too near mine,” said Mademoiselle Cormon. +“All very well for monseigneur; he’s a saintly man.” + +“Give him your uncle’s room.” + +“Oh, that’s so bare; it is actually indecent.” + +“Well, then, mademoiselle, why not arrange a bed in your boudoir? It is +easily done; and there’s a fire-place. Moreau can certainly find in his +warerooms a bed to match the hangings.” + +“You are right, Josette. Go yourself to Moreau; consult with him what +to do; I authorize you to get what is wanted. If the bed could be put up +to-night without Monsieur de Troisville observing it (in case Monsieur +de Troisville arrives while Moreau is here), I should like it. If Moreau +won’t engage to do this, then I must put Monsieur de Troisville in the +green room, although Monsieur de Troisville would be so very near to +me.” + +Josette was departing when her mistress recalled her. + +“Stop! explain the matter to Jacquelin,” she cried, in a loud nervous +tone. “Tell _him_ to go to Moreau; I must be dressed! Fancy if Monsieur +de Troisville surprised me as I am now! and my uncle not here to receive +him! Oh, uncle, uncle! Come, Josette; come and dress me at once.” + +“But Penelope?” said Josette, imprudently. + +“Always Penelope! Penelope this, Penelope that! Is Penelope the mistress +of this house?” + +“But she is all of a lather, and she hasn’t had time to eat her oats.” + +“Then let her starve!” cried Mademoiselle Cormon; “provided I marry,” + she thought to herself. + +Hearing these words, which seemed to her like homicide, Josette stood +still for a moment, speechless. Then, at a gesture from her mistress, +she ran headlong down the steps of the portico. + +“The devil is in her, Jacquelin,” were the first words she uttered. + +Thus all things conspired on this fateful day to produce the great +scenic effect which decided the future life of Mademoiselle Cormon. +The town was already topsy-turvy in mind, as a consequence of the five +extraordinary circumstances which accompanied Mademoiselle Cormon’s +return; to wit, the pouring rain; Penelope at a gallop, in a lather, and +blown; the early hour; the parcels half-packed; and the singular air of +the excited old maid. But when Mariette made an invasion of the market, +and bought all the best things; when Jacquelin went to the principal +upholsterer in Alencon, two doors from the church, in search of a +bed,--there was matter for the gravest conjectures. These extraordinary +events were discussed on all sides; they occupied the minds of every +one, even Mademoiselle Armande herself, with whom was Monsieur de +Valois. Within two days the town of Alencon had been agitated by such +startling events that certain good women were heard to remark that the +world was coming to an end. This last news, however, resolved itself +into a single question, “What is happening at the Cormons?” + +The Abbe de Sponde, adroitly questioned when he left Saint-Leonard’s +to take his daily walk with the Abbe Couturier, replied with his usual +kindliness that he expected the Vicomte de Troisville, a nobleman in the +service of Russia during the Emigration, who was returning to Alencon +to settle there. From two to five o’clock a species of labial telegraphy +went on throughout the town; and all the inhabitants learned that +Mademoiselle Cormon had at last found a husband by letter, and was about +to marry the Vicomte de Troisville. Some said, “Moreau has sold them a +bed.” The bed was six feet wide in that quarter; it was four feet wide +at Madame Granson’s, in the rue du Bercail; but it was reduced to a +simple couch at Monsieur du Ronceret’s, where du Bousquier was dining. +The lesser bourgeoisie declared that the cost was eleven hundred francs. +But generally it was thought that, as to this, rumor was counting the +chickens before they were hatched. In other quarters it was said that +Mariette had made such a raid on the market that the price of carp had +risen. At the end of the rue Saint-Blaise, Penelope had dropped dead. +This decease was doubted in the house of the receiver-general; but at +the Prefecture it was authenticated that the poor beast had expired as +she turned into the courtyard of the hotel Cormon, with such velocity +had the old maid flown to meet her husband. The harness-maker, who lived +at the corner of the rue de Seez, was bold enough to call at the house +and ask if anything had happened to Mademoiselle Cormon’s carriage, in +order to discover whether Penelope was really dead. From the end of +the rue Saint-Blaise to the end of the rue du Bercail, it was then made +known that, thanks to Jacquelin’s devotion, Penelope, that silent victim +of her mistress’s impetuosity, still lived, though she seemed to be +suffering. + +Along the road to Brittany the Vicomte de Troisville was stated to be a +younger son without a penny, for the estates in Perche belonged to the +Marquis de Troisville, peer of France, who had children; the marriage +would be, therefore, an enormous piece of luck for a poor emigre. The +aristocracy along that road approved of the marriage; Mademoiselle +Cormon could not do better with her money. But among the Bourgeoisie, +the Vicomte de Troisville was a Russian general who had fought against +France, and was now returning with a great fortune made at the court of +Saint-Petersburg; he was a _foreigner_; one of those _allies_ so hated +by the liberals; the Abbe de Sponde had slyly negotiated this marriage. +All the persons who had a right to call upon Mademoiselle Cormon +determined to do so that very evening. + +During this transurban excitement, which made that of Suzanne almost +a forgotten affair, Mademoiselle was not less agitated; she was filled +with a variety of novel emotions. Looking about her salon, dining-room, +and boudoir, cruel apprehensions took possession of her. A species of +demon showed her with a sneer her old-fashioned luxury. The handsome +things she had admired from her youth up she suddenly suspected of age +and absurdity. In short, she felt that fear which takes possession of +nearly all authors when they read over a work they have hitherto thought +proof against every exacting or blase critic: new situations seem +timeworn; the best-turned and most highly polished phrases limp and +squint; metaphors and images grin or contradict each other; whatsoever +is false strikes the eye. In like manner this poor woman trembled lest +she should see on the lips of Monsieur de Troisville a smile of contempt +for this episcopal salon; she dreaded the cold look he might cast over +that ancient dining-room; in short, she feared the frame might injure +and age the portrait. Suppose these antiquities should cast a reflected +light of old age upon herself? This question made her flesh creep. She +would gladly, at that moment, spend half her savings on refitting her +house if some fairy wand could do it in a moment. Where is the general +who has not trembled on the eve of a battle? The poor woman was now +between her Austerlitz and her Waterloo. + +“Madame la Vicomtesse de Troisville,” she said to herself; “a noble +name! Our property will go to a good family, at any rate.” + +She fell a prey to an irritation which made every fibre of her nerves +quiver to all their papillae, long sunk in flesh. Her blood, lashed +by this new hope, was in motion. She felt the strength to converse, if +necessary, with Monsieur de Troisville. + +It is useless to relate the activity with which Josette, Jacquelin, +Mariette, Moreau, and his agents went about their functions. It was like +the busyness of ants about their eggs. All that daily care had already +rendered neat and clean was again gone over and brushed and rubbed and +scrubbed. The china of ceremony saw the light; the damask linen marked +“A, B, C” was drawn from depths where it lay under a triple guard of +wrappings, still further defended by formidable lines of pins. Above +all, Mademoiselle Cormon sacrificed on the altar of her hopes three +bottles of the famous liqueurs of Madame Amphoux, the most illustrious +of all the distillers of the tropics,--a name very dear to gourmets. +Thanks to the devotion of her lieutenants, mademoiselle was soon ready +for the conflict. The different weapons--furniture, cookery, provisions, +in short, all the various munitions of war, together with a body of +reserve forces--were ready along the whole line. Jacquelin, Mariette, +and Josette received orders to appear in full dress. The garden was +raked. The old maid regretted that she couldn’t come to an understanding +with the nightingales nesting in the trees, in order to obtain their +finest trilling. + +At last, about four o’clock, at the very moment when the Abbe de Sponde +returned home, and just as mademoiselle began to think she had set the +table with the best plate and linen and prepared the choicest dishes to +no purpose, the click-clack of a postilion was heard in the Val-Noble. + +“‘Tis he!” she said to herself, the snap of the whip echoing in her +heart. + +True enough; heralded by all this gossip, a post-chaise, in which was +a single gentleman, made so great a sensation coming down the rue +Saint-Blaise and turning into the rue du Cours that several little +gamains and some grown persons followed it, and stood in groups about +the gate of the hotel Cormon to see it enter. Jacquelin, who foresaw his +own marriage in that of his mistress, had also heard the click-clack in +the rue Saint-Blaise, and had opened wide the gates into the courtyard. +The postilion, a friend of his, took pride in making a fine turn-in, and +drew up sharply before the portico. The abbe came forward to greet his +guest, whose carriage was emptied with a speed that highwaymen might put +into the operation; the chaise itself was rolled into the coach-house, +the gates closed, and in a few moments all signs of Monsieur de +Troisville’s arrival had disappeared. Never did two chemicals blend +into each other with greater rapidity than the hotel Cormon displayed in +absorbing the Vicomte de Troisville. + +Mademoiselle, whose heart was beating like a lizard caught by a +herdsman, sat heroically still on her sofa, beside the fire in the +salon. Josette opened the door; and the Vicomte de Troisville, followed +by the Abbe de Sponde, presented himself to the eyes of the spinster. + +“Niece, this is Monsieur le Vicomte de Troisville, the grandson of one +of my old schoolmates; Monsieur de Troisville, my niece, Mademoiselle +Cormon.” + +“Ah! that good uncle; how well he does it!” thought Rose-Marie-Victoire. + +The Vicomte de Troisville was, to paint him in two words, du Bousquier +ennobled. Between the two men there was precisely the difference which +separates the vulgar style from the noble style. If they had both been +present, the most fanatic liberal would not have denied the existence +of aristocracy. The viscount’s strength had all the distinction of +elegance; his figure had preserved its magnificent dignity. He had blue +eyes, black hair, an olive skin, and looked to be about forty-six years +of age. You might have thought him a handsome Spaniard preserved in +the ice of Russia. His manner, carriage, and attitude, all denoted +a diplomat who had seen Europe. His dress was that of a well-bred +traveller. As he seemed fatigued, the abbe offered to show him to his +room, and was much amazed when his niece threw open the door of the +boudoir, transformed into a bedroom. + +Mademoiselle Cormon and her uncle then left the noble stranger to attend +to his own affairs, aided by Jacquelin, who brought up his luggage, and +went themselves to walk beside the river until their guest had made +his toilet. Although the Abbe de Sponde chanced to be even more +absent-minded than usual, Mademoiselle Cormon was not less preoccupied. +They both walked on in silence. The old maid had never before met any +man as seductive as this Olympean viscount. She might have said to +herself, as the Germans do, “This is my ideal!” instead of which she +felt herself bound from head to foot, and could only say, “Here’s my +affair!” Then she flew to Mariette to know if the dinner could be put +back a while without loss of excellence. + +“Uncle, your Monsieur de Troisville is very amiable,” she said, on +returning. + +“Why, niece, he hasn’t as yet said a word.” + +“But you can see it in his ways, his manners, his face. Is he a +bachelor?” + +“I’m sure I don’t know,” replied the abbe, who was thinking of a +discussion on mercy, lately begun between the Abbe Couturier and +himself. “Monsieur de Troisville wrote me that he wanted to buy a house +here. If he was married, he wouldn’t come alone on such an errand,” + added the abbe, carelessly, not conceiving the idea that his niece could +be thinking of marriage. + +“Is he rich?” + +“He is a younger son of the younger branch,” replied her uncle. “His +grandfather commanded a squadron, but the father of this young man made +a bad marriage.” + +“Young man!” exclaimed the old maid. “It seems to me, uncle, that he +must be at least forty-five.” She felt the strongest desire to put their +years on a par. + +“Yes,” said the abbe; “but to a poor priest of seventy, Rose, a man of +forty seems a youth.” + +All Alencon knew by this time that Monsieur de Troisville had arrived at +the Cormons. The traveller soon rejoined his hosts, and began to admire +the Brillante, the garden, and the house. + +“Monsieur l’abbe,” he said, “my whole ambition is to have a house like +this.” The old maid fancied a declaration lurked in that speech, and she +lowered her eyes. “You must enjoy it very much, mademoiselle,” added the +viscount. + +“How could it be otherwise? It has been in our family since 1574, the +period at which one of our ancestors, steward to the Duc d’Alencon, +acquired the land and built the house,” replied Mademoiselle Cormon. “It +is built on piles,” she added. + +Jacquelin announced dinner. Monsieur de Troisville offered his arm to +the happy woman, who endeavored not to lean too heavily upon it; she +feared, as usual, to seem to make advances. + +“Everything is so harmonious here,” said the viscount, as he seated +himself at table. + +“Yes, our trees are full of birds, which give us concerts for nothing; +no one ever frightens them; and the nightingales sing at night,” said +Mademoiselle Cormon. + +“I was speaking of the interior of the house,” remarked the viscount, +who did not trouble himself to observe Mademoiselle Cormon, and +therefore did not perceive the dulness of her mind. “Everything is so in +keeping,--the tones of color, the furniture, the general character.” + +“But it costs a great deal; taxes are enormous,” responded the excellent +woman. + +“Ah! taxes are high, are they?” said the viscount, preoccupied with his +own ideas. + +“I don’t know,” replied the abbe. “My niece manages the property of each +of us.” + +“Taxes are not of much importance to the rich,” said Mademoiselle +Cormon, not wishing to be thought miserly. “As for the furniture, I +shall leave it as it is, and change nothing,--unless I marry; and then, +of course, everything here must suit the husband.” + +“You have noble principles, mademoiselle,” said the viscount, smiling. +“You will make one happy man.” + +“No one ever made to me such a pretty speech,” thought the old maid. + +The viscount complimented Mademoiselle Cormon on the excellence of her +service and the admirable arrangements of the house, remarking that he +had supposed the provinces behind the age in that respect; but, on the +contrary, he found them, as the English say, “very comfortable.” + +“What can that word mean?” she thought. “Oh, where is the chevalier to +explain it to me? ‘Comfortable,’--there seem to be several words in it. +Well, courage!” she said to herself. “I can’t be expected to answer a +foreign language--But,” she continued aloud, feeling her tongue untied +by the eloquence which nearly all human creatures find in momentous +circumstances, “we have a very brilliant society here, monsieur. It +assembles at my house, and you shall judge of it this evening, for +some of my faithful friends have no doubt heard of my return and your +arrival. Among them is the Chevalier de Valois, a seigneur of the +old court, a man of infinite wit and taste; then there is Monsieur le +Marquis d’Esgrignon and Mademoiselle Armande, his sister” (she bit her +tongue with vexation),--“a woman remarkable in her way,” she added. “She +resolved to remain unmarried in order to leave all her fortune to her +brother and nephew.” + +“Ah!” exclaimed the viscount. “Yes, the d’Esgrignons,--I remember them.” + +“Alencon is very gay,” continued the old maid, now fairly launched. +“There’s much amusement: the receiver-general gives balls; the prefect +is an amiable man; and Monseigneur the bishop sometimes honors us with a +visit--” + +“Well, then,” said the viscount, smiling, “I have done wisely to come +back, like the hare, to die in my form.” + +“Yes,” she said. “I, too, attach myself or I die.” + +The viscount smiled. + +“Ah!” thought the old maid, “all is well; he understands me.” + +The conversation continued on generalities. By one of those mysterious +unknown and undefinable faculties, Mademoiselle Cormon found in her +brain, under the pressure of her desire to be agreeable, all the phrases +and opinions of the Chevalier de Valois. It was like a duel in which the +devil himself pointed the pistol. Never was any adversary better aimed +at. The viscount was far too well-bred to speak of the excellence of +the dinner; but his silence was praise. As he drank the delicious wines +which Jacquelin served to him profusely, he seemed to feel he was with +friends, and to meet them with pleasure; for the true connoisseur does +not applaud, he enjoys. He inquired the price of land, of houses, of +estates; he made Mademoiselle Cormon describe at length the confluence +of the Sarthe and the Brillante; he expressed surprise that the town was +placed so far from the river, and seemed to be much interested in the +topography of the place. + +The silent abbe left his niece to throw the dice of conversation; and +she truly felt that she pleased Monsieur de Troisville, who smiled at +her gracefully, and committed himself during this dinner far more than +her most eager suitors had ever done in ten days. Imagine, therefore, +the little attentions with which he was petted; you might have thought +him a cherished lover, whose return brought joy to the household. +Mademoiselle foresaw the moment when the viscount wanted bread; she +watched his every look; when he turned his head she adroitly put upon +his plate a portion of some dish he seemed to like; had he been a +gourmand, she would almost have killed him; but what a delightful +specimen of the attentions she would show to a husband! She did not +commit the folly of depreciating herself; on the contrary, she set every +sail bravely, ran up all her flags, assumed the bearing of the queen of +Alencon, and boasted of her excellent preserves. In fact, she fished +for compliments in speaking of herself, for she saw that she pleased the +viscount; the truth being that her eager desire had so transformed her +that she became almost a woman. + +At dessert she heard, not without emotions of delight, certain sounds in +the antechamber and salon which denoted the arrival of her usual guests. +She called the attention of her uncle and Monsieur de Troisville to this +prompt attendance as a proof of the affection that was felt for her; +whereas it was really the result of the poignant curiosity which had +seized upon the town. Impatient to show herself in all her glory, +Mademoiselle Cormon told Jacquelin to serve coffee and liqueurs in +the salon, where he presently set out, in view of the whole company, +a magnificent liqueur-stand of Dresden china which saw the light only +twice a year. This circumstance was taken note of by the company, +standing ready to gossip over the merest trifle:-- + +“The deuce!” muttered du Bousquier. “Actually Madame Amphoux’s liqueurs, +which they only serve at the four church festivals!” + +“Undoubtedly the marriage was arranged a year ago by letter,” said +the chief-justice du Ronceret. “The postmaster tells me his office has +received letters postmarked Odessa for more than a year.” + +Madame Granson trembled. The Chevalier de Valois, though he had dined +with the appetite of four men, turned pale even to the left section +of his face. Feeling that he was about to betray himself, he said +hastily,-- + +“Don’t you think it is very cold to-day? I am almost frozen.” + +“The neighborhood of Russia, perhaps,” said du Bousquier. + +The chevalier looked at him as if to say, “Well played!” + +Mademoiselle Cormon appeared so radiant, so triumphant, that the company +thought her handsome. This extraordinary brilliancy was not the effect +of sentiment only. Since early morning her blood had been whirling +tempestuously within her, and her nerves were agitated by the +presentiment of some great crisis. It required all these circumstances +combined to make her so unlike herself. With what joy did she now make +her solemn presentation of the viscount to the chevalier, the chevalier +to the viscount, and all Alencon to Monsieur de Troisville, and Monsieur +de Troisville to all Alencon! + +By an accident wholly explainable, the viscount and chevalier, +aristocrats by nature, came instantly into unison; they recognized each +other at once as men belonging to the same sphere. Accordingly, they +began to converse together, standing before the fireplace. A circle +formed around them; and their conversation, though uttered in a low +voice, was listened to in religious silence. To give the effect of +this scene it is necessary to dramatize it, and to picture Mademoiselle +Cormon occupied in pouring out the coffee of her imaginary suitor, with +her back to the fireplace. + +Monsieur de Valois. “Monsieur le vicomte has come, I am told, to settle +in Alencon?” + +Monsieur de Troisville. “Yes, monsieur, I am looking for a house.” + [Mademoiselle Cormon, cup in hand, turns round.] “It must be a large +house” [Mademoiselle Cormon offers him the cup] “to lodge my whole +family.” [The eyes of the old maid are troubled.] + +Monsieur de Valois. “Are you married?” + +Monsieur de Troisville. “Yes, for the last sixteen years, to a daughter +of the Princess Scherbellof.” + +Mademoiselle Cormon fainted; du Bousquier, who saw her stagger, sprang +forward and received her in his arms; some one opened the door and +allowed him to pass out with his enormous burden. The fiery republican, +instructed by Josette, found strength to carry the old maid to her +bedroom, where he laid her out on the bed. Josette, armed with scissors, +cut the corset, which was terribly tight. Du Bousquier flung water on +Mademoiselle Cormon’s face and bosom, which, released from the corset, +overflowed like the Loire in flood. The poor woman opened her eyes, +saw du Bousquier, and gave a cry of modesty at the sight of him. Du +Bousquier retired at once, leaving six women, at the head of whom was +Madame Granson, radiant with joy, to take care of the invalid. + +What had the Chevalier de Valois been about all this time? Faithful to +his system, he had covered the retreat. + +“That poor Mademoiselle Cormon,” he said to Monsieur de Troisville, +gazing at the assembly, whose laughter was repressed by his cool +aristocratic glances, “her blood is horribly out of order; she wouldn’t +be bled before going to Prebaudet (her estate),--and see the result!” + +“She came back this morning in the rain,” said the Abbe de Sponde, “and +she may have taken cold. It won’t be anything; it is only a little upset +she is subject to.” + +“She told me yesterday she had not had one for three months, adding that +she was afraid it would play her a trick at last,” said the chevalier. + +“Ha! so you are married?” said Jacquelin to himself as he looked at +Monsieur de Troisville, who was quietly sipping his coffee. + +The faithful servant espoused his mistress’s disappointment; he divined +it, and he promptly carried away the liqueurs of Madame Amphoux, which +were offered to a bachelor, and not to the husband of a Russian woman. + +All these details were noticed and laughed at. The Abbe de Sponde knew +the object of Monsieur de Troisville’s journey; but, absent-minded +as usual, he forgot it, not supposing that his niece could have the +slightest interest in Monsieur de Troisville’s marriage. As for the +viscount, preoccupied with the object of his journey, and, like many +husbands, not eager to talk about his wife, he had had no occasion +to say he was married; besides, he would naturally suppose that +Mademoiselle Cormon knew it. + +Du Bousquier reappeared, and was questioned furiously. One of the six +women came down soon after, and announced that Mademoiselle Cormon was +much better, and that the doctor had come. She intended to stay in bed, +as it was necessary to bleed her. The salon was now full. Mademoiselle +Cormon’s absence allowed the ladies present to discuss the tragi-comic +scene--embellished, extended, historified, embroidered, wreathed, +colored, and adorned--which had just taken place, and which, on the +morrow, was destined to occupy all Alencon. + +“That good Monsieur du Bousquier! how well he carried you!” said Josette +to her mistress. “He was really pale at the sight of you; he loves you +still.” + +That speech served as closure to this solemn and terrible evening. + +Throughout the morning of the next day every circumstance of the late +comedy was known in the household of Alencon, and--let us say it to the +shame of that town,--they caused inextinguishable laughter. But on that +day Mademoiselle Cormon (much benefited by the bleeding) would have +seemed sublime even to the boldest scoffers, had they witnessed the +noble dignity, the splendid Christian resignation which influenced her +as she gave her arm to her involuntary deceiver to go into breakfast. +Cruel jesters! why could you not have seen her as she said to the +viscount,-- + +“Madame de Troisville will have difficulty in finding a suitable house; +do me the favor, monsieur, of accepting the use of mine during the time +you are in search of yours.” + +“But, mademoiselle, I have two sons and two daughters; we should greatly +inconvenience you.” + +“Pray do not refuse me,” she said earnestly. + +“I made you the same offer in the answer I wrote to your letter,” said +the abbe; “but you did not receive it.” + +“What, uncle! then you knew--” + +The poor woman stopped. Josette sighed. Neither the viscount nor the +abbe observed anything amiss. After breakfast the Abbe de Sponde carried +off his guest, as agreed upon the previous evening, to show him the +various houses in Alencon which could be bought, and the lots of lands +on which he might build. + +Left alone in the salon, Mademoiselle Cormon said to Josette, with a +deeply distressed air, “My child, I am now the talk of the whole town.” + +“Well, then, mademoiselle, you should marry.” + +“But I am not prepared to make a choice.” + +“Bah! if I were in your place, I should take Monsieur du Bousquier.” + +“Josette, Monsieur de Valois says he is so republican.” + +“They don’t know what they say, your gentlemen: sometimes they declare +that he robbed the republic; he couldn’t love it if he did that,” said +Josette, departing. + +“That girl has an amazing amount of sense,” thought Mademoiselle Cormon, +who remained alone, a prey to her perplexities. + +She saw plainly that a prompt marriage was the only way to silence the +town. This last checkmate, so evidently mortifying, was of a nature to +drive her into some extreme action; for persons deficient in mind find +difficulty in getting out of any path, either good or evil, into which +they have entered. + +Each of the two old bachelors had fully understood the situation in +which Mademoiselle Cormon was about to find herself; consequently, each +resolved to call in the course of that morning to ask after her health, +and take occasion, in bachelor language, to “press his point.” Monsieur +de Valois considered that such an occasion demanded a painstaking +toilet; he therefore took a bath and groomed himself with extraordinary +care. For the first and last time Cesarine observed him putting on with +incredible art a suspicion of rouge. Du Bousquier, on the other hand, +that coarse republican, spurred by a brisk will, paid no attention to +his dress, and arrived the first. + +Such little things decide the fortunes of men, as they do of empires. +Kellerman’s charge at Marengo, Blucher’s arrival at Waterloo, Louis +XIV.’s disdain for Prince Eugene, the rector of Denain,--all these great +causes of fortune or catastrophe history has recorded; but no one +ever profits by them to avoid the small neglects of their own life. +Consequently, observe what happens: the Duchesse de Langeais (see +“History of the Thirteen”) makes herself a nun for the lack of ten +minutes’ patience; Judge Popinot (see “Commission in Lunacy”) puts off +till the morrow the duty of examining the Marquis d’Espard; Charles +Grandet (see “Eugenie Grandet”) goes to Paris from Bordeaux instead of +returning by Nantes; and such events are called chance or fatality! A +touch of rouge carefully applied destroyed the hopes of the Chevalier de +Valois; could that nobleman perish in any other way? He had lived by the +Graces, and he was doomed to die by their hand. While the chevalier was +giving this last touch to his toilet the rough du Bousquier was entering +the salon of the desolate old maid. This entrance produced a thought +in Mademoiselle Cormon’s mind which was favorable to the republican, +although in all other respects the Chevalier de Valois held the +advantages. + +“God wills it!” she said piously, on seeing du Bousquier. + +“Mademoiselle, you will not, I trust, think my eagerness importunate. I +could not trust to my stupid Rene to bring news of your condition, and +therefore I have come myself.” + +“I am perfectly recovered,” she replied, in a tone of emotion. “I thank +you, Monsieur du Bousquier,” she added, after a slight pause, and in a +significant tone of voice, “for the trouble you have taken, and for that +which I gave you yesterday--” + +She remembered having been in his arms, and that again seemed to her an +order from heaven. She had been seen for the first time by a man with +her laces cut, her treasures violently bursting from their casket. + +“I carried you with such joy that you seemed to me light.” + +Here Mademoiselle Cormon looked at du Bousquier as she had never yet +looked at any man in the world. Thus encouraged, the purveyor cast upon +the old maid a glance which reached her heart. + +“I would,” he said, “that that moment had given me the right to keep +you as mine forever” [she listened with a delighted air]; “as you lay +fainting upon that bed, you were enchanting. I have never in my life +seen a more beautiful person,--and I have seen many handsome women. +Plump ladies have this advantage: they are superb to look upon; they +have only to show themselves and they triumph.” + +“I fear you are making fun of me,” said the old maid, “and that is not +kind when all the town will probably misinterpret what happened to me +yesterday.” + +“As true as my name is du Bousquier, mademoiselle, I have never changed +in my feelings toward you; and your first refusal has not discouraged +me.” + +The old maid’s eyes were lowered. There was a moment of cruel silence +for du Bousquier, and then Mademoiselle Cormon decided on her course. +She raised her eyelids; tears flowed from her eyes, and she gave du +Bousquier a tender glance. + +“If that is so, monsieur,” she said, in a trembling voice, “promise me +to live in a Christian manner, and not oppose my religious customs, but +to leave me the right to select my confessors, and I will grant you my +hand”; as she said the words, she held it out to him. + +Du Bousquier seized the good fat hand so full of money, and kissed it +solemnly. + +“But,” she said, allowing him to kiss it, “one thing more I must require +of you.” + +“If it is a possible thing, it is granted,” replied the purveyor. + +“Alas!” returned the old maid. “For my sake, I must ask you to take upon +yourself a sin which I feel to be enormous,--for to lie is one of the +capital sins. But you will confess it, will you not? We will do penance +for it together” [they looked at each other tenderly]. “Besides, it may +be one of those lies which the Church permits as necessary--” + +“Can she be as Suzanne says she is?” thought du Bousquier. “What luck! +Well, mademoiselle, what is it?” he said aloud. + +“That you will take upon yourself to--” + +“What?” + +“To say that this marriage has been agreed upon between us for the last +six months.” + +“Charming woman,” said the purveyor, in the tone of a man willing to +devote himself, “such sacrifices can be made only for a creature adored +these ten years.” + +“In spite of my harshness?” she said. + +“Yes, in spite of your harshness.” + +“Monsieur du Bousquier, I have misjudged you.” + +Again she held out the fat red hand, which du Bousquier kissed again. + +At this moment the door opened; the betrothed pair, looking round to see +who entered, beheld the delightful, but tardy Chevalier de Valois. + +“Ah!” he said, on entering, “I see you are about to be up, fair queen.” + +She smiled at the chevalier, feeling a weight upon her heart. Monsieur +de Valois, remarkably young and seductive, had the air of a Lauzun +re-entering the apartments of the Grande Mademoiselle in the +Palais-Royal. + +“Hey! dear du Bousquier,” said he, in a jaunty tone, so sure was he of +success, “Monsieur de Troisville and the Abbe de Sponde are examining +your house like appraisers.” + +“Faith!” said du Bousquier, “if the Vicomte de Troisville wants it, +it it is his for forty thousand francs. It is useless to me now. If +mademoiselle will permit--it must soon be known--Mademoiselle, may I +tell it?--Yes! Well, then, be the first, _my dear Chevalier_, to hear” + [Mademoiselle Cormon dropped her eyes] “of the honor that mademoiselle +has done me, the secret of which I have kept for some months. We shall +be married in a few days; the contract is already drawn, and we shall +sign it to-morrow. You see, therefore, that my house in the rue du Cygne +is useless to me. I have been privately looking for a purchaser for some +time; and the Abbe de Sponde, who knew that fact, has naturally taken +Monsieur de Troisville to see the house.” + +This falsehood bore such an appearance of truth that the chevalier was +taken in by it. That “my dear chevalier” was like the revenge taken by +Peter the Great on Charles XII. at Pultawa for all his past defeats. Du +Bousquier revenged himself deliciously for the thousand little shafts he +had long borne in silence; but in his triumph he made a lively +youthful gesture by running his hands through his hair, and in so doing +he--knocked aside his false front. + +“I congratulate you both,” said the chevalier, with an agreeable air; +“and I wish that the marriage may end like a fairy tale: _They were +happy ever after, and had--many--children_!” So saying, he took a pinch +of snuff. “But, monsieur,” he added satirically, “you forget--that you +are wearing a false front.” + +Du Bousquier blushed. The false front was hanging half a dozen inches +from his skull. Mademoiselle Cormon raised her eyes, saw that skull in +all its nudity, and lowered them, abashed. Du Bousquier cast upon the +chevalier the most venomous look that toad ever darted on its prey. + +“Dogs of aristocrats who despise me,” thought he, “I’ll crush you some +day.” + +The chevalier thought he had recovered his advantage. But Mademoiselle +Cormon was not a woman to understand the connection which the chevalier +intimated between his congratulatory wish and the false front. Besides, +even if she had comprehended it, her word was passed, her hand given. +Monsieur de Valois saw at once that all was lost. The innocent woman, +with the two now silent men before her, wished, true to her sense of +duty, to amuse them. + +“Why not play a game of piquet together?” she said artlessly, without +the slightest malice. + +Du Bousquier smiled, and went, as the future master of the house, to +fetch the piquet table. Whether the Chevalier de Valois lost his head, +or whether he wanted to stay and study the causes of his disaster and +remedy it, certain it is that he allowed himself to be led like a lamb +to the slaughter. He had received the most violent knock-down blow that +ever struck a man; any nobleman would have lost his senses for less. + +The Abbe de Sponde and the Vicomte de Troisville soon returned. +Mademoiselle Cormon instantly rose, hurried into the antechamber, and +took her uncle apart to tell him her resolution. Learning that the house +in the rue du Cygne exactly suited the viscount, she begged her future +husband to do her the kindness to tell him that her uncle knew it +was for sale. She dared not confide that lie to the abbe, fearing his +absent-mindedness. The lie, however, prospered better than if it had +been a virtuous action. In the course of that evening all Alencon heard +the news. For the last four days the town had had as much to think of +as during the fatal days of 1814 and 1815. Some laughed; others admitted +the marriage. These blamed it; those approved it. The middle classes +of Alencon rejoiced; they regarded it as a victory. The next day, among +friends, the Chevalier de Valois said a cruel thing:-- + +“The Cormons end as they began; there’s only a hand’s breadth between a +steward and a purveyor.” + + + + +CHAPTER VII. OTHER RESULTS + + +The news of Mademoiselle Cormon’s choice stabbed poor Athanase Granson +to the heart; but he showed no outward sign of the terrible agitation +within him. When he first heard of the marriage he was at the house of +the chief-justice, du Ronceret, where his mother was playing boston. +Madame Granson looked at her son in a mirror, and thought him pale; +but he had been so all day, for a vague rumor of the matter had already +reached him. + +Mademoiselle Cormon was the card on which Athanase had staked his life; +and the cold presentiment of a catastrophe was already upon him. When +the soul and the imagination have magnified a misfortune and made it +too heavy for the shoulders and the brain to bear; when a hope long +cherished, the realization of which would pacify the vulture feeding on +the heart, is balked, and the man has faith neither in himself, despite +his powers, nor in the future, despite of the Divine power,--then that +man is lost. Athanase was a fruit of the Imperial system of education. +Fatality, the Emperor’s religion, had filtered down from the throne to +the lowest ranks of the army and the benches of the lyceums. Athanase +sat still, with his eyes fixed on Madame du Ronceret’s cards, in a +stupor that might so well pass for indifference that Madame Granson +herself was deceived about his feelings. This apparent unconcern +explained her son’s refusal to make a sacrifice for this marriage of his +_liberal_ opinions,--the term “liberal” having lately been created for +the Emperor Alexander by, I think, Madame de Stael, through the lips of +Benjamin Constant. + +After that fatal evening the young man took to rambling among the +picturesque regions of the Sarthe, the banks of which are much +frequented by sketchers who come to Alencon for points of view. +Windmills are there, and the river is gay in the meadows. The shores of +the Sarthe are bordered with beautiful trees, well grouped. Though +the landscape is flat, it is not without those modest graces which +distinguish France, where the eye is never wearied by the brilliancy of +Oriental skies, nor saddened by constant fog. The place is solitary. In +the provinces no one pays much attention to a fine view, either because +provincials are blases on the beauty around them, or because they have +no poesy in their souls. If there exists in the provinces a mall, a +promenade, a vantage-ground from which a fine view can be obtained, that +is the point to which no one goes. Athanase was fond of this solitude, +enlivened by the sparkling water, where the fields were the first to +green under the earliest smiling of the springtide sun. Those persons +who saw him sitting beneath a poplar, and who noticed the vacant eye +which he turned to them, would say to Madame Granson:-- + +“Something is the matter with your son.” + +“I know what it is,” the mother would reply; hinting that he was +meditating over some great work. + +Athanase no longer took part in politics: he ceased to have opinions; +but he appeared at times quite gay,--gay with the satire of those who +think to insult a whole world with their own individual scorn. This +young man, outside of all the ideas and all the pleasures of the +provinces, interested few persons; he was not even an object of +curiosity. If persons spoke of him to his mother, it was for her sake, +not his. There was not a single soul in Alencon that sympathized with +his; not a woman, not a friend came near to dry his tears; they dropped +into the Sarthe. If the gorgeous Suzanne had happened that way, how many +young miseries might have been born of the meeting! for the two would +surely have loved each other. + +She did come, however. Suzanne’s ambition was early excited by the tale +of a strange adventure which had happened at the tavern of the More,--a +tale which had taken possession of her childish brain. A Parisian woman, +beautiful as the angels, was sent by Fouche to entangle the Marquis +de Montauran, otherwise called “The Gars,” in a love-affair (see “The +Chouans”). She met him at the tavern of the More on his return from an +expedition to Mortagne; she cajoled him, made him love her, and then +betrayed him. That fantastic power--the power of beauty over mankind; +in fact, the whole story of Marie de Verneuil and the Gars--dazzled +Suzanne; she longed to grow up in order to play upon men. Some months +after her hasty departure she passed through her native town with an +artist on his way to Brittany. She wanted to see Fougeres, where the +adventure of the Marquis de Montauran culminated, and to stand upon the +scene of that picturesque war, the tragedies of which, still so little +known, had filled her childish mind. Besides this, she had a fancy to +pass through Alencon so elegantly equipped that no one could recognize +her; to put her mother above the reach of necessity, and also to send to +poor Athanase, in a delicate manner, a sum of money,--which in our age +is to genius what in the middle ages was the charger and the coat of +mail that Rebecca conveyed to Ivanhoe. + +One month passed away in the strangest uncertainties respecting the +marriage of Mademoiselle Cormon. A party of unbelievers denied the +marriage altogether; the believers, on the other hand, affirmed it. At +the end of two weeks, the faction of unbelief received a vigorous blow +in the sale of du Bousquier’s house to the Marquis de Troisville, who +only wanted a simple establishment in Alencon, intending to go to Paris +after the death of the Princess Scherbellof; he proposed to await that +inheritance in retirement, and then to reconstitute his estates. This +seemed positive. The unbelievers, however, were not crushed. They +declared that du Bousquier, married or not, had made an excellent +sale, for the house had only cost him twenty-seven thousand francs. +The believers were depressed by this practical observation of the +incredulous. Choisnel, Mademoiselle Cormon’s notary, asserted the +latter, had heard nothing about the marriage contract; but the +believers, still firm in their faith, carried off, on the twentieth day, +a signal victory: Monsieur Lepressoir, the notary of the liberals, went +to Mademoiselle Cormon’s house, and the contract was signed. + +This was the first of the numerous sacrifices which Mademoiselle Cormon +was destined to make to her husband. Du Bousquier bore the deepest +hatred to Choisnel; to him he owed the refusal of the hand of +Mademoiselle Armande,--a refusal which, as he believed, had influenced +that of Mademoiselle Cormon. This circumstance alone made the marriage +drag along. Mademoiselle received several anonymous letters. She +learned, to her great astonishment, that Suzanne was as truly a virgin +as herself so far as du Bousquier was concerned, for that seducer +with the false toupet could never be the hero of any such adventure. +Mademoiselle Cormon disdained anonymous letters; but she wrote to +Suzanne herself, on the ground of enlightening the Maternity Society. +Suzanne, who had no doubt heard of du Bousquier’s proposed marriage, +acknowledged her trick, sent a thousand francs to the society, and did +all the harm she could to the old purveyor. Mademoiselle Cormon convoked +the Maternity Society, which held a special meeting at which it was +voted that the association would not in future assist any misfortunes +about to happen, but solely those that had happened. + +In spite of all these various events which kept the town in the choicest +gossip, the banns were published in the churches and at the mayor’s +office. Athanase prepared the deeds. As a matter of propriety and public +decency, the bride retired to Prebaudet, where du Bousquier, bearing +sumptuous and horrible bouquets, betook himself every morning, returning +home for dinner. + +At last, on a dull and rainy morning in June, the marriage of +Mademoiselle Cormon and the Sieur du Bousquier took place at noon in the +parish church of Alencon, in sight of the whole town. The bridal pair +went from their own house to the mayor’s office, and from the mayor’s +office to the church in an open caleche, a magnificent vehicle for +Alencon, which du Bousquier had sent for secretly to Paris. The loss of +the old carriole was a species of calamity in the eyes of the community. +The harness-maker of the Porte de Seez bemoaned it, for he lost the +fifty francs a year which it cost in repairs. Alencon saw with alarm +the possibility of luxury being thus introduced into the town. Every +one feared a rise in the price of rents and provisions, and a coming +invasion of Parisian furniture. Some persons were sufficiently pricked +by curiosity to give ten sous to Jacquelin to allow them a close +inspection of the vehicle which threatened to upset the whole economy +of the region. A pair of horses, bought in Normandie, were also most +alarming. + +“If we bought our own horses,” said the Ronceret circle, “we couldn’t +sell them to those who come to buy.” + +Stupid as it was, this reasoning seemed sound; for surely such a course +would prevent the region from grasping the money of foreigners. In the +eyes of the provinces wealth consisted less in the rapid turning over +of money than in sterile accumulation. It may be mentioned here that +Penelope succumbed to a pleurisy which she acquired about six weeks +before the marriage; nothing could save her. + +Madame Granson, Mariette, Madame du Coudrai, Madame du Ronceret, and +through them the whole town, remarked that Madame du Bousquier entered +the church _with her left foot_,--an omen all the more dreadful because +the term Left was beginning to acquire a political meaning. The priest +whose duty it was to read the opening formula opened his book by chance +at the De Profundis. Thus the marriage was accompanied by circumstances +so fateful, so alarming, so annihilating that no one dared to augur well +of it. Matters, in fact, went from bad to worse. There was no wedding +party; the married pair departed immediately for Prebaudet. Parisian +customs, said the community, were about to triumph over time-honored +provincial ways. + +The marriage of Jacquelin and Josette now took place: it was gay; and +they were the only two persons in Alencon who refuted the sinister +prophecies relating to the marriage of their mistress. + +Du Bousquier determined to use the proceeds of the sale of his late +residence in restoring and modernizing the hotel Cormon. He decided to +remain through two seasons at Prebaudet, and took the Abbe de Sponde +with them. This news spread terror through the town, where every +individual felt that du Bousquier was about to drag the community into +the fatal path of “comfort.” This fear increased when the inhabitants +of Alencon saw the bridegroom driving in from Prebaudet one morning to +inspect his works, in a fine tilbury drawn by a new horse, having Rene +at his side in livery. The first act of his administration had been to +place his wife’s savings on the Grand-Livre, which was then quoted at 67 +fr. 50 cent. In the space of one year, during which he played constantly +for a rise, he made himself a personal fortune almost as considerable as +that of his wife. + +But all these foreboding prophecies, these perturbing innovations, were +superseded and surpassed by an event connected with this marriage which +gave a still more fatal aspect to it. + +On the very evening of the ceremony, Athanase and his mother were +sitting, after their dinner, over a little fire of fagots, which the +servant lighted usually at dessert. + +“Well, we will go this evening to the du Roncerets’, inasmuch as we have +lost Mademoiselle Cormon,” said Madame Granson. “Heavens! how shall I +ever accustom myself to call her Madame du Bousquier! that name burns my +lips.” + +Athanase looked at his mother with a constrained and melancholy air; he +could not smile; but he seemed to wish to welcome that naive sentiment +which soothed his wound, though it could not cure his anguish. + +“Mamma,” he said, in the voice of his childhood, so tender was it, and +using the name he had abandoned for several years,--“my dear mamma, do +not let us go out just yet; it is so pleasant here before the fire.” + +The mother heard, without comprehending, that supreme prayer of a mortal +sorrow. + +“Yes, let us stay, my child,” she said. “I like much better to talk +with you and listen to your projects than to play at boston and lose my +money.” + +“You are so handsome to-night I love to look at you. Besides, I am in +a current of ideas which harmonize with this poor little salon where we +have suffered so much.” + +“And where we shall still suffer, my poor Athanase, until your works +succeed. For myself, I am trained to poverty; but you, my treasure! to +see your youth go by without a joy! nothing but toil for my poor boy +in life! That thought is like an illness to a mother; it tortures me +at night; it wakes me in the morning. O God! what have I done? for what +crime dost thou punish me thus?” + +She left her sofa, took a little chair, and sat close to Athanase, so as +to lay her head on the bosom of her child. There is always the grace of +love in true motherhood. Athanase kissed her on the eyes, on her +gray hair, on her forehead, with the sacred desire of laying his soul +wherever he applied his lips. + +“I shall never succeed,” he said, trying to deceive his mother as to the +fatal resolution he was revolving in his mind. + +“Pooh! don’t get discouraged. As you often say, thought can do all +things. With ten bottles of ink, ten reams of paper, and his powerful +will, Luther upset all Europe. Well, you’ll make yourself famous; you +will do good things by the same means which he used to do evil things. +Haven’t you said so yourself? For my part, I listen to you; I understand +you a great deal more than you think I do,--for I still bear you in my +bosom, and your every thought still stirs me as your slightest motion +did in other days.” + +“I shall never succeed here, mamma; and I don’t want you to witness the +sight of my struggles, my misery, my anguish. Oh, mother, let me leave +Alencon! I want to suffer away from you.” + +“And I wish to be at your side,” replied his mother, proudly. “Suffer +without your mother!--that poor mother who would be your servant if +necessary; who will efface herself rather than injure you; your mother, +who will never shame you. No, no, Athanase; we must not part.” + +Athanase clung to his mother with the ardor of a dying man who clings to +life. + +“But I wish it, nevertheless. If not, you will lose me; this double +grief, yours and mine, is killing me. You would rather I lived than +died?” + +Madame Granson looked at her son with a haggard eye. + +“So this is what you have been brooding?” she said. “They told me right. +Do you really mean to go?” + +“Yes.” + +“You will not go without telling me; without warning me? You must have +an outfit and money. I have some louis sewn into my petticoat; I shall +give them to you.” + +Athanase wept. + +“That’s all I wanted to tell you,” he said. “Now I’ll take you to the du +Roncerets’. Come.” + +The mother and the son went out. Athanase left his mother at the door of +the house where she intended to pass the evening. He looked long at the +light which came through the shutters; he clung closely to the wall, and +a frenzied joy came over him when he presently heard his mother say, “He +has great independence of heart.” + +“Poor mother! I have deceived her,” he cried, as he made his way to the +Sarthe. + +He reached the noble poplar beneath which he had meditated so much for +the last forty days, and where he had placed two heavy stones on which +he now sat down. He contemplated that beautiful nature lighted by the +moon; he reviewed once more the glorious future he had longed for; +he passed through towns that were stirred by his name; he heard the +applauding crowds; he breathed the incense of his fame; he adored that +life long dreamed of; radiant, he sprang to radiant triumphs; he raised +his stature; he evoked his illusions to bid them farewell in a last +Olympic feast. The magic had been potent for a moment; but now it +vanished forever. In that awful hour he clung to the beautiful tree +to which, as to a friend, he had attached himself; then he put the two +stones into the pockets of his overcoat, which he buttoned across his +breast. He had come intentionally without a hat. He now went to the deep +pool he had long selected, and glided into it resolutely, trying to make +as little noise as possible, and, in fact, making scarcely any. + +When, at half-past nine o’clock, Madame Granson returned home, her +servant said nothing of Athanase, but gave her a letter. She opened it +and read these few words,-- + +“My good mother, I have departed; don’t be angry with me.” + +“A pretty trick he has played me!” she thought. “And his linen! and the +money! Well, he will write to me, and then I’ll follow him. These +poor children think they are so much cleverer than their fathers and +mothers.” + +And she went to bed in peace. + +During the preceding morning the Sarthe had risen to a height foreseen +by the fisherman. These sudden rises of muddy water brought eels from +their various runlets. It so happened that a fisherman had spread his +net at the very place where poor Athanase had flung himself, believing +that no one would ever find him. About six o’clock in the morning the +man drew in his net, and with it the young body. The few friends of +the poor mother took every precaution in preparing her to receive +the dreadful remains. The news of this suicide made, as may well be +supposed, a great excitement in Alencon. The poor young man of genius +had no protector the night before, but on the morrow of his death a +thousand voices cried aloud, “I would have helped him.” It is so easy +and convenient to be charitable gratis! + +The suicide was explained by the Chevalier de Valois. He revealed, in +a spirit of revenge, the artless, sincere, and genuine love of Athanase +for Mademoiselle Cormon. Madame Granson, enlightened by the chevalier, +remembered a thousand little circumstances which confirmed the +chevalier’s statement. The story then became touching, and many women +wept over it. Madame Granson’s grief was silent, concentrated, and +little understood. There are two forms of mourning for mothers. Often +the world can enter fully into the nature of their loss: their son, +admired, appreciated, young, perhaps handsome, with a noble path before +him, leading to fortune, possibly to fame, excites universal regret; +society joins in the grief, and alleviates while it magnifies it. But +there is another sorrow of mothers who alone know what their child was +really; who alone have received his smiles and observed the treasures of +a life too soon cut short. That sorrow hides its woe, the blackness +of which surpasses all other mourning; it cannot be described; happily +there are but few women whose heart-strings are thus severed. + +Before Madame du Bousquier returned to town, Madame du Ronceret, one of +her good friends, had driven out to Prebaudet to fling this corpse upon +the roses of her joy, to show her the love she had ignored, and sweetly +shed a thousand drops of wormwood into the honey of her bridal month. +As Madame du Bousquier drove back to Alencon, she chanced to meet Madame +Granson at the corner of the rue Val-Noble. The glance of the mother, +dying of her grief, struck to the heart of the poor woman. A thousand +maledictions, a thousand flaming reproaches, were in that look: Madame +du Bousquier was horror-struck; that glance predicted and called down +evil upon her head. + +The evening after the catastrophe, Madame Granson, one of the persons +most opposed to the rector of the town, and who had hitherto supported +the minister of Saint-Leonard, began to tremble as she thought of the +inflexible Catholic doctrines professed by her own party. After placing +her son’s body in its shroud with her own hands, thinking of the mother +of the Saviour, she went, with a soul convulsed by anguish, to the house +of the hated rector. There she found the modest priest in an outer room, +engaged in putting away the flax and yarns with which he supplied poor +women, in order that they might never be wholly out of work,--a form +of charity which saved many who were incapable of begging from actual +penury. The rector left his yarns and hastened to take Madame Granson +into his dining-room, where the wretched mother noticed, as she looked +at his supper, the frugal method of his own living. + +“Monsieur l’abbe,” she said, “I have come to implore you--” She burst +into tears, unable to continue. + +“I know what brings you,” replied the saintly man. “I must trust to you, +madame, and to your relation, Madame du Bousquier, to pacify Monseigneur +the Bishop at Seez. Yes, I will pray for your unhappy child; yes, I will +say the masses. But we must avoid all scandal, and give no opportunity +for evil-judging persons to assemble in the church. I alone, without +other clergy, at night--” + +“Yes, yes, as you think best; if only he may lie in consecrated ground,” + said the poor mother, taking the priest’s hand and kissing it. + +Toward midnight a coffin was clandestinely borne to the parish church by +four young men, comrades whom Athanase had liked the best. A few friends +of Madame Granson, women dressed in black, and veiled, were present; and +half a dozen other young men who had been somewhat intimate with this +lost genius. Four torches flickered on the coffin, which was covered +with crape. The rector, assisted by one discreet choirboy, said the +mortuary mass. Then the body of the suicide was noiselessly carried to a +corner of the cemetery, where a black wooden cross, without inscription, +was all that indicated its place hereafter to the mother. Athanase lived +and died in shadow. No voice was raised to blame the rector; the bishop +kept silence. The piety of the mother redeemed the impiety of the son’s +last act. + +Some months later, the poor woman, half beside herself with grief, and +moved by one of those inexplicable thirsts which misery feels to steep +its lips in the bitter chalice, determined to see the spot where her son +was drowned. Her instinct may have told her that thoughts of his could +be recovered beneath that poplar; perhaps, too, she desired to see +what his eyes had seen for the last time. Some mothers would die of the +sight; others give themselves up to it in saintly adoration. Patient +anatomists of human nature cannot too often enunciate the truths before +which all educations, laws, and philosophical systems must give way. +Let us repeat continually: it is absurd to force sentiments into one +formula: appearing as they do, in each individual man, they combine with +the elements that form his nature and take his own physiognomy. + +Madame Granson, as she stood on that fatal spot, saw a woman approach +it, who exclaimed,-- + +“Was it here?” + +That woman wept as the mother wept. It was Suzanne. Arriving that +morning at the hotel du More, she had been told of the catastrophe. If +poor Athanase had been living, she meant to do as many noble souls, +who are moneyless, dream of doing, and as the rich never think of +doing,--she meant to have sent him several thousand francs, writing up +the envelope the words: “Money due to your father from a comrade who +makes restitution to you.” This tender scheme had been arranged by +Suzanne during her journey. + +The courtesan caught sight of Madame Granson and moved rapidly away, +whispering as she passed her, “I loved him!” + +Suzanne, faithful to her nature, did not leave Alencon on this occasion +without changing the orange-blossoms of the bride to rue. She was the +first to declare that Madame du Bousquier would never be anything but +Mademoiselle Cormon. With one stab of her tongue she revenged poor +Athanase and her dear chevalier. + +Alencon now witnessed a suicide that was slower and quite differently +pitiful from that of poor Athanase, who was quickly forgotten by +society, which always makes haste to forget its dead. The poor Chevalier +de Valois died in life; his suicide was a daily occurrence for fourteen +years. Three months after the du Bousquier marriage society remarked, +not without astonishment, that the linen of the chevalier was frayed and +rusty, that his hair was irregularly combed and brushed. With a frowsy +head the Chevalier de Valois could no longer be said to exist! A few +of his ivory teeth deserted, though the keenest observers of human life +were unable to discover to what body they had hitherto belonged, whether +to a foreign legion or whether they were indigenous, vegetable or +animal; whether age had pulled them from the chevalier’s mouth, or +whether they were left forgotten in the drawer of his dressing-table. +The cravat was crooked, indifferent to elegance. The negroes’ heads grew +pale with dust and grease. The wrinkles of the face were blackened and +puckered; the skin became parchment. The nails, neglected, were often +seen, alas! with a black velvet edging. The waistcoat was tracked and +stained with droppings which spread upon its surface like autumn leaves. +The cotton in the ears was seldom changed. Sadness reigned upon that +brow, and slipped its yellowing tints into the depths of each furrow. +In short, the ruins, hitherto so cleverly hidden, now showed through the +cracks and crevices of that fine edifice, and proved the power of the +soul over the body; for the fair and dainty man, the cavalier, the young +blood, died when hope deserted him. Until then the nose of the chevalier +was ever delicate and nice; never had a damp black blotch, nor an amber +drop fall from it; but now that nose, smeared with tobacco around the +nostrils, degraded by the driblets which took advantage of the natural +gutter placed between itself and the upper lip,--that nose, which no +longer cared to seem agreeable, revealed the infinite pains which +the chevalier had formerly taken with his person, and made observers +comprehend, by the extent of its degradation, the greatness and +persistence of the man’s designs upon Mademoiselle Cormon. + +Alas, too, the anecdotes went the way of the teeth; the clever sayings +grew rare. The appetite, however, remained; the old nobleman saved +nothing but his stomach from the wreck of his hopes; though he languidly +prepared his pinches of snuff, he ate alarming dinners. Perhaps you will +more fully understand the disaster that this marriage was to the mind +and heart of the chevalier when you learn that his intercourse with the +Princess Goritza became less frequent. + +One day he appeared in Mademoiselle Armande’s salon with the calf of +his leg on the shin-bone. This bankruptcy of the graces was, I do assure +you, terrible, and struck all Alencon with horror. The late young man +had become an old one; this human being, who, by the breaking-down +of his spirit, had passed at once from fifty to ninety years of age, +frightened society. Besides, his secret was betrayed; he had waited and +watched for Mademoiselle Cormon; he had, like a patient hunter, adjusted +his aim for ten whole years, and finally had missed the game! In short, +the impotent Republic had won the day from Valiant Chivalry, and that, +too, under the Restoration! Form triumphed; mind was vanquished by +matter, diplomacy by insurrection. And, O final blow! a mortified +grisette revealed the secret of the chevalier’s mornings, and he now +passed for a libertine. The liberals cast at his door all the foundlings +hitherto attributed to du Bousquier. But the faubourg Saint-Germain of +Alencon accepted them proudly: it even said, “That poor chevalier, what +else could he do?” The faubourg pitied him, gathered him closer to their +circle, and brought back a few rare smiles to his face; but frightful +enmity was piled upon the head of du Bousquier. Eleven persons deserted +the Cormon salon, and passed to that of the d’Esgrignons. + +The old maid’s marriage had a signal effect in defining the two parties +in Alencon. The salon d’Esgrignon represented the upper aristocracy +(the returning Troisvilles attached themselves to it); the Cormon salon +represented, under the clever influence of du Bousquier, that fatal +class of opinions which, without being truly liberal or resolutely +royalist, gave birth to the 221 on that famous day when the struggle +openly began between the most august, grandest, and only true power, +_royalty_, and the most false, most changeful, most oppressive of all +powers,--the power called _parliamentary_, which elective assemblies +exercise. The salon du Ronceret, secretly allied to the Cormon salon, +was boldly liberal. + +The Abbe de Sponde, after his return from Prebaudet, bore many and +continual sufferings, which he kept within his breast, saying no word +of them to his niece. But to Mademoiselle Armande he opened his heart, +admitting that, folly for folly, he would much have preferred the +Chevalier de Valois to Monsieur du Bousquier. Never would the dear +chevalier have had the bad taste to contradict and oppose a poor old +man who had but a few days more to live; du Bousquier had destroyed +everything in the good old home. The abbe said, with scanty tears +moistening his aged eyes,-- + +“Mademoiselle, I haven’t even the little grove where I have walked for +fifty years. My beloved lindens are all cut down! At the moment of my +death the Republic appears to me more than ever under the form of a +horrible destruction of the Home.” + +“You must pardon your niece,” said the Chevalier de Valois. “Republican +ideas are the first error of youth which seeks for liberty; later it +finds it the worst of despotisms,--that of an impotent canaille. Your +poor niece is punished where she sinned.” + +“What will become of me in a house where naked women are painted on the +walls?” said the poor abbe. “Where shall I find other lindens beneath +which to read my breviary?” + +Like Kant, who was unable to collect his thoughts after the fir-tree at +which he was accustomed to gaze while meditating was cut down, so the +poor abbe could never attain the ardor of his former prayers while +walking up and down the shadeless paths. Du Bousquier had planted an +English garden. + +“It was best,” said Madame du Bousquier, without thinking so; but the +Abbe Couterier had authorized her to commit many wrongs to please her +husband. + +These restorations destroyed all the venerable dignity, cordiality, and +patriarchal air of the old house. Like the Chevalier de Valois, whose +personal neglect might be called an abdication, the bourgeois dignity of +the Cormon salon no longer existed when it was turned to white and gold, +with mahogany ottomans covered in blue satin. The dining-room, adorned +in modern taste, was colder in tone than it used to be, and the dinners +were eaten with less appetite than formerly. Monsieur du Coudrai +declared that he felt his puns stick in his throat as he glanced at +the figures painted on the walls, which looked him out of countenance. +Externally, the house was still provincial; but internally everything +revealed the purveyor of the Directory and the bad taste of the +money-changer,--for instance, columns in stucco, glass doors, Greek +mouldings, meaningless outlines, all styles conglomerated, magnificence +out of place and out of season. + +The town of Alencon gabbled for two weeks over this luxury, which seemed +unparalleled; but a few months later the community was proud of it, and +several rich manufacturers restored their houses and set up fine salons. +Modern furniture came into the town, and astral lamps were seen! + +The Abbe de Sponde was among the first to perceive the secret +unhappiness this marriage now brought to the private life of his beloved +niece. The character of noble simplicity which had hitherto ruled their +lives was lost during the first winter, when du Bousquier gave two balls +every month. Oh, to hear violins and profane music at these worldly +entertainments in the sacred old house! The abbe prayed on his knees +while the revels lasted. Next the political system of the sober salon +was slowly perverted. The abbe fathomed du Bousquier; he shuddered at +his imperious tone; he saw the tears in his niece’s eyes when she felt +herself losing all control over her own property; for her husband now +left nothing in her hands but the management of the linen, the table, +and things of a kind which are the lot of women. Rose had no longer any +orders to give. Monsieur’s will was alone regarded by Jacquelin, now +become coachman, by Rene, the groom, and by the chef, who came from +Paris, Mariette being reduced to kitchen maid. Madame du Bousquier had +no one to rule but Josette. Who knows what it costs to relinquish the +delights of power? If the triumph of the will is one of the intoxicating +pleasures in the lives of great men, it is the ALL of life to narrow +minds. One must needs have been a minister dismissed from power to +comprehend the bitter pain which came upon Madame du Bousquier when she +found herself reduced to this absolute servitude. She often got into the +carriage against her will; she saw herself surrounded by servants who +were distasteful to her; she no longer had the handling of her dear +money,--she who had known herself free to spend money, and did not spend +it. + +All imposed limits make the human being desire to go beyond them. The +keenest sufferings come from the thwarting of self-will. The beginning +of this state of things was, however, rose-colored. Every concession +made to marital authority was an effect of the love which the poor +woman felt for her husband. Du Bousquier behaved, in the first instance, +admirably to his wife: he was wise; he was excellent; he gave her the +best of reasons for each new encroachment. So for the first two years of +her marriage Madame du Bousquier appeared to be satisfied. She had that +deliberate, demure little air which distinguishes young women who have +married for love. The rush of blood to her head no longer tormented +her. This appearance of satisfaction routed the scoffers, contradicted +certain rumors about du Bousquier, and puzzled all observers of the +human heart. Rose-Marie-Victoire was so afraid that if she displeased +her husband or opposed him, she would lose his affection and be deprived +of his company, that she would willingly have sacrificed all to him, +even her uncle. Her silly little forms of pleasure deceived even the +poor abbe for a time, who endured his own trials all the better for +thinking that his niece was happy, after all. + +Alencon at first thought the same. But there was one man more difficult +to deceive than the whole town put together. The Chevalier de Valois, +who had taken refuge on the Sacred Mount of the upper aristocracy, now +passed his life at the d’Esgrignons. He listened to the gossip and the +gabble, and he thought day and night upon his vengeance. He meant to +strike du Bousquier to the heart. + +The poor abbe fully understood the baseness of this first and last +love of his niece; he shuddered as, little by little, he perceived the +hypocritical nature of his nephew and his treacherous manoeuvres. Though +du Bousquier restrained himself, as he thought of the abbe’s property, +and wished not to cause him vexation, it was his hand that dealt the +blow that sent the old priest to his grave. If you will interpret the +word _intolerance_ as _firmness of principle_, if you do not wish to +condemn in the catholic soul of the Abbe de Sponde the stoicism which +Walter Scott has made you admire in the puritan soul of Jeanie Deans’ +father; if you are willing to recognize in the Roman Church the Potius +mori quam foedari that you admire in republican tenets,--you will +understand the sorrow of the Abbe de Sponde when he saw in his niece’s +salon the apostate priest, the renegade, the pervert, the heretic, that +enemy of the Church, the guilty taker of the Constitutional oath. Du +Bousquier, whose secret ambition was to lay down the law to the town, +wished, as a first proof of his power, to reconcile the minister of +Saint-Leonard with the rector of the parish, and he succeeded. His wife +thought he had accomplished a work of peace where the immovable abbe saw +only treachery. The bishop came to visit du Bousquier, and seemed glad +of the cessation of hostilities. The virtues of the Abbe Francois +had conquered prejudice, except that of the aged Roman Catholic, who +exclaimed with Cornelle, “Alas! what virtues do you make me hate!” + +The abbe died when orthodoxy thus expired in the diocese. + +In 1819, the property of the Abbe de Sponde increased Madame du +Bousquier’s income from real estate to twenty-five thousand francs +without counting Prebaudet or the house in the Val-Noble. About this +time du Bousquier returned to his wife the capital of her savings which +she had yielded to him; and he made her use it in purchasing lands +contiguous to Prebaudet, which made that domain one of the most +considerable in the department, for the estates of the Abbe de Sponde +also adjoined it. Du Bousquier thus passed for one of the richest men of +the department. This able man, the constant candidate of the liberals, +missing by seven or eight votes only in all the electoral battles fought +under the Restoration, and who ostensibly repudiated the liberals by +trying to be elected as a ministerial royalist (without ever being +able to conquer the aversion of the administration),--this rancorous +republican, mad with ambition, resolved to rival the royalism and +aristocracy of Alencon at the moment when they once more had the +upper hand. He strengthened himself with the Church by the deceitful +appearance of a well-feigned piety: he accompanied his wife to mass; he +gave money for the convents of the town; he assisted the congregation of +the Sacre-Coeur; he took sides with the clergy on all occasions when the +clergy came into collision with the town, the department, or the State. +Secretly supported by the liberals, protected by the Church, calling +himself a constitutional royalist, he kept beside the aristocracy of the +department in the one hope of ruining it,--and he did ruin it. Ever +on the watch for the faults and blunders of the nobility and +the government, he laid plans for his vengeance against the +“chateau-people,” and especially against the d’Esgrignons, in whose +bosom he was one day to thrust a poisoned dagger. + +Among other benefits to the town he gave money liberally to revive the +manufacture of point d’Alencon; he renewed the trade in linens, and the +town had a factory. Inscribing himself thus upon the interests and heart +of the masses, by doing what the royalists did not do, du Bousquier did +not really risk a farthing. Backed by his fortune, he could afford +to wait results which enterprising persons who involve themselves are +forced to abandon to luckier successors. + +Du Bousquier now posed as a banker. This miniature Lafitte was a partner +in all new enterprises, taking good security. He served himself while +apparently serving the interests of the community. He was the prime +mover of insurance companies, the protector of new enterprises for +public conveyance; he suggested petitions for asking the administration +for the necessary roads and bridges. Thus warned, the government +considered this action an encroachment of its own authority. A struggle +was begun injudiciously, for the good of the community compelled the +authorities to yield in the end. Du Bousquier embittered the provincial +nobility against the court nobility and the peerage; and finally he +brought about the shocking adhesion of a strong party of constitutional +royalists to the warfare sustained by the “Journal des Debats,” and M. +de Chateaubriand against the throne,--an ungrateful opposition based on +ignoble interests, which was one cause of the triumph of the bourgeoisie +and journalism in 1830. + +Thus du Bousquier, in common with the class he represented, had the +satisfaction of beholding the funeral of royalty. The old republican, +smothered with masses, who for fifteen years had played that comedy to +satisfy his vendetta, himself threw down with his own hand the white +flag of the mayoralty to the applause of the multitude. No man in +France cast upon the new throne raised in August, 1830, a glance of more +intoxicated, joyous vengeance. The accession of the Younger Branch was +the triumph of the Revolution. To him the victory of the tricolor meant +the resurrection of Montagne, which this time should surely bring +the nobility down to the dust by means more certain than that of the +guillotine, because less violent. The peerage without heredity; the +National Guard, which puts on the same camp-bed the corner grocer +and the marquis; the abolition of the entails demanded by a bourgeois +lawyer; the Catholic Church deprived of its supremacy; and all the other +legislative inventions of August, 1830,--were to du Bousquier the wisest +possible application of the principles of 1793. + +Since 1830 this man has been a receiver-general. He relied for his +advancement on his relations with the Duc d’Orleans, father of +Louis Philippe, and with Monsieur de Folmon, formerly steward to the +Duchess-dowager of Orleans. He receives about eighty thousand francs a +year. In the eyes of the people about him Monsieur du Bousquier is a +man of means,--a respectable man, steady in his principles, upright, +and obliging. Alencon owes to him its connection with the industrial +movement by which Brittany may possibly some day be joined to what is +popularly called modern civilization. Alencon, which up to 1816 could +boast of only two private carriages, saw, without amazement, in the +course of ten years, coupes, landaus, tilburies, and cabriolets rolling +through her streets. The burghers and the land-owners, alarmed at first +lest the price of everything should increase, recognized later that +this increase in the style of living had a contrary effect upon their +revenues. The prophetic remark of du Ronceret, “Du Bousquier is a very +strong man,” was adopted by the whole country-side. + +But, unhappily for the wife, that saying has a double meaning. The +husband does not in any way resemble the public politician. This great +citizen, so liberal to the world about him, so kindly inspired with love +for his native place, is a despot in his own house, and utterly devoid +of conjugal affection. This man, so profoundly astute, hypocritical, and +sly; this Cromwell of the Val-Noble,--behaves in his home as he behaves +to the aristocracy, whom he caresses in hopes to throttle them. Like his +friend Bernadotte, he wears a velvet glove upon his iron hand. His +wife has given him no children. Suzanne’s remark and the chevalier’s +insinuations were therefore justified. But the liberal bourgeoisie, +the constitutional-royalist-bourgeoisie, the country-squires, the +magistracy, and the “church party” laid the blame on Madame du +Bousquier. “She was too old,” they said; “Monsieur du Bousquier had +married her too late. Besides, it was very lucky for the poor woman; +it was dangerous at her age to bear children!” When Madame du Bousquier +confided, weeping, her periodic despair to Mesdames du Coudrai and du +Ronceret, those ladies would reply,-- + +“But you are crazy, my dear; you don’t know what you are wishing for; a +child would be your death.” + +Many men, whose hopes were fastened on du Bousquier’s triumph, sang his +praises to their wives, who in turn repeated them to the poor wife in +some such speech as this:-- + +“You are very lucky, dear, to have married such an able man; you’ll +escape the misery of women whose husbands are men without energy, +incapable of managing their property, or bringing up their children.” + +“Your husband is making you queen of the department, my love. He’ll +never leave you embarrassed, not he! Why, he leads all Alencon.” + +“But I wish,” said the poor wife, “that he gave less time to the public +and--” + +“You are hard to please, my dear Madame du Bousquier. I assure you that +all the women in town envy you your husband.” + +Misjudged by society, which began by blaming her, the pious woman found +ample opportunity in her home to display her virtues. She lived in +tears, but she never ceased to present to others a placid face. To so +Christian a soul a certain thought which pecked forever at her heart was +a crime: “I loved the Chevalier de Valois,” it said; “but I have married +du Bousquier.” The love of poor Athanase Granson also rose like a +phantom of remorse, and pursued her even in her dreams. The death of her +uncle, whose griefs at the last burst forth, made her life still more +sorrowful; for she now felt the suffering her uncle must have endured +in witnessing the change of political and religious opinion in the +old house. Sorrow often falls like a thunderbolt, as it did on Madame +Granson; but in this old maid it slowly spread like a drop of oil, which +never leaves the stuff that slowly imbibes it. + +The Chevalier de Valois was the malicious manipulator who brought about +the crowning misfortune of Madame du Bousquier’s life. His heart was set +on undeceiving her pious simplicity; for the chevalier, expert in love, +divined du Bousquier, the married man, as he had divined du Bousquier, +the bachelor. But the wary republican was difficult of attack. His salon +was, of course, closed to the Chevalier de Valois, as to all those who, +in the early days of his marriage, had slighted the Cormon mansion. He +was, moreover, impervious to ridicule; he possessed a vast fortune; +he reigned in Alencon; he cared as little for his wife as Richard III. +cared for the dead horse which had helped him win a battle. To please +her husband, Madame du Bousquier had broken off relations with the +d’Esgrignon household, where she went no longer, except that sometimes +when her husband left her during his trips to Paris, she would pay a +brief visit to Mademoiselle Armande. + +About three years after her marriage, at the time of the Abbe de +Sponde’s death, Mademoiselle Armande joined Madame du Bousquier as they +were leaving Saint-Leonard’s, where they had gone to hear a requiem said +for him. The generous demoiselle thought that on this occasion she owed +her sympathy to the niece in trouble. They walked together, talking of +the dear deceased, until they reached the forbidden house, into which +Mademoiselle Armande enticed Madame du Bousquier by the charm of her +manner and conversation. The poor desolate woman was glad to talk of her +uncle with one whom he truly loved. Moreover, she wanted to receive the +condolences of the old marquis, whom she had not seen for nearly +three years. It was half-past one o’clock, and she found at the hotel +d’Esgrignon the Chevalier de Valois, who had come to dinner. As he bowed +to her, he took her by the hands. + +“Well, dear, virtuous, and beloved lady,” he said, in a tone of emotion, +“we have lost our sainted friend; we share your grief. Yes, your loss is +as keenly felt here as in your own home,--more so,” he added, alluding +to du Bousquier. + +After a few more words of funeral oration, in which all present spoke +from the heart, the chevalier took Madame du Bousquier’s arm, and, +gallantly placing it within his own, pressed it adoringly as he led her +to the recess of a window. + +“Are you happy?” he said in a fatherly voice. + +“Yes,” she said, dropping her eyes. + +Hearing that “Yes,” Madame de Troisville, the daughter of the Princess +Scherbellof, and the old Marquise de Casteran came up and joined the +chevalier, together with Mademoiselle Armande. They all went to walk in +the garden until dinner was served, without any perception on the part +of Madame du Bousquier that a little conspiracy was afoot. “We have her! +now let us find out the secret of the case,” were the words written in +the eyes of all present. + +“To make your happiness complete,” said Mademoiselle Armande, “you ought +to have children,--a fine lad like my nephew--” + +Tears seemed to start in Madame du Bousquier’s eyes. + +“I have heard it said that you were the one to blame in the matter, and +that you feared the dangers of a pregnancy,” said the chevalier. + +“I!” she said artlessly. “I would buy a child with a hundred years of +purgatory if I could.” + +On the question thus started a discussion arose, conducted by Madame +de Troisville and the old Marquise de Casteran with such delicacy and +adroitness that the poor victim revealed, without being aware of it, +the secrets of her house. Mademoiselle Armande had taken the chevalier’s +arm, and walked away so as to leave the three women free to discuss +wedlock. Madame du Bousquier was then enlightened on the various +deceptions of her marriage; and as she was still the same simpleton she +had always been, she amused her advisers by delightful naivetes. + +Although at first the deceptive marriage of Mademoiselle Cormon made a +laugh throughout the town, which was soon initiated into the story of +the case, before long Madame du Bousquier won the esteem and sympathy +of all the women. The fact that Mademoiselle Cormon had flung herself +headlong into marriage without succeeding in being married, made +everybody laugh at her; but when they learned the exceptional position +in which the sternness of her religious principles placed her, all the +world admired her. “That poor Madame du Bousquier” took the place of +“That good Mademoiselle Cormon.” + +Thus the chevalier contrived to render du Bousquier both ridiculous and +odious for a time; but ridicule ends by weakening; when all had said +their say about him, the gossip died out. Besides, at fifty-seven years +of age the dumb republican seemed to many people to have a right to +retire. This affair, however, envenomed the hatred which du Bousquier +already bore to the house of Esgrignon to such a degree that it made +him pitiless when the day of vengeance came. [See “The Gallery of +Antiquities.”] Madame du Bousquier received orders never again to set +foot into that house. By way of reprisals upon the chevalier for the +trick thus played him, du Bousquier, who had just created the journal +called the “Courrier de l’Orne,” caused the following notice to be +inserted in it:-- + + “Bonds to the amount of one thousand francs a year will be paid to + any person who can prove the existence of one Monsieur de + Pombreton before, during, or after the Emigration.” + +Although her marriage was essentially negative, Madame du Bousquier saw +some advantages in it: was it not better to interest herself in the +most remarkable man in the town than to live alone? Du Bousquier was +preferable to a dog, or cat, or those canaries that spinsters love. He +showed for his wife a sentiment more real and less selfish than that +which is felt by servants, confessors, and hopeful heirs. Later in life +she came to consider her husband as the instrument of divine wrath; for +she then saw innumerable sins in her former desires for marriage; she +regarded herself as justly punished for the sorrow she had brought on +Madame Granson, and for the hastened death of her uncle. Obedient +to that religion which commands us to kiss the rod with which the +punishment is inflicted, she praised her husband, and publicly approved +him. But in the confessional, or at night, when praying, she wept often, +imploring God’s forgiveness for the apostasy of the man who thought the +contrary of what he professed, and who desired the destruction of the +aristocracy and the Church,--the two religions of the house of Cormon. + +With all her feelings bruised and immolated within her, compelled by +duty to make her husband happy, attached to him by a certain indefinable +affection, born, perhaps, of habit, her life became one perpetual +contradiction. She had married a man whose conduct and opinions she +hated, but whom she was bound to care for with dutiful tenderness. +Often she walked with the angels when du Bousquier ate her preserves or +thought the dinner good. She watched to see that his slightest wish was +satisfied. If he tore off the cover of his newspaper and left it on a +table, instead of throwing it away, she would say:-- + +“Rene, leave that where it is; monsieur did not place it there without +intention.” + +If du Bousquier had a journey to take, she was anxious about his +trunk, his linen; she took the most minute precautions for his material +benefit. If he went to Prebaudet, she consulted the barometer the +evening before to know if the weather would be fine. She watched for +his will in his eyes, like a dog which hears and sees its master while +sleeping. When the stout du Bousquier, touched by this scrupulous love, +would take her round the waist and kiss her forehead, saying, “What a +good woman you are!” tears of pleasure would come into the eyes of the +poor creature. It is probably that du Bousquier felt himself obliged +to make certain concessions which obtained for him the respect +of Rose-Marie-Victoire; for Catholic virtue does not require a +dissimulation as complete as that of Madame du Bousquier. Often the +good saint sat mutely by and listened to the hatred of men who concealed +themselves under the cloak of constitutional royalists. She shuddered +as she foresaw the ruin of the Church. Occasionally she risked a stupid +word, an observation which du Bousquier cut short with a glance. + +The worries of such an existence ended by stupefying Madame du +Bousquier, who found it easier and also more dignified to concentrate +her intelligence on her own thoughts and resign herself to lead a life +that was purely animal. She then adopted the submission of a slave, and +regarded it as a meritorious deed to accept the degradation in which her +husband placed her. The fulfilment of his will never once caused her to +murmur. The timid sheep went henceforth in the way the shepherd led her; +she gave herself up to the severest religious practices, and thought no +more of Satan and his works and vanities. Thus she presented to the +eyes of the world a union of all Christian virtues; and du Bousquier +was certainly one of the luckiest men in the kingdom of France and of +Navarre. + +“She will be a simpleton to her last breath,” said the former collector, +who, however, dined with her twice a week. + +This history would be strangely incomplete if no mention were made of +the coincidence of the Chevalier de Valois’s death occurring at the same +time as that of Suzanne’s mother. The chevalier died with the monarchy, +in August, 1830. He had joined the cortege of Charles X. at Nonancourt, +and piously escorted it to Cherbourg with the Troisvilles, Casterans, +d’Esgrignons, Verneuils, etc. The old gentleman had taken with him fifty +thousand francs,--the sum to which his savings then amounted. He offered +them to one of the faithful friends of the king for transmission to his +master, speaking of his approaching death, and declaring that the money +came originally from the goodness of the king, and, moreover, that the +property of the last of the Valois belonged of right to the crown. It is +not known whether the fervor of his zeal conquered the reluctance of the +Bourbon, who abandoned his fine kingdom of France without carrying away +with him a farthing, and who ought to have been touched by the devotion +of the chevalier. It is certain, however, that Cesarine, the residuary +legate of the old man, received from his estate only six hundred francs +a year. The chevalier returned to Alencon, cruelly weakened by grief and +by fatigue; he died on the very day when Charles X. arrived on a foreign +shore. + +Madame du Val-Noble and her protector, who was just then afraid of +the vengeance of the liberal party, were glad of a pretext to remain +incognito in the village where Suzanne’s mother died. At the sale of the +chevalier’s effects, which took place at that time, Suzanne, anxious to +obtain a souvenir of her first and last friend, pushed up the price +of the famous snuff-box, which was finally knocked down to her for a +thousand francs. The portrait of the Princess Goritza was alone worth +that sum. Two years later, a young dandy, who was making a collection +of the fine snuff-boxes of the last century, obtained from Madame du +Val-Noble the chevalier’s treasure. The charming confidant of many a +love and the pleasure of an old age is now on exhibition in a species +of private museum. If the dead could know what happens after them, the +chevalier’s head would surely blush upon its left cheek. + +If this history has no other effect than to inspire the possessors of +precious relics with holy fear, and induce them to make codicils to +secure these touching souvenirs of joys that are no more by bequeathing +them to loving hands, it will have done an immense service to the +chivalrous and romantic portion of the community; but it does, in truth, +contain a far higher moral. Does it not show the necessity for a +new species of education? Does it not invoke, from the enlightened +solicitude of the ministers of Public Instruction, the creation of +chairs of anthropology,--a science in which Germany outstrips us? Modern +myths are even less understood than ancient ones, harried as we are with +myths. Myths are pressing us from every point; they serve all theories, +they explain all questions. They are, according to human ideas, the +torches of history; they would save empires from revolution if only the +professors of history would force the explanations they give into the +mind of the provincial masses. If Mademoiselle Cormon had been a reader +or a student, and if there had existed in the department of the Orne a +professor of anthropology, or even had she read Ariosto, the frightful +disasters of her conjugal life would never have occurred. She would +probably have known why the Italian poet makes Angelica prefer Medoro, +who was a blond Chevalier de Valois, to Orlando, whose mare was dead, +and who knew no better than to fly into a passion. Is not Medoro the +mythic form for all courtiers of feminine royalty, and Orlando the myth +of disorderly, furious, and impotent revolutions, which destroy but +cannot produce? We publish, but without assuming any responsibility for +it, this opinion of a pupil of Monsieur Ballanche. + +No information has reached us as to the fate of the negroes’ heads in +diamonds. You may see Madame du Val-Noble every evening at the Opera. +Thanks to the education given her by the Chevalier de Valois, she has +almost the air of a well-bred woman. + +Madame du Bousquier still lives; is not that as much as to say she still +suffers? After reaching the age of sixty--the period at which women +allow themselves to make confessions--she said confidentially to Madame +du Coudrai, that she had never been able to endure the idea of dying an +old maid. + + + + +ADDENDUM + +The following personages appear in other stories of the Human Comedy. + +(Note: The Collection of Antiquities is a companion piece to The Old +Maid. In other Addendum appearances they are combined under the title of +The Jealousies of a Country Town.) + + Bordin + The Gondreville Mystery + The Seamy Side of History + The Commission in Lunacy + + Bousquier, Du (or Du Croisier or Du Bourguier) + The Collection of Antiquities (companion piece) + The Middle Classes + + Bousquier, Madame du (du Croisier) (Mlle. Cormon) + The Collection of Antiquities (companion piece) + + Casteran, De + The Chouans + The Seamy Side of History + The Collection of Antiquities (companion piece) + Beatrix + The Peasantry + + Chesnel (or Choisnel) + The Seamy Side of History + The Collection of Antiquities (companion piece) + + Coudrai, Du + The Collection of Antiquities (companion piece) + + Esgrignon, Charles-Marie-Victor-Ange-Carol, Marquis d’ (or Des Grignons) + The Chouans + The Collection of Antiquities (companion piece) + + Esgrignon, Marie-Armande-Claire d’ + The Collection of Antiquities (companion piece) + + Gaillard, Madame Theodore (Suzanne) + A Distinguished Provincial at Paris + A Bachelor’s Establishment + Scenes from a Courtesan’s Life + Beatrix + The Unconscious Humorists + + Granson, Athanase + The Government Clerks (mentioned only) + + Lenoncourt, Duc de + The Lily of the Valley + Cesar Birotteau + The Collection of Antiquities (companion piece) + The Gondreville Mystery + Beatrix + + Navarreins, Duc de + Colonel Chabert + The Muse of the Department + The Thirteen + The Peasantry + Scenes from a Courtesan’s Life + The Country Parson + The Magic Skin + The Gondreville Mystery + The Secrets of a Princess + Cousin Betty + + Pombreton, Marquis de + Lost Illusions + A Distinguished Provincial at Paris + + Ronceret, Du + The Collection of Antiquities (companion piece) + Beatrix + + Ronceret, Madame Du + The Collection of Antiquities (companion piece) + + Simeuse, Admiral de + Beatrix + The Gondreville Mystery + + Troisville, Guibelin, Vicomte de + The Seamy Side of History + The Chouans + The Collection of Antiquities (companion piece) + The Peasantry + + Valois, Chevalier de + The Chouans + The Collection of Antiquities (companion piece) + + Verneuil, Duc de + The Chouans + The Collection of Antiquities (companion piece) + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of An Old Maid, by Honore de Balzac + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AN OLD MAID *** + +***** This file should be named 1352-0.txt or 1352-0.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/1/3/5/1352/ + +Produced by John Bickers, and Dagny + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: An Old Maid + +Author: Honore de Balzac + +Translator: Katharine Prescott Wormeley + +Release Date: February 23, 2010 [EBook #1352] +Last Updated: November 23, 2016 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AN OLD MAID *** + + + + +Produced by John Bickers, and Dagny, and David Widger + + + + + + +</pre> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <h1> + AN OLD MAID + </h1> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <h2> + By Honore De Balzac + </h2> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <h3> + Translated by Katharine Prescott Wormeley + </h3> + <p> + <br /><br /> <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <h3> + DEDICATION<br /><br /> To Monsieur Eugene-Auguste-Georges-Louis Midy de la + Greneraye<br /> Surville, Royal Engineer of the Ponts at Chausses.<br /><br /> + As a testimony to the affection of his brother-in-law,<br /><br /> De Balzac<br /> + </h3> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <h2> + Contents + </h2> + <h3> + <a href="#link2H_4_0001"> <b>AN OLD MAID</b> </a> + </h3> + <h3> + </h3> + <table summary="" style="margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto"> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="#link2HCH0001"> CHAPTER I. </a> + </td> + <td> + ONE OF MANY CHEVALIERS DE VALOIS + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="#link2HCH0002"> CHAPTER II. </a> + </td> + <td> + SUSANNAH AND THE ELDERS + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="#link2HCH0003"> CHAPTER III. </a> + </td> + <td> + ATHANASE + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="#link2HCH0004"> CHAPTER IV. </a> + </td> + <td> + MADEMOISELLE CORMON + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="#link2HCH0005"> CHAPTER V. </a> + </td> + <td> + AN OLD MAID’S HOUSEHOLD + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="#link2HCH0006"> CHAPTER VI. </a> + </td> + <td> + FINAL DISAPPOINTMENT AND ITS FIRST RESULT + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="#link2HCH0007"> CHAPTER VII. </a> + </td> + <td> + OTHER RESULTS + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + </td> + </tr> + </table> + <h3> + <a href="#link2H_4_0009"> ADDENDUM </a> + </h3> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> <a name="link2H_4_0001" id="link2H_4_0001"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <h1> + AN OLD MAID + </h1> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0001" id="link2HCH0001"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER I. ONE OF MANY CHEVALIERS DE VALOIS + </h2> + <p> + Most persons have encountered, in certain provinces in France, a number of + Chevaliers de Valois. One lived in Normandy, another at Bourges, a third + (with whom we have here to do) flourished in Alencon, and doubtless the + South possesses others. The number of the Valesian tribe is, however, of + no consequence to the present tale. All these chevaliers, among whom were + doubtless some who were Valois as Louis XIV. was Bourbon, knew so little + of one another that it was not advisable to speak to one about the others. + They were all willing to leave the Bourbons in tranquil possession of the + throne of France; for it was too plainly established that Henri IV. became + king for want of a male heir in the first Orleans branch called the + Valois. If there are any Valois, they descend from Charles de Valois, Duc + d’Angouleme, son of Charles IX. and Marie Touchet, the male line from whom + ended, until proof to the contrary be produced, in the person of the Abbe + de Rothelin. The Valois-Saint-Remy, who descended from Henri II., also + came to an end in the famous Lamothe-Valois implicated in the affair of + the Diamond Necklace. + </p> + <p> + Each of these many chevaliers, if we may believe reports, was, like the + Chevalier of Alencon, an old gentleman, tall, thin, withered, and + moneyless. He of Bourges had emigrated; he of Touraine hid himself; he of + Alencon fought in La Vendee and “chouanized” somewhat. The youth of the + latter was spend in Paris, where the Revolution overtook him when thirty + years of age in the midst of his conquests and gallantries. + </p> + <p> + The Chevalier de Valois of Alencon was accepted by the highest aristocracy + of the province as a genuine Valois; and he distinguished himself, like + the rest of his homonyms, by excellent manners, which proved him a man of + society. He dined out every day, and played cards every evening. He was + thought witty, thanks to his foible for relating a quantity of anecdotes + on the reign of Louis XV. and the beginnings of the Revolution. When these + tales were heard for the first time, they were held to be well narrated. + He had, moreover, the great merit of not repeating his personal bons mots + and of never speaking of his love-affairs, though his smiles and his airs + and graces were delightfully indiscreet. The worthy gentleman used his + privilege as a Voltairean noble to stay away from mass; and great + indulgence was shown to his irreligion because of his devotion to the + royal cause. One of his particular graces was the air and manner + (imitated, no doubt, from Mole) with which he took snuff from a gold box + adorned with the portrait of the Princess Goritza,—a charming + Hungarian, celebrated for her beauty in the last years of the reign of + Louis XV. Having been attached during his youth to that illustrious + stranger, he still mentioned her with emotion. For her sake he had fought + a duel with Monsieur de Lauzun. + </p> + <p> + The chevalier, now fifty-eight years of age, owned to only fifty; and he + might well allow himself that innocent deception, for, among the other + advantages granted to fair thin persons, he managed to preserve the still + youthful figure which saves men as well as women from an appearance of old + age. Yes, remember this: all of life, or rather all the elegance that + expresses life, is in the figure. Among the chevalier’s other possessions + must be counted an enormous nose with which nature had endowed him. This + nose vigorously divided a pale face into two sections which seemed to have + no knowledge of each other, for one side would redden under the process of + digestion, while the other continued white. This fact is worthy of remark + at a period when physiology is so busy with the human heart. The + incandescence, so to call it, was on the left side. Though his long slim + legs, supporting a lank body, and his pallid skin, were not indicative of + health, Monsieur de Valois ate like an ogre and declared he had a malady + called in the provinces “hot liver,” perhaps to excuse his monstrous + appetite. The circumstance of his singular flush confirmed this + declaration; but in a region where repasts are developed on the line of + thirty or forty dishes and last four hours, the chevalier’s stomach would + seem to have been a blessing bestowed by Providence on the good town of + Alencon. According to certain doctors, heat on the left side denotes a + prodigal heart. The chevalier’s gallantries confirmed this scientific + assertion, the responsibility for which does not rest, fortunately, on the + historian. + </p> + <p> + In spite of these symptoms, Monsieur de Valois’ constitution was vigorous, + consequently long-lived. If his liver “heated,” to use an old-fashioned + word, his heart was not less inflammable. His face was wrinkled and his + hair silvered; but an intelligent observer would have recognized at once + the stigmata of passion and the furrows of pleasure which appeared in the + crow’s-feet and the marches-du-palais, so prized at the court of Cythera. + Everything about this dainty chevalier bespoke the “ladies’ man.” He was + so minute in his ablutions that his cheeks were a pleasure to look upon; + they seemed to have been laved in some miraculous water. The part of his + skull which his hair refused to cover shone like ivory. His eyebrows, like + his hair, affected youth by the care and regularity with which they were + combed. His skin, already white, seemed to have been extra-whitened by + some secret compound. Without using perfumes, the chevalier exhaled a + certain fragrance of youth, that refreshed the atmosphere. His hands, + which were those of a gentleman, and were cared for like the hands of a + pretty woman, attracted the eye to their rosy, well-shaped nails. In + short, had it not been for his magisterial and stupendous nose, the + chevalier might have been thought a trifle too dainty. + </p> + <p> + We must here compel ourselves to spoil this portrait by the avowal of a + littleness. The chevalier put cotton in his ears, and wore, appended to + them, two little ear-rings representing negroes’ heads in diamonds, of + admirable workmanship. He clung to these singular appendages, explaining + that since his ears had been bored he had ceased to have headaches (he had + had headaches). We do not present the chevalier as an accomplished man; + but surely we can pardon, in an old celibate whose heart sends so much + blood to his left cheek, these adorable qualities, founded, perhaps, on + some sublime secret history. + </p> + <p> + Besides, the Chevalier de Valois redeemed those negroes’ heads by so many + other graces that society felt itself sufficiently compensated. He really + took such immense trouble to conceal his age and give pleasure to his + friends. In the first place, we must call attention to the extreme care he + gave to his linen, the only distinction that well-bred men can nowadays + exhibit in their clothes. The linen of the chevalier was invariably of a + fineness and whiteness that were truly aristocratic. As for his coat, + though remarkable for its cleanliness, it was always half worn-out, but + without spots or creases. The preservation of that garment was something + marvellous to those who noticed the chevalier’s high-bred indifference to + its shabbiness. He did not go so far as to scrape the seams with glass,—a + refinement invented by the Prince of Wales; but he did practice the + rudiments of English elegance with a personal satisfaction little + understood by the people of Alencon. The world owes a great deal to + persons who take such pains to please it. In this there is certainly some + accomplishment of that most difficult precept of the Gospel about + rendering good for evil. This freshness of ablution and all the other + little cares harmonized charmingly with the blue eyes, the ivory teeth, + and the blond person of the old chevalier. + </p> + <p> + The only blemish was that this retired Adonis had nothing manly about him; + he seemed to be employing this toilet varnish to hide the ruins occasioned + by the military service of gallantry only. But we must hasten to add that + his voice produced what might be called an antithesis to his blond + delicacy. Unless you adopted the opinion of certain observers of the human + heart, and thought that the chevalier had the voice of his nose, his organ + of speech would have amazed you by its full and redundant sound. Without + possessing the volume of classical bass voices, the tone of it was + pleasing from a slightly muffled quality like that of an English bugle, + which is firm and sweet, strong but velvety. + </p> + <p> + The chevalier had repudiated the ridiculous costume still preserved by + certain monarchical old men; he had frankly modernized himself. He was + always seen in a maroon-colored coat with gilt buttons, half-tight + breeches of poult-de-soie with gold buckles, a white waistcoat without + embroidery, and a tight cravat showing no shirt-collar,—a last + vestige of the old French costume which he did not renounce, perhaps, + because it enabled him to show a neck like that of the sleekest abbe. His + shoes were noticeable for their square buckles, a style of which the + present generation has no knowledge; these buckles were fastened to a + square of polished black leather. The chevalier allowed two watch-chains + to hang parallel to each other from each of his waistcoat pockets,—another + vestige of the eighteenth century, which the Incroyables had not disdained + to use under the Directory. This transition costume, uniting as it did two + centuries, was worn by the chevalier with the high-bred grace of an old + French marquis, the secret of which is lost to France since the day when + Fleury, Mole’s last pupil, vanished. + </p> + <p> + The private life of this old bachelor was apparently open to all eyes, + though in fact it was quite mysterious. He lived in a lodging that was + modest, to say the best of it, in the rue du Cours, on the second floor of + a house belonging to Madame Lardot, the best and busiest washerwoman in + the town. This circumstance will explain the excessive nicety of his + linen. Ill-luck would have it that the day came when Alencon was guilty of + believing that the chevalier had not always comported himself as a + gentleman should, and that in fact he was secretly married in his old age + to a certain Cesarine,—the mother of a child which had had the + impertinence to come into the world without being called for. + </p> + <p> + “He had given his hand,” as a certain Monsieur du Bousquier remarked, “to + the person who had long had him under irons.” + </p> + <p> + This horrible calumny embittered the last days of the dainty chevalier all + the more because, as the present Scene will show, he had lost a hope long + cherished to which he had made many sacrifices. + </p> + <p> + Madame Lardot leased to the chevalier two rooms on the second floor of her + house, for the modest sum of one hundred francs a year. The worthy + gentleman dined out every day, returning only in time to go to bed. His + sole expense therefore was for breakfast, invariably composed of a cup of + chocolate, with bread and butter and fruits in their season. He made no + fire except in the coldest winter, and then only enough to get up by. + Between eleven and four o’clock he walked about, went to read the papers, + and paid visits. From the time of his settling in Alencon he had nobly + admitted his poverty, saying that his whole fortune consisted in an + annuity of six hundred francs a year, the sole remains of his former + opulence,—a property which obliged him to see his man of business + (who held the annuity papers) quarterly. In truth, one of the Alencon + bankers paid him every three months one hundred and fifty francs, sent + down by Monsieur Bordin of Paris, the last of the <i>procureurs du + Chatelet</i>. Every one knew these details because the chevalier exacted + the utmost secrecy from the persons to whom he first confided them. + </p> + <p> + Monsieur de Valois gathered the fruit of his misfortunes. His place at + table was laid in all the most distinguished houses in Alencon, and he was + bidden to all soirees. His talents as a card-player, a narrator, an + amiable man of the highest breeding, were so well known and appreciated + that parties would have seemed a failure if the dainty connoisseur was + absent. Masters of houses and their wives felt the need of his approving + grimace. When a young woman heard the chevalier say at a ball, “You are + delightfully well-dressed!” she was more pleased at such praise than she + would have been at mortifying a rival. Monsieur de Valois was the only man + who could perfectly pronounce certain phrases of the olden time. The + words, “my heart,” “my jewel,” “my little pet,” “my queen,” and the + amorous diminutives of 1770, had a grace that was quite irresistible when + they came from his lips. In short, the chevalier had the privilege of + superlatives. His compliments, of which he was stingy, won the good graces + of all the old women; he made himself agreeable to every one, even to the + officials of the government, from whom he wanted nothing. His behavior at + cards had a lofty distinction which everybody noticed: he never + complained; he praised his adversaries when they lost; he did not rebuke + or teach his partners by showing them how they ought to have played. When, + in the course of a deal, those sickening dissertations on the game would + take place, the chevalier invariably drew out his snuff-box with a gesture + that was worthy of Mole, looked at the Princess Goritza, raised the cover + with dignity, shook, sifted, massed the snuff, and gathered his pinch, so + that by the time the cards were dealt he had decorated both nostrils and + replaced the princess in his waistcoat pocket,—always on his left + side. A gentleman of the “good” century (in distinction from the “grand” + century) could alone have invented that compromise between contemptuous + silence and a sarcasm which might not have been understood. He accepted + poor players and knew how to make the best of them. His delightful + equability of temper made many persons say,— + </p> + <p> + “I do admire the Chevalier de Valois!” + </p> + <p> + His conversation, his manners, seemed bland, like his person. He + endeavored to shock neither man nor woman. Indulgent to defects both + physical and mental, he listened patiently (by the help of the Princess + Goritza) to the many dull people who related to him the petty miseries of + provincial life,—an egg ill-boiled for breakfast, coffee with + feathered cream, burlesque details about health, disturbed sleep, dreams, + visits. The chevalier could call up a languishing look, he could take on a + classic attitude to feign compassion, which made him a most valuable + listener; he could put in an “Ah!” and a “Bah!” and a “What DID you do?” + with charming appropriateness. He died without any one suspecting him of + even an allusion to the tender passages of his romance with the Princess + Goritza. Has any one ever reflected on the service a dead sentiment can do + to society; how love may become both social and useful? This will serve to + explain why, in spite of his constant winning at play (he never left a + salon without carrying off with him about six francs), the old chevalier + remained the spoilt darling of the town. His losses—which, by the + bye, he always proclaimed, were very rare. + </p> + <p> + All who know him declare that they have never met, not even in the + Egyptian museum at Turin, so agreeable a mummy. In no country in the world + did parasitism ever take on so pleasant a form. Never did selfishness of a + most concentrated kind appear less forth-putting, less offensive, than in + this old gentleman; it stood him in place of devoted friendship. If some + one asked Monsieur de Valois to do him a little service which might have + discommoded him, that some one did not part from the worthy chevalier + without being truly enchanted with him, and quite convinced that he either + could not do the service demanded, or that he should injure the affair if + he meddled in it. + </p> + <p> + To explain the problematic existence of the chevalier, the historian, whom + Truth, that cruel wanton, grasps by the throat, is compelled to say that + after the “glorious” sad days of July, Alencon discovered that the + chevalier’s nightly winnings amounted to about one hundred and fifty + francs every three months; and that the clever old nobleman had had the + pluck to send to himself his annuity in order not to appear in the eyes of + a community, which loves the main chance, to be entirely without + resources. Many of his friends (he was by that time dead, you will please + remark) have contested mordicus this curious fact, declaring it to be a + fable, and upholding the Chevalier de Valois as a respectable and worthy + gentleman whom the liberals calumniated. Luckily for shrewd players, there + are people to be found among the spectators who will always sustain them. + Ashamed of having to defend a piece of wrong-doing, they stoutly deny it. + Do not accuse them of wilful infatuation; such men have a sense of their + dignity; governments set them the example of a virtue which consists in + burying their dead without chanting the Misere of their defeats. If the + chevalier did allow himself this bit of shrewd practice,—which, by + the bye, would have won him the regard of the Chevalier de Gramont, a + smile from the Baron de Foeneste, a shake of the hand from the Marquis de + Moncade,—was he any the less that amiable guest, that witty talker, + that imperturbable card-player, that famous teller of anecdotes, in whom + all Alencon took delight? Besides, in what way was this action, which is + certainly within the rights of a man’s own will,—in what way was it + contrary to the ethics of a gentleman? When so many persons are forced to + pay annuities to others, what more natural than to pay one to his own best + friend? But Laius is dead— + </p> + <p> + To return to the period of which we are writing: after about fifteen years + of this way of life the chevalier had amassed ten thousand and some odd + hundred francs. On the return of the Bourbons, one of his old friends, the + Marquis de Pombreton, formerly lieutenant in the Black mousquetaires, + returned to him—so he said—twelve hundred pistoles which he + had lent to the marquis for the purpose of emigrating. This event made a + sensation; it was used later to refute the sarcasms of the + “Constitutionnel,” on the method employed by some emigres in paying their + debts. When this noble act of the Marquis de Pombreton was lauded before + the chevalier, the good man reddened even to his right cheek. Every one + rejoiced frankly at this windfall for Monsieur de Valois, who went about + consulting moneyed people as to the safest manner of investing this + fragment of his past opulence. Confiding in the future of the Restoration, + he finally placed his money on the Grand-Livre at the moment when the + funds were at fifty-six francs and twenty-five centimes. Messieurs de + Lenoncourt, de Navarreins, de Verneuil, de Fontaine, and La Billardiere, + to whom he was known, he said, obtained for him, from the king’s privy + purse, a pension of three hundred francs, and sent him, moreover, the + cross of Saint-Louis. Never was it known positively by what means the old + chevalier obtained these two solemn consecrations of his title and merits. + But one thing is certain; the cross of Saint-Louis authorized him to take + the rank of retired colonel in view of his service in the Catholic armies + of the West. + </p> + <p> + Besides his fiction of an annuity, about which no one at the present time + knew anything, the chevalier really had, therefore, a bona fide income of + a thousand francs. But in spite of this bettering of his circumstances, he + made no change in his life, manners, or appearance, except that the red + ribbon made a fine effect on his maroon-colored coat, and completed, so to + speak, the physiognomy of a gentleman. After 1802, the chevalier sealed + his letters with a very old seal, ill-engraved to be sure, by which the + Casterans, the d’Esgrignons, the Troisvilles were enabled to see that he + bore: <i>Party of France, two cottises gemelled gules, and gules, five + mascles or, placed end to end; on a chief sable, a cross argent</i>. For + crest, a knight’s helmet. For motto: “Valeo.” Bearing such noble arms, the + so-called bastard of the Valois had the right to get into all the royal + carriages of the world. + </p> + <p> + Many persons envied the quiet existence of this old bachelor, spent on + whist, boston, backgammon, reversi, and piquet, all well played, on + dinners well digested, snuff gracefully inhaled, and tranquil walks about + the town. Nearly all Alencon believed this life to be exempt from + ambitions and serious interests; but no man has a life as simple as + envious neighbors attribute to him. You will find in the most out-of-the + way villages human mollusks, creatures apparently dead, who have passions + for lepidoptera or for conchology, let us say,—beings who will give + themselves infinite pains about moths, butterflies, or the concha Veneris. + Not only did the chevalier have his own particular shells, but he + cherished an ambitious desire which he pursued with a craft so profound as + to be worthy of Sixtus the Fifth: he wanted to marry a certain rich old + maid, with the intention, no doubt, of making her a stepping-stone by + which to reach the more elevated regions of the court. There, then, lay + the secret of his royal bearing and of his residence in Alencon. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0002" id="link2HCH0002"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER II. SUSANNAH AND THE ELDERS + </h2> + <p> + On a Wednesday morning, early, toward the middle of spring, in the year + 16,—such was his mode of reckoning,—at the moment when the + chevalier was putting on his old green-flowered damask dressing-gown, he + heard, despite the cotton in his ears, the light step of a young girl who + was running up the stairway. Presently three taps were discreetly struck + upon the door; then, without waiting for any response, a handsome girl + slipped like an eel into the room occupied by the old bachelor. + </p> + <p> + “Ah! is it you, Suzanne?” said the Chevalier de Valois, without + discontinuing his occupation, which was that of stropping his razor. “What + have you come for, my dear little jewel of mischief?” + </p> + <p> + “I have come to tell you something which may perhaps give you as much + pleasure as pain?” + </p> + <p> + “Is it anything about Cesarine?” + </p> + <p> + “Cesarine! much I care about your Cesarine!” she said with a saucy air, + half serious, half indifferent. + </p> + <p> + This charming Suzanne, whose present comical performance was to exercise a + great influence in the principal personages of our history, was a + work-girl at Madame Lardot’s. One word here on the topography of the + house. The wash-rooms occupied the whole of the ground floor. The little + courtyard was used to hang out on wire cords embroidered handkerchiefs, + collarets, capes, cuffs, frilled shirts, cravats, laces, embroidered + dresses,—in short, all the fine linen of the best families of the + town. The chevalier assumed to know from the number of her capes in the + wash how the love-affairs of the wife of the prefect were going on. Though + he guessed much from observations of this kind, the chevalier was + discretion itself; he was never betrayed into an epigram (he had plenty of + wit) which might have closed to him an agreeable salon. You are therefore + to consider Monsieur de Valois as a man of superior manners, whose + talents, like those of many others, were lost in a narrow sphere. Only—for, + after all, he was a man—he permitted himself certain penetrating + glances which could make some women tremble; although they all loved him + heartily as soon as they discovered the depth of his discretion and the + sympathy that he felt for their little weaknesses. + </p> + <p> + The head woman, Madame Lardot’s factotum, an old maid of forty-six, + hideous to behold, lived on the opposite side of the passage to the + chevalier. Above them were the attics where the linen was dried in winter. + Each apartment had two rooms,—one lighted from the street, the other + from the courtyard. Beneath the chevalier’s room there lived a paralytic, + Madame Lardot’s grandfather, an old buccaneer named Grevin, who had served + under Admiral Simeuse in India, and was now stone-deaf. As for Madame + Lardot, who occupied the other lodging on the first floor, she had so + great a weakness for persons of condition that she may well have been + thought blind to the ways of the chevalier. To her, Monsieur de Valois was + a despotic monarch who did right in all things. Had any of her workwomen + been guilty of a happiness attributed to the chevalier she would have + said, “He is so lovable!” Thus, though the house was of glass, like all + provincial houses, it was discreet as a robber’s cave. + </p> + <p> + A born confidant to all the little intrigues of the work-rooms, the + chevalier never passed the door, which usually stood open, without giving + something to his little ducks,—chocolate, bonbons, ribbons, laces, + gilt crosses, and such like trifles adored by grisettes; consequently, the + kind old gentleman was adored in return. Women have an instinct which + enables them to divine the men who love them, who like to be near them, + and exact no payment for gallantries. In this respect women have the + instinct of dogs, who in a mixed company will go straight to the man to + whom animals are sacred. + </p> + <p> + The poor Chevalier de Valois retained from his former life the need of + bestowing gallant protection, a quality of the seigneurs of other days. + Faithful to the system of the “petite maison,” he liked to enrich women,—the + only beings who know how to receive, because they can always return. But + the poor chevalier could no longer ruin himself for a mistress. Instead of + the choicest bonbons wrapped in bank-bills, he gallantly presented + paper-bags full of toffee. Let us say to the glory of Alencon that the + toffee was accepted with more joy than la Duthe ever showed at a gilt + service or a fine equipage offered by the Comte d’Artois. All these + grisettes fully understood the fallen majesty of the Chevalier de Valois, + and they kept their private familiarities with him a profound secret for + his sake. If they were questioned about him in certain houses when they + carried home the linen, they always spoke respectfully of the chevalier, + and made him out older than he really was; they talked of him as a most + respectable monsieur, whose life was a flower of sanctity; but once in + their own regions they perched on his shoulders like so many parrots. He + liked to be told the secrets which washerwomen discover in the bosom of + households, and day after day these girls would tell him the cancans which + were going the round of Alencon. He called them his “petticoat gazettes,” + his “talking feuilletons.” Never did Monsieur de Sartines have spies more + intelligent and less expensive, or minions who showed more honor while + displaying their rascality of mind. So it may be said that in the + mornings, while breakfasting, the chevalier usually amused himself as much + as the saints in heaven. + </p> + <p> + Suzanne was one of his favorites, a clever, ambitious girl, made of the + stuff of a Sophie Arnold, and handsome withal, as the handsomest courtesan + invited by Titian to pose on black velvet for a model of Venus; although + her face, fine about the eyes and forehead, degenerated, lower down, into + commonness of outline. Hers was a Norman beauty, fresh, high-colored, + redundant, the flesh of Rubens covering the muscles of the Farnese + Hercules, and not the slender articulations of the Venus de’ Medici, + Apollo’s graceful consort. + </p> + <p> + “Well, my child, tell me your great or your little adventure, whatever it + is.” + </p> + <p> + The particular point about the chevalier which would have made him + noticeable from Paris to Pekin, was the gentle paternity of his manner to + grisettes. They reminded him of the illustrious operatic queens of his + early days, whose celebrity was European during a good third of the + eighteenth century. It is certain that the old gentleman, who had lived in + days gone by with that feminine nation now as much forgotten as many other + great things,—like the Jesuits, the Buccaneers, the Abbes, and the + Farmers-General,—had acquired an irresistible good-humor, a kindly + ease, a laisser-aller devoid of egotism, the self-effacement of Jupiter + with Alcmene, of the king intending to be duped, who casts his + thunderbolts to the devil, wants his Olympus full of follies, little + suppers, feminine profusions—but with Juno out of the way, be it + understood. + </p> + <p> + In spite of his old green damask dressing-gown and the bareness of the + room in which he sat, where the floor was covered with a shabby tapestry + in place of carpet, and the walls were hung with tavern-paper presenting + the profiles of Louis XVI. and members of his family, traced among the + branches of a weeping willow with other sentimentalities invented by + royalism during the Terror,—in spite of his ruins, the chevalier, + trimming his beard before a shabby old toilet-table, draped with trumpery + lace, exhaled an essence of the eighteenth century. All the libertine + graces of his youth reappeared; he seemed to have the wealth of three + hundred thousand francs of debt, while his vis-a-vis waited before the + door. He was grand,—like Berthier on the retreat from Moscow, + issuing orders to an army that existed no longer. + </p> + <p> + “Monsieur le chevalier,” replied Suzanne, drolly, “seems to me I needn’t + tell you anything; you’ve only to look.” + </p> + <p> + And Suzanne presented a side view of herself which gave a sort of lawyer’s + comment to her words. The chevalier, who, you must know, was a sly old + bird, lowered his right eye on the grisette, still holding the razor at + his throat, and pretended to understand. + </p> + <p> + “Well, well, my little duck, we’ll talk about that presently. But you are + rather previous, it seems to me.” + </p> + <p> + “Why, Monsieur le chevalier, ought I to wait until my mother beats me and + Madame Lardot turns me off? If I don’t get away soon to Paris, I shall + never be able to marry here, where men are so ridiculous.” + </p> + <p> + “It can’t be helped, my dear; society is changing; women are just as much + victims to the present state of things as the nobility themselves. After + political overturn comes the overturn of morals. Alas! before long woman + won’t exist” (he took out the cotton-wool to arrange his ears): “she’ll + lose everything by rushing into sentiment; she’ll wring her nerves; + good-bye to all the good little pleasures of our time, desired without + shame, accepted without nonsense.” (He polished up the little negroes’ + heads.) “Women had hysterics in those days to get their ends, but now” (he + began to laugh) “their vapors end in charcoal. In short, marriage” (here + he picked up his pincers to remove a hair) “will become a thing + intolerable; whereas it used to be so gay in my day! The reigns of Louis + XIV. and Louis XV.—remember this, my child—said farewell to + the finest manners and morals ever known to the world.” + </p> + <p> + “But, Monsieur le chevalier,” said the grisette, “the matter now concerns + the morals and honor of your poor little Suzanne, and I hope you won’t + abandon her.” + </p> + <p> + “Abandon her!” cried the chevalier, finishing his hair; “I’d sooner + abandon my own name.” + </p> + <p> + “Ah!” exclaimed Suzanne. + </p> + <p> + “Now, listen to me, you little mischief,” said the chevalier, sitting down + on a huge sofa, formerly called a duchesse, which Madame Lardot had been + at some pains to find for him. + </p> + <p> + He drew the magnificent Suzanne before him, holding her legs between his + knees. She let him do as he liked, although in the street she was offish + enough to other men, refusing their familiarities partly from decorum and + partly for contempt for their commonness. She now stood audaciously in + front of the chevalier, who, having fathomed in his day many other + mysteries in minds that were far more wily, took in the situation at a + single glance. He knew very well that no young girl would joke about a + real dishonor; but he took good care not to knock over the pretty + scaffolding of her lie as he touched it. + </p> + <p> + “We slander ourselves,” he said with inimitable craft; “we are as virtuous + as that beautiful biblical girl whose name we bear; we can always marry as + we please, but we are thirsty for Paris, where charming creatures—and + we are no fool—get rich without trouble. We want to go and see if + the great capital of pleasures hasn’t some young Chevalier de Valois in + store for us, with a carriage, diamonds, an opera-box, and so forth. + Russians, Austrians, Britons, have millions on which we have an eye. + Besides, we are patriotic; we want to help France in getting back her + money from the pockets of those gentry. Hey! hey! my dear little devil’s + duck! it isn’t a bad plan. The world you live in may cry out a bit, but + success justifies all things. The worst thing in this world, my dear, is + to be without money; that’s our disease, yours and mine. Now inasmuch as + we have plenty of wit, we thought it would be a good thing to parade our + dear little honor, or dishonor, to catch an old boy; but that old boy, my + dear heart, knows the Alpha and Omega of female tricks,—which means + that you could easier put salt on a sparrow’s tail than to make me believe + I have anything to do with your little affair. Go to Paris, my dear; go at + the cost of an old celibate, I won’t prevent it; in fact, I’ll help you, + for an old bachelor, Suzanne, is the natural money-box of a young girl. + But don’t drag me into the matter. Listen, my queen, you who know life + pretty well; you would me great harm and give me much pain,—harm, + because you would prevent my marriage in a town where people cling to + morality; pain, because if you are in trouble (which I deny, you sly + puss!) I haven’t a penny to get you out of it. I’m as poor as a church + mouse; you know that, my dear. Ah! if I marry Mademoiselle Cormon, if I am + once more rich, of course I would prefer you to Cesarine. You’ve always + seemed to me as fine as the gold they gild on lead; you were made to be + the love of a great seigneur. I think you so clever that the trick you are + trying to play off on me doesn’t surprise me one bit; I expected it. You + are flinging the scabbard after the sword, and that’s daring for a girl. + It takes nerve and superior ideas to do it, my angel, and therefore you + have won my respectful esteem.” + </p> + <p> + “Monsieur le chevalier, I assure you, you are mistaken, and—” + </p> + <p> + She colored, and did not dare to say more. The chevalier, with a single + glance, had guessed and fathomed her whole plan. + </p> + <p> + “Yes, yes! I understand: you want me to believe it,” he said. “Well! I do + believe it. But take my advice: go to Monsieur du Bousquier. Haven’t you + taken linen there for the last six or eight months? I’m not asking what + went on between you; but I know the man: he has immense conceit; he is an + old bachelor, and very rich; and he only spends a quarter of a comfortable + income. If you are as clever as I suppose, you can go to Paris at his + expense. There, run along, my little doe; go and twist him round your + finger. Only, mind this: be as supple as silk; at every word take a double + turn round him and make a knot. He is a man to fear scandal, and if he has + given you a chance to put him in the pillory—in short, understand; + threaten him with the ladies of the Maternity Hospital. Besides, he’s + ambitious. A man succeeds through his wife, and you are handsome and + clever enough to make the fortune of a husband. Hey! the mischief! you + could hold your own against all the court ladies.” + </p> + <p> + Suzanne, whose mind took in at a flash the chevalier’s last words, was + eager to run off to du Bousquier, but, not wishing to depart too abruptly, + she questioned the chevalier about Paris, all the while helping him to + dress. The chevalier, however, divined her desire to be off, and favored + it by asking her to tell Cesarine to bring up his chocolate, which Madame + Lardot made for him every morning. Suzanne then slipped away to her new + victim, whose biography must here be given. + </p> + <p> + Born of an old Alencon family, du Bousquier was a cross between the + bourgeois and the country squire. Finding himself without means on the + death of his father, he went, like other ruined provincials, to Paris. On + the breaking out of the Revolution he took part in public affairs. In + spite of revolutionary principles, which made a hobby of republican + honesty, the management of public business in those days was by no means + clean. A political spy, a stock-jobber, a contractor, a man who + confiscated in collusion with the syndic of a commune the property of + emigres in order to sell them and buy them in, a minister, and a general + were all equally engaged in public business. From 1793 to 1799 du + Bousquier was commissary of provisions to the French armies. He lived in a + magnificent hotel and was one of the matadors of finance, did business + with Ouvrard, kept open house, and led the scandalous life of the period,—the + life of a Cincinnatus, on sacks of corn harvested without trouble, stolen + rations, “little houses” full of mistresses, in which were given splendid + fetes to the Directors of the Republic. + </p> + <p> + The citizen du Bousquier was one of Barras’ familiars; he was on the best + of terms with Fouche, stood very well with Bernadotte, and fully expected + to become a minister by throwing himself into the party which secretly + caballed against Bonaparte until Marengo. If it had not been for + Kellermann’s charge and Desaix’s death, du Bousquier would probably have + become a minister. He was one of the chief assistances of that secret + government whom Napoleon’s luck sent behind the scenes in 1793. (See “An + Historical Mystery.”) The unexpected victory of Marengo was the defeat of + that party who actually had their proclamations printed to return to the + principles of the Montagne in case the First Consul succumbed. + </p> + <p> + Convinced of the impossibility of Bonaparte’s triumph, du Bousquier staked + the greater part of his property on a fall in the Funds, and kept two + couriers on the field of battle. The first started for Paris when Melas’ + victory was certain; the second, starting four hours later, brought the + news of the defeat of the Austrians. Du Bousquier cursed Kellermann and + Desaix; he dared not curse Bonaparte, who might owe him millions. This + alternative of millions to be earned and present ruin staring him in the + face, deprived the purveyor of most of his faculties: he became nearly + imbecile for several days; the man had so abused his health by excesses + that when the thunderbolt fell upon him he had no strength to resist. The + payment of his bills against the Exchequer gave him some hopes for the + future, but, in spite of all efforts to ingratiate himself, Napoleon’s + hatred to the contractors who had speculated on his defeat made itself + felt; du Bousquier was left without a sou. The immorality of his private + life, his intimacy with Barras and Bernadotte, displeased the First Consul + even more than his manoeuvres at the Bourse, and he struck du Bousquier’s + name from the list of the government contractors. + </p> + <p> + Out of all his past opulence du Bousquier saved only twelve hundred francs + a year from an investment in the Grand Livre, which he had happened to + place there by pure caprice, and which saved him from penury. A man ruined + by the First Consul interested the town of Alencon, to which he now + returned, where royalism was secretly dominant. Du Bousquier, furious + against Bonaparte, relating stories against him of his meanness, of + Josephine’s improprieties, and all the other scandalous anecdotes of the + last ten years, was well received. + </p> + <p> + About this time, when he was somewhere between forty and fifty, du + Bousquier’s appearance was that of a bachelor of thirty-six, of medium + height, plump as a purveyor, proud of his vigorous calves, with a strongly + marked countenance, a flattened nose, the nostrils garnished with hair, + black eyes with thick lashes, from which darted shrewd glances like those + of Monsieur de Talleyrand, though somewhat dulled. He still wore + republican whiskers and his hair very long; his hands, adorned with + bunches of hair on each knuckle, showed the power of his muscular system + in their prominent blue veins. He had the chest of the Farnese Hercules, + and shoulders fit to carry the stocks. Such shoulders are seen nowadays + only at Tortoni’s. This wealth of masculine vigor counted for much in du + Bousquier’s relations with others. And yet in him, as in the chevalier, + symptoms appeared which contrasted oddly with the general aspect of their + persons. The late purveyor had not the voice of his muscles. We do not + mean that his voice was a mere thread, such as we sometimes hear issuing + from the mouth of these walruses; on the contrary, it was a strong voice, + but stifled, an idea of which can be given only by comparing it with the + noise of a saw cutting into soft and moistened wood,—the voice of a + worn-out speculator. + </p> + <p> + In spite of the claims which the enmity of the First Consul gave Monsieur + du Bousquier to enter the royalist society of the province, he was not + received in the seven or eight families who composed the faubourg + Saint-Germain of Alencon, among whom the Chevalier de Valois was welcome. + He had offered himself in marriage, through her notary, to Mademoiselle + Armande, sister of the most distinguished noble in the town; to which + offer he received a refusal. He consoled himself as best he could in the + society of a dozen rich families, former manufacturers of the old point + d’Alencon, owners of pastures and cattle, or merchants doing a wholesale + business in linen, among whom, as he hoped, he might find a wealthy wife. + In fact, all his hopes now converged to the perspective of a fortunate + marriage. He was not without a certain financial ability, which many + persons used to their profit. Like a ruined gambler who advises neophytes, + he pointed out enterprises and speculations, together with the means and + chances of conducting them. He was thought a good administrator, and it + was often a question of making him mayor of Alencon; but the memory of his + underhand jobbery still clung to him, and he was never received at the + prefecture. All the succeeding governments, even that of the Hundred Days, + refused to appoint him mayor of Alencon,—a place he coveted, which, + could he have had it, would, he thought, have won him the hand of a + certain old maid on whom his matrimonial views now turned. + </p> + <p> + Du Bousquier’s aversion to the Imperial government had thrown him at first + into the royalist circles of Alencon, where he remained in spite of the + rebuffs he received there; but when, after the first return of the + Bourbons, he was still excluded from the prefecture, that mortification + inspired him with a hatred as deep as it was secret against the royalists. + He now returned to his old opinions, and became the leader of the liberal + party in Alencon, the invisible manipulator of elections, and did immense + harm to the Restoration by the cleverness of his underhand proceedings and + the perfidy of his outward behavior. Du Bousquier, like all those who live + by their heads only, carried on his hatreds with the quiet tranquillity of + a rivulet, feeble apparently, but inexhaustible. His hatred was that of a + negro, so peaceful that it deceived the enemy. His vengeance, brooded over + for fifteen years, was as yet satisfied by no victory, not even that of + July, 1830. + </p> + <p> + It was not without some private intention that the Chevalier de Valois had + turned Suzanne’s designs upon Monsieur du Bousquier. The liberal and the + royalist had mutually divined each other in spite of the wide + dissimulation with which they hid their common hope from the rest of the + town. The two old bachelors were secretly rivals. Each had formed a plan + to marry the Demoiselle Cormon, whom Monsieur de Valois had mentioned to + Suzanne. Both, ensconced in their idea and wearing the armor of apparent + indifference, awaited the moment when some lucky chance might deliver the + old maid over to them. Thus, if the two old bachelors had not been kept + asunder by the two political systems of which they each offered a living + expression, their private rivalry would still have made them enemies. + Epochs put their mark on men. These two individuals proved the truth of + that axiom by the opposing historic tints that were visible in their + faces, in their conversation, in their ideas, and in their clothes. One, + abrupt, energetic, with loud, brusque manners, curt, rude speech, dark in + tone, in hair, in look, terrible apparently, in reality as impotent as an + insurrection, represented the republic admirably. The other, gentle and + polished, elegant and nice, attaining his ends by the slow and infallible + means of diplomacy, faithful to good taste, was the express image of the + old courtier regime. + </p> + <p> + The two enemies met nearly every evening on the same ground. The war was + courteous and benign on the side of the chevalier; but du Bousquier showed + less ceremony on his, though still preserving the outward appearances + demanded by society, for he did not wish to be driven from the place. They + themselves fully understood each other; but in spite of the shrewd + observation which provincials bestow on the petty interests of their own + little centre, no one in the town suspected the rivalry of these two men. + Monsieur le Chevalier de Valois occupied a vantage-ground: he had never + asked for the hand of Mademoiselle Cormon; whereas du Bousquier, who + entered the lists soon after his rejection by the most distinguished + family in the place, had been refused. But the chevalier believed that his + rival had still such strong chances of success that he dealt him this coup + de Jarnac with a blade (namely, Suzanne) that was finely tempered for the + purpose. The chevalier had cast his plummet-line into the waters of du + Bousquier; and, as we shall see by the sequel, he was not mistaken in any + of his conjectures. + </p> + <p> + Suzanne tripped with a light foot from the rue du Cours, by the rue de la + Porte de Seez and the rue du Bercail, to the rue du Cygne, where, about + five years earlier, du Bousquier had bought a little house built of gray + Jura stone, which is something between Breton slate and Norman granite. + There he established himself more comfortably than any householder in + town; for he had managed to preserve certain furniture and decorations + from the days of his splendor. But provincial manners and morals obscured, + little by little, the rays of this fallen Sardanapalus; these vestiges of + his former luxury now produced the effect of a glass chandelier in a barn. + Harmony, that bond of all work, human or divine, was lacking in great + things as well as in little ones. The stairs, up which everybody mounted + without wiping their feet, were never polished; the walls, painted by some + wretched artisan of the neighborhood, were a terror to the eye; the stone + mantel-piece, ill-carved, “swore” with the handsome clock, which was + further degraded by the company of contemptible candlesticks. Like the + period which du Bousquier himself represented, the house was a jumble of + dirt and magnificence. Being considered a man of leisure, du Bousquier led + the same parasite life as the chevalier; and he who does not spend his + income is always rich. His only servant was a sort of Jocrisse, a lad of + the neighborhood, rather a ninny, trained slowly and with difficulty to du + Bousquier’s requirements. His master had taught him, as he might an + orang-outang, to rub the floors, dust the furniture, black his boots, + brush his coats, and bring a lantern to guide him home at night if the + weather were cloudy, and clogs if it rained. Like many other human beings, + this lad hadn’t stuff enough in him for more than one vice; he was a + glutton. Often, when du Bousquier went to a grand dinner, he would take + Rene to wait at table; on such occasions he made him take off his blue + cotton jacket, with its big pockets hanging round his hips, and always + bulging with handkerchiefs, clasp-knives, fruits, or a handful of nuts, + and forced him to put on a regulation coat. Rene would then stuff his fill + with the other servants. This duty, which du Bousquier had turned into a + reward, won him the most absolute discretion from the Breton servant. + </p> + <p> + “You here, mademoiselle!” said Rene to Suzanne when she entered; “‘t’isn’t + your day. We haven’t any linen for the wash, tell Madame Lardot.” + </p> + <p> + “Old stupid!” said Suzanne, laughing. + </p> + <p> + The pretty girl went upstairs, leaving Rene to finish his porringer of + buckwheat in boiled milk. Du Bousquier, still in bed, was revolving in his + mind his plans of fortune; for ambition was all that was left to him, as + to other men who have sucked dry the orange of pleasure. Ambition and play + are inexhaustible; in a well-organized man the passions which proceed from + the brain will always survive the passions of the heart. + </p> + <p> + “Here am I,” said Suzanne, sitting down on the bed and jangling the + curtain-rings back along the rod with despotic vehemence. + </p> + <p> + “Quesaco, my charmer?” said the old bachelor, sitting up in bed. + </p> + <p> + “Monsieur,” said Suzanne, gravely, “you must be astonished to see me here + at this hour; but I find myself in a condition which obliges me not to + care for what people may say about it.” + </p> + <p> + “What does all that mean?” said du Bousquier, crossing his arms. + </p> + <p> + “Don’t you understand me?” said Suzanne. “I know,” she continued, making a + pretty little face, “how ridiculous it is in a poor girl to come and nag + at a man for what he thinks a mere nothing. But if you really knew me, + monsieur, if you knew all that I am capable of for a man who would attach + himself to me as much as I’m attached to you, you would never repent + having married me. Of course it isn’t here, in Alencon, that I should be + of service to you; but if we went to Paris, you would see where I could + lead a man with your mind and your capacities; and just at this time too, + when they are remaking the government from top to toe. So—between + ourselves, be it said—<i>is</i> what has happened a misfortune? + Isn’t it rather a piece of luck, which will pay you well? Who and what are + you working for now?” + </p> + <p> + “For myself, of course!” cried du Bousquier, brutally. + </p> + <p> + “Monster! you’ll never be a father!” said Suzanne, giving a tone of + prophetic malediction to the words. + </p> + <p> + “Come, don’t talk nonsense, Suzanne,” replied du Bousquier; “I really + think I am still dreaming.” + </p> + <p> + “How much more reality do you want?” cried Suzanne, standing up. + </p> + <p> + Du Bousquier rubbed his cotton night-cap to the top of his head with a + rotatory motion, which plainly indicated the tremendous fermentation of + his ideas. + </p> + <p> + “He actually believes it!” thought Suzanne, “and he’s flattered. Heaven! + how easy it is to gull men!” + </p> + <p> + “Suzanne, what the devil must I do? It is so extraordinary—I, who + thought—The fact is that—No, no, it can’t be—” + </p> + <p> + “What? you can’t marry me?” + </p> + <p> + “Oh! as for that, no; I have engagements.” + </p> + <p> + “With Mademoiselle Armande or Mademoiselle Cormon, who have both refused + you? Listen to me, Monsieur du Bousquier, my honor doesn’t need gendarmes + to drag you to the mayor’s office. I sha’n’t lack for husbands, thank + goodness! and I don’t want a man who can’t appreciate what I’m worth. But + some day you’ll repent of the way you are behaving; for I tell you now + that nothing on earth, neither gold nor silver, will induce me to return + the good thing that belongs to you, if you refuse to accept it to-day.” + </p> + <p> + “But, Suzanne, are you sure?” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, monsieur!” cried the grisette, wrapping her virtue round her, “what + do you take me for? I don’t remind you of the promises you made me, which + have ruined a poor young girl whose only blame was to have as much + ambition as love.” + </p> + <p> + Du Bousquier was torn with conflicting sentiments, joy, distrust, + calculation. He had long determined to marry Mademoiselle Cormon; for the + Charter, on which he had just been ruminating, offered to his ambition, + through the half of her property, the political career of a deputy. + Besides, his marriage with the old maid would put him socially so high in + the town that he would have great influence. Consequently, the storm + upraised by that malicious Suzanne drove him into the wildest + embarrassment. Without this secret scheme, he would have married Suzanne + without hesitation. In which case, he could openly assume the leadership + of the liberal party in Alencon. After such a marriage he would, of + course, renounce the best society and take up with the bourgeois class of + tradesmen, rich manufacturers and graziers, who would certainly carry him + in triumph as their candidate. Du Bousquier already foresaw the Left side. + </p> + <p> + This solemn deliberation he did not conceal; he rubbed his hands over his + head, displacing the cap which covered its disastrous baldness. Suzanne, + meantime, like all those persons who succeed beyond their hopes, was + silent and amazed. To hide her astonishment, she assumed the melancholy + pose of an injured girl at the mercy of her seducer; inwardly she was + laughing like a grisette at her clever trick. + </p> + <p> + “My dear child,” said du Bousquier at length, “I’m not to be taken in with + such <i>bosh</i>, not I!” + </p> + <p> + Such was the curt remark which ended du Bousquier’s meditation. He plumed + himself on belonging to the class of cynical philosophers who could never + be “taken in” by women,—putting them, one and all, unto the same + category, as <i>suspicious</i>. These strong-minded persons are usually + weak men who have a special catechism in the matter of womenkind. To them + the whole sex, from queens of France to milliners, are essentially + depraved, licentious, intriguing, not a little rascally, fundamentally + deceitful, and incapable of thought about anything but trifles. To them, + women are evil-doing queens, who must be allowed to dance and sing and + laugh as they please; they see nothing sacred or saintly in them, nor + anything grand; to them there is no poetry in the senses, only gross + sensuality. Where such jurisprudence prevails, if a woman is not + perpetually tyrannized over, she reduces the man to the condition of a + slave. Under this aspect du Bousquier was again the antithesis of the + chevalier. When he made his final remark, he flung his night-cap to the + foot of the bed, as Pope Gregory did the taper when he fulminated an + excommunication; Suzanne then learned for the first time that du Bousquier + wore a toupet covering his bald spot. + </p> + <p> + “Please to remember, Monsieur du Bousquier,” she replied majestically, + “that in coming here to tell you of this matter I have done my duty; + remember that I have offered you my hand, and asked for yours; but + remember also that I behaved with the dignity of a woman who respects + herself. I have not abased myself to weep like a silly fool; I have not + insisted; I have not tormented you. You now know my situation. You must + see that I cannot stay in Alencon: my mother would beat me, and Madame + Lardot rides a hobby of principles; she’ll turn me off. Poor work-girl + that I am, must I go to the hospital? must I beg my bread? No! I’d rather + throw myself into the Brillante or the Sarthe. But isn’t it better that I + should go to Paris? My mother could find an excuse to send me there,—an + uncle who wants me, or a dying aunt, or a lady who sends for me. But I + must have some money for the journey and for—you know what.” + </p> + <p> + This extraordinary piece of news was far more startling to du Bousquier + than to the Chevalier de Valois. Suzanne’s fiction introduced such + confusion into the ideas of the old bachelor that he was literally + incapable of sober reflection. Without this agitation and without his + inward delight (for vanity is a swindler which never fails of its dupe), + he would certainly have reflected that, supposing it were true, a girl + like Suzanne, whose heart was not yet spoiled, would have died a thousand + deaths before beginning a discussion of this kind and asking for money. + </p> + <p> + “Will you really go to Paris, then?” he said. + </p> + <p> + A flash of gayety lighted Suzanne’s gray eyes as she heard these words; + but the self-satisfied du Bousquier saw nothing. + </p> + <p> + “Yes, monsieur,” she said. + </p> + <p> + Du Bousquier then began bitter lamentations: he had the last payments to + make on his house; the painter, the mason, the upholsterers must be paid. + Suzanne let him run on; she was listening for the figures. Du Bousquier + offered her three hundred francs. Suzanne made what is called on the stage + a false exit; that is, she marched toward the door. + </p> + <p> + “Stop, stop! where are you going?” said du Bousquier, uneasily. “This is + what comes of a bachelor’s life!” thought he. “The devil take me if I ever + did anything more than rumple her collar, and, lo and behold! she makes + THAT a ground to put her hand in one’s pocket!” + </p> + <p> + “I’m going, monsieur,” replied Suzanne, “to Madame Granson, the treasurer + of the Maternity Society, who, to my knowledge, has saved many a poor girl + in my condition from suicide.” + </p> + <p> + “Madame Granson!” + </p> + <p> + “Yes,” said Suzanne, “a relation of Mademoiselle Cormon, the president of + the Maternity Society. Saving your presence, the ladies of the town have + created an institution to protect poor creatures from destroying their + infants, like that handsome Faustine of Argentan who was executed for it + three years ago.” + </p> + <p> + “Here, Suzanne,” said du Bousquier, giving her a key, “open that + secretary, and take out the bag you’ll find there: there’s about six + hundred francs in it; it is all I possess.” + </p> + <p> + “Old cheat!” thought Suzanne, doing as he told her, “I’ll tell about your + false toupet.” + </p> + <p> + She compared du Bousquier with that charming chevalier, who had given her + nothing, it is true, but who had comprehended her, advised her, and + carried all grisettes in his heart. + </p> + <p> + “If you deceive me, Suzanne,” cried du Bousquier, as he saw her with her + hand in the drawer, “you—” + </p> + <p> + “Monsieur,” she said, interrupting him with ineffable impertinence, + “wouldn’t you have given me money if I had asked for it?” + </p> + <p> + Recalled to a sense of gallantry, du Bousquier had a remembrance of past + happiness and grunted his assent. Suzanne took the bag and departed, after + allowing the old bachelor to kiss her, which he did with an air that + seemed to say, “It is a right which costs me dear; but it is better than + being harried by a lawyer in the court of assizes as the seducer of a girl + accused of infanticide.” + </p> + <p> + Suzanne hid the sack in a sort of gamebag made of osier which she had on + her arm, all the while cursing du Bousquier for his stinginess; for one + thousand francs was the sum she wanted. Once tempted of the devil to + desire that sum, a girl will go far when she has set foot on the path of + trickery. As she made her way along the rue du Bercail, it came into her + head that the Maternity Society, presided over by Mademoiselle Cormon, + might be induced to complete the sum at which she had reckoned her journey + to Paris, which to a grisette of Alencon seemed considerable. Besides, she + hated du Bousquier. The latter had evidently feared a revelation of his + supposed misconduct to Madame Granson; and Suzanne, at the risk of not + getting a penny from the society, was possessed with the desire, on + leaving Alencon, of entangling the old bachelor in the inextricable meshes + of a provincial slander. In all grisettes there is something of the + malevolent mischief of a monkey. Accordingly, Suzanne now went to see + Madame Granson, composing her face to an expression of the deepest + dejection. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0003" id="link2HCH0003"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER III. ATHANASE + </h2> + <p> + Madame Granson, widow of a lieutenant-colonel of artillery killed at Jena, + possessed, as her whole means of livelihood, a meagre pension of nine + hundred francs a year, and three hundred francs from property of her own, + plus a son whose support and education had eaten up all her savings. She + occupied, in the rue du Bercail, one of those melancholy ground-floor + apartments which a traveller passing along the principal street of a + little provincial town can look through at a glance. The street door + opened at the top of three steep steps; a passage led to an interior + courtyard, at the end of which was the staircase covered by a wooden + gallery. On one side of the passage was the dining-room and the kitchen; + on the other side, a salon put to many uses, and the widow’s bedchamber. + </p> + <p> + Athanase Granson, a young man twenty-three years of age, who slept in an + attic room above the second floor of the house, added six hundred francs + to the income of his poor mother, by the salary of a little place which + the influence of his relation, Mademoiselle Cormon, had obtained for him + in the mayor’s office, where he was placed in charge of the archives. + </p> + <p> + From these indications it is easy to imagine Madame Granson in her cold + salon with its yellow curtains and Utrecht velvet furniture, also yellow, + as she straightened the round straw mats which were placed before each + chair, that visitors might not soil the red-tiled floor while they sat + there; after which she returned to her cushioned armchair and little + work-table placed beneath the portrait of the lieutenant-colonel of + artillery between two windows,—a point from which her eye could rake + the rue du Bercail and see all comers. She was a good woman, dressed with + bourgeois simplicity in keeping with her wan face furrowed by grief. The + rigorous humbleness of poverty made itself felt in all the accessories of + this household, the very air of which was charged with the stern and + upright morals of the provinces. At this moment the son and mother were + together in the dining-room, where they were breakfasting with a cup of + coffee, with bread and butter and radishes. To make the pleasure which + Suzanne’s visit was to give to Madame Granson intelligible, we must + explain certain secret interests of the mother and son. + </p> + <p> + Athanase Granson was a thin and pale young man, of medium height, with a + hollow face in which his two black eyes, sparkling with thoughts, gave the + effect of bits of coal. The rather irregular lines of his face, the curve + of his lips, a prominent chin, the fine modelling of his forehead, his + melancholy countenance, caused by a sense of his poverty warring with the + powers that he felt within him, were all indications of repressed and + imprisoned talent. In any other place than the town of Alencon the mere + aspect of his person would have won him the assistance of superior men, or + of women who are able to recognize genius in obscurity. If his was not + genius, it was at any rate the form and aspect of it; if he had not the + actual force of a great heart, the glow of such a heart was in his glance. + Although he was capable of expressing the highest feeling, a casing of + timidity destroyed all the graces of his youth, just as the ice of poverty + kept him from daring to put forth all his powers. Provincial life, without + an opening, without appreciation, without encouragement, described a + circle about him in which languished and died the power of thought,—a + power which as yet had scarcely reached its dawn. Moreover, Athanase + possessed that savage pride which poverty intensifies in noble minds, + exalting them in their struggle with men and things; although at their + start in life it is an obstacle to their advancement. Genius proceeds in + two ways: either it takes its opportunity—like Napoleon, like + Moliere—the moment that it sees it, or it waits to be sought when it + has patiently revealed itself. Young Granson belonged to that class of men + of talent who distrust themselves and are easily discouraged. His soul was + contemplative. He lived more by thought than by action. Perhaps he might + have seemed deficient or incomplete to those who cannot conceive of genius + without the sparkle of French passion; but he was powerful in the world of + mind, and he was liable to reach, through a series of emotions + imperceptible to common souls, those sudden determinations which make + fools say of a man, “He is mad.” + </p> + <p> + The contempt which the world pours out on poverty was death to Athanase; + the enervating heat of solitude, without a breath or current of air, + relaxed the bow which ever strove to tighten itself; his soul grew weary + in this painful effort without results. Athanase was a man who might have + taken his place among the glories of France; but, eagle as he was, cooped + in a cage without his proper nourishment, he was about to die of hunger + after contemplating with an ardent eye the fields of air and the mountain + heights where genius soars. His work in the city library escaped + attention, and he buried in his soul his thoughts of fame, fearing that + they might injure him; but deeper than all lay buried within him the + secret of his heart,—a passion which hollowed his cheeks and + yellowed his brow. He loved his distant cousin, this very Mademoiselle + Cormon whom the Chevalier de Valois and du Bousquier, his hidden rivals, + were stalking. This love had had its origin in calculation. Mademoiselle + Cormon was thought to be one of the richest persons in the town: the poor + lad had therefore been led to love her by desires for material happiness, + by the hope, long indulged, of gilding with comfort his mother’s last + years, by eager longing for the ease of life so needful to men who live by + thought; but this most innocent point of departure degraded his passion in + his own eyes. Moreover, he feared the ridicule the world would cast upon + the love of a young man of twenty-three for an old maid of forty. + </p> + <p> + And yet his passion was real; whatever may seem false about such a love + elsewhere, it can be realized as a fact in the provinces, where, manners + and morals being without change or chance or movement or mystery, marriage + becomes a necessity of life. No family will accept a young man of + dissolute habits. However natural the liaison of a young man, like + Athanase, with a handsome girl, like Suzanne, for instance, might seem in + a capital, it alarms provincial parents, and destroys the hopes of + marriage of a poor young man when possibly the fortune of a rich one might + cause such an unfortunate antecedent to be overlooked. Between the + depravity of certain liaisons and a sincere love, a man of honor and no + fortune will not hesitate: he prefers the misfortunes of virtue to the + evils of vice. But in the provinces women with whom a young man call fall + in love are rare. A rich young girl he cannot obtain in a region where all + is calculation; a poor young girl he is prevented from loving; it would + be, as provincials say, marrying hunger and thirst. Such monkish solitude + is, however, dangerous to youth. + </p> + <p> + These reflections explain why provincial life is so firmly based on + marriage. Thus we find that ardent and vigorous genius, forced to rely on + the independence of its own poverty, quits these cold regions where + thought is persecuted by brutal indifference, where no woman is willing to + be a sister of charity to a man of talent, of art, of science. + </p> + <p> + Who will really understand Athanase Granson’s love for Mademoiselle + Cormon? Certainly neither rich men—those sultans of society who fill + their harems—nor middle-class men, who follow the well-beaten + high-road of prejudices; nor women who, not choosing to understand the + passions of artists, impose the yoke of their virtues upon men of genius, + imagining that the two sexes are governed by the same laws. + </p> + <p> + Here, perhaps, we should appeal to those young men who suffer from the + repression of their first desires at the moment when all their forces are + developing; to artists sick of their own genius smothering under the + pressure of poverty; to men of talent, persecuted and without influence, + often without friends at the start, who have ended by triumphing over that + double anguish, equally agonizing, of soul and body. Such men will well + understand the lancinating pains of the cancer which was now consuming + Athanase; they have gone through those long and bitter deliberations made + in presence of some grandiose purpose they had not the means to carry out; + they have endured those secret miscarriages in which the fructifying seed + of genius falls on arid soil. Such men know that the grandeur of desires + is in proportion to the height and breadth of the imagination. The higher + they spring, the lower they fall; and how can it be that ties and bonds + should not be broken by such a fall? Their piercing eye has seen—as + did Athanase—the brilliant future which awaited them, and from which + they fancied that only a thin gauze parted them; but that gauze through + which their eyes could see is changed by Society into a wall of iron. + Impelled by a vocation, by a sentiment of art, they endeavor again and + again to live by sentiments which society as incessantly materializes. + Alas! the provinces calculate and arrange marriage with the one view of + material comfort, and a poor artist or man of science is forbidden to + double its purpose and make it the saviour of his genius by securing to + him the means of subsistence! + </p> + <p> + Moved by such ideas, Athanase Granson first thought of marriage with + Mademoiselle Cormon as a means of obtaining a livelihood which would be + permanent. Thence he could rise to fame, and make his mother happy, + knowing at the same time that he was capable of faithfully loving his + wife. But soon his own will created, although he did not know it, a + genuine passion. He began to study the old maid, and, by dint of the charm + which habit gives, he ended by seeing only her beauties and ignoring her + defects. + </p> + <p> + In a young man of twenty-three the senses count for much in love; their + fire produces a sort of prism between his eyes and the woman. From this + point of view the clasp with which Beaumarchis’ Cherubin seizes Marceline + is a stroke of genius. But when we reflect that in the utter isolation to + which poverty condemned poor Athanase, Mademoiselle Cormon was the only + figure presented to his gaze, that she attracted his eye incessantly, that + all the light he had was concentrated on her, surely his love may be + considered natural. + </p> + <p> + This sentiment, so carefully hidden, increased from day to day. Desires, + sufferings, hopes, and meditations swelled in quietness and silence the + lake widening ever in the young man’s breast, as hour by hour added its + drop of water to the volume. And the wider this inward circle, drawn by + the imagination, aided by the senses, grew, the more imposing Mademoiselle + Cormon appeared to Athanase, and the more his own timidity increased. + </p> + <p> + The mother had divined the truth. Like all provincial mothers, she + calculated candidly in her own mind the advantages of the match. She told + herself that Mademoiselle Cormon would be very lucky to secure a husband + in a young man of twenty-three, full of talent, who would always be an + honor to his family and the neighborhood; at the same time the obstacles + which her son’s want of fortune and Mademoiselle Cormon’s age presented to + the marriage seemed to her almost insurmountable; she could think of + nothing but patience as being able to vanquish them. Like du Bousquier, + like the Chevalier de Valois, she had a policy of her own; she was on the + watch for circumstances, awaiting the propitious moment for a move with + the shrewdness of maternal instinct. Madame Granson had no fears at all as + to the chevalier, but she did suppose that du Bousquier, although refused, + retained certain hopes. As an able and underhand enemy to the latter, she + did him much secret harm in the interests of her son; from whom, by the + bye, she carefully concealed all such proceedings. + </p> + <p> + After this explanation it is easy to understand the importance which + Suzanne’s lie, confided to Madame Granson, was about to acquire. What a + weapon put into the hands of this charitable lady, the treasurer of the + Maternity Society! How she would gently and demurely spread the news while + collecting assistance for the chaste Suzanne! + </p> + <p> + At the present moment Athanase, leaning pensively on his elbow at the + breakfast table, was twirling his spoon in his empty cup and contemplating + with a preoccupied eye the poor room with its red brick floor, its straw + chairs, its painted wooden buffet, its pink and white curtains chequered + like a backgammon board, which communicated with the kitchen through a + glass door. As his back was to the chimney which his mother faced, and as + the chimney was opposite to the door, his pallid face, strongly lighted + from the window, framed in beautiful black hair, the eyes gleaming with + despair and fiery with morning thoughts, was the first object which met + the eyes of the incoming Suzanne. The grisette, who belonged to a class + which certainly has the instinct of misery and the sufferings of the + heart, suddenly felt that electric spark, darting from Heaven knows where, + which can never be explained, which some strong minds deny, but the + sympathetic stroke of which has been felt by many men and many women. It + is at once a light which lightens the darkness of the future, a + presentiment of the sacred joys of a shared love, the certainty of mutual + comprehension. Above all, it is like the touch of a firm and able hand on + the keyboard of the senses. The eyes are fascinated by an irresistible + attraction; the heart is stirred; the melodies of happiness echo in the + soul and in the ears; a voice cries out, “It is he!” Often reflection + casts a douche of cold water on this boiling emotion, and all is over. + </p> + <p> + In a moment, as rapid as the flash of the lightning, Suzanne received the + broadside of this emotion in her heart. The flame of a real love burned up + the evil weeds fostered by a libertine and dissipated life. She saw how + much she was losing of decency and value by accusing herself falsely. What + had seemed to her a joke the night before became to her eyes a serious + charge against herself. She recoiled at her own success. But the + impossibility of any result; the poverty of the young man; a vague hope of + enriching herself, of going to Paris, and returning with full hands to + say, “I love you! here are the means of happiness!” or mere fate, if you + will have it so, dried up the next moment this beneficent dew. + </p> + <p> + The ambitious grisette asked with a timid air for a moment’s interview + with Madame Granson, who took her at once into her bedchamber. When + Suzanne came out she looked again at Athanase; he was still in the same + position, and the tears came into her eyes. As for Madame Granson, she was + radiant with joy. At last she had a weapon, and a terrible one, against du + Bousquier; she could now deal him a mortal blow. She had of course + promised the poor seduced girl the support of all charitable ladies and + that of the members of the Maternity Society in particular; she foresaw a + dozen visits which would occupy her whole day, and brew up a frightful + storm on the head of the guilty du Bousquier. The Chevalier de Valois, + while foreseeing the turn the affair would take, had really no idea of the + scandal which would result from his own action. + </p> + <p> + “My dear child,” said Madame Granson to her son, “we are to dine, you + know, with Mademoiselle Cormon; do take a little pains with your + appearance. You are wrong to neglect your dress as you do. Put on that + handsome frilled shirt and your green coat of Elbeuf cloth. I have my + reasons,” she added slyly. “Besides, Mademoiselle Cormon is going to + Prebaudet, and many persons will doubtless call to bid her good-bye. When + a young man is marriageable he ought to take every means to make himself + agreeable. If girls would only tell the truth, heavens! my dear boy, you’d + be astonished at what makes them fall in love. Often it suffices for a man + to ride past them at the head of a company of artillery, or show himself + at a ball in tight clothes. Sometimes a mere turn of the head, a + melancholy attitude, makes them suppose a man’s whole life; they’ll invent + a romance to match the hero—who is often a mere brute, but the + marriage is made. Watch the Chevalier de Valois: study him; copy his + manners; see with what ease he presents himself; he never puts on a stiff + air, as you do. Talk a little more; one would really think you didn’t know + anything,—you, who know Hebrew by heart.” + </p> + <p> + Athanase listened to his mother with a surprised but submissive air; then + he rose, took his cap, and went off to the mayor’s office, saying to + himself, “Can my mother suspect my secret?” + </p> + <p> + He passed through the rue du Val-Noble, where Mademoiselle Cormon lived,—a + little pleasure which he gave himself every morning, thinking, as usual, a + variety of fanciful things:— + </p> + <p> + “How little she knows that a young man is passing before her house who + loves her well, who would be faithful to her, who would never cause her + any grief; who would leave her the entire management of her fortune + without interference. Good God! what fatality! here, side by side, in the + same town, are two persons in our mutual condition, and yet nothing can + bring them together. Suppose I were to speak to her this evening?” + </p> + <p> + During this time Suzanne had returned to her mother’s house thinking of + Athanase; and, like many other women who have longed to help an adored man + beyond the limit of human powers, she felt herself capable of making her + body a stepping-stone on which he could rise to attain his throne. + </p> + <p> + It is now necessary to enter the house of this old maid toward whom so + many interests are converging, where the actors in this scene, with the + exception of Suzanne, were all to meet this very evening. As for Suzanne, + that handsome individual bold enough to burn her ships like Alexander at + her start in life, and to begin the battle by a falsehood, she disappears + from the stage, having introduced upon it a violent element of interest. + Her utmost wishes were gratified. She quitted her native town a few days + later, well supplied with money and good clothes, among which was a fine + dress of green reps and a charming green bonnet lined with pink, the gift + of Monsieur de Valois,—a present which she preferred to all the + rest, even the money. If the chevalier had gone to Paris in the days of + her future brilliancy, she would certainly have left every one for him. + Like the chaste Susannah of the Bible, whom the Elders hardly saw, she + established herself joyously and full of hope in Paris, while all Alencon + was deploring her misfortunes, for which the ladies of two Societies + (Charity and Maternity) manifested the liveliest sympathy. Though Suzanne + is a fair specimen of those handsome Norman women whom a learned physician + reckons as comprising one third of her fallen class whom our monstrous + Paris absorbs, it must be stated that she remained in the upper and more + decent regions of gallantry. At an epoch when, as Monsieur de Valois said, + Woman no longer existed, she was simply “Madame du Val-Noble”; in other + days she would have rivalled the Rhodopes, the Imperias, the Ninons of the + past. One of the most distinguished writers of the Restoration has taken + her under his protection; perhaps he may marry her. He is a journalist, + and consequently above public opinion, inasmuch as he manufactures it + afresh every year or two. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0004" id="link2HCH0004"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER IV. MADEMOISELLE CORMON + </h2> + <p> + In nearly all the second-class prefectures of France there exists one + salon which is the meeting-ground of those considerable and + well-considered persons of the community who are, nevertheless, <i>not</i> + the cream of the best society. The master and mistress of such an + establishment are counted among the leading persons of the town; they are + received wherever it may please them to visit; no fete is given, no formal + or diplomatic dinner takes place, to which they are not invited. But the + chateau people, heads of families possessing great estates, in short, the + highest personages in the department, do not go to their houses; social + intercourse between them is carried on by cards from one to the other, and + a dinner or soiree accepted and returned. + </p> + <p> + This salon, in which the lesser nobility, the clergy, and the magistracy + meet together, exerts a great influence. The judgment and mind of the + region reside in that solid, unostentatious society, where each man knows + the resources of his neighbor, where complete indifference is shown to + luxury and dress,—pleasures which are thought childish in comparison + to that of obtaining ten or twelve acres of pasture land,—a purchase + coveted for years, which has probably given rise to endless diplomatic + combinations. Immovable in its prejudices, good or evil, this social + circle follows a beaten track, looking neither before it nor behind it. It + accepts nothing from Paris without long examination and trial; it rejects + cashmeres as it does investments on the Grand-Livre; it scoffs at fashions + and novelties; reads nothing, prefers ignorance, whether of science, + literature, or industrial inventions. It insists on the removal of a + prefect when that official does not suit it; and if the administration + resists, it isolates him, after the manner of bees who wall up a snail in + wax when it gets into their hive. + </p> + <p> + In this society gossip is often turned into solemn verdicts. Young women + are seldom seen there; when they come it is to seek approbation of their + conduct,—a consecration of their self-importance. This supremacy + granted to one house is apt to wound the sensibilities of other natives of + the region, who console themselves by adding up the cost it involves, and + by which they profit. If it so happens that there is no fortune large + enough to keep open house in this way, the big-wigs of the place choose a + place of meeting, as they did at Alencon, in the house of some inoffensive + person, whose settled life and character and position offers no umbrage to + the vanities or the interests of any one. + </p> + <p> + For some years the upper classes of Alencon had met in this way at the + house of an old maid, whose fortune was, unknown to herself, the aim and + object of Madame Granson, her second cousin, and of the two old bachelors + whose secret hopes in that direction we have just unveiled. This lady + lived with her maternal uncle, a former grand-vicar of the bishopric of + Seez, once her guardian, and whose heir she was. The family of which + Rose-Marie-Victoire Cormon was the present representative had been in + earlier days among the most considerable in the province. Though belonging + to the middle classes, she consorted with the nobility, among whom she was + more or less allied, her family having furnished, in past years, stewards + to the Duc d’Alencon, many magistrates to the long robe, and various + bishops to the clergy. Monsieur de Sponde, the maternal grandfather of + Mademoiselle Cormon, was elected by the Nobility to the States-General, + and Monsieur Cormon, her father, by the Tiers-Etat, though neither + accepted the mission. For the last hundred years the daughters of the + family had married nobles belonging to the provinces; consequently, this + family had thrown out so many suckers throughout the duchy as to appear on + nearly all the genealogical trees. No bourgeois family had ever seemed so + like nobility. + </p> + <p> + The house in which Mademoiselle Cormon lived, build in Henri IV.‘s time, + by Pierre Cormon, the steward of the last Duc d’Alencon, had always + belonged to the family; and among the old maid’s visible possessions this + one was particularly stimulating to the covetous desires of the two old + lovers. Yet, far from producing revenue, the house was a cause of expense. + But it is so rare to find in the very centre of a provincial town a + private dwelling without unpleasant surroundings, handsome in outward + structure and convenient within, that Alencon shared the envy of the + lovers. + </p> + <p> + This old mansion stands exactly in the middle of the rue du Val-Noble. It + is remarkable for the strength of its construction,—a style of + building introduced by Marie de’ Medici. Though built of granite,—a + stone which is hard to work,—its angles, and the casings of the + doors and windows, are decorated with corner blocks cut into diamond + facets. It has only one clear story above the ground-floor; but the roof, + rising steeply, has several projecting windows, with carved spandrels + rather elegantly enclosed in oaken frames, and externally adorned with + balustrades. Between each of these windows is a gargoyle presenting the + fantastic jaws of an animal without a body, vomiting the rain-water upon + large stones pierced with five holes. The two gables are surmounted by + leaden bouquets,—a symbol of the bourgeoisie; for nobles alone had + the privilege in former days of having weather-vanes. To right of the + courtyard are the stables and coach-house; to left, the kitchen, + wood-house, and laundry. + </p> + <p> + One side of the porte-cochere, being left open, allowed the passers in the + street to see in the midst of the vast courtyard a flower-bed, the raised + earth of which was held in place by a low privet hedge. A few monthly + roses, pinkes, lilies, and Spanish broom filled this bed, around which in + the summer season boxes of paurestinus, pomegranates, and myrtle were + placed. Struck by the scrupulous cleanliness of the courtyard and its + dependencies, a stranger would at once have divined that the place + belonged to an old maid. The eye which presided there must have been an + unoccupied, ferreting eye; minutely careful, less from nature than for + want of something to do. An old maid, forced to employ her vacant days, + could alone see to the grass being hoed from between the paving stones, + the tops of the walls kept clean, the broom continually going, and the + leather curtains of the coach-house always closed. She alone would have + introduced, out of busy idleness, a sort of Dutch cleanliness into a house + on the confines of Bretagne and Normandie,—a region where they take + pride in professing an utter indifference to comfort. + </p> + <p> + Never did the Chevalier de Valois, or du Bousquier, mount the steps of the + double stairway leading to the portico of this house without saying to + himself, one, that it was fit for a peer of France, the other, that the + mayor of the town ought to live there. + </p> + <p> + A glass door gave entrance from this portico into an antechamber, a + species of gallery paved in red tiles and wainscoted, which served as a + hospital for the family portraits,—some having an eye put out, + others suffering from a dislocated shoulder; this one held his hat in a + hand that no longer existed; that one was a case of amputation at the + knee. Here were deposited the cloaks, clogs, overshoes, umbrellas, hoods, + and pelisses of the guests. It was an arsenal where each arrival left his + baggage on arriving, and took it up when departing. Along each wall was a + bench for the servants who arrived with lanterns, and a large stove, to + counteract the north wind, which blew through this hall from the garden to + the courtyard. + </p> + <p> + The house was divided in two equal parts. On one side, toward the + courtyard, was the well of the staircase, a large dining-room looking to + the garden, and an office or pantry which communicated with the kitchen. + On the other side was the salon, with four windows, beyond which were two + smaller rooms,—one looking on the garden, and used as a boudoir, the + other lighted from the courtyard, and used as a sort of office. + </p> + <p> + The upper floor contained a complete apartment for a family household, and + a suite of rooms where the venerable Abbe de Sponde had his abode. The + garrets offered fine quarters to the rats and mice, whose nocturnal + performances were related by Mademoiselle Cormon to the Chevalier de + Valois, with many expressions of surprise at the inutility of her efforts + to get rid of them. The garden, about half an acre in size, is margined by + the Brillante, so named from the particles of mica which sparkle in its + bed elsewhere than in the Val-Noble, where its shallow waters are stained + by the dyehouses, and loaded with refuse from the other industries of the + town. The shore opposite to Mademoiselle Cormon’s garden is crowded with + houses where a variety of trades are carried on; happily for her, the + occupants are quiet people,—a baker, a cleaner, an upholsterer, and + several bourgeois. The garden, full of common flowers, ends in a natural + terrace, forming a quay, down which are several steps leading to the + river. Imagine on the balustrade of this terrace a number of tall vases of + blue and white pottery, in which are gilliflowers; and to right and left, + along the neighboring walls, hedges of linden closely trimmed in, and you + will gain an idea of the landscape, full of tranquil chastity, modest + cheerfulness, but commonplace withal, which surrounded the venerable + edifice of the Cormon family. What peace! what tranquillity! nothing + pretentious, but nothing transitory; all seems eternal there! + </p> + <p> + The ground-floor is devoted wholly to the reception-rooms. The old, + unchangeable provincial spirit pervades them. The great square salon has + four windows, modestly cased in woodwork painted gray. A single oblong + mirror is placed above the fireplace; the top of its frame represented the + Dawn led by the Hours, and painted in camaieu (two shades of one color). + This style of painting infested the decorative art of the day, especially + above door-frames, where the artist displayed his eternal Seasons, and + made you, in most houses in the centre of France, abhor the odious Cupids, + endlessly employed in skating, gleaning, twirling, or garlanding one + another with flowers. Each window was draped in green damask curtains, + looped up by heavy cords, which made them resemble a vast dais. The + furniture, covered with tapestry, the woodwork, painted and varnished, and + remarkable for the twisted forms so much the fashion in the last century, + bore scenes from the fables of La Fontaine on the chair-backs; some of + this tapestry had been mended. The ceiling was divided at the centre of + the room by a huge beam, from which depended an old chandelier of + rock-crystal swathed in green gauze. On the fireplace were two vases in + Sevres blue, and two old girandoles attached to the frame of the mirror, + and a clock, the subject of which, taken from the last scene of the + “Deserteur,” proved the enormous popularity of Sedaine’s work. This clock, + of bronze-gilt, bore eleven personages upon it, each about four inches + tall. At the back the Deserter was seen issuing from prison between the + soldiers; in the foreground the young woman lay fainting, and pointing to + his pardon. On the walls of this salon were several of the more recent + portraits of the family,—one or two by Rigaud, and three pastels by + Latour. Four card tables, a backgammon board, and a piquet table occupied + the vast room, the only one in the house, by the bye, which was ceiled. + </p> + <p> + The dining-room, paved in black and white stone, not ceiled, and its beams + painted, was furnished with one of those enormous sideboards with marble + tops, required by the war waged in the provinces against the human + stomach. The walls, painted in fresco, represented a flowery trellis. The + seats were of varnished cane, and the doors of natural wood. All things + about the place carried out the patriarchal air which emanated from the + inside as well as the outside of the house. The genius of the provinces + preserved everything; nothing was new or old, neither young nor decrepit. + A cold precision made itself felt throughout. + </p> + <p> + Tourists in Normandy, Brittany, Maine, and Anjou must all have seen in the + capitals of those provinces many houses which resemble more or less that + of the Cormons; for it is, in its way, an archetype of the burgher houses + in that region of France, and it deserves a place in this history because + it serves to explain manners and customs, and represents ideas. Who does + not already feel that life must have been calm and monotonously regular in + this old edifice? It contained a library; but that was placed below the + level of the river. The books were well bound and shelved, and the dust, + far from injuring them, only made them valuable. They were preserved with + the care given in these provinces deprived of vineyards to other native + products, desirable for their antique perfume, and issued by the presses + of Bourgogne, Touraine, Gascogne, and the South. The cost of + transportation was too great to allow any but the best products to be + imported. + </p> + <p> + The basis of Mademoiselle Cormon’s society consisted of about one hundred + and fifty persons; some went at times to the country; others were + occasionally ill; a few travelled about the department on business; but + certain of the faithful came every night (unless invited elsewhere), and + so did certain others compelled by duties or by habit to live permanently + in the town. All the personages were of ripe age; few among them had ever + travelled; nearly all had spent their lives in the provinces, and some had + taken part in the chouannerie. The latter were beginning to speak + fearlessly of that war, now that rewards were being showered on the + defenders of the good cause. Monsieur de Valois, one of the movers in the + last uprising (during which the Marquis de Montauran, betrayed by his + mistress, perished in spite of the devotion of Marche-a-Terre, now + tranquilly raising cattle for the market near Mayenne),—Monsieur de + Valois had, during the last six months, given the key to several choice + stratagems practised upon an old republican named Hulot, the commander of + a demi-brigade stationed at Alencon from 1798 to 1800, who had left many + memories in the place. [See “The Chouans.”] + </p> + <p> + The women of this society took little pains with their dress, except on + Wednesdays, when Mademoiselle Cormon gave a dinner, on which occasion the + guests invited on the previous Wednesday paid their “visit of digestion.” + Wednesdays were gala days: the assembly was numerous; guests and visitors + appeared in fiocchi; some women brought their sewing, knitting, or worsted + work; the young girls were not ashamed to make patterns for the Alencon + point lace, with the proceeds of which they paid for their personal + expenses. Certain husbands brought their wives out of policy, for young + men were few in that house; not a word could be whispered in any ear + without attracting the attention of all; there was therefore no danger, + either for young girls or wives, of love-making. + </p> + <p> + Every evening, at six o’clock, the long antechamber received its + furniture. Each habitue brought his cane, his cloak, his lantern. All + these persons knew each other so well, and their habits and ways were so + familiarly patriarchal, that if by chance the old Abbe de Sponde was lying + down, or Mademoiselle Cormon was in her chamber, neither Josette, the + maid, nor Jacquelin, the man-servant, nor Mariette, the cook, informed + them. The first comer received the second; then, when the company were + sufficiently numerous for whist, piquet, or boston, they began the game + without awaiting either the Abbe de Sponde or mademoiselle. If it was + dark, Josette or Jacquelin would hasten to light the candles as soon as + the first bell rang. Seeing the salon lighted up, the abbe would slowly + hurry to come down. Every evening the backgammon and the piquet tables, + the three boston tables, and the whist table were filled,—which gave + occupation to twenty-five or thirty persons; but as many as forty were + usually present. Jacquelin would then light the candles in the other + rooms. + </p> + <p> + Between eight and nine o’clock the servants began to arrive in the + antechamber to accompany their masters home; and, short of a revolution, + no one remained in the salon at ten o’clock. At that hour the guests were + departing in groups along the street, discoursing on the game, or + continuing conversations on the land they were covetous of buying, on the + terms of some one’s will, on quarrels among heirs, on the haughty + assumption of the aristocratic portion of the community. It was like Paris + when the audience of a theatre disperses. + </p> + <p> + Certain persons who talk much of poesy and know nothing about it, declaim + against the habits of life in the provinces. But put your forehead in your + left hand, rest one foot on the fender, and your elbow on your knee; then, + if you compass the idea of this quiet and uniform scene, this house and + its interior, this company and its interests, heightened by the pettiness + of its intellect like goldleaf beaten between sheets of parchment, ask + yourself, What is human life? Try to decide between him who scribbles + jokes on Egyptian obelisks, and him who has “bostoned” for twenty years + with Du Bousquier, Monsieur de Valois, Mademoiselle Cormon, the judge of + the court, the king’s attorney, the Abbe de Sponde, Madame Granson, and + tutti quanti. If the daily and punctual return of the same steps to the + same path is not happiness, it imitates happiness so well that men driven + by the storms of an agitated life to reflect upon the blessings of + tranquillity would say that here was happiness <i>enough</i>. + </p> + <p> + To reckon the importance of Mademoiselle Cormon’s salon at its true value, + it will suffice to say that the born statistician of the society, du + Bousquier, had estimated that the persons who frequented it controlled one + hundred and thirty-one votes in the electoral college, and mustered among + themselves eighteen hundred thousand francs a year from landed estate in + the neighborhood. + </p> + <p> + The town of Alencon, however, was not entirely represented by this salon. + The higher aristocracy had a salon of their own; moreover, that of the + receiver-general was like an administration inn kept by the government, + where society danced, plotted, fluttered, loved, and supped. These two + salons communicated by means of certain mixed individuals with the house + of Cormon, and vice-versa; but the Cormon establishment sat severely in + judgment on the two other camps. The luxury of their dinners was + criticised; the ices at their balls were pondered; the behavior of the + women, the dresses, and “novelties” there produced were discussed and + disapproved. + </p> + <p> + Mademoiselle Cormon, a species of firm, as one might say, under whose name + was comprised an imposing coterie, was naturally the aim and object of two + ambitious men as deep and wily as the Chevalier de Valois and du + Bousquier. To the one as well as to the other, she meant election as + deputy, resulting, for the noble, in the peerage, for the purveyor, in a + receiver-generalship. A leading salon is a difficult thing to create, + whether in Paris or the provinces, and here was one already created. To + marry Mademoiselle Cormon was to reign in Alencon. Athanase Granson, the + only one of the three suitors for the hand of the old maid who no longer + calculated profits, now loved her person as well as her fortune. + </p> + <p> + To employ the jargon of the day, is there not a singular drama in the + situation of these four personages? Surely there is something odd and + fantastic in three rivalries silently encompassing a woman who never + guessed their existence, in spite of an eager and legitimate desire to be + married. And yet, though all these circumstances make the spinsterhood of + this old maid an extraordinary thing, it is not difficult to explain how + and why, in spite of her fortune and her three lovers, she was still + unmarried. In the first place, Mademoiselle Cormon, following the custom + and rule of her house, had always desired to marry a nobleman; but from + 1788 to 1798 public circumstances were very unfavorable to such + pretensions. Though she wanted to be a woman of condition, as the saying + is, she was horribly afraid of the Revolutionary tribunal. The two + sentiments, equal in force, kept her stationary by a law as true in ethics + as it is in statics. This state of uncertain expectation is pleasing to + unmarried women as long as they feel themselves young, and in a position + to choose a husband. France knows that the political system of Napoleon + resulted in making many widows. Under that regime heiresses were entirely + out of proportion in numbers to the bachelors who wanted to marry. When + the Consulate restored internal order, external difficulties made the + marriage of Mademoiselle Cormon as difficult to arrange as it had been in + the past. If, on the one hand, Rose-Marie-Victoire refused to marry an old + man, on the other, the fear of ridicule forbade her to marry a very young + one. + </p> + <p> + In the provinces, families marry their sons early to escape the + conscription. In addition to all this, she was obstinately determined not + to marry a soldier: she did not intend to take a man and then give him up + to the Emperor; she wanted him for herself alone. With these views, she + found it therefore impossible, from 1804 to 1815, to enter the lists with + young girls who were rivalling each other for suitable matches. + </p> + <p> + Besides her predilection for the nobility, Mademoiselle Cormon had another + and very excusable mania: that of being loved for herself. You could + hardly believe the lengths to which this desire led her. She employed her + mind on setting traps for her possible lovers, in order to test their real + sentiments. Her nets were so well laid that the luckless suitors were all + caught, and succumbed to the test she applied to them without their + knowledge. Mademoiselle Cormon did not study them; she watched them. A + single word said heedlessly, a joke (that she often was unable to + understand), sufficed to make her reject an aspirant as unworthy: this one + had neither heart nor delicacy; that one told lies, and was not religious; + a third only wanted to coin money under the cloak of marriage; another was + not of a nature to make a woman happy; here she suspected hereditary gout; + there certain immoral antecedents alarmed her. Like the Church, she + required a noble priest at her altar; she even wanted to be married for + imaginary ugliness and pretended defects, just as other women wish to be + loved for the good qualities they have not, and for imaginary beauties. + Mademoiselle Cormon’s ambition took its rise in the most delicate and + sensitive feminine feeling; she longed to reward a lover by revealing to + him a thousand virtues after marriage, as other women then betray the + imperfections they have hitherto concealed. But she was ill understood. + The noble woman met with none but common souls in whom the reckoning of + actual interests was paramount, and who knew nothing of the nobler + calculations of sentiment. + </p> + <p> + The farther she advanced towards that fatal epoch so adroitly called the + “second youth,” the more her distrust increased. She affected to present + herself in the most unfavorable light, and played her part so well that + the last wooers hesitated to link their fate to that of a person whose + virtuous blind-man’s-buff required an amount of penetration that men who + want the virtuous ready-made would not bestow upon it. The constant fear + of being married for her money rendered her suspicious and uneasy beyond + all reason. She turned to the rich men; but the rich are in search of + great marriages; she feared the poor men, in whom she denied the + disinterestedness she sought so eagerly. After each disappointment in + marriage, the poor lady, led to despise mankind, began to see them all in + a false light. Her character acquired, necessarily, a secret misanthropy, + which threw a tinge of bitterness into her conversation, and some severity + into her eyes. Celibacy gave to her manners and habits a certain + increasing rigidity; for she endeavored to sanctify herself in despair of + fate. Noble vengeance! she was cutting for God the rough diamond rejected + by man. Before long public opinion was against her; for society accepts + the verdict an independent woman renders on herself by not marrying, + either through losing suitors or rejecting them. Everybody supposed that + these rejections were founded on secret reasons, always ill interpreted. + One said she was deformed; another suggested some hidden fault; but the + poor girl was really as pure as a saint, as healthy as an infant, and full + of loving kindness; Nature had intended her for all the pleasures, all the + joys, and all the fatigues of motherhood. + </p> + <p> + Mademoiselle Cormon did not possess in her person an obliging auxiliary to + her desires. She had no other beauty than that very improperly called la + beaute du diable, which consists of a buxom freshness of youth that the + devil, theologically speaking, could never have,—though perhaps the + expression may be explained by the constant desire that must surely + possess him to cool and refresh himself. The feet of the heiress were + broad and flat. Her leg, which she often exposed to sight by her manner + (be it said without malice) of lifting her gown when it rained, could + never have been taken for the leg of a woman. It was sinewy, with a thick + projecting calf like a sailor’s. A stout waist, the plumpness of a + wet-nurse, strong dimpled arms, red hands, were all in keeping with the + swelling outlines and the fat whiteness of Norman beauty. Projecting eyes, + undecided in color, gave to her face, the rounded outline of which had no + dignity, an air of surprise and sheepish simplicity, which was suitable + perhaps for an old maid. If Rose had not been, as she was, really + innocent, she would have seemed so. An aquiline nose contrasted curiously + with the narrowness of her forehead; for it is rare that that form of nose + does not carry with it a fine brow. In spite of her thick red lips, a sign + of great kindliness, the forehead revealed too great a lack of ideas to + allow of the heart being guided by intellect; she was evidently benevolent + without grace. How severely we reproach Virtue for its defects, and how + full of indulgence we all are for the pleasanter qualities of Vice! + </p> + <p> + Chestnut hair of extraordinary length gave to Rose Cormon’s face a beauty + which results from vigor and abundance,—the physical qualities most + apparent in her person. In the days of her chief pretensions, Rose + affected to hold her head at the three-quarter angle, in order to exhibit + a very pretty ear, which detached itself from the blue-veined whiteness of + her throat and temples, set off, as it was, by her wealth of hair. Seen + thus in a ball-dress, she might have seemed handsome. Her protuberant + outlines and her vigorous health did, in fact, draw from the officers of + the Empire the approving exclamation,— + </p> + <p> + “What a fine slip of a girl!” + </p> + <p> + But, as years rolled on, this plumpness, encouraged by a tranquil, + wholesome life, had insensibly so ill spread itself over the whole of + Mademoiselle Cormon’s body that her primitive proportions were destroyed. + At the present moment, no corset could restore a pair of hips to the poor + lady, who seemed to have been cast in a single mould. The youthful harmony + of her bosom existed no longer; and its excessive amplitude made the + spectator fear that if she stooped its heavy masses might topple her over. + But nature had provided against this by giving her a natural counterpoise, + which rendered needless the deceitful adjunct of a bustle; in Rose Cormon + everything was genuine. Her chin, as it doubled, reduced the length of her + neck, and hindered the easy carriage of her head. Rose had no wrinkles, + but she had folds of flesh; and jesters declared that to save chafing she + powdered her skin as they do an infant’s. + </p> + <p> + This ample person offered to a young man full of ardent desires like + Athanase an attraction to which he had succumbed. Young imaginations, + essentially eager and courageous, like to rove upon these fine living + sheets of flesh. Rose was like a plump partridge attracting the knife of a + gourmet. Many an elegant deep in debt would very willingly have resigned + himself to make the happiness of Mademoiselle Cormon. But, alas! the poor + girl was now forty years old. At this period, after vainly seeking to put + into her life those interests which make the Woman, and finding herself + forced to be still unmarried, she fortified her virtue by stern religious + practices. She had recourse to religion, the great consoler of oppressed + virginity. A confessor had, for the last three years, directed + Mademoiselle Cormon rather stupidly in the path of maceration; he advised + the use of scourging, which, if modern medical science is to be believed, + produces an effect quite the contrary to that expected by the worthy + priest, whose hygienic knowledge was not extensive. + </p> + <p> + These absurd practices were beginning to shed a monastic tint over the + face of Rose Cormon, who now saw with something like despair her white + skin assuming the yellow tones which proclaim maturity. A slight down on + her upper lip, about the corners, began to spread and darken like a trail + of smoke; her temples grew shiny; decadence was beginning! It was + authentic in Alencon that Mademoiselle Cormon suffered from rush of blood + to the head. She confided her ills to the Chevalier de Valois, enumerating + her foot-baths, and consulting him as to refrigerants. On such occasions + the shrewd old gentleman would pull out his snuff-box, gaze at the + Princess Goritza, and say, by way of conclusion:— + </p> + <p> + “The right composing draught, my dear lady, is a good and kind husband.” + </p> + <p> + “But whom can one trust?” she replied. + </p> + <p> + The chevalier would then brush away the snuff which had settled in the + folds of his waistcoat or his paduasoy breeches. To the world at large + this gesture would have seemed very natural; but it always gave extreme + uneasiness to the poor woman. + </p> + <p> + The violence of this hope without an object was so great that Rose was + afraid to look a man in the face lest he should perceive in her eyes the + feelings that filled her soul. By a wilfulness, which was perhaps only the + continuation of her earlier methods, though she felt herself attracted + toward the men who might still suit her, she was so afraid of being + accused of folly that she treated them ungraciously. Most persons in her + society, being incapable of appreciating her motives, which were always + noble, explained her manner towards her co-celibates as the revenge of a + refusal received or expected. When the year 1815 began, Rose had reached + that fatal age which she dared not avow. She was forty-two years old. Her + desire for marriage then acquired an intensity which bordered on + monomania, for she saw plainly that all chance of progeny was about to + escape her; and the thing which in her celestial ignorance she desired + above all things was the possession of children. Not a person in all + Alencon ever attributed to this virtuous woman a single desire for amorous + license. She loved, as it were, in bulk without the slightest imagination + of love. Rose was a Catholic Agnes, incapable of inventing even one of the + wiles of Moliere’s Agnes. + </p> + <p> + For some months past she had counted on chance. The disbandment of the + Imperial troops and the reorganization of the Royal army caused a change + in the destination of many officers, who returned, some on half-pay, + others with or without a pension, to their native towns,—all having + a desire to counteract their luckless fate, and to end their life in a way + which might to Rose Cormon be a happy beginning of hers. It would surely + be strange if, among those who returned to Alencon or its neighborhood, no + brave, honorable, and, above all, sound and healthy officer of suitable + age could be found, whose character would be a passport among Bonaparte + opinions; or some ci-devant noble who, to regain his lost position, would + join the ranks of the royalists. This hope kept Mademoiselle Cormon in + heart during the early months of that year. But, alas! all the soldiers + who thus returned were either too old or too young; too aggressively + Bonapartist, or too dissipated; in short, their several situations were + out of keeping with the rank, fortune, and morals of Mademoiselle Cormon, + who now grew daily more and more desperate. The poor woman in vain prayed + to God to send her a husband with whom she could be piously happy: it was + doubtless written above that she should die both virgin and martyr; no man + suitable for a husband presented himself. The conversations in her salon + every evening kept her informed of the arrival of all strangers in + Alencon, and of the facts of their fortunes, rank, and habits. But Alencon + is not a town which attracts visitors; it is not on the road to any + capital; even sailors, travelling from Brest to Paris, never stop there. + The poor woman ended by admitting to herself that she was reduced to the + aborigines. Her eye now began to assume a certain savage expression, to + which the malicious chevalier responded by a shrewd look as he drew out + his snuff-box and gazed at the Princess Goritza. Monsieur de Valois was + well aware that in the feminine ethics of love fidelity to a first + attachment is considered a pledge for the future. + </p> + <p> + But Mademoiselle Cormon—we must admit it—was wanting in + intellect, and did not understand the snuff-box performance. She redoubled + her vigilance against “the evil spirit”; her rigid devotion and fixed + principles kept her cruel sufferings hidden among the mysteries of private + life. Every evening, after the company had left her, she thought of her + lost youth, her faded bloom, the hopes of thwarted nature; and, all the + while immolating her passions at the feet of the Cross (like poems + condemned to stay in a desk), she resolved firmly that if, by chance, any + suitor presented himself, to subject him to no tests, but to accept him at + once for whatever he might be. She even went so far as to think of + marrying a sub-lieutenant, a man who smoked tobacco, whom she proposed to + render, by dint of care and kindness, one of the best men in the world, + although he was hampered with debts. + </p> + <p> + But it was only in the silence of night watches that these fantastic + marriages, in which she played the sublime role of guardian angel, took + place. The next day, though Josette found her mistress’ bed in a tossed + and tumbled condition, Mademoiselle Cormon had recovered her dignity, and + could only think of a man of forty, a land-owner, well preserved, and a + quasi-young man. + </p> + <p> + The Abbe de Sponde was incapable of giving his niece the slightest aid in + her matrimonial manoeuvres. The worthy soul, now seventy years of age, + attributed the disasters of the French Revolution to the design of + Providence, eager to punish a dissolute Church. He had therefore flung + himself into the path, long since abandoned, which anchorites once + followed in order to reach heaven: he led an ascetic life without + proclaiming it, and without external credit. He hid from the world his + works of charity, his continual prayers, his penances; he thought that all + priests should have acted thus during the days of wrath and terror, and he + preached by example. While presenting to the world a calm and smiling + face, he had ended by detaching himself utterly from earthly interests; + his mind turned exclusively to sufferers, to the needs of the Church, and + to his own salvation. He left the management of his property to his niece, + who gave him the income of it, and to whom he paid a slender board in + order to spend the surplus in secret alms and gifts to the Church. + </p> + <p> + All the abbe’s affections were concentrated on his niece, who regarded him + as a father, but an abstracted father, unable to conceive the agitations + of the flesh, and thanking God for maintaining his dear daughter in a + state of celibacy; for he had, from his youth up, adopted the principles + of Saint John Chrysostom, who wrote that “the virgin state is as far above + the marriage state as the angel is above humanity.” Accustomed to + reverence her uncle, Mademoiselle Cormon dared not initiate him into the + desires which filled her soul for a change of state. The worthy man, + accustomed, on his side, to the ways of the house, would scarcely have + liked the introduction of a husband. Preoccupied by the sufferings he + soothed, lost in the depths of prayer, the Abbe de Sponde had periods of + abstraction which the habitues of the house regarded as absent-mindedness. + In any case, he talked little; but his silence was affable and benevolent. + He was a man of great height and spare, with grave and solemn manners, + though his face expressed all gentle sentiments and an inward calm; while + his mere presence carried with it a sacred authority. He was very fond of + the Voltairean chevalier. Those two majestic relics of the nobility and + clergy, though of very different habits and morals, recognized each other + by their generous traits. Besides, the chevalier was as unctuous with the + abbe as he was paternal with the grisettes. + </p> + <p> + Some persons may fancy that Mademoiselle Cormon used every means to attain + her end; and that among the legitimate lures of womanhood she devoted + herself to dress, wore low-necked gowns, and employed the negative + coquetries of a magnificent display of arms. Not at all! She was as heroic + and immovable in her high-necked chemisette as a sentry in his box. Her + gowns, bonnets, and chiffons were all cut and made by the dressmaker and + the milliner of Alencon, two hump-backed sisters, who were not without + some taste. In spite of the entreaties of these artists, Mademoiselle + Cormon refused to employ the airy deceits of elegance; she chose to be + substantial in all things, flesh and feathers. But perhaps the heavy + fashion of her gowns was best suited to her cast of countenance. Let those + laugh who will at this poor girl; you would have thought her sublime, O + generous souls! who care but little what form true feeling takes, but + admire it where it <i>is</i>. + </p> + <p> + Here some light-minded person may exclaim against the truth of this + statement; they will say that there is not in all France a girl so silly + as to be ignorant of the art of angling for men; that Mademoiselle Cormon + is one of those monstrous exceptions which commonsense should prevent a + writer from using as a type; that the most virtuous and also the silliest + girl who desires to catch her fish knows well how to bait the hook. But + these criticisms fall before the fact that the noble catholic, apostolic, + and Roman religion is still erect in Brittany and in the ancient duchy of + Alencon. Faith and piety admit of no subtleties. Mademoiselle Cormon trod + the path of salvation, preferring the sorrows of her virginity so cruelly + prolonged to the evils of trickery and the sin of a snare. In a woman + armed with a scourge virtue could never compromise; consequently both love + and self-interest were forced to seek her, and seek her resolutely. And + here let us have the courage to make a cruel observation, in days when + religion is nothing more than a useful means to some, and a poesy to + others. Devotion causes a moral ophthalmia. By some providential grace, it + takes from souls on the road to eternity the sight of many little earthly + things. In a word, pious persons, devotes, are stupid on various points. + This stupidity proves with what force they turn their minds to celestial + matters; although the Voltairean Chevalier de Valois declared that it was + difficult to decide whether stupid people became naturally pious, or + whether piety had the effect of making intelligent young women stupid. But + reflect upon this carefully: the purest catholic virtue, with its loving + acceptance of all cups, with its pious submission to the will of God, with + its belief in the print of the divine finger on the clay of all earthly + life, is the mysterious light which glides into the innermost folds of + human history, setting them in relief and magnifying them in the eyes of + those who still have Faith. Besides, if there be stupidity, why not + concern ourselves with the sorrows of stupidity as well as with the + sorrows of genius? The former is a social element infinitely more abundant + than the latter. + </p> + <p> + So, then, Mademoiselle Cormon was guilty in the eyes of the world of the + divine ignorance of virgins. She was no observer, and her behavior with + her suitors proved it. At this very moment, a young girl of sixteen, who + had never opened a novel, would have read a hundred chapters of a love + story in the eyes of Athanase Granson, where Mademoiselle Cormon saw + absolutely nothing. Shy herself, she never suspected shyness in others; + she did not recognize in the quavering tones of his speech the force of a + sentiment he could not utter. Capable of inventing those refinements of + sentimental grandeur which hindered her marriage in her early years, she + yet could not recognize them in Athanase. This moral phenomenon will not + seem surprising to persons who know that the qualities of the heart are as + distinct from those of the mind as the faculties of genius are from the + nobility of soul. A perfect, all-rounded man is so rare that Socrates, one + of the noblest pearls of humanity, declared (as a phrenologist of that + day) that he was born to be a scamp, and a very bad one. A great general + may save his country at Zurich, and take commissions from purveyors. A + great musician may conceive the sublimest music and commit a forgery. A + woman of true feeling may be a fool. In short, a devote may have a sublime + soul and yet be unable to recognize the tones of a noble soul beside her. + The caprices produced by physical infirmities are equally to be met with + in the mental and moral regions. + </p> + <p> + This good creature, who grieved at making her yearly preserves for no one + but her uncle and herself, was becoming almost ridiculous. Those who felt + a sympathy for her on account of her good qualities, and others on account + of her defects, now made fun of her abortive marriages. More than one + conversation was based on what would become of so fine a property, + together with the old maid’s savings and her uncle’s inheritance. For some + time past she had been suspected of being au fond, in spite of + appearances, an “original.” In the provinces it was not permissible to be + original: being original means having ideas that are not understood by + others; the provinces demand equality of mind as well as equality of + manners and customs. + </p> + <p> + The marriage of Mademoiselle Cormon seemed, after 1804, a thing so + problematical that the saying “married like Mademoiselle Cormon” became + proverbial in Alencon as applied to ridiculous failures. Surely the + sarcastic mood must be an imperative need in France, that so excellent a + woman should excite the laughter of Alencon. Not only did she receive the + whole society of the place at her house, not only was she charitable, + pious, incapable of saying an unkind thing, but she was fully in accord + with the spirit of the place and the habits and customs of the + inhabitants, who liked her as the symbol of their lives; she was + absolutely inlaid into the ways of the provinces; she had never quitted + them; she imbibed all their prejudices; she espoused all their interests; + she adored them. + </p> + <p> + In spite of her income of eighteen thousand francs from landed property, a + very considerable fortune in the provinces, she lived on a footing with + families who were less rich. When she went to her country-place at + Prebaudet, she drove there in an old wicker carriole, hung on two straps + of white leather, drawn by a wheezy mare, and scarcely protected by two + leather curtains rusty with age. This carriole, known to all the town, was + cared for by Jacquelin as though it were the finest coupe in all Paris. + Mademoiselle valued it; she had used it for twelve years,—a fact to + which she called attention with the triumphant joy of happy avarice. Most + of the inhabitants of the town were grateful to Mademoiselle Cormon for + not humiliating them by the luxury she could have displayed; we may even + believe that had she imported a caleche from Paris they would have + gossiped more about that than about her various matrimonial failures. The + most brilliant equipage would, after all, have only taken her, like the + old carriole, to Prebaudet. Now the provinces, which look solely to + results, care little about the beauty or elegance of the means, provided + they are efficient. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0005" id="link2HCH0005"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER V. AN OLD MAID’S HOUSEHOLD + </h2> + <p> + To complete the picture of the internal habits and ways of this house, it + is necessary to group around Mademoiselle Cormon and the Abbe de Sponde + Jacquelin, Josette, and Mariette, the cook, who employed themselves in + providing for the comfort of uncle and niece. + </p> + <p> + Jacquelin, a man of forty, short, fat, ruddy, and brown, with a face like + a Breton sailor, had been in the service of the house for twenty-two + years. He waited at table, groomed the mare, gardened, blacked the abbe’s + boots, went on errands, chopped the wood, drove the carriole, and fetched + the oats, straw, and hay from Prebaudet. He sat in the antechamber during + the evening, where he slept like a dormouse. He was in love with Josette, + a girl of thirty, whom Mademoiselle would have dismissed had she married + him. So the poor fond pair laid by their wages, and loved each other + silently, waiting, hoping for mademoiselle’s own marriage, as the Jews are + waiting for the Messiah. Josette, born between Alencon and Mortagne, was + short and plump; her face, which looked like a dirty apricot, was not + wanting in sense and character; it was said that she ruled her mistress. + Josette and Jacquelin, sure of results, endeavored to hide an inward + satisfaction which allows it to be supposed that, as lovers, they had + discounted the future. Mariette, the cook, who had been fifteen years in + the household, knew how to make all the dishes held in most honor in + Alencon. + </p> + <p> + Perhaps we ought to count for much the fat old Norman brown-bay mare, + which drew Mademoiselle Cormon to her country-seat at Prebaudet; for the + five inhabitants of the house bore to this animal a maniacal affection. + She was called Penelope, and had served the family for eighteen years; but + she was kept so carefully and fed with such regularity that mademoiselle + and Jacquelin both hoped to use her for ten years longer. This beast was + the subject of perpetual talk and occupation; it seemed as if poor + Mademoiselle Cormon, having no children on whom her repressed motherly + feelings could expend themselves, had turned those sentiments wholly on + this most fortunate animal. + </p> + <p> + The four faithful servants—for Penelope’s intelligence raised her to + the level of the other good servants; while they, on the other hand, had + lowered themselves to the mute, submissive regularity of the beast—went + and came daily in the same occupations with the infallible accuracy of + mechanism. But, as they said in their idiom, they had eaten their white + bread first. Mademoiselle Cormon, like all persons nervously agitated by a + fixed idea, became hard to please, and nagging, less by nature than from + the need of employing her activity. Having no husband or children to + occupy her, she fell back on petty details. She talked for hours about + mere nothings, on a dozen napkins marked “Z,” placed in the closet before + the “O’s.” + </p> + <p> + “What can Josette be thinking of?” she exclaimed. “Josette is beginning to + neglect things.” + </p> + <p> + Mademoiselle inquired for eight days running whether Penelope had had her + oats at two o’clock, because on one occasion Jacquelin was a trifle late. + Her narrow imagination spent itself on trifles. A layer of dust forgotten + by the feather-duster, a slice of toast ill-made by Mariette, Josette’s + delay in closing the blinds when the sun came round to fade the colors of + the furniture,—all these great little things gave rise to serious + quarrels in which mademoiselle grew angry. “Everything was changing,” she + would cry; “she did not know her own servants; the fact was she spoiled + them!” On one occasion Josette gave her the “Journee du Chretien” instead + of the “Quinzaine de Paques.” The whole town heard of this disaster the + same evening. Mademoiselle had been forced to leave the church and return + home; and her sudden departure, upsetting the chairs, made people suppose + a catastrophe had happened. She was therefore obliged to explain the facts + to her friends. + </p> + <p> + “Josette,” she said gently, “such a thing must never happen again.” + </p> + <p> + Mademoiselle Cormon was, without being aware of it, made happier by such + little quarrels, which served as cathartics to relieve her bitterness. The + soul has its needs, and, like the body, its gymnastics. These + uncertainties of temper were accepted by Josette and Jacquelin as changes + in the weather are accepted by husbandmen. Those worthy souls remark, “It + is fine to-day,” or “It rains,” without arraigning the heavens. And so + when they met in the morning the servants would wonder in what humor + mademoiselle would get up, just as a farmer wonders about the mists at + dawn. + </p> + <p> + Mademoiselle Cormon had ended, as it was natural she should end, in + contemplating herself only in the infinite pettinesses of her life. + Herself and God, her confessor and the weekly wash, her preserves and the + church services, and her uncle to care for, absorbed her feeble intellect. + To her the atoms of life were magnified by an optic peculiar to persons + who are selfish by nature or self-absorbed by some accident. Her perfect + health gave alarming meaning to the least little derangement of her + digestive organs. She lived under the iron rod of the medical science of + our forefathers, and took yearly four precautionary doses, strong enough + to have killed Penelope, though they seemed to rejuvenate her mistress. If + Josette, when dressing her, chanced to discover a little pimple on the + still satiny shoulders of mademoiselle, it became the subject of endless + inquiries as to the various alimentary articles of the preceding week. And + what a triumph when Josette reminded her mistress of a certain hare that + was rather “high,” and had doubtless raised that accursed pimple! With + what joy they said to each other: “No doubt, no doubt, it <i>was</i> the + hare!” + </p> + <p> + “Mariette over-seasoned it,” said mademoiselle. “I am always telling her + to do so lightly for my uncle and for me; but Mariette has no more memory + than—” + </p> + <p> + “The hare,” said Josette. + </p> + <p> + “Just so,” replied Mademoiselle; “she has no more memory than a hare,—a + very just remark.” + </p> + <p> + Four times a year, at the beginning of each season, Mademoiselle Cormon + went to pass a certain number of days on her estate of Prebaudet. It was + now the middle of May, the period at which she wished to see how her + apple-trees had “snowed,” a saying of that region which expressed the + effect produced beneath the trees by the falling of their blossoms. When + the circular deposit of these fallen petals resembled a layer of snow the + owner of the trees might hope for an abundant supply of cider. While she + thus gauged her vats, Mademoiselle Cormon also attended to the repairs + which the winter necessitated; she ordered the digging of her flower-beds + and her vegetable garden, from which she supplied her table. Every season + had its own business. Mademoiselle always gave a dinner of farewell to her + intimate friends the day before her departure, although she was certain to + see them again within three weeks. It was always a piece of news which + echoed through Alencon when Mademoiselle Cormon departed. All her + visitors, especially those who had missed a visit, came to bid her + good-bye; the salon was thronged, and every one said farewell as though + she were starting for Calcutta. The next day the shopkeepers would stand + at their doors to see the old carriole pass, and they seemed to be telling + one another some news by repeating from shop to shop:— + </p> + <p> + “So Mademoiselle Cormon is going to Prebaudet!” + </p> + <p> + Some said: “<i>Her</i> bread is baked.” + </p> + <p> + “Hey! my lad,” replied the next man. “She’s a worthy woman; if money + always came into such hands we shouldn’t see a beggar in the country.” + </p> + <p> + Another said: “Dear me, I shouldn’t be surprised if the vineyards were in + bloom; here’s Mademoiselle Cormon going to Prebaudet. How happens it she + doesn’t marry?” + </p> + <p> + “I’d marry her myself,” said a wag; “in fact, the marriage is half-made, + for here’s one consenting party; but the other side won’t. Pooh! the oven + is heating for Monsieur du Bousquier.” + </p> + <p> + “Monsieur du Bousquier! Why, she has refused him.” + </p> + <p> + That evening at all the gatherings it was told gravely:— + </p> + <p> + “Mademoiselle Cormon has gone.” + </p> + <p> + Or:— + </p> + <p> + “So you have really let Mademoiselle Cormon go.” + </p> + <p> + The Wednesday chosen by Suzanne to make known her scandal happened to be + this farewell Wednesday,—a day on which Mademoiselle Cormon drove + Josette distracted on the subject of packing. During the morning, + therefore, things had been said and done in the town which lent the utmost + interest to this farewell meeting. Madame Granson had gone the round of a + dozen houses while the old maid was deliberating on the things she needed + for the journey; and the malicious Chevalier de Valois was playing piquet + with Mademoiselle Armande, sister of a distinguished old marquis, and the + queen of the salon of the aristocrats. If it was not uninteresting to any + one to see what figure the seducer would cut that evening, it was all + important for the chevalier and Madame Granson to know how Mademoiselle + Cormon would take the news in her double capacity of marriageable woman + and president of the Maternity Society. As for the innocent du Bousquier, + he was taking a walk on the promenade, and beginning to suspect that + Suzanne had tricked him; this suspicion confirmed him in his principles as + to women. + </p> + <p> + On gala days the table was laid at Mademoiselle Cormon’s about half-past + three o’clock. At that period the fashionable people of Alencon dined at + four. Under the Empire they still dined as in former times at half-past + two; but then they supped! One of the pleasures which Mademoiselle Cormon + valued most was (without meaning any malice, although the fact certainly + rests on egotism) the unspeakable satisfaction she derived from seeing + herself dressed as mistress of the house to receive her guests. When she + was thus under arms a ray of hope would glide into the darkness of her + heart; a voice told her that nature had not so abundantly provided for her + in vain, and that some man, brave and enterprising, would surely present + himself. Her desire was refreshed like her person; she contemplated + herself in her heavy stuffs with a sort of intoxication, and this + satisfaction continued when she descended the stairs to cast her + redoubtable eye on the salon, the dinner-table, and the boudoir. She would + then walk about with the naive contentment of the rich,—who remember + at all moments that they are rich and will never want for anything. She + looked at her eternal furniture, her curiosities, her lacquers, and said + to herself that all these fine things wanted was a master. After admiring + the dining-room, and the oblong dinner-table, on which was spread a + snow-white cloth adorned with twenty covers placed at equal distances; + after verifying the squadron of bottles she had ordered to be brought up, + and which all bore honorable labels; after carefully verifying the names + written on little bits of paper in the trembling handwriting of the abbe + (the only duty he assumed in the household, and one which gave rise to + grave discussions on the place of each guest),—after going through + all these preliminary acts mademoiselle went, in her fine clothes, to her + uncle, who was accustomed at this, the best hour in the day, to take his + walk on the terrace which overlooked the Brillante, where he could listen + to the warble of birds which were resting in the coppice, unafraid of + either sportsmen or children. At such times of waiting she never joined + the Abbe de Sponde without asking him some ridiculous question, in order + to draw the old man into a discussion which might serve to amuse him. And + her reason was this,—which will serve to complete our picture of + this excellent woman’s nature:— + </p> + <p> + Mademoiselle Cormon regarded it as one of her duties to talk; not that she + was talkative, for she had unfortunately too few ideas, and did not know + enough phrases to converse readily. But she believed she was accomplishing + one of the social duties enjoined by religion, which orders us to make + ourselves agreeable to our neighbor. This obligation cost her so much that + she consulted her director, the Abbe Couturier, upon the subject of this + honest but puerile civility. In spite of the humble remark of his + penitent, confessing the inward labor of her mind in finding anything to + say, the old priest, rigid on the point of discipline, read her a passage + from Saint-Francois de Sales on the duties of women in society, which + dwelt on the decent gayety of pious Christian women, who were bound to + reserve their sternness for themselves, and to be amiable and pleasing in + their homes, and see that their neighbors enjoyed themselves. Thus, filled + with a sense of duty, and wishing, at all costs, to obey her director, who + bade her converse with amenity, the poor soul perspired in her corset when + the talk around her languished, so much did she suffer from the effort of + emitting ideas in order to revive it. Under such circumstances she would + put forth the silliest statements, such as: “No one can be in two places + at once—unless it is a little bird,” by which she one day roused, + and not without success, a discussion on the ubiquity of the apostles, + which she was unable to comprehend. Such efforts at conversation won her + the appellation of “that good Mademoiselle Cormon,” which, from the lips + of the beaux esprits of society, means that she was as ignorant as a carp, + and rather a poor fool; but many persons of her own calibre took the + remark in its literal sense, and answered:— + </p> + <p> + “Yes; oh yes! Mademoiselle Cormon is an excellent woman.” + </p> + <p> + Sometimes she would put such absurd questions (always for the purpose of + fulfilling her duties to society, and making herself agreeable to her + guests) that everybody burst out laughing. She asked, for instance, what + the government did with the taxes they were always receiving; and why the + Bible had not been printed in the days of Jesus Christ, inasmuch as it was + written by Moses. Her mental powers were those of the English “country + gentleman” who, hearing constant mention of “posterity” in the House of + Commons, rose to make the speech that has since become celebrated: + “Gentlemen,” he said, “I hear much talk in this place about Posterity. I + should be glad to know what that power has ever done for England.” + </p> + <p> + Under these circumstances the heroic Chevalier de Valois would bring to + the succor of the old maid all the powers of his clever diplomacy, + whenever he saw the pitiless smile of wiser heads. The old gentleman, who + loved to assist women, turned Mademoiselle Cormon’s sayings into wit by + sustaining them paradoxically, and he often covered the retreat so well + that it seemed as if the good woman had said nothing silly. She asserted + very seriously one evening that she did not see any difference between an + ox and a bull. The dear chevalier instantly arrested the peals of laughter + by asserting that there was only the difference between a sheep and a + lamb. + </p> + <p> + But the Chevalier de Valois served an ungrateful dame, for never did + Mademoiselle Cormon comprehend his chivalrous services. Observing that the + conversation grew lively, she simply thought that she was not so stupid as + she was,—the result being that she settled down into her ignorance + with some complacency; she lost her timidity, and acquired a + self-possession which gave to her “speeches” something of the solemnity + with which the British enunciate their patriotic absurdities,—the + self-conceit of stupidity, as it may be called. + </p> + <p> + As she approached her uncle, on this occasion, with a majestic step, she + was ruminating over a question that might draw him from a silence, which + always troubled her, for she feared he was dull. + </p> + <p> + “Uncle,” she said, leaning on his arm and clinging to his side (this was + one of her fictions; for she said to herself “If I had a husband I should + do just so”),—“uncle, if everything here below happens according to + the will of God, there must be a reason for everything.” + </p> + <p> + “Certainly,” replied the abbe, gravely. The worthy man, who cherished his + niece, always allowed her to tear him from his meditations with angelic + patience. + </p> + <p> + “Then if I remain unmarried,—supposing that I do,—God wills + it?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, my child,” replied the abbe. + </p> + <p> + “And yet, as nothing prevents me from marrying to-morrow if I choose, His + will can be destroyed by mine?” + </p> + <p> + “That would be true if we knew what was really the will of God,” replied + the former prior of the Sorbonne. “Observe, my daughter, that you put in + an <i>if</i>.” + </p> + <p> + The poor woman, who expected to draw her uncle into a matrimonial + discussion by an argument ad omnipotentem, was stupefied; but persons of + obtuse mind have the terrible logic of children, which consists in turning + from answer to question,—a logic that is frequently embarrassing. + </p> + <p> + “But, uncle, God did not make women intending them not to marry; otherwise + they ought all to stay unmarried; if not, they ought all to marry. There’s + great injustice in the distribution of parts.” + </p> + <p> + “Daughter,” said the worthy abbe, “you are blaming the Church, which + declares celibacy to be the better way to God.” + </p> + <p> + “But if the Church is right, and all the world were good Catholics, + wouldn’t the human race come to an end, uncle?” + </p> + <p> + “You have too much mind, Rose; you don’t need so much to be happy.” + </p> + <p> + That remark brought a smile of satisfaction to the lips of the poor woman, + and confirmed her in the good opinion she was beginning to acquire about + herself. That is how the world, our friends, and our enemies are the + accomplices of our defects! + </p> + <p> + At this moment the conversation was interrupted by the successive arrival + of the guests. On these ceremonial days, friendly familiarities were + exchanged between the servants of the house and the company. Mariette + remarked to the chief-justice as he passed the kitchen:— + </p> + <p> + “Ah, Monsieur du Ronceret, I’ve cooked the cauliflowers au gratin + expressly for you, for mademoiselle knows how you like them; and she said + to me: ‘Now don’t forget, Mariette, for Monsieur du Ronceret is coming.’” + </p> + <p> + “That good Mademoiselle Cormon!” ejaculated the chief legal authority of + the town. “Mariette, did you steep them in gravy instead of soup-stock? it + is much richer.” + </p> + <p> + The chief-justice was not above entering the chamber of council where + Mariette held court; he cast the eye of a gastronome around it, and + offered the advice of a past master in cookery. + </p> + <p> + “Good-day, madame,” said Josette to Madame Granson, who courted the maid. + “Mademoiselle has thought of you, and there’s fish for dinner.” + </p> + <p> + As for the Chevalier de Valois, he remarked to Mariette, in the easy tone + of a great seigneur who condescends to be familiar:— + </p> + <p> + “Well, my dear cordon-bleu, to whom I should give the cross of the Legion + of honor, is there some little dainty for which I had better reserve + myself?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, yes, Monsieur de Valois,—a hare sent from Prebaudet; weighs + fourteen pounds.” + </p> + <p> + Du Bousquier was not invited. Mademoiselle Cormon, faithful to the system + which we know of, treated that fifty-year-old suitor extremely ill, + although she felt inexplicable sentiments towards him in the depths of her + heart. She had refused him; yet at times she repented; and a presentiment + that she should yet marry him, together with a terror at the idea which + prevented her from wishing for the marriage, assailed her. Her mind, + stimulated by these feelings, was much occupied by du Bousquier. Without + being aware of it, she was influenced by the herculean form of the + republican. Madame Granson and the Chevalier de Valois, although they + could not explain to themselves Mademoiselle Cormon’s inconsistencies, had + detected her naive glances in that direction, the meaning of which seemed + clear enough to make them both resolve to ruin the hopes of the already + rejected purveyor,—hopes which it was evident he still indulged. + </p> + <p> + Two guests, whose functions excused them, kept the dinner waiting. One was + Monsieur du Coudrai, the recorder of mortgages; the other Monsieur + Choisnel, former bailiff to the house of Esgrignon, and now the notary of + the upper aristocracy, by whom he was received with a distinction due to + his virtues; he was also a man of considerable wealth. When the two + belated guests arrived, Jacquelin said to them as he saw them about to + enter the salon:— + </p> + <p> + “<i>They</i> are all in the garden.” + </p> + <p> + No doubt the assembled stomachs were impatient; for on the appearance of + the register of mortgages—who had no defect except that of having + married for her money an intolerable old woman, and of perpetrating + endless puns, at which he was the first to laugh—the gentle murmur + by which such late-comers are welcomed arose. While awaiting the official + announcement of dinner, the company were sauntering on the terrace above + the river, and gazing at the water-plants, the mosaic of the currents, and + the various pretty details of the houses clustering across the river, + their old wooden galleries, their mouldering window-frames, their little + gardens where clothes were drying, the cabinet-maker’s shop,—in + short, the many details of a small community to which the vicinity of a + river, a weeping willow, flowers, rose-bushes, added a certain grace, + making the scene quite worthy of a landscape painter. + </p> + <p> + The chevalier studied all faces, for he knew that his firebrand had been + very successfully introduced into the chief houses of the place. But no + one as yet referred openly to the great news of Suzanne and du Bousquier. + Provincials possess in the highest degree the art of distilling gossip; + the right moment for openly discussing this strange affair had not + arrived; it was first necessary that all present should put themselves on + record. So the whispers went round from ear to ear:— + </p> + <p> + “You have heard?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes.” + </p> + <p> + “Du Bousquier?” + </p> + <p> + “And that handsome Suzanne.” + </p> + <p> + “Does Mademoiselle Cormon know of it?” + </p> + <p> + “No.” + </p> + <p> + “Ha!” + </p> + <p> + This was the <i>piano</i> of the scandal; the <i>rinforzando</i> would + break forth as soon as the first course had been removed. Suddenly + Monsieur de Valois’s eyes lighted on Madame Granson, arrayed in her green + hat with bunches of auriculas, and beaming with evident joy. Was it merely + the joy of opening the concert? Though such a piece of news was like a + gold mine to work in the monotonous lives of these personages, the + observant and distrustful chevalier thought he recognized in the worthy + woman a far more extended sentiment; namely, the joy caused by the triumph + of self-interest. Instantly he turned to examine Athanase, and detected + him in the significant silence of deep meditation. Presently, a look cast + by the young man on Mademoiselle Cormon carried to the soul of the + chevalier a sudden gleam. That momentary flash of lightning enabled him to + read the past. + </p> + <p> + “Ha! the devil!” he said to himself; “what a checkmate I’m exposed to!” + </p> + <p> + Monsieur de Valois now approached Mademoiselle Cormon, and offered his + arm. The old maid’s feeling to the chevalier was that of respectful + consideration; and certainly his name, together with the position he + occupied among the aristocratic constellations of the department made him + the most brilliant ornament of her salon. In her inmost mind Mademoiselle + Cormon had wished for the last dozen years to become Madame de Valois. + That name was like the branch of a tree, to which the ideas which <i>swarmed</i> + in her mind about rank, nobility, and the external qualities of a husband + had fastened. But, though the Chevalier de Valois was the man chosen by + her heart, and mind, and ambition, that elderly ruin, combed and curled + like a little Saint-John in a procession, alarmed Mademoiselle Cormon. She + saw the gentleman in him, but she could not see a husband. The + indifference which the chevalier affected as to marriage, above all, the + apparent purity of his morals in a house which abounded in grisettes, did + singular harm in her mind to Monsieur de Valois against his expectations. + The worthy man, who showed such judgment in the matter of his annuity, was + at fault here. Without being herself aware of it, the thoughts of + Mademoiselle Cormon on the too virtuous chevalier might be translated + thus:— + </p> + <p> + “What a pity that he isn’t a trifle dissipated!” + </p> + <p> + Observers of the human heart have remarked the leaning of pious women + toward scamps; some have expressed surprise at this taste, considering it + opposed to Christian virtue. But, in the first place, what nobler destiny + can you offer to a virtuous woman than to purify, like charcoal, the muddy + waters of vice? How is it some observers fail to see that these noble + creatures, obliged by the sternness of their own principles never to + infringe on conjugal fidelity, must naturally desire a husband of wider + practical experience than their own? The scamps of social life are great + men in love. Thus the poor woman groaned in spirit at finding her chosen + vessel parted into two pieces. God alone could solder together a Chevalier + de Valois and a du Bousquier. + </p> + <p> + In order to explain the importance of the few words which the chevalier + and Mademoiselle Cormon are about to say to each other, it is necessary to + reveal two serious matters which agitated the town, and about which + opinions were divided; besides, du Bousquier was mysteriously connected + with them. + </p> + <p> + One concerns the rector of Alencon, who had formerly taken the + constitutional oath, and who was now conquering the repugnance of the + Catholics by a display of the highest virtues. He was Cheverus on a small + scale, and became in time so fully appreciated that when he died the whole + town mourned him. Mademoiselle Cormon and the Abbe de Sponde belonged to + that “little Church,” sublime in its orthodoxy, which was to the court of + Rome what the Ultras were to be to Louis XVIII. The abbe, more especially, + refused to recognize a Church which had compromised with the + constitutionals. The rector was therefore not received in the Cormon + household, whose sympathies were all given to the curate of Saint-Leonard, + the aristocratic parish of Alencon. Du Bousquier, that fanatic liberal now + concealed under the skin of a royalist, knowing how necessary rallying + points are to all discontents (which are really at the bottom of all + oppositions), had drawn the sympathies of the middle classes around the + rector. So much for the first case; the second was this:— + </p> + <p> + Under the secret inspiration of du Bousquier the idea of building a + theatre had dawned on Alencon. The henchmen of the purveyor did not know + their Mohammed; and they thought they were ardent in carrying out their + own conception. Athanase Granson was one of the warmest partisans for the + theatre; and of late he had urged at the mayor’s office a cause which all + the other young clerks had eagerly adopted. + </p> + <p> + The chevalier, as we have said, offered his arm to the old maid for a turn + on the terrace. She accepted it, not without thanking him by a happy look + for this attention, to which the chevalier replied by motioning toward + Athanase with a meaning eye. + </p> + <p> + “Mademoiselle,” he began, “you have so much sense and judgment in social + proprieties, and also, you are connected with that young man by certain + ties—” + </p> + <p> + “Distant ones,” she said, interrupting him. + </p> + <p> + “Ought you not,” he continued, “to use the influence you have over his + mother and over himself by saving him from perdition? He is not very + religious, as you know; indeed he approves of the rector; but that is not + all; there is something far more serious; isn’t he throwing himself + headlong into an opposition without considering what influence his present + conduct may exert upon his future? He is working for the construction of a + theatre. In this affair he is simply the dupe of that disguised republican + du Bousquier—” + </p> + <p> + “Good gracious! Monsieur de Valois,” she replied; “his mother is always + telling me he has so much mind, and yet he can’t say two words; he stands + planted before me as mum as a post—” + </p> + <p> + “Which doesn’t think at all!” cried the recorder of mortgages. “I caught + your words on the fly. I present my compliments to Monsieur de Valois,” he + added, bowing to that gentleman with much emphasis. + </p> + <p> + The chevalier returned the salutation stiffly, and drew Mademoiselle + Cormon toward some flower-pots at a little distance, in order to show the + interrupter that he did not choose to be spied upon. + </p> + <p> + “How is it possible,” he continued, lowering his voice, and leaning + towards Mademoiselle Cormon’s ear, “that a young man brought up in those + detestable lyceums should have ideas? Only sound morals and noble habits + will ever produce great ideas and a true love. It is easy to see by a mere + look at him that the poor lad is likely to be imbecile, and come, perhaps, + to some sad end. See how pale and haggard he is!” + </p> + <p> + “His mother declares he works too hard,” replied the old maid, innocently. + “He sits up late, and for what? reading books and writing! What business + ought to require a young man to write at night?” + </p> + <p> + “It exhausts him,” replied the chevalier, trying to bring the old maid’s + thoughts back to the ground where he hoped to inspire her with horror for + her youthful lover. “The morals of those Imperial lyceums are really + shocking.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, yes!” said the ingenuous creature. “They march the pupils about with + drums at their head. The masters have no more religion than pagans. And + they put the poor lads in uniform, as if they were troops. What ideas!” + </p> + <p> + “And behold the product!” said the chevalier, motioning to Athanase. “In + my day, young men were not so shy of looking at a pretty woman. As for + him, he drops his eyes whenever he sees you. That young man frightens me + because I am really interested in him. Tell him not to intrigue with the + Bonapartists, as he is now doing about that theatre. When all these petty + folks cease to ask for it insurrectionally,—which to my mind is the + synonym of constitutionally,—the government will build it. Besides + which, tell his mother to keep an eye on him.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, I’m sure she will prevent him from seeing those half-pay, + questionable people. I’ll talk to her,” said Mademoiselle Cormon, “for he + might lose his place in the mayor’s office; and then what would he and his + mother have to live on? It makes me shudder.” + </p> + <p> + As Monsieur de Talleyrand said of his wife, so the chevalier said to + himself, looking at Mademoiselle Cormon:— + </p> + <p> + “Find me another as stupid! Good powers! isn’t virtue which drives out + intellect vice? But what an adorable wife for a man of my age! What + principles! what ignorance!” + </p> + <p> + Remember that this monologue, addressed to the Princess Goritza, was + mentally uttered while he took a pinch of snuff. + </p> + <p> + Madame Granson had divined that the chevalier was talking about Athanase. + Eager to know the result of the conversation, she followed Mademoiselle + Cormon, who was now approaching the young man with much dignity. But at + this moment Jacquelin appeared to announce that mademoiselle was served. + The old maid gave a glance of appeal to the chevalier; but the gallant + recorder of mortgages, who was beginning to see in the manners of that + gentleman the barrier which the provincial nobles were setting up about + this time between themselves and the bourgeoisie, made the most of his + chance to cut out Monsieur de Valois. He was close to Mademoiselle Cormon, + and promptly offered his arm, which she found herself compelled to accept. + The chevalier then darted, out of policy, upon Madame Granson. + </p> + <p> + “Mademoiselle Cormon, my dear lady,” he said to her, walking slowly after + all the other guests, “feels the liveliest interest in your dear Athanase; + but I fear it will vanish through his own fault. He is irreligious and + liberal; he is agitating this matter of the theatre; he frequents the + Bonapartists; he takes the side of that rector. Such conduct may make him + lose his place in the mayor’s office. You know with what care the + government is beginning to weed out such opinions. If your dear Athanase + loses his place, where can he find other employment? I advise him not to + get himself in bad odor with the administration.” + </p> + <p> + “Monsieur le Chevalier,” said the poor frightened mother, “how grateful I + am to you! You are right: my son is the tool of a bad set of people; I + shall enlighten him.” + </p> + <p> + The chevalier had long since fathomed the nature of Athanase, and + recognized in it that unyielding element of republican convictions to + which in his youth a young man is willing to sacrifice everything, carried + away by the word “liberty,” so ill-defined and so little understood, but + which to persons disdained by fate is a banner of revolt; and to such, + revolt is vengeance. Athanase would certainly persist in that faith, for + his opinions were woven in with his artistic sorrows, with his bitter + contemplation of the social state. He was ignorant of the fact that at + thirty-six years of age,—the period of life when a man has judged + men and social interests and relations,—the opinions for which he + was ready to sacrifice his future would be modified in him, as they are in + all men of real superiority. To remain faithful to the Left side of + Alencon was to gain the aversion of Mademoiselle Cormon. There, indeed, + the chevalier saw true. + </p> + <p> + Thus we see that this society, so peaceful in appearance, was internally + as agitated as any diplomatic circle, where craft, ability, and passions + group themselves around the grave questions of an empire. The guests were + now seated at the table laden with the first course, which they ate as + provincials eat, without shame at possessing a good appetite, and not as + in Paris, where it seems as if jaws gnashed under sumptuary laws, which + made it their business to contradict the laws of anatomy. In Paris people + eat with their teeth, and trifle with their pleasure; in the provinces + things are done naturally, and interest is perhaps rather too much + concentrated on the grand and universal means of existence to which God + has condemned his creatures. + </p> + <p> + It was at the end of the first course that Mademoiselle Cormon made the + most celebrated of her “speeches”; it was talked about for fully two + years, and is still told at the gatherings of the lesser bourgeoisie + whenever the topic of her marriage comes up. + </p> + <p> + The conversation, becoming lively as the penultimate entree was reached, + had turned naturally on the affair of the theatre and the constitutionally + sworn rector. In the first fervor of royalty, during the year 1816, those + who later were called Jesuits were all for the expulsion of the Abbe + Francois from his parish. Du Bousquier, suspected by Monsieur de Valois of + sustaining the priest and being at the bottom of the theatre intrigues, + and on whose back the adroit chevalier would in any case have put those + sins with his customary cleverness, was in the dock with no lawyer to + defend him. Athanase, the only guest loyal enough to stand by du + Bousquier, had not the nerve to emit his ideas in the presence of those + potentates of Alencon, whom in his heart he thought stupid. None but + provincial youths now retain a respectful demeanor before men of a certain + age, and dare neither to censure nor contradict them. The talk, diminished + under the effect of certain delicious ducks dressed with olives, was + falling flat. Mademoiselle Cormon, feeling the necessity of maintaining it + against her own ducks, attempted to defend du Bousquier, who was being + represented as a pernicious fomenter of intrigues, capable of any + trickery. + </p> + <p> + “As for me,” she said, “I thought that Monsieur du Bousquier cared chiefly + for childish things.” + </p> + <p> + Under existing circumstances the remark had enormous success. Mademoiselle + Cormon obtained a great triumph; she brought the nose of the Princess + Goritza flat on the table. The chevalier, who little expected such an apt + remark from his Dulcinea, was so amazed that he could at first find no + words to express his admiration; he applauded noiselessly, as they do at + the Opera, tapping his fingers together to imitate applause. + </p> + <p> + “She is adorably witty,” he said to Madame Granson. “I always said that + some day she would unmask her batteries.” + </p> + <p> + “In private she is always charming,” replied the widow. + </p> + <p> + “In private, madame, all women have wit,” returned the chevalier. + </p> + <p> + The Homeric laugh thus raised having subsided, Mademoiselle Cormon asked + the reason of her success. Then began the <i>forte</i> of the gossip. Du + Bousquier was depicted as a species of celibate Pere Gigogne, a monster, + who for the last fifteen years had kept the Foundling Hospital supplied. + His immoral habits were at last revealed! these Parisian saturnalias were + the result of them, etc., etc. Conducted by the Chevalier de Valois, a + most able leader of an orchestra of this kind, the opening of the <i>cancan</i> + was magnificent. + </p> + <p> + “I really don’t know,” he said, “what should hinder a du Bousquier from + marrying a Mademoiselle Suzanne What’s-her-name. What <i>is</i> her name, + do you know? Suzette! Though I have lodgings at Madame Lardot’s, I know + her girls only by sight. If this Suzette is a tall, fine, saucy girl, with + gray eyes, a slim waist, and a pretty foot, whom I have occasionally seen, + and whose behavior always seemed to me extremely insolent, she is far + superior in manners to du Bousquier. Besides, the girl has the nobility of + beauty; from that point of view the marriage would be a poor one for her; + she might do better. You know how the Emperor Joseph had the curiosity to + see the du Barry at Luciennes. He offered her his arm to walk about, and + the poor thing was so surprised at the honor that she hesitated to accept + it: ‘Beauty is ever a queen,’ said the Emperor. And he, you know, was an + Austrian-German,” added the chevalier. “But I can tell you that Germany, + which is thought here very rustic, is a land of noble chivalry and fine + manners, especially in Poland and Hungary, where—” + </p> + <p> + Here the chevalier stopped, fearing to slip into some allusion to his + personal happiness; he took out his snuff-box, and confided the rest of + his remarks to the princess, who had smiled upon him for thirty-six years + and more. + </p> + <p> + “That speech was rather a delicate one for Louis XV.,” said du Ronceret. + </p> + <p> + “But it was, I think, the Emperor Joseph who made it, and not Louis XV.,” + remarked Mademoiselle Cormon, in a correcting tone. + </p> + <p> + “Mademoiselle,” said the chevalier, observing the malicious glance + exchanged between the judge, the notary, and the recorder, “Madame du + Barry was the Suzanne of Louis XV.,—a circumstance well known to + scamps like ourselves, but unsuitable for the knowledge of young ladies. + Your ignorance proves you to be a flawless diamond; historical corruptions + do not enter your mind.” + </p> + <p> + The Abbe de Sponde looked graciously at the Chevalier de Valois, and + nodded his head in sign of his laudatory approbation. + </p> + <p> + “Doesn’t mademoiselle know history?” asked the recorder of mortgages. + </p> + <p> + “If you mix up Louis XV. and this girl Suzanne, how am I to know history?” + replied Mademoiselle Cormon, angelically, glad to see that the dish of + ducks was empty at last, and the conversation so ready to revive that all + present laughed with their mouths full at her last remark. + </p> + <p> + “Poor girl!” said the Abbe de Sponde. “When a great misfortune happens, + charity, which is divine love, and as blind as pagan love, ought not to + look into the causes of it. Niece, you are president of the Maternity + Society; you must succor that poor girl, who will now find it difficult to + marry.” + </p> + <p> + “Poor child!” ejaculated Mademoiselle Cormon. + </p> + <p> + “Do you suppose du Bousquier would marry her?” asked the judge. + </p> + <p> + “If he is an honorable man he ought to do so,” said Madame Granson; “but + really, to tell the truth, my dog has better morals than he—” + </p> + <p> + “Azor is, however, a good purveyor,” said the recorder of mortgages, with + the air of saying a witty thing. + </p> + <p> + At dessert du Bousquier was still the topic of conversation, having given + rise to various little jokes which the wine rendered sparkling. Following + the example of the recorder, each guest capped his neighbor’s joke with + another: Du Bousquier was a father, but not a confessor; he was father + less; he was father LY; he was not a reverend father; nor yet a + conscript-father— + </p> + <p> + “Nor can he be a foster-father,” said the Abbe de Sponde, with a gravity + which stopped the laughter. + </p> + <p> + “Nor a noble father,” added the chevalier. + </p> + <p> + The Church and the nobility descended thus into the arena of puns, + without, however, losing their dignity. + </p> + <p> + “Hush!” exclaimed the recorder of mortgages. “I hear the creaking of du + Bousquier’s boots.” + </p> + <p> + It usually happens that a man is ignorant of rumors that are afloat about + him. A whole town may be talking of his affairs; may calumniate and decry + him, but if he has no good friends, he will know nothing about it. Now the + innocent du Bousquier was superb in his ignorance. No one had told him as + yet of Suzanne’s revelations; he therefore appeared very jaunty and + slightly conceited when the company, leaving the dining-room, returned to + the salon for their coffee; several other guests had meantime assembled + for the evening. Mademoiselle Cormon, from a sense of shamefacedness, + dared not look at the terrible seducer. She seized upon Athanase, and + began to lecture him with the queerest platitudes about royalist politics + and religious morality. Not possessing, like the Chevalier de Valois, a + snuff-box adorned with a princess, by the help of which he could stand + this torrent of silliness, the poor poet listened to the words of her whom + he loved with a stupid air, gazing, meanwhile, at her enormous bust, which + held itself before him in that still repose which is the attribute of all + great masses. His love produced in him a sort of intoxication which + changed the shrill voice of the old maid into a soft murmur, and her flat + remarks into witty speeches. Love is a maker of false coin, continually + changing copper pennies into gold-pieces, and sometimes turning its real + gold into copper. + </p> + <p> + “Well, Athanase, will you promise me?” + </p> + <p> + This final sentence struck the ear of the absorbed young man like one of + those noises which wake us with a bound. + </p> + <p> + “What, mademoiselle?” + </p> + <p> + Mademoiselle Cormon rose hastily, and looked at du Bousquier, who at that + moment resembled the stout god of Fable which the Republic stamped upon + her coins. She walked up to Madame Granson, and said in her ear:— + </p> + <p> + “My dear friend, you son is an idiot. That lyceum has ruined him,” she + added, remembering the insistence with which the chevalier had spoken of + the evils of education in such schools. + </p> + <p> + What a catastrophe! Unknown to himself, the luckless Athanase had had an + occasion to fling an ember of his own fire upon the pile of brush gathered + in the heart of the old maid. Had he listened to her, he might have made + her, then and there, perceive his passion; for, in the agitated state of + Mademoiselle Cormon’s mind, a single word would have sufficed. But that + stupid absorption in his own sentiments, which characterizes young and + true love, had ruined him, as a child full of life sometimes kills itself + out of ignorance. + </p> + <p> + “What have you been saying to Mademoiselle Cormon?” demanded his mother. + </p> + <p> + “Nothing.” + </p> + <p> + “Nothing; well, I can explain that,” she thought to herself, putting off + till the next day all further reflection on the matter, and attaching but + little importance to Mademoiselle Cormon’s words; for she fully believed + that du Bousquier was forever lost in the old maid’s esteem after the + revelation of that evening. + </p> + <p> + Soon the four tables were filled with their sixteen players. Four persons + were playing piquet,—an expensive game, at which the most money was + lost. Monsieur Choisnel, the procureur-du-roi, and two ladies went into + the boudoir for a game at backgammon. The glass lustres were lighted; and + then the flower of Mademoiselle Cormon’s company gathered before the + fireplace, on sofas, and around the tables, and each couple said to her as + they arrived,— + </p> + <p> + “So you are going to-morrow to Prebaudet?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, I really must,” she replied. + </p> + <p> + On this occasion the mistress of the house appeared preoccupied. Madame + Granson was the first to perceive the quite unnatural state of the old + maid’s mind,—Mademoiselle Cormon was thinking! + </p> + <p> + “What are you thinking of, cousin?” she said at last, finding her seated + in the boudoir. + </p> + <p> + “I am thinking,” she replied, “of that poor girl. As the president of the + Maternity Society, I will give you fifty francs for her.” + </p> + <p> + “Fifty francs!” cried Madame Granson. “But you have never given as much as + that.” + </p> + <p> + “But, my dear cousin, it is so natural to have children.” + </p> + <p> + That immoral speech coming from the heart of the old maid staggered the + treasurer of the Maternity Society. Du Bousquier had evidently advanced in + the estimation of Mademoiselle Cormon. + </p> + <p> + “Upon my word,” said Madame Granson, “du Bousquier is not only a monster, + he is a villain. When a man has done a wrong like that, he ought to pay + the indemnity. Isn’t it his place rather than ours to look after the girl?—who, + to tell you the truth, seems to me rather questionable; there are plenty + of better men in Alencon than that cynic du Bousquier. A girl must be + depraved, indeed, to go after him.” + </p> + <p> + “Cynic! Your son teaches you to talk Latin, my dear, which is wholly + incomprehensible. Certainly I don’t wish to excuse Monsieur du Bousquier; + but pray explain to me why a woman is depraved because she prefers one man + to another.” + </p> + <p> + “My dear cousin, suppose you married my son Athanase; nothing could be + more natural. He is young and handsome, full of promise, and he will be + the glory of Alencon; and yet everybody will exclaim against you: evil + tongues will say all sorts of things; jealous women will accuse you of + depravity,—but what will that matter? you will be loved, and loved + truly. If Athanase seemed to you an idiot, my dear, it is that he has too + many ideas; extremes meet. He lives the life of a girl of fifteen; he has + never wallowed in the impurities of Paris, not he! Well, change the terms, + as my poor husband used to say; it is the same thing with du Bousquier in + connection with Suzanne. <i>You</i> would be calumniated; but in the case + of du Bousquier, the charge would be true. Don’t you understand me?” + </p> + <p> + “No more than if you were talking Greek,” replied Mademoiselle Cormon, who + opened her eyes wide, and strained all the forces of her intellect. + </p> + <p> + “Well, cousin, if I must dot all the i’s, it is impossible for Suzanne to + love du Bousquier. And if the heart counts for nothing in this affair—” + </p> + <p> + “But, cousin, what do people love with if not their hearts?” + </p> + <p> + Here Madame Granson said to herself, as the chevalier had previously + thought: “My poor cousin is altogether too innocent; such stupidity passes + all bounds!—Dear child,” she continued aloud, “it seems to me that + children are not conceived by the spirit only.” + </p> + <p> + “Why, yes, my dear; the Holy Virgin herself—” + </p> + <p> + “But, my love, du Bousquier isn’t the Holy Ghost!” + </p> + <p> + “True,” said the old maid; “he is a man!—a man whose personal + appearance makes him dangerous enough for his friends to advise him to + marry.” + </p> + <p> + “You could yourself bring about that result, cousin.” + </p> + <p> + “How so?” said the old maid, with the meekness of Christian charity. + </p> + <p> + “By not receiving him in your house until he marries. You owe it to good + morals and to religion to manifest under such circumstances an exemplary + displeasure.” + </p> + <p> + “On my return from Prebaudet we will talk further of this, my dear Madame + Granson. I will consult my uncle and the Abbe Couturier,” said + Mademoiselle Cormon, returning to the salon, where the animation was now + at its height. + </p> + <p> + The lights, the group of women in their best clothes, the solemn tone, the + dignified air of the assembly, made Mademoiselle Cormon not a little proud + of her company. To many persons nothing better could be seen in Paris in + the highest society. + </p> + <p> + At this moment du Bousquier, who was playing whist with the chevalier and + two old ladies,—Madame du Coudrai and Madame du Ronceret,—was + the object of deep but silent curiosity. A few young women arrived, who, + under pretext of watching the game, gazed fixedly at him in so singular a + manner, though slyly, that the old bachelor began to think that there must + be some deficiency in his toilet. + </p> + <p> + “Can my false front be crooked?” he asked himself, seized by one of those + anxieties which beset old bachelors. + </p> + <p> + He took advantage of a lost trick, which ended a seventh rubber, to rise + and leave the table. + </p> + <p> + “I can’t touch a card without losing,” he said. “I am decidedly too + unlucky.” + </p> + <p> + “But you are lucky in other ways,” said the chevalier, giving him a sly + look. + </p> + <p> + That speech naturally made the rounds of the salon, where every one + exclaimed on the exquisite taste of the chevalier, the Prince de + Talleyrand of the province. + </p> + <p> + “There’s no one like Monsieur de Valois for such wit.” + </p> + <p> + Du Bousquier went to look at himself in a little oblong mirror, placed + above the “Deserter,” but he saw nothing strange in his appearance. + </p> + <p> + After innumerable repetitions of the same text, varied in all keys, the + departure of the company took place about ten o’clock, through the long + antechamber, Mademoiselle Cormon conducting certain of her favorite guests + to the portico. There the groups parted; some followed the Bretagne road + towards the chateau; the others went in the direction of the river Sarthe. + Then began the usual conversation, which for twenty years had echoed at + that hour through this particular street of Alencon. It was invariably:— + </p> + <p> + “Mademoiselle Cormon looked very well to-night.” + </p> + <p> + “Mademoiselle Cormon? why, I thought her rather strange.” + </p> + <p> + “How that poor abbe fails! Did you notice that he slept? He does not know + what cards he holds; he is getting very absent-minded.” + </p> + <p> + “We shall soon have the grief of losing him.” + </p> + <p> + “What a fine night! It will be a fine day to-morrow.” + </p> + <p> + “Good weather for the apple-blossoms.” + </p> + <p> + “You beat us; but when you play with Monsieur de Valois you never do + otherwise.” + </p> + <p> + “How much did he win?” + </p> + <p> + “Well, to-night, three or four francs; he never loses.” + </p> + <p> + “True; and don’t you know there are three hundred and sixty-five days a + year? At that price his gains are the value of a farm.” + </p> + <p> + “Ah! what hands we had to-night!” + </p> + <p> + “Here you are at home, monsieur and madame, how lucky you are, while we + have half the town to cross!” + </p> + <p> + “I don’t pity you; you could afford a carriage, and dispense with the + fatigue of going on foot.” + </p> + <p> + “Ah, monsieur! we have a daughter to marry, which takes off one wheel, and + the support of our son in Paris carries off another.” + </p> + <p> + “You persist in making a magistrate of him?” + </p> + <p> + “What else can be done with a young man? Besides, there’s no shame in + serving the king.” + </p> + <p> + Sometimes a discussion on ciders and flax, always couched in the same + terms, and returning at the same time of year, was continued on the + homeward way. If any observer of human customs had lived in this street, + he would have known the months and seasons by simply overhearing the + conversations. + </p> + <p> + On this occasion it was exclusively jocose; for du Bousquier, who chanced + to march alone in front of the groups, was humming the well-known air,—little + thinking of its appropriateness,—“Tender woman! hear the warble of + the birds,” etc. To some, du Bousquier was a strong man and a misjudged + man. Ever since he had been confirmed in his present office by a royal + decree, Monsieur du Ronceret had been in favor of du Bousquier. To others + the purveyor seemed dangerous,—a man of bad habits, capable of + anything. In the provinces, as in Paris, men before the public eye are + like that statue in the fine allegorical tale of Addison, for which two + knights on arriving near it fought; for one saw it white, the other saw it + black. Then, when they were both off their horses, they saw it was white + one side and black the other. A third knight coming along declared it red. + </p> + <p> + When the chevalier went home that night, he made many reflections, as + follows:— + </p> + <p> + “It is high time now to spread a rumor of my marriage with Mademoiselle + Cormon. It will leak out from the d’Esgrignon salon, and go straight to + the bishop at Seez, and so get round through the grand vicars to the + curate of Saint-Leonard’s, who will be certain to tell it to the Abbe + Couturier; and Mademoiselle Cormon will get the shot in her upper works. + The old Marquis d’Esgrignon shall invite the Abbe de Sponde to dinner, so + as to stop all gossip about Mademoiselle Cormon if I decide against her, + or about me if she refuses me. The abbe shall be well cajoled; and + Mademoiselle Cormon will certainly not hold out against a visit from + Mademoiselle Armande, who will show her the grandeur and future chances of + such an alliance. The abbe’s property is undoubtedly as much as three + hundred thousand; her own savings must amount to more than two hundred + thousand; she has her house and Prebaudet and fifteen thousand francs a + year. A word to my friend the Comte de Fontaine, and I should be mayor of + Alencon to-morrow, and deputy. Then, once seated on the Right benches, we + shall reach the peerage, shouting, ‘Cloture!’ ‘Ordre!’” + </p> + <p> + As soon as she reached home Madame Granson had a lively argument with her + son, who could not be made to see the connection which existed between his + love and his political opinions. It was the first quarrel that had ever + troubled that poor household. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0006" id="link2HCH0006"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER VI. FINAL DISAPPOINTMENT AND ITS FIRST RESULT + </h2> + <p> + The next day, Mademoiselle Cormon, packed into the old carriole with + Josette, and looking like a pyramid on a vast sea of parcels, drove up the + rue Saint-Blaise on her way to Prebaudet, where she was overtaken by an + event which hurried on her marriage,—an event entirely unlooked for + by either Madame Granson, du Bousquier, Monsieur de Valois, or + Mademoiselle Cormon himself. Chance is the greatest of all artificers. + </p> + <p> + The day after her arrival at Prebaudet, she was innocently employed, about + eight o’clock in the morning, in listening, as she breakfasted, to the + various reports of her keeper and her gardener, when Jacquelin made a + violent irruption into the dining-room. + </p> + <p> + “Mademoiselle,” he cried, out of breath, “Monsieur l’abbe sends you an + express, the son of Mere Grosmort, with a letter. The lad left Alencon + before daylight, and he has just arrived; he ran like Penelope! Can’t I + give him a glass of wine?” + </p> + <p> + “What can have happened, Josette? Do you think my uncle can be—” + </p> + <p> + “He couldn’t write if he were,” said Josette, guessing her mistress’s + fears. + </p> + <p> + “Quick! quick!” cried Mademoiselle Cormon, as soon as she had read the + first lines. “Tell Jacquelin to harness Penelope—Get ready, Josette; + pack up everything in half an hour. We must go back to town—” + </p> + <p> + “Jacquelin!” called Josette, excited by the sentiment she saw on her + mistress’s face. + </p> + <p> + Jacquelin, informed by Josette, came in to say,— + </p> + <p> + “But, mademoiselle, Penelope is eating her oats.” + </p> + <p> + “What does that signify? I must start at once.” + </p> + <p> + “But, mademoiselle, it is going to rain.” + </p> + <p> + “Then we shall get wet.” + </p> + <p> + “The house is on fire!” muttered Josette, piqued at the silence her + mistress kept as to the contents of the letter, which she read and reread. + </p> + <p> + “Finish your coffee, at any rate, mademoiselle; don’t excite your blood; + just see how red you are.” + </p> + <p> + “Am I red, Josette?” she said, going to a mirror, from which the + quicksilver was peeling, and which presented her features to her upside + down. + </p> + <p> + “Good heavens!” thought Mademoiselle Cormon, “suppose I should look ugly! + Come, Josette; come, my dear, dress me at once; I want to be ready before + Jacquelin has harnessed Penelope. If you can’t pack my things in time, I + will leave them here rather than lose a single minute.” + </p> + <p> + If you have thoroughly comprehended the positive monomania to which the + desire of marriage had brought Mademoiselle Cormon, you will share her + emotion. The worthy uncle announced in this sudden missive that Monsieur + de Troisville, of the Russian army during the Emigration, grandson of one + of his best friends, was desirous of retiring to Alencon, and asked his, + the abbe’s hospitality, on the ground of his friendship for his + grandfather, the Vicomte de Troisville. The old abbe, alarmed at the + responsibility, entreated his niece to return instantly and help him to + receive this guest, and do the honors of the house; for the viscount’s + letter had been delayed, and he might descend upon his shoulders that very + night. + </p> + <p> + After reading this missive could there be a question of the demands of + Prebaudet? The keeper and the gardener, witnesses to Mademoiselle Cormon’s + excitement, stood aside and awaited her orders. But when, as she was about + to leave the room, they stopped her to ask for instructions, for the first + time in her life the despotic old maid, who saw to everything at Prebaudet + with her own eyes, said, to their stupefaction, “Do what you like.” This + from a mistress who carried her administration to the point of counting + her fruits, and marking them so as to order their consumption according to + the number and condition of each! + </p> + <p> + “I believe I’m dreaming,” thought Josette, as she saw her mistress flying + down the staircase like an elephant to which God has given wings. + </p> + <p> + Presently, in spite of a driving rain, Mademoiselle Cormon drove away from + Prebaudet, leaving her factotums with the reins on their necks. Jacquelin + dared not take upon himself to hasten the usual little trot of the + peaceable Penelope, who, like the beautiful queen whose name she bore, had + an appearance of making as many steps backward as she made forward. + Impatient with the pace, mademoiselle ordered Jacquelin in a sharp voice + to drive at a gallop, with the whip, if necessary, to the great + astonishment of the poor beast, so afraid was she of not having time to + arrange the house suitably to receive Monsieur de Troisville. She + calculated that the grandson of her uncle’s friend was probably about + forty years of age; a soldier just from service was undoubtedly a + bachelor; and she resolved, her uncle aiding, not to let Monsieur de + Troisville quit their house in the condition he entered it. Though + Penelope galloped, Mademoiselle Cormon, absorbed in thoughts of her + trousseau and the wedding-day, declared again and again that Jacquelin + made no way at all. She twisted about in the carriole without replying to + Josette’s questions, and talked to herself like a person who is mentally + revolving important designs. + </p> + <p> + The carriole at last arrived in the main street of Alencon, called the rue + Saint-Blaise at the end toward Montagne, but near the hotel du More it + takes the name of the rue de la Porte-de-Seez, and becomes the rue du + Bercail as it enters the road to Brittany. If the departure of + Mademoiselle Cormon made a great noise in Alencon, it is easy to imagine + the uproar caused by her sudden return on the following day, in a pouring + rain which beat her face without her apparently minding it. Penelope at a + full gallop was observed by every one, and Jacquelin’s grin, the early + hour, the parcels stuffed into the carriole topsy-turvy, and the evident + impatience of Mademoiselle Cormon were all noted. + </p> + <p> + The property of the house of Troisville lay between Alencon and Mortagne. + Josette knew the various branches of the family. A word dropped by + mademoiselle as they entered Alencon had put Josette on the scent of the + affair; and a discussion having started between them, it was settled that + the expected de Troisville must be between forty and forty-two years of + age, a bachelor, and neither rich nor poor. Mademoiselle Cormon beheld + herself speedily Vicomtesse de Troisville. + </p> + <p> + “And to think that my uncle told me nothing! thinks of nothing! inquires + nothing! That’s my uncle all over. He’d forget his own nose if it wasn’t + fastened to his face.” + </p> + <p> + Have you never remarked that, under circumstances such as these, old maids + become, like Richard III., keen-witted, fierce, bold, promissory,—if + one may so use the word,—and, like inebriate clerks, no longer in + awe of anything? + </p> + <p> + Immediately the town of Alencon, speedily informed from the farther end of + the rue de Saint-Blaise to the gate of Seez of this precipitate return, + accompanied by singular circumstances, was perturbed throughout its + viscera, both public and domestic. Cooks, shopkeepers, street passengers, + told the news from door to door; thence it rose to the upper regions. Soon + the words: “Mademoiselle Cormon has returned!” burst like a bombshell into + all households. At that moment Jacquelin was descending from his wooden + seat (polished by a process unknown to cabinet-makers), on which he + perched in front of the carriole. He opened the great green gate, round at + the top, and closed in sign of mourning; for during Mademoiselle Cormon’s + absence the evening assemblies did not take place. The faithful invited + the Abbe de Sponde to their several houses; and Monsieur de Valois paid + his debt by inviting him to dine at the Marquis d’Esgrignon’s. Jacquelin, + having opened the gate, called familiarly to Penelope, whom he had left in + the middle of the street. That animal, accustomed to this proceeding, + turned in of herself, and circled round the courtyard in a manner to avoid + injuring the flower-bed. Jacquelin then took her bridle, and led the + carriage to the portico. + </p> + <p> + “Mariette!” cried Mademoiselle Cormon. + </p> + <p> + “Mademoiselle!” exclaimed Mariette, who was occupied in closing the gate. + </p> + <p> + “Has the gentleman arrived?” + </p> + <p> + “No, mademoiselle.” + </p> + <p> + “Where’s my uncle?” + </p> + <p> + “He is at church, mademoiselle.” + </p> + <p> + Jacquelin and Josette were by this time on the first step of the portico, + holding out their hands to manoeuvre the exit of their mistress from the + carriole as she pulled herself up by the sides of the vehicle and clung to + the curtains. Mademoiselle then threw herself into their arms; because for + the last two years she dared not risk her weight on the iron step, affixed + to the frame of the carriage by a horrible mechanism of clumsy bolts. + </p> + <p> + When Mademoiselle Cormon reached the level of the portico she looked about + her courtyard with an air of satisfaction. + </p> + <p> + “Come, come, Mariette, leave that gate alone; I want you.” + </p> + <p> + “There’s something in the wind,” whispered Jacquelin, as Mariette passed + the carriole. + </p> + <p> + “Mariette, what provisions have you in the house?” asked Mademoiselle + Cormon, sitting down on the bench in the long antechamber like a person + overcome with fatigue. + </p> + <p> + “I haven’t anything,” replied Mariette, with her hands on her hips. + “Mademoiselle knows very well that during her absence Monsieur l’abbe + dines out every day. Yesterday I went to fetch him from Mademoiselle + Armande’s.” + </p> + <p> + “Where is he now?” + </p> + <p> + “Monsieur l’abbe? Why, at church; he won’t be in before three o’clock.” + </p> + <p> + “He thinks of nothing! he ought to have told you to go to market. + Mariette, go at once; and without wasting money, don’t spare it; get all + there is that is good and delicate. Go to the diligence office and see if + you can send for pates; and I want shrimps from the Brillante. What + o’clock is it?” + </p> + <p> + “A quarter to nine.” + </p> + <p> + “Good heavens! Mariette, don’t stop to chatter. The person my uncle + expects may arrive at any moment. If we had to give him breakfast, where + should we be with nothing in the house?” + </p> + <p> + Mariette turned back to Penelope in a lather, and looked at Jacquelin as + if she would say, “Mademoiselle has put her hand on a husband <i>this</i> + time.” + </p> + <p> + “Now, Josette,” continued the old maid, “let us see where we had better + put Monsieur de Troisville to sleep.” + </p> + <p> + With what joy she said the words, “Put Monsieur de Troisville” (pronounced + Treville) “to sleep.” How many ideas in those few words! The old maid was + bathed in hope. + </p> + <p> + “Will you put him in the green chamber?” + </p> + <p> + “The bishop’s room? No; that’s too near mine,” said Mademoiselle Cormon. + “All very well for monseigneur; he’s a saintly man.” + </p> + <p> + “Give him your uncle’s room.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, that’s so bare; it is actually indecent.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, then, mademoiselle, why not arrange a bed in your boudoir? It is + easily done; and there’s a fire-place. Moreau can certainly find in his + warerooms a bed to match the hangings.” + </p> + <p> + “You are right, Josette. Go yourself to Moreau; consult with him what to + do; I authorize you to get what is wanted. If the bed could be put up + to-night without Monsieur de Troisville observing it (in case Monsieur de + Troisville arrives while Moreau is here), I should like it. If Moreau + won’t engage to do this, then I must put Monsieur de Troisville in the + green room, although Monsieur de Troisville would be so very near to me.” + </p> + <p> + Josette was departing when her mistress recalled her. + </p> + <p> + “Stop! explain the matter to Jacquelin,” she cried, in a loud nervous + tone. “Tell <i>him</i> to go to Moreau; I must be dressed! Fancy if + Monsieur de Troisville surprised me as I am now! and my uncle not here to + receive him! Oh, uncle, uncle! Come, Josette; come and dress me at once.” + </p> + <p> + “But Penelope?” said Josette, imprudently. + </p> + <p> + “Always Penelope! Penelope this, Penelope that! Is Penelope the mistress + of this house?” + </p> + <p> + “But she is all of a lather, and she hasn’t had time to eat her oats.” + </p> + <p> + “Then let her starve!” cried Mademoiselle Cormon; “provided I marry,” she + thought to herself. + </p> + <p> + Hearing these words, which seemed to her like homicide, Josette stood + still for a moment, speechless. Then, at a gesture from her mistress, she + ran headlong down the steps of the portico. + </p> + <p> + “The devil is in her, Jacquelin,” were the first words she uttered. + </p> + <p> + Thus all things conspired on this fateful day to produce the great scenic + effect which decided the future life of Mademoiselle Cormon. The town was + already topsy-turvy in mind, as a consequence of the five extraordinary + circumstances which accompanied Mademoiselle Cormon’s return; to wit, the + pouring rain; Penelope at a gallop, in a lather, and blown; the early + hour; the parcels half-packed; and the singular air of the excited old + maid. But when Mariette made an invasion of the market, and bought all the + best things; when Jacquelin went to the principal upholsterer in Alencon, + two doors from the church, in search of a bed,—there was matter for + the gravest conjectures. These extraordinary events were discussed on all + sides; they occupied the minds of every one, even Mademoiselle Armande + herself, with whom was Monsieur de Valois. Within two days the town of + Alencon had been agitated by such startling events that certain good women + were heard to remark that the world was coming to an end. This last news, + however, resolved itself into a single question, “What is happening at the + Cormons?” + </p> + <p> + The Abbe de Sponde, adroitly questioned when he left Saint-Leonard’s to + take his daily walk with the Abbe Couturier, replied with his usual + kindliness that he expected the Vicomte de Troisville, a nobleman in the + service of Russia during the Emigration, who was returning to Alencon to + settle there. From two to five o’clock a species of labial telegraphy went + on throughout the town; and all the inhabitants learned that Mademoiselle + Cormon had at last found a husband by letter, and was about to marry the + Vicomte de Troisville. Some said, “Moreau has sold them a bed.” The bed + was six feet wide in that quarter; it was four feet wide at Madame + Granson’s, in the rue du Bercail; but it was reduced to a simple couch at + Monsieur du Ronceret’s, where du Bousquier was dining. The lesser + bourgeoisie declared that the cost was eleven hundred francs. But + generally it was thought that, as to this, rumor was counting the chickens + before they were hatched. In other quarters it was said that Mariette had + made such a raid on the market that the price of carp had risen. At the + end of the rue Saint-Blaise, Penelope had dropped dead. This decease was + doubted in the house of the receiver-general; but at the Prefecture it was + authenticated that the poor beast had expired as she turned into the + courtyard of the hotel Cormon, with such velocity had the old maid flown + to meet her husband. The harness-maker, who lived at the corner of the rue + de Seez, was bold enough to call at the house and ask if anything had + happened to Mademoiselle Cormon’s carriage, in order to discover whether + Penelope was really dead. From the end of the rue Saint-Blaise to the end + of the rue du Bercail, it was then made known that, thanks to Jacquelin’s + devotion, Penelope, that silent victim of her mistress’s impetuosity, + still lived, though she seemed to be suffering. + </p> + <p> + Along the road to Brittany the Vicomte de Troisville was stated to be a + younger son without a penny, for the estates in Perche belonged to the + Marquis de Troisville, peer of France, who had children; the marriage + would be, therefore, an enormous piece of luck for a poor emigre. The + aristocracy along that road approved of the marriage; Mademoiselle Cormon + could not do better with her money. But among the Bourgeoisie, the Vicomte + de Troisville was a Russian general who had fought against France, and was + now returning with a great fortune made at the court of Saint-Petersburg; + he was a <i>foreigner</i>; one of those <i>allies</i> so hated by the + liberals; the Abbe de Sponde had slyly negotiated this marriage. All the + persons who had a right to call upon Mademoiselle Cormon determined to do + so that very evening. + </p> + <p> + During this transurban excitement, which made that of Suzanne almost a + forgotten affair, Mademoiselle was not less agitated; she was filled with + a variety of novel emotions. Looking about her salon, dining-room, and + boudoir, cruel apprehensions took possession of her. A species of demon + showed her with a sneer her old-fashioned luxury. The handsome things she + had admired from her youth up she suddenly suspected of age and absurdity. + In short, she felt that fear which takes possession of nearly all authors + when they read over a work they have hitherto thought proof against every + exacting or blase critic: new situations seem timeworn; the best-turned + and most highly polished phrases limp and squint; metaphors and images + grin or contradict each other; whatsoever is false strikes the eye. In + like manner this poor woman trembled lest she should see on the lips of + Monsieur de Troisville a smile of contempt for this episcopal salon; she + dreaded the cold look he might cast over that ancient dining-room; in + short, she feared the frame might injure and age the portrait. Suppose + these antiquities should cast a reflected light of old age upon herself? + This question made her flesh creep. She would gladly, at that moment, + spend half her savings on refitting her house if some fairy wand could do + it in a moment. Where is the general who has not trembled on the eve of a + battle? The poor woman was now between her Austerlitz and her Waterloo. + </p> + <p> + “Madame la Vicomtesse de Troisville,” she said to herself; “a noble name! + Our property will go to a good family, at any rate.” + </p> + <p> + She fell a prey to an irritation which made every fibre of her nerves + quiver to all their papillae, long sunk in flesh. Her blood, lashed by + this new hope, was in motion. She felt the strength to converse, if + necessary, with Monsieur de Troisville. + </p> + <p> + It is useless to relate the activity with which Josette, Jacquelin, + Mariette, Moreau, and his agents went about their functions. It was like + the busyness of ants about their eggs. All that daily care had already + rendered neat and clean was again gone over and brushed and rubbed and + scrubbed. The china of ceremony saw the light; the damask linen marked “A, + B, C” was drawn from depths where it lay under a triple guard of + wrappings, still further defended by formidable lines of pins. Above all, + Mademoiselle Cormon sacrificed on the altar of her hopes three bottles of + the famous liqueurs of Madame Amphoux, the most illustrious of all the + distillers of the tropics,—a name very dear to gourmets. Thanks to + the devotion of her lieutenants, mademoiselle was soon ready for the + conflict. The different weapons—furniture, cookery, provisions, in + short, all the various munitions of war, together with a body of reserve + forces—were ready along the whole line. Jacquelin, Mariette, and + Josette received orders to appear in full dress. The garden was raked. The + old maid regretted that she couldn’t come to an understanding with the + nightingales nesting in the trees, in order to obtain their finest + trilling. + </p> + <p> + At last, about four o’clock, at the very moment when the Abbe de Sponde + returned home, and just as mademoiselle began to think she had set the + table with the best plate and linen and prepared the choicest dishes to no + purpose, the click-clack of a postilion was heard in the Val-Noble. + </p> + <p> + “‘Tis he!” she said to herself, the snap of the whip echoing in her heart. + </p> + <p> + True enough; heralded by all this gossip, a post-chaise, in which was a + single gentleman, made so great a sensation coming down the rue + Saint-Blaise and turning into the rue du Cours that several little gamains + and some grown persons followed it, and stood in groups about the gate of + the hotel Cormon to see it enter. Jacquelin, who foresaw his own marriage + in that of his mistress, had also heard the click-clack in the rue + Saint-Blaise, and had opened wide the gates into the courtyard. The + postilion, a friend of his, took pride in making a fine turn-in, and drew + up sharply before the portico. The abbe came forward to greet his guest, + whose carriage was emptied with a speed that highwaymen might put into the + operation; the chaise itself was rolled into the coach-house, the gates + closed, and in a few moments all signs of Monsieur de Troisville’s arrival + had disappeared. Never did two chemicals blend into each other with + greater rapidity than the hotel Cormon displayed in absorbing the Vicomte + de Troisville. + </p> + <p> + Mademoiselle, whose heart was beating like a lizard caught by a herdsman, + sat heroically still on her sofa, beside the fire in the salon. Josette + opened the door; and the Vicomte de Troisville, followed by the Abbe de + Sponde, presented himself to the eyes of the spinster. + </p> + <p> + “Niece, this is Monsieur le Vicomte de Troisville, the grandson of one of + my old schoolmates; Monsieur de Troisville, my niece, Mademoiselle + Cormon.” + </p> + <p> + “Ah! that good uncle; how well he does it!” thought Rose-Marie-Victoire. + </p> + <p> + The Vicomte de Troisville was, to paint him in two words, du Bousquier + ennobled. Between the two men there was precisely the difference which + separates the vulgar style from the noble style. If they had both been + present, the most fanatic liberal would not have denied the existence of + aristocracy. The viscount’s strength had all the distinction of elegance; + his figure had preserved its magnificent dignity. He had blue eyes, black + hair, an olive skin, and looked to be about forty-six years of age. You + might have thought him a handsome Spaniard preserved in the ice of Russia. + His manner, carriage, and attitude, all denoted a diplomat who had seen + Europe. His dress was that of a well-bred traveller. As he seemed + fatigued, the abbe offered to show him to his room, and was much amazed + when his niece threw open the door of the boudoir, transformed into a + bedroom. + </p> + <p> + Mademoiselle Cormon and her uncle then left the noble stranger to attend + to his own affairs, aided by Jacquelin, who brought up his luggage, and + went themselves to walk beside the river until their guest had made his + toilet. Although the Abbe de Sponde chanced to be even more absent-minded + than usual, Mademoiselle Cormon was not less preoccupied. They both walked + on in silence. The old maid had never before met any man as seductive as + this Olympean viscount. She might have said to herself, as the Germans do, + “This is my ideal!” instead of which she felt herself bound from head to + foot, and could only say, “Here’s my affair!” Then she flew to Mariette to + know if the dinner could be put back a while without loss of excellence. + </p> + <p> + “Uncle, your Monsieur de Troisville is very amiable,” she said, on + returning. + </p> + <p> + “Why, niece, he hasn’t as yet said a word.” + </p> + <p> + “But you can see it in his ways, his manners, his face. Is he a bachelor?” + </p> + <p> + “I’m sure I don’t know,” replied the abbe, who was thinking of a + discussion on mercy, lately begun between the Abbe Couturier and himself. + “Monsieur de Troisville wrote me that he wanted to buy a house here. If he + was married, he wouldn’t come alone on such an errand,” added the abbe, + carelessly, not conceiving the idea that his niece could be thinking of + marriage. + </p> + <p> + “Is he rich?” + </p> + <p> + “He is a younger son of the younger branch,” replied her uncle. “His + grandfather commanded a squadron, but the father of this young man made a + bad marriage.” + </p> + <p> + “Young man!” exclaimed the old maid. “It seems to me, uncle, that he must + be at least forty-five.” She felt the strongest desire to put their years + on a par. + </p> + <p> + “Yes,” said the abbe; “but to a poor priest of seventy, Rose, a man of + forty seems a youth.” + </p> + <p> + All Alencon knew by this time that Monsieur de Troisville had arrived at + the Cormons. The traveller soon rejoined his hosts, and began to admire + the Brillante, the garden, and the house. + </p> + <p> + “Monsieur l’abbe,” he said, “my whole ambition is to have a house like + this.” The old maid fancied a declaration lurked in that speech, and she + lowered her eyes. “You must enjoy it very much, mademoiselle,” added the + viscount. + </p> + <p> + “How could it be otherwise? It has been in our family since 1574, the + period at which one of our ancestors, steward to the Duc d’Alencon, + acquired the land and built the house,” replied Mademoiselle Cormon. “It + is built on piles,” she added. + </p> + <p> + Jacquelin announced dinner. Monsieur de Troisville offered his arm to the + happy woman, who endeavored not to lean too heavily upon it; she feared, + as usual, to seem to make advances. + </p> + <p> + “Everything is so harmonious here,” said the viscount, as he seated + himself at table. + </p> + <p> + “Yes, our trees are full of birds, which give us concerts for nothing; no + one ever frightens them; and the nightingales sing at night,” said + Mademoiselle Cormon. + </p> + <p> + “I was speaking of the interior of the house,” remarked the viscount, who + did not trouble himself to observe Mademoiselle Cormon, and therefore did + not perceive the dulness of her mind. “Everything is so in keeping,—the + tones of color, the furniture, the general character.” + </p> + <p> + “But it costs a great deal; taxes are enormous,” responded the excellent + woman. + </p> + <p> + “Ah! taxes are high, are they?” said the viscount, preoccupied with his + own ideas. + </p> + <p> + “I don’t know,” replied the abbe. “My niece manages the property of each + of us.” + </p> + <p> + “Taxes are not of much importance to the rich,” said Mademoiselle Cormon, + not wishing to be thought miserly. “As for the furniture, I shall leave it + as it is, and change nothing,—unless I marry; and then, of course, + everything here must suit the husband.” + </p> + <p> + “You have noble principles, mademoiselle,” said the viscount, smiling. + “You will make one happy man.” + </p> + <p> + “No one ever made to me such a pretty speech,” thought the old maid. + </p> + <p> + The viscount complimented Mademoiselle Cormon on the excellence of her + service and the admirable arrangements of the house, remarking that he had + supposed the provinces behind the age in that respect; but, on the + contrary, he found them, as the English say, “very comfortable.” + </p> + <p> + “What can that word mean?” she thought. “Oh, where is the chevalier to + explain it to me? ‘Comfortable,’—there seem to be several words in + it. Well, courage!” she said to herself. “I can’t be expected to answer a + foreign language—But,” she continued aloud, feeling her tongue + untied by the eloquence which nearly all human creatures find in momentous + circumstances, “we have a very brilliant society here, monsieur. It + assembles at my house, and you shall judge of it this evening, for some of + my faithful friends have no doubt heard of my return and your arrival. + Among them is the Chevalier de Valois, a seigneur of the old court, a man + of infinite wit and taste; then there is Monsieur le Marquis d’Esgrignon + and Mademoiselle Armande, his sister” (she bit her tongue with vexation),—“a + woman remarkable in her way,” she added. “She resolved to remain unmarried + in order to leave all her fortune to her brother and nephew.” + </p> + <p> + “Ah!” exclaimed the viscount. “Yes, the d’Esgrignons,—I remember + them.” + </p> + <p> + “Alencon is very gay,” continued the old maid, now fairly launched. + “There’s much amusement: the receiver-general gives balls; the prefect is + an amiable man; and Monseigneur the bishop sometimes honors us with a + visit—” + </p> + <p> + “Well, then,” said the viscount, smiling, “I have done wisely to come + back, like the hare, to die in my form.” + </p> + <p> + “Yes,” she said. “I, too, attach myself or I die.” + </p> + <p> + The viscount smiled. + </p> + <p> + “Ah!” thought the old maid, “all is well; he understands me.” + </p> + <p> + The conversation continued on generalities. By one of those mysterious + unknown and undefinable faculties, Mademoiselle Cormon found in her brain, + under the pressure of her desire to be agreeable, all the phrases and + opinions of the Chevalier de Valois. It was like a duel in which the devil + himself pointed the pistol. Never was any adversary better aimed at. The + viscount was far too well-bred to speak of the excellence of the dinner; + but his silence was praise. As he drank the delicious wines which + Jacquelin served to him profusely, he seemed to feel he was with friends, + and to meet them with pleasure; for the true connoisseur does not applaud, + he enjoys. He inquired the price of land, of houses, of estates; he made + Mademoiselle Cormon describe at length the confluence of the Sarthe and + the Brillante; he expressed surprise that the town was placed so far from + the river, and seemed to be much interested in the topography of the + place. + </p> + <p> + The silent abbe left his niece to throw the dice of conversation; and she + truly felt that she pleased Monsieur de Troisville, who smiled at her + gracefully, and committed himself during this dinner far more than her + most eager suitors had ever done in ten days. Imagine, therefore, the + little attentions with which he was petted; you might have thought him a + cherished lover, whose return brought joy to the household. Mademoiselle + foresaw the moment when the viscount wanted bread; she watched his every + look; when he turned his head she adroitly put upon his plate a portion of + some dish he seemed to like; had he been a gourmand, she would almost have + killed him; but what a delightful specimen of the attentions she would + show to a husband! She did not commit the folly of depreciating herself; + on the contrary, she set every sail bravely, ran up all her flags, assumed + the bearing of the queen of Alencon, and boasted of her excellent + preserves. In fact, she fished for compliments in speaking of herself, for + she saw that she pleased the viscount; the truth being that her eager + desire had so transformed her that she became almost a woman. + </p> + <p> + At dessert she heard, not without emotions of delight, certain sounds in + the antechamber and salon which denoted the arrival of her usual guests. + She called the attention of her uncle and Monsieur de Troisville to this + prompt attendance as a proof of the affection that was felt for her; + whereas it was really the result of the poignant curiosity which had + seized upon the town. Impatient to show herself in all her glory, + Mademoiselle Cormon told Jacquelin to serve coffee and liqueurs in the + salon, where he presently set out, in view of the whole company, a + magnificent liqueur-stand of Dresden china which saw the light only twice + a year. This circumstance was taken note of by the company, standing ready + to gossip over the merest trifle:— + </p> + <p> + “The deuce!” muttered du Bousquier. “Actually Madame Amphoux’s liqueurs, + which they only serve at the four church festivals!” + </p> + <p> + “Undoubtedly the marriage was arranged a year ago by letter,” said the + chief-justice du Ronceret. “The postmaster tells me his office has + received letters postmarked Odessa for more than a year.” + </p> + <p> + Madame Granson trembled. The Chevalier de Valois, though he had dined with + the appetite of four men, turned pale even to the left section of his + face. Feeling that he was about to betray himself, he said hastily,— + </p> + <p> + “Don’t you think it is very cold to-day? I am almost frozen.” + </p> + <p> + “The neighborhood of Russia, perhaps,” said du Bousquier. + </p> + <p> + The chevalier looked at him as if to say, “Well played!” + </p> + <p> + Mademoiselle Cormon appeared so radiant, so triumphant, that the company + thought her handsome. This extraordinary brilliancy was not the effect of + sentiment only. Since early morning her blood had been whirling + tempestuously within her, and her nerves were agitated by the presentiment + of some great crisis. It required all these circumstances combined to make + her so unlike herself. With what joy did she now make her solemn + presentation of the viscount to the chevalier, the chevalier to the + viscount, and all Alencon to Monsieur de Troisville, and Monsieur de + Troisville to all Alencon! + </p> + <p> + By an accident wholly explainable, the viscount and chevalier, aristocrats + by nature, came instantly into unison; they recognized each other at once + as men belonging to the same sphere. Accordingly, they began to converse + together, standing before the fireplace. A circle formed around them; and + their conversation, though uttered in a low voice, was listened to in + religious silence. To give the effect of this scene it is necessary to + dramatize it, and to picture Mademoiselle Cormon occupied in pouring out + the coffee of her imaginary suitor, with her back to the fireplace. + </p> + <p> + Monsieur de Valois. “Monsieur le vicomte has come, I am told, to settle in + Alencon?” + </p> + <p> + Monsieur de Troisville. “Yes, monsieur, I am looking for a house.” + [Mademoiselle Cormon, cup in hand, turns round.] “It must be a large + house” [Mademoiselle Cormon offers him the cup] “to lodge my whole + family.” [The eyes of the old maid are troubled.] + </p> + <p> + Monsieur de Valois. “Are you married?” + </p> + <p> + Monsieur de Troisville. “Yes, for the last sixteen years, to a daughter of + the Princess Scherbellof.” + </p> + <p> + Mademoiselle Cormon fainted; du Bousquier, who saw her stagger, sprang + forward and received her in his arms; some one opened the door and allowed + him to pass out with his enormous burden. The fiery republican, instructed + by Josette, found strength to carry the old maid to her bedroom, where he + laid her out on the bed. Josette, armed with scissors, cut the corset, + which was terribly tight. Du Bousquier flung water on Mademoiselle + Cormon’s face and bosom, which, released from the corset, overflowed like + the Loire in flood. The poor woman opened her eyes, saw du Bousquier, and + gave a cry of modesty at the sight of him. Du Bousquier retired at once, + leaving six women, at the head of whom was Madame Granson, radiant with + joy, to take care of the invalid. + </p> + <p> + What had the Chevalier de Valois been about all this time? Faithful to his + system, he had covered the retreat. + </p> + <p> + “That poor Mademoiselle Cormon,” he said to Monsieur de Troisville, gazing + at the assembly, whose laughter was repressed by his cool aristocratic + glances, “her blood is horribly out of order; she wouldn’t be bled before + going to Prebaudet (her estate),—and see the result!” + </p> + <p> + “She came back this morning in the rain,” said the Abbe de Sponde, “and + she may have taken cold. It won’t be anything; it is only a little upset + she is subject to.” + </p> + <p> + “She told me yesterday she had not had one for three months, adding that + she was afraid it would play her a trick at last,” said the chevalier. + </p> + <p> + “Ha! so you are married?” said Jacquelin to himself as he looked at + Monsieur de Troisville, who was quietly sipping his coffee. + </p> + <p> + The faithful servant espoused his mistress’s disappointment; he divined + it, and he promptly carried away the liqueurs of Madame Amphoux, which + were offered to a bachelor, and not to the husband of a Russian woman. + </p> + <p> + All these details were noticed and laughed at. The Abbe de Sponde knew the + object of Monsieur de Troisville’s journey; but, absent-minded as usual, + he forgot it, not supposing that his niece could have the slightest + interest in Monsieur de Troisville’s marriage. As for the viscount, + preoccupied with the object of his journey, and, like many husbands, not + eager to talk about his wife, he had had no occasion to say he was + married; besides, he would naturally suppose that Mademoiselle Cormon knew + it. + </p> + <p> + Du Bousquier reappeared, and was questioned furiously. One of the six + women came down soon after, and announced that Mademoiselle Cormon was + much better, and that the doctor had come. She intended to stay in bed, as + it was necessary to bleed her. The salon was now full. Mademoiselle + Cormon’s absence allowed the ladies present to discuss the tragi-comic + scene—embellished, extended, historified, embroidered, wreathed, + colored, and adorned—which had just taken place, and which, on the + morrow, was destined to occupy all Alencon. + </p> + <p> + “That good Monsieur du Bousquier! how well he carried you!” said Josette + to her mistress. “He was really pale at the sight of you; he loves you + still.” + </p> + <p> + That speech served as closure to this solemn and terrible evening. + </p> + <p> + Throughout the morning of the next day every circumstance of the late + comedy was known in the household of Alencon, and—let us say it to + the shame of that town,—they caused inextinguishable laughter. But + on that day Mademoiselle Cormon (much benefited by the bleeding) would + have seemed sublime even to the boldest scoffers, had they witnessed the + noble dignity, the splendid Christian resignation which influenced her as + she gave her arm to her involuntary deceiver to go into breakfast. Cruel + jesters! why could you not have seen her as she said to the viscount,— + </p> + <p> + “Madame de Troisville will have difficulty in finding a suitable house; do + me the favor, monsieur, of accepting the use of mine during the time you + are in search of yours.” + </p> + <p> + “But, mademoiselle, I have two sons and two daughters; we should greatly + inconvenience you.” + </p> + <p> + “Pray do not refuse me,” she said earnestly. + </p> + <p> + “I made you the same offer in the answer I wrote to your letter,” said the + abbe; “but you did not receive it.” + </p> + <p> + “What, uncle! then you knew—” + </p> + <p> + The poor woman stopped. Josette sighed. Neither the viscount nor the abbe + observed anything amiss. After breakfast the Abbe de Sponde carried off + his guest, as agreed upon the previous evening, to show him the various + houses in Alencon which could be bought, and the lots of lands on which he + might build. + </p> + <p> + Left alone in the salon, Mademoiselle Cormon said to Josette, with a + deeply distressed air, “My child, I am now the talk of the whole town.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, then, mademoiselle, you should marry.” + </p> + <p> + “But I am not prepared to make a choice.” + </p> + <p> + “Bah! if I were in your place, I should take Monsieur du Bousquier.” + </p> + <p> + “Josette, Monsieur de Valois says he is so republican.” + </p> + <p> + “They don’t know what they say, your gentlemen: sometimes they declare + that he robbed the republic; he couldn’t love it if he did that,” said + Josette, departing. + </p> + <p> + “That girl has an amazing amount of sense,” thought Mademoiselle Cormon, + who remained alone, a prey to her perplexities. + </p> + <p> + She saw plainly that a prompt marriage was the only way to silence the + town. This last checkmate, so evidently mortifying, was of a nature to + drive her into some extreme action; for persons deficient in mind find + difficulty in getting out of any path, either good or evil, into which + they have entered. + </p> + <p> + Each of the two old bachelors had fully understood the situation in which + Mademoiselle Cormon was about to find herself; consequently, each resolved + to call in the course of that morning to ask after her health, and take + occasion, in bachelor language, to “press his point.” Monsieur de Valois + considered that such an occasion demanded a painstaking toilet; he + therefore took a bath and groomed himself with extraordinary care. For the + first and last time Cesarine observed him putting on with incredible art a + suspicion of rouge. Du Bousquier, on the other hand, that coarse + republican, spurred by a brisk will, paid no attention to his dress, and + arrived the first. + </p> + <p> + Such little things decide the fortunes of men, as they do of empires. + Kellerman’s charge at Marengo, Blucher’s arrival at Waterloo, Louis XIV.‘s + disdain for Prince Eugene, the rector of Denain,—all these great + causes of fortune or catastrophe history has recorded; but no one ever + profits by them to avoid the small neglects of their own life. + Consequently, observe what happens: the Duchesse de Langeais (see “History + of the Thirteen”) makes herself a nun for the lack of ten minutes’ + patience; Judge Popinot (see “Commission in Lunacy”) puts off till the + morrow the duty of examining the Marquis d’Espard; Charles Grandet (see + “Eugenie Grandet”) goes to Paris from Bordeaux instead of returning by + Nantes; and such events are called chance or fatality! A touch of rouge + carefully applied destroyed the hopes of the Chevalier de Valois; could + that nobleman perish in any other way? He had lived by the Graces, and he + was doomed to die by their hand. While the chevalier was giving this last + touch to his toilet the rough du Bousquier was entering the salon of the + desolate old maid. This entrance produced a thought in Mademoiselle + Cormon’s mind which was favorable to the republican, although in all other + respects the Chevalier de Valois held the advantages. + </p> + <p> + “God wills it!” she said piously, on seeing du Bousquier. + </p> + <p> + “Mademoiselle, you will not, I trust, think my eagerness importunate. I + could not trust to my stupid Rene to bring news of your condition, and + therefore I have come myself.” + </p> + <p> + “I am perfectly recovered,” she replied, in a tone of emotion. “I thank + you, Monsieur du Bousquier,” she added, after a slight pause, and in a + significant tone of voice, “for the trouble you have taken, and for that + which I gave you yesterday—” + </p> + <p> + She remembered having been in his arms, and that again seemed to her an + order from heaven. She had been seen for the first time by a man with her + laces cut, her treasures violently bursting from their casket. + </p> + <p> + “I carried you with such joy that you seemed to me light.” + </p> + <p> + Here Mademoiselle Cormon looked at du Bousquier as she had never yet + looked at any man in the world. Thus encouraged, the purveyor cast upon + the old maid a glance which reached her heart. + </p> + <p> + “I would,” he said, “that that moment had given me the right to keep you + as mine forever” [she listened with a delighted air]; “as you lay fainting + upon that bed, you were enchanting. I have never in my life seen a more + beautiful person,—and I have seen many handsome women. Plump ladies + have this advantage: they are superb to look upon; they have only to show + themselves and they triumph.” + </p> + <p> + “I fear you are making fun of me,” said the old maid, “and that is not + kind when all the town will probably misinterpret what happened to me + yesterday.” + </p> + <p> + “As true as my name is du Bousquier, mademoiselle, I have never changed in + my feelings toward you; and your first refusal has not discouraged me.” + </p> + <p> + The old maid’s eyes were lowered. There was a moment of cruel silence for + du Bousquier, and then Mademoiselle Cormon decided on her course. She + raised her eyelids; tears flowed from her eyes, and she gave du Bousquier + a tender glance. + </p> + <p> + “If that is so, monsieur,” she said, in a trembling voice, “promise me to + live in a Christian manner, and not oppose my religious customs, but to + leave me the right to select my confessors, and I will grant you my hand”; + as she said the words, she held it out to him. + </p> + <p> + Du Bousquier seized the good fat hand so full of money, and kissed it + solemnly. + </p> + <p> + “But,” she said, allowing him to kiss it, “one thing more I must require + of you.” + </p> + <p> + “If it is a possible thing, it is granted,” replied the purveyor. + </p> + <p> + “Alas!” returned the old maid. “For my sake, I must ask you to take upon + yourself a sin which I feel to be enormous,—for to lie is one of the + capital sins. But you will confess it, will you not? We will do penance + for it together” [they looked at each other tenderly]. “Besides, it may be + one of those lies which the Church permits as necessary—” + </p> + <p> + “Can she be as Suzanne says she is?” thought du Bousquier. “What luck! + Well, mademoiselle, what is it?” he said aloud. + </p> + <p> + “That you will take upon yourself to—” + </p> + <p> + “What?” + </p> + <p> + “To say that this marriage has been agreed upon between us for the last + six months.” + </p> + <p> + “Charming woman,” said the purveyor, in the tone of a man willing to + devote himself, “such sacrifices can be made only for a creature adored + these ten years.” + </p> + <p> + “In spite of my harshness?” she said. + </p> + <p> + “Yes, in spite of your harshness.” + </p> + <p> + “Monsieur du Bousquier, I have misjudged you.” + </p> + <p> + Again she held out the fat red hand, which du Bousquier kissed again. + </p> + <p> + At this moment the door opened; the betrothed pair, looking round to see + who entered, beheld the delightful, but tardy Chevalier de Valois. + </p> + <p> + “Ah!” he said, on entering, “I see you are about to be up, fair queen.” + </p> + <p> + She smiled at the chevalier, feeling a weight upon her heart. Monsieur de + Valois, remarkably young and seductive, had the air of a Lauzun + re-entering the apartments of the Grande Mademoiselle in the Palais-Royal. + </p> + <p> + “Hey! dear du Bousquier,” said he, in a jaunty tone, so sure was he of + success, “Monsieur de Troisville and the Abbe de Sponde are examining your + house like appraisers.” + </p> + <p> + “Faith!” said du Bousquier, “if the Vicomte de Troisville wants it, it it + is his for forty thousand francs. It is useless to me now. If mademoiselle + will permit—it must soon be known—Mademoiselle, may I tell it?—Yes! + Well, then, be the first, <i>my dear Chevalier</i>, to hear” [Mademoiselle + Cormon dropped her eyes] “of the honor that mademoiselle has done me, the + secret of which I have kept for some months. We shall be married in a few + days; the contract is already drawn, and we shall sign it to-morrow. You + see, therefore, that my house in the rue du Cygne is useless to me. I have + been privately looking for a purchaser for some time; and the Abbe de + Sponde, who knew that fact, has naturally taken Monsieur de Troisville to + see the house.” + </p> + <p> + This falsehood bore such an appearance of truth that the chevalier was + taken in by it. That “my dear chevalier” was like the revenge taken by + Peter the Great on Charles XII. at Pultawa for all his past defeats. Du + Bousquier revenged himself deliciously for the thousand little shafts he + had long borne in silence; but in his triumph he made a lively youthful + gesture by running his hands through his hair, and in so doing he—knocked + aside his false front. + </p> + <p> + “I congratulate you both,” said the chevalier, with an agreeable air; “and + I wish that the marriage may end like a fairy tale: <i>They were happy + ever after, and had—many—children</i>!” So saying, he took a + pinch of snuff. “But, monsieur,” he added satirically, “you forget—that + you are wearing a false front.” + </p> + <p> + Du Bousquier blushed. The false front was hanging half a dozen inches from + his skull. Mademoiselle Cormon raised her eyes, saw that skull in all its + nudity, and lowered them, abashed. Du Bousquier cast upon the chevalier + the most venomous look that toad ever darted on its prey. + </p> + <p> + “Dogs of aristocrats who despise me,” thought he, “I’ll crush you some + day.” + </p> + <p> + The chevalier thought he had recovered his advantage. But Mademoiselle + Cormon was not a woman to understand the connection which the chevalier + intimated between his congratulatory wish and the false front. Besides, + even if she had comprehended it, her word was passed, her hand given. + Monsieur de Valois saw at once that all was lost. The innocent woman, with + the two now silent men before her, wished, true to her sense of duty, to + amuse them. + </p> + <p> + “Why not play a game of piquet together?” she said artlessly, without the + slightest malice. + </p> + <p> + Du Bousquier smiled, and went, as the future master of the house, to fetch + the piquet table. Whether the Chevalier de Valois lost his head, or + whether he wanted to stay and study the causes of his disaster and remedy + it, certain it is that he allowed himself to be led like a lamb to the + slaughter. He had received the most violent knock-down blow that ever + struck a man; any nobleman would have lost his senses for less. + </p> + <p> + The Abbe de Sponde and the Vicomte de Troisville soon returned. + Mademoiselle Cormon instantly rose, hurried into the antechamber, and took + her uncle apart to tell him her resolution. Learning that the house in the + rue du Cygne exactly suited the viscount, she begged her future husband to + do her the kindness to tell him that her uncle knew it was for sale. She + dared not confide that lie to the abbe, fearing his absent-mindedness. The + lie, however, prospered better than if it had been a virtuous action. In + the course of that evening all Alencon heard the news. For the last four + days the town had had as much to think of as during the fatal days of 1814 + and 1815. Some laughed; others admitted the marriage. These blamed it; + those approved it. The middle classes of Alencon rejoiced; they regarded + it as a victory. The next day, among friends, the Chevalier de Valois said + a cruel thing:— + </p> + <p> + “The Cormons end as they began; there’s only a hand’s breadth between a + steward and a purveyor.” + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0007" id="link2HCH0007"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER VII. OTHER RESULTS + </h2> + <p> + The news of Mademoiselle Cormon’s choice stabbed poor Athanase Granson to + the heart; but he showed no outward sign of the terrible agitation within + him. When he first heard of the marriage he was at the house of the + chief-justice, du Ronceret, where his mother was playing boston. Madame + Granson looked at her son in a mirror, and thought him pale; but he had + been so all day, for a vague rumor of the matter had already reached him. + </p> + <p> + Mademoiselle Cormon was the card on which Athanase had staked his life; + and the cold presentiment of a catastrophe was already upon him. When the + soul and the imagination have magnified a misfortune and made it too heavy + for the shoulders and the brain to bear; when a hope long cherished, the + realization of which would pacify the vulture feeding on the heart, is + balked, and the man has faith neither in himself, despite his powers, nor + in the future, despite of the Divine power,—then that man is lost. + Athanase was a fruit of the Imperial system of education. Fatality, the + Emperor’s religion, had filtered down from the throne to the lowest ranks + of the army and the benches of the lyceums. Athanase sat still, with his + eyes fixed on Madame du Ronceret’s cards, in a stupor that might so well + pass for indifference that Madame Granson herself was deceived about his + feelings. This apparent unconcern explained her son’s refusal to make a + sacrifice for this marriage of his <i>liberal</i> opinions,—the term + “liberal” having lately been created for the Emperor Alexander by, I + think, Madame de Stael, through the lips of Benjamin Constant. + </p> + <p> + After that fatal evening the young man took to rambling among the + picturesque regions of the Sarthe, the banks of which are much frequented + by sketchers who come to Alencon for points of view. Windmills are there, + and the river is gay in the meadows. The shores of the Sarthe are bordered + with beautiful trees, well grouped. Though the landscape is flat, it is + not without those modest graces which distinguish France, where the eye is + never wearied by the brilliancy of Oriental skies, nor saddened by + constant fog. The place is solitary. In the provinces no one pays much + attention to a fine view, either because provincials are blases on the + beauty around them, or because they have no poesy in their souls. If there + exists in the provinces a mall, a promenade, a vantage-ground from which a + fine view can be obtained, that is the point to which no one goes. + Athanase was fond of this solitude, enlivened by the sparkling water, + where the fields were the first to green under the earliest smiling of the + springtide sun. Those persons who saw him sitting beneath a poplar, and + who noticed the vacant eye which he turned to them, would say to Madame + Granson:— + </p> + <p> + “Something is the matter with your son.” + </p> + <p> + “I know what it is,” the mother would reply; hinting that he was + meditating over some great work. + </p> + <p> + Athanase no longer took part in politics: he ceased to have opinions; but + he appeared at times quite gay,—gay with the satire of those who + think to insult a whole world with their own individual scorn. This young + man, outside of all the ideas and all the pleasures of the provinces, + interested few persons; he was not even an object of curiosity. If persons + spoke of him to his mother, it was for her sake, not his. There was not a + single soul in Alencon that sympathized with his; not a woman, not a + friend came near to dry his tears; they dropped into the Sarthe. If the + gorgeous Suzanne had happened that way, how many young miseries might have + been born of the meeting! for the two would surely have loved each other. + </p> + <p> + She did come, however. Suzanne’s ambition was early excited by the tale of + a strange adventure which had happened at the tavern of the More,—a + tale which had taken possession of her childish brain. A Parisian woman, + beautiful as the angels, was sent by Fouche to entangle the Marquis de + Montauran, otherwise called “The Gars,” in a love-affair (see “The + Chouans”). She met him at the tavern of the More on his return from an + expedition to Mortagne; she cajoled him, made him love her, and then + betrayed him. That fantastic power—the power of beauty over mankind; + in fact, the whole story of Marie de Verneuil and the Gars—dazzled + Suzanne; she longed to grow up in order to play upon men. Some months + after her hasty departure she passed through her native town with an + artist on his way to Brittany. She wanted to see Fougeres, where the + adventure of the Marquis de Montauran culminated, and to stand upon the + scene of that picturesque war, the tragedies of which, still so little + known, had filled her childish mind. Besides this, she had a fancy to pass + through Alencon so elegantly equipped that no one could recognize her; to + put her mother above the reach of necessity, and also to send to poor + Athanase, in a delicate manner, a sum of money,—which in our age is + to genius what in the middle ages was the charger and the coat of mail + that Rebecca conveyed to Ivanhoe. + </p> + <p> + One month passed away in the strangest uncertainties respecting the + marriage of Mademoiselle Cormon. A party of unbelievers denied the + marriage altogether; the believers, on the other hand, affirmed it. At the + end of two weeks, the faction of unbelief received a vigorous blow in the + sale of du Bousquier’s house to the Marquis de Troisville, who only wanted + a simple establishment in Alencon, intending to go to Paris after the + death of the Princess Scherbellof; he proposed to await that inheritance + in retirement, and then to reconstitute his estates. This seemed positive. + The unbelievers, however, were not crushed. They declared that du + Bousquier, married or not, had made an excellent sale, for the house had + only cost him twenty-seven thousand francs. The believers were depressed + by this practical observation of the incredulous. Choisnel, Mademoiselle + Cormon’s notary, asserted the latter, had heard nothing about the marriage + contract; but the believers, still firm in their faith, carried off, on + the twentieth day, a signal victory: Monsieur Lepressoir, the notary of + the liberals, went to Mademoiselle Cormon’s house, and the contract was + signed. + </p> + <p> + This was the first of the numerous sacrifices which Mademoiselle Cormon + was destined to make to her husband. Du Bousquier bore the deepest hatred + to Choisnel; to him he owed the refusal of the hand of Mademoiselle + Armande,—a refusal which, as he believed, had influenced that of + Mademoiselle Cormon. This circumstance alone made the marriage drag along. + Mademoiselle received several anonymous letters. She learned, to her great + astonishment, that Suzanne was as truly a virgin as herself so far as du + Bousquier was concerned, for that seducer with the false toupet could + never be the hero of any such adventure. Mademoiselle Cormon disdained + anonymous letters; but she wrote to Suzanne herself, on the ground of + enlightening the Maternity Society. Suzanne, who had no doubt heard of du + Bousquier’s proposed marriage, acknowledged her trick, sent a thousand + francs to the society, and did all the harm she could to the old purveyor. + Mademoiselle Cormon convoked the Maternity Society, which held a special + meeting at which it was voted that the association would not in future + assist any misfortunes about to happen, but solely those that had + happened. + </p> + <p> + In spite of all these various events which kept the town in the choicest + gossip, the banns were published in the churches and at the mayor’s + office. Athanase prepared the deeds. As a matter of propriety and public + decency, the bride retired to Prebaudet, where du Bousquier, bearing + sumptuous and horrible bouquets, betook himself every morning, returning + home for dinner. + </p> + <p> + At last, on a dull and rainy morning in June, the marriage of Mademoiselle + Cormon and the Sieur du Bousquier took place at noon in the parish church + of Alencon, in sight of the whole town. The bridal pair went from their + own house to the mayor’s office, and from the mayor’s office to the church + in an open caleche, a magnificent vehicle for Alencon, which du Bousquier + had sent for secretly to Paris. The loss of the old carriole was a species + of calamity in the eyes of the community. The harness-maker of the Porte + de Seez bemoaned it, for he lost the fifty francs a year which it cost in + repairs. Alencon saw with alarm the possibility of luxury being thus + introduced into the town. Every one feared a rise in the price of rents + and provisions, and a coming invasion of Parisian furniture. Some persons + were sufficiently pricked by curiosity to give ten sous to Jacquelin to + allow them a close inspection of the vehicle which threatened to upset the + whole economy of the region. A pair of horses, bought in Normandie, were + also most alarming. + </p> + <p> + “If we bought our own horses,” said the Ronceret circle, “we couldn’t sell + them to those who come to buy.” + </p> + <p> + Stupid as it was, this reasoning seemed sound; for surely such a course + would prevent the region from grasping the money of foreigners. In the + eyes of the provinces wealth consisted less in the rapid turning over of + money than in sterile accumulation. It may be mentioned here that Penelope + succumbed to a pleurisy which she acquired about six weeks before the + marriage; nothing could save her. + </p> + <p> + Madame Granson, Mariette, Madame du Coudrai, Madame du Ronceret, and + through them the whole town, remarked that Madame du Bousquier entered the + church <i>with her left foot</i>,—an omen all the more dreadful + because the term Left was beginning to acquire a political meaning. The + priest whose duty it was to read the opening formula opened his book by + chance at the De Profundis. Thus the marriage was accompanied by + circumstances so fateful, so alarming, so annihilating that no one dared + to augur well of it. Matters, in fact, went from bad to worse. There was + no wedding party; the married pair departed immediately for Prebaudet. + Parisian customs, said the community, were about to triumph over + time-honored provincial ways. + </p> + <p> + The marriage of Jacquelin and Josette now took place: it was gay; and they + were the only two persons in Alencon who refuted the sinister prophecies + relating to the marriage of their mistress. + </p> + <p> + Du Bousquier determined to use the proceeds of the sale of his late + residence in restoring and modernizing the hotel Cormon. He decided to + remain through two seasons at Prebaudet, and took the Abbe de Sponde with + them. This news spread terror through the town, where every individual + felt that du Bousquier was about to drag the community into the fatal path + of “comfort.” This fear increased when the inhabitants of Alencon saw the + bridegroom driving in from Prebaudet one morning to inspect his works, in + a fine tilbury drawn by a new horse, having Rene at his side in livery. + The first act of his administration had been to place his wife’s savings + on the Grand-Livre, which was then quoted at 67 fr. 50 cent. In the space + of one year, during which he played constantly for a rise, he made himself + a personal fortune almost as considerable as that of his wife. + </p> + <p> + But all these foreboding prophecies, these perturbing innovations, were + superseded and surpassed by an event connected with this marriage which + gave a still more fatal aspect to it. + </p> + <p> + On the very evening of the ceremony, Athanase and his mother were sitting, + after their dinner, over a little fire of fagots, which the servant + lighted usually at dessert. + </p> + <p> + “Well, we will go this evening to the du Roncerets’, inasmuch as we have + lost Mademoiselle Cormon,” said Madame Granson. “Heavens! how shall I ever + accustom myself to call her Madame du Bousquier! that name burns my lips.” + </p> + <p> + Athanase looked at his mother with a constrained and melancholy air; he + could not smile; but he seemed to wish to welcome that naive sentiment + which soothed his wound, though it could not cure his anguish. + </p> + <p> + “Mamma,” he said, in the voice of his childhood, so tender was it, and + using the name he had abandoned for several years,—“my dear mamma, + do not let us go out just yet; it is so pleasant here before the fire.” + </p> + <p> + The mother heard, without comprehending, that supreme prayer of a mortal + sorrow. + </p> + <p> + “Yes, let us stay, my child,” she said. “I like much better to talk with + you and listen to your projects than to play at boston and lose my money.” + </p> + <p> + “You are so handsome to-night I love to look at you. Besides, I am in a + current of ideas which harmonize with this poor little salon where we have + suffered so much.” + </p> + <p> + “And where we shall still suffer, my poor Athanase, until your works + succeed. For myself, I am trained to poverty; but you, my treasure! to see + your youth go by without a joy! nothing but toil for my poor boy in life! + That thought is like an illness to a mother; it tortures me at night; it + wakes me in the morning. O God! what have I done? for what crime dost thou + punish me thus?” + </p> + <p> + She left her sofa, took a little chair, and sat close to Athanase, so as + to lay her head on the bosom of her child. There is always the grace of + love in true motherhood. Athanase kissed her on the eyes, on her gray + hair, on her forehead, with the sacred desire of laying his soul wherever + he applied his lips. + </p> + <p> + “I shall never succeed,” he said, trying to deceive his mother as to the + fatal resolution he was revolving in his mind. + </p> + <p> + “Pooh! don’t get discouraged. As you often say, thought can do all things. + With ten bottles of ink, ten reams of paper, and his powerful will, Luther + upset all Europe. Well, you’ll make yourself famous; you will do good + things by the same means which he used to do evil things. Haven’t you said + so yourself? For my part, I listen to you; I understand you a great deal + more than you think I do,—for I still bear you in my bosom, and your + every thought still stirs me as your slightest motion did in other days.” + </p> + <p> + “I shall never succeed here, mamma; and I don’t want you to witness the + sight of my struggles, my misery, my anguish. Oh, mother, let me leave + Alencon! I want to suffer away from you.” + </p> + <p> + “And I wish to be at your side,” replied his mother, proudly. “Suffer + without your mother!—that poor mother who would be your servant if + necessary; who will efface herself rather than injure you; your mother, + who will never shame you. No, no, Athanase; we must not part.” + </p> + <p> + Athanase clung to his mother with the ardor of a dying man who clings to + life. + </p> + <p> + “But I wish it, nevertheless. If not, you will lose me; this double grief, + yours and mine, is killing me. You would rather I lived than died?” + </p> + <p> + Madame Granson looked at her son with a haggard eye. + </p> + <p> + “So this is what you have been brooding?” she said. “They told me right. + Do you really mean to go?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes.” + </p> + <p> + “You will not go without telling me; without warning me? You must have an + outfit and money. I have some louis sewn into my petticoat; I shall give + them to you.” + </p> + <p> + Athanase wept. + </p> + <p> + “That’s all I wanted to tell you,” he said. “Now I’ll take you to the du + Roncerets’. Come.” + </p> + <p> + The mother and the son went out. Athanase left his mother at the door of + the house where she intended to pass the evening. He looked long at the + light which came through the shutters; he clung closely to the wall, and a + frenzied joy came over him when he presently heard his mother say, “He has + great independence of heart.” + </p> + <p> + “Poor mother! I have deceived her,” he cried, as he made his way to the + Sarthe. + </p> + <p> + He reached the noble poplar beneath which he had meditated so much for the + last forty days, and where he had placed two heavy stones on which he now + sat down. He contemplated that beautiful nature lighted by the moon; he + reviewed once more the glorious future he had longed for; he passed + through towns that were stirred by his name; he heard the applauding + crowds; he breathed the incense of his fame; he adored that life long + dreamed of; radiant, he sprang to radiant triumphs; he raised his stature; + he evoked his illusions to bid them farewell in a last Olympic feast. The + magic had been potent for a moment; but now it vanished forever. In that + awful hour he clung to the beautiful tree to which, as to a friend, he had + attached himself; then he put the two stones into the pockets of his + overcoat, which he buttoned across his breast. He had come intentionally + without a hat. He now went to the deep pool he had long selected, and + glided into it resolutely, trying to make as little noise as possible, + and, in fact, making scarcely any. + </p> + <p> + When, at half-past nine o’clock, Madame Granson returned home, her servant + said nothing of Athanase, but gave her a letter. She opened it and read + these few words,— + </p> + <p> + “My good mother, I have departed; don’t be angry with me.” + </p> + <p> + “A pretty trick he has played me!” she thought. “And his linen! and the + money! Well, he will write to me, and then I’ll follow him. These poor + children think they are so much cleverer than their fathers and mothers.” + </p> + <p> + And she went to bed in peace. + </p> + <p> + During the preceding morning the Sarthe had risen to a height foreseen by + the fisherman. These sudden rises of muddy water brought eels from their + various runlets. It so happened that a fisherman had spread his net at the + very place where poor Athanase had flung himself, believing that no one + would ever find him. About six o’clock in the morning the man drew in his + net, and with it the young body. The few friends of the poor mother took + every precaution in preparing her to receive the dreadful remains. The + news of this suicide made, as may well be supposed, a great excitement in + Alencon. The poor young man of genius had no protector the night before, + but on the morrow of his death a thousand voices cried aloud, “I would + have helped him.” It is so easy and convenient to be charitable gratis! + </p> + <p> + The suicide was explained by the Chevalier de Valois. He revealed, in a + spirit of revenge, the artless, sincere, and genuine love of Athanase for + Mademoiselle Cormon. Madame Granson, enlightened by the chevalier, + remembered a thousand little circumstances which confirmed the chevalier’s + statement. The story then became touching, and many women wept over it. + Madame Granson’s grief was silent, concentrated, and little understood. + There are two forms of mourning for mothers. Often the world can enter + fully into the nature of their loss: their son, admired, appreciated, + young, perhaps handsome, with a noble path before him, leading to fortune, + possibly to fame, excites universal regret; society joins in the grief, + and alleviates while it magnifies it. But there is another sorrow of + mothers who alone know what their child was really; who alone have + received his smiles and observed the treasures of a life too soon cut + short. That sorrow hides its woe, the blackness of which surpasses all + other mourning; it cannot be described; happily there are but few women + whose heart-strings are thus severed. + </p> + <p> + Before Madame du Bousquier returned to town, Madame du Ronceret, one of + her good friends, had driven out to Prebaudet to fling this corpse upon + the roses of her joy, to show her the love she had ignored, and sweetly + shed a thousand drops of wormwood into the honey of her bridal month. As + Madame du Bousquier drove back to Alencon, she chanced to meet Madame + Granson at the corner of the rue Val-Noble. The glance of the mother, + dying of her grief, struck to the heart of the poor woman. A thousand + maledictions, a thousand flaming reproaches, were in that look: Madame du + Bousquier was horror-struck; that glance predicted and called down evil + upon her head. + </p> + <p> + The evening after the catastrophe, Madame Granson, one of the persons most + opposed to the rector of the town, and who had hitherto supported the + minister of Saint-Leonard, began to tremble as she thought of the + inflexible Catholic doctrines professed by her own party. After placing + her son’s body in its shroud with her own hands, thinking of the mother of + the Saviour, she went, with a soul convulsed by anguish, to the house of + the hated rector. There she found the modest priest in an outer room, + engaged in putting away the flax and yarns with which he supplied poor + women, in order that they might never be wholly out of work,—a form + of charity which saved many who were incapable of begging from actual + penury. The rector left his yarns and hastened to take Madame Granson into + his dining-room, where the wretched mother noticed, as she looked at his + supper, the frugal method of his own living. + </p> + <p> + “Monsieur l’abbe,” she said, “I have come to implore you—” She burst + into tears, unable to continue. + </p> + <p> + “I know what brings you,” replied the saintly man. “I must trust to you, + madame, and to your relation, Madame du Bousquier, to pacify Monseigneur + the Bishop at Seez. Yes, I will pray for your unhappy child; yes, I will + say the masses. But we must avoid all scandal, and give no opportunity for + evil-judging persons to assemble in the church. I alone, without other + clergy, at night—” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, yes, as you think best; if only he may lie in consecrated ground,” + said the poor mother, taking the priest’s hand and kissing it. + </p> + <p> + Toward midnight a coffin was clandestinely borne to the parish church by + four young men, comrades whom Athanase had liked the best. A few friends + of Madame Granson, women dressed in black, and veiled, were present; and + half a dozen other young men who had been somewhat intimate with this lost + genius. Four torches flickered on the coffin, which was covered with + crape. The rector, assisted by one discreet choirboy, said the mortuary + mass. Then the body of the suicide was noiselessly carried to a corner of + the cemetery, where a black wooden cross, without inscription, was all + that indicated its place hereafter to the mother. Athanase lived and died + in shadow. No voice was raised to blame the rector; the bishop kept + silence. The piety of the mother redeemed the impiety of the son’s last + act. + </p> + <p> + Some months later, the poor woman, half beside herself with grief, and + moved by one of those inexplicable thirsts which misery feels to steep its + lips in the bitter chalice, determined to see the spot where her son was + drowned. Her instinct may have told her that thoughts of his could be + recovered beneath that poplar; perhaps, too, she desired to see what his + eyes had seen for the last time. Some mothers would die of the sight; + others give themselves up to it in saintly adoration. Patient anatomists + of human nature cannot too often enunciate the truths before which all + educations, laws, and philosophical systems must give way. Let us repeat + continually: it is absurd to force sentiments into one formula: appearing + as they do, in each individual man, they combine with the elements that + form his nature and take his own physiognomy. + </p> + <p> + Madame Granson, as she stood on that fatal spot, saw a woman approach it, + who exclaimed,— + </p> + <p> + “Was it here?” + </p> + <p> + That woman wept as the mother wept. It was Suzanne. Arriving that morning + at the hotel du More, she had been told of the catastrophe. If poor + Athanase had been living, she meant to do as many noble souls, who are + moneyless, dream of doing, and as the rich never think of doing,—she + meant to have sent him several thousand francs, writing up the envelope + the words: “Money due to your father from a comrade who makes restitution + to you.” This tender scheme had been arranged by Suzanne during her + journey. + </p> + <p> + The courtesan caught sight of Madame Granson and moved rapidly away, + whispering as she passed her, “I loved him!” + </p> + <p> + Suzanne, faithful to her nature, did not leave Alencon on this occasion + without changing the orange-blossoms of the bride to rue. She was the + first to declare that Madame du Bousquier would never be anything but + Mademoiselle Cormon. With one stab of her tongue she revenged poor + Athanase and her dear chevalier. + </p> + <p> + Alencon now witnessed a suicide that was slower and quite differently + pitiful from that of poor Athanase, who was quickly forgotten by society, + which always makes haste to forget its dead. The poor Chevalier de Valois + died in life; his suicide was a daily occurrence for fourteen years. Three + months after the du Bousquier marriage society remarked, not without + astonishment, that the linen of the chevalier was frayed and rusty, that + his hair was irregularly combed and brushed. With a frowsy head the + Chevalier de Valois could no longer be said to exist! A few of his ivory + teeth deserted, though the keenest observers of human life were unable to + discover to what body they had hitherto belonged, whether to a foreign + legion or whether they were indigenous, vegetable or animal; whether age + had pulled them from the chevalier’s mouth, or whether they were left + forgotten in the drawer of his dressing-table. The cravat was crooked, + indifferent to elegance. The negroes’ heads grew pale with dust and + grease. The wrinkles of the face were blackened and puckered; the skin + became parchment. The nails, neglected, were often seen, alas! with a + black velvet edging. The waistcoat was tracked and stained with droppings + which spread upon its surface like autumn leaves. The cotton in the ears + was seldom changed. Sadness reigned upon that brow, and slipped its + yellowing tints into the depths of each furrow. In short, the ruins, + hitherto so cleverly hidden, now showed through the cracks and crevices of + that fine edifice, and proved the power of the soul over the body; for the + fair and dainty man, the cavalier, the young blood, died when hope + deserted him. Until then the nose of the chevalier was ever delicate and + nice; never had a damp black blotch, nor an amber drop fall from it; but + now that nose, smeared with tobacco around the nostrils, degraded by the + driblets which took advantage of the natural gutter placed between itself + and the upper lip,—that nose, which no longer cared to seem + agreeable, revealed the infinite pains which the chevalier had formerly + taken with his person, and made observers comprehend, by the extent of its + degradation, the greatness and persistence of the man’s designs upon + Mademoiselle Cormon. + </p> + <p> + Alas, too, the anecdotes went the way of the teeth; the clever sayings + grew rare. The appetite, however, remained; the old nobleman saved nothing + but his stomach from the wreck of his hopes; though he languidly prepared + his pinches of snuff, he ate alarming dinners. Perhaps you will more fully + understand the disaster that this marriage was to the mind and heart of + the chevalier when you learn that his intercourse with the Princess + Goritza became less frequent. + </p> + <p> + One day he appeared in Mademoiselle Armande’s salon with the calf of his + leg on the shin-bone. This bankruptcy of the graces was, I do assure you, + terrible, and struck all Alencon with horror. The late young man had + become an old one; this human being, who, by the breaking-down of his + spirit, had passed at once from fifty to ninety years of age, frightened + society. Besides, his secret was betrayed; he had waited and watched for + Mademoiselle Cormon; he had, like a patient hunter, adjusted his aim for + ten whole years, and finally had missed the game! In short, the impotent + Republic had won the day from Valiant Chivalry, and that, too, under the + Restoration! Form triumphed; mind was vanquished by matter, diplomacy by + insurrection. And, O final blow! a mortified grisette revealed the secret + of the chevalier’s mornings, and he now passed for a libertine. The + liberals cast at his door all the foundlings hitherto attributed to du + Bousquier. But the faubourg Saint-Germain of Alencon accepted them + proudly: it even said, “That poor chevalier, what else could he do?” The + faubourg pitied him, gathered him closer to their circle, and brought back + a few rare smiles to his face; but frightful enmity was piled upon the + head of du Bousquier. Eleven persons deserted the Cormon salon, and passed + to that of the d’Esgrignons. + </p> + <p> + The old maid’s marriage had a signal effect in defining the two parties in + Alencon. The salon d’Esgrignon represented the upper aristocracy (the + returning Troisvilles attached themselves to it); the Cormon salon + represented, under the clever influence of du Bousquier, that fatal class + of opinions which, without being truly liberal or resolutely royalist, + gave birth to the 221 on that famous day when the struggle openly began + between the most august, grandest, and only true power, <i>royalty</i>, + and the most false, most changeful, most oppressive of all powers,—the + power called <i>parliamentary</i>, which elective assemblies exercise. The + salon du Ronceret, secretly allied to the Cormon salon, was boldly + liberal. + </p> + <p> + The Abbe de Sponde, after his return from Prebaudet, bore many and + continual sufferings, which he kept within his breast, saying no word of + them to his niece. But to Mademoiselle Armande he opened his heart, + admitting that, folly for folly, he would much have preferred the + Chevalier de Valois to Monsieur du Bousquier. Never would the dear + chevalier have had the bad taste to contradict and oppose a poor old man + who had but a few days more to live; du Bousquier had destroyed everything + in the good old home. The abbe said, with scanty tears moistening his aged + eyes,— + </p> + <p> + “Mademoiselle, I haven’t even the little grove where I have walked for + fifty years. My beloved lindens are all cut down! At the moment of my + death the Republic appears to me more than ever under the form of a + horrible destruction of the Home.” + </p> + <p> + “You must pardon your niece,” said the Chevalier de Valois. “Republican + ideas are the first error of youth which seeks for liberty; later it finds + it the worst of despotisms,—that of an impotent canaille. Your poor + niece is punished where she sinned.” + </p> + <p> + “What will become of me in a house where naked women are painted on the + walls?” said the poor abbe. “Where shall I find other lindens beneath + which to read my breviary?” + </p> + <p> + Like Kant, who was unable to collect his thoughts after the fir-tree at + which he was accustomed to gaze while meditating was cut down, so the poor + abbe could never attain the ardor of his former prayers while walking up + and down the shadeless paths. Du Bousquier had planted an English garden. + </p> + <p> + “It was best,” said Madame du Bousquier, without thinking so; but the Abbe + Couterier had authorized her to commit many wrongs to please her husband. + </p> + <p> + These restorations destroyed all the venerable dignity, cordiality, and + patriarchal air of the old house. Like the Chevalier de Valois, whose + personal neglect might be called an abdication, the bourgeois dignity of + the Cormon salon no longer existed when it was turned to white and gold, + with mahogany ottomans covered in blue satin. The dining-room, adorned in + modern taste, was colder in tone than it used to be, and the dinners were + eaten with less appetite than formerly. Monsieur du Coudrai declared that + he felt his puns stick in his throat as he glanced at the figures painted + on the walls, which looked him out of countenance. Externally, the house + was still provincial; but internally everything revealed the purveyor of + the Directory and the bad taste of the money-changer,—for instance, + columns in stucco, glass doors, Greek mouldings, meaningless outlines, all + styles conglomerated, magnificence out of place and out of season. + </p> + <p> + The town of Alencon gabbled for two weeks over this luxury, which seemed + unparalleled; but a few months later the community was proud of it, and + several rich manufacturers restored their houses and set up fine salons. + Modern furniture came into the town, and astral lamps were seen! + </p> + <p> + The Abbe de Sponde was among the first to perceive the secret unhappiness + this marriage now brought to the private life of his beloved niece. The + character of noble simplicity which had hitherto ruled their lives was + lost during the first winter, when du Bousquier gave two balls every + month. Oh, to hear violins and profane music at these worldly + entertainments in the sacred old house! The abbe prayed on his knees while + the revels lasted. Next the political system of the sober salon was slowly + perverted. The abbe fathomed du Bousquier; he shuddered at his imperious + tone; he saw the tears in his niece’s eyes when she felt herself losing + all control over her own property; for her husband now left nothing in her + hands but the management of the linen, the table, and things of a kind + which are the lot of women. Rose had no longer any orders to give. + Monsieur’s will was alone regarded by Jacquelin, now become coachman, by + Rene, the groom, and by the chef, who came from Paris, Mariette being + reduced to kitchen maid. Madame du Bousquier had no one to rule but + Josette. Who knows what it costs to relinquish the delights of power? If + the triumph of the will is one of the intoxicating pleasures in the lives + of great men, it is the ALL of life to narrow minds. One must needs have + been a minister dismissed from power to comprehend the bitter pain which + came upon Madame du Bousquier when she found herself reduced to this + absolute servitude. She often got into the carriage against her will; she + saw herself surrounded by servants who were distasteful to her; she no + longer had the handling of her dear money,—she who had known herself + free to spend money, and did not spend it. + </p> + <p> + All imposed limits make the human being desire to go beyond them. The + keenest sufferings come from the thwarting of self-will. The beginning of + this state of things was, however, rose-colored. Every concession made to + marital authority was an effect of the love which the poor woman felt for + her husband. Du Bousquier behaved, in the first instance, admirably to his + wife: he was wise; he was excellent; he gave her the best of reasons for + each new encroachment. So for the first two years of her marriage Madame + du Bousquier appeared to be satisfied. She had that deliberate, demure + little air which distinguishes young women who have married for love. The + rush of blood to her head no longer tormented her. This appearance of + satisfaction routed the scoffers, contradicted certain rumors about du + Bousquier, and puzzled all observers of the human heart. + Rose-Marie-Victoire was so afraid that if she displeased her husband or + opposed him, she would lose his affection and be deprived of his company, + that she would willingly have sacrificed all to him, even her uncle. Her + silly little forms of pleasure deceived even the poor abbe for a time, who + endured his own trials all the better for thinking that his niece was + happy, after all. + </p> + <p> + Alencon at first thought the same. But there was one man more difficult to + deceive than the whole town put together. The Chevalier de Valois, who had + taken refuge on the Sacred Mount of the upper aristocracy, now passed his + life at the d’Esgrignons. He listened to the gossip and the gabble, and he + thought day and night upon his vengeance. He meant to strike du Bousquier + to the heart. + </p> + <p> + The poor abbe fully understood the baseness of this first and last love of + his niece; he shuddered as, little by little, he perceived the + hypocritical nature of his nephew and his treacherous manoeuvres. Though + du Bousquier restrained himself, as he thought of the abbe’s property, and + wished not to cause him vexation, it was his hand that dealt the blow that + sent the old priest to his grave. If you will interpret the word <i>intolerance</i> + as <i>firmness of principle</i>, if you do not wish to condemn in the + catholic soul of the Abbe de Sponde the stoicism which Walter Scott has + made you admire in the puritan soul of Jeanie Deans’ father; if you are + willing to recognize in the Roman Church the Potius mori quam foedari that + you admire in republican tenets,—you will understand the sorrow of + the Abbe de Sponde when he saw in his niece’s salon the apostate priest, + the renegade, the pervert, the heretic, that enemy of the Church, the + guilty taker of the Constitutional oath. Du Bousquier, whose secret + ambition was to lay down the law to the town, wished, as a first proof of + his power, to reconcile the minister of Saint-Leonard with the rector of + the parish, and he succeeded. His wife thought he had accomplished a work + of peace where the immovable abbe saw only treachery. The bishop came to + visit du Bousquier, and seemed glad of the cessation of hostilities. The + virtues of the Abbe Francois had conquered prejudice, except that of the + aged Roman Catholic, who exclaimed with Cornelle, “Alas! what virtues do + you make me hate!” + </p> + <p> + The abbe died when orthodoxy thus expired in the diocese. + </p> + <p> + In 1819, the property of the Abbe de Sponde increased Madame du + Bousquier’s income from real estate to twenty-five thousand francs without + counting Prebaudet or the house in the Val-Noble. About this time du + Bousquier returned to his wife the capital of her savings which she had + yielded to him; and he made her use it in purchasing lands contiguous to + Prebaudet, which made that domain one of the most considerable in the + department, for the estates of the Abbe de Sponde also adjoined it. Du + Bousquier thus passed for one of the richest men of the department. This + able man, the constant candidate of the liberals, missing by seven or + eight votes only in all the electoral battles fought under the + Restoration, and who ostensibly repudiated the liberals by trying to be + elected as a ministerial royalist (without ever being able to conquer the + aversion of the administration),—this rancorous republican, mad with + ambition, resolved to rival the royalism and aristocracy of Alencon at the + moment when they once more had the upper hand. He strengthened himself + with the Church by the deceitful appearance of a well-feigned piety: he + accompanied his wife to mass; he gave money for the convents of the town; + he assisted the congregation of the Sacre-Coeur; he took sides with the + clergy on all occasions when the clergy came into collision with the town, + the department, or the State. Secretly supported by the liberals, + protected by the Church, calling himself a constitutional royalist, he + kept beside the aristocracy of the department in the one hope of ruining + it,—and he did ruin it. Ever on the watch for the faults and + blunders of the nobility and the government, he laid plans for his + vengeance against the “chateau-people,” and especially against the + d’Esgrignons, in whose bosom he was one day to thrust a poisoned dagger. + </p> + <p> + Among other benefits to the town he gave money liberally to revive the + manufacture of point d’Alencon; he renewed the trade in linens, and the + town had a factory. Inscribing himself thus upon the interests and heart + of the masses, by doing what the royalists did not do, du Bousquier did + not really risk a farthing. Backed by his fortune, he could afford to wait + results which enterprising persons who involve themselves are forced to + abandon to luckier successors. + </p> + <p> + Du Bousquier now posed as a banker. This miniature Lafitte was a partner + in all new enterprises, taking good security. He served himself while + apparently serving the interests of the community. He was the prime mover + of insurance companies, the protector of new enterprises for public + conveyance; he suggested petitions for asking the administration for the + necessary roads and bridges. Thus warned, the government considered this + action an encroachment of its own authority. A struggle was begun + injudiciously, for the good of the community compelled the authorities to + yield in the end. Du Bousquier embittered the provincial nobility against + the court nobility and the peerage; and finally he brought about the + shocking adhesion of a strong party of constitutional royalists to the + warfare sustained by the “Journal des Debats,” and M. de Chateaubriand + against the throne,—an ungrateful opposition based on ignoble + interests, which was one cause of the triumph of the bourgeoisie and + journalism in 1830. + </p> + <p> + Thus du Bousquier, in common with the class he represented, had the + satisfaction of beholding the funeral of royalty. The old republican, + smothered with masses, who for fifteen years had played that comedy to + satisfy his vendetta, himself threw down with his own hand the white flag + of the mayoralty to the applause of the multitude. No man in France cast + upon the new throne raised in August, 1830, a glance of more intoxicated, + joyous vengeance. The accession of the Younger Branch was the triumph of + the Revolution. To him the victory of the tricolor meant the resurrection + of Montagne, which this time should surely bring the nobility down to the + dust by means more certain than that of the guillotine, because less + violent. The peerage without heredity; the National Guard, which puts on + the same camp-bed the corner grocer and the marquis; the abolition of the + entails demanded by a bourgeois lawyer; the Catholic Church deprived of + its supremacy; and all the other legislative inventions of August, 1830,—were + to du Bousquier the wisest possible application of the principles of 1793. + </p> + <p> + Since 1830 this man has been a receiver-general. He relied for his + advancement on his relations with the Duc d’Orleans, father of Louis + Philippe, and with Monsieur de Folmon, formerly steward to the + Duchess-dowager of Orleans. He receives about eighty thousand francs a + year. In the eyes of the people about him Monsieur du Bousquier is a man + of means,—a respectable man, steady in his principles, upright, and + obliging. Alencon owes to him its connection with the industrial movement + by which Brittany may possibly some day be joined to what is popularly + called modern civilization. Alencon, which up to 1816 could boast of only + two private carriages, saw, without amazement, in the course of ten years, + coupes, landaus, tilburies, and cabriolets rolling through her streets. + The burghers and the land-owners, alarmed at first lest the price of + everything should increase, recognized later that this increase in the + style of living had a contrary effect upon their revenues. The prophetic + remark of du Ronceret, “Du Bousquier is a very strong man,” was adopted by + the whole country-side. + </p> + <p> + But, unhappily for the wife, that saying has a double meaning. The husband + does not in any way resemble the public politician. This great citizen, so + liberal to the world about him, so kindly inspired with love for his + native place, is a despot in his own house, and utterly devoid of conjugal + affection. This man, so profoundly astute, hypocritical, and sly; this + Cromwell of the Val-Noble,—behaves in his home as he behaves to the + aristocracy, whom he caresses in hopes to throttle them. Like his friend + Bernadotte, he wears a velvet glove upon his iron hand. His wife has given + him no children. Suzanne’s remark and the chevalier’s insinuations were + therefore justified. But the liberal bourgeoisie, the + constitutional-royalist-bourgeoisie, the country-squires, the magistracy, + and the “church party” laid the blame on Madame du Bousquier. “She was too + old,” they said; “Monsieur du Bousquier had married her too late. Besides, + it was very lucky for the poor woman; it was dangerous at her age to bear + children!” When Madame du Bousquier confided, weeping, her periodic + despair to Mesdames du Coudrai and du Ronceret, those ladies would reply,— + </p> + <p> + “But you are crazy, my dear; you don’t know what you are wishing for; a + child would be your death.” + </p> + <p> + Many men, whose hopes were fastened on du Bousquier’s triumph, sang his + praises to their wives, who in turn repeated them to the poor wife in some + such speech as this:— + </p> + <p> + “You are very lucky, dear, to have married such an able man; you’ll escape + the misery of women whose husbands are men without energy, incapable of + managing their property, or bringing up their children.” + </p> + <p> + “Your husband is making you queen of the department, my love. He’ll never + leave you embarrassed, not he! Why, he leads all Alencon.” + </p> + <p> + “But I wish,” said the poor wife, “that he gave less time to the public + and—” + </p> + <p> + “You are hard to please, my dear Madame du Bousquier. I assure you that + all the women in town envy you your husband.” + </p> + <p> + Misjudged by society, which began by blaming her, the pious woman found + ample opportunity in her home to display her virtues. She lived in tears, + but she never ceased to present to others a placid face. To so Christian a + soul a certain thought which pecked forever at her heart was a crime: “I + loved the Chevalier de Valois,” it said; “but I have married du + Bousquier.” The love of poor Athanase Granson also rose like a phantom of + remorse, and pursued her even in her dreams. The death of her uncle, whose + griefs at the last burst forth, made her life still more sorrowful; for + she now felt the suffering her uncle must have endured in witnessing the + change of political and religious opinion in the old house. Sorrow often + falls like a thunderbolt, as it did on Madame Granson; but in this old + maid it slowly spread like a drop of oil, which never leaves the stuff + that slowly imbibes it. + </p> + <p> + The Chevalier de Valois was the malicious manipulator who brought about + the crowning misfortune of Madame du Bousquier’s life. His heart was set + on undeceiving her pious simplicity; for the chevalier, expert in love, + divined du Bousquier, the married man, as he had divined du Bousquier, the + bachelor. But the wary republican was difficult of attack. His salon was, + of course, closed to the Chevalier de Valois, as to all those who, in the + early days of his marriage, had slighted the Cormon mansion. He was, + moreover, impervious to ridicule; he possessed a vast fortune; he reigned + in Alencon; he cared as little for his wife as Richard III. cared for the + dead horse which had helped him win a battle. To please her husband, + Madame du Bousquier had broken off relations with the d’Esgrignon + household, where she went no longer, except that sometimes when her + husband left her during his trips to Paris, she would pay a brief visit to + Mademoiselle Armande. + </p> + <p> + About three years after her marriage, at the time of the Abbe de Sponde’s + death, Mademoiselle Armande joined Madame du Bousquier as they were + leaving Saint-Leonard’s, where they had gone to hear a requiem said for + him. The generous demoiselle thought that on this occasion she owed her + sympathy to the niece in trouble. They walked together, talking of the + dear deceased, until they reached the forbidden house, into which + Mademoiselle Armande enticed Madame du Bousquier by the charm of her + manner and conversation. The poor desolate woman was glad to talk of her + uncle with one whom he truly loved. Moreover, she wanted to receive the + condolences of the old marquis, whom she had not seen for nearly three + years. It was half-past one o’clock, and she found at the hotel + d’Esgrignon the Chevalier de Valois, who had come to dinner. As he bowed + to her, he took her by the hands. + </p> + <p> + “Well, dear, virtuous, and beloved lady,” he said, in a tone of emotion, + “we have lost our sainted friend; we share your grief. Yes, your loss is + as keenly felt here as in your own home,—more so,” he added, + alluding to du Bousquier. + </p> + <p> + After a few more words of funeral oration, in which all present spoke from + the heart, the chevalier took Madame du Bousquier’s arm, and, gallantly + placing it within his own, pressed it adoringly as he led her to the + recess of a window. + </p> + <p> + “Are you happy?” he said in a fatherly voice. + </p> + <p> + “Yes,” she said, dropping her eyes. + </p> + <p> + Hearing that “Yes,” Madame de Troisville, the daughter of the Princess + Scherbellof, and the old Marquise de Casteran came up and joined the + chevalier, together with Mademoiselle Armande. They all went to walk in + the garden until dinner was served, without any perception on the part of + Madame du Bousquier that a little conspiracy was afoot. “We have her! now + let us find out the secret of the case,” were the words written in the + eyes of all present. + </p> + <p> + “To make your happiness complete,” said Mademoiselle Armande, “you ought + to have children,—a fine lad like my nephew—” + </p> + <p> + Tears seemed to start in Madame du Bousquier’s eyes. + </p> + <p> + “I have heard it said that you were the one to blame in the matter, and + that you feared the dangers of a pregnancy,” said the chevalier. + </p> + <p> + “I!” she said artlessly. “I would buy a child with a hundred years of + purgatory if I could.” + </p> + <p> + On the question thus started a discussion arose, conducted by Madame de + Troisville and the old Marquise de Casteran with such delicacy and + adroitness that the poor victim revealed, without being aware of it, the + secrets of her house. Mademoiselle Armande had taken the chevalier’s arm, + and walked away so as to leave the three women free to discuss wedlock. + Madame du Bousquier was then enlightened on the various deceptions of her + marriage; and as she was still the same simpleton she had always been, she + amused her advisers by delightful naivetes. + </p> + <p> + Although at first the deceptive marriage of Mademoiselle Cormon made a + laugh throughout the town, which was soon initiated into the story of the + case, before long Madame du Bousquier won the esteem and sympathy of all + the women. The fact that Mademoiselle Cormon had flung herself headlong + into marriage without succeeding in being married, made everybody laugh at + her; but when they learned the exceptional position in which the sternness + of her religious principles placed her, all the world admired her. “That + poor Madame du Bousquier” took the place of “That good Mademoiselle + Cormon.” + </p> + <p> + Thus the chevalier contrived to render du Bousquier both ridiculous and + odious for a time; but ridicule ends by weakening; when all had said their + say about him, the gossip died out. Besides, at fifty-seven years of age + the dumb republican seemed to many people to have a right to retire. This + affair, however, envenomed the hatred which du Bousquier already bore to + the house of Esgrignon to such a degree that it made him pitiless when the + day of vengeance came. [See “The Gallery of Antiquities.”] Madame du + Bousquier received orders never again to set foot into that house. By way + of reprisals upon the chevalier for the trick thus played him, du + Bousquier, who had just created the journal called the “Courrier de + l’Orne,” caused the following notice to be inserted in it:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Bonds to the amount of one thousand francs a year will be paid to + any person who can prove the existence of one Monsieur de + Pombreton before, during, or after the Emigration.” + </pre> + <p> + Although her marriage was essentially negative, Madame du Bousquier saw + some advantages in it: was it not better to interest herself in the most + remarkable man in the town than to live alone? Du Bousquier was preferable + to a dog, or cat, or those canaries that spinsters love. He showed for his + wife a sentiment more real and less selfish than that which is felt by + servants, confessors, and hopeful heirs. Later in life she came to + consider her husband as the instrument of divine wrath; for she then saw + innumerable sins in her former desires for marriage; she regarded herself + as justly punished for the sorrow she had brought on Madame Granson, and + for the hastened death of her uncle. Obedient to that religion which + commands us to kiss the rod with which the punishment is inflicted, she + praised her husband, and publicly approved him. But in the confessional, + or at night, when praying, she wept often, imploring God’s forgiveness for + the apostasy of the man who thought the contrary of what he professed, and + who desired the destruction of the aristocracy and the Church,—the + two religions of the house of Cormon. + </p> + <p> + With all her feelings bruised and immolated within her, compelled by duty + to make her husband happy, attached to him by a certain indefinable + affection, born, perhaps, of habit, her life became one perpetual + contradiction. She had married a man whose conduct and opinions she hated, + but whom she was bound to care for with dutiful tenderness. Often she + walked with the angels when du Bousquier ate her preserves or thought the + dinner good. She watched to see that his slightest wish was satisfied. If + he tore off the cover of his newspaper and left it on a table, instead of + throwing it away, she would say:— + </p> + <p> + “Rene, leave that where it is; monsieur did not place it there without + intention.” + </p> + <p> + If du Bousquier had a journey to take, she was anxious about his trunk, + his linen; she took the most minute precautions for his material benefit. + If he went to Prebaudet, she consulted the barometer the evening before to + know if the weather would be fine. She watched for his will in his eyes, + like a dog which hears and sees its master while sleeping. When the stout + du Bousquier, touched by this scrupulous love, would take her round the + waist and kiss her forehead, saying, “What a good woman you are!” tears of + pleasure would come into the eyes of the poor creature. It is probably + that du Bousquier felt himself obliged to make certain concessions which + obtained for him the respect of Rose-Marie-Victoire; for Catholic virtue + does not require a dissimulation as complete as that of Madame du + Bousquier. Often the good saint sat mutely by and listened to the hatred + of men who concealed themselves under the cloak of constitutional + royalists. She shuddered as she foresaw the ruin of the Church. + Occasionally she risked a stupid word, an observation which du Bousquier + cut short with a glance. + </p> + <p> + The worries of such an existence ended by stupefying Madame du Bousquier, + who found it easier and also more dignified to concentrate her + intelligence on her own thoughts and resign herself to lead a life that + was purely animal. She then adopted the submission of a slave, and + regarded it as a meritorious deed to accept the degradation in which her + husband placed her. The fulfilment of his will never once caused her to + murmur. The timid sheep went henceforth in the way the shepherd led her; + she gave herself up to the severest religious practices, and thought no + more of Satan and his works and vanities. Thus she presented to the eyes + of the world a union of all Christian virtues; and du Bousquier was + certainly one of the luckiest men in the kingdom of France and of Navarre. + </p> + <p> + “She will be a simpleton to her last breath,” said the former collector, + who, however, dined with her twice a week. + </p> + <p> + This history would be strangely incomplete if no mention were made of the + coincidence of the Chevalier de Valois’s death occurring at the same time + as that of Suzanne’s mother. The chevalier died with the monarchy, in + August, 1830. He had joined the cortege of Charles X. at Nonancourt, and + piously escorted it to Cherbourg with the Troisvilles, Casterans, + d’Esgrignons, Verneuils, etc. The old gentleman had taken with him fifty + thousand francs,—the sum to which his savings then amounted. He + offered them to one of the faithful friends of the king for transmission + to his master, speaking of his approaching death, and declaring that the + money came originally from the goodness of the king, and, moreover, that + the property of the last of the Valois belonged of right to the crown. It + is not known whether the fervor of his zeal conquered the reluctance of + the Bourbon, who abandoned his fine kingdom of France without carrying + away with him a farthing, and who ought to have been touched by the + devotion of the chevalier. It is certain, however, that Cesarine, the + residuary legate of the old man, received from his estate only six hundred + francs a year. The chevalier returned to Alencon, cruelly weakened by + grief and by fatigue; he died on the very day when Charles X. arrived on a + foreign shore. + </p> + <p> + Madame du Val-Noble and her protector, who was just then afraid of the + vengeance of the liberal party, were glad of a pretext to remain incognito + in the village where Suzanne’s mother died. At the sale of the chevalier’s + effects, which took place at that time, Suzanne, anxious to obtain a + souvenir of her first and last friend, pushed up the price of the famous + snuff-box, which was finally knocked down to her for a thousand francs. + The portrait of the Princess Goritza was alone worth that sum. Two years + later, a young dandy, who was making a collection of the fine snuff-boxes + of the last century, obtained from Madame du Val-Noble the chevalier’s + treasure. The charming confidant of many a love and the pleasure of an old + age is now on exhibition in a species of private museum. If the dead could + know what happens after them, the chevalier’s head would surely blush upon + its left cheek. + </p> + <p> + If this history has no other effect than to inspire the possessors of + precious relics with holy fear, and induce them to make codicils to secure + these touching souvenirs of joys that are no more by bequeathing them to + loving hands, it will have done an immense service to the chivalrous and + romantic portion of the community; but it does, in truth, contain a far + higher moral. Does it not show the necessity for a new species of + education? Does it not invoke, from the enlightened solicitude of the + ministers of Public Instruction, the creation of chairs of anthropology,—a + science in which Germany outstrips us? Modern myths are even less + understood than ancient ones, harried as we are with myths. Myths are + pressing us from every point; they serve all theories, they explain all + questions. They are, according to human ideas, the torches of history; + they would save empires from revolution if only the professors of history + would force the explanations they give into the mind of the provincial + masses. If Mademoiselle Cormon had been a reader or a student, and if + there had existed in the department of the Orne a professor of + anthropology, or even had she read Ariosto, the frightful disasters of her + conjugal life would never have occurred. She would probably have known why + the Italian poet makes Angelica prefer Medoro, who was a blond Chevalier + de Valois, to Orlando, whose mare was dead, and who knew no better than to + fly into a passion. Is not Medoro the mythic form for all courtiers of + feminine royalty, and Orlando the myth of disorderly, furious, and + impotent revolutions, which destroy but cannot produce? We publish, but + without assuming any responsibility for it, this opinion of a pupil of + Monsieur Ballanche. + </p> + <p> + No information has reached us as to the fate of the negroes’ heads in + diamonds. You may see Madame du Val-Noble every evening at the Opera. + Thanks to the education given her by the Chevalier de Valois, she has + almost the air of a well-bred woman. + </p> + <p> + Madame du Bousquier still lives; is not that as much as to say she still + suffers? After reaching the age of sixty—the period at which women + allow themselves to make confessions—she said confidentially to + Madame du Coudrai, that she had never been able to endure the idea of + dying an old maid. + </p> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> <a name="link2H_4_0009" id="link2H_4_0009"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <h2> + ADDENDUM + </h2> + <h3> + The following personages appear in other stories of the Human Comedy. + </h3> + <p> + (Note: The Collection of Antiquities is a companion piece to The Old Maid. + In other Addendum appearances they are combined under the title of The + Jealousies of a Country Town.) + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Bordin + The Gondreville Mystery + The Seamy Side of History + The Commission in Lunacy + + Bousquier, Du (or Du Croisier or Du Bourguier) + The Collection of Antiquities (companion piece) + The Middle Classes + + Bousquier, Madame du (du Croisier) (Mlle. Cormon) + The Collection of Antiquities (companion piece) + + Casteran, De + The Chouans + The Seamy Side of History + The Collection of Antiquities (companion piece) + Beatrix + The Peasantry + + Chesnel (or Choisnel) + The Seamy Side of History + The Collection of Antiquities (companion piece) + + Coudrai, Du + The Collection of Antiquities (companion piece) + + Esgrignon, Charles-Marie-Victor-Ange-Carol, Marquis d’ (or Des Grignons) + The Chouans + The Collection of Antiquities (companion piece) + + Esgrignon, Marie-Armande-Claire d’ + The Collection of Antiquities (companion piece) + + Gaillard, Madame Theodore (Suzanne) + A Distinguished Provincial at Paris + A Bachelor’s Establishment + Scenes from a Courtesan’s Life + Beatrix + The Unconscious Humorists + + Granson, Athanase + The Government Clerks (mentioned only) + + Lenoncourt, Duc de + The Lily of the Valley + Cesar Birotteau + The Collection of Antiquities (companion piece) + The Gondreville Mystery + Beatrix + + Navarreins, Duc de + Colonel Chabert + The Muse of the Department + The Thirteen + The Peasantry + Scenes from a Courtesan’s Life + The Country Parson + The Magic Skin + The Gondreville Mystery + The Secrets of a Princess + Cousin Betty + + Pombreton, Marquis de + Lost Illusions + A Distinguished Provincial at Paris + + Ronceret, Du + The Collection of Antiquities (companion piece) + Beatrix + + Ronceret, Madame Du + The Collection of Antiquities (companion piece) + + Simeuse, Admiral de + Beatrix + The Gondreville Mystery + + Troisville, Guibelin, Vicomte de + The Seamy Side of History + The Chouans + The Collection of Antiquities (companion piece) + The Peasantry + + Valois, Chevalier de + The Chouans + The Collection of Antiquities (companion piece) + + Verneuil, Duc de + The Chouans + The Collection of Antiquities (companion piece) +</pre> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of An Old Maid, by Honore de Balzac + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AN OLD MAID *** + +***** This file should be named 1352-h.htm or 1352-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/1/3/5/1352/ + +Produced by John Bickers, and Dagny, and David Widger + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: An Old Maid + +Author: Honore de Balzac + +Translator: Katharine Prescott Wormeley + +Release Date: June, 1998 [Etext #1352] +Posting Date: February 23, 2010 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AN OLD MAID *** + + + + +Produced by John Bickers, and Dagny + + + + + +AN OLD MAID + + +By Honore De Balzac + + + +Translated by Katharine Prescott Wormeley + + + + DEDICATION + + To Monsieur Eugene-Auguste-Georges-Louis Midy de la Greneraye + Surville, Royal Engineer of the Ponts at Chausses. + + As a testimony to the affection of his brother-in-law, + + De Balzac + + + + + +AN OLD MAID + + + + +CHAPTER I. ONE OF MANY CHEVALIERS DE VALOIS + + +Most persons have encountered, in certain provinces in France, a number +of Chevaliers de Valois. One lived in Normandy, another at Bourges, +a third (with whom we have here to do) flourished in Alencon, and +doubtless the South possesses others. The number of the Valesian +tribe is, however, of no consequence to the present tale. All these +chevaliers, among whom were doubtless some who were Valois as Louis XIV. +was Bourbon, knew so little of one another that it was not advisable +to speak to one about the others. They were all willing to leave the +Bourbons in tranquil possession of the throne of France; for it was too +plainly established that Henri IV. became king for want of a male heir +in the first Orleans branch called the Valois. If there are any Valois, +they descend from Charles de Valois, Duc d'Angouleme, son of Charles +IX. and Marie Touchet, the male line from whom ended, until proof to +the contrary be produced, in the person of the Abbe de Rothelin. The +Valois-Saint-Remy, who descended from Henri II., also came to an end +in the famous Lamothe-Valois implicated in the affair of the Diamond +Necklace. + +Each of these many chevaliers, if we may believe reports, was, like +the Chevalier of Alencon, an old gentleman, tall, thin, withered, and +moneyless. He of Bourges had emigrated; he of Touraine hid himself; he +of Alencon fought in La Vendee and "chouanized" somewhat. The youth of +the latter was spend in Paris, where the Revolution overtook him when +thirty years of age in the midst of his conquests and gallantries. + +The Chevalier de Valois of Alencon was accepted by the highest +aristocracy of the province as a genuine Valois; and he distinguished +himself, like the rest of his homonyms, by excellent manners, which +proved him a man of society. He dined out every day, and played cards +every evening. He was thought witty, thanks to his foible for relating +a quantity of anecdotes on the reign of Louis XV. and the beginnings +of the Revolution. When these tales were heard for the first time, they +were held to be well narrated. He had, moreover, the great merit of +not repeating his personal bons mots and of never speaking of +his love-affairs, though his smiles and his airs and graces were +delightfully indiscreet. The worthy gentleman used his privilege as a +Voltairean noble to stay away from mass; and great indulgence was shown +to his irreligion because of his devotion to the royal cause. One of his +particular graces was the air and manner (imitated, no doubt, from Mole) +with which he took snuff from a gold box adorned with the portrait of +the Princess Goritza,--a charming Hungarian, celebrated for her beauty +in the last years of the reign of Louis XV. Having been attached during +his youth to that illustrious stranger, he still mentioned her with +emotion. For her sake he had fought a duel with Monsieur de Lauzun. + +The chevalier, now fifty-eight years of age, owned to only fifty; and he +might well allow himself that innocent deception, for, among the other +advantages granted to fair thin persons, he managed to preserve +the still youthful figure which saves men as well as women from an +appearance of old age. Yes, remember this: all of life, or rather +all the elegance that expresses life, is in the figure. Among the +chevalier's other possessions must be counted an enormous nose with +which nature had endowed him. This nose vigorously divided a pale face +into two sections which seemed to have no knowledge of each other, for +one side would redden under the process of digestion, while the +other continued white. This fact is worthy of remark at a period when +physiology is so busy with the human heart. The incandescence, so to +call it, was on the left side. Though his long slim legs, supporting a +lank body, and his pallid skin, were not indicative of health, Monsieur +de Valois ate like an ogre and declared he had a malady called in the +provinces "hot liver," perhaps to excuse his monstrous appetite. The +circumstance of his singular flush confirmed this declaration; but in a +region where repasts are developed on the line of thirty or forty dishes +and last four hours, the chevalier's stomach would seem to have been a +blessing bestowed by Providence on the good town of Alencon. According +to certain doctors, heat on the left side denotes a prodigal heart. +The chevalier's gallantries confirmed this scientific assertion, the +responsibility for which does not rest, fortunately, on the historian. + +In spite of these symptoms, Monsieur de Valois' constitution was +vigorous, consequently long-lived. If his liver "heated," to use an +old-fashioned word, his heart was not less inflammable. His face was +wrinkled and his hair silvered; but an intelligent observer would have +recognized at once the stigmata of passion and the furrows of pleasure +which appeared in the crow's-feet and the marches-du-palais, so prized +at the court of Cythera. Everything about this dainty chevalier bespoke +the "ladies' man." He was so minute in his ablutions that his cheeks +were a pleasure to look upon; they seemed to have been laved in some +miraculous water. The part of his skull which his hair refused to cover +shone like ivory. His eyebrows, like his hair, affected youth by the +care and regularity with which they were combed. His skin, already +white, seemed to have been extra-whitened by some secret compound. +Without using perfumes, the chevalier exhaled a certain fragrance of +youth, that refreshed the atmosphere. His hands, which were those of +a gentleman, and were cared for like the hands of a pretty woman, +attracted the eye to their rosy, well-shaped nails. In short, had it not +been for his magisterial and stupendous nose, the chevalier might have +been thought a trifle too dainty. + +We must here compel ourselves to spoil this portrait by the avowal of a +littleness. The chevalier put cotton in his ears, and wore, appended to +them, two little ear-rings representing negroes' heads in diamonds, of +admirable workmanship. He clung to these singular appendages, explaining +that since his ears had been bored he had ceased to have headaches (he +had had headaches). We do not present the chevalier as an accomplished +man; but surely we can pardon, in an old celibate whose heart sends +so much blood to his left cheek, these adorable qualities, founded, +perhaps, on some sublime secret history. + +Besides, the Chevalier de Valois redeemed those negroes' heads by so +many other graces that society felt itself sufficiently compensated. He +really took such immense trouble to conceal his age and give pleasure to +his friends. In the first place, we must call attention to the extreme +care he gave to his linen, the only distinction that well-bred men +can nowadays exhibit in their clothes. The linen of the chevalier was +invariably of a fineness and whiteness that were truly aristocratic. As +for his coat, though remarkable for its cleanliness, it was always half +worn-out, but without spots or creases. The preservation of that garment +was something marvellous to those who noticed the chevalier's high-bred +indifference to its shabbiness. He did not go so far as to scrape the +seams with glass,--a refinement invented by the Prince of Wales; but +he did practice the rudiments of English elegance with a personal +satisfaction little understood by the people of Alencon. The world owes +a great deal to persons who take such pains to please it. In this there +is certainly some accomplishment of that most difficult precept of the +Gospel about rendering good for evil. This freshness of ablution and +all the other little cares harmonized charmingly with the blue eyes, the +ivory teeth, and the blond person of the old chevalier. + +The only blemish was that this retired Adonis had nothing manly about +him; he seemed to be employing this toilet varnish to hide the ruins +occasioned by the military service of gallantry only. But we must hasten +to add that his voice produced what might be called an antithesis to his +blond delicacy. Unless you adopted the opinion of certain observers of +the human heart, and thought that the chevalier had the voice of +his nose, his organ of speech would have amazed you by its full and +redundant sound. Without possessing the volume of classical bass voices, +the tone of it was pleasing from a slightly muffled quality like that of +an English bugle, which is firm and sweet, strong but velvety. + +The chevalier had repudiated the ridiculous costume still preserved by +certain monarchical old men; he had frankly modernized himself. He +was always seen in a maroon-colored coat with gilt buttons, half-tight +breeches of poult-de-soie with gold buckles, a white waistcoat without +embroidery, and a tight cravat showing no shirt-collar,--a last vestige +of the old French costume which he did not renounce, perhaps, because +it enabled him to show a neck like that of the sleekest abbe. His shoes +were noticeable for their square buckles, a style of which the present +generation has no knowledge; these buckles were fastened to a square of +polished black leather. The chevalier allowed two watch-chains to hang +parallel to each other from each of his waistcoat pockets,--another +vestige of the eighteenth century, which the Incroyables had not +disdained to use under the Directory. This transition costume, uniting +as it did two centuries, was worn by the chevalier with the high-bred +grace of an old French marquis, the secret of which is lost to France +since the day when Fleury, Mole's last pupil, vanished. + +The private life of this old bachelor was apparently open to all eyes, +though in fact it was quite mysterious. He lived in a lodging that was +modest, to say the best of it, in the rue du Cours, on the second floor +of a house belonging to Madame Lardot, the best and busiest washerwoman +in the town. This circumstance will explain the excessive nicety of his +linen. Ill-luck would have it that the day came when Alencon was guilty +of believing that the chevalier had not always comported himself as a +gentleman should, and that in fact he was secretly married in his old +age to a certain Cesarine,--the mother of a child which had had the +impertinence to come into the world without being called for. + +"He had given his hand," as a certain Monsieur du Bousquier remarked, +"to the person who had long had him under irons." + +This horrible calumny embittered the last days of the dainty chevalier +all the more because, as the present Scene will show, he had lost a hope +long cherished to which he had made many sacrifices. + +Madame Lardot leased to the chevalier two rooms on the second floor of +her house, for the modest sum of one hundred francs a year. The worthy +gentleman dined out every day, returning only in time to go to bed. His +sole expense therefore was for breakfast, invariably composed of a cup +of chocolate, with bread and butter and fruits in their season. He made +no fire except in the coldest winter, and then only enough to get up +by. Between eleven and four o'clock he walked about, went to read the +papers, and paid visits. From the time of his settling in Alencon he had +nobly admitted his poverty, saying that his whole fortune consisted in +an annuity of six hundred francs a year, the sole remains of his former +opulence,--a property which obliged him to see his man of business (who +held the annuity papers) quarterly. In truth, one of the Alencon bankers +paid him every three months one hundred and fifty francs, sent down +by Monsieur Bordin of Paris, the last of the _procureurs du Chatelet_. +Every one knew these details because the chevalier exacted the utmost +secrecy from the persons to whom he first confided them. + +Monsieur de Valois gathered the fruit of his misfortunes. His place at +table was laid in all the most distinguished houses in Alencon, and he +was bidden to all soirees. His talents as a card-player, a narrator, an +amiable man of the highest breeding, were so well known and appreciated +that parties would have seemed a failure if the dainty connoisseur was +absent. Masters of houses and their wives felt the need of his approving +grimace. When a young woman heard the chevalier say at a ball, "You are +delightfully well-dressed!" she was more pleased at such praise than she +would have been at mortifying a rival. Monsieur de Valois was the only +man who could perfectly pronounce certain phrases of the olden time. +The words, "my heart," "my jewel," "my little pet," "my queen," and the +amorous diminutives of 1770, had a grace that was quite irresistible +when they came from his lips. In short, the chevalier had the privilege +of superlatives. His compliments, of which he was stingy, won the good +graces of all the old women; he made himself agreeable to every one, +even to the officials of the government, from whom he wanted nothing. +His behavior at cards had a lofty distinction which everybody noticed: +he never complained; he praised his adversaries when they lost; he did +not rebuke or teach his partners by showing them how they ought to have +played. When, in the course of a deal, those sickening dissertations +on the game would take place, the chevalier invariably drew out his +snuff-box with a gesture that was worthy of Mole, looked at the Princess +Goritza, raised the cover with dignity, shook, sifted, massed the snuff, +and gathered his pinch, so that by the time the cards were dealt he +had decorated both nostrils and replaced the princess in his waistcoat +pocket,--always on his left side. A gentleman of the "good" century (in +distinction from the "grand" century) could alone have invented that +compromise between contemptuous silence and a sarcasm which might not +have been understood. He accepted poor players and knew how to make +the best of them. His delightful equability of temper made many persons +say,-- + +"I do admire the Chevalier de Valois!" + +His conversation, his manners, seemed bland, like his person. He +endeavored to shock neither man nor woman. Indulgent to defects both +physical and mental, he listened patiently (by the help of the Princess +Goritza) to the many dull people who related to him the petty miseries +of provincial life,--an egg ill-boiled for breakfast, coffee with +feathered cream, burlesque details about health, disturbed sleep, +dreams, visits. The chevalier could call up a languishing look, he could +take on a classic attitude to feign compassion, which made him a most +valuable listener; he could put in an "Ah!" and a "Bah!" and a "What +DID you do?" with charming appropriateness. He died without any one +suspecting him of even an allusion to the tender passages of his romance +with the Princess Goritza. Has any one ever reflected on the service a +dead sentiment can do to society; how love may become both social and +useful? This will serve to explain why, in spite of his constant winning +at play (he never left a salon without carrying off with him about six +francs), the old chevalier remained the spoilt darling of the town. His +losses--which, by the bye, he always proclaimed, were very rare. + +All who know him declare that they have never met, not even in the +Egyptian museum at Turin, so agreeable a mummy. In no country in +the world did parasitism ever take on so pleasant a form. Never did +selfishness of a most concentrated kind appear less forth-putting, less +offensive, than in this old gentleman; it stood him in place of devoted +friendship. If some one asked Monsieur de Valois to do him a little +service which might have discommoded him, that some one did not part +from the worthy chevalier without being truly enchanted with him, and +quite convinced that he either could not do the service demanded, or +that he should injure the affair if he meddled in it. + +To explain the problematic existence of the chevalier, the historian, +whom Truth, that cruel wanton, grasps by the throat, is compelled to say +that after the "glorious" sad days of July, Alencon discovered that the +chevalier's nightly winnings amounted to about one hundred and fifty +francs every three months; and that the clever old nobleman had had the +pluck to send to himself his annuity in order not to appear in the eyes +of a community, which loves the main chance, to be entirely without +resources. Many of his friends (he was by that time dead, you will +please remark) have contested mordicus this curious fact, declaring it +to be a fable, and upholding the Chevalier de Valois as a respectable +and worthy gentleman whom the liberals calumniated. Luckily for shrewd +players, there are people to be found among the spectators who will +always sustain them. Ashamed of having to defend a piece of wrong-doing, +they stoutly deny it. Do not accuse them of wilful infatuation; such +men have a sense of their dignity; governments set them the example of a +virtue which consists in burying their dead without chanting the Misere +of their defeats. If the chevalier did allow himself this bit of shrewd +practice,--which, by the bye, would have won him the regard of the +Chevalier de Gramont, a smile from the Baron de Foeneste, a shake of +the hand from the Marquis de Moncade,--was he any the less that amiable +guest, that witty talker, that imperturbable card-player, that famous +teller of anecdotes, in whom all Alencon took delight? Besides, in what +way was this action, which is certainly within the rights of a man's own +will,--in what way was it contrary to the ethics of a gentleman? When +so many persons are forced to pay annuities to others, what more natural +than to pay one to his own best friend? But Laius is dead-- + +To return to the period of which we are writing: after about fifteen +years of this way of life the chevalier had amassed ten thousand and +some odd hundred francs. On the return of the Bourbons, one of his old +friends, the Marquis de Pombreton, formerly lieutenant in the Black +mousquetaires, returned to him--so he said--twelve hundred pistoles +which he had lent to the marquis for the purpose of emigrating. This +event made a sensation; it was used later to refute the sarcasms of +the "Constitutionnel," on the method employed by some emigres in paying +their debts. When this noble act of the Marquis de Pombreton was lauded +before the chevalier, the good man reddened even to his right cheek. +Every one rejoiced frankly at this windfall for Monsieur de Valois, +who went about consulting moneyed people as to the safest manner of +investing this fragment of his past opulence. Confiding in the future of +the Restoration, he finally placed his money on the Grand-Livre at the +moment when the funds were at fifty-six francs and twenty-five centimes. +Messieurs de Lenoncourt, de Navarreins, de Verneuil, de Fontaine, and La +Billardiere, to whom he was known, he said, obtained for him, from the +king's privy purse, a pension of three hundred francs, and sent him, +moreover, the cross of Saint-Louis. Never was it known positively by +what means the old chevalier obtained these two solemn consecrations of +his title and merits. But one thing is certain; the cross of Saint-Louis +authorized him to take the rank of retired colonel in view of his +service in the Catholic armies of the West. + +Besides his fiction of an annuity, about which no one at the present +time knew anything, the chevalier really had, therefore, a bona fide +income of a thousand francs. But in spite of this bettering of his +circumstances, he made no change in his life, manners, or appearance, +except that the red ribbon made a fine effect on his maroon-colored +coat, and completed, so to speak, the physiognomy of a gentleman. +After 1802, the chevalier sealed his letters with a very old seal, +ill-engraved to be sure, by which the Casterans, the d'Esgrignons, the +Troisvilles were enabled to see that he bore: _Party of France, two +cottises gemelled gules, and gules, five mascles or, placed end to end; +on a chief sable, a cross argent_. For crest, a knight's helmet. For +motto: "Valeo." Bearing such noble arms, the so-called bastard of the +Valois had the right to get into all the royal carriages of the world. + +Many persons envied the quiet existence of this old bachelor, spent +on whist, boston, backgammon, reversi, and piquet, all well played, +on dinners well digested, snuff gracefully inhaled, and tranquil walks +about the town. Nearly all Alencon believed this life to be exempt from +ambitions and serious interests; but no man has a life as simple as +envious neighbors attribute to him. You will find in the most out-of-the +way villages human mollusks, creatures apparently dead, who have +passions for lepidoptera or for conchology, let us say,--beings who will +give themselves infinite pains about moths, butterflies, or the concha +Veneris. Not only did the chevalier have his own particular shells, +but he cherished an ambitious desire which he pursued with a craft +so profound as to be worthy of Sixtus the Fifth: he wanted to marry a +certain rich old maid, with the intention, no doubt, of making her a +stepping-stone by which to reach the more elevated regions of the court. +There, then, lay the secret of his royal bearing and of his residence in +Alencon. + + + + +CHAPTER II. SUSANNAH AND THE ELDERS + + +On a Wednesday morning, early, toward the middle of spring, in the year +16,--such was his mode of reckoning,--at the moment when the chevalier +was putting on his old green-flowered damask dressing-gown, he heard, +despite the cotton in his ears, the light step of a young girl who was +running up the stairway. Presently three taps were discreetly struck +upon the door; then, without waiting for any response, a handsome girl +slipped like an eel into the room occupied by the old bachelor. + +"Ah! is it you, Suzanne?" said the Chevalier de Valois, without +discontinuing his occupation, which was that of stropping his razor. +"What have you come for, my dear little jewel of mischief?" + +"I have come to tell you something which may perhaps give you as much +pleasure as pain?" + +"Is it anything about Cesarine?" + +"Cesarine! much I care about your Cesarine!" she said with a saucy air, +half serious, half indifferent. + +This charming Suzanne, whose present comical performance was to exercise +a great influence in the principal personages of our history, was a +work-girl at Madame Lardot's. One word here on the topography of the +house. The wash-rooms occupied the whole of the ground floor. The little +courtyard was used to hang out on wire cords embroidered handkerchiefs, +collarets, capes, cuffs, frilled shirts, cravats, laces, embroidered +dresses,--in short, all the fine linen of the best families of the town. +The chevalier assumed to know from the number of her capes in the wash +how the love-affairs of the wife of the prefect were going on. Though +he guessed much from observations of this kind, the chevalier was +discretion itself; he was never betrayed into an epigram (he had plenty +of wit) which might have closed to him an agreeable salon. You are +therefore to consider Monsieur de Valois as a man of superior manners, +whose talents, like those of many others, were lost in a narrow sphere. +Only--for, after all, he was a man--he permitted himself certain +penetrating glances which could make some women tremble; although they +all loved him heartily as soon as they discovered the depth of his +discretion and the sympathy that he felt for their little weaknesses. + +The head woman, Madame Lardot's factotum, an old maid of forty-six, +hideous to behold, lived on the opposite side of the passage to the +chevalier. Above them were the attics where the linen was dried in +winter. Each apartment had two rooms,--one lighted from the street, the +other from the courtyard. Beneath the chevalier's room there lived a +paralytic, Madame Lardot's grandfather, an old buccaneer named Grevin, +who had served under Admiral Simeuse in India, and was now stone-deaf. +As for Madame Lardot, who occupied the other lodging on the first floor, +she had so great a weakness for persons of condition that she may well +have been thought blind to the ways of the chevalier. To her, Monsieur +de Valois was a despotic monarch who did right in all things. Had any of +her workwomen been guilty of a happiness attributed to the chevalier +she would have said, "He is so lovable!" Thus, though the house was of +glass, like all provincial houses, it was discreet as a robber's cave. + +A born confidant to all the little intrigues of the work-rooms, the +chevalier never passed the door, which usually stood open, without +giving something to his little ducks,--chocolate, bonbons, ribbons, +laces, gilt crosses, and such like trifles adored by grisettes; +consequently, the kind old gentleman was adored in return. Women have an +instinct which enables them to divine the men who love them, who like +to be near them, and exact no payment for gallantries. In this respect +women have the instinct of dogs, who in a mixed company will go straight +to the man to whom animals are sacred. + +The poor Chevalier de Valois retained from his former life the need of +bestowing gallant protection, a quality of the seigneurs of other +days. Faithful to the system of the "petite maison," he liked to enrich +women,--the only beings who know how to receive, because they can +always return. But the poor chevalier could no longer ruin himself for +a mistress. Instead of the choicest bonbons wrapped in bank-bills, he +gallantly presented paper-bags full of toffee. Let us say to the glory +of Alencon that the toffee was accepted with more joy than la Duthe +ever showed at a gilt service or a fine equipage offered by the Comte +d'Artois. All these grisettes fully understood the fallen majesty of the +Chevalier de Valois, and they kept their private familiarities with him +a profound secret for his sake. If they were questioned about him in +certain houses when they carried home the linen, they always spoke +respectfully of the chevalier, and made him out older than he really +was; they talked of him as a most respectable monsieur, whose life was +a flower of sanctity; but once in their own regions they perched on his +shoulders like so many parrots. He liked to be told the secrets which +washerwomen discover in the bosom of households, and day after day these +girls would tell him the cancans which were going the round of Alencon. +He called them his "petticoat gazettes," his "talking feuilletons." +Never did Monsieur de Sartines have spies more intelligent and less +expensive, or minions who showed more honor while displaying their +rascality of mind. So it may be said that in the mornings, while +breakfasting, the chevalier usually amused himself as much as the saints +in heaven. + +Suzanne was one of his favorites, a clever, ambitious girl, made of +the stuff of a Sophie Arnold, and handsome withal, as the handsomest +courtesan invited by Titian to pose on black velvet for a model of +Venus; although her face, fine about the eyes and forehead, degenerated, +lower down, into commonness of outline. Hers was a Norman beauty, fresh, +high-colored, redundant, the flesh of Rubens covering the muscles of +the Farnese Hercules, and not the slender articulations of the Venus de' +Medici, Apollo's graceful consort. + +"Well, my child, tell me your great or your little adventure, whatever +it is." + +The particular point about the chevalier which would have made him +noticeable from Paris to Pekin, was the gentle paternity of his manner +to grisettes. They reminded him of the illustrious operatic queens of +his early days, whose celebrity was European during a good third of the +eighteenth century. It is certain that the old gentleman, who had lived +in days gone by with that feminine nation now as much forgotten as many +other great things,--like the Jesuits, the Buccaneers, the Abbes, and +the Farmers-General,--had acquired an irresistible good-humor, a kindly +ease, a laisser-aller devoid of egotism, the self-effacement of +Jupiter with Alcmene, of the king intending to be duped, who casts his +thunderbolts to the devil, wants his Olympus full of follies, little +suppers, feminine profusions--but with Juno out of the way, be it +understood. + +In spite of his old green damask dressing-gown and the bareness of the +room in which he sat, where the floor was covered with a shabby tapestry +in place of carpet, and the walls were hung with tavern-paper presenting +the profiles of Louis XVI. and members of his family, traced among the +branches of a weeping willow with other sentimentalities invented by +royalism during the Terror,--in spite of his ruins, the chevalier, +trimming his beard before a shabby old toilet-table, draped with +trumpery lace, exhaled an essence of the eighteenth century. All the +libertine graces of his youth reappeared; he seemed to have the wealth +of three hundred thousand francs of debt, while his vis-a-vis waited +before the door. He was grand,--like Berthier on the retreat from +Moscow, issuing orders to an army that existed no longer. + +"Monsieur le chevalier," replied Suzanne, drolly, "seems to me I needn't +tell you anything; you've only to look." + +And Suzanne presented a side view of herself which gave a sort of +lawyer's comment to her words. The chevalier, who, you must know, was a +sly old bird, lowered his right eye on the grisette, still holding the +razor at his throat, and pretended to understand. + +"Well, well, my little duck, we'll talk about that presently. But you +are rather previous, it seems to me." + +"Why, Monsieur le chevalier, ought I to wait until my mother beats me +and Madame Lardot turns me off? If I don't get away soon to Paris, I +shall never be able to marry here, where men are so ridiculous." + +"It can't be helped, my dear; society is changing; women are just as +much victims to the present state of things as the nobility themselves. +After political overturn comes the overturn of morals. Alas! before long +woman won't exist" (he took out the cotton-wool to arrange his ears): +"she'll lose everything by rushing into sentiment; she'll wring her +nerves; good-bye to all the good little pleasures of our time, desired +without shame, accepted without nonsense." (He polished up the little +negroes' heads.) "Women had hysterics in those days to get their ends, +but now" (he began to laugh) "their vapors end in charcoal. In short, +marriage" (here he picked up his pincers to remove a hair) "will become +a thing intolerable; whereas it used to be so gay in my day! The reigns +of Louis XIV. and Louis XV.--remember this, my child--said farewell to +the finest manners and morals ever known to the world." + +"But, Monsieur le chevalier," said the grisette, "the matter now +concerns the morals and honor of your poor little Suzanne, and I hope +you won't abandon her." + +"Abandon her!" cried the chevalier, finishing his hair; "I'd sooner +abandon my own name." + +"Ah!" exclaimed Suzanne. + +"Now, listen to me, you little mischief," said the chevalier, sitting +down on a huge sofa, formerly called a duchesse, which Madame Lardot had +been at some pains to find for him. + +He drew the magnificent Suzanne before him, holding her legs between his +knees. She let him do as he liked, although in the street she was offish +enough to other men, refusing their familiarities partly from decorum +and partly for contempt for their commonness. She now stood audaciously +in front of the chevalier, who, having fathomed in his day many other +mysteries in minds that were far more wily, took in the situation at a +single glance. He knew very well that no young girl would joke about +a real dishonor; but he took good care not to knock over the pretty +scaffolding of her lie as he touched it. + +"We slander ourselves," he said with inimitable craft; "we are as +virtuous as that beautiful biblical girl whose name we bear; we can +always marry as we please, but we are thirsty for Paris, where charming +creatures--and we are no fool--get rich without trouble. We want to go +and see if the great capital of pleasures hasn't some young Chevalier de +Valois in store for us, with a carriage, diamonds, an opera-box, and so +forth. Russians, Austrians, Britons, have millions on which we have an +eye. Besides, we are patriotic; we want to help France in getting back +her money from the pockets of those gentry. Hey! hey! my dear little +devil's duck! it isn't a bad plan. The world you live in may cry out a +bit, but success justifies all things. The worst thing in this world, +my dear, is to be without money; that's our disease, yours and mine. Now +inasmuch as we have plenty of wit, we thought it would be a good thing +to parade our dear little honor, or dishonor, to catch an old boy; +but that old boy, my dear heart, knows the Alpha and Omega of female +tricks,--which means that you could easier put salt on a sparrow's tail +than to make me believe I have anything to do with your little affair. +Go to Paris, my dear; go at the cost of an old celibate, I won't prevent +it; in fact, I'll help you, for an old bachelor, Suzanne, is the natural +money-box of a young girl. But don't drag me into the matter. Listen, my +queen, you who know life pretty well; you would me great harm and give +me much pain,--harm, because you would prevent my marriage in a town +where people cling to morality; pain, because if you are in trouble +(which I deny, you sly puss!) I haven't a penny to get you out of it. +I'm as poor as a church mouse; you know that, my dear. Ah! if I marry +Mademoiselle Cormon, if I am once more rich, of course I would prefer +you to Cesarine. You've always seemed to me as fine as the gold they +gild on lead; you were made to be the love of a great seigneur. I think +you so clever that the trick you are trying to play off on me doesn't +surprise me one bit; I expected it. You are flinging the scabbard after +the sword, and that's daring for a girl. It takes nerve and superior +ideas to do it, my angel, and therefore you have won my respectful +esteem." + +"Monsieur le chevalier, I assure you, you are mistaken, and--" + +She colored, and did not dare to say more. The chevalier, with a single +glance, had guessed and fathomed her whole plan. + +"Yes, yes! I understand: you want me to believe it," he said. "Well! I +do believe it. But take my advice: go to Monsieur du Bousquier. Haven't +you taken linen there for the last six or eight months? I'm not asking +what went on between you; but I know the man: he has immense conceit; +he is an old bachelor, and very rich; and he only spends a quarter of +a comfortable income. If you are as clever as I suppose, you can go to +Paris at his expense. There, run along, my little doe; go and twist him +round your finger. Only, mind this: be as supple as silk; at every +word take a double turn round him and make a knot. He is a man to fear +scandal, and if he has given you a chance to put him in the pillory--in +short, understand; threaten him with the ladies of the Maternity +Hospital. Besides, he's ambitious. A man succeeds through his wife, and +you are handsome and clever enough to make the fortune of a husband. +Hey! the mischief! you could hold your own against all the court +ladies." + +Suzanne, whose mind took in at a flash the chevalier's last words, +was eager to run off to du Bousquier, but, not wishing to depart too +abruptly, she questioned the chevalier about Paris, all the while +helping him to dress. The chevalier, however, divined her desire to +be off, and favored it by asking her to tell Cesarine to bring up his +chocolate, which Madame Lardot made for him every morning. Suzanne then +slipped away to her new victim, whose biography must here be given. + +Born of an old Alencon family, du Bousquier was a cross between the +bourgeois and the country squire. Finding himself without means on the +death of his father, he went, like other ruined provincials, to Paris. +On the breaking out of the Revolution he took part in public affairs. +In spite of revolutionary principles, which made a hobby of republican +honesty, the management of public business in those days was by no +means clean. A political spy, a stock-jobber, a contractor, a man who +confiscated in collusion with the syndic of a commune the property of +emigres in order to sell them and buy them in, a minister, and a general +were all equally engaged in public business. From 1793 to 1799 du +Bousquier was commissary of provisions to the French armies. He lived in +a magnificent hotel and was one of the matadors of finance, did business +with Ouvrard, kept open house, and led the scandalous life of the +period,--the life of a Cincinnatus, on sacks of corn harvested without +trouble, stolen rations, "little houses" full of mistresses, in which +were given splendid fetes to the Directors of the Republic. + +The citizen du Bousquier was one of Barras' familiars; he was on the +best of terms with Fouche, stood very well with Bernadotte, and fully +expected to become a minister by throwing himself into the party which +secretly caballed against Bonaparte until Marengo. If it had not been +for Kellermann's charge and Desaix's death, du Bousquier would probably +have become a minister. He was one of the chief assistances of that +secret government whom Napoleon's luck sent behind the scenes in 1793. +(See "An Historical Mystery.") The unexpected victory of Marengo was +the defeat of that party who actually had their proclamations printed +to return to the principles of the Montagne in case the First Consul +succumbed. + +Convinced of the impossibility of Bonaparte's triumph, du Bousquier +staked the greater part of his property on a fall in the Funds, and kept +two couriers on the field of battle. The first started for Paris when +Melas' victory was certain; the second, starting four hours later, +brought the news of the defeat of the Austrians. Du Bousquier cursed +Kellermann and Desaix; he dared not curse Bonaparte, who might owe him +millions. This alternative of millions to be earned and present ruin +staring him in the face, deprived the purveyor of most of his faculties: +he became nearly imbecile for several days; the man had so abused his +health by excesses that when the thunderbolt fell upon him he had no +strength to resist. The payment of his bills against the Exchequer +gave him some hopes for the future, but, in spite of all efforts +to ingratiate himself, Napoleon's hatred to the contractors who had +speculated on his defeat made itself felt; du Bousquier was left without +a sou. The immorality of his private life, his intimacy with Barras and +Bernadotte, displeased the First Consul even more than his manoeuvres +at the Bourse, and he struck du Bousquier's name from the list of the +government contractors. + +Out of all his past opulence du Bousquier saved only twelve hundred +francs a year from an investment in the Grand Livre, which he had +happened to place there by pure caprice, and which saved him from +penury. A man ruined by the First Consul interested the town of Alencon, +to which he now returned, where royalism was secretly dominant. Du +Bousquier, furious against Bonaparte, relating stories against him of +his meanness, of Josephine's improprieties, and all the other scandalous +anecdotes of the last ten years, was well received. + +About this time, when he was somewhere between forty and fifty, du +Bousquier's appearance was that of a bachelor of thirty-six, of medium +height, plump as a purveyor, proud of his vigorous calves, with a +strongly marked countenance, a flattened nose, the nostrils garnished +with hair, black eyes with thick lashes, from which darted shrewd +glances like those of Monsieur de Talleyrand, though somewhat dulled. +He still wore republican whiskers and his hair very long; his hands, +adorned with bunches of hair on each knuckle, showed the power of his +muscular system in their prominent blue veins. He had the chest of the +Farnese Hercules, and shoulders fit to carry the stocks. Such shoulders +are seen nowadays only at Tortoni's. This wealth of masculine vigor +counted for much in du Bousquier's relations with others. And yet in +him, as in the chevalier, symptoms appeared which contrasted oddly with +the general aspect of their persons. The late purveyor had not the voice +of his muscles. We do not mean that his voice was a mere thread, such +as we sometimes hear issuing from the mouth of these walruses; on the +contrary, it was a strong voice, but stifled, an idea of which can be +given only by comparing it with the noise of a saw cutting into soft and +moistened wood,--the voice of a worn-out speculator. + +In spite of the claims which the enmity of the First Consul gave +Monsieur du Bousquier to enter the royalist society of the province, +he was not received in the seven or eight families who composed the +faubourg Saint-Germain of Alencon, among whom the Chevalier de Valois +was welcome. He had offered himself in marriage, through her notary, +to Mademoiselle Armande, sister of the most distinguished noble in the +town; to which offer he received a refusal. He consoled himself as best +he could in the society of a dozen rich families, former manufacturers +of the old point d'Alencon, owners of pastures and cattle, or merchants +doing a wholesale business in linen, among whom, as he hoped, he +might find a wealthy wife. In fact, all his hopes now converged to +the perspective of a fortunate marriage. He was not without a certain +financial ability, which many persons used to their profit. Like a +ruined gambler who advises neophytes, he pointed out enterprises and +speculations, together with the means and chances of conducting them. He +was thought a good administrator, and it was often a question of making +him mayor of Alencon; but the memory of his underhand jobbery still +clung to him, and he was never received at the prefecture. All the +succeeding governments, even that of the Hundred Days, refused to +appoint him mayor of Alencon,--a place he coveted, which, could he have +had it, would, he thought, have won him the hand of a certain old maid +on whom his matrimonial views now turned. + +Du Bousquier's aversion to the Imperial government had thrown him at +first into the royalist circles of Alencon, where he remained in spite +of the rebuffs he received there; but when, after the first return +of the Bourbons, he was still excluded from the prefecture, that +mortification inspired him with a hatred as deep as it was secret +against the royalists. He now returned to his old opinions, and became +the leader of the liberal party in Alencon, the invisible manipulator of +elections, and did immense harm to the Restoration by the cleverness of +his underhand proceedings and the perfidy of his outward behavior. Du +Bousquier, like all those who live by their heads only, carried on his +hatreds with the quiet tranquillity of a rivulet, feeble apparently, +but inexhaustible. His hatred was that of a negro, so peaceful that it +deceived the enemy. His vengeance, brooded over for fifteen years, was +as yet satisfied by no victory, not even that of July, 1830. + +It was not without some private intention that the Chevalier de Valois +had turned Suzanne's designs upon Monsieur du Bousquier. The liberal +and the royalist had mutually divined each other in spite of the wide +dissimulation with which they hid their common hope from the rest of the +town. The two old bachelors were secretly rivals. Each had formed a plan +to marry the Demoiselle Cormon, whom Monsieur de Valois had mentioned to +Suzanne. Both, ensconced in their idea and wearing the armor of apparent +indifference, awaited the moment when some lucky chance might deliver +the old maid over to them. Thus, if the two old bachelors had not been +kept asunder by the two political systems of which they each offered +a living expression, their private rivalry would still have made them +enemies. Epochs put their mark on men. These two individuals proved the +truth of that axiom by the opposing historic tints that were visible +in their faces, in their conversation, in their ideas, and in their +clothes. One, abrupt, energetic, with loud, brusque manners, curt, rude +speech, dark in tone, in hair, in look, terrible apparently, in reality +as impotent as an insurrection, represented the republic admirably. The +other, gentle and polished, elegant and nice, attaining his ends by the +slow and infallible means of diplomacy, faithful to good taste, was the +express image of the old courtier regime. + +The two enemies met nearly every evening on the same ground. The war +was courteous and benign on the side of the chevalier; but du Bousquier +showed less ceremony on his, though still preserving the outward +appearances demanded by society, for he did not wish to be driven from +the place. They themselves fully understood each other; but in spite of +the shrewd observation which provincials bestow on the petty interests +of their own little centre, no one in the town suspected the rivalry +of these two men. Monsieur le Chevalier de Valois occupied a +vantage-ground: he had never asked for the hand of Mademoiselle Cormon; +whereas du Bousquier, who entered the lists soon after his rejection by +the most distinguished family in the place, had been refused. But the +chevalier believed that his rival had still such strong chances of +success that he dealt him this coup de Jarnac with a blade (namely, +Suzanne) that was finely tempered for the purpose. The chevalier had +cast his plummet-line into the waters of du Bousquier; and, as we shall +see by the sequel, he was not mistaken in any of his conjectures. + +Suzanne tripped with a light foot from the rue du Cours, by the rue de +la Porte de Seez and the rue du Bercail, to the rue du Cygne, where, +about five years earlier, du Bousquier had bought a little house built +of gray Jura stone, which is something between Breton slate and +Norman granite. There he established himself more comfortably than any +householder in town; for he had managed to preserve certain furniture +and decorations from the days of his splendor. But provincial manners +and morals obscured, little by little, the rays of this fallen +Sardanapalus; these vestiges of his former luxury now produced the +effect of a glass chandelier in a barn. Harmony, that bond of all work, +human or divine, was lacking in great things as well as in little ones. +The stairs, up which everybody mounted without wiping their feet, were +never polished; the walls, painted by some wretched artisan of the +neighborhood, were a terror to the eye; the stone mantel-piece, +ill-carved, "swore" with the handsome clock, which was further degraded +by the company of contemptible candlesticks. Like the period which +du Bousquier himself represented, the house was a jumble of dirt and +magnificence. Being considered a man of leisure, du Bousquier led the +same parasite life as the chevalier; and he who does not spend his +income is always rich. His only servant was a sort of Jocrisse, a lad of +the neighborhood, rather a ninny, trained slowly and with difficulty to +du Bousquier's requirements. His master had taught him, as he might an +orang-outang, to rub the floors, dust the furniture, black his boots, +brush his coats, and bring a lantern to guide him home at night if +the weather were cloudy, and clogs if it rained. Like many other human +beings, this lad hadn't stuff enough in him for more than one vice; he +was a glutton. Often, when du Bousquier went to a grand dinner, he would +take Rene to wait at table; on such occasions he made him take off his +blue cotton jacket, with its big pockets hanging round his hips, and +always bulging with handkerchiefs, clasp-knives, fruits, or a handful of +nuts, and forced him to put on a regulation coat. Rene would then stuff +his fill with the other servants. This duty, which du Bousquier had +turned into a reward, won him the most absolute discretion from the +Breton servant. + +"You here, mademoiselle!" said Rene to Suzanne when she entered; +"'t'isn't your day. We haven't any linen for the wash, tell Madame +Lardot." + +"Old stupid!" said Suzanne, laughing. + +The pretty girl went upstairs, leaving Rene to finish his porringer of +buckwheat in boiled milk. Du Bousquier, still in bed, was revolving in +his mind his plans of fortune; for ambition was all that was left +to him, as to other men who have sucked dry the orange of pleasure. +Ambition and play are inexhaustible; in a well-organized man the +passions which proceed from the brain will always survive the passions +of the heart. + +"Here am I," said Suzanne, sitting down on the bed and jangling the +curtain-rings back along the rod with despotic vehemence. + +"Quesaco, my charmer?" said the old bachelor, sitting up in bed. + +"Monsieur," said Suzanne, gravely, "you must be astonished to see me +here at this hour; but I find myself in a condition which obliges me not +to care for what people may say about it." + +"What does all that mean?" said du Bousquier, crossing his arms. + +"Don't you understand me?" said Suzanne. "I know," she continued, making +a pretty little face, "how ridiculous it is in a poor girl to come and +nag at a man for what he thinks a mere nothing. But if you really knew +me, monsieur, if you knew all that I am capable of for a man who would +attach himself to me as much as I'm attached to you, you would never +repent having married me. Of course it isn't here, in Alencon, that +I should be of service to you; but if we went to Paris, you would see +where I could lead a man with your mind and your capacities; and just +at this time too, when they are remaking the government from top to toe. +So--between ourselves, be it said--_is_ what has happened a misfortune? +Isn't it rather a piece of luck, which will pay you well? Who and what +are you working for now?" + +"For myself, of course!" cried du Bousquier, brutally. + +"Monster! you'll never be a father!" said Suzanne, giving a tone of +prophetic malediction to the words. + +"Come, don't talk nonsense, Suzanne," replied du Bousquier; "I really +think I am still dreaming." + +"How much more reality do you want?" cried Suzanne, standing up. + +Du Bousquier rubbed his cotton night-cap to the top of his head with a +rotatory motion, which plainly indicated the tremendous fermentation of +his ideas. + +"He actually believes it!" thought Suzanne, "and he's flattered. Heaven! +how easy it is to gull men!" + +"Suzanne, what the devil must I do? It is so extraordinary--I, who +thought--The fact is that--No, no, it can't be--" + +"What? you can't marry me?" + +"Oh! as for that, no; I have engagements." + +"With Mademoiselle Armande or Mademoiselle Cormon, who have both +refused you? Listen to me, Monsieur du Bousquier, my honor doesn't +need gendarmes to drag you to the mayor's office. I sha'n't lack for +husbands, thank goodness! and I don't want a man who can't appreciate +what I'm worth. But some day you'll repent of the way you are behaving; +for I tell you now that nothing on earth, neither gold nor silver, will +induce me to return the good thing that belongs to you, if you refuse to +accept it to-day." + +"But, Suzanne, are you sure?" + +"Oh, monsieur!" cried the grisette, wrapping her virtue round her, "what +do you take me for? I don't remind you of the promises you made me, +which have ruined a poor young girl whose only blame was to have as much +ambition as love." + +Du Bousquier was torn with conflicting sentiments, joy, distrust, +calculation. He had long determined to marry Mademoiselle Cormon; +for the Charter, on which he had just been ruminating, offered to his +ambition, through the half of her property, the political career of a +deputy. Besides, his marriage with the old maid would put him socially +so high in the town that he would have great influence. Consequently, +the storm upraised by that malicious Suzanne drove him into the wildest +embarrassment. Without this secret scheme, he would have married Suzanne +without hesitation. In which case, he could openly assume the leadership +of the liberal party in Alencon. After such a marriage he would, of +course, renounce the best society and take up with the bourgeois class +of tradesmen, rich manufacturers and graziers, who would certainly carry +him in triumph as their candidate. Du Bousquier already foresaw the Left +side. + +This solemn deliberation he did not conceal; he rubbed his hands over +his head, displacing the cap which covered its disastrous baldness. +Suzanne, meantime, like all those persons who succeed beyond their +hopes, was silent and amazed. To hide her astonishment, she assumed the +melancholy pose of an injured girl at the mercy of her seducer; inwardly +she was laughing like a grisette at her clever trick. + +"My dear child," said du Bousquier at length, "I'm not to be taken in +with such _bosh_, not I!" + +Such was the curt remark which ended du Bousquier's meditation. He +plumed himself on belonging to the class of cynical philosophers who +could never be "taken in" by women,--putting them, one and all, unto the +same category, as _suspicious_. These strong-minded persons are usually +weak men who have a special catechism in the matter of womenkind. To +them the whole sex, from queens of France to milliners, are essentially +depraved, licentious, intriguing, not a little rascally, fundamentally +deceitful, and incapable of thought about anything but trifles. To them, +women are evil-doing queens, who must be allowed to dance and sing and +laugh as they please; they see nothing sacred or saintly in them, nor +anything grand; to them there is no poetry in the senses, only gross +sensuality. Where such jurisprudence prevails, if a woman is not +perpetually tyrannized over, she reduces the man to the condition of a +slave. Under this aspect du Bousquier was again the antithesis of the +chevalier. When he made his final remark, he flung his night-cap to the +foot of the bed, as Pope Gregory did the taper when he fulminated +an excommunication; Suzanne then learned for the first time that du +Bousquier wore a toupet covering his bald spot. + +"Please to remember, Monsieur du Bousquier," she replied majestically, +"that in coming here to tell you of this matter I have done my duty; +remember that I have offered you my hand, and asked for yours; but +remember also that I behaved with the dignity of a woman who respects +herself. I have not abased myself to weep like a silly fool; I have not +insisted; I have not tormented you. You now know my situation. You must +see that I cannot stay in Alencon: my mother would beat me, and Madame +Lardot rides a hobby of principles; she'll turn me off. Poor work-girl +that I am, must I go to the hospital? must I beg my bread? No! I'd +rather throw myself into the Brillante or the Sarthe. But isn't it +better that I should go to Paris? My mother could find an excuse to send +me there,--an uncle who wants me, or a dying aunt, or a lady who sends +for me. But I must have some money for the journey and for--you know +what." + +This extraordinary piece of news was far more startling to du Bousquier +than to the Chevalier de Valois. Suzanne's fiction introduced such +confusion into the ideas of the old bachelor that he was literally +incapable of sober reflection. Without this agitation and without his +inward delight (for vanity is a swindler which never fails of its dupe), +he would certainly have reflected that, supposing it were true, a +girl like Suzanne, whose heart was not yet spoiled, would have died a +thousand deaths before beginning a discussion of this kind and asking +for money. + +"Will you really go to Paris, then?" he said. + +A flash of gayety lighted Suzanne's gray eyes as she heard these words; +but the self-satisfied du Bousquier saw nothing. + +"Yes, monsieur," she said. + +Du Bousquier then began bitter lamentations: he had the last payments +to make on his house; the painter, the mason, the upholsterers must +be paid. Suzanne let him run on; she was listening for the figures. Du +Bousquier offered her three hundred francs. Suzanne made what is called +on the stage a false exit; that is, she marched toward the door. + +"Stop, stop! where are you going?" said du Bousquier, uneasily. "This +is what comes of a bachelor's life!" thought he. "The devil take me if +I ever did anything more than rumple her collar, and, lo and behold! she +makes THAT a ground to put her hand in one's pocket!" + +"I'm going, monsieur," replied Suzanne, "to Madame Granson, the +treasurer of the Maternity Society, who, to my knowledge, has saved many +a poor girl in my condition from suicide." + +"Madame Granson!" + +"Yes," said Suzanne, "a relation of Mademoiselle Cormon, the president +of the Maternity Society. Saving your presence, the ladies of the town +have created an institution to protect poor creatures from destroying +their infants, like that handsome Faustine of Argentan who was executed +for it three years ago." + +"Here, Suzanne," said du Bousquier, giving her a key, "open that +secretary, and take out the bag you'll find there: there's about six +hundred francs in it; it is all I possess." + +"Old cheat!" thought Suzanne, doing as he told her, "I'll tell about +your false toupet." + +She compared du Bousquier with that charming chevalier, who had given +her nothing, it is true, but who had comprehended her, advised her, and +carried all grisettes in his heart. + +"If you deceive me, Suzanne," cried du Bousquier, as he saw her with her +hand in the drawer, "you--" + +"Monsieur," she said, interrupting him with ineffable impertinence, +"wouldn't you have given me money if I had asked for it?" + +Recalled to a sense of gallantry, du Bousquier had a remembrance of past +happiness and grunted his assent. Suzanne took the bag and departed, +after allowing the old bachelor to kiss her, which he did with an air +that seemed to say, "It is a right which costs me dear; but it is better +than being harried by a lawyer in the court of assizes as the seducer of +a girl accused of infanticide." + +Suzanne hid the sack in a sort of gamebag made of osier which she had on +her arm, all the while cursing du Bousquier for his stinginess; for one +thousand francs was the sum she wanted. Once tempted of the devil to +desire that sum, a girl will go far when she has set foot on the path of +trickery. As she made her way along the rue du Bercail, it came into her +head that the Maternity Society, presided over by Mademoiselle Cormon, +might be induced to complete the sum at which she had reckoned her +journey to Paris, which to a grisette of Alencon seemed considerable. +Besides, she hated du Bousquier. The latter had evidently feared a +revelation of his supposed misconduct to Madame Granson; and Suzanne, at +the risk of not getting a penny from the society, was possessed with +the desire, on leaving Alencon, of entangling the old bachelor in the +inextricable meshes of a provincial slander. In all grisettes there is +something of the malevolent mischief of a monkey. Accordingly, Suzanne +now went to see Madame Granson, composing her face to an expression of +the deepest dejection. + + + + +CHAPTER III. ATHANASE + + +Madame Granson, widow of a lieutenant-colonel of artillery killed at +Jena, possessed, as her whole means of livelihood, a meagre pension of +nine hundred francs a year, and three hundred francs from property of +her own, plus a son whose support and education had eaten up all her +savings. She occupied, in the rue du Bercail, one of those melancholy +ground-floor apartments which a traveller passing along the principal +street of a little provincial town can look through at a glance. The +street door opened at the top of three steep steps; a passage led to an +interior courtyard, at the end of which was the staircase covered by a +wooden gallery. On one side of the passage was the dining-room and the +kitchen; on the other side, a salon put to many uses, and the widow's +bedchamber. + +Athanase Granson, a young man twenty-three years of age, who slept in an +attic room above the second floor of the house, added six hundred francs +to the income of his poor mother, by the salary of a little place which +the influence of his relation, Mademoiselle Cormon, had obtained for him +in the mayor's office, where he was placed in charge of the archives. + +From these indications it is easy to imagine Madame Granson in her +cold salon with its yellow curtains and Utrecht velvet furniture, also +yellow, as she straightened the round straw mats which were placed +before each chair, that visitors might not soil the red-tiled floor +while they sat there; after which she returned to her cushioned +armchair and little work-table placed beneath the portrait of the +lieutenant-colonel of artillery between two windows,--a point from which +her eye could rake the rue du Bercail and see all comers. She was a good +woman, dressed with bourgeois simplicity in keeping with her wan face +furrowed by grief. The rigorous humbleness of poverty made itself felt +in all the accessories of this household, the very air of which was +charged with the stern and upright morals of the provinces. At this +moment the son and mother were together in the dining-room, where +they were breakfasting with a cup of coffee, with bread and butter and +radishes. To make the pleasure which Suzanne's visit was to give to +Madame Granson intelligible, we must explain certain secret interests of +the mother and son. + +Athanase Granson was a thin and pale young man, of medium height, with +a hollow face in which his two black eyes, sparkling with thoughts, gave +the effect of bits of coal. The rather irregular lines of his face, the +curve of his lips, a prominent chin, the fine modelling of his forehead, +his melancholy countenance, caused by a sense of his poverty warring +with the powers that he felt within him, were all indications of +repressed and imprisoned talent. In any other place than the town of +Alencon the mere aspect of his person would have won him the assistance +of superior men, or of women who are able to recognize genius in +obscurity. If his was not genius, it was at any rate the form and aspect +of it; if he had not the actual force of a great heart, the glow of such +a heart was in his glance. Although he was capable of expressing the +highest feeling, a casing of timidity destroyed all the graces of his +youth, just as the ice of poverty kept him from daring to put forth all +his powers. Provincial life, without an opening, without appreciation, +without encouragement, described a circle about him in which languished +and died the power of thought,--a power which as yet had scarcely +reached its dawn. Moreover, Athanase possessed that savage pride which +poverty intensifies in noble minds, exalting them in their struggle with +men and things; although at their start in life it is an obstacle to +their advancement. Genius proceeds in two ways: either it takes its +opportunity--like Napoleon, like Moliere--the moment that it sees it, +or it waits to be sought when it has patiently revealed itself. Young +Granson belonged to that class of men of talent who distrust themselves +and are easily discouraged. His soul was contemplative. He lived more +by thought than by action. Perhaps he might have seemed deficient or +incomplete to those who cannot conceive of genius without the sparkle +of French passion; but he was powerful in the world of mind, and he was +liable to reach, through a series of emotions imperceptible to common +souls, those sudden determinations which make fools say of a man, "He is +mad." + +The contempt which the world pours out on poverty was death to Athanase; +the enervating heat of solitude, without a breath or current of air, +relaxed the bow which ever strove to tighten itself; his soul grew weary +in this painful effort without results. Athanase was a man who might +have taken his place among the glories of France; but, eagle as he was, +cooped in a cage without his proper nourishment, he was about to die of +hunger after contemplating with an ardent eye the fields of air and +the mountain heights where genius soars. His work in the city library +escaped attention, and he buried in his soul his thoughts of fame, +fearing that they might injure him; but deeper than all lay buried +within him the secret of his heart,--a passion which hollowed his +cheeks and yellowed his brow. He loved his distant cousin, this very +Mademoiselle Cormon whom the Chevalier de Valois and du Bousquier, +his hidden rivals, were stalking. This love had had its origin in +calculation. Mademoiselle Cormon was thought to be one of the richest +persons in the town: the poor lad had therefore been led to love her by +desires for material happiness, by the hope, long indulged, of gilding +with comfort his mother's last years, by eager longing for the ease of +life so needful to men who live by thought; but this most innocent point +of departure degraded his passion in his own eyes. Moreover, he feared +the ridicule the world would cast upon the love of a young man of +twenty-three for an old maid of forty. + +And yet his passion was real; whatever may seem false about such a love +elsewhere, it can be realized as a fact in the provinces, where, manners +and morals being without change or chance or movement or mystery, +marriage becomes a necessity of life. No family will accept a young man +of dissolute habits. However natural the liaison of a young man, like +Athanase, with a handsome girl, like Suzanne, for instance, might seem +in a capital, it alarms provincial parents, and destroys the hopes of +marriage of a poor young man when possibly the fortune of a rich one +might cause such an unfortunate antecedent to be overlooked. Between the +depravity of certain liaisons and a sincere love, a man of honor and no +fortune will not hesitate: he prefers the misfortunes of virtue to the +evils of vice. But in the provinces women with whom a young man call +fall in love are rare. A rich young girl he cannot obtain in a region +where all is calculation; a poor young girl he is prevented from loving; +it would be, as provincials say, marrying hunger and thirst. Such +monkish solitude is, however, dangerous to youth. + +These reflections explain why provincial life is so firmly based on +marriage. Thus we find that ardent and vigorous genius, forced to rely +on the independence of its own poverty, quits these cold regions where +thought is persecuted by brutal indifference, where no woman is willing +to be a sister of charity to a man of talent, of art, of science. + +Who will really understand Athanase Granson's love for Mademoiselle +Cormon? Certainly neither rich men--those sultans of society who fill +their harems--nor middle-class men, who follow the well-beaten high-road +of prejudices; nor women who, not choosing to understand the passions of +artists, impose the yoke of their virtues upon men of genius, imagining +that the two sexes are governed by the same laws. + +Here, perhaps, we should appeal to those young men who suffer from the +repression of their first desires at the moment when all their forces +are developing; to artists sick of their own genius smothering under the +pressure of poverty; to men of talent, persecuted and without influence, +often without friends at the start, who have ended by triumphing over +that double anguish, equally agonizing, of soul and body. Such men +will well understand the lancinating pains of the cancer which was +now consuming Athanase; they have gone through those long and bitter +deliberations made in presence of some grandiose purpose they had not +the means to carry out; they have endured those secret miscarriages in +which the fructifying seed of genius falls on arid soil. Such men know +that the grandeur of desires is in proportion to the height and breadth +of the imagination. The higher they spring, the lower they fall; and how +can it be that ties and bonds should not be broken by such a fall? +Their piercing eye has seen--as did Athanase--the brilliant future which +awaited them, and from which they fancied that only a thin gauze parted +them; but that gauze through which their eyes could see is changed by +Society into a wall of iron. Impelled by a vocation, by a sentiment of +art, they endeavor again and again to live by sentiments which society +as incessantly materializes. Alas! the provinces calculate and arrange +marriage with the one view of material comfort, and a poor artist or man +of science is forbidden to double its purpose and make it the saviour of +his genius by securing to him the means of subsistence! + +Moved by such ideas, Athanase Granson first thought of marriage with +Mademoiselle Cormon as a means of obtaining a livelihood which would +be permanent. Thence he could rise to fame, and make his mother happy, +knowing at the same time that he was capable of faithfully loving his +wife. But soon his own will created, although he did not know it, a +genuine passion. He began to study the old maid, and, by dint of the +charm which habit gives, he ended by seeing only her beauties and +ignoring her defects. + +In a young man of twenty-three the senses count for much in love; their +fire produces a sort of prism between his eyes and the woman. From +this point of view the clasp with which Beaumarchis' Cherubin seizes +Marceline is a stroke of genius. But when we reflect that in the utter +isolation to which poverty condemned poor Athanase, Mademoiselle Cormon +was the only figure presented to his gaze, that she attracted his eye +incessantly, that all the light he had was concentrated on her, surely +his love may be considered natural. + +This sentiment, so carefully hidden, increased from day to day. Desires, +sufferings, hopes, and meditations swelled in quietness and silence the +lake widening ever in the young man's breast, as hour by hour added its +drop of water to the volume. And the wider this inward circle, drawn +by the imagination, aided by the senses, grew, the more imposing +Mademoiselle Cormon appeared to Athanase, and the more his own timidity +increased. + +The mother had divined the truth. Like all provincial mothers, she +calculated candidly in her own mind the advantages of the match. She +told herself that Mademoiselle Cormon would be very lucky to secure a +husband in a young man of twenty-three, full of talent, who would always +be an honor to his family and the neighborhood; at the same time the +obstacles which her son's want of fortune and Mademoiselle Cormon's age +presented to the marriage seemed to her almost insurmountable; she could +think of nothing but patience as being able to vanquish them. Like du +Bousquier, like the Chevalier de Valois, she had a policy of her own; +she was on the watch for circumstances, awaiting the propitious moment +for a move with the shrewdness of maternal instinct. Madame Granson +had no fears at all as to the chevalier, but she did suppose that du +Bousquier, although refused, retained certain hopes. As an able and +underhand enemy to the latter, she did him much secret harm in the +interests of her son; from whom, by the bye, she carefully concealed all +such proceedings. + +After this explanation it is easy to understand the importance which +Suzanne's lie, confided to Madame Granson, was about to acquire. What a +weapon put into the hands of this charitable lady, the treasurer of the +Maternity Society! How she would gently and demurely spread the news +while collecting assistance for the chaste Suzanne! + +At the present moment Athanase, leaning pensively on his elbow at +the breakfast table, was twirling his spoon in his empty cup and +contemplating with a preoccupied eye the poor room with its red brick +floor, its straw chairs, its painted wooden buffet, its pink and white +curtains chequered like a backgammon board, which communicated with the +kitchen through a glass door. As his back was to the chimney which his +mother faced, and as the chimney was opposite to the door, his pallid +face, strongly lighted from the window, framed in beautiful black hair, +the eyes gleaming with despair and fiery with morning thoughts, was the +first object which met the eyes of the incoming Suzanne. The grisette, +who belonged to a class which certainly has the instinct of misery and +the sufferings of the heart, suddenly felt that electric spark, darting +from Heaven knows where, which can never be explained, which some strong +minds deny, but the sympathetic stroke of which has been felt by many +men and many women. It is at once a light which lightens the darkness +of the future, a presentiment of the sacred joys of a shared love, the +certainty of mutual comprehension. Above all, it is like the touch of +a firm and able hand on the keyboard of the senses. The eyes are +fascinated by an irresistible attraction; the heart is stirred; the +melodies of happiness echo in the soul and in the ears; a voice cries +out, "It is he!" Often reflection casts a douche of cold water on this +boiling emotion, and all is over. + +In a moment, as rapid as the flash of the lightning, Suzanne received +the broadside of this emotion in her heart. The flame of a real love +burned up the evil weeds fostered by a libertine and dissipated life. +She saw how much she was losing of decency and value by accusing herself +falsely. What had seemed to her a joke the night before became to her +eyes a serious charge against herself. She recoiled at her own success. +But the impossibility of any result; the poverty of the young man; a +vague hope of enriching herself, of going to Paris, and returning with +full hands to say, "I love you! here are the means of happiness!" +or mere fate, if you will have it so, dried up the next moment this +beneficent dew. + +The ambitious grisette asked with a timid air for a moment's interview +with Madame Granson, who took her at once into her bedchamber. When +Suzanne came out she looked again at Athanase; he was still in the same +position, and the tears came into her eyes. As for Madame Granson, she +was radiant with joy. At last she had a weapon, and a terrible one, +against du Bousquier; she could now deal him a mortal blow. She had +of course promised the poor seduced girl the support of all charitable +ladies and that of the members of the Maternity Society in particular; +she foresaw a dozen visits which would occupy her whole day, and brew up +a frightful storm on the head of the guilty du Bousquier. The Chevalier +de Valois, while foreseeing the turn the affair would take, had really +no idea of the scandal which would result from his own action. + +"My dear child," said Madame Granson to her son, "we are to dine, +you know, with Mademoiselle Cormon; do take a little pains with your +appearance. You are wrong to neglect your dress as you do. Put on that +handsome frilled shirt and your green coat of Elbeuf cloth. I have my +reasons," she added slyly. "Besides, Mademoiselle Cormon is going to +Prebaudet, and many persons will doubtless call to bid her good-bye. +When a young man is marriageable he ought to take every means to make +himself agreeable. If girls would only tell the truth, heavens! my +dear boy, you'd be astonished at what makes them fall in love. Often +it suffices for a man to ride past them at the head of a company of +artillery, or show himself at a ball in tight clothes. Sometimes a mere +turn of the head, a melancholy attitude, makes them suppose a man's +whole life; they'll invent a romance to match the hero--who is often +a mere brute, but the marriage is made. Watch the Chevalier de Valois: +study him; copy his manners; see with what ease he presents himself; +he never puts on a stiff air, as you do. Talk a little more; one would +really think you didn't know anything,--you, who know Hebrew by heart." + +Athanase listened to his mother with a surprised but submissive air; +then he rose, took his cap, and went off to the mayor's office, saying +to himself, "Can my mother suspect my secret?" + +He passed through the rue du Val-Noble, where Mademoiselle Cormon +lived,--a little pleasure which he gave himself every morning, thinking, +as usual, a variety of fanciful things:-- + +"How little she knows that a young man is passing before her house who +loves her well, who would be faithful to her, who would never cause +her any grief; who would leave her the entire management of her fortune +without interference. Good God! what fatality! here, side by side, in +the same town, are two persons in our mutual condition, and yet nothing +can bring them together. Suppose I were to speak to her this evening?" + +During this time Suzanne had returned to her mother's house thinking of +Athanase; and, like many other women who have longed to help an adored +man beyond the limit of human powers, she felt herself capable of making +her body a stepping-stone on which he could rise to attain his throne. + +It is now necessary to enter the house of this old maid toward whom so +many interests are converging, where the actors in this scene, with +the exception of Suzanne, were all to meet this very evening. As for +Suzanne, that handsome individual bold enough to burn her ships like +Alexander at her start in life, and to begin the battle by a falsehood, +she disappears from the stage, having introduced upon it a violent +element of interest. Her utmost wishes were gratified. She quitted her +native town a few days later, well supplied with money and good clothes, +among which was a fine dress of green reps and a charming green bonnet +lined with pink, the gift of Monsieur de Valois,--a present which she +preferred to all the rest, even the money. If the chevalier had gone +to Paris in the days of her future brilliancy, she would certainly have +left every one for him. Like the chaste Susannah of the Bible, whom the +Elders hardly saw, she established herself joyously and full of hope in +Paris, while all Alencon was deploring her misfortunes, for which the +ladies of two Societies (Charity and Maternity) manifested the liveliest +sympathy. Though Suzanne is a fair specimen of those handsome Norman +women whom a learned physician reckons as comprising one third of her +fallen class whom our monstrous Paris absorbs, it must be stated that +she remained in the upper and more decent regions of gallantry. At an +epoch when, as Monsieur de Valois said, Woman no longer existed, she was +simply "Madame du Val-Noble"; in other days she would have rivalled +the Rhodopes, the Imperias, the Ninons of the past. One of the most +distinguished writers of the Restoration has taken her under his +protection; perhaps he may marry her. He is a journalist, and +consequently above public opinion, inasmuch as he manufactures it afresh +every year or two. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. MADEMOISELLE CORMON + + +In nearly all the second-class prefectures of France there exists +one salon which is the meeting-ground of those considerable and +well-considered persons of the community who are, nevertheless, _not_ +the cream of the best society. The master and mistress of such an +establishment are counted among the leading persons of the town; they +are received wherever it may please them to visit; no fete is given, no +formal or diplomatic dinner takes place, to which they are not invited. +But the chateau people, heads of families possessing great estates, +in short, the highest personages in the department, do not go to their +houses; social intercourse between them is carried on by cards from one +to the other, and a dinner or soiree accepted and returned. + +This salon, in which the lesser nobility, the clergy, and the magistracy +meet together, exerts a great influence. The judgment and mind of the +region reside in that solid, unostentatious society, where each man +knows the resources of his neighbor, where complete indifference is +shown to luxury and dress,--pleasures which are thought childish in +comparison to that of obtaining ten or twelve acres of pasture land,--a +purchase coveted for years, which has probably given rise to endless +diplomatic combinations. Immovable in its prejudices, good or evil, +this social circle follows a beaten track, looking neither before it nor +behind it. It accepts nothing from Paris without long examination and +trial; it rejects cashmeres as it does investments on the Grand-Livre; +it scoffs at fashions and novelties; reads nothing, prefers ignorance, +whether of science, literature, or industrial inventions. It insists on +the removal of a prefect when that official does not suit it; and if the +administration resists, it isolates him, after the manner of bees who +wall up a snail in wax when it gets into their hive. + +In this society gossip is often turned into solemn verdicts. Young women +are seldom seen there; when they come it is to seek approbation of +their conduct,--a consecration of their self-importance. This supremacy +granted to one house is apt to wound the sensibilities of other natives +of the region, who console themselves by adding up the cost it involves, +and by which they profit. If it so happens that there is no fortune +large enough to keep open house in this way, the big-wigs of the place +choose a place of meeting, as they did at Alencon, in the house of some +inoffensive person, whose settled life and character and position offers +no umbrage to the vanities or the interests of any one. + +For some years the upper classes of Alencon had met in this way at the +house of an old maid, whose fortune was, unknown to herself, the aim +and object of Madame Granson, her second cousin, and of the two old +bachelors whose secret hopes in that direction we have just unveiled. +This lady lived with her maternal uncle, a former grand-vicar of the +bishopric of Seez, once her guardian, and whose heir she was. The family +of which Rose-Marie-Victoire Cormon was the present representative had +been in earlier days among the most considerable in the province. Though +belonging to the middle classes, she consorted with the nobility, among +whom she was more or less allied, her family having furnished, in past +years, stewards to the Duc d'Alencon, many magistrates to the long robe, +and various bishops to the clergy. Monsieur de Sponde, the maternal +grandfather of Mademoiselle Cormon, was elected by the Nobility to the +States-General, and Monsieur Cormon, her father, by the Tiers-Etat, +though neither accepted the mission. For the last hundred years the +daughters of the family had married nobles belonging to the provinces; +consequently, this family had thrown out so many suckers throughout the +duchy as to appear on nearly all the genealogical trees. No bourgeois +family had ever seemed so like nobility. + +The house in which Mademoiselle Cormon lived, build in Henri IV.'s time, +by Pierre Cormon, the steward of the last Duc d'Alencon, had always +belonged to the family; and among the old maid's visible possessions +this one was particularly stimulating to the covetous desires of the two +old lovers. Yet, far from producing revenue, the house was a cause of +expense. But it is so rare to find in the very centre of a provincial +town a private dwelling without unpleasant surroundings, handsome in +outward structure and convenient within, that Alencon shared the envy of +the lovers. + +This old mansion stands exactly in the middle of the rue du Val-Noble. +It is remarkable for the strength of its construction,--a style of +building introduced by Marie de' Medici. Though built of granite,--a +stone which is hard to work,--its angles, and the casings of the doors +and windows, are decorated with corner blocks cut into diamond facets. +It has only one clear story above the ground-floor; but the roof, rising +steeply, has several projecting windows, with carved spandrels rather +elegantly enclosed in oaken frames, and externally adorned with +balustrades. Between each of these windows is a gargoyle presenting the +fantastic jaws of an animal without a body, vomiting the rain-water upon +large stones pierced with five holes. The two gables are surmounted by +leaden bouquets,--a symbol of the bourgeoisie; for nobles alone had +the privilege in former days of having weather-vanes. To right of +the courtyard are the stables and coach-house; to left, the kitchen, +wood-house, and laundry. + +One side of the porte-cochere, being left open, allowed the passers in +the street to see in the midst of the vast courtyard a flower-bed, the +raised earth of which was held in place by a low privet hedge. A few +monthly roses, pinkes, lilies, and Spanish broom filled this bed, around +which in the summer season boxes of paurestinus, pomegranates, and +myrtle were placed. Struck by the scrupulous cleanliness of the +courtyard and its dependencies, a stranger would at once have divined +that the place belonged to an old maid. The eye which presided there +must have been an unoccupied, ferreting eye; minutely careful, less from +nature than for want of something to do. An old maid, forced to employ +her vacant days, could alone see to the grass being hoed from between +the paving stones, the tops of the walls kept clean, the broom +continually going, and the leather curtains of the coach-house always +closed. She alone would have introduced, out of busy idleness, a sort +of Dutch cleanliness into a house on the confines of Bretagne and +Normandie,--a region where they take pride in professing an utter +indifference to comfort. + +Never did the Chevalier de Valois, or du Bousquier, mount the steps of +the double stairway leading to the portico of this house without saying +to himself, one, that it was fit for a peer of France, the other, that +the mayor of the town ought to live there. + +A glass door gave entrance from this portico into an antechamber, a +species of gallery paved in red tiles and wainscoted, which served as a +hospital for the family portraits,--some having an eye put out, others +suffering from a dislocated shoulder; this one held his hat in a hand +that no longer existed; that one was a case of amputation at the knee. +Here were deposited the cloaks, clogs, overshoes, umbrellas, hoods, and +pelisses of the guests. It was an arsenal where each arrival left his +baggage on arriving, and took it up when departing. Along each wall was +a bench for the servants who arrived with lanterns, and a large stove, +to counteract the north wind, which blew through this hall from the +garden to the courtyard. + +The house was divided in two equal parts. On one side, toward the +courtyard, was the well of the staircase, a large dining-room looking to +the garden, and an office or pantry which communicated with the kitchen. +On the other side was the salon, with four windows, beyond which were +two smaller rooms,--one looking on the garden, and used as a boudoir, +the other lighted from the courtyard, and used as a sort of office. + +The upper floor contained a complete apartment for a family household, +and a suite of rooms where the venerable Abbe de Sponde had his abode. +The garrets offered fine quarters to the rats and mice, whose nocturnal +performances were related by Mademoiselle Cormon to the Chevalier +de Valois, with many expressions of surprise at the inutility of her +efforts to get rid of them. The garden, about half an acre in size, is +margined by the Brillante, so named from the particles of mica which +sparkle in its bed elsewhere than in the Val-Noble, where its shallow +waters are stained by the dyehouses, and loaded with refuse from +the other industries of the town. The shore opposite to Mademoiselle +Cormon's garden is crowded with houses where a variety of trades are +carried on; happily for her, the occupants are quiet people,--a baker, +a cleaner, an upholsterer, and several bourgeois. The garden, full of +common flowers, ends in a natural terrace, forming a quay, down which +are several steps leading to the river. Imagine on the balustrade of +this terrace a number of tall vases of blue and white pottery, in which +are gilliflowers; and to right and left, along the neighboring walls, +hedges of linden closely trimmed in, and you will gain an idea of +the landscape, full of tranquil chastity, modest cheerfulness, but +commonplace withal, which surrounded the venerable edifice of the Cormon +family. What peace! what tranquillity! nothing pretentious, but nothing +transitory; all seems eternal there! + +The ground-floor is devoted wholly to the reception-rooms. The old, +unchangeable provincial spirit pervades them. The great square salon has +four windows, modestly cased in woodwork painted gray. A single oblong +mirror is placed above the fireplace; the top of its frame represented +the Dawn led by the Hours, and painted in camaieu (two shades of one +color). This style of painting infested the decorative art of the day, +especially above door-frames, where the artist displayed his eternal +Seasons, and made you, in most houses in the centre of France, abhor +the odious Cupids, endlessly employed in skating, gleaning, twirling, +or garlanding one another with flowers. Each window was draped in green +damask curtains, looped up by heavy cords, which made them resemble a +vast dais. The furniture, covered with tapestry, the woodwork, painted +and varnished, and remarkable for the twisted forms so much the fashion +in the last century, bore scenes from the fables of La Fontaine on the +chair-backs; some of this tapestry had been mended. The ceiling was +divided at the centre of the room by a huge beam, from which depended an +old chandelier of rock-crystal swathed in green gauze. On the fireplace +were two vases in Sevres blue, and two old girandoles attached to the +frame of the mirror, and a clock, the subject of which, taken from +the last scene of the "Deserteur," proved the enormous popularity of +Sedaine's work. This clock, of bronze-gilt, bore eleven personages +upon it, each about four inches tall. At the back the Deserter was seen +issuing from prison between the soldiers; in the foreground the young +woman lay fainting, and pointing to his pardon. On the walls of this +salon were several of the more recent portraits of the family,--one +or two by Rigaud, and three pastels by Latour. Four card tables, a +backgammon board, and a piquet table occupied the vast room, the only +one in the house, by the bye, which was ceiled. + +The dining-room, paved in black and white stone, not ceiled, and its +beams painted, was furnished with one of those enormous sideboards with +marble tops, required by the war waged in the provinces against the +human stomach. The walls, painted in fresco, represented a flowery +trellis. The seats were of varnished cane, and the doors of natural +wood. All things about the place carried out the patriarchal air which +emanated from the inside as well as the outside of the house. The genius +of the provinces preserved everything; nothing was new or old, neither +young nor decrepit. A cold precision made itself felt throughout. + +Tourists in Normandy, Brittany, Maine, and Anjou must all have seen in +the capitals of those provinces many houses which resemble more or less +that of the Cormons; for it is, in its way, an archetype of the burgher +houses in that region of France, and it deserves a place in this history +because it serves to explain manners and customs, and represents ideas. +Who does not already feel that life must have been calm and monotonously +regular in this old edifice? It contained a library; but that was placed +below the level of the river. The books were well bound and shelved, +and the dust, far from injuring them, only made them valuable. They were +preserved with the care given in these provinces deprived of vineyards +to other native products, desirable for their antique perfume, and +issued by the presses of Bourgogne, Touraine, Gascogne, and the South. +The cost of transportation was too great to allow any but the best +products to be imported. + +The basis of Mademoiselle Cormon's society consisted of about one +hundred and fifty persons; some went at times to the country; others +were occasionally ill; a few travelled about the department on business; +but certain of the faithful came every night (unless invited elsewhere), +and so did certain others compelled by duties or by habit to live +permanently in the town. All the personages were of ripe age; few +among them had ever travelled; nearly all had spent their lives in the +provinces, and some had taken part in the chouannerie. The latter were +beginning to speak fearlessly of that war, now that rewards were being +showered on the defenders of the good cause. Monsieur de Valois, one of +the movers in the last uprising (during which the Marquis de Montauran, +betrayed by his mistress, perished in spite of the devotion of +Marche-a-Terre, now tranquilly raising cattle for the market near +Mayenne),--Monsieur de Valois had, during the last six months, given the +key to several choice stratagems practised upon an old republican named +Hulot, the commander of a demi-brigade stationed at Alencon from 1798 to +1800, who had left many memories in the place. [See "The Chouans."] + +The women of this society took little pains with their dress, except on +Wednesdays, when Mademoiselle Cormon gave a dinner, on which occasion +the guests invited on the previous Wednesday paid their "visit of +digestion." Wednesdays were gala days: the assembly was numerous; guests +and visitors appeared in fiocchi; some women brought their sewing, +knitting, or worsted work; the young girls were not ashamed to make +patterns for the Alencon point lace, with the proceeds of which they +paid for their personal expenses. Certain husbands brought their wives +out of policy, for young men were few in that house; not a word could be +whispered in any ear without attracting the attention of all; there was +therefore no danger, either for young girls or wives, of love-making. + +Every evening, at six o'clock, the long antechamber received its +furniture. Each habitue brought his cane, his cloak, his lantern. All +these persons knew each other so well, and their habits and ways were +so familiarly patriarchal, that if by chance the old Abbe de Sponde was +lying down, or Mademoiselle Cormon was in her chamber, neither Josette, +the maid, nor Jacquelin, the man-servant, nor Mariette, the cook, +informed them. The first comer received the second; then, when the +company were sufficiently numerous for whist, piquet, or boston, +they began the game without awaiting either the Abbe de Sponde or +mademoiselle. If it was dark, Josette or Jacquelin would hasten to light +the candles as soon as the first bell rang. Seeing the salon lighted up, +the abbe would slowly hurry to come down. Every evening the backgammon +and the piquet tables, the three boston tables, and the whist table were +filled,--which gave occupation to twenty-five or thirty persons; but +as many as forty were usually present. Jacquelin would then light the +candles in the other rooms. + +Between eight and nine o'clock the servants began to arrive in the +antechamber to accompany their masters home; and, short of a revolution, +no one remained in the salon at ten o'clock. At that hour the guests +were departing in groups along the street, discoursing on the game, or +continuing conversations on the land they were covetous of buying, on +the terms of some one's will, on quarrels among heirs, on the haughty +assumption of the aristocratic portion of the community. It was like +Paris when the audience of a theatre disperses. + +Certain persons who talk much of poesy and know nothing about it, +declaim against the habits of life in the provinces. But put your +forehead in your left hand, rest one foot on the fender, and your elbow +on your knee; then, if you compass the idea of this quiet and uniform +scene, this house and its interior, this company and its interests, +heightened by the pettiness of its intellect like goldleaf beaten +between sheets of parchment, ask yourself, What is human life? Try to +decide between him who scribbles jokes on Egyptian obelisks, and him who +has "bostoned" for twenty years with Du Bousquier, Monsieur de Valois, +Mademoiselle Cormon, the judge of the court, the king's attorney, the +Abbe de Sponde, Madame Granson, and tutti quanti. If the daily and +punctual return of the same steps to the same path is not happiness, it +imitates happiness so well that men driven by the storms of an agitated +life to reflect upon the blessings of tranquillity would say that here +was happiness _enough_. + +To reckon the importance of Mademoiselle Cormon's salon at its true +value, it will suffice to say that the born statistician of the +society, du Bousquier, had estimated that the persons who frequented it +controlled one hundred and thirty-one votes in the electoral college, +and mustered among themselves eighteen hundred thousand francs a year +from landed estate in the neighborhood. + +The town of Alencon, however, was not entirely represented by this +salon. The higher aristocracy had a salon of their own; moreover, that +of the receiver-general was like an administration inn kept by the +government, where society danced, plotted, fluttered, loved, and supped. +These two salons communicated by means of certain mixed individuals with +the house of Cormon, and vice-versa; but the Cormon establishment sat +severely in judgment on the two other camps. The luxury of their dinners +was criticised; the ices at their balls were pondered; the behavior of +the women, the dresses, and "novelties" there produced were discussed +and disapproved. + +Mademoiselle Cormon, a species of firm, as one might say, under whose +name was comprised an imposing coterie, was naturally the aim and object +of two ambitious men as deep and wily as the Chevalier de Valois and +du Bousquier. To the one as well as to the other, she meant election as +deputy, resulting, for the noble, in the peerage, for the purveyor, in +a receiver-generalship. A leading salon is a difficult thing to create, +whether in Paris or the provinces, and here was one already created. To +marry Mademoiselle Cormon was to reign in Alencon. Athanase Granson, the +only one of the three suitors for the hand of the old maid who no longer +calculated profits, now loved her person as well as her fortune. + +To employ the jargon of the day, is there not a singular drama in the +situation of these four personages? Surely there is something odd and +fantastic in three rivalries silently encompassing a woman who never +guessed their existence, in spite of an eager and legitimate desire +to be married. And yet, though all these circumstances make the +spinsterhood of this old maid an extraordinary thing, it is not +difficult to explain how and why, in spite of her fortune and her +three lovers, she was still unmarried. In the first place, Mademoiselle +Cormon, following the custom and rule of her house, had always desired +to marry a nobleman; but from 1788 to 1798 public circumstances were +very unfavorable to such pretensions. Though she wanted to be a woman +of condition, as the saying is, she was horribly afraid of the +Revolutionary tribunal. The two sentiments, equal in force, kept her +stationary by a law as true in ethics as it is in statics. This state +of uncertain expectation is pleasing to unmarried women as long as they +feel themselves young, and in a position to choose a husband. France +knows that the political system of Napoleon resulted in making many +widows. Under that regime heiresses were entirely out of proportion +in numbers to the bachelors who wanted to marry. When the Consulate +restored internal order, external difficulties made the marriage of +Mademoiselle Cormon as difficult to arrange as it had been in the past. +If, on the one hand, Rose-Marie-Victoire refused to marry an old man, on +the other, the fear of ridicule forbade her to marry a very young one. + +In the provinces, families marry their sons early to escape the +conscription. In addition to all this, she was obstinately determined +not to marry a soldier: she did not intend to take a man and then give +him up to the Emperor; she wanted him for herself alone. With these +views, she found it therefore impossible, from 1804 to 1815, to enter +the lists with young girls who were rivalling each other for suitable +matches. + +Besides her predilection for the nobility, Mademoiselle Cormon had +another and very excusable mania: that of being loved for herself. +You could hardly believe the lengths to which this desire led her. She +employed her mind on setting traps for her possible lovers, in order to +test their real sentiments. Her nets were so well laid that the luckless +suitors were all caught, and succumbed to the test she applied to them +without their knowledge. Mademoiselle Cormon did not study them; she +watched them. A single word said heedlessly, a joke (that she often +was unable to understand), sufficed to make her reject an aspirant as +unworthy: this one had neither heart nor delicacy; that one told lies, +and was not religious; a third only wanted to coin money under the cloak +of marriage; another was not of a nature to make a woman happy; here +she suspected hereditary gout; there certain immoral antecedents alarmed +her. Like the Church, she required a noble priest at her altar; she even +wanted to be married for imaginary ugliness and pretended defects, just +as other women wish to be loved for the good qualities they have not, +and for imaginary beauties. Mademoiselle Cormon's ambition took its +rise in the most delicate and sensitive feminine feeling; she longed to +reward a lover by revealing to him a thousand virtues after marriage, as +other women then betray the imperfections they have hitherto concealed. +But she was ill understood. The noble woman met with none but common +souls in whom the reckoning of actual interests was paramount, and who +knew nothing of the nobler calculations of sentiment. + +The farther she advanced towards that fatal epoch so adroitly called the +"second youth," the more her distrust increased. She affected to present +herself in the most unfavorable light, and played her part so well that +the last wooers hesitated to link their fate to that of a person whose +virtuous blind-man's-buff required an amount of penetration that men who +want the virtuous ready-made would not bestow upon it. The constant fear +of being married for her money rendered her suspicious and uneasy beyond +all reason. She turned to the rich men; but the rich are in search +of great marriages; she feared the poor men, in whom she denied the +disinterestedness she sought so eagerly. After each disappointment in +marriage, the poor lady, led to despise mankind, began to see them +all in a false light. Her character acquired, necessarily, a secret +misanthropy, which threw a tinge of bitterness into her conversation, +and some severity into her eyes. Celibacy gave to her manners and habits +a certain increasing rigidity; for she endeavored to sanctify herself +in despair of fate. Noble vengeance! she was cutting for God the rough +diamond rejected by man. Before long public opinion was against her; for +society accepts the verdict an independent woman renders on herself by +not marrying, either through losing suitors or rejecting them. Everybody +supposed that these rejections were founded on secret reasons, always +ill interpreted. One said she was deformed; another suggested some +hidden fault; but the poor girl was really as pure as a saint, as +healthy as an infant, and full of loving kindness; Nature had intended +her for all the pleasures, all the joys, and all the fatigues of +motherhood. + +Mademoiselle Cormon did not possess in her person an obliging auxiliary +to her desires. She had no other beauty than that very improperly called +la beaute du diable, which consists of a buxom freshness of youth that +the devil, theologically speaking, could never have,--though perhaps +the expression may be explained by the constant desire that must surely +possess him to cool and refresh himself. The feet of the heiress were +broad and flat. Her leg, which she often exposed to sight by her manner +(be it said without malice) of lifting her gown when it rained, could +never have been taken for the leg of a woman. It was sinewy, with a +thick projecting calf like a sailor's. A stout waist, the plumpness of a +wet-nurse, strong dimpled arms, red hands, were all in keeping with the +swelling outlines and the fat whiteness of Norman beauty. Projecting +eyes, undecided in color, gave to her face, the rounded outline of which +had no dignity, an air of surprise and sheepish simplicity, which was +suitable perhaps for an old maid. If Rose had not been, as she was, +really innocent, she would have seemed so. An aquiline nose contrasted +curiously with the narrowness of her forehead; for it is rare that that +form of nose does not carry with it a fine brow. In spite of her thick +red lips, a sign of great kindliness, the forehead revealed too great a +lack of ideas to allow of the heart being guided by intellect; she was +evidently benevolent without grace. How severely we reproach Virtue for +its defects, and how full of indulgence we all are for the pleasanter +qualities of Vice! + +Chestnut hair of extraordinary length gave to Rose Cormon's face a +beauty which results from vigor and abundance,--the physical qualities +most apparent in her person. In the days of her chief pretensions, +Rose affected to hold her head at the three-quarter angle, in order to +exhibit a very pretty ear, which detached itself from the blue-veined +whiteness of her throat and temples, set off, as it was, by her wealth +of hair. Seen thus in a ball-dress, she might have seemed handsome. Her +protuberant outlines and her vigorous health did, in fact, draw from the +officers of the Empire the approving exclamation,-- + +"What a fine slip of a girl!" + +But, as years rolled on, this plumpness, encouraged by a tranquil, +wholesome life, had insensibly so ill spread itself over the whole +of Mademoiselle Cormon's body that her primitive proportions were +destroyed. At the present moment, no corset could restore a pair of hips +to the poor lady, who seemed to have been cast in a single mould. The +youthful harmony of her bosom existed no longer; and its excessive +amplitude made the spectator fear that if she stooped its heavy masses +might topple her over. But nature had provided against this by giving +her a natural counterpoise, which rendered needless the deceitful +adjunct of a bustle; in Rose Cormon everything was genuine. Her chin, +as it doubled, reduced the length of her neck, and hindered the easy +carriage of her head. Rose had no wrinkles, but she had folds of flesh; +and jesters declared that to save chafing she powdered her skin as they +do an infant's. + +This ample person offered to a young man full of ardent desires like +Athanase an attraction to which he had succumbed. Young imaginations, +essentially eager and courageous, like to rove upon these fine living +sheets of flesh. Rose was like a plump partridge attracting the knife +of a gourmet. Many an elegant deep in debt would very willingly have +resigned himself to make the happiness of Mademoiselle Cormon. But, +alas! the poor girl was now forty years old. At this period, after +vainly seeking to put into her life those interests which make the +Woman, and finding herself forced to be still unmarried, she fortified +her virtue by stern religious practices. She had recourse to religion, +the great consoler of oppressed virginity. A confessor had, for the last +three years, directed Mademoiselle Cormon rather stupidly in the path +of maceration; he advised the use of scourging, which, if modern medical +science is to be believed, produces an effect quite the contrary to +that expected by the worthy priest, whose hygienic knowledge was not +extensive. + +These absurd practices were beginning to shed a monastic tint over the +face of Rose Cormon, who now saw with something like despair her white +skin assuming the yellow tones which proclaim maturity. A slight down +on her upper lip, about the corners, began to spread and darken like a +trail of smoke; her temples grew shiny; decadence was beginning! It +was authentic in Alencon that Mademoiselle Cormon suffered from rush +of blood to the head. She confided her ills to the Chevalier de Valois, +enumerating her foot-baths, and consulting him as to refrigerants. On +such occasions the shrewd old gentleman would pull out his snuff-box, +gaze at the Princess Goritza, and say, by way of conclusion:-- + +"The right composing draught, my dear lady, is a good and kind husband." + +"But whom can one trust?" she replied. + +The chevalier would then brush away the snuff which had settled in the +folds of his waistcoat or his paduasoy breeches. To the world at large +this gesture would have seemed very natural; but it always gave extreme +uneasiness to the poor woman. + +The violence of this hope without an object was so great that Rose was +afraid to look a man in the face lest he should perceive in her eyes the +feelings that filled her soul. By a wilfulness, which was perhaps +only the continuation of her earlier methods, though she felt herself +attracted toward the men who might still suit her, she was so afraid of +being accused of folly that she treated them ungraciously. Most persons +in her society, being incapable of appreciating her motives, which +were always noble, explained her manner towards her co-celibates as the +revenge of a refusal received or expected. When the year 1815 began, +Rose had reached that fatal age which she dared not avow. She was +forty-two years old. Her desire for marriage then acquired an intensity +which bordered on monomania, for she saw plainly that all chance of +progeny was about to escape her; and the thing which in her celestial +ignorance she desired above all things was the possession of children. +Not a person in all Alencon ever attributed to this virtuous woman +a single desire for amorous license. She loved, as it were, in bulk +without the slightest imagination of love. Rose was a Catholic Agnes, +incapable of inventing even one of the wiles of Moliere's Agnes. + +For some months past she had counted on chance. The disbandment of the +Imperial troops and the reorganization of the Royal army caused a change +in the destination of many officers, who returned, some on half-pay, +others with or without a pension, to their native towns,--all having a +desire to counteract their luckless fate, and to end their life in a way +which might to Rose Cormon be a happy beginning of hers. It would surely +be strange if, among those who returned to Alencon or its neighborhood, +no brave, honorable, and, above all, sound and healthy officer of +suitable age could be found, whose character would be a passport among +Bonaparte opinions; or some ci-devant noble who, to regain his lost +position, would join the ranks of the royalists. This hope kept +Mademoiselle Cormon in heart during the early months of that year. But, +alas! all the soldiers who thus returned were either too old or too +young; too aggressively Bonapartist, or too dissipated; in short, their +several situations were out of keeping with the rank, fortune, and +morals of Mademoiselle Cormon, who now grew daily more and more +desperate. The poor woman in vain prayed to God to send her a husband +with whom she could be piously happy: it was doubtless written above +that she should die both virgin and martyr; no man suitable for a +husband presented himself. The conversations in her salon every evening +kept her informed of the arrival of all strangers in Alencon, and of +the facts of their fortunes, rank, and habits. But Alencon is not a +town which attracts visitors; it is not on the road to any capital; +even sailors, travelling from Brest to Paris, never stop there. The +poor woman ended by admitting to herself that she was reduced to the +aborigines. Her eye now began to assume a certain savage expression, to +which the malicious chevalier responded by a shrewd look as he drew out +his snuff-box and gazed at the Princess Goritza. Monsieur de Valois +was well aware that in the feminine ethics of love fidelity to a first +attachment is considered a pledge for the future. + +But Mademoiselle Cormon--we must admit it--was wanting in intellect, +and did not understand the snuff-box performance. She redoubled her +vigilance against "the evil spirit"; her rigid devotion and fixed +principles kept her cruel sufferings hidden among the mysteries of +private life. Every evening, after the company had left her, she thought +of her lost youth, her faded bloom, the hopes of thwarted nature; and, +all the while immolating her passions at the feet of the Cross (like +poems condemned to stay in a desk), she resolved firmly that if, by +chance, any suitor presented himself, to subject him to no tests, but to +accept him at once for whatever he might be. She even went so far as to +think of marrying a sub-lieutenant, a man who smoked tobacco, whom she +proposed to render, by dint of care and kindness, one of the best men in +the world, although he was hampered with debts. + +But it was only in the silence of night watches that these fantastic +marriages, in which she played the sublime role of guardian angel, took +place. The next day, though Josette found her mistress' bed in a tossed +and tumbled condition, Mademoiselle Cormon had recovered her dignity, +and could only think of a man of forty, a land-owner, well preserved, +and a quasi-young man. + +The Abbe de Sponde was incapable of giving his niece the slightest aid +in her matrimonial manoeuvres. The worthy soul, now seventy years of +age, attributed the disasters of the French Revolution to the design of +Providence, eager to punish a dissolute Church. He had therefore flung +himself into the path, long since abandoned, which anchorites once +followed in order to reach heaven: he led an ascetic life without +proclaiming it, and without external credit. He hid from the world his +works of charity, his continual prayers, his penances; he thought that +all priests should have acted thus during the days of wrath and terror, +and he preached by example. While presenting to the world a calm and +smiling face, he had ended by detaching himself utterly from earthly +interests; his mind turned exclusively to sufferers, to the needs of the +Church, and to his own salvation. He left the management of his property +to his niece, who gave him the income of it, and to whom he paid a +slender board in order to spend the surplus in secret alms and gifts to +the Church. + +All the abbe's affections were concentrated on his niece, who regarded +him as a father, but an abstracted father, unable to conceive the +agitations of the flesh, and thanking God for maintaining his dear +daughter in a state of celibacy; for he had, from his youth up, adopted +the principles of Saint John Chrysostom, who wrote that "the virgin +state is as far above the marriage state as the angel is above +humanity." Accustomed to reverence her uncle, Mademoiselle Cormon dared +not initiate him into the desires which filled her soul for a change +of state. The worthy man, accustomed, on his side, to the ways of +the house, would scarcely have liked the introduction of a husband. +Preoccupied by the sufferings he soothed, lost in the depths of prayer, +the Abbe de Sponde had periods of abstraction which the habitues of the +house regarded as absent-mindedness. In any case, he talked little; but +his silence was affable and benevolent. He was a man of great height +and spare, with grave and solemn manners, though his face expressed all +gentle sentiments and an inward calm; while his mere presence carried +with it a sacred authority. He was very fond of the Voltairean +chevalier. Those two majestic relics of the nobility and clergy, though +of very different habits and morals, recognized each other by their +generous traits. Besides, the chevalier was as unctuous with the abbe as +he was paternal with the grisettes. + +Some persons may fancy that Mademoiselle Cormon used every means to +attain her end; and that among the legitimate lures of womanhood she +devoted herself to dress, wore low-necked gowns, and employed the +negative coquetries of a magnificent display of arms. Not at all! She +was as heroic and immovable in her high-necked chemisette as a sentry in +his box. Her gowns, bonnets, and chiffons were all cut and made by the +dressmaker and the milliner of Alencon, two hump-backed sisters, +who were not without some taste. In spite of the entreaties of these +artists, Mademoiselle Cormon refused to employ the airy deceits of +elegance; she chose to be substantial in all things, flesh and feathers. +But perhaps the heavy fashion of her gowns was best suited to her cast +of countenance. Let those laugh who will at this poor girl; you would +have thought her sublime, O generous souls! who care but little what +form true feeling takes, but admire it where it _is_. + +Here some light-minded person may exclaim against the truth of this +statement; they will say that there is not in all France a girl so +silly as to be ignorant of the art of angling for men; that Mademoiselle +Cormon is one of those monstrous exceptions which commonsense should +prevent a writer from using as a type; that the most virtuous and also +the silliest girl who desires to catch her fish knows well how to bait +the hook. But these criticisms fall before the fact that the noble +catholic, apostolic, and Roman religion is still erect in Brittany and +in the ancient duchy of Alencon. Faith and piety admit of no subtleties. +Mademoiselle Cormon trod the path of salvation, preferring the sorrows +of her virginity so cruelly prolonged to the evils of trickery and +the sin of a snare. In a woman armed with a scourge virtue could never +compromise; consequently both love and self-interest were forced to seek +her, and seek her resolutely. And here let us have the courage to make +a cruel observation, in days when religion is nothing more than a +useful means to some, and a poesy to others. Devotion causes a moral +ophthalmia. By some providential grace, it takes from souls on the road +to eternity the sight of many little earthly things. In a word, pious +persons, devotes, are stupid on various points. This stupidity proves +with what force they turn their minds to celestial matters; although the +Voltairean Chevalier de Valois declared that it was difficult to decide +whether stupid people became naturally pious, or whether piety had the +effect of making intelligent young women stupid. But reflect upon this +carefully: the purest catholic virtue, with its loving acceptance of all +cups, with its pious submission to the will of God, with its belief in +the print of the divine finger on the clay of all earthly life, is the +mysterious light which glides into the innermost folds of human history, +setting them in relief and magnifying them in the eyes of those who +still have Faith. Besides, if there be stupidity, why not concern +ourselves with the sorrows of stupidity as well as with the sorrows of +genius? The former is a social element infinitely more abundant than the +latter. + +So, then, Mademoiselle Cormon was guilty in the eyes of the world of the +divine ignorance of virgins. She was no observer, and her behavior with +her suitors proved it. At this very moment, a young girl of sixteen, who +had never opened a novel, would have read a hundred chapters of a love +story in the eyes of Athanase Granson, where Mademoiselle Cormon saw +absolutely nothing. Shy herself, she never suspected shyness in others; +she did not recognize in the quavering tones of his speech the force of +a sentiment he could not utter. Capable of inventing those refinements +of sentimental grandeur which hindered her marriage in her early years, +she yet could not recognize them in Athanase. This moral phenomenon will +not seem surprising to persons who know that the qualities of the heart +are as distinct from those of the mind as the faculties of genius are +from the nobility of soul. A perfect, all-rounded man is so rare +that Socrates, one of the noblest pearls of humanity, declared (as a +phrenologist of that day) that he was born to be a scamp, and a very +bad one. A great general may save his country at Zurich, and take +commissions from purveyors. A great musician may conceive the sublimest +music and commit a forgery. A woman of true feeling may be a fool. In +short, a devote may have a sublime soul and yet be unable to recognize +the tones of a noble soul beside her. The caprices produced by physical +infirmities are equally to be met with in the mental and moral regions. + +This good creature, who grieved at making her yearly preserves for no +one but her uncle and herself, was becoming almost ridiculous. Those who +felt a sympathy for her on account of her good qualities, and others +on account of her defects, now made fun of her abortive marriages. +More than one conversation was based on what would become of so fine +a property, together with the old maid's savings and her uncle's +inheritance. For some time past she had been suspected of being au fond, +in spite of appearances, an "original." In the provinces it was not +permissible to be original: being original means having ideas that are +not understood by others; the provinces demand equality of mind as well +as equality of manners and customs. + +The marriage of Mademoiselle Cormon seemed, after 1804, a thing so +problematical that the saying "married like Mademoiselle Cormon" became +proverbial in Alencon as applied to ridiculous failures. Surely the +sarcastic mood must be an imperative need in France, that so excellent +a woman should excite the laughter of Alencon. Not only did she +receive the whole society of the place at her house, not only was she +charitable, pious, incapable of saying an unkind thing, but she was +fully in accord with the spirit of the place and the habits and customs +of the inhabitants, who liked her as the symbol of their lives; she was +absolutely inlaid into the ways of the provinces; she had never +quitted them; she imbibed all their prejudices; she espoused all their +interests; she adored them. + +In spite of her income of eighteen thousand francs from landed property, +a very considerable fortune in the provinces, she lived on a footing +with families who were less rich. When she went to her country-place at +Prebaudet, she drove there in an old wicker carriole, hung on two straps +of white leather, drawn by a wheezy mare, and scarcely protected by two +leather curtains rusty with age. This carriole, known to all the town, +was cared for by Jacquelin as though it were the finest coupe in all +Paris. Mademoiselle valued it; she had used it for twelve years,--a fact +to which she called attention with the triumphant joy of happy avarice. +Most of the inhabitants of the town were grateful to Mademoiselle Cormon +for not humiliating them by the luxury she could have displayed; we may +even believe that had she imported a caleche from Paris they would have +gossiped more about that than about her various matrimonial failures. +The most brilliant equipage would, after all, have only taken her, like +the old carriole, to Prebaudet. Now the provinces, which look solely to +results, care little about the beauty or elegance of the means, provided +they are efficient. + + + + +CHAPTER V. AN OLD MAID'S HOUSEHOLD + + +To complete the picture of the internal habits and ways of this house, +it is necessary to group around Mademoiselle Cormon and the Abbe +de Sponde Jacquelin, Josette, and Mariette, the cook, who employed +themselves in providing for the comfort of uncle and niece. + +Jacquelin, a man of forty, short, fat, ruddy, and brown, with a +face like a Breton sailor, had been in the service of the house for +twenty-two years. He waited at table, groomed the mare, gardened, +blacked the abbe's boots, went on errands, chopped the wood, drove the +carriole, and fetched the oats, straw, and hay from Prebaudet. He sat in +the antechamber during the evening, where he slept like a dormouse. He +was in love with Josette, a girl of thirty, whom Mademoiselle would +have dismissed had she married him. So the poor fond pair laid by their +wages, and loved each other silently, waiting, hoping for mademoiselle's +own marriage, as the Jews are waiting for the Messiah. Josette, born +between Alencon and Mortagne, was short and plump; her face, which +looked like a dirty apricot, was not wanting in sense and character; +it was said that she ruled her mistress. Josette and Jacquelin, sure of +results, endeavored to hide an inward satisfaction which allows it to be +supposed that, as lovers, they had discounted the future. Mariette, the +cook, who had been fifteen years in the household, knew how to make all +the dishes held in most honor in Alencon. + +Perhaps we ought to count for much the fat old Norman brown-bay mare, +which drew Mademoiselle Cormon to her country-seat at Prebaudet; for the +five inhabitants of the house bore to this animal a maniacal affection. +She was called Penelope, and had served the family for eighteen +years; but she was kept so carefully and fed with such regularity that +mademoiselle and Jacquelin both hoped to use her for ten years longer. +This beast was the subject of perpetual talk and occupation; it seemed +as if poor Mademoiselle Cormon, having no children on whom her repressed +motherly feelings could expend themselves, had turned those sentiments +wholly on this most fortunate animal. + +The four faithful servants--for Penelope's intelligence raised her to +the level of the other good servants; while they, on the other hand, had +lowered themselves to the mute, submissive regularity of the beast--went +and came daily in the same occupations with the infallible accuracy of +mechanism. But, as they said in their idiom, they had eaten their white +bread first. Mademoiselle Cormon, like all persons nervously agitated +by a fixed idea, became hard to please, and nagging, less by nature than +from the need of employing her activity. Having no husband or children +to occupy her, she fell back on petty details. She talked for hours +about mere nothings, on a dozen napkins marked "Z," placed in the closet +before the "O's." + +"What can Josette be thinking of?" she exclaimed. "Josette is beginning +to neglect things." + +Mademoiselle inquired for eight days running whether Penelope had had +her oats at two o'clock, because on one occasion Jacquelin was a trifle +late. Her narrow imagination spent itself on trifles. A layer of dust +forgotten by the feather-duster, a slice of toast ill-made by Mariette, +Josette's delay in closing the blinds when the sun came round to fade +the colors of the furniture,--all these great little things gave rise +to serious quarrels in which mademoiselle grew angry. "Everything was +changing," she would cry; "she did not know her own servants; the fact +was she spoiled them!" On one occasion Josette gave her the "Journee du +Chretien" instead of the "Quinzaine de Paques." The whole town heard of +this disaster the same evening. Mademoiselle had been forced to leave +the church and return home; and her sudden departure, upsetting +the chairs, made people suppose a catastrophe had happened. She was +therefore obliged to explain the facts to her friends. + +"Josette," she said gently, "such a thing must never happen again." + +Mademoiselle Cormon was, without being aware of it, made happier by such +little quarrels, which served as cathartics to relieve her bitterness. +The soul has its needs, and, like the body, its gymnastics. These +uncertainties of temper were accepted by Josette and Jacquelin as +changes in the weather are accepted by husbandmen. Those worthy souls +remark, "It is fine to-day," or "It rains," without arraigning the +heavens. And so when they met in the morning the servants would wonder +in what humor mademoiselle would get up, just as a farmer wonders about +the mists at dawn. + +Mademoiselle Cormon had ended, as it was natural she should end, in +contemplating herself only in the infinite pettinesses of her life. +Herself and God, her confessor and the weekly wash, her preserves and +the church services, and her uncle to care for, absorbed her feeble +intellect. To her the atoms of life were magnified by an optic peculiar +to persons who are selfish by nature or self-absorbed by some accident. +Her perfect health gave alarming meaning to the least little derangement +of her digestive organs. She lived under the iron rod of the medical +science of our forefathers, and took yearly four precautionary doses, +strong enough to have killed Penelope, though they seemed to rejuvenate +her mistress. If Josette, when dressing her, chanced to discover a +little pimple on the still satiny shoulders of mademoiselle, it became +the subject of endless inquiries as to the various alimentary articles +of the preceding week. And what a triumph when Josette reminded her +mistress of a certain hare that was rather "high," and had doubtless +raised that accursed pimple! With what joy they said to each other: "No +doubt, no doubt, it _was_ the hare!" + +"Mariette over-seasoned it," said mademoiselle. "I am always telling +her to do so lightly for my uncle and for me; but Mariette has no more +memory than--" + +"The hare," said Josette. + +"Just so," replied Mademoiselle; "she has no more memory than a hare,--a +very just remark." + +Four times a year, at the beginning of each season, Mademoiselle Cormon +went to pass a certain number of days on her estate of Prebaudet. It +was now the middle of May, the period at which she wished to see how her +apple-trees had "snowed," a saying of that region which expressed the +effect produced beneath the trees by the falling of their blossoms. When +the circular deposit of these fallen petals resembled a layer of snow +the owner of the trees might hope for an abundant supply of cider. +While she thus gauged her vats, Mademoiselle Cormon also attended to the +repairs which the winter necessitated; she ordered the digging of her +flower-beds and her vegetable garden, from which she supplied her table. +Every season had its own business. Mademoiselle always gave a dinner of +farewell to her intimate friends the day before her departure, although +she was certain to see them again within three weeks. It was always +a piece of news which echoed through Alencon when Mademoiselle Cormon +departed. All her visitors, especially those who had missed a visit, +came to bid her good-bye; the salon was thronged, and every one said +farewell as though she were starting for Calcutta. The next day the +shopkeepers would stand at their doors to see the old carriole pass, and +they seemed to be telling one another some news by repeating from shop +to shop:-- + +"So Mademoiselle Cormon is going to Prebaudet!" + +Some said: "_Her_ bread is baked." + +"Hey! my lad," replied the next man. "She's a worthy woman; if money +always came into such hands we shouldn't see a beggar in the country." + +Another said: "Dear me, I shouldn't be surprised if the vineyards were +in bloom; here's Mademoiselle Cormon going to Prebaudet. How happens it +she doesn't marry?" + +"I'd marry her myself," said a wag; "in fact, the marriage is half-made, +for here's one consenting party; but the other side won't. Pooh! the +oven is heating for Monsieur du Bousquier." + +"Monsieur du Bousquier! Why, she has refused him." + +That evening at all the gatherings it was told gravely:-- + +"Mademoiselle Cormon has gone." + +Or:-- + +"So you have really let Mademoiselle Cormon go." + +The Wednesday chosen by Suzanne to make known her scandal happened to +be this farewell Wednesday,--a day on which Mademoiselle Cormon drove +Josette distracted on the subject of packing. During the morning, +therefore, things had been said and done in the town which lent the +utmost interest to this farewell meeting. Madame Granson had gone the +round of a dozen houses while the old maid was deliberating on the +things she needed for the journey; and the malicious Chevalier de Valois +was playing piquet with Mademoiselle Armande, sister of a distinguished +old marquis, and the queen of the salon of the aristocrats. If it was +not uninteresting to any one to see what figure the seducer would cut +that evening, it was all important for the chevalier and Madame Granson +to know how Mademoiselle Cormon would take the news in her double +capacity of marriageable woman and president of the Maternity Society. +As for the innocent du Bousquier, he was taking a walk on the promenade, +and beginning to suspect that Suzanne had tricked him; this suspicion +confirmed him in his principles as to women. + +On gala days the table was laid at Mademoiselle Cormon's about half-past +three o'clock. At that period the fashionable people of Alencon dined at +four. Under the Empire they still dined as in former times at half-past +two; but then they supped! One of the pleasures which Mademoiselle +Cormon valued most was (without meaning any malice, although the fact +certainly rests on egotism) the unspeakable satisfaction she derived +from seeing herself dressed as mistress of the house to receive her +guests. When she was thus under arms a ray of hope would glide into +the darkness of her heart; a voice told her that nature had not so +abundantly provided for her in vain, and that some man, brave and +enterprising, would surely present himself. Her desire was refreshed +like her person; she contemplated herself in her heavy stuffs with a +sort of intoxication, and this satisfaction continued when she descended +the stairs to cast her redoubtable eye on the salon, the dinner-table, +and the boudoir. She would then walk about with the naive contentment of +the rich,--who remember at all moments that they are rich and will never +want for anything. She looked at her eternal furniture, her curiosities, +her lacquers, and said to herself that all these fine things wanted was +a master. After admiring the dining-room, and the oblong dinner-table, +on which was spread a snow-white cloth adorned with twenty covers placed +at equal distances; after verifying the squadron of bottles she had +ordered to be brought up, and which all bore honorable labels; after +carefully verifying the names written on little bits of paper in the +trembling handwriting of the abbe (the only duty he assumed in the +household, and one which gave rise to grave discussions on the place +of each guest),--after going through all these preliminary acts +mademoiselle went, in her fine clothes, to her uncle, who was accustomed +at this, the best hour in the day, to take his walk on the terrace which +overlooked the Brillante, where he could listen to the warble of birds +which were resting in the coppice, unafraid of either sportsmen or +children. At such times of waiting she never joined the Abbe de Sponde +without asking him some ridiculous question, in order to draw the old +man into a discussion which might serve to amuse him. And her reason +was this,--which will serve to complete our picture of this excellent +woman's nature:-- + +Mademoiselle Cormon regarded it as one of her duties to talk; not that +she was talkative, for she had unfortunately too few ideas, and did +not know enough phrases to converse readily. But she believed she was +accomplishing one of the social duties enjoined by religion, which +orders us to make ourselves agreeable to our neighbor. This obligation +cost her so much that she consulted her director, the Abbe Couturier, +upon the subject of this honest but puerile civility. In spite of the +humble remark of his penitent, confessing the inward labor of her +mind in finding anything to say, the old priest, rigid on the point +of discipline, read her a passage from Saint-Francois de Sales on the +duties of women in society, which dwelt on the decent gayety of +pious Christian women, who were bound to reserve their sternness for +themselves, and to be amiable and pleasing in their homes, and see that +their neighbors enjoyed themselves. Thus, filled with a sense of duty, +and wishing, at all costs, to obey her director, who bade her converse +with amenity, the poor soul perspired in her corset when the talk around +her languished, so much did she suffer from the effort of emitting ideas +in order to revive it. Under such circumstances she would put forth +the silliest statements, such as: "No one can be in two places at +once--unless it is a little bird," by which she one day roused, and not +without success, a discussion on the ubiquity of the apostles, which +she was unable to comprehend. Such efforts at conversation won her the +appellation of "that good Mademoiselle Cormon," which, from the lips of +the beaux esprits of society, means that she was as ignorant as a carp, +and rather a poor fool; but many persons of her own calibre took the +remark in its literal sense, and answered:-- + +"Yes; oh yes! Mademoiselle Cormon is an excellent woman." + +Sometimes she would put such absurd questions (always for the purpose +of fulfilling her duties to society, and making herself agreeable to her +guests) that everybody burst out laughing. She asked, for instance, what +the government did with the taxes they were always receiving; and why +the Bible had not been printed in the days of Jesus Christ, inasmuch +as it was written by Moses. Her mental powers were those of the English +"country gentleman" who, hearing constant mention of "posterity" in +the House of Commons, rose to make the speech that has since become +celebrated: "Gentlemen," he said, "I hear much talk in this place about +Posterity. I should be glad to know what that power has ever done for +England." + +Under these circumstances the heroic Chevalier de Valois would bring +to the succor of the old maid all the powers of his clever diplomacy, +whenever he saw the pitiless smile of wiser heads. The old gentleman, +who loved to assist women, turned Mademoiselle Cormon's sayings into wit +by sustaining them paradoxically, and he often covered the retreat so +well that it seemed as if the good woman had said nothing silly. She +asserted very seriously one evening that she did not see any difference +between an ox and a bull. The dear chevalier instantly arrested the +peals of laughter by asserting that there was only the difference +between a sheep and a lamb. + +But the Chevalier de Valois served an ungrateful dame, for never did +Mademoiselle Cormon comprehend his chivalrous services. Observing that +the conversation grew lively, she simply thought that she was not so +stupid as she was,--the result being that she settled down into her +ignorance with some complacency; she lost her timidity, and acquired a +self-possession which gave to her "speeches" something of the solemnity +with which the British enunciate their patriotic absurdities,--the +self-conceit of stupidity, as it may be called. + +As she approached her uncle, on this occasion, with a majestic step, she +was ruminating over a question that might draw him from a silence, which +always troubled her, for she feared he was dull. + +"Uncle," she said, leaning on his arm and clinging to his side (this +was one of her fictions; for she said to herself "If I had a husband I +should do just so"),--"uncle, if everything here below happens according +to the will of God, there must be a reason for everything." + +"Certainly," replied the abbe, gravely. The worthy man, who cherished +his niece, always allowed her to tear him from his meditations with +angelic patience. + +"Then if I remain unmarried,--supposing that I do,--God wills it?" + +"Yes, my child," replied the abbe. + +"And yet, as nothing prevents me from marrying to-morrow if I choose, +His will can be destroyed by mine?" + +"That would be true if we knew what was really the will of God," replied +the former prior of the Sorbonne. "Observe, my daughter, that you put in +an _if_." + +The poor woman, who expected to draw her uncle into a matrimonial +discussion by an argument ad omnipotentem, was stupefied; but persons +of obtuse mind have the terrible logic of children, which consists +in turning from answer to question,--a logic that is frequently +embarrassing. + +"But, uncle, God did not make women intending them not to marry; +otherwise they ought all to stay unmarried; if not, they ought all to +marry. There's great injustice in the distribution of parts." + +"Daughter," said the worthy abbe, "you are blaming the Church, which +declares celibacy to be the better way to God." + +"But if the Church is right, and all the world were good Catholics, +wouldn't the human race come to an end, uncle?" + +"You have too much mind, Rose; you don't need so much to be happy." + +That remark brought a smile of satisfaction to the lips of the poor +woman, and confirmed her in the good opinion she was beginning to +acquire about herself. That is how the world, our friends, and our +enemies are the accomplices of our defects! + +At this moment the conversation was interrupted by the successive +arrival of the guests. On these ceremonial days, friendly familiarities +were exchanged between the servants of the house and the company. +Mariette remarked to the chief-justice as he passed the kitchen:-- + +"Ah, Monsieur du Ronceret, I've cooked the cauliflowers au gratin +expressly for you, for mademoiselle knows how you like them; and she +said to me: 'Now don't forget, Mariette, for Monsieur du Ronceret is +coming.'" + +"That good Mademoiselle Cormon!" ejaculated the chief legal authority of +the town. "Mariette, did you steep them in gravy instead of soup-stock? +it is much richer." + +The chief-justice was not above entering the chamber of council where +Mariette held court; he cast the eye of a gastronome around it, and +offered the advice of a past master in cookery. + +"Good-day, madame," said Josette to Madame Granson, who courted the +maid. "Mademoiselle has thought of you, and there's fish for dinner." + +As for the Chevalier de Valois, he remarked to Mariette, in the easy +tone of a great seigneur who condescends to be familiar:-- + +"Well, my dear cordon-bleu, to whom I should give the cross of the +Legion of honor, is there some little dainty for which I had better +reserve myself?" + +"Yes, yes, Monsieur de Valois,--a hare sent from Prebaudet; weighs +fourteen pounds." + +Du Bousquier was not invited. Mademoiselle Cormon, faithful to the +system which we know of, treated that fifty-year-old suitor extremely +ill, although she felt inexplicable sentiments towards him in the depths +of her heart. She had refused him; yet at times she repented; and a +presentiment that she should yet marry him, together with a terror at +the idea which prevented her from wishing for the marriage, assailed +her. Her mind, stimulated by these feelings, was much occupied by +du Bousquier. Without being aware of it, she was influenced by the +herculean form of the republican. Madame Granson and the Chevalier +de Valois, although they could not explain to themselves Mademoiselle +Cormon's inconsistencies, had detected her naive glances in that +direction, the meaning of which seemed clear enough to make them both +resolve to ruin the hopes of the already rejected purveyor,--hopes which +it was evident he still indulged. + +Two guests, whose functions excused them, kept the dinner waiting. One +was Monsieur du Coudrai, the recorder of mortgages; the other Monsieur +Choisnel, former bailiff to the house of Esgrignon, and now the notary +of the upper aristocracy, by whom he was received with a distinction due +to his virtues; he was also a man of considerable wealth. When the two +belated guests arrived, Jacquelin said to them as he saw them about to +enter the salon:-- + +"_They_ are all in the garden." + +No doubt the assembled stomachs were impatient; for on the appearance +of the register of mortgages--who had no defect except that of having +married for her money an intolerable old woman, and of perpetrating +endless puns, at which he was the first to laugh--the gentle murmur by +which such late-comers are welcomed arose. While awaiting the official +announcement of dinner, the company were sauntering on the terrace above +the river, and gazing at the water-plants, the mosaic of the currents, +and the various pretty details of the houses clustering across the +river, their old wooden galleries, their mouldering window-frames, their +little gardens where clothes were drying, the cabinet-maker's shop,--in +short, the many details of a small community to which the vicinity of +a river, a weeping willow, flowers, rose-bushes, added a certain grace, +making the scene quite worthy of a landscape painter. + +The chevalier studied all faces, for he knew that his firebrand had been +very successfully introduced into the chief houses of the place. But +no one as yet referred openly to the great news of Suzanne and du +Bousquier. Provincials possess in the highest degree the art of +distilling gossip; the right moment for openly discussing this strange +affair had not arrived; it was first necessary that all present should +put themselves on record. So the whispers went round from ear to ear:-- + +"You have heard?" + +"Yes." + +"Du Bousquier?" + +"And that handsome Suzanne." + +"Does Mademoiselle Cormon know of it?" + +"No." + +"Ha!" + +This was the _piano_ of the scandal; the _rinforzando_ would break +forth as soon as the first course had been removed. Suddenly Monsieur de +Valois's eyes lighted on Madame Granson, arrayed in her green hat with +bunches of auriculas, and beaming with evident joy. Was it merely the +joy of opening the concert? Though such a piece of news was like a gold +mine to work in the monotonous lives of these personages, the observant +and distrustful chevalier thought he recognized in the worthy woman a +far more extended sentiment; namely, the joy caused by the triumph of +self-interest. Instantly he turned to examine Athanase, and detected him +in the significant silence of deep meditation. Presently, a look cast +by the young man on Mademoiselle Cormon carried to the soul of the +chevalier a sudden gleam. That momentary flash of lightning enabled him +to read the past. + +"Ha! the devil!" he said to himself; "what a checkmate I'm exposed to!" + +Monsieur de Valois now approached Mademoiselle Cormon, and offered his +arm. The old maid's feeling to the chevalier was that of respectful +consideration; and certainly his name, together with the position he +occupied among the aristocratic constellations of the department +made him the most brilliant ornament of her salon. In her inmost mind +Mademoiselle Cormon had wished for the last dozen years to become Madame +de Valois. That name was like the branch of a tree, to which the ideas +which _swarmed_ in her mind about rank, nobility, and the external +qualities of a husband had fastened. But, though the Chevalier de Valois +was the man chosen by her heart, and mind, and ambition, that elderly +ruin, combed and curled like a little Saint-John in a procession, +alarmed Mademoiselle Cormon. She saw the gentleman in him, but she could +not see a husband. The indifference which the chevalier affected as to +marriage, above all, the apparent purity of his morals in a house which +abounded in grisettes, did singular harm in her mind to Monsieur +de Valois against his expectations. The worthy man, who showed such +judgment in the matter of his annuity, was at fault here. Without being +herself aware of it, the thoughts of Mademoiselle Cormon on the too +virtuous chevalier might be translated thus:-- + +"What a pity that he isn't a trifle dissipated!" + +Observers of the human heart have remarked the leaning of pious women +toward scamps; some have expressed surprise at this taste, considering +it opposed to Christian virtue. But, in the first place, what nobler +destiny can you offer to a virtuous woman than to purify, like charcoal, +the muddy waters of vice? How is it some observers fail to see that +these noble creatures, obliged by the sternness of their own principles +never to infringe on conjugal fidelity, must naturally desire a husband +of wider practical experience than their own? The scamps of social life +are great men in love. Thus the poor woman groaned in spirit at finding +her chosen vessel parted into two pieces. God alone could solder +together a Chevalier de Valois and a du Bousquier. + +In order to explain the importance of the few words which the chevalier +and Mademoiselle Cormon are about to say to each other, it is necessary +to reveal two serious matters which agitated the town, and about which +opinions were divided; besides, du Bousquier was mysteriously connected +with them. + +One concerns the rector of Alencon, who had formerly taken the +constitutional oath, and who was now conquering the repugnance of the +Catholics by a display of the highest virtues. He was Cheverus on a +small scale, and became in time so fully appreciated that when he died +the whole town mourned him. Mademoiselle Cormon and the Abbe de Sponde +belonged to that "little Church," sublime in its orthodoxy, which was to +the court of Rome what the Ultras were to be to Louis XVIII. The abbe, +more especially, refused to recognize a Church which had compromised +with the constitutionals. The rector was therefore not received in +the Cormon household, whose sympathies were all given to the curate of +Saint-Leonard, the aristocratic parish of Alencon. Du Bousquier, that +fanatic liberal now concealed under the skin of a royalist, knowing how +necessary rallying points are to all discontents (which are really at +the bottom of all oppositions), had drawn the sympathies of the middle +classes around the rector. So much for the first case; the second was +this:-- + +Under the secret inspiration of du Bousquier the idea of building a +theatre had dawned on Alencon. The henchmen of the purveyor did not know +their Mohammed; and they thought they were ardent in carrying out their +own conception. Athanase Granson was one of the warmest partisans for +the theatre; and of late he had urged at the mayor's office a cause +which all the other young clerks had eagerly adopted. + +The chevalier, as we have said, offered his arm to the old maid for +a turn on the terrace. She accepted it, not without thanking him by +a happy look for this attention, to which the chevalier replied by +motioning toward Athanase with a meaning eye. + +"Mademoiselle," he began, "you have so much sense and judgment in social +proprieties, and also, you are connected with that young man by certain +ties--" + +"Distant ones," she said, interrupting him. + +"Ought you not," he continued, "to use the influence you have over his +mother and over himself by saving him from perdition? He is not very +religious, as you know; indeed he approves of the rector; but that is +not all; there is something far more serious; isn't he throwing himself +headlong into an opposition without considering what influence his +present conduct may exert upon his future? He is working for the +construction of a theatre. In this affair he is simply the dupe of that +disguised republican du Bousquier--" + +"Good gracious! Monsieur de Valois," she replied; "his mother is always +telling me he has so much mind, and yet he can't say two words; he +stands planted before me as mum as a post--" + +"Which doesn't think at all!" cried the recorder of mortgages. "I caught +your words on the fly. I present my compliments to Monsieur de Valois," +he added, bowing to that gentleman with much emphasis. + +The chevalier returned the salutation stiffly, and drew Mademoiselle +Cormon toward some flower-pots at a little distance, in order to show +the interrupter that he did not choose to be spied upon. + +"How is it possible," he continued, lowering his voice, and leaning +towards Mademoiselle Cormon's ear, "that a young man brought up in those +detestable lyceums should have ideas? Only sound morals and noble habits +will ever produce great ideas and a true love. It is easy to see by a +mere look at him that the poor lad is likely to be imbecile, and come, +perhaps, to some sad end. See how pale and haggard he is!" + +"His mother declares he works too hard," replied the old maid, +innocently. "He sits up late, and for what? reading books and writing! +What business ought to require a young man to write at night?" + +"It exhausts him," replied the chevalier, trying to bring the old maid's +thoughts back to the ground where he hoped to inspire her with horror +for her youthful lover. "The morals of those Imperial lyceums are really +shocking." + +"Oh, yes!" said the ingenuous creature. "They march the pupils about +with drums at their head. The masters have no more religion than pagans. +And they put the poor lads in uniform, as if they were troops. What +ideas!" + +"And behold the product!" said the chevalier, motioning to Athanase. "In +my day, young men were not so shy of looking at a pretty woman. As for +him, he drops his eyes whenever he sees you. That young man frightens me +because I am really interested in him. Tell him not to intrigue with +the Bonapartists, as he is now doing about that theatre. When all these +petty folks cease to ask for it insurrectionally,--which to my mind is +the synonym of constitutionally,--the government will build it. Besides +which, tell his mother to keep an eye on him." + +"Oh, I'm sure she will prevent him from seeing those half-pay, +questionable people. I'll talk to her," said Mademoiselle Cormon, "for +he might lose his place in the mayor's office; and then what would he +and his mother have to live on? It makes me shudder." + +As Monsieur de Talleyrand said of his wife, so the chevalier said to +himself, looking at Mademoiselle Cormon:-- + +"Find me another as stupid! Good powers! isn't virtue which drives out +intellect vice? But what an adorable wife for a man of my age! What +principles! what ignorance!" + +Remember that this monologue, addressed to the Princess Goritza, was +mentally uttered while he took a pinch of snuff. + +Madame Granson had divined that the chevalier was talking about +Athanase. Eager to know the result of the conversation, she followed +Mademoiselle Cormon, who was now approaching the young man with +much dignity. But at this moment Jacquelin appeared to announce that +mademoiselle was served. The old maid gave a glance of appeal to the +chevalier; but the gallant recorder of mortgages, who was beginning to +see in the manners of that gentleman the barrier which the provincial +nobles were setting up about this time between themselves and the +bourgeoisie, made the most of his chance to cut out Monsieur de Valois. +He was close to Mademoiselle Cormon, and promptly offered his arm, which +she found herself compelled to accept. The chevalier then darted, out of +policy, upon Madame Granson. + +"Mademoiselle Cormon, my dear lady," he said to her, walking slowly +after all the other guests, "feels the liveliest interest in your +dear Athanase; but I fear it will vanish through his own fault. He is +irreligious and liberal; he is agitating this matter of the theatre; +he frequents the Bonapartists; he takes the side of that rector. Such +conduct may make him lose his place in the mayor's office. You know with +what care the government is beginning to weed out such opinions. If your +dear Athanase loses his place, where can he find other employment? I +advise him not to get himself in bad odor with the administration." + +"Monsieur le Chevalier," said the poor frightened mother, "how grateful +I am to you! You are right: my son is the tool of a bad set of people; I +shall enlighten him." + +The chevalier had long since fathomed the nature of Athanase, and +recognized in it that unyielding element of republican convictions +to which in his youth a young man is willing to sacrifice everything, +carried away by the word "liberty," so ill-defined and so little +understood, but which to persons disdained by fate is a banner of +revolt; and to such, revolt is vengeance. Athanase would certainly +persist in that faith, for his opinions were woven in with his artistic +sorrows, with his bitter contemplation of the social state. He was +ignorant of the fact that at thirty-six years of age,--the period of +life when a man has judged men and social interests and relations,--the +opinions for which he was ready to sacrifice his future would be +modified in him, as they are in all men of real superiority. To remain +faithful to the Left side of Alencon was to gain the aversion of +Mademoiselle Cormon. There, indeed, the chevalier saw true. + +Thus we see that this society, so peaceful in appearance, was internally +as agitated as any diplomatic circle, where craft, ability, and passions +group themselves around the grave questions of an empire. The guests +were now seated at the table laden with the first course, which they ate +as provincials eat, without shame at possessing a good appetite, and +not as in Paris, where it seems as if jaws gnashed under sumptuary laws, +which made it their business to contradict the laws of anatomy. In Paris +people eat with their teeth, and trifle with their pleasure; in the +provinces things are done naturally, and interest is perhaps rather too +much concentrated on the grand and universal means of existence to which +God has condemned his creatures. + +It was at the end of the first course that Mademoiselle Cormon made the +most celebrated of her "speeches"; it was talked about for fully two +years, and is still told at the gatherings of the lesser bourgeoisie +whenever the topic of her marriage comes up. + +The conversation, becoming lively as the penultimate entree was +reached, had turned naturally on the affair of the theatre and the +constitutionally sworn rector. In the first fervor of royalty, during +the year 1816, those who later were called Jesuits were all for the +expulsion of the Abbe Francois from his parish. Du Bousquier, suspected +by Monsieur de Valois of sustaining the priest and being at the bottom +of the theatre intrigues, and on whose back the adroit chevalier would +in any case have put those sins with his customary cleverness, was in +the dock with no lawyer to defend him. Athanase, the only guest loyal +enough to stand by du Bousquier, had not the nerve to emit his ideas +in the presence of those potentates of Alencon, whom in his heart he +thought stupid. None but provincial youths now retain a respectful +demeanor before men of a certain age, and dare neither to censure +nor contradict them. The talk, diminished under the effect of certain +delicious ducks dressed with olives, was falling flat. Mademoiselle +Cormon, feeling the necessity of maintaining it against her own ducks, +attempted to defend du Bousquier, who was being represented as a +pernicious fomenter of intrigues, capable of any trickery. + +"As for me," she said, "I thought that Monsieur du Bousquier cared +chiefly for childish things." + +Under existing circumstances the remark had enormous success. +Mademoiselle Cormon obtained a great triumph; she brought the nose +of the Princess Goritza flat on the table. The chevalier, who little +expected such an apt remark from his Dulcinea, was so amazed that he +could at first find no words to express his admiration; he applauded +noiselessly, as they do at the Opera, tapping his fingers together to +imitate applause. + +"She is adorably witty," he said to Madame Granson. "I always said that +some day she would unmask her batteries." + +"In private she is always charming," replied the widow. + +"In private, madame, all women have wit," returned the chevalier. + +The Homeric laugh thus raised having subsided, Mademoiselle Cormon asked +the reason of her success. Then began the _forte_ of the gossip. Du +Bousquier was depicted as a species of celibate Pere Gigogne, a monster, +who for the last fifteen years had kept the Foundling Hospital supplied. +His immoral habits were at last revealed! these Parisian saturnalias +were the result of them, etc., etc. Conducted by the Chevalier de +Valois, a most able leader of an orchestra of this kind, the opening of +the _cancan_ was magnificent. + +"I really don't know," he said, "what should hinder a du Bousquier from +marrying a Mademoiselle Suzanne What's-her-name. What _is_ her name, do +you know? Suzette! Though I have lodgings at Madame Lardot's, I know her +girls only by sight. If this Suzette is a tall, fine, saucy girl, with +gray eyes, a slim waist, and a pretty foot, whom I have occasionally +seen, and whose behavior always seemed to me extremely insolent, she +is far superior in manners to du Bousquier. Besides, the girl has the +nobility of beauty; from that point of view the marriage would be a poor +one for her; she might do better. You know how the Emperor Joseph had +the curiosity to see the du Barry at Luciennes. He offered her his arm +to walk about, and the poor thing was so surprised at the honor that she +hesitated to accept it: 'Beauty is ever a queen,' said the Emperor. And +he, you know, was an Austrian-German," added the chevalier. "But I can +tell you that Germany, which is thought here very rustic, is a land +of noble chivalry and fine manners, especially in Poland and Hungary, +where--" + +Here the chevalier stopped, fearing to slip into some allusion to his +personal happiness; he took out his snuff-box, and confided the rest +of his remarks to the princess, who had smiled upon him for thirty-six +years and more. + +"That speech was rather a delicate one for Louis XV.," said du Ronceret. + +"But it was, I think, the Emperor Joseph who made it, and not Louis +XV.," remarked Mademoiselle Cormon, in a correcting tone. + +"Mademoiselle," said the chevalier, observing the malicious glance +exchanged between the judge, the notary, and the recorder, "Madame du +Barry was the Suzanne of Louis XV.,--a circumstance well known to scamps +like ourselves, but unsuitable for the knowledge of young ladies. Your +ignorance proves you to be a flawless diamond; historical corruptions do +not enter your mind." + +The Abbe de Sponde looked graciously at the Chevalier de Valois, and +nodded his head in sign of his laudatory approbation. + +"Doesn't mademoiselle know history?" asked the recorder of mortgages. + +"If you mix up Louis XV. and this girl Suzanne, how am I to know +history?" replied Mademoiselle Cormon, angelically, glad to see that the +dish of ducks was empty at last, and the conversation so ready to revive +that all present laughed with their mouths full at her last remark. + +"Poor girl!" said the Abbe de Sponde. "When a great misfortune happens, +charity, which is divine love, and as blind as pagan love, ought not to +look into the causes of it. Niece, you are president of the Maternity +Society; you must succor that poor girl, who will now find it difficult +to marry." + +"Poor child!" ejaculated Mademoiselle Cormon. + +"Do you suppose du Bousquier would marry her?" asked the judge. + +"If he is an honorable man he ought to do so," said Madame Granson; "but +really, to tell the truth, my dog has better morals than he--" + +"Azor is, however, a good purveyor," said the recorder of mortgages, +with the air of saying a witty thing. + +At dessert du Bousquier was still the topic of conversation, having +given rise to various little jokes which the wine rendered sparkling. +Following the example of the recorder, each guest capped his neighbor's +joke with another: Du Bousquier was a father, but not a confessor; he +was father less; he was father LY; he was not a reverend father; nor yet +a conscript-father-- + +"Nor can he be a foster-father," said the Abbe de Sponde, with a gravity +which stopped the laughter. + +"Nor a noble father," added the chevalier. + +The Church and the nobility descended thus into the arena of puns, +without, however, losing their dignity. + +"Hush!" exclaimed the recorder of mortgages. "I hear the creaking of du +Bousquier's boots." + +It usually happens that a man is ignorant of rumors that are afloat +about him. A whole town may be talking of his affairs; may calumniate +and decry him, but if he has no good friends, he will know nothing about +it. Now the innocent du Bousquier was superb in his ignorance. No one +had told him as yet of Suzanne's revelations; he therefore appeared very +jaunty and slightly conceited when the company, leaving the dining-room, +returned to the salon for their coffee; several other guests had +meantime assembled for the evening. Mademoiselle Cormon, from a sense of +shamefacedness, dared not look at the terrible seducer. She seized upon +Athanase, and began to lecture him with the queerest platitudes about +royalist politics and religious morality. Not possessing, like the +Chevalier de Valois, a snuff-box adorned with a princess, by the help of +which he could stand this torrent of silliness, the poor poet listened +to the words of her whom he loved with a stupid air, gazing, meanwhile, +at her enormous bust, which held itself before him in that still repose +which is the attribute of all great masses. His love produced in him a +sort of intoxication which changed the shrill voice of the old maid into +a soft murmur, and her flat remarks into witty speeches. Love is a maker +of false coin, continually changing copper pennies into gold-pieces, and +sometimes turning its real gold into copper. + +"Well, Athanase, will you promise me?" + +This final sentence struck the ear of the absorbed young man like one of +those noises which wake us with a bound. + +"What, mademoiselle?" + +Mademoiselle Cormon rose hastily, and looked at du Bousquier, who at +that moment resembled the stout god of Fable which the Republic stamped +upon her coins. She walked up to Madame Granson, and said in her ear:-- + +"My dear friend, you son is an idiot. That lyceum has ruined him," she +added, remembering the insistence with which the chevalier had spoken of +the evils of education in such schools. + +What a catastrophe! Unknown to himself, the luckless Athanase had had +an occasion to fling an ember of his own fire upon the pile of brush +gathered in the heart of the old maid. Had he listened to her, he +might have made her, then and there, perceive his passion; for, in the +agitated state of Mademoiselle Cormon's mind, a single word would +have sufficed. But that stupid absorption in his own sentiments, which +characterizes young and true love, had ruined him, as a child full of +life sometimes kills itself out of ignorance. + +"What have you been saying to Mademoiselle Cormon?" demanded his mother. + +"Nothing." + +"Nothing; well, I can explain that," she thought to herself, putting off +till the next day all further reflection on the matter, and attaching +but little importance to Mademoiselle Cormon's words; for she fully +believed that du Bousquier was forever lost in the old maid's esteem +after the revelation of that evening. + +Soon the four tables were filled with their sixteen players. Four +persons were playing piquet,--an expensive game, at which the most money +was lost. Monsieur Choisnel, the procureur-du-roi, and two ladies +went into the boudoir for a game at backgammon. The glass lustres were +lighted; and then the flower of Mademoiselle Cormon's company gathered +before the fireplace, on sofas, and around the tables, and each couple +said to her as they arrived,-- + +"So you are going to-morrow to Prebaudet?" + +"Yes, I really must," she replied. + +On this occasion the mistress of the house appeared preoccupied. Madame +Granson was the first to perceive the quite unnatural state of the old +maid's mind,--Mademoiselle Cormon was thinking! + +"What are you thinking of, cousin?" she said at last, finding her seated +in the boudoir. + +"I am thinking," she replied, "of that poor girl. As the president of +the Maternity Society, I will give you fifty francs for her." + +"Fifty francs!" cried Madame Granson. "But you have never given as much +as that." + +"But, my dear cousin, it is so natural to have children." + +That immoral speech coming from the heart of the old maid staggered the +treasurer of the Maternity Society. Du Bousquier had evidently advanced +in the estimation of Mademoiselle Cormon. + +"Upon my word," said Madame Granson, "du Bousquier is not only a +monster, he is a villain. When a man has done a wrong like that, he +ought to pay the indemnity. Isn't it his place rather than ours to +look after the girl?--who, to tell you the truth, seems to me rather +questionable; there are plenty of better men in Alencon than that cynic +du Bousquier. A girl must be depraved, indeed, to go after him." + +"Cynic! Your son teaches you to talk Latin, my dear, which is wholly +incomprehensible. Certainly I don't wish to excuse Monsieur du +Bousquier; but pray explain to me why a woman is depraved because she +prefers one man to another." + +"My dear cousin, suppose you married my son Athanase; nothing could be +more natural. He is young and handsome, full of promise, and he will be +the glory of Alencon; and yet everybody will exclaim against you: evil +tongues will say all sorts of things; jealous women will accuse you +of depravity,--but what will that matter? you will be loved, and loved +truly. If Athanase seemed to you an idiot, my dear, it is that he has +too many ideas; extremes meet. He lives the life of a girl of fifteen; +he has never wallowed in the impurities of Paris, not he! Well, change +the terms, as my poor husband used to say; it is the same thing with du +Bousquier in connection with Suzanne. _You_ would be calumniated; but in +the case of du Bousquier, the charge would be true. Don't you understand +me?" + +"No more than if you were talking Greek," replied Mademoiselle Cormon, +who opened her eyes wide, and strained all the forces of her intellect. + +"Well, cousin, if I must dot all the i's, it is impossible for Suzanne +to love du Bousquier. And if the heart counts for nothing in this +affair--" + +"But, cousin, what do people love with if not their hearts?" + +Here Madame Granson said to herself, as the chevalier had previously +thought: "My poor cousin is altogether too innocent; such stupidity +passes all bounds!--Dear child," she continued aloud, "it seems to me +that children are not conceived by the spirit only." + +"Why, yes, my dear; the Holy Virgin herself--" + +"But, my love, du Bousquier isn't the Holy Ghost!" + +"True," said the old maid; "he is a man!--a man whose personal +appearance makes him dangerous enough for his friends to advise him to +marry." + +"You could yourself bring about that result, cousin." + +"How so?" said the old maid, with the meekness of Christian charity. + +"By not receiving him in your house until he marries. You owe it to good +morals and to religion to manifest under such circumstances an exemplary +displeasure." + +"On my return from Prebaudet we will talk further of this, my dear +Madame Granson. I will consult my uncle and the Abbe Couturier," said +Mademoiselle Cormon, returning to the salon, where the animation was now +at its height. + +The lights, the group of women in their best clothes, the solemn tone, +the dignified air of the assembly, made Mademoiselle Cormon not a little +proud of her company. To many persons nothing better could be seen in +Paris in the highest society. + +At this moment du Bousquier, who was playing whist with the chevalier +and two old ladies,--Madame du Coudrai and Madame du Ronceret,--was the +object of deep but silent curiosity. A few young women arrived, who, +under pretext of watching the game, gazed fixedly at him in so singular +a manner, though slyly, that the old bachelor began to think that there +must be some deficiency in his toilet. + +"Can my false front be crooked?" he asked himself, seized by one of +those anxieties which beset old bachelors. + +He took advantage of a lost trick, which ended a seventh rubber, to rise +and leave the table. + +"I can't touch a card without losing," he said. "I am decidedly too +unlucky." + +"But you are lucky in other ways," said the chevalier, giving him a sly +look. + +That speech naturally made the rounds of the salon, where every one +exclaimed on the exquisite taste of the chevalier, the Prince de +Talleyrand of the province. + +"There's no one like Monsieur de Valois for such wit." + +Du Bousquier went to look at himself in a little oblong mirror, placed +above the "Deserter," but he saw nothing strange in his appearance. + +After innumerable repetitions of the same text, varied in all keys, the +departure of the company took place about ten o'clock, through the long +antechamber, Mademoiselle Cormon conducting certain of her favorite +guests to the portico. There the groups parted; some followed the +Bretagne road towards the chateau; the others went in the direction of +the river Sarthe. Then began the usual conversation, which for twenty +years had echoed at that hour through this particular street of Alencon. +It was invariably:-- + +"Mademoiselle Cormon looked very well to-night." + +"Mademoiselle Cormon? why, I thought her rather strange." + +"How that poor abbe fails! Did you notice that he slept? He does not +know what cards he holds; he is getting very absent-minded." + +"We shall soon have the grief of losing him." + +"What a fine night! It will be a fine day to-morrow." + +"Good weather for the apple-blossoms." + +"You beat us; but when you play with Monsieur de Valois you never do +otherwise." + +"How much did he win?" + +"Well, to-night, three or four francs; he never loses." + +"True; and don't you know there are three hundred and sixty-five days a +year? At that price his gains are the value of a farm." + +"Ah! what hands we had to-night!" + +"Here you are at home, monsieur and madame, how lucky you are, while we +have half the town to cross!" + +"I don't pity you; you could afford a carriage, and dispense with the +fatigue of going on foot." + +"Ah, monsieur! we have a daughter to marry, which takes off one wheel, +and the support of our son in Paris carries off another." + +"You persist in making a magistrate of him?" + +"What else can be done with a young man? Besides, there's no shame in +serving the king." + +Sometimes a discussion on ciders and flax, always couched in the same +terms, and returning at the same time of year, was continued on the +homeward way. If any observer of human customs had lived in this street, +he would have known the months and seasons by simply overhearing the +conversations. + +On this occasion it was exclusively jocose; for du Bousquier, who +chanced to march alone in front of the groups, was humming the +well-known air,--little thinking of its appropriateness,--"Tender woman! +hear the warble of the birds," etc. To some, du Bousquier was a strong +man and a misjudged man. Ever since he had been confirmed in his present +office by a royal decree, Monsieur du Ronceret had been in favor of +du Bousquier. To others the purveyor seemed dangerous,--a man of bad +habits, capable of anything. In the provinces, as in Paris, men before +the public eye are like that statue in the fine allegorical tale of +Addison, for which two knights on arriving near it fought; for one saw +it white, the other saw it black. Then, when they were both off their +horses, they saw it was white one side and black the other. A third +knight coming along declared it red. + +When the chevalier went home that night, he made many reflections, as +follows:-- + +"It is high time now to spread a rumor of my marriage with Mademoiselle +Cormon. It will leak out from the d'Esgrignon salon, and go straight +to the bishop at Seez, and so get round through the grand vicars to the +curate of Saint-Leonard's, who will be certain to tell it to the Abbe +Couturier; and Mademoiselle Cormon will get the shot in her upper works. +The old Marquis d'Esgrignon shall invite the Abbe de Sponde to dinner, +so as to stop all gossip about Mademoiselle Cormon if I decide against +her, or about me if she refuses me. The abbe shall be well cajoled; and +Mademoiselle Cormon will certainly not hold out against a visit from +Mademoiselle Armande, who will show her the grandeur and future chances +of such an alliance. The abbe's property is undoubtedly as much as three +hundred thousand; her own savings must amount to more than two hundred +thousand; she has her house and Prebaudet and fifteen thousand francs a +year. A word to my friend the Comte de Fontaine, and I should be +mayor of Alencon to-morrow, and deputy. Then, once seated on the Right +benches, we shall reach the peerage, shouting, 'Cloture!' 'Ordre!'" + +As soon as she reached home Madame Granson had a lively argument with +her son, who could not be made to see the connection which existed +between his love and his political opinions. It was the first quarrel +that had ever troubled that poor household. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. FINAL DISAPPOINTMENT AND ITS FIRST RESULT + + +The next day, Mademoiselle Cormon, packed into the old carriole with +Josette, and looking like a pyramid on a vast sea of parcels, drove up +the rue Saint-Blaise on her way to Prebaudet, where she was overtaken by +an event which hurried on her marriage,--an event entirely unlooked +for by either Madame Granson, du Bousquier, Monsieur de Valois, or +Mademoiselle Cormon himself. Chance is the greatest of all artificers. + +The day after her arrival at Prebaudet, she was innocently employed, +about eight o'clock in the morning, in listening, as she breakfasted, to +the various reports of her keeper and her gardener, when Jacquelin made +a violent irruption into the dining-room. + +"Mademoiselle," he cried, out of breath, "Monsieur l'abbe sends you an +express, the son of Mere Grosmort, with a letter. The lad left Alencon +before daylight, and he has just arrived; he ran like Penelope! Can't I +give him a glass of wine?" + +"What can have happened, Josette? Do you think my uncle can be--" + +"He couldn't write if he were," said Josette, guessing her mistress's +fears. + +"Quick! quick!" cried Mademoiselle Cormon, as soon as she had read the +first lines. "Tell Jacquelin to harness Penelope--Get ready, Josette; +pack up everything in half an hour. We must go back to town--" + +"Jacquelin!" called Josette, excited by the sentiment she saw on her +mistress's face. + +Jacquelin, informed by Josette, came in to say,-- + +"But, mademoiselle, Penelope is eating her oats." + +"What does that signify? I must start at once." + +"But, mademoiselle, it is going to rain." + +"Then we shall get wet." + +"The house is on fire!" muttered Josette, piqued at the silence her +mistress kept as to the contents of the letter, which she read and +reread. + +"Finish your coffee, at any rate, mademoiselle; don't excite your blood; +just see how red you are." + +"Am I red, Josette?" she said, going to a mirror, from which the +quicksilver was peeling, and which presented her features to her upside +down. + +"Good heavens!" thought Mademoiselle Cormon, "suppose I should look +ugly! Come, Josette; come, my dear, dress me at once; I want to be ready +before Jacquelin has harnessed Penelope. If you can't pack my things in +time, I will leave them here rather than lose a single minute." + +If you have thoroughly comprehended the positive monomania to which the +desire of marriage had brought Mademoiselle Cormon, you will share her +emotion. The worthy uncle announced in this sudden missive that Monsieur +de Troisville, of the Russian army during the Emigration, grandson of +one of his best friends, was desirous of retiring to Alencon, and asked +his, the abbe's hospitality, on the ground of his friendship for his +grandfather, the Vicomte de Troisville. The old abbe, alarmed at the +responsibility, entreated his niece to return instantly and help him to +receive this guest, and do the honors of the house; for the viscount's +letter had been delayed, and he might descend upon his shoulders that +very night. + +After reading this missive could there be a question of the demands +of Prebaudet? The keeper and the gardener, witnesses to Mademoiselle +Cormon's excitement, stood aside and awaited her orders. But when, +as she was about to leave the room, they stopped her to ask for +instructions, for the first time in her life the despotic old maid, +who saw to everything at Prebaudet with her own eyes, said, to their +stupefaction, "Do what you like." This from a mistress who carried her +administration to the point of counting her fruits, and marking them so +as to order their consumption according to the number and condition of +each! + +"I believe I'm dreaming," thought Josette, as she saw her mistress +flying down the staircase like an elephant to which God has given wings. + +Presently, in spite of a driving rain, Mademoiselle Cormon drove away +from Prebaudet, leaving her factotums with the reins on their necks. +Jacquelin dared not take upon himself to hasten the usual little trot +of the peaceable Penelope, who, like the beautiful queen whose name she +bore, had an appearance of making as many steps backward as she made +forward. Impatient with the pace, mademoiselle ordered Jacquelin in a +sharp voice to drive at a gallop, with the whip, if necessary, to the +great astonishment of the poor beast, so afraid was she of not having +time to arrange the house suitably to receive Monsieur de Troisville. +She calculated that the grandson of her uncle's friend was probably +about forty years of age; a soldier just from service was undoubtedly +a bachelor; and she resolved, her uncle aiding, not to let Monsieur +de Troisville quit their house in the condition he entered it. Though +Penelope galloped, Mademoiselle Cormon, absorbed in thoughts of her +trousseau and the wedding-day, declared again and again that Jacquelin +made no way at all. She twisted about in the carriole without replying +to Josette's questions, and talked to herself like a person who is +mentally revolving important designs. + +The carriole at last arrived in the main street of Alencon, called the +rue Saint-Blaise at the end toward Montagne, but near the hotel du More +it takes the name of the rue de la Porte-de-Seez, and becomes the rue +du Bercail as it enters the road to Brittany. If the departure of +Mademoiselle Cormon made a great noise in Alencon, it is easy to imagine +the uproar caused by her sudden return on the following day, in a +pouring rain which beat her face without her apparently minding it. +Penelope at a full gallop was observed by every one, and Jacquelin's +grin, the early hour, the parcels stuffed into the carriole topsy-turvy, +and the evident impatience of Mademoiselle Cormon were all noted. + +The property of the house of Troisville lay between Alencon and +Mortagne. Josette knew the various branches of the family. A word +dropped by mademoiselle as they entered Alencon had put Josette on the +scent of the affair; and a discussion having started between them, it +was settled that the expected de Troisville must be between forty +and forty-two years of age, a bachelor, and neither rich nor poor. +Mademoiselle Cormon beheld herself speedily Vicomtesse de Troisville. + +"And to think that my uncle told me nothing! thinks of nothing! inquires +nothing! That's my uncle all over. He'd forget his own nose if it wasn't +fastened to his face." + +Have you never remarked that, under circumstances such as these, +old maids become, like Richard III., keen-witted, fierce, bold, +promissory,--if one may so use the word,--and, like inebriate clerks, no +longer in awe of anything? + +Immediately the town of Alencon, speedily informed from the farther +end of the rue de Saint-Blaise to the gate of Seez of this precipitate +return, accompanied by singular circumstances, was perturbed throughout +its viscera, both public and domestic. Cooks, shopkeepers, street +passengers, told the news from door to door; thence it rose to the upper +regions. Soon the words: "Mademoiselle Cormon has returned!" burst like +a bombshell into all households. At that moment Jacquelin was descending +from his wooden seat (polished by a process unknown to cabinet-makers), +on which he perched in front of the carriole. He opened the great green +gate, round at the top, and closed in sign of mourning; for during +Mademoiselle Cormon's absence the evening assemblies did not take place. +The faithful invited the Abbe de Sponde to their several houses; and +Monsieur de Valois paid his debt by inviting him to dine at the Marquis +d'Esgrignon's. Jacquelin, having opened the gate, called familiarly to +Penelope, whom he had left in the middle of the street. That animal, +accustomed to this proceeding, turned in of herself, and circled round +the courtyard in a manner to avoid injuring the flower-bed. Jacquelin +then took her bridle, and led the carriage to the portico. + +"Mariette!" cried Mademoiselle Cormon. + +"Mademoiselle!" exclaimed Mariette, who was occupied in closing the +gate. + +"Has the gentleman arrived?" + +"No, mademoiselle." + +"Where's my uncle?" + +"He is at church, mademoiselle." + +Jacquelin and Josette were by this time on the first step of the +portico, holding out their hands to manoeuvre the exit of their mistress +from the carriole as she pulled herself up by the sides of the vehicle +and clung to the curtains. Mademoiselle then threw herself into their +arms; because for the last two years she dared not risk her weight +on the iron step, affixed to the frame of the carriage by a horrible +mechanism of clumsy bolts. + +When Mademoiselle Cormon reached the level of the portico she looked +about her courtyard with an air of satisfaction. + +"Come, come, Mariette, leave that gate alone; I want you." + +"There's something in the wind," whispered Jacquelin, as Mariette passed +the carriole. + +"Mariette, what provisions have you in the house?" asked Mademoiselle +Cormon, sitting down on the bench in the long antechamber like a person +overcome with fatigue. + +"I haven't anything," replied Mariette, with her hands on her hips. +"Mademoiselle knows very well that during her absence Monsieur l'abbe +dines out every day. Yesterday I went to fetch him from Mademoiselle +Armande's." + +"Where is he now?" + +"Monsieur l'abbe? Why, at church; he won't be in before three o'clock." + +"He thinks of nothing! he ought to have told you to go to market. +Mariette, go at once; and without wasting money, don't spare it; get all +there is that is good and delicate. Go to the diligence office and see +if you can send for pates; and I want shrimps from the Brillante. What +o'clock is it?" + +"A quarter to nine." + +"Good heavens! Mariette, don't stop to chatter. The person my uncle +expects may arrive at any moment. If we had to give him breakfast, where +should we be with nothing in the house?" + +Mariette turned back to Penelope in a lather, and looked at Jacquelin +as if she would say, "Mademoiselle has put her hand on a husband _this_ +time." + +"Now, Josette," continued the old maid, "let us see where we had better +put Monsieur de Troisville to sleep." + +With what joy she said the words, "Put Monsieur de Troisville" +(pronounced Treville) "to sleep." How many ideas in those few words! The +old maid was bathed in hope. + +"Will you put him in the green chamber?" + +"The bishop's room? No; that's too near mine," said Mademoiselle Cormon. +"All very well for monseigneur; he's a saintly man." + +"Give him your uncle's room." + +"Oh, that's so bare; it is actually indecent." + +"Well, then, mademoiselle, why not arrange a bed in your boudoir? It is +easily done; and there's a fire-place. Moreau can certainly find in his +warerooms a bed to match the hangings." + +"You are right, Josette. Go yourself to Moreau; consult with him what +to do; I authorize you to get what is wanted. If the bed could be put up +to-night without Monsieur de Troisville observing it (in case Monsieur +de Troisville arrives while Moreau is here), I should like it. If Moreau +won't engage to do this, then I must put Monsieur de Troisville in the +green room, although Monsieur de Troisville would be so very near to +me." + +Josette was departing when her mistress recalled her. + +"Stop! explain the matter to Jacquelin," she cried, in a loud nervous +tone. "Tell _him_ to go to Moreau; I must be dressed! Fancy if Monsieur +de Troisville surprised me as I am now! and my uncle not here to receive +him! Oh, uncle, uncle! Come, Josette; come and dress me at once." + +"But Penelope?" said Josette, imprudently. + +"Always Penelope! Penelope this, Penelope that! Is Penelope the mistress +of this house?" + +"But she is all of a lather, and she hasn't had time to eat her oats." + +"Then let her starve!" cried Mademoiselle Cormon; "provided I marry," +she thought to herself. + +Hearing these words, which seemed to her like homicide, Josette stood +still for a moment, speechless. Then, at a gesture from her mistress, +she ran headlong down the steps of the portico. + +"The devil is in her, Jacquelin," were the first words she uttered. + +Thus all things conspired on this fateful day to produce the great +scenic effect which decided the future life of Mademoiselle Cormon. +The town was already topsy-turvy in mind, as a consequence of the five +extraordinary circumstances which accompanied Mademoiselle Cormon's +return; to wit, the pouring rain; Penelope at a gallop, in a lather, and +blown; the early hour; the parcels half-packed; and the singular air of +the excited old maid. But when Mariette made an invasion of the market, +and bought all the best things; when Jacquelin went to the principal +upholsterer in Alencon, two doors from the church, in search of a +bed,--there was matter for the gravest conjectures. These extraordinary +events were discussed on all sides; they occupied the minds of every +one, even Mademoiselle Armande herself, with whom was Monsieur de +Valois. Within two days the town of Alencon had been agitated by such +startling events that certain good women were heard to remark that the +world was coming to an end. This last news, however, resolved itself +into a single question, "What is happening at the Cormons?" + +The Abbe de Sponde, adroitly questioned when he left Saint-Leonard's +to take his daily walk with the Abbe Couturier, replied with his usual +kindliness that he expected the Vicomte de Troisville, a nobleman in the +service of Russia during the Emigration, who was returning to Alencon +to settle there. From two to five o'clock a species of labial telegraphy +went on throughout the town; and all the inhabitants learned that +Mademoiselle Cormon had at last found a husband by letter, and was about +to marry the Vicomte de Troisville. Some said, "Moreau has sold them a +bed." The bed was six feet wide in that quarter; it was four feet wide +at Madame Granson's, in the rue du Bercail; but it was reduced to a +simple couch at Monsieur du Ronceret's, where du Bousquier was dining. +The lesser bourgeoisie declared that the cost was eleven hundred francs. +But generally it was thought that, as to this, rumor was counting the +chickens before they were hatched. In other quarters it was said that +Mariette had made such a raid on the market that the price of carp had +risen. At the end of the rue Saint-Blaise, Penelope had dropped dead. +This decease was doubted in the house of the receiver-general; but at +the Prefecture it was authenticated that the poor beast had expired as +she turned into the courtyard of the hotel Cormon, with such velocity +had the old maid flown to meet her husband. The harness-maker, who lived +at the corner of the rue de Seez, was bold enough to call at the house +and ask if anything had happened to Mademoiselle Cormon's carriage, in +order to discover whether Penelope was really dead. From the end of +the rue Saint-Blaise to the end of the rue du Bercail, it was then made +known that, thanks to Jacquelin's devotion, Penelope, that silent victim +of her mistress's impetuosity, still lived, though she seemed to be +suffering. + +Along the road to Brittany the Vicomte de Troisville was stated to be a +younger son without a penny, for the estates in Perche belonged to the +Marquis de Troisville, peer of France, who had children; the marriage +would be, therefore, an enormous piece of luck for a poor emigre. The +aristocracy along that road approved of the marriage; Mademoiselle +Cormon could not do better with her money. But among the Bourgeoisie, +the Vicomte de Troisville was a Russian general who had fought against +France, and was now returning with a great fortune made at the court of +Saint-Petersburg; he was a _foreigner_; one of those _allies_ so hated +by the liberals; the Abbe de Sponde had slyly negotiated this marriage. +All the persons who had a right to call upon Mademoiselle Cormon +determined to do so that very evening. + +During this transurban excitement, which made that of Suzanne almost +a forgotten affair, Mademoiselle was not less agitated; she was filled +with a variety of novel emotions. Looking about her salon, dining-room, +and boudoir, cruel apprehensions took possession of her. A species of +demon showed her with a sneer her old-fashioned luxury. The handsome +things she had admired from her youth up she suddenly suspected of age +and absurdity. In short, she felt that fear which takes possession of +nearly all authors when they read over a work they have hitherto thought +proof against every exacting or blase critic: new situations seem +timeworn; the best-turned and most highly polished phrases limp and +squint; metaphors and images grin or contradict each other; whatsoever +is false strikes the eye. In like manner this poor woman trembled lest +she should see on the lips of Monsieur de Troisville a smile of contempt +for this episcopal salon; she dreaded the cold look he might cast over +that ancient dining-room; in short, she feared the frame might injure +and age the portrait. Suppose these antiquities should cast a reflected +light of old age upon herself? This question made her flesh creep. She +would gladly, at that moment, spend half her savings on refitting her +house if some fairy wand could do it in a moment. Where is the general +who has not trembled on the eve of a battle? The poor woman was now +between her Austerlitz and her Waterloo. + +"Madame la Vicomtesse de Troisville," she said to herself; "a noble +name! Our property will go to a good family, at any rate." + +She fell a prey to an irritation which made every fibre of her nerves +quiver to all their papillae, long sunk in flesh. Her blood, lashed +by this new hope, was in motion. She felt the strength to converse, if +necessary, with Monsieur de Troisville. + +It is useless to relate the activity with which Josette, Jacquelin, +Mariette, Moreau, and his agents went about their functions. It was like +the busyness of ants about their eggs. All that daily care had already +rendered neat and clean was again gone over and brushed and rubbed and +scrubbed. The china of ceremony saw the light; the damask linen marked +"A, B, C" was drawn from depths where it lay under a triple guard of +wrappings, still further defended by formidable lines of pins. Above +all, Mademoiselle Cormon sacrificed on the altar of her hopes three +bottles of the famous liqueurs of Madame Amphoux, the most illustrious +of all the distillers of the tropics,--a name very dear to gourmets. +Thanks to the devotion of her lieutenants, mademoiselle was soon ready +for the conflict. The different weapons--furniture, cookery, provisions, +in short, all the various munitions of war, together with a body of +reserve forces--were ready along the whole line. Jacquelin, Mariette, +and Josette received orders to appear in full dress. The garden was +raked. The old maid regretted that she couldn't come to an understanding +with the nightingales nesting in the trees, in order to obtain their +finest trilling. + +At last, about four o'clock, at the very moment when the Abbe de Sponde +returned home, and just as mademoiselle began to think she had set the +table with the best plate and linen and prepared the choicest dishes to +no purpose, the click-clack of a postilion was heard in the Val-Noble. + +"'Tis he!" she said to herself, the snap of the whip echoing in her +heart. + +True enough; heralded by all this gossip, a post-chaise, in which was +a single gentleman, made so great a sensation coming down the rue +Saint-Blaise and turning into the rue du Cours that several little +gamains and some grown persons followed it, and stood in groups about +the gate of the hotel Cormon to see it enter. Jacquelin, who foresaw his +own marriage in that of his mistress, had also heard the click-clack in +the rue Saint-Blaise, and had opened wide the gates into the courtyard. +The postilion, a friend of his, took pride in making a fine turn-in, and +drew up sharply before the portico. The abbe came forward to greet his +guest, whose carriage was emptied with a speed that highwaymen might put +into the operation; the chaise itself was rolled into the coach-house, +the gates closed, and in a few moments all signs of Monsieur de +Troisville's arrival had disappeared. Never did two chemicals blend +into each other with greater rapidity than the hotel Cormon displayed in +absorbing the Vicomte de Troisville. + +Mademoiselle, whose heart was beating like a lizard caught by a +herdsman, sat heroically still on her sofa, beside the fire in the +salon. Josette opened the door; and the Vicomte de Troisville, followed +by the Abbe de Sponde, presented himself to the eyes of the spinster. + +"Niece, this is Monsieur le Vicomte de Troisville, the grandson of one +of my old schoolmates; Monsieur de Troisville, my niece, Mademoiselle +Cormon." + +"Ah! that good uncle; how well he does it!" thought Rose-Marie-Victoire. + +The Vicomte de Troisville was, to paint him in two words, du Bousquier +ennobled. Between the two men there was precisely the difference which +separates the vulgar style from the noble style. If they had both been +present, the most fanatic liberal would not have denied the existence +of aristocracy. The viscount's strength had all the distinction of +elegance; his figure had preserved its magnificent dignity. He had blue +eyes, black hair, an olive skin, and looked to be about forty-six years +of age. You might have thought him a handsome Spaniard preserved in +the ice of Russia. His manner, carriage, and attitude, all denoted +a diplomat who had seen Europe. His dress was that of a well-bred +traveller. As he seemed fatigued, the abbe offered to show him to his +room, and was much amazed when his niece threw open the door of the +boudoir, transformed into a bedroom. + +Mademoiselle Cormon and her uncle then left the noble stranger to attend +to his own affairs, aided by Jacquelin, who brought up his luggage, and +went themselves to walk beside the river until their guest had made +his toilet. Although the Abbe de Sponde chanced to be even more +absent-minded than usual, Mademoiselle Cormon was not less preoccupied. +They both walked on in silence. The old maid had never before met any +man as seductive as this Olympean viscount. She might have said to +herself, as the Germans do, "This is my ideal!" instead of which she +felt herself bound from head to foot, and could only say, "Here's my +affair!" Then she flew to Mariette to know if the dinner could be put +back a while without loss of excellence. + +"Uncle, your Monsieur de Troisville is very amiable," she said, on +returning. + +"Why, niece, he hasn't as yet said a word." + +"But you can see it in his ways, his manners, his face. Is he a +bachelor?" + +"I'm sure I don't know," replied the abbe, who was thinking of a +discussion on mercy, lately begun between the Abbe Couturier and +himself. "Monsieur de Troisville wrote me that he wanted to buy a house +here. If he was married, he wouldn't come alone on such an errand," +added the abbe, carelessly, not conceiving the idea that his niece could +be thinking of marriage. + +"Is he rich?" + +"He is a younger son of the younger branch," replied her uncle. "His +grandfather commanded a squadron, but the father of this young man made +a bad marriage." + +"Young man!" exclaimed the old maid. "It seems to me, uncle, that he +must be at least forty-five." She felt the strongest desire to put their +years on a par. + +"Yes," said the abbe; "but to a poor priest of seventy, Rose, a man of +forty seems a youth." + +All Alencon knew by this time that Monsieur de Troisville had arrived at +the Cormons. The traveller soon rejoined his hosts, and began to admire +the Brillante, the garden, and the house. + +"Monsieur l'abbe," he said, "my whole ambition is to have a house like +this." The old maid fancied a declaration lurked in that speech, and she +lowered her eyes. "You must enjoy it very much, mademoiselle," added the +viscount. + +"How could it be otherwise? It has been in our family since 1574, the +period at which one of our ancestors, steward to the Duc d'Alencon, +acquired the land and built the house," replied Mademoiselle Cormon. "It +is built on piles," she added. + +Jacquelin announced dinner. Monsieur de Troisville offered his arm to +the happy woman, who endeavored not to lean too heavily upon it; she +feared, as usual, to seem to make advances. + +"Everything is so harmonious here," said the viscount, as he seated +himself at table. + +"Yes, our trees are full of birds, which give us concerts for nothing; +no one ever frightens them; and the nightingales sing at night," said +Mademoiselle Cormon. + +"I was speaking of the interior of the house," remarked the viscount, +who did not trouble himself to observe Mademoiselle Cormon, and +therefore did not perceive the dulness of her mind. "Everything is so in +keeping,--the tones of color, the furniture, the general character." + +"But it costs a great deal; taxes are enormous," responded the excellent +woman. + +"Ah! taxes are high, are they?" said the viscount, preoccupied with his +own ideas. + +"I don't know," replied the abbe. "My niece manages the property of each +of us." + +"Taxes are not of much importance to the rich," said Mademoiselle +Cormon, not wishing to be thought miserly. "As for the furniture, I +shall leave it as it is, and change nothing,--unless I marry; and then, +of course, everything here must suit the husband." + +"You have noble principles, mademoiselle," said the viscount, smiling. +"You will make one happy man." + +"No one ever made to me such a pretty speech," thought the old maid. + +The viscount complimented Mademoiselle Cormon on the excellence of her +service and the admirable arrangements of the house, remarking that he +had supposed the provinces behind the age in that respect; but, on the +contrary, he found them, as the English say, "very comfortable." + +"What can that word mean?" she thought. "Oh, where is the chevalier to +explain it to me? 'Comfortable,'--there seem to be several words in it. +Well, courage!" she said to herself. "I can't be expected to answer a +foreign language--But," she continued aloud, feeling her tongue untied +by the eloquence which nearly all human creatures find in momentous +circumstances, "we have a very brilliant society here, monsieur. It +assembles at my house, and you shall judge of it this evening, for +some of my faithful friends have no doubt heard of my return and your +arrival. Among them is the Chevalier de Valois, a seigneur of the +old court, a man of infinite wit and taste; then there is Monsieur le +Marquis d'Esgrignon and Mademoiselle Armande, his sister" (she bit her +tongue with vexation),--"a woman remarkable in her way," she added. "She +resolved to remain unmarried in order to leave all her fortune to her +brother and nephew." + +"Ah!" exclaimed the viscount. "Yes, the d'Esgrignons,--I remember them." + +"Alencon is very gay," continued the old maid, now fairly launched. +"There's much amusement: the receiver-general gives balls; the prefect +is an amiable man; and Monseigneur the bishop sometimes honors us with a +visit--" + +"Well, then," said the viscount, smiling, "I have done wisely to come +back, like the hare, to die in my form." + +"Yes," she said. "I, too, attach myself or I die." + +The viscount smiled. + +"Ah!" thought the old maid, "all is well; he understands me." + +The conversation continued on generalities. By one of those mysterious +unknown and undefinable faculties, Mademoiselle Cormon found in her +brain, under the pressure of her desire to be agreeable, all the phrases +and opinions of the Chevalier de Valois. It was like a duel in which the +devil himself pointed the pistol. Never was any adversary better aimed +at. The viscount was far too well-bred to speak of the excellence of +the dinner; but his silence was praise. As he drank the delicious wines +which Jacquelin served to him profusely, he seemed to feel he was with +friends, and to meet them with pleasure; for the true connoisseur does +not applaud, he enjoys. He inquired the price of land, of houses, of +estates; he made Mademoiselle Cormon describe at length the confluence +of the Sarthe and the Brillante; he expressed surprise that the town was +placed so far from the river, and seemed to be much interested in the +topography of the place. + +The silent abbe left his niece to throw the dice of conversation; and +she truly felt that she pleased Monsieur de Troisville, who smiled at +her gracefully, and committed himself during this dinner far more than +her most eager suitors had ever done in ten days. Imagine, therefore, +the little attentions with which he was petted; you might have thought +him a cherished lover, whose return brought joy to the household. +Mademoiselle foresaw the moment when the viscount wanted bread; she +watched his every look; when he turned his head she adroitly put upon +his plate a portion of some dish he seemed to like; had he been a +gourmand, she would almost have killed him; but what a delightful +specimen of the attentions she would show to a husband! She did not +commit the folly of depreciating herself; on the contrary, she set every +sail bravely, ran up all her flags, assumed the bearing of the queen of +Alencon, and boasted of her excellent preserves. In fact, she fished +for compliments in speaking of herself, for she saw that she pleased the +viscount; the truth being that her eager desire had so transformed her +that she became almost a woman. + +At dessert she heard, not without emotions of delight, certain sounds in +the antechamber and salon which denoted the arrival of her usual guests. +She called the attention of her uncle and Monsieur de Troisville to this +prompt attendance as a proof of the affection that was felt for her; +whereas it was really the result of the poignant curiosity which had +seized upon the town. Impatient to show herself in all her glory, +Mademoiselle Cormon told Jacquelin to serve coffee and liqueurs in +the salon, where he presently set out, in view of the whole company, +a magnificent liqueur-stand of Dresden china which saw the light only +twice a year. This circumstance was taken note of by the company, +standing ready to gossip over the merest trifle:-- + +"The deuce!" muttered du Bousquier. "Actually Madame Amphoux's liqueurs, +which they only serve at the four church festivals!" + +"Undoubtedly the marriage was arranged a year ago by letter," said +the chief-justice du Ronceret. "The postmaster tells me his office has +received letters postmarked Odessa for more than a year." + +Madame Granson trembled. The Chevalier de Valois, though he had dined +with the appetite of four men, turned pale even to the left section +of his face. Feeling that he was about to betray himself, he said +hastily,-- + +"Don't you think it is very cold to-day? I am almost frozen." + +"The neighborhood of Russia, perhaps," said du Bousquier. + +The chevalier looked at him as if to say, "Well played!" + +Mademoiselle Cormon appeared so radiant, so triumphant, that the company +thought her handsome. This extraordinary brilliancy was not the effect +of sentiment only. Since early morning her blood had been whirling +tempestuously within her, and her nerves were agitated by the +presentiment of some great crisis. It required all these circumstances +combined to make her so unlike herself. With what joy did she now make +her solemn presentation of the viscount to the chevalier, the chevalier +to the viscount, and all Alencon to Monsieur de Troisville, and Monsieur +de Troisville to all Alencon! + +By an accident wholly explainable, the viscount and chevalier, +aristocrats by nature, came instantly into unison; they recognized each +other at once as men belonging to the same sphere. Accordingly, they +began to converse together, standing before the fireplace. A circle +formed around them; and their conversation, though uttered in a low +voice, was listened to in religious silence. To give the effect of +this scene it is necessary to dramatize it, and to picture Mademoiselle +Cormon occupied in pouring out the coffee of her imaginary suitor, with +her back to the fireplace. + +Monsieur de Valois. "Monsieur le vicomte has come, I am told, to settle +in Alencon?" + +Monsieur de Troisville. "Yes, monsieur, I am looking for a house." +[Mademoiselle Cormon, cup in hand, turns round.] "It must be a large +house" [Mademoiselle Cormon offers him the cup] "to lodge my whole +family." [The eyes of the old maid are troubled.] + +Monsieur de Valois. "Are you married?" + +Monsieur de Troisville. "Yes, for the last sixteen years, to a daughter +of the Princess Scherbellof." + +Mademoiselle Cormon fainted; du Bousquier, who saw her stagger, sprang +forward and received her in his arms; some one opened the door and +allowed him to pass out with his enormous burden. The fiery republican, +instructed by Josette, found strength to carry the old maid to her +bedroom, where he laid her out on the bed. Josette, armed with scissors, +cut the corset, which was terribly tight. Du Bousquier flung water on +Mademoiselle Cormon's face and bosom, which, released from the corset, +overflowed like the Loire in flood. The poor woman opened her eyes, +saw du Bousquier, and gave a cry of modesty at the sight of him. Du +Bousquier retired at once, leaving six women, at the head of whom was +Madame Granson, radiant with joy, to take care of the invalid. + +What had the Chevalier de Valois been about all this time? Faithful to +his system, he had covered the retreat. + +"That poor Mademoiselle Cormon," he said to Monsieur de Troisville, +gazing at the assembly, whose laughter was repressed by his cool +aristocratic glances, "her blood is horribly out of order; she wouldn't +be bled before going to Prebaudet (her estate),--and see the result!" + +"She came back this morning in the rain," said the Abbe de Sponde, "and +she may have taken cold. It won't be anything; it is only a little upset +she is subject to." + +"She told me yesterday she had not had one for three months, adding that +she was afraid it would play her a trick at last," said the chevalier. + +"Ha! so you are married?" said Jacquelin to himself as he looked at +Monsieur de Troisville, who was quietly sipping his coffee. + +The faithful servant espoused his mistress's disappointment; he divined +it, and he promptly carried away the liqueurs of Madame Amphoux, which +were offered to a bachelor, and not to the husband of a Russian woman. + +All these details were noticed and laughed at. The Abbe de Sponde knew +the object of Monsieur de Troisville's journey; but, absent-minded +as usual, he forgot it, not supposing that his niece could have the +slightest interest in Monsieur de Troisville's marriage. As for the +viscount, preoccupied with the object of his journey, and, like many +husbands, not eager to talk about his wife, he had had no occasion +to say he was married; besides, he would naturally suppose that +Mademoiselle Cormon knew it. + +Du Bousquier reappeared, and was questioned furiously. One of the six +women came down soon after, and announced that Mademoiselle Cormon was +much better, and that the doctor had come. She intended to stay in bed, +as it was necessary to bleed her. The salon was now full. Mademoiselle +Cormon's absence allowed the ladies present to discuss the tragi-comic +scene--embellished, extended, historified, embroidered, wreathed, +colored, and adorned--which had just taken place, and which, on the +morrow, was destined to occupy all Alencon. + +"That good Monsieur du Bousquier! how well he carried you!" said Josette +to her mistress. "He was really pale at the sight of you; he loves you +still." + +That speech served as closure to this solemn and terrible evening. + +Throughout the morning of the next day every circumstance of the late +comedy was known in the household of Alencon, and--let us say it to the +shame of that town,--they caused inextinguishable laughter. But on that +day Mademoiselle Cormon (much benefited by the bleeding) would have +seemed sublime even to the boldest scoffers, had they witnessed the +noble dignity, the splendid Christian resignation which influenced her +as she gave her arm to her involuntary deceiver to go into breakfast. +Cruel jesters! why could you not have seen her as she said to the +viscount,-- + +"Madame de Troisville will have difficulty in finding a suitable house; +do me the favor, monsieur, of accepting the use of mine during the time +you are in search of yours." + +"But, mademoiselle, I have two sons and two daughters; we should greatly +inconvenience you." + +"Pray do not refuse me," she said earnestly. + +"I made you the same offer in the answer I wrote to your letter," said +the abbe; "but you did not receive it." + +"What, uncle! then you knew--" + +The poor woman stopped. Josette sighed. Neither the viscount nor the +abbe observed anything amiss. After breakfast the Abbe de Sponde carried +off his guest, as agreed upon the previous evening, to show him the +various houses in Alencon which could be bought, and the lots of lands +on which he might build. + +Left alone in the salon, Mademoiselle Cormon said to Josette, with a +deeply distressed air, "My child, I am now the talk of the whole town." + +"Well, then, mademoiselle, you should marry." + +"But I am not prepared to make a choice." + +"Bah! if I were in your place, I should take Monsieur du Bousquier." + +"Josette, Monsieur de Valois says he is so republican." + +"They don't know what they say, your gentlemen: sometimes they declare +that he robbed the republic; he couldn't love it if he did that," said +Josette, departing. + +"That girl has an amazing amount of sense," thought Mademoiselle Cormon, +who remained alone, a prey to her perplexities. + +She saw plainly that a prompt marriage was the only way to silence the +town. This last checkmate, so evidently mortifying, was of a nature to +drive her into some extreme action; for persons deficient in mind find +difficulty in getting out of any path, either good or evil, into which +they have entered. + +Each of the two old bachelors had fully understood the situation in +which Mademoiselle Cormon was about to find herself; consequently, each +resolved to call in the course of that morning to ask after her health, +and take occasion, in bachelor language, to "press his point." Monsieur +de Valois considered that such an occasion demanded a painstaking +toilet; he therefore took a bath and groomed himself with extraordinary +care. For the first and last time Cesarine observed him putting on with +incredible art a suspicion of rouge. Du Bousquier, on the other hand, +that coarse republican, spurred by a brisk will, paid no attention to +his dress, and arrived the first. + +Such little things decide the fortunes of men, as they do of empires. +Kellerman's charge at Marengo, Blucher's arrival at Waterloo, Louis +XIV.'s disdain for Prince Eugene, the rector of Denain,--all these great +causes of fortune or catastrophe history has recorded; but no one +ever profits by them to avoid the small neglects of their own life. +Consequently, observe what happens: the Duchesse de Langeais (see +"History of the Thirteen") makes herself a nun for the lack of ten +minutes' patience; Judge Popinot (see "Commission in Lunacy") puts off +till the morrow the duty of examining the Marquis d'Espard; Charles +Grandet (see "Eugenie Grandet") goes to Paris from Bordeaux instead of +returning by Nantes; and such events are called chance or fatality! A +touch of rouge carefully applied destroyed the hopes of the Chevalier de +Valois; could that nobleman perish in any other way? He had lived by the +Graces, and he was doomed to die by their hand. While the chevalier was +giving this last touch to his toilet the rough du Bousquier was entering +the salon of the desolate old maid. This entrance produced a thought +in Mademoiselle Cormon's mind which was favorable to the republican, +although in all other respects the Chevalier de Valois held the +advantages. + +"God wills it!" she said piously, on seeing du Bousquier. + +"Mademoiselle, you will not, I trust, think my eagerness importunate. I +could not trust to my stupid Rene to bring news of your condition, and +therefore I have come myself." + +"I am perfectly recovered," she replied, in a tone of emotion. "I thank +you, Monsieur du Bousquier," she added, after a slight pause, and in a +significant tone of voice, "for the trouble you have taken, and for that +which I gave you yesterday--" + +She remembered having been in his arms, and that again seemed to her an +order from heaven. She had been seen for the first time by a man with +her laces cut, her treasures violently bursting from their casket. + +"I carried you with such joy that you seemed to me light." + +Here Mademoiselle Cormon looked at du Bousquier as she had never yet +looked at any man in the world. Thus encouraged, the purveyor cast upon +the old maid a glance which reached her heart. + +"I would," he said, "that that moment had given me the right to keep +you as mine forever" [she listened with a delighted air]; "as you lay +fainting upon that bed, you were enchanting. I have never in my life +seen a more beautiful person,--and I have seen many handsome women. +Plump ladies have this advantage: they are superb to look upon; they +have only to show themselves and they triumph." + +"I fear you are making fun of me," said the old maid, "and that is not +kind when all the town will probably misinterpret what happened to me +yesterday." + +"As true as my name is du Bousquier, mademoiselle, I have never changed +in my feelings toward you; and your first refusal has not discouraged +me." + +The old maid's eyes were lowered. There was a moment of cruel silence +for du Bousquier, and then Mademoiselle Cormon decided on her course. +She raised her eyelids; tears flowed from her eyes, and she gave du +Bousquier a tender glance. + +"If that is so, monsieur," she said, in a trembling voice, "promise me +to live in a Christian manner, and not oppose my religious customs, but +to leave me the right to select my confessors, and I will grant you my +hand"; as she said the words, she held it out to him. + +Du Bousquier seized the good fat hand so full of money, and kissed it +solemnly. + +"But," she said, allowing him to kiss it, "one thing more I must require +of you." + +"If it is a possible thing, it is granted," replied the purveyor. + +"Alas!" returned the old maid. "For my sake, I must ask you to take upon +yourself a sin which I feel to be enormous,--for to lie is one of the +capital sins. But you will confess it, will you not? We will do penance +for it together" [they looked at each other tenderly]. "Besides, it may +be one of those lies which the Church permits as necessary--" + +"Can she be as Suzanne says she is?" thought du Bousquier. "What luck! +Well, mademoiselle, what is it?" he said aloud. + +"That you will take upon yourself to--" + +"What?" + +"To say that this marriage has been agreed upon between us for the last +six months." + +"Charming woman," said the purveyor, in the tone of a man willing to +devote himself, "such sacrifices can be made only for a creature adored +these ten years." + +"In spite of my harshness?" she said. + +"Yes, in spite of your harshness." + +"Monsieur du Bousquier, I have misjudged you." + +Again she held out the fat red hand, which du Bousquier kissed again. + +At this moment the door opened; the betrothed pair, looking round to see +who entered, beheld the delightful, but tardy Chevalier de Valois. + +"Ah!" he said, on entering, "I see you are about to be up, fair queen." + +She smiled at the chevalier, feeling a weight upon her heart. Monsieur +de Valois, remarkably young and seductive, had the air of a Lauzun +re-entering the apartments of the Grande Mademoiselle in the +Palais-Royal. + +"Hey! dear du Bousquier," said he, in a jaunty tone, so sure was he of +success, "Monsieur de Troisville and the Abbe de Sponde are examining +your house like appraisers." + +"Faith!" said du Bousquier, "if the Vicomte de Troisville wants it, +it it is his for forty thousand francs. It is useless to me now. If +mademoiselle will permit--it must soon be known--Mademoiselle, may I +tell it?--Yes! Well, then, be the first, _my dear Chevalier_, to hear" +[Mademoiselle Cormon dropped her eyes] "of the honor that mademoiselle +has done me, the secret of which I have kept for some months. We shall +be married in a few days; the contract is already drawn, and we shall +sign it to-morrow. You see, therefore, that my house in the rue du Cygne +is useless to me. I have been privately looking for a purchaser for some +time; and the Abbe de Sponde, who knew that fact, has naturally taken +Monsieur de Troisville to see the house." + +This falsehood bore such an appearance of truth that the chevalier was +taken in by it. That "my dear chevalier" was like the revenge taken by +Peter the Great on Charles XII. at Pultawa for all his past defeats. Du +Bousquier revenged himself deliciously for the thousand little shafts he +had long borne in silence; but in his triumph he made a lively +youthful gesture by running his hands through his hair, and in so doing +he--knocked aside his false front. + +"I congratulate you both," said the chevalier, with an agreeable air; +"and I wish that the marriage may end like a fairy tale: _They were +happy ever after, and had--many--children_!" So saying, he took a pinch +of snuff. "But, monsieur," he added satirically, "you forget--that you +are wearing a false front." + +Du Bousquier blushed. The false front was hanging half a dozen inches +from his skull. Mademoiselle Cormon raised her eyes, saw that skull in +all its nudity, and lowered them, abashed. Du Bousquier cast upon the +chevalier the most venomous look that toad ever darted on its prey. + +"Dogs of aristocrats who despise me," thought he, "I'll crush you some +day." + +The chevalier thought he had recovered his advantage. But Mademoiselle +Cormon was not a woman to understand the connection which the chevalier +intimated between his congratulatory wish and the false front. Besides, +even if she had comprehended it, her word was passed, her hand given. +Monsieur de Valois saw at once that all was lost. The innocent woman, +with the two now silent men before her, wished, true to her sense of +duty, to amuse them. + +"Why not play a game of piquet together?" she said artlessly, without +the slightest malice. + +Du Bousquier smiled, and went, as the future master of the house, to +fetch the piquet table. Whether the Chevalier de Valois lost his head, +or whether he wanted to stay and study the causes of his disaster and +remedy it, certain it is that he allowed himself to be led like a lamb +to the slaughter. He had received the most violent knock-down blow that +ever struck a man; any nobleman would have lost his senses for less. + +The Abbe de Sponde and the Vicomte de Troisville soon returned. +Mademoiselle Cormon instantly rose, hurried into the antechamber, and +took her uncle apart to tell him her resolution. Learning that the house +in the rue du Cygne exactly suited the viscount, she begged her future +husband to do her the kindness to tell him that her uncle knew it +was for sale. She dared not confide that lie to the abbe, fearing his +absent-mindedness. The lie, however, prospered better than if it had +been a virtuous action. In the course of that evening all Alencon heard +the news. For the last four days the town had had as much to think of +as during the fatal days of 1814 and 1815. Some laughed; others admitted +the marriage. These blamed it; those approved it. The middle classes +of Alencon rejoiced; they regarded it as a victory. The next day, among +friends, the Chevalier de Valois said a cruel thing:-- + +"The Cormons end as they began; there's only a hand's breadth between a +steward and a purveyor." + + + + +CHAPTER VII. OTHER RESULTS + + +The news of Mademoiselle Cormon's choice stabbed poor Athanase Granson +to the heart; but he showed no outward sign of the terrible agitation +within him. When he first heard of the marriage he was at the house of +the chief-justice, du Ronceret, where his mother was playing boston. +Madame Granson looked at her son in a mirror, and thought him pale; +but he had been so all day, for a vague rumor of the matter had already +reached him. + +Mademoiselle Cormon was the card on which Athanase had staked his life; +and the cold presentiment of a catastrophe was already upon him. When +the soul and the imagination have magnified a misfortune and made it +too heavy for the shoulders and the brain to bear; when a hope long +cherished, the realization of which would pacify the vulture feeding on +the heart, is balked, and the man has faith neither in himself, despite +his powers, nor in the future, despite of the Divine power,--then that +man is lost. Athanase was a fruit of the Imperial system of education. +Fatality, the Emperor's religion, had filtered down from the throne to +the lowest ranks of the army and the benches of the lyceums. Athanase +sat still, with his eyes fixed on Madame du Ronceret's cards, in a +stupor that might so well pass for indifference that Madame Granson +herself was deceived about his feelings. This apparent unconcern +explained her son's refusal to make a sacrifice for this marriage of his +_liberal_ opinions,--the term "liberal" having lately been created for +the Emperor Alexander by, I think, Madame de Stael, through the lips of +Benjamin Constant. + +After that fatal evening the young man took to rambling among the +picturesque regions of the Sarthe, the banks of which are much +frequented by sketchers who come to Alencon for points of view. +Windmills are there, and the river is gay in the meadows. The shores of +the Sarthe are bordered with beautiful trees, well grouped. Though +the landscape is flat, it is not without those modest graces which +distinguish France, where the eye is never wearied by the brilliancy of +Oriental skies, nor saddened by constant fog. The place is solitary. In +the provinces no one pays much attention to a fine view, either because +provincials are blases on the beauty around them, or because they have +no poesy in their souls. If there exists in the provinces a mall, a +promenade, a vantage-ground from which a fine view can be obtained, that +is the point to which no one goes. Athanase was fond of this solitude, +enlivened by the sparkling water, where the fields were the first to +green under the earliest smiling of the springtide sun. Those persons +who saw him sitting beneath a poplar, and who noticed the vacant eye +which he turned to them, would say to Madame Granson:-- + +"Something is the matter with your son." + +"I know what it is," the mother would reply; hinting that he was +meditating over some great work. + +Athanase no longer took part in politics: he ceased to have opinions; +but he appeared at times quite gay,--gay with the satire of those who +think to insult a whole world with their own individual scorn. This +young man, outside of all the ideas and all the pleasures of the +provinces, interested few persons; he was not even an object of +curiosity. If persons spoke of him to his mother, it was for her sake, +not his. There was not a single soul in Alencon that sympathized with +his; not a woman, not a friend came near to dry his tears; they dropped +into the Sarthe. If the gorgeous Suzanne had happened that way, how many +young miseries might have been born of the meeting! for the two would +surely have loved each other. + +She did come, however. Suzanne's ambition was early excited by the tale +of a strange adventure which had happened at the tavern of the More,--a +tale which had taken possession of her childish brain. A Parisian woman, +beautiful as the angels, was sent by Fouche to entangle the Marquis +de Montauran, otherwise called "The Gars," in a love-affair (see "The +Chouans"). She met him at the tavern of the More on his return from an +expedition to Mortagne; she cajoled him, made him love her, and then +betrayed him. That fantastic power--the power of beauty over mankind; +in fact, the whole story of Marie de Verneuil and the Gars--dazzled +Suzanne; she longed to grow up in order to play upon men. Some months +after her hasty departure she passed through her native town with an +artist on his way to Brittany. She wanted to see Fougeres, where the +adventure of the Marquis de Montauran culminated, and to stand upon the +scene of that picturesque war, the tragedies of which, still so little +known, had filled her childish mind. Besides this, she had a fancy to +pass through Alencon so elegantly equipped that no one could recognize +her; to put her mother above the reach of necessity, and also to send to +poor Athanase, in a delicate manner, a sum of money,--which in our age +is to genius what in the middle ages was the charger and the coat of +mail that Rebecca conveyed to Ivanhoe. + +One month passed away in the strangest uncertainties respecting the +marriage of Mademoiselle Cormon. A party of unbelievers denied the +marriage altogether; the believers, on the other hand, affirmed it. At +the end of two weeks, the faction of unbelief received a vigorous blow +in the sale of du Bousquier's house to the Marquis de Troisville, who +only wanted a simple establishment in Alencon, intending to go to Paris +after the death of the Princess Scherbellof; he proposed to await that +inheritance in retirement, and then to reconstitute his estates. This +seemed positive. The unbelievers, however, were not crushed. They +declared that du Bousquier, married or not, had made an excellent +sale, for the house had only cost him twenty-seven thousand francs. +The believers were depressed by this practical observation of the +incredulous. Choisnel, Mademoiselle Cormon's notary, asserted the +latter, had heard nothing about the marriage contract; but the +believers, still firm in their faith, carried off, on the twentieth day, +a signal victory: Monsieur Lepressoir, the notary of the liberals, went +to Mademoiselle Cormon's house, and the contract was signed. + +This was the first of the numerous sacrifices which Mademoiselle Cormon +was destined to make to her husband. Du Bousquier bore the deepest +hatred to Choisnel; to him he owed the refusal of the hand of +Mademoiselle Armande,--a refusal which, as he believed, had influenced +that of Mademoiselle Cormon. This circumstance alone made the marriage +drag along. Mademoiselle received several anonymous letters. She +learned, to her great astonishment, that Suzanne was as truly a virgin +as herself so far as du Bousquier was concerned, for that seducer +with the false toupet could never be the hero of any such adventure. +Mademoiselle Cormon disdained anonymous letters; but she wrote to +Suzanne herself, on the ground of enlightening the Maternity Society. +Suzanne, who had no doubt heard of du Bousquier's proposed marriage, +acknowledged her trick, sent a thousand francs to the society, and did +all the harm she could to the old purveyor. Mademoiselle Cormon convoked +the Maternity Society, which held a special meeting at which it was +voted that the association would not in future assist any misfortunes +about to happen, but solely those that had happened. + +In spite of all these various events which kept the town in the choicest +gossip, the banns were published in the churches and at the mayor's +office. Athanase prepared the deeds. As a matter of propriety and public +decency, the bride retired to Prebaudet, where du Bousquier, bearing +sumptuous and horrible bouquets, betook himself every morning, returning +home for dinner. + +At last, on a dull and rainy morning in June, the marriage of +Mademoiselle Cormon and the Sieur du Bousquier took place at noon in the +parish church of Alencon, in sight of the whole town. The bridal pair +went from their own house to the mayor's office, and from the mayor's +office to the church in an open caleche, a magnificent vehicle for +Alencon, which du Bousquier had sent for secretly to Paris. The loss of +the old carriole was a species of calamity in the eyes of the community. +The harness-maker of the Porte de Seez bemoaned it, for he lost the +fifty francs a year which it cost in repairs. Alencon saw with alarm +the possibility of luxury being thus introduced into the town. Every +one feared a rise in the price of rents and provisions, and a coming +invasion of Parisian furniture. Some persons were sufficiently pricked +by curiosity to give ten sous to Jacquelin to allow them a close +inspection of the vehicle which threatened to upset the whole economy +of the region. A pair of horses, bought in Normandie, were also most +alarming. + +"If we bought our own horses," said the Ronceret circle, "we couldn't +sell them to those who come to buy." + +Stupid as it was, this reasoning seemed sound; for surely such a course +would prevent the region from grasping the money of foreigners. In the +eyes of the provinces wealth consisted less in the rapid turning over +of money than in sterile accumulation. It may be mentioned here that +Penelope succumbed to a pleurisy which she acquired about six weeks +before the marriage; nothing could save her. + +Madame Granson, Mariette, Madame du Coudrai, Madame du Ronceret, and +through them the whole town, remarked that Madame du Bousquier entered +the church _with her left foot_,--an omen all the more dreadful because +the term Left was beginning to acquire a political meaning. The priest +whose duty it was to read the opening formula opened his book by chance +at the De Profundis. Thus the marriage was accompanied by circumstances +so fateful, so alarming, so annihilating that no one dared to augur well +of it. Matters, in fact, went from bad to worse. There was no wedding +party; the married pair departed immediately for Prebaudet. Parisian +customs, said the community, were about to triumph over time-honored +provincial ways. + +The marriage of Jacquelin and Josette now took place: it was gay; and +they were the only two persons in Alencon who refuted the sinister +prophecies relating to the marriage of their mistress. + +Du Bousquier determined to use the proceeds of the sale of his late +residence in restoring and modernizing the hotel Cormon. He decided to +remain through two seasons at Prebaudet, and took the Abbe de Sponde +with them. This news spread terror through the town, where every +individual felt that du Bousquier was about to drag the community into +the fatal path of "comfort." This fear increased when the inhabitants +of Alencon saw the bridegroom driving in from Prebaudet one morning to +inspect his works, in a fine tilbury drawn by a new horse, having Rene +at his side in livery. The first act of his administration had been to +place his wife's savings on the Grand-Livre, which was then quoted at 67 +fr. 50 cent. In the space of one year, during which he played constantly +for a rise, he made himself a personal fortune almost as considerable as +that of his wife. + +But all these foreboding prophecies, these perturbing innovations, were +superseded and surpassed by an event connected with this marriage which +gave a still more fatal aspect to it. + +On the very evening of the ceremony, Athanase and his mother were +sitting, after their dinner, over a little fire of fagots, which the +servant lighted usually at dessert. + +"Well, we will go this evening to the du Roncerets', inasmuch as we have +lost Mademoiselle Cormon," said Madame Granson. "Heavens! how shall I +ever accustom myself to call her Madame du Bousquier! that name burns my +lips." + +Athanase looked at his mother with a constrained and melancholy air; he +could not smile; but he seemed to wish to welcome that naive sentiment +which soothed his wound, though it could not cure his anguish. + +"Mamma," he said, in the voice of his childhood, so tender was it, and +using the name he had abandoned for several years,--"my dear mamma, do +not let us go out just yet; it is so pleasant here before the fire." + +The mother heard, without comprehending, that supreme prayer of a mortal +sorrow. + +"Yes, let us stay, my child," she said. "I like much better to talk +with you and listen to your projects than to play at boston and lose my +money." + +"You are so handsome to-night I love to look at you. Besides, I am in +a current of ideas which harmonize with this poor little salon where we +have suffered so much." + +"And where we shall still suffer, my poor Athanase, until your works +succeed. For myself, I am trained to poverty; but you, my treasure! to +see your youth go by without a joy! nothing but toil for my poor boy +in life! That thought is like an illness to a mother; it tortures me +at night; it wakes me in the morning. O God! what have I done? for what +crime dost thou punish me thus?" + +She left her sofa, took a little chair, and sat close to Athanase, so as +to lay her head on the bosom of her child. There is always the grace of +love in true motherhood. Athanase kissed her on the eyes, on her +gray hair, on her forehead, with the sacred desire of laying his soul +wherever he applied his lips. + +"I shall never succeed," he said, trying to deceive his mother as to the +fatal resolution he was revolving in his mind. + +"Pooh! don't get discouraged. As you often say, thought can do all +things. With ten bottles of ink, ten reams of paper, and his powerful +will, Luther upset all Europe. Well, you'll make yourself famous; you +will do good things by the same means which he used to do evil things. +Haven't you said so yourself? For my part, I listen to you; I understand +you a great deal more than you think I do,--for I still bear you in my +bosom, and your every thought still stirs me as your slightest motion +did in other days." + +"I shall never succeed here, mamma; and I don't want you to witness the +sight of my struggles, my misery, my anguish. Oh, mother, let me leave +Alencon! I want to suffer away from you." + +"And I wish to be at your side," replied his mother, proudly. "Suffer +without your mother!--that poor mother who would be your servant if +necessary; who will efface herself rather than injure you; your mother, +who will never shame you. No, no, Athanase; we must not part." + +Athanase clung to his mother with the ardor of a dying man who clings to +life. + +"But I wish it, nevertheless. If not, you will lose me; this double +grief, yours and mine, is killing me. You would rather I lived than +died?" + +Madame Granson looked at her son with a haggard eye. + +"So this is what you have been brooding?" she said. "They told me right. +Do you really mean to go?" + +"Yes." + +"You will not go without telling me; without warning me? You must have +an outfit and money. I have some louis sewn into my petticoat; I shall +give them to you." + +Athanase wept. + +"That's all I wanted to tell you," he said. "Now I'll take you to the du +Roncerets'. Come." + +The mother and the son went out. Athanase left his mother at the door of +the house where she intended to pass the evening. He looked long at the +light which came through the shutters; he clung closely to the wall, and +a frenzied joy came over him when he presently heard his mother say, "He +has great independence of heart." + +"Poor mother! I have deceived her," he cried, as he made his way to the +Sarthe. + +He reached the noble poplar beneath which he had meditated so much for +the last forty days, and where he had placed two heavy stones on which +he now sat down. He contemplated that beautiful nature lighted by the +moon; he reviewed once more the glorious future he had longed for; +he passed through towns that were stirred by his name; he heard the +applauding crowds; he breathed the incense of his fame; he adored that +life long dreamed of; radiant, he sprang to radiant triumphs; he raised +his stature; he evoked his illusions to bid them farewell in a last +Olympic feast. The magic had been potent for a moment; but now it +vanished forever. In that awful hour he clung to the beautiful tree +to which, as to a friend, he had attached himself; then he put the two +stones into the pockets of his overcoat, which he buttoned across his +breast. He had come intentionally without a hat. He now went to the deep +pool he had long selected, and glided into it resolutely, trying to make +as little noise as possible, and, in fact, making scarcely any. + +When, at half-past nine o'clock, Madame Granson returned home, her +servant said nothing of Athanase, but gave her a letter. She opened it +and read these few words,-- + +"My good mother, I have departed; don't be angry with me." + +"A pretty trick he has played me!" she thought. "And his linen! and the +money! Well, he will write to me, and then I'll follow him. These +poor children think they are so much cleverer than their fathers and +mothers." + +And she went to bed in peace. + +During the preceding morning the Sarthe had risen to a height foreseen +by the fisherman. These sudden rises of muddy water brought eels from +their various runlets. It so happened that a fisherman had spread his +net at the very place where poor Athanase had flung himself, believing +that no one would ever find him. About six o'clock in the morning the +man drew in his net, and with it the young body. The few friends of +the poor mother took every precaution in preparing her to receive +the dreadful remains. The news of this suicide made, as may well be +supposed, a great excitement in Alencon. The poor young man of genius +had no protector the night before, but on the morrow of his death a +thousand voices cried aloud, "I would have helped him." It is so easy +and convenient to be charitable gratis! + +The suicide was explained by the Chevalier de Valois. He revealed, in +a spirit of revenge, the artless, sincere, and genuine love of Athanase +for Mademoiselle Cormon. Madame Granson, enlightened by the chevalier, +remembered a thousand little circumstances which confirmed the +chevalier's statement. The story then became touching, and many women +wept over it. Madame Granson's grief was silent, concentrated, and +little understood. There are two forms of mourning for mothers. Often +the world can enter fully into the nature of their loss: their son, +admired, appreciated, young, perhaps handsome, with a noble path before +him, leading to fortune, possibly to fame, excites universal regret; +society joins in the grief, and alleviates while it magnifies it. But +there is another sorrow of mothers who alone know what their child was +really; who alone have received his smiles and observed the treasures of +a life too soon cut short. That sorrow hides its woe, the blackness +of which surpasses all other mourning; it cannot be described; happily +there are but few women whose heart-strings are thus severed. + +Before Madame du Bousquier returned to town, Madame du Ronceret, one of +her good friends, had driven out to Prebaudet to fling this corpse upon +the roses of her joy, to show her the love she had ignored, and sweetly +shed a thousand drops of wormwood into the honey of her bridal month. +As Madame du Bousquier drove back to Alencon, she chanced to meet Madame +Granson at the corner of the rue Val-Noble. The glance of the mother, +dying of her grief, struck to the heart of the poor woman. A thousand +maledictions, a thousand flaming reproaches, were in that look: Madame +du Bousquier was horror-struck; that glance predicted and called down +evil upon her head. + +The evening after the catastrophe, Madame Granson, one of the persons +most opposed to the rector of the town, and who had hitherto supported +the minister of Saint-Leonard, began to tremble as she thought of the +inflexible Catholic doctrines professed by her own party. After placing +her son's body in its shroud with her own hands, thinking of the mother +of the Saviour, she went, with a soul convulsed by anguish, to the house +of the hated rector. There she found the modest priest in an outer room, +engaged in putting away the flax and yarns with which he supplied poor +women, in order that they might never be wholly out of work,--a form +of charity which saved many who were incapable of begging from actual +penury. The rector left his yarns and hastened to take Madame Granson +into his dining-room, where the wretched mother noticed, as she looked +at his supper, the frugal method of his own living. + +"Monsieur l'abbe," she said, "I have come to implore you--" She burst +into tears, unable to continue. + +"I know what brings you," replied the saintly man. "I must trust to you, +madame, and to your relation, Madame du Bousquier, to pacify Monseigneur +the Bishop at Seez. Yes, I will pray for your unhappy child; yes, I will +say the masses. But we must avoid all scandal, and give no opportunity +for evil-judging persons to assemble in the church. I alone, without +other clergy, at night--" + +"Yes, yes, as you think best; if only he may lie in consecrated ground," +said the poor mother, taking the priest's hand and kissing it. + +Toward midnight a coffin was clandestinely borne to the parish church by +four young men, comrades whom Athanase had liked the best. A few friends +of Madame Granson, women dressed in black, and veiled, were present; and +half a dozen other young men who had been somewhat intimate with this +lost genius. Four torches flickered on the coffin, which was covered +with crape. The rector, assisted by one discreet choirboy, said the +mortuary mass. Then the body of the suicide was noiselessly carried to a +corner of the cemetery, where a black wooden cross, without inscription, +was all that indicated its place hereafter to the mother. Athanase lived +and died in shadow. No voice was raised to blame the rector; the bishop +kept silence. The piety of the mother redeemed the impiety of the son's +last act. + +Some months later, the poor woman, half beside herself with grief, and +moved by one of those inexplicable thirsts which misery feels to steep +its lips in the bitter chalice, determined to see the spot where her son +was drowned. Her instinct may have told her that thoughts of his could +be recovered beneath that poplar; perhaps, too, she desired to see +what his eyes had seen for the last time. Some mothers would die of the +sight; others give themselves up to it in saintly adoration. Patient +anatomists of human nature cannot too often enunciate the truths before +which all educations, laws, and philosophical systems must give way. +Let us repeat continually: it is absurd to force sentiments into one +formula: appearing as they do, in each individual man, they combine with +the elements that form his nature and take his own physiognomy. + +Madame Granson, as she stood on that fatal spot, saw a woman approach +it, who exclaimed,-- + +"Was it here?" + +That woman wept as the mother wept. It was Suzanne. Arriving that +morning at the hotel du More, she had been told of the catastrophe. If +poor Athanase had been living, she meant to do as many noble souls, +who are moneyless, dream of doing, and as the rich never think of +doing,--she meant to have sent him several thousand francs, writing up +the envelope the words: "Money due to your father from a comrade who +makes restitution to you." This tender scheme had been arranged by +Suzanne during her journey. + +The courtesan caught sight of Madame Granson and moved rapidly away, +whispering as she passed her, "I loved him!" + +Suzanne, faithful to her nature, did not leave Alencon on this occasion +without changing the orange-blossoms of the bride to rue. She was the +first to declare that Madame du Bousquier would never be anything but +Mademoiselle Cormon. With one stab of her tongue she revenged poor +Athanase and her dear chevalier. + +Alencon now witnessed a suicide that was slower and quite differently +pitiful from that of poor Athanase, who was quickly forgotten by +society, which always makes haste to forget its dead. The poor Chevalier +de Valois died in life; his suicide was a daily occurrence for fourteen +years. Three months after the du Bousquier marriage society remarked, +not without astonishment, that the linen of the chevalier was frayed and +rusty, that his hair was irregularly combed and brushed. With a frowsy +head the Chevalier de Valois could no longer be said to exist! A few +of his ivory teeth deserted, though the keenest observers of human life +were unable to discover to what body they had hitherto belonged, whether +to a foreign legion or whether they were indigenous, vegetable or +animal; whether age had pulled them from the chevalier's mouth, or +whether they were left forgotten in the drawer of his dressing-table. +The cravat was crooked, indifferent to elegance. The negroes' heads grew +pale with dust and grease. The wrinkles of the face were blackened and +puckered; the skin became parchment. The nails, neglected, were often +seen, alas! with a black velvet edging. The waistcoat was tracked and +stained with droppings which spread upon its surface like autumn leaves. +The cotton in the ears was seldom changed. Sadness reigned upon that +brow, and slipped its yellowing tints into the depths of each furrow. +In short, the ruins, hitherto so cleverly hidden, now showed through the +cracks and crevices of that fine edifice, and proved the power of the +soul over the body; for the fair and dainty man, the cavalier, the young +blood, died when hope deserted him. Until then the nose of the chevalier +was ever delicate and nice; never had a damp black blotch, nor an amber +drop fall from it; but now that nose, smeared with tobacco around the +nostrils, degraded by the driblets which took advantage of the natural +gutter placed between itself and the upper lip,--that nose, which no +longer cared to seem agreeable, revealed the infinite pains which +the chevalier had formerly taken with his person, and made observers +comprehend, by the extent of its degradation, the greatness and +persistence of the man's designs upon Mademoiselle Cormon. + +Alas, too, the anecdotes went the way of the teeth; the clever sayings +grew rare. The appetite, however, remained; the old nobleman saved +nothing but his stomach from the wreck of his hopes; though he languidly +prepared his pinches of snuff, he ate alarming dinners. Perhaps you will +more fully understand the disaster that this marriage was to the mind +and heart of the chevalier when you learn that his intercourse with the +Princess Goritza became less frequent. + +One day he appeared in Mademoiselle Armande's salon with the calf of +his leg on the shin-bone. This bankruptcy of the graces was, I do assure +you, terrible, and struck all Alencon with horror. The late young man +had become an old one; this human being, who, by the breaking-down +of his spirit, had passed at once from fifty to ninety years of age, +frightened society. Besides, his secret was betrayed; he had waited and +watched for Mademoiselle Cormon; he had, like a patient hunter, adjusted +his aim for ten whole years, and finally had missed the game! In short, +the impotent Republic had won the day from Valiant Chivalry, and that, +too, under the Restoration! Form triumphed; mind was vanquished by +matter, diplomacy by insurrection. And, O final blow! a mortified +grisette revealed the secret of the chevalier's mornings, and he now +passed for a libertine. The liberals cast at his door all the foundlings +hitherto attributed to du Bousquier. But the faubourg Saint-Germain of +Alencon accepted them proudly: it even said, "That poor chevalier, what +else could he do?" The faubourg pitied him, gathered him closer to their +circle, and brought back a few rare smiles to his face; but frightful +enmity was piled upon the head of du Bousquier. Eleven persons deserted +the Cormon salon, and passed to that of the d'Esgrignons. + +The old maid's marriage had a signal effect in defining the two parties +in Alencon. The salon d'Esgrignon represented the upper aristocracy +(the returning Troisvilles attached themselves to it); the Cormon salon +represented, under the clever influence of du Bousquier, that fatal +class of opinions which, without being truly liberal or resolutely +royalist, gave birth to the 221 on that famous day when the struggle +openly began between the most august, grandest, and only true power, +_royalty_, and the most false, most changeful, most oppressive of all +powers,--the power called _parliamentary_, which elective assemblies +exercise. The salon du Ronceret, secretly allied to the Cormon salon, +was boldly liberal. + +The Abbe de Sponde, after his return from Prebaudet, bore many and +continual sufferings, which he kept within his breast, saying no word +of them to his niece. But to Mademoiselle Armande he opened his heart, +admitting that, folly for folly, he would much have preferred the +Chevalier de Valois to Monsieur du Bousquier. Never would the dear +chevalier have had the bad taste to contradict and oppose a poor old +man who had but a few days more to live; du Bousquier had destroyed +everything in the good old home. The abbe said, with scanty tears +moistening his aged eyes,-- + +"Mademoiselle, I haven't even the little grove where I have walked for +fifty years. My beloved lindens are all cut down! At the moment of my +death the Republic appears to me more than ever under the form of a +horrible destruction of the Home." + +"You must pardon your niece," said the Chevalier de Valois. "Republican +ideas are the first error of youth which seeks for liberty; later it +finds it the worst of despotisms,--that of an impotent canaille. Your +poor niece is punished where she sinned." + +"What will become of me in a house where naked women are painted on the +walls?" said the poor abbe. "Where shall I find other lindens beneath +which to read my breviary?" + +Like Kant, who was unable to collect his thoughts after the fir-tree at +which he was accustomed to gaze while meditating was cut down, so the +poor abbe could never attain the ardor of his former prayers while +walking up and down the shadeless paths. Du Bousquier had planted an +English garden. + +"It was best," said Madame du Bousquier, without thinking so; but the +Abbe Couterier had authorized her to commit many wrongs to please her +husband. + +These restorations destroyed all the venerable dignity, cordiality, and +patriarchal air of the old house. Like the Chevalier de Valois, whose +personal neglect might be called an abdication, the bourgeois dignity of +the Cormon salon no longer existed when it was turned to white and gold, +with mahogany ottomans covered in blue satin. The dining-room, adorned +in modern taste, was colder in tone than it used to be, and the dinners +were eaten with less appetite than formerly. Monsieur du Coudrai +declared that he felt his puns stick in his throat as he glanced at +the figures painted on the walls, which looked him out of countenance. +Externally, the house was still provincial; but internally everything +revealed the purveyor of the Directory and the bad taste of the +money-changer,--for instance, columns in stucco, glass doors, Greek +mouldings, meaningless outlines, all styles conglomerated, magnificence +out of place and out of season. + +The town of Alencon gabbled for two weeks over this luxury, which seemed +unparalleled; but a few months later the community was proud of it, and +several rich manufacturers restored their houses and set up fine salons. +Modern furniture came into the town, and astral lamps were seen! + +The Abbe de Sponde was among the first to perceive the secret +unhappiness this marriage now brought to the private life of his beloved +niece. The character of noble simplicity which had hitherto ruled their +lives was lost during the first winter, when du Bousquier gave two balls +every month. Oh, to hear violins and profane music at these worldly +entertainments in the sacred old house! The abbe prayed on his knees +while the revels lasted. Next the political system of the sober salon +was slowly perverted. The abbe fathomed du Bousquier; he shuddered at +his imperious tone; he saw the tears in his niece's eyes when she felt +herself losing all control over her own property; for her husband now +left nothing in her hands but the management of the linen, the table, +and things of a kind which are the lot of women. Rose had no longer any +orders to give. Monsieur's will was alone regarded by Jacquelin, now +become coachman, by Rene, the groom, and by the chef, who came from +Paris, Mariette being reduced to kitchen maid. Madame du Bousquier had +no one to rule but Josette. Who knows what it costs to relinquish the +delights of power? If the triumph of the will is one of the intoxicating +pleasures in the lives of great men, it is the ALL of life to narrow +minds. One must needs have been a minister dismissed from power to +comprehend the bitter pain which came upon Madame du Bousquier when she +found herself reduced to this absolute servitude. She often got into the +carriage against her will; she saw herself surrounded by servants who +were distasteful to her; she no longer had the handling of her dear +money,--she who had known herself free to spend money, and did not spend +it. + +All imposed limits make the human being desire to go beyond them. The +keenest sufferings come from the thwarting of self-will. The beginning +of this state of things was, however, rose-colored. Every concession +made to marital authority was an effect of the love which the poor +woman felt for her husband. Du Bousquier behaved, in the first instance, +admirably to his wife: he was wise; he was excellent; he gave her the +best of reasons for each new encroachment. So for the first two years of +her marriage Madame du Bousquier appeared to be satisfied. She had that +deliberate, demure little air which distinguishes young women who have +married for love. The rush of blood to her head no longer tormented +her. This appearance of satisfaction routed the scoffers, contradicted +certain rumors about du Bousquier, and puzzled all observers of the +human heart. Rose-Marie-Victoire was so afraid that if she displeased +her husband or opposed him, she would lose his affection and be deprived +of his company, that she would willingly have sacrificed all to him, +even her uncle. Her silly little forms of pleasure deceived even the +poor abbe for a time, who endured his own trials all the better for +thinking that his niece was happy, after all. + +Alencon at first thought the same. But there was one man more difficult +to deceive than the whole town put together. The Chevalier de Valois, +who had taken refuge on the Sacred Mount of the upper aristocracy, now +passed his life at the d'Esgrignons. He listened to the gossip and the +gabble, and he thought day and night upon his vengeance. He meant to +strike du Bousquier to the heart. + +The poor abbe fully understood the baseness of this first and last +love of his niece; he shuddered as, little by little, he perceived the +hypocritical nature of his nephew and his treacherous manoeuvres. Though +du Bousquier restrained himself, as he thought of the abbe's property, +and wished not to cause him vexation, it was his hand that dealt the +blow that sent the old priest to his grave. If you will interpret the +word _intolerance_ as _firmness of principle_, if you do not wish to +condemn in the catholic soul of the Abbe de Sponde the stoicism which +Walter Scott has made you admire in the puritan soul of Jeanie Deans' +father; if you are willing to recognize in the Roman Church the Potius +mori quam foedari that you admire in republican tenets,--you will +understand the sorrow of the Abbe de Sponde when he saw in his niece's +salon the apostate priest, the renegade, the pervert, the heretic, that +enemy of the Church, the guilty taker of the Constitutional oath. Du +Bousquier, whose secret ambition was to lay down the law to the town, +wished, as a first proof of his power, to reconcile the minister of +Saint-Leonard with the rector of the parish, and he succeeded. His wife +thought he had accomplished a work of peace where the immovable abbe saw +only treachery. The bishop came to visit du Bousquier, and seemed glad +of the cessation of hostilities. The virtues of the Abbe Francois +had conquered prejudice, except that of the aged Roman Catholic, who +exclaimed with Cornelle, "Alas! what virtues do you make me hate!" + +The abbe died when orthodoxy thus expired in the diocese. + +In 1819, the property of the Abbe de Sponde increased Madame du +Bousquier's income from real estate to twenty-five thousand francs +without counting Prebaudet or the house in the Val-Noble. About this +time du Bousquier returned to his wife the capital of her savings which +she had yielded to him; and he made her use it in purchasing lands +contiguous to Prebaudet, which made that domain one of the most +considerable in the department, for the estates of the Abbe de Sponde +also adjoined it. Du Bousquier thus passed for one of the richest men of +the department. This able man, the constant candidate of the liberals, +missing by seven or eight votes only in all the electoral battles fought +under the Restoration, and who ostensibly repudiated the liberals by +trying to be elected as a ministerial royalist (without ever being +able to conquer the aversion of the administration),--this rancorous +republican, mad with ambition, resolved to rival the royalism and +aristocracy of Alencon at the moment when they once more had the +upper hand. He strengthened himself with the Church by the deceitful +appearance of a well-feigned piety: he accompanied his wife to mass; he +gave money for the convents of the town; he assisted the congregation of +the Sacre-Coeur; he took sides with the clergy on all occasions when the +clergy came into collision with the town, the department, or the State. +Secretly supported by the liberals, protected by the Church, calling +himself a constitutional royalist, he kept beside the aristocracy of the +department in the one hope of ruining it,--and he did ruin it. Ever +on the watch for the faults and blunders of the nobility and +the government, he laid plans for his vengeance against the +"chateau-people," and especially against the d'Esgrignons, in whose +bosom he was one day to thrust a poisoned dagger. + +Among other benefits to the town he gave money liberally to revive the +manufacture of point d'Alencon; he renewed the trade in linens, and the +town had a factory. Inscribing himself thus upon the interests and heart +of the masses, by doing what the royalists did not do, du Bousquier did +not really risk a farthing. Backed by his fortune, he could afford +to wait results which enterprising persons who involve themselves are +forced to abandon to luckier successors. + +Du Bousquier now posed as a banker. This miniature Lafitte was a partner +in all new enterprises, taking good security. He served himself while +apparently serving the interests of the community. He was the prime +mover of insurance companies, the protector of new enterprises for +public conveyance; he suggested petitions for asking the administration +for the necessary roads and bridges. Thus warned, the government +considered this action an encroachment of its own authority. A struggle +was begun injudiciously, for the good of the community compelled the +authorities to yield in the end. Du Bousquier embittered the provincial +nobility against the court nobility and the peerage; and finally he +brought about the shocking adhesion of a strong party of constitutional +royalists to the warfare sustained by the "Journal des Debats," and M. +de Chateaubriand against the throne,--an ungrateful opposition based on +ignoble interests, which was one cause of the triumph of the bourgeoisie +and journalism in 1830. + +Thus du Bousquier, in common with the class he represented, had the +satisfaction of beholding the funeral of royalty. The old republican, +smothered with masses, who for fifteen years had played that comedy to +satisfy his vendetta, himself threw down with his own hand the white +flag of the mayoralty to the applause of the multitude. No man in +France cast upon the new throne raised in August, 1830, a glance of more +intoxicated, joyous vengeance. The accession of the Younger Branch was +the triumph of the Revolution. To him the victory of the tricolor meant +the resurrection of Montagne, which this time should surely bring +the nobility down to the dust by means more certain than that of the +guillotine, because less violent. The peerage without heredity; the +National Guard, which puts on the same camp-bed the corner grocer +and the marquis; the abolition of the entails demanded by a bourgeois +lawyer; the Catholic Church deprived of its supremacy; and all the other +legislative inventions of August, 1830,--were to du Bousquier the wisest +possible application of the principles of 1793. + +Since 1830 this man has been a receiver-general. He relied for his +advancement on his relations with the Duc d'Orleans, father of +Louis Philippe, and with Monsieur de Folmon, formerly steward to the +Duchess-dowager of Orleans. He receives about eighty thousand francs a +year. In the eyes of the people about him Monsieur du Bousquier is a +man of means,--a respectable man, steady in his principles, upright, +and obliging. Alencon owes to him its connection with the industrial +movement by which Brittany may possibly some day be joined to what is +popularly called modern civilization. Alencon, which up to 1816 could +boast of only two private carriages, saw, without amazement, in the +course of ten years, coupes, landaus, tilburies, and cabriolets rolling +through her streets. The burghers and the land-owners, alarmed at first +lest the price of everything should increase, recognized later that +this increase in the style of living had a contrary effect upon their +revenues. The prophetic remark of du Ronceret, "Du Bousquier is a very +strong man," was adopted by the whole country-side. + +But, unhappily for the wife, that saying has a double meaning. The +husband does not in any way resemble the public politician. This great +citizen, so liberal to the world about him, so kindly inspired with love +for his native place, is a despot in his own house, and utterly devoid +of conjugal affection. This man, so profoundly astute, hypocritical, and +sly; this Cromwell of the Val-Noble,--behaves in his home as he behaves +to the aristocracy, whom he caresses in hopes to throttle them. Like his +friend Bernadotte, he wears a velvet glove upon his iron hand. His +wife has given him no children. Suzanne's remark and the chevalier's +insinuations were therefore justified. But the liberal bourgeoisie, +the constitutional-royalist-bourgeoisie, the country-squires, the +magistracy, and the "church party" laid the blame on Madame du +Bousquier. "She was too old," they said; "Monsieur du Bousquier had +married her too late. Besides, it was very lucky for the poor woman; +it was dangerous at her age to bear children!" When Madame du Bousquier +confided, weeping, her periodic despair to Mesdames du Coudrai and du +Ronceret, those ladies would reply,-- + +"But you are crazy, my dear; you don't know what you are wishing for; a +child would be your death." + +Many men, whose hopes were fastened on du Bousquier's triumph, sang his +praises to their wives, who in turn repeated them to the poor wife in +some such speech as this:-- + +"You are very lucky, dear, to have married such an able man; you'll +escape the misery of women whose husbands are men without energy, +incapable of managing their property, or bringing up their children." + +"Your husband is making you queen of the department, my love. He'll +never leave you embarrassed, not he! Why, he leads all Alencon." + +"But I wish," said the poor wife, "that he gave less time to the public +and--" + +"You are hard to please, my dear Madame du Bousquier. I assure you that +all the women in town envy you your husband." + +Misjudged by society, which began by blaming her, the pious woman found +ample opportunity in her home to display her virtues. She lived in +tears, but she never ceased to present to others a placid face. To so +Christian a soul a certain thought which pecked forever at her heart was +a crime: "I loved the Chevalier de Valois," it said; "but I have married +du Bousquier." The love of poor Athanase Granson also rose like a +phantom of remorse, and pursued her even in her dreams. The death of her +uncle, whose griefs at the last burst forth, made her life still more +sorrowful; for she now felt the suffering her uncle must have endured +in witnessing the change of political and religious opinion in the +old house. Sorrow often falls like a thunderbolt, as it did on Madame +Granson; but in this old maid it slowly spread like a drop of oil, which +never leaves the stuff that slowly imbibes it. + +The Chevalier de Valois was the malicious manipulator who brought about +the crowning misfortune of Madame du Bousquier's life. His heart was set +on undeceiving her pious simplicity; for the chevalier, expert in love, +divined du Bousquier, the married man, as he had divined du Bousquier, +the bachelor. But the wary republican was difficult of attack. His salon +was, of course, closed to the Chevalier de Valois, as to all those who, +in the early days of his marriage, had slighted the Cormon mansion. He +was, moreover, impervious to ridicule; he possessed a vast fortune; +he reigned in Alencon; he cared as little for his wife as Richard III. +cared for the dead horse which had helped him win a battle. To please +her husband, Madame du Bousquier had broken off relations with the +d'Esgrignon household, where she went no longer, except that sometimes +when her husband left her during his trips to Paris, she would pay a +brief visit to Mademoiselle Armande. + +About three years after her marriage, at the time of the Abbe de +Sponde's death, Mademoiselle Armande joined Madame du Bousquier as they +were leaving Saint-Leonard's, where they had gone to hear a requiem said +for him. The generous demoiselle thought that on this occasion she owed +her sympathy to the niece in trouble. They walked together, talking of +the dear deceased, until they reached the forbidden house, into which +Mademoiselle Armande enticed Madame du Bousquier by the charm of her +manner and conversation. The poor desolate woman was glad to talk of her +uncle with one whom he truly loved. Moreover, she wanted to receive the +condolences of the old marquis, whom she had not seen for nearly +three years. It was half-past one o'clock, and she found at the hotel +d'Esgrignon the Chevalier de Valois, who had come to dinner. As he bowed +to her, he took her by the hands. + +"Well, dear, virtuous, and beloved lady," he said, in a tone of emotion, +"we have lost our sainted friend; we share your grief. Yes, your loss is +as keenly felt here as in your own home,--more so," he added, alluding +to du Bousquier. + +After a few more words of funeral oration, in which all present spoke +from the heart, the chevalier took Madame du Bousquier's arm, and, +gallantly placing it within his own, pressed it adoringly as he led her +to the recess of a window. + +"Are you happy?" he said in a fatherly voice. + +"Yes," she said, dropping her eyes. + +Hearing that "Yes," Madame de Troisville, the daughter of the Princess +Scherbellof, and the old Marquise de Casteran came up and joined the +chevalier, together with Mademoiselle Armande. They all went to walk in +the garden until dinner was served, without any perception on the part +of Madame du Bousquier that a little conspiracy was afoot. "We have her! +now let us find out the secret of the case," were the words written in +the eyes of all present. + +"To make your happiness complete," said Mademoiselle Armande, "you ought +to have children,--a fine lad like my nephew--" + +Tears seemed to start in Madame du Bousquier's eyes. + +"I have heard it said that you were the one to blame in the matter, and +that you feared the dangers of a pregnancy," said the chevalier. + +"I!" she said artlessly. "I would buy a child with a hundred years of +purgatory if I could." + +On the question thus started a discussion arose, conducted by Madame +de Troisville and the old Marquise de Casteran with such delicacy and +adroitness that the poor victim revealed, without being aware of it, +the secrets of her house. Mademoiselle Armande had taken the chevalier's +arm, and walked away so as to leave the three women free to discuss +wedlock. Madame du Bousquier was then enlightened on the various +deceptions of her marriage; and as she was still the same simpleton she +had always been, she amused her advisers by delightful naivetes. + +Although at first the deceptive marriage of Mademoiselle Cormon made a +laugh throughout the town, which was soon initiated into the story of +the case, before long Madame du Bousquier won the esteem and sympathy +of all the women. The fact that Mademoiselle Cormon had flung herself +headlong into marriage without succeeding in being married, made +everybody laugh at her; but when they learned the exceptional position +in which the sternness of her religious principles placed her, all the +world admired her. "That poor Madame du Bousquier" took the place of +"That good Mademoiselle Cormon." + +Thus the chevalier contrived to render du Bousquier both ridiculous and +odious for a time; but ridicule ends by weakening; when all had said +their say about him, the gossip died out. Besides, at fifty-seven years +of age the dumb republican seemed to many people to have a right to +retire. This affair, however, envenomed the hatred which du Bousquier +already bore to the house of Esgrignon to such a degree that it made +him pitiless when the day of vengeance came. [See "The Gallery of +Antiquities."] Madame du Bousquier received orders never again to set +foot into that house. By way of reprisals upon the chevalier for the +trick thus played him, du Bousquier, who had just created the journal +called the "Courrier de l'Orne," caused the following notice to be +inserted in it:-- + + "Bonds to the amount of one thousand francs a year will be paid to + any person who can prove the existence of one Monsieur de + Pombreton before, during, or after the Emigration." + +Although her marriage was essentially negative, Madame du Bousquier saw +some advantages in it: was it not better to interest herself in the +most remarkable man in the town than to live alone? Du Bousquier was +preferable to a dog, or cat, or those canaries that spinsters love. He +showed for his wife a sentiment more real and less selfish than that +which is felt by servants, confessors, and hopeful heirs. Later in life +she came to consider her husband as the instrument of divine wrath; for +she then saw innumerable sins in her former desires for marriage; she +regarded herself as justly punished for the sorrow she had brought on +Madame Granson, and for the hastened death of her uncle. Obedient +to that religion which commands us to kiss the rod with which the +punishment is inflicted, she praised her husband, and publicly approved +him. But in the confessional, or at night, when praying, she wept often, +imploring God's forgiveness for the apostasy of the man who thought the +contrary of what he professed, and who desired the destruction of the +aristocracy and the Church,--the two religions of the house of Cormon. + +With all her feelings bruised and immolated within her, compelled by +duty to make her husband happy, attached to him by a certain indefinable +affection, born, perhaps, of habit, her life became one perpetual +contradiction. She had married a man whose conduct and opinions she +hated, but whom she was bound to care for with dutiful tenderness. +Often she walked with the angels when du Bousquier ate her preserves or +thought the dinner good. She watched to see that his slightest wish was +satisfied. If he tore off the cover of his newspaper and left it on a +table, instead of throwing it away, she would say:-- + +"Rene, leave that where it is; monsieur did not place it there without +intention." + +If du Bousquier had a journey to take, she was anxious about his +trunk, his linen; she took the most minute precautions for his material +benefit. If he went to Prebaudet, she consulted the barometer the +evening before to know if the weather would be fine. She watched for +his will in his eyes, like a dog which hears and sees its master while +sleeping. When the stout du Bousquier, touched by this scrupulous love, +would take her round the waist and kiss her forehead, saying, "What a +good woman you are!" tears of pleasure would come into the eyes of the +poor creature. It is probably that du Bousquier felt himself obliged +to make certain concessions which obtained for him the respect +of Rose-Marie-Victoire; for Catholic virtue does not require a +dissimulation as complete as that of Madame du Bousquier. Often the +good saint sat mutely by and listened to the hatred of men who concealed +themselves under the cloak of constitutional royalists. She shuddered +as she foresaw the ruin of the Church. Occasionally she risked a stupid +word, an observation which du Bousquier cut short with a glance. + +The worries of such an existence ended by stupefying Madame du +Bousquier, who found it easier and also more dignified to concentrate +her intelligence on her own thoughts and resign herself to lead a life +that was purely animal. She then adopted the submission of a slave, and +regarded it as a meritorious deed to accept the degradation in which her +husband placed her. The fulfilment of his will never once caused her to +murmur. The timid sheep went henceforth in the way the shepherd led her; +she gave herself up to the severest religious practices, and thought no +more of Satan and his works and vanities. Thus she presented to the +eyes of the world a union of all Christian virtues; and du Bousquier +was certainly one of the luckiest men in the kingdom of France and of +Navarre. + +"She will be a simpleton to her last breath," said the former collector, +who, however, dined with her twice a week. + +This history would be strangely incomplete if no mention were made of +the coincidence of the Chevalier de Valois's death occurring at the same +time as that of Suzanne's mother. The chevalier died with the monarchy, +in August, 1830. He had joined the cortege of Charles X. at Nonancourt, +and piously escorted it to Cherbourg with the Troisvilles, Casterans, +d'Esgrignons, Verneuils, etc. The old gentleman had taken with him fifty +thousand francs,--the sum to which his savings then amounted. He offered +them to one of the faithful friends of the king for transmission to his +master, speaking of his approaching death, and declaring that the money +came originally from the goodness of the king, and, moreover, that the +property of the last of the Valois belonged of right to the crown. It is +not known whether the fervor of his zeal conquered the reluctance of the +Bourbon, who abandoned his fine kingdom of France without carrying away +with him a farthing, and who ought to have been touched by the devotion +of the chevalier. It is certain, however, that Cesarine, the residuary +legate of the old man, received from his estate only six hundred francs +a year. The chevalier returned to Alencon, cruelly weakened by grief and +by fatigue; he died on the very day when Charles X. arrived on a foreign +shore. + +Madame du Val-Noble and her protector, who was just then afraid of +the vengeance of the liberal party, were glad of a pretext to remain +incognito in the village where Suzanne's mother died. At the sale of the +chevalier's effects, which took place at that time, Suzanne, anxious to +obtain a souvenir of her first and last friend, pushed up the price +of the famous snuff-box, which was finally knocked down to her for a +thousand francs. The portrait of the Princess Goritza was alone worth +that sum. Two years later, a young dandy, who was making a collection +of the fine snuff-boxes of the last century, obtained from Madame du +Val-Noble the chevalier's treasure. The charming confidant of many a +love and the pleasure of an old age is now on exhibition in a species +of private museum. If the dead could know what happens after them, the +chevalier's head would surely blush upon its left cheek. + +If this history has no other effect than to inspire the possessors of +precious relics with holy fear, and induce them to make codicils to +secure these touching souvenirs of joys that are no more by bequeathing +them to loving hands, it will have done an immense service to the +chivalrous and romantic portion of the community; but it does, in truth, +contain a far higher moral. Does it not show the necessity for a +new species of education? Does it not invoke, from the enlightened +solicitude of the ministers of Public Instruction, the creation of +chairs of anthropology,--a science in which Germany outstrips us? Modern +myths are even less understood than ancient ones, harried as we are with +myths. Myths are pressing us from every point; they serve all theories, +they explain all questions. They are, according to human ideas, the +torches of history; they would save empires from revolution if only the +professors of history would force the explanations they give into the +mind of the provincial masses. If Mademoiselle Cormon had been a reader +or a student, and if there had existed in the department of the Orne a +professor of anthropology, or even had she read Ariosto, the frightful +disasters of her conjugal life would never have occurred. She would +probably have known why the Italian poet makes Angelica prefer Medoro, +who was a blond Chevalier de Valois, to Orlando, whose mare was dead, +and who knew no better than to fly into a passion. Is not Medoro the +mythic form for all courtiers of feminine royalty, and Orlando the myth +of disorderly, furious, and impotent revolutions, which destroy but +cannot produce? We publish, but without assuming any responsibility for +it, this opinion of a pupil of Monsieur Ballanche. + +No information has reached us as to the fate of the negroes' heads in +diamonds. You may see Madame du Val-Noble every evening at the Opera. +Thanks to the education given her by the Chevalier de Valois, she has +almost the air of a well-bred woman. + +Madame du Bousquier still lives; is not that as much as to say she still +suffers? After reaching the age of sixty--the period at which women +allow themselves to make confessions--she said confidentially to Madame +du Coudrai, that she had never been able to endure the idea of dying an +old maid. + + + + +ADDENDUM + +The following personages appear in other stories of the Human Comedy. + +(Note: The Collection of Antiquities is a companion piece to The Old +Maid. In other Addendum appearances they are combined under the title of +The Jealousies of a Country Town.) + + Bordin + The Gondreville Mystery + The Seamy Side of History + The Commission in Lunacy + + Bousquier, Du (or Du Croisier or Du Bourguier) + The Collection of Antiquities (companion piece) + The Middle Classes + + Bousquier, Madame du (du Croisier) (Mlle. Cormon) + The Collection of Antiquities (companion piece) + + Casteran, De + The Chouans + The Seamy Side of History + The Collection of Antiquities (companion piece) + Beatrix + The Peasantry + + Chesnel (or Choisnel) + The Seamy Side of History + The Collection of Antiquities (companion piece) + + Coudrai, Du + The Collection of Antiquities (companion piece) + + Esgrignon, Charles-Marie-Victor-Ange-Carol, Marquis d' (or Des Grignons) + The Chouans + The Collection of Antiquities (companion piece) + + Esgrignon, Marie-Armande-Claire d' + The Collection of Antiquities (companion piece) + + Gaillard, Madame Theodore (Suzanne) + A Distinguished Provincial at Paris + A Bachelor's Establishment + Scenes from a Courtesan's Life + Beatrix + The Unconscious Humorists + + Granson, Athanase + The Government Clerks (mentioned only) + + Lenoncourt, Duc de + The Lily of the Valley + Cesar Birotteau + The Collection of Antiquities (companion piece) + The Gondreville Mystery + Beatrix + + Navarreins, Duc de + Colonel Chabert + The Muse of the Department + The Thirteen + The Peasantry + Scenes from a Courtesan's Life + The Country Parson + The Magic Skin + The Gondreville Mystery + The Secrets of a Princess + Cousin Betty + + Pombreton, Marquis de + Lost Illusions + A Distinguished Provincial at Paris + + Ronceret, Du + The Collection of Antiquities (companion piece) + Beatrix + + Ronceret, Madame Du + The Collection of Antiquities (companion piece) + + Simeuse, Admiral de + Beatrix + The Gondreville Mystery + + Troisville, Guibelin, Vicomte de + The Seamy Side of History + The Chouans + The Collection of Antiquities (companion piece) + The Peasantry + + Valois, Chevalier de + The Chouans + The Collection of Antiquities (companion piece) + + Verneuil, Duc de + The Chouans + The Collection of Antiquities (companion piece) + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of An Old Maid, by Honore de Balzac + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AN OLD MAID *** + +***** This file should be named 1352.txt or 1352.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/1/3/5/1352/ + +Produced by John Bickers, and Dagny + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net + + +Title: An Old Maid + +Author: Honore de Balzac + +Release Date: July 19, 2004 [EBook #1352] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AN OLD MAID *** + + + + +Produced by John Bickers and Dagny + + + + + AN OLD MAID + + BY + + HONORE DE BALZAC + + + + Translated By + Katharine Prescott Wormeley + + + + DEDICATION + + To Monsieur Eugene-Auguste-Georges-Louis Midy de la Greneraye + Surville, Royal Engineer of the Ponts at Chausses. + + As a testimony to the affection of his brother-in-law, + + De Balzac + + + + + AN OLD MAID + + + + CHAPTER I + + ONE OF MANY CHEVALIERS DE VALOIS + +Most persons have encountered, in certain provinces in France, a +number of Chevaliers de Valois. One lived in Normandy, another at +Bourges, a third (with whom we have here to do) flourished in Alencon, +and doubtless the South possesses others. The number of the Valesian +tribe is, however, of no consequence to the present tale. All these +chevaliers, among whom were doubtless some who were Valois as Louis +XIV. was Bourbon, knew so little of one another that it was not +advisable to speak to one about the others. They were all willing to +leave the Bourbons in tranquil possession of the throne of France; for +it was too plainly established that Henri IV. became king for want of +a male heir in the first Orleans branch called the Valois. If there +are any Valois, they descend from Charles de Valois, Duc d'Angouleme, +son of Charles IX. and Marie Touchet, the male line from whom ended, +until proof to the contrary be produced, in the person of the Abbe de +Rothelin. The Valois-Saint-Remy, who descended from Henri II., also +came to an end in the famous Lamothe-Valois implicated in the affair +of the Diamond Necklace. + +Each of these many chevaliers, if we may believe reports, was, like +the Chevalier of Alencon, an old gentleman, tall, thin, withered, and +moneyless. He of Bourges had emigrated; he of Touraine hid himself; he +of Alencon fought in La Vendee and "chouanized" somewhat. The youth of +the latter was spend in Paris, where the Revolution overtook him when +thirty years of age in the midst of his conquests and gallantries. + +The Chevalier de Valois of Alencon was accepted by the highest +aristocracy of the province as a genuine Valois; and he distinguished +himself, like the rest of his homonyms, by excellent manners, which +proved him a man of society. He dined out every day, and played cards +every evening. He was thought witty, thanks to his foible for relating +a quantity of anecdotes on the reign of Louis XV. and the beginnings +of the Revolution. When these tales were heard for the first time, +they were held to be well narrated. He had, moreover, the great merit +of not repeating his personal bons mots and of never speaking of his +love-affairs, though his smiles and his airs and graces were +delightfully indiscreet. The worthy gentleman used his privilege as a +Voltairean noble to stay away from mass; and great indulgence was +shown to his irreligion because of his devotion to the royal cause. +One of his particular graces was the air and manner (imitated, no +doubt, from Mole) with which he took snuff from a gold box adorned +with the portrait of the Princess Goritza,--a charming Hungarian, +celebrated for her beauty in the last years of the reign of Louis XV. +Having been attached during his youth to that illustrious stranger, he +still mentioned her with emotion. For her sake he had fought a duel +with Monsieur de Lauzun. + +The chevalier, now fifty-eight years of age, owned to only fifty; and +he might well allow himself that innocent deception, for, among the +other advantages granted to fair thin persons, he managed to preserve +the still youthful figure which saves men as well as women from an +appearance of old age. Yes, remember this: all of life, or rather all +the elegance that expresses life, is in the figure. Among the +chevalier's other possessions must be counted an enormous nose with +which nature had endowed him. This nose vigorously divided a pale face +into two sections which seemed to have no knowledge of each other, for +one side would redden under the process of digestion, while the other +continued white. This fact is worthy of remark at a period when +physiology is so busy with the human heart. The incandescence, so to +call it, was on the left side. Though his long slim legs, supporting a +lank body, and his pallid skin, were not indicative of health, +Monsieur de Valois ate like an ogre and declared he had a malady +called in the provinces "hot liver," perhaps to excuse his monstrous +appetite. The circumstance of his singular flush confirmed this +declaration; but in a region where repasts are developed on the line +of thirty or forty dishes and last four hours, the chevalier's stomach +would seem to have been a blessing bestowed by Providence on the good +town of Alencon. According to certain doctors, heat on the left side +denotes a prodigal heart. The chevalier's gallantries confirmed this +scientific assertion, the responsibility for which does not rest, +fortunately, on the historian. + +In spite of these symptoms, Monsieur de Valois' constitution was +vigorous, consequently long-lived. If his liver "heated," to use an +old-fashioned word, his heart was not less inflammable. His face was +wrinkled and his hair silvered; but an intelligent observer would have +recognized at once the stigmata of passion and the furrows of pleasure +which appeared in the crow's-feet and the marches-du-palais, so prized +at the court of Cythera. Everything about this dainty chevalier +bespoke the "ladies' man." He was so minute in his ablutions that his +cheeks were a pleasure to look upon; they seemed to have been laved in +some miraculous water. The part of his skull which his hair refused to +cover shone like ivory. His eyebrows, like his hair, affected youth by +the care and regularity with which they were combed. His skin, already +white, seemed to have been extra-whitened by some secret compound. +Without using perfumes, the chevalier exhaled a certain fragrance of +youth, that refreshed the atmosphere. His hands, which were those of a +gentleman, and were cared for like the hands of a pretty woman, +attracted the eye to their rosy, well-shaped nails. In short, had it +not been for his magisterial and stupendous nose, the chevalier might +have been thought a trifle too dainty. + +We must here compel ourselves to spoil this portrait by the avowal of +a littleness. The chevalier put cotton in his ears, and wore, appended +to them, two little ear-rings representing negroes' heads in diamonds, +of admirable workmanship. He clung to these singular appendages, +explaining that since his ears had been bored he had ceased to have +headaches (he had had headaches). We do not present the chevalier as +an accomplished man; but surely we can pardon, in an old celibate +whose heart sends so much blood to his left cheek, these adorable +qualities, founded, perhaps, on some sublime secret history. + +Besides, the Chevalier de Valois redeemed those negroes' heads by so +many other graces that society felt itself sufficiently compensated. +He really took such immense trouble to conceal his age and give +pleasure to his friends. In the first place, we must call attention to +the extreme care he gave to his linen, the only distinction that +well-bred men can nowadays exhibit in their clothes. The linen of the +chevalier was invariably of a fineness and whiteness that were truly +aristocratic. As for his coat, though remarkable for its cleanliness, +it was always half worn-out, but without spots or creases. The +preservation of that garment was something marvellous to those who +noticed the chevalier's high-bred indifference to its shabbiness. He +did not go so far as to scrape the seams with glass,--a refinement +invented by the Prince of Wales; but he did practice the rudiments of +English elegance with a personal satisfaction little understood by the +people of Alencon. The world owes a great deal to persons who take +such pains to please it. In this there is certainly some +accomplishment of that most difficult precept of the Gospel about +rendering good for evil. This freshness of ablution and all the other +little cares harmonized charmingly with the blue eyes, the ivory +teeth, and the blond person of the old chevalier. + +The only blemish was that this retired Adonis had nothing manly about +him; he seemed to be employing this toilet varnish to hide the ruins +occasioned by the military service of gallantry only. But we must +hasten to add that his voice produced what might be called an +antithesis to his blond delicacy. Unless you adopted the opinion of +certain observers of the human heart, and thought that the chevalier +had the voice of his nose, his organ of speech would have amazed you +by its full and redundant sound. Without possessing the volume of +classical bass voices, the tone of it was pleasing from a slightly +muffled quality like that of an English bugle, which is firm and +sweet, strong but velvety. + +The chevalier had repudiated the ridiculous costume still preserved by +certain monarchical old men; he had frankly modernized himself. He was +always seen in a maroon-colored coat with gilt buttons, half-tight +breeches of poult-de-soie with gold buckles, a white waistcoat without +embroidery, and a tight cravat showing no shirt-collar,--a last +vestige of the old French costume which he did not renounce, perhaps, +because it enabled him to show a neck like that of the sleekest abbe. +His shoes were noticeable for their square buckles, a style of which +the present generation has no knowledge; these buckles were fastened +to a square of polished black leather. The chevalier allowed two +watch-chains to hang parallel to each other from each of his waistcoat +pockets,--another vestige of the eighteenth century, which the +Incroyables had not disdained to use under the Directory. This +transition costume, uniting as it did two centuries, was worn by the +chevalier with the high-bred grace of an old French marquis, the +secret of which is lost to France since the day when Fleury, Mole's +last pupil, vanished. + +The private life of this old bachelor was apparently open to all eyes, +though in fact it was quite mysterious. He lived in a lodging that was +modest, to say the best of it, in the rue du Cours, on the second +floor of a house belonging to Madame Lardot, the best and busiest +washerwoman in the town. This circumstance will explain the excessive +nicety of his linen. Ill-luck would have it that the day came when +Alencon was guilty of believing that the chevalier had not always +comported himself as a gentleman should, and that in fact he was +secretly married in his old age to a certain Cesarine,--the mother of +a child which had had the impertinence to come into the world without +being called for. + +"He had given his hand," as a certain Monsieur du Bousquier remarked, +"to the person who had long had him under irons." + +This horrible calumny embittered the last days of the dainty chevalier +all the more because, as the present Scene will show, he had lost a +hope long cherished to which he had made many sacrifices. + +Madame Lardot leased to the chevalier two rooms on the second floor of +her house, for the modest sum of one hundred francs a year. The worthy +gentleman dined out every day, returning only in time to go to bed. +His sole expense therefore was for breakfast, invariably composed of a +cup of chocolate, with bread and butter and fruits in their season. He +made no fire except in the coldest winter, and then only enough to get +up by. Between eleven and four o'clock he walked about, went to read +the papers, and paid visits. From the time of his settling in Alencon +he had nobly admitted his poverty, saying that his whole fortune +consisted in an annuity of six hundred francs a year, the sole remains +of his former opulence,--a property which obliged him to see his man +of business (who held the annuity papers) quarterly. In truth, one of +the Alencon bankers paid him every three months one hundred and fifty +francs, sent down by Monsieur Bordin of Paris, the last of the +/procureurs du Chatelet/. Every one knew these details because the +chevalier exacted the utmost secrecy from the persons to whom he first +confided them. + +Monsieur de Valois gathered the fruit of his misfortunes. His place at +table was laid in all the most distinguished houses in Alencon, and he +was bidden to all soirees. His talents as a card-player, a narrator, +an amiable man of the highest breeding, were so well known and +appreciated that parties would have seemed a failure if the dainty +connoisseur was absent. Masters of houses and their wives felt the +need of his approving grimace. When a young woman heard the chevalier +say at a ball, "You are delightfully well-dressed!" she was more +pleased at such praise than she would have been at mortifying a rival. +Monsieur de Valois was the only man who could perfectly pronounce +certain phrases of the olden time. The words, "my heart," "my jewel," +"my little pet," "my queen," and the amorous diminutives of 1770, had +a grace that was quite irresistible when they came from his lips. In +short, the chevalier had the privilege of superlatives. His +compliments, of which he was stingy, won the good graces of all the +old women; he made himself agreeable to every one, even to the +officials of the government, from whom he wanted nothing. His behavior +at cards had a lofty distinction which everybody noticed: he never +complained; he praised his adversaries when they lost; he did not +rebuke or teach his partners by showing them how they ought to have +played. When, in the course of a deal, those sickening dissertations +on the game would take place, the chevalier invariably drew out his +snuff-box with a gesture that was worthy of Mole, looked at the +Princess Goritza, raised the cover with dignity, shook, sifted, massed +the snuff, and gathered his pinch, so that by the time the cards were +dealt he had decorated both nostrils and replaced the princess in his +waistcoat pocket,--always on his left side. A gentleman of the "good" +century (in distinction from the "grand" century) could alone have +invented that compromise between contemptuous silence and a sarcasm +which might not have been understood. He accepted poor players and +knew how to make the best of them. His delightful equability of temper +made many persons say,-- + +"I do admire the Chevalier de Valois!" + +His conversation, his manners, seemed bland, like his person. He +endeavored to shock neither man nor woman. Indulgent to defects both +physical and mental, he listened patiently (by the help of the +Princess Goritza) to the many dull people who related to him the petty +miseries of provincial life,--an egg ill-boiled for breakfast, coffee +with feathered cream, burlesque details about health, disturbed sleep, +dreams, visits. The chevalier could call up a languishing look, he +could take on a classic attitude to feign compassion, which made him a +most valuable listener; he could put in an "Ah!" and a "Bah!" and a +"What DID you do?" with charming appropriateness. He died without any +one suspecting him of even an allusion to the tender passages of his +romance with the Princess Goritza. Has any one ever reflected on the +service a dead sentiment can do to society; how love may become both +social and useful? This will serve to explain why, in spite of his +constant winning at play (he never left a salon without carrying off +with him about six francs), the old chevalier remained the spoilt +darling of the town. His losses--which, by the bye, he always +proclaimed, were very rare. + +All who know him declare that they have never met, not even in the +Egyptian museum at Turin, so agreeable a mummy. In no country in the +world did parasitism ever take on so pleasant a form. Never did +selfishness of a most concentrated kind appear less forth-putting, +less offensive, than in this old gentleman; it stood him in place of +devoted friendship. If some one asked Monsieur de Valois to do him a +little service which might have discommoded him, that some one did not +part from the worthy chevalier without being truly enchanted with him, +and quite convinced that he either could not do the service demanded, +or that he should injure the affair if he meddled in it. + +To explain the problematic existence of the chevalier, the historian, +whom Truth, that cruel wanton, grasps by the throat, is compelled to +say that after the "glorious" sad days of July, Alencon discovered +that the chevalier's nightly winnings amounted to about one hundred +and fifty francs every three months; and that the clever old nobleman +had had the pluck to send to himself his annuity in order not to +appear in the eyes of a community, which loves the main chance, to be +entirely without resources. Many of his friends (he was by that time +dead, you will please remark) have contested mordicus this curious +fact, declaring it to be a fable, and upholding the Chevalier de +Valois as a respectable and worthy gentleman whom the liberals +calumniated. Luckily for shrewd players, there are people to be found +among the spectators who will always sustain them. Ashamed of having +to defend a piece of wrong-doing, they stoutly deny it. Do not accuse +them of wilful infatuation; such men have a sense of their dignity; +governments set them the example of a virtue which consists in burying +their dead without chanting the Misere of their defeats. If the +chevalier did allow himself this bit of shrewd practice,--which, by +the bye, would have won him the regard of the Chevalier de Gramont, a +smile from the Baron de Foeneste, a shake of the hand from the Marquis +de Moncade,--was he any the less that amiable guest, that witty +talker, that imperturbable card-player, that famous teller of +anecdotes, in whom all Alencon took delight? Besides, in what way was +this action, which is certainly within the rights of a man's own will, +--in what way was it contrary to the ethics of a gentleman? When so +many persons are forced to pay annuities to others, what more natural +than to pay one to his own best friend? But Laius is dead-- + +To return to the period of which we are writing: after about fifteen +years of this way of life the chevalier had amassed ten thousand and +some odd hundred francs. On the return of the Bourbons, one of his old +friends, the Marquis de Pombreton, formerly lieutenant in the Black +mousquetaires, returned to him--so he said--twelve hundred pistoles +which he had lent to the marquis for the purpose of emigrating. This +event made a sensation; it was used later to refute the sarcasms of +the "Constitutionnel," on the method employed by some emigres in +paying their debts. When this noble act of the Marquis de Pombreton +was lauded before the chevalier, the good man reddened even to his +right cheek. Every one rejoiced frankly at this windfall for Monsieur +de Valois, who went about consulting moneyed people as to the safest +manner of investing this fragment of his past opulence. Confiding in +the future of the Restoration, he finally placed his money on the +Grand-Livre at the moment when the funds were at fifty-six francs and +twenty-five centimes. Messieurs de Lenoncourt, de Navarreins, de +Verneuil, de Fontaine, and La Billardiere, to whom he was known, he +said, obtained for him, from the king's privy purse, a pension of +three hundred francs, and sent him, moreover, the cross of +Saint-Louis. Never was it known positively by what means the old +chevalier obtained these two solemn consecrations of his title and +merits. But one thing is certain; the cross of Saint-Louis authorized +him to take the rank of retired colonel in view of his service in the +Catholic armies of the West. + +Besides his fiction of an annuity, about which no one at the present +time knew anything, the chevalier really had, therefore, a bona fide +income of a thousand francs. But in spite of this bettering of his +circumstances, he made no change in his life, manners, or appearance, +except that the red ribbon made a fine effect on his maroon-colored +coat, and completed, so to speak, the physiognomy of a gentleman. +After 1802, the chevalier sealed his letters with a very old seal, +ill-engraved to be sure, by which the Casterans, the d'Esgrignons, the +Troisvilles were enabled to see that he bore: /Party of France, two +cottises gemelled gules, and gules, five mascles or, placed end to +end; on a chief sable, a cross argent/. For crest, a knight's helmet. +For motto: "Valeo." Bearing such noble arms, the so-called bastard of +the Valois had the right to get into all the royal carriages of the +world. + +Many persons envied the quiet existence of this old bachelor, spent on +whist, boston, backgammon, reversi, and piquet, all well played, on +dinners well digested, snuff gracefully inhaled, and tranquil walks +about the town. Nearly all Alencon believed this life to be exempt +from ambitions and serious interests; but no man has a life as simple +as envious neighbors attribute to him. You will find in the most +out-of-the way villages human mollusks, creatures apparently dead, who +have passions for lepidoptera or for conchology, let us say,--beings +who will give themselves infinite pains about moths, butterflies, or +the concha Veneris. Not only did the chevalier have his own particular +shells, but he cherished an ambitious desire which he pursued with a +craft so profound as to be worthy of Sixtus the Fifth: he wanted to +marry a certain rich old maid, with the intention, no doubt, of making +her a stepping-stone by which to reach the more elevated regions of +the court. There, then, lay the secret of his royal bearing and of his +residence in Alencon. + + + + CHAPTER II + + SUSANNAH AND THE ELDERS + +On a Wednesday morning, early, toward the middle of spring, in the +year 16,--such was his mode of reckoning,--at the moment when the +chevalier was putting on his old green-flowered damask dressing-gown, +he heard, despite the cotton in his ears, the light step of a young +girl who was running up the stairway. Presently three taps were +discreetly struck upon the door; then, without waiting for any +response, a handsome girl slipped like an eel into the room occupied +by the old bachelor. + +"Ah! is it you, Suzanne?" said the Chevalier de Valois, without +discontinuing his occupation, which was that of stropping his razor. +"What have you come for, my dear little jewel of mischief?" + +"I have come to tell you something which may perhaps give you as much +pleasure as pain?" + +"Is it anything about Cesarine?" + +"Cesarine! much I care about your Cesarine!" she said with a saucy +air, half serious, half indifferent. + +This charming Suzanne, whose present comical performance was to +exercise a great influence in the principal personages of our history, +was a work-girl at Madame Lardot's. One word here on the topography of +the house. The wash-rooms occupied the whole of the ground floor. The +little courtyard was used to hang out on wire cords embroidered +handkerchiefs, collarets, capes, cuffs, frilled shirts, cravats, +laces, embroidered dresses,--in short, all the fine linen of the best +families of the town. The chevalier assumed to know from the number of +her capes in the wash how the love-affairs of the wife of the prefect +were going on. Though he guessed much from observations of this kind, +the chevalier was discretion itself; he was never betrayed into an +epigram (he had plenty of wit) which might have closed to him an +agreeable salon. You are therefore to consider Monsieur de Valois as a +man of superior manners, whose talents, like those of many others, +were lost in a narrow sphere. Only--for, after all, he was a man--he +permitted himself certain penetrating glances which could make some +women tremble; although they all loved him heartily as soon as they +discovered the depth of his discretion and the sympathy that he felt +for their little weaknesses. + +The head woman, Madame Lardot's factotum, an old maid of forty-six, +hideous to behold, lived on the opposite side of the passage to the +chevalier. Above them were the attics where the linen was dried in +winter. Each apartment had two rooms,--one lighted from the street, +the other from the courtyard. Beneath the chevalier's room there lived +a paralytic, Madame Lardot's grandfather, an old buccaneer named +Grevin, who had served under Admiral Simeuse in India, and was now +stone-deaf. As for Madame Lardot, who occupied the other lodging on +the first floor, she had so great a weakness for persons of condition +that she may well have been thought blind to the ways of the +chevalier. To her, Monsieur de Valois was a despotic monarch who did +right in all things. Had any of her workwomen been guilty of a +happiness attributed to the chevalier she would have said, "He is so +lovable!" Thus, though the house was of glass, like all provincial +houses, it was discreet as a robber's cave. + +A born confidant to all the little intrigues of the work-rooms, the +chevalier never passed the door, which usually stood open, without +giving something to his little ducks,--chocolate, bonbons, ribbons, +laces, gilt crosses, and such like trifles adored by grisettes; +consequently, the kind old gentleman was adored in return. Women have +an instinct which enables them to divine the men who love them, who +like to be near them, and exact no payment for gallantries. In this +respect women have the instinct of dogs, who in a mixed company will +go straight to the man to whom animals are sacred. + +The poor Chevalier de Valois retained from his former life the need of +bestowing gallant protection, a quality of the seigneurs of other +days. Faithful to the system of the "petite maison," he liked to +enrich women,--the only beings who know how to receive, because they +can always return. But the poor chevalier could no longer ruin himself +for a mistress. Instead of the choicest bonbons wrapped in bank-bills, +he gallantly presented paper-bags full of toffee. Let us say to the +glory of Alencon that the toffee was accepted with more joy than la +Duthe ever showed at a gilt service or a fine equipage offered by the +Comte d'Artois. All these grisettes fully understood the fallen +majesty of the Chevalier de Valois, and they kept their private +familiarities with him a profound secret for his sake. If they were +questioned about him in certain houses when they carried home the +linen, they always spoke respectfully of the chevalier, and made him +out older than he really was; they talked of him as a most respectable +monsieur, whose life was a flower of sanctity; but once in their own +regions they perched on his shoulders like so many parrots. He liked +to be told the secrets which washerwomen discover in the bosom of +households, and day after day these girls would tell him the cancans +which were going the round of Alencon. He called them his "petticoat +gazettes," his "talking feuilletons." Never did Monsieur de Sartines +have spies more intelligent and less expensive, or minions who showed +more honor while displaying their rascality of mind. So it may be said +that in the mornings, while breakfasting, the chevalier usually amused +himself as much as the saints in heaven. + +Suzanne was one of his favorites, a clever, ambitious girl, made of +the stuff of a Sophie Arnold, and handsome withal, as the handsomest +courtesan invited by Titian to pose on black velvet for a model of +Venus; although her face, fine about the eyes and forehead, +degenerated, lower down, into commonness of outline. Hers was a Norman +beauty, fresh, high-colored, redundant, the flesh of Rubens covering +the muscles of the Farnese Hercules, and not the slender articulations +of the Venus de' Medici, Apollo's graceful consort. + +"Well, my child, tell me your great or your little adventure, whatever +it is." + +The particular point about the chevalier which would have made him +noticeable from Paris to Pekin, was the gentle paternity of his manner +to grisettes. They reminded him of the illustrious operatic queens of +his early days, whose celebrity was European during a good third of +the eighteenth century. It is certain that the old gentleman, who had +lived in days gone by with that feminine nation now as much forgotten +as many other great things,--like the Jesuits, the Buccaneers, the +Abbes, and the Farmers-General,--had acquired an irresistible +good-humor, a kindly ease, a laisser-aller devoid of egotism, the +self-effacement of Jupiter with Alcmene, of the king intending to be +duped, who casts his thunderbolts to the devil, wants his Olympus full +of follies, little suppers, feminine profusions--but with Juno out of +the way, be it understood. + +In spite of his old green damask dressing-gown and the bareness of the +room in which he sat, where the floor was covered with a shabby +tapestry in place of carpet, and the walls were hung with tavern-paper +presenting the profiles of Louis XVI. and members of his family, +traced among the branches of a weeping willow with other +sentimentalities invented by royalism during the Terror,--in spite of +his ruins, the chevalier, trimming his beard before a shabby old +toilet-table, draped with trumpery lace, exhaled an essence of the +eighteenth century. All the libertine graces of his youth reappeared; +he seemed to have the wealth of three hundred thousand francs of debt, +while his vis-a-vis waited before the door. He was grand,--like +Berthier on the retreat from Moscow, issuing orders to an army that +existed no longer. + +"Monsieur le chevalier," replied Suzanne, drolly, "seems to me I +needn't tell you anything; you've only to look." + +And Suzanne presented a side view of herself which gave a sort of +lawyer's comment to her words. The chevalier, who, you must know, was +a sly old bird, lowered his right eye on the grisette, still holding +the razor at his throat, and pretended to understand. + +"Well, well, my little duck, we'll talk about that presently. But you +are rather previous, it seems to me." + +"Why, Monsieur le chevalier, ought I to wait until my mother beats me +and Madame Lardot turns me off? If I don't get away soon to Paris, I +shall never be able to marry here, where men are so ridiculous." + +"It can't be helped, my dear; society is changing; women are just as +much victims to the present state of things as the nobility +themselves. After political overturn comes the overturn of morals. +Alas! before long woman won't exist" (he took out the cotton-wool to +arrange his ears): "she'll lose everything by rushing into sentiment; +she'll wring her nerves; good-bye to all the good little pleasures of +our time, desired without shame, accepted without nonsense." (He +polished up the little negroes' heads.) "Women had hysterics in those +days to get their ends, but now" (he began to laugh) "their vapors end +in charcoal. In short, marriage" (here he picked up his pincers to +remove a hair) "will become a thing intolerable; whereas it used to be +so gay in my day! The reigns of Louis XIV. and Louis XV.--remember +this, my child--said farewell to the finest manners and morals ever +known to the world." + +"But, Monsieur le chevalier," said the grisette, "the matter now +concerns the morals and honor of your poor little Suzanne, and I hope +you won't abandon her." + +"Abandon her!" cried the chevalier, finishing his hair; "I'd sooner +abandon my own name." + +"Ah!" exclaimed Suzanne. + +"Now, listen to me, you little mischief," said the chevalier, sitting +down on a huge sofa, formerly called a duchesse, which Madame Lardot +had been at some pains to find for him. + +He drew the magnificent Suzanne before him, holding her legs between +his knees. She let him do as he liked, although in the street she was +offish enough to other men, refusing their familiarities partly from +decorum and partly for contempt for their commonness. She now stood +audaciously in front of the chevalier, who, having fathomed in his day +many other mysteries in minds that were far more wily, took in the +situation at a single glance. He knew very well that no young girl +would joke about a real dishonor; but he took good care not to knock +over the pretty scaffolding of her lie as he touched it. + +"We slander ourselves," he said with inimitable craft; "we are as +virtuous as that beautiful biblical girl whose name we bear; we can +always marry as we please, but we are thirsty for Paris, where +charming creatures--and we are no fool--get rich without trouble. We +want to go and see if the great capital of pleasures hasn't some young +Chevalier de Valois in store for us, with a carriage, diamonds, an +opera-box, and so forth. Russians, Austrians, Britons, have millions +on which we have an eye. Besides, we are patriotic; we want to help +France in getting back her money from the pockets of those gentry. +Hey! hey! my dear little devil's duck! it isn't a bad plan. The world +you live in may cry out a bit, but success justifies all things. The +worst thing in this world, my dear, is to be without money; that's our +disease, yours and mine. Now inasmuch as we have plenty of wit, we +thought it would be a good thing to parade our dear little honor, or +dishonor, to catch an old boy; but that old boy, my dear heart, knows +the Alpha and Omega of female tricks,--which means that you could +easier put salt on a sparrow's tail than to make me believe I have +anything to do with your little affair. Go to Paris, my dear; go at +the cost of an old celibate, I won't prevent it; in fact, I'll help +you, for an old bachelor, Suzanne, is the natural money-box of a young +girl. But don't drag me into the matter. Listen, my queen, you who +know life pretty well; you would me great harm and give me much pain, +--harm, because you would prevent my marriage in a town where people +cling to morality; pain, because if you are in trouble (which I deny, +you sly puss!) I haven't a penny to get you out of it. I'm as poor as +a church mouse; you know that, my dear. Ah! if I marry Mademoiselle +Cormon, if I am once more rich, of course I would prefer you to +Cesarine. You've always seemed to me as fine as the gold they gild on +lead; you were made to be the love of a great seigneur. I think you so +clever that the trick you are trying to play off on me doesn't +surprise me one bit; I expected it. You are flinging the scabbard +after the sword, and that's daring for a girl. It takes nerve and +superior ideas to do it, my angel, and therefore you have won my +respectful esteem." + +"Monsieur le chevalier, I assure you, you are mistaken, and--" + +She colored, and did not dare to say more. The chevalier, with a +single glance, had guessed and fathomed her whole plan. + +"Yes, yes! I understand: you want me to believe it," he said. "Well! I +do believe it. But take my advice: go to Monsieur du Bousquier. +Haven't you taken linen there for the last six or eight months? I'm +not asking what went on between you; but I know the man: he has +immense conceit; he is an old bachelor, and very rich; and he only +spends a quarter of a comfortable income. If you are as clever as I +suppose, you can go to Paris at his expense. There, run along, my +little doe; go and twist him round your finger. Only, mind this: be as +supple as silk; at every word take a double turn round him and make a +knot. He is a man to fear scandal, and if he has given you a chance to +put him in the pillory--in short, understand; threaten him with the +ladies of the Maternity Hospital. Besides, he's ambitious. A man +succeeds through his wife, and you are handsome and clever enough to +make the fortune of a husband. Hey! the mischief! you could hold your +own against all the court ladies." + +Suzanne, whose mind took in at a flash the chevalier's last words, was +eager to run off to du Bousquier, but, not wishing to depart too +abruptly, she questioned the chevalier about Paris, all the while +helping him to dress. The chevalier, however, divined her desire to be +off, and favored it by asking her to tell Cesarine to bring up his +chocolate, which Madame Lardot made for him every morning. Suzanne +then slipped away to her new victim, whose biography must here be +given. + +Born of an old Alencon family, du Bousquier was a cross between the +bourgeois and the country squire. Finding himself without means on the +death of his father, he went, like other ruined provincials, to Paris. +On the breaking out of the Revolution he took part in public affairs. +In spite of revolutionary principles, which made a hobby of republican +honesty, the management of public business in those days was by no +means clean. A political spy, a stock-jobber, a contractor, a man who +confiscated in collusion with the syndic of a commune the property of +emigres in order to sell them and buy them in, a minister, and a +general were all equally engaged in public business. From 1793 to 1799 +du Bousquier was commissary of provisions to the French armies. He +lived in a magnificent hotel and was one of the matadors of finance, +did business with Ouvrard, kept open house, and led the scandalous +life of the period,--the life of a Cincinnatus, on sacks of corn +harvested without trouble, stolen rations, "little houses" full of +mistresses, in which were given splendid fetes to the Directors of the +Republic. + +The citizen du Bousquier was one of Barras' familiars; he was on the +best of terms with Fouche, stood very well with Bernadotte, and fully +expected to become a minister by throwing himself into the party which +secretly caballed against Bonaparte until Marengo. If it had not been +for Kellermann's charge and Desaix's death, du Bousquier would +probably have become a minister. He was one of the chief assistances +of that secret government whom Napoleon's luck send behind the scenes +in 1793. (See "An Historical Mystery.") The unexpected victory of +Marengo was the defeat of that party who actually had their +proclamations printed to return to the principles of the Montagne in +case the First Consul succumbed. + +Convinced of the impossibility of Bonaparte's triumph, du Bousquier +staked the greater part of his property on a fall in the Funds, and +kept two couriers on the field of battle. The first started for Paris +when Melas' victory was certain; the second, starting four hours +later, brought the news of the defeat of the Austrians. Du Bousquier +cursed Kellermann and Desaix; he dared not curse Bonaparte, who might +owe him millions. This alternative of millions to be earned and +present ruin staring him in the face, deprived the purveyor of most of +his faculties: he became nearly imbecile for several days; the man had +so abused his health by excesses that when the thunderbolt fell upon +him he had no strength to resist. The payment of his bills against the +Exchequer gave him some hopes for the future, but, in spite of all +efforts to ingratiate himself, Napoleon's hatred to the contractors +who had speculated on his defeat made itself felt; du Bousquier was +left without a sou. The immorality of his private life, his intimacy +with Barras and Bernadotte, displeased the First Consul even more than +his manoeuvres at the Bourse, and he struck du Bousquier's name from +the list of the government contractors. + +Out of all his past opulence du Bousquier saved only twelve hundred +francs a year from an investment in the Grand Livre, which he had +happened to place there by pure caprice, and which saved him from +penury. A man ruined by the First Consul interested the town of +Alencon, to which he now returned, where royalism was secretly +dominant. Du Bousquier, furious against Bonaparte, relating stories +against him of his meanness, of Josephine's improprieties, and all the +other scandalous anecdotes of the last ten years, was well received. + +About this time, when he was somewhere between forty and fifty, du +Bousquier's appearance was that of a bachelor of thirty-six, of medium +height, plump as a purveyor, proud of his vigorous calves, with a +strongly marked countenance, a flattened nose, the nostrils garnished +with hair, black eyes with thick lashes, from which darted shrewd +glances like those of Monsieur de Talleyrand, though somewhat dulled. +He still wore republican whiskers and his hair very long; his hands, +adorned with bunches of hair on each knuckle, showed the power of his +muscular system in their prominent blue veins. He had the chest of the +Farnese Hercules, and shoulders fit to carry the stocks. Such +shoulders are seen nowadays only at Tortoni's. This wealth of +masculine vigor counted for much in du Bousquier's relations with +others. And yet in him, as in the chevalier, symptoms appeared which +contrasted oddly with the general aspect of their persons. The late +purveyor had not the voice of his muscles. We do not mean that his +voice was a mere thread, such as we sometimes hear issuing from the +mouth of these walruses; on the contrary, it was a strong voice, but +stifled, an idea of which can be given only by comparing it with the +noise of a saw cutting into soft and moistened wood,--the voice of a +worn-out speculator. + +In spite of the claims which the enmity of the First Consul gave +Monsieur du Bousquier to enter the royalist society of the province, +he was not received in the seven or eight families who composed the +faubourg Saint-Germain of Alencon, among whom the Chevalier de Valois +was welcome. He had offered himself in marriage, through her notary, +to Mademoiselle Armande, sister of the most distinguished noble in the +town; to which offer he received a refusal. He consoled himself as +best he could in the society of a dozen rich families, former +manufacturers of the old point d'Alencon, owners of pastures and +cattle, or merchants doing a wholesale business in linen, among whom, +as he hoped, he might find a wealthy wife. In fact, all his hopes now +converged to the perspective of a fortunate marriage. He was not +without a certain financial ability, which many persons used to their +profit. Like a ruined gambler who advises neophytes, he pointed out +enterprises and speculations, together with the means and chances of +conducting them. He was thought a good administrator, and it was often +a question of making him mayor of Alencon; but the memory of his +underhand jobbery still clung to him, and he was never received at the +prefecture. All the succeeding governments, even that of the Hundred +Days, refused to appoint him mayor of Alencon,--a place he coveted, +which, could he have had it, would, he thought, have won him the hand +of a certain old maid on whom his matrimonial views now turned. + +Du Bousquier's aversion to the Imperial government had thrown him at +first into the royalist circles of Alencon, where he remained in spite +of the rebuffs he received there; but when, after the first return of +the Bourbons, he was still excluded from the prefecture, that +mortification inspired him with a hatred as deep as it was secret +against the royalists. He now returned to his old opinions, and became +the leader of the liberal party in Alencon, the invisible manipulator +of elections, and did immense harm to the Restoration by the +cleverness of his underhand proceedings and the perfidy of his outward +behavior. Du Bousquier, like all those who live by their heads only, +carried on his hatreds with the quiet tranquillity of a rivulet, +feeble apparently, but inexhaustible. His hatred was that of a negro, +so peaceful that it deceived the enemy. His vengeance, brooded over +for fifteen years, was as yet satisfied by no victory, not even that +of July, 1830. + +It was not without some private intention that the Chevalier de Valois +had turned Suzanne's designs upon Monsieur du Bousquier. The liberal +and the royalist had mutually divined each other in spite of the wide +dissimulation with which they hid their common hope from the rest of +the town. The two old bachelors were secretly rivals. Each had formed +a plan to marry the Demoiselle Cormon, whom Monsieur de Valois had +mentioned to Suzanne. Both, ensconced in their idea and wearing the +armor of apparent indifference, awaited the moment when some lucky +chance might deliver the old maid over to them. Thus, if the two old +bachelors had not been kept asunder by the two political systems of +which they each offered a living expression, their private rivalry +would still have made them enemies. Epochs put their mark on men. +These two individuals proved the truth of that axiom by the opposing +historic tints that were visible in their faces, in their +conversation, in their ideas, and in their clothes. One, abrupt, +energetic, with loud, brusque manners, curt, rude speech, dark in +tone, in hair, in look, terrible apparently, in reality as impotent as +an insurrection, represented the republic admirably. The other, gentle +and polished, elegant and nice, attaining his ends by the slow and +infallible means of diplomacy, faithful to good taste, was the express +image of the old courtier regime. + +The two enemies met nearly every evening on the same ground. The war +was courteous and benign on the side of the chevalier; but du +Bousquier showed less ceremony on his, though still preserving the +outward appearances demanded by society, for he did not wish to be +driven from the place. They themselves fully understood each other; +but in spite of the shrewd observation which provincials bestow on the +petty interests of their own little centre, no one in the town +suspected the rivalry of these two men. Monsieur le Chevalier de +Valois occupied a vantage-ground: he had never asked for the hand of +Mademoiselle Cormon; whereas du Bousquier, who entered the lists soon +after his rejection by the most distinguished family in the place, had +been refused. But the chevalier believed that his rival had still such +strong chances of success that he dealt him this coup de Jarnac with a +blade (namely, Suzanne) that was finely tempered for the purpose. The +chevalier had cast his plummet-line into the waters of du Bousquier; +and, as we shall see by the sequel, he was not mistaken in any of his +conjectures. + +Suzanne tripped with a light foot from the rue du Cours, by the rue de +la Porte de Seez and the rue du Bercail, to the rue du Cygne, where, +about five years earlier, du Bousquier had bought a little house built +of gray Jura stone, which is something between Breton slate and Norman +granite. There he established himself more comfortably than any +householder in town; for he had managed to preserve certain furniture +and decorations from the days of his splendor. But provincial manners +and morals obscured, little by little, the rays of this fallen +Sardanapalus; these vestiges of his former luxury now produced the +effect of a glass chandelier in a barn. Harmony, that bond of all +work, human or divine, was lacking in great things as well as in +little ones. The stairs, up which everybody mounted without wiping +their feet, were never polished; the walls, painted by some wretched +artisan of the neighborhood, were a terror to the eye; the stone +mantel-piece, ill-carved, "swore" with the handsome clock, which was +further degraded by the company of contemptible candlesticks. Like the +period which du Bousquier himself represented, the house was a jumble +of dirt and magnificence. Being considered a man of leisure, du +Bousquier led the same parasite life as the chevalier; and he who does +not spend his income is always rich. His only servant was a sort of +Jocrisse, a lad of the neighborhood, rather a ninny, trained slowly +and with difficulty to du Bousquier's requirements. His master had +taught him, as he might an orang-outang, to rub the floors, dust the +furniture, black his boots, brush his coats, and bring a lantern to +guide him home at night if the weather were cloudy, and clogs if it +rained. Like many other human beings, this lad hadn't stuff enough in +him for more than one vice; he was a glutton. Often, when du Bousquier +went to a grand dinner, he would take Rene to wait at table; on such +occasions he made him take off his blue cotton jacket, with its big +pockets hanging round his hips, and always bulging with handkerchiefs, +clasp-knives, fruits, or a handful of nuts, and forced him to put on a +regulation coat. Rene would then stuff his fill with the other +servants. This duty, which du Bousquier had turned into a reward, won +him the most absolute discretion from the Breton servant. + +"You here, mademoiselle!" said Rene to Suzanne when she entered; +"'t'isn't your day. We haven't any linen for the wash, tell Madame +Lardot." + +"Old stupid!" said Suzanne, laughing. + +The pretty girl went upstairs, leaving Rene to finish his porringer of +buckwheat in boiled milk. Du Bousquier, still in bed, was revolving in +his mind his plans of fortune; for ambition was all that was left to +him, as to other men who have sucked dry the orange of pleasure. +Ambition and play are inexhaustible; in a well-organized man the +passions which proceed from the brain will always survive the passions +of the heart. + +"Here am I," said Suzanne, sitting down on the bed and jangling the +curtain-rings back along the rod with despotic vehemence. + +"Quesaco, my charmer?" said the old bachelor, sitting up in bed. + +"Monsieur," said Suzanne, gravely, "you must be astonished to see me +here at this hour; but I find myself in a condition which obliges me +not to care for what people may say about it." + +"What does all that mean?" said du Bousquier, crossing his arms. + +"Don't you understand me?" said Suzanne. "I know," she continued, +making a pretty little face, "how ridiculous it is in a poor girl to +come and nag at a man for what he thinks a mere nothing. But if you +really knew me, monsieur, if you knew all that I am capable of for a +man who would attach himself to me as much as I'm attached to you, you +would never repent having married me. Of course it isn't here, in +Alencon, that I should be of service to you; but if we went to Paris, +you would see where I could lead a man with your mind and your +capacities; and just at this time too, when they are remaking the +government from top to toe. So--between ourselves, be it said--/is/ +what has happened a misfortune? Isn't it rather a piece of luck, which +will pay you well? Who and what are you working for now?" + +"For myself, of course!" cried du Bousquier, brutally. + +"Monster! you'll never be a father!" said Suzanne, giving a tone of +prophetic malediction to the words. + +"Come, don't talk nonsense, Suzanne," replied du Bousquier; "I really +think I am still dreaming." + +"How much more reality do you want?" cried Suzanne, standing up. + +Du Bousquier rubbed his cotton night-cap to the top of his head with a +rotatory motion, which plainly indicated the tremendous fermentation +of his ideas. + +"He actually believes it!" thought Suzanne, "and he's flattered. +Heaven! how easy it is to gull men!" + +"Suzanne, what the devil must I do? It is so extraordinary--I, who +thought-- The fact is that-- No, no, it can't be--" + +"What? you can't marry me?" + +"Oh! as for that, no; I have engagements." + +"With Mademoiselle Armande or Mademoiselle Cormon, who have both +refused you? Listen to me, Monsieur du Bousquier, my honor doesn't +need gendarmes to drag you to the mayor's office. I sha'n't lack for +husbands, thank goodness! and I don't want a man who can't appreciate +what I'm worth. But some day you'll repent of the way you are +behaving; for I tell you now that nothing on earth, neither gold nor +silver, will induce me to return the good thing that belongs to you, +if you refuse to accept it to-day." + +"But, Suzanne, are you sure?" + +"Oh, monsieur!" cried the grisette, wrapping her virtue round her, +"what do you take me for? I don't remind you of the promises you made +me, which have ruined a poor young girl whose only blame was to have +as much ambition as love." + +Du Bousquier was torn with conflicting sentiments, joy, distrust, +calculation. He had long determined to marry Mademoiselle Cormon; for +the Charter, on which he had just been ruminating, offered to his +ambition, through the half of her property, the political career of a +deputy. Besides, his marriage with the old maid would put him socially +so high in the town that he would have great influence. Consequently, +the storm upraised by that malicious Suzanne drove him into the +wildest embarrassment. Without this secret scheme, he would have +married Suzanne without hesitation. In which case, he could openly +assume the leadership of the liberal party in Alencon. After such a +marriage he would, of course, renounce the best society and take up +with the bourgeois class of tradesmen, rich manufacturers and +graziers, who would certainly carry him in triumph as their candidate. +Du Bousquier already foresaw the Left side. + +This solemn deliberation he did not conceal; he rubbed his hands over +his head, displacing the cap which covered its disastrous baldness. +Suzanne, meantime, like all those persons who succeed beyond their +hopes, was silent and amazed. To hide her astonishment, she assumed +the melancholy pose of an injured girl at the mercy of her seducer; +inwardly she was laughing like a grisette at her clever trick. + +"My dear child," said du Bousquier at length, "I'm not to be taken in +with such /bosh/, not I!" + +Such was the curt remark which ended du Bousquier's meditation. He +plumed himself on belonging to the class of cynical philosophers who +could never be "taken in" by women,--putting them, one and all, unto +the same category, as /suspicious/. These strong-minded persons are +usually weak men who have a special catechism in the matter of +womenkind. To them the whole sex, from queens of France to milliners, +are essentially depraved, licentious, intriguing, not a little +rascally, fundamentally deceitful, and incapable of thought about +anything but trifles. To them, women are evil-doing queens, who must +be allowed to dance and sing and laugh as they please; they see +nothing sacred or saintly in them, nor anything grand; to them there +is no poetry in the senses, only gross sensuality. Where such +jurisprudence prevails, if a woman is not perpetually tyrannized over, +she reduces the man to the condition of a slave. Under this aspect du +Bousquier was again the antithesis of the chevalier. When he made his +final remark, he flung his night-cap to the foot of the bed, as Pope +Gregory did the taper when he fulminated an excommunication; Suzanne +then learned for the first time that du Bousquier wore a toupet +covering his bald spot. + +"Please to remember, Monsieur du Bousquier," she replied majestically, +"that in coming here to tell you of this matter I have done my duty; +remember that I have offered you my hand, and asked for yours; but +remember also that I behaved with the dignity of a woman who respects +herself. I have not abased myself to weep like a silly fool; I have +not insisted; I have not tormented you. You now know my situation. You +must see that I cannot stay in Alencon: my mother would beat me, and +Madame Lardot rides a hobby of principles; she'll turn me off. Poor +work-girl that I am, must I go to the hospital? must I beg my bread? +No! I'd rather throw myself into the Brillante or the Sarthe. But +isn't it better that I should go to Paris? My mother could find an +excuse to send me there,--an uncle who wants me, or a dying aunt, or a +lady who sends for me. But I must have some money for the journey and +for--you know what." + +This extraordinary piece of news was far more startling to du +Bousquier than to the Chevalier de Valois. Suzanne's fiction +introduced such confusion into the ideas of the old bachelor that he +was literally incapable of sober reflection. Without this agitation +and without his inward delight (for vanity is a swindler which never +fails of its dupe), he would certainly have reflected that, supposing +it were true, a girl like Suzanne, whose heart was not yet spoiled, +would have died a thousand deaths before beginning a discussion of +this kind and asking for money. + +"Will you really go to Paris, then?" he said. + +A flash of gayety lighted Suzanne's gray eyes as she heard these +words; but the self-satisfied du Bousquier saw nothing. + +"Yes, monsieur," she said. + +Du Bousquier then began bitter lamentations: he had the last payments +to make on his house; the painter, the mason, the upholsterers must be +paid. Suzanne let him run on; she was listening for the figures. Du +Bousquier offered her three hundred francs. Suzanne made what is +called on the stage a false exit; that is, she marched toward the +door. + +"Stop, stop! where are you going?" said du Bousquier, uneasily. "This +is what comes of a bachelor's life!" thought he. "The devil take me if +I ever did anything more than rumple her collar, and, lo and behold! +she makes THAT a ground to put her hand in one's pocket!" + +"I'm going, monsieur," replied Suzanne, "to Madame Granson, the +treasurer of the Maternity Society, who, to my knowledge, has saved +many a poor girl in my condition from suicide." + +"Madame Granson!" + +"Yes," said Suzanne, "a relation of Mademoiselle Cormon, the president +of the Maternity Society. Saving your presence, the ladies of the town +have created an institution to protect poor creatures from destroying +their infants, like that handsome Faustine of Argentan who was +executed for it three years ago." + +"Here, Suzanne," said du Bousquier, giving her a key, "open that +secretary, and take out the bag you'll find there: there's about six +hundred francs in it; it is all I possess." + +"Old cheat!" thought Suzanne, doing as he told her, "I'll tell about +your false toupet." + +She compared du Bousquier with that charming chevalier, who had given +her nothing, it is true, but who had comprehended her, advised her, +and carried all grisettes in his heart. + +"If you deceive me, Suzanne," cried du Bousquier, as he saw her with +her hand in the drawer, "you--" + +"Monsieur," she said, interrupting him with ineffable impertinence, +"wouldn't you have given me money if I had asked for it?" + +Recalled to a sense of gallantry, du Bousquier had a remembrance of +past happiness and grunted his assent. Suzanne took the bag and +departed, after allowing the old bachelor to kiss her, which he did +with an air that seemed to say, "It is a right which costs me dear; +but it is better than being harried by a lawyer in the court of +assizes as the seducer of a girl accused of infanticide." + +Suzanne hid the sack in a sort of gamebag made of osier which she had +on her arm, all the while cursing du Bousquier for his stinginess; for +one thousand francs was the sum she wanted. Once tempted of the devil +to desire that sum, a girl will go far when she has set foot on the +path of trickery. As she made her way along the rue du Bercail, it +came into her head that the Maternity Society, presided over by +Mademoiselle Cormon, might be induced to complete the sum at which she +had reckoned her journey to Paris, which to a grisette of Alencon +seemed considerable. Besides, she hated du Bousquier. The latter had +evidently feared a revelation of his supposed misconduct to Madame +Granson; and Suzanne, at the risk of not getting a penny from the +society, was possessed with the desire, on leaving Alencon, of +entangling the old bachelor in the inextricable meshes of a provincial +slander. In all grisettes there is something of the malevolent +mischief of a monkey. Accordingly, Suzanne now went to see Madame +Granson, composing her face to an expression of the deepest dejection. + + + + CHAPTER III + + ATHANASE + +Madame Granson, widow of a lieutenant-colonel of artillery killed at +Jena, possessed, as her whole means of livelihood, a meagre pension of +nine hundred francs a year, and three hundred francs from property of +her own, plus a son whose support and education had eaten up all her +savings. She occupied, in the rue du Bercail, one of those melancholy +ground-floor apartments which a traveller passing along the principal +street of a little provincial town can look through at a glance. The +street door opened at the top of three steep steps; a passage led to +an interior courtyard, at the end of which was the staircase covered +by a wooden gallery. On one side of the passage was the dining-room +and the kitchen; on the other side, a salon put to many uses, and the +widow's bedchamber. + +Athanase Granson, a young man twenty-three years of age, who slept in +an attic room above the second floor of the house, added six hundred +francs to the income of his poor mother, by the salary of a little +place which the influence of his relation, Mademoiselle Cormon, had +obtained for him in the mayor's office, where he was placed in charge +of the archives. + +From these indications it is easy to imagine Madame Granson in her +cold salon with its yellow curtains and Utrecht velvet furniture, also +yellow, as she straightened the round straw mats which were placed +before each chair, that visitors might not soil the red-tiled floor +while they sat there; after which she returned to her cushioned +armchair and little work-table placed beneath the portrait of the +lieutenant-colonel of artillery between two windows,--a point from +which her eye could rake the rue du Bercail and see all comers. She +was a good woman, dressed with bourgeois simplicity in keeping with +her wan face furrowed by grief. The rigorous humbleness of poverty +made itself felt in all the accessories of this household, the very +air of which was charged with the stern and upright morals of the +provinces. At this moment the son and mother were together in the +dining-room, where they were breakfasting with a cup of coffee, with +bread and butter and radishes. To make the pleasure which Suzanne's +visit was to give to Madame Granson intelligible, we must explain +certain secret interests of the mother and son. + +Athanase Granson was a thin and pale young man, of medium height, with +a hollow face in which his two black eyes, sparkling with thoughts, +gave the effect of bits of coal. The rather irregular lines of his +face, the curve of his lips, a prominent chin, the fine modelling of +his forehead, his melancholy countenance, caused by a sense of his +poverty warring with the powers that he felt within him, were all +indications of repressed and imprisoned talent. In any other place +than the town of Alencon the mere aspect of his person would have won +him the assistance of superior men, or of women who are able to +recognize genius in obscurity. If his was not genius, it was at any +rate the form and aspect of it; if he had not the actual force of a +great heart, the glow of such a heart was in his glance. Although he +was capable of expressing the highest feeling, a casing of timidity +destroyed all the graces of his youth, just as the ice of poverty kept +him from daring to put forth all his powers. Provincial life, without +an opening, without appreciation, without encouragement, described a +circle about him in which languished and died the power of thought,--a +power which as yet had scarcely reached its dawn. Moreover, Athanase +possessed that savage pride which poverty intensifies in noble minds, +exalting them in their struggle with men and things; although at their +start in life it is an obstacle to their advancement. Genius proceeds +in two ways: either it takes its opportunity--like Napoleon, like +Moliere--the moment that it sees it, or it waits to be sought when it +has patiently revealed itself. Young Granson belonged to that class of +men of talent who distrust themselves and are easily discouraged. His +soul was contemplative. He lived more by thought than by action. +Perhaps he might have seemed deficient or incomplete to those who +cannot conceive of genius without the sparkle of French passion; but +he was powerful in the world of mind, and he was liable to reach, +through a series of emotions imperceptible to common souls, those +sudden determinations which make fools say of a man, "He is mad." + +The contempt which the world pours out on poverty was death to +Athanase; the enervating heat of solitude, without a breath or current +of air, relaxed the bow which ever strove to tighten itself; his soul +grew weary in this painful effort without results. Athanase was a man +who might have taken his place among the glories of France; but, eagle +as he was, cooped in a cage without his proper nourishment, he was +about to die of hunger after contemplating with an ardent eye the +fields of air and the mountain heights where genius soars. His work in +the city library escaped attention, and he buried in his soul his +thoughts of fame, fearing that they might injure him; but deeper than +all lay buried within him the secret of his heart,--a passion which +hollowed his cheeks and yellowed his brow. He loved his distant +cousin, this very Mademoiselle Cormon whom the Chevalier de Valois and +du Bousquier, his hidden rivals, were stalking. This love had had its +origin in calculation. Mademoiselle Cormon was thought to be one of +the richest persons in the town: the poor lad had therefore been led +to love her by desires for material happiness, by the hope, long +indulged, of gilding with comfort his mother's last years, by eager +longing for the ease of life so needful to men who live by thought; +but this most innocent point of departure degraded his passion in his +own eyes. Moreover, he feared the ridicule the world would cast upon +the love of a young man of twenty-three for an old maid of forty. + +And yet his passion was real; whatever may seem false about such a +love elsewhere, it can be realized as a fact in the provinces, where, +manners and morals being without change or chance or movement or +mystery, marriage becomes a necessity of life. No family will accept a +young man of dissolute habits. However natural the liaison of a young +man, like Athanase, with a handsome girl, like Suzanne, for instance, +might seem in a capital, it alarms provincial parents, and destroys +the hopes of marriage of a poor young man when possibly the fortune of +a rich one might cause such an unfortunate antecedent to be +overlooked. Between the depravity of certain liaisons and a sincere +love, a man of honor and no fortune will not hesitate: he prefers the +misfortunes of virtue to the evils of vice. But in the provinces women +with whom a young man call fall in love are rare. A rich young girl he +cannot obtain in a region where all is calculation; a poor young girl +he is prevented from loving; it would be, as provincials say, marrying +hunger and thirst. Such monkish solitude is, however, dangerous to +youth. + +These reflections explain why provincial life is so firmly based on +marriage. Thus we find that ardent and vigorous genius, forced to rely +on the independence of its own poverty, quits these cold regions where +thought is persecuted by brutal indifference, where no woman is +willing to be a sister of charity to a man of talent, of art, of +science. + +Who will really understand Athanase Granson's love for Mademoiselle +Cormon? Certainly neither rich men--those sultans of society who fill +their harems--nor middle-class men, who follow the well-beaten +high-road of prejudices; nor women who, not choosing to understand the +passions of artists, impose the yoke of their virtues upon men of +genius, imagining that the two sexes are governed by the same laws. + +Here, perhaps, we should appeal to those young men who suffer from the +repression of their first desires at the moment when all their forces +are developing; to artists sick of their own genius smothering under +the pressure of poverty; to men of talent, persecuted and without +influence, often without friends at the start, who have ended by +triumphing over that double anguish, equally agonizing, of soul and +body. Such men will well understand the lancinating pains of the +cancer which was now consuming Athanase; they have gone through those +long and bitter deliberations made in presence of some grandiose +purpose they had not the means to carry out; they have endured those +secret miscarriages in which the fructifying seed of genius falls on +arid soil. Such men know that the grandeur of desires is in proportion +to the height and breadth of the imagination. The higher they spring, +the lower they fall; and how can it be that ties and bonds should not +be broken by such a fall? Their piercing eye has seen--as did Athanase +--the brilliant future which awaited them, and from which they fancied +that only a thin gauze parted them; but that gauze through which their +eyes could see is changed by Society into a wall of iron. Impelled by +a vocation, by a sentiment of art, they endeavor again and again to +live by sentiments which society as incessantly materializes. Alas! +the provinces calculate and arrange marriage with the one view of +material comfort, and a poor artist or man of science is forbidden to +double its purpose and make it the saviour of his genius by securing +to him the means of subsistence! + +Moved by such ideas, Athanase Granson first thought of marriage with +Mademoiselle Cormon as a means of obtaining a livelihood which would +be permanent. Thence he could rise to fame, and make his mother happy, +knowing at the same time that he was capable of faithfully loving his +wife. But soon his own will created, although he did not know it, a +genuine passion. He began to study the old maid, and, by dint of the +charm which habit gives, he ended by seeing only her beauties and +ignoring her defects. + +In a young man of twenty-three the senses count for much in love; +their fire produces a sort of prism between his eyes and the woman. +From this point of view the clasp with which Beaumarchis' Cherubin +seizes Marceline is a stroke of genius. But when we reflect that in +the utter isolation to which poverty condemned poor Athanase, +Mademoiselle Cormon was the only figure presented to his gaze, that +she attracted his eye incessantly, that all the light he had was +concentrated on her, surely his love may be considered natural. + +This sentiment, so carefully hidden, increased from day to day. +Desires, sufferings, hopes, and meditations swelled in quietness and +silence the lake widening ever in the young man's breast, as hour by +hour added its drop of water to the volume. And the wider this inward +circle, drawn by the imagination, aided by the senses, grew, the more +imposing Mademoiselle Cormon appeared to Athanase, and the more his +own timidity increased. + +The mother had divined the truth. Like all provincial mothers, she +calculated candidly in her own mind the advantages of the match. She +told herself that Mademoiselle Cormon would be very lucky to secure a +husband in a young man of twenty-three, full of talent, who would +always be an honor to his family and the neighborhood; at the same +time the obstacles which her son's want of fortune and Mademoiselle +Cormon's age presented to the marriage seemed to her almost +insurmountable; she could think of nothing but patience as being able +to vanquish them. Like du Bousquier, like the Chevalier de Valois, she +had a policy of her own; she was on the watch for circumstances, +awaiting the propitious moment for a move with the shrewdness of +maternal instinct. Madame Granson had no fears at all as to the +chevalier, but she did suppose that du Bousquier, although refused, +retained certain hopes. As an able and underhand enemy to the latter, +she did him much secret harm in the interests of her son; from whom, +by the bye, she carefully concealed all such proceedings. + +After this explanation it is easy to understand the importance which +Suzanne's lie, confided to Madame Granson, was about to acquire. What +a weapon put into the hands of this charitable lady, the treasurer of +the Maternity Society! How she would gently and demurely spread the +news while collecting assistance for the chaste Suzanne! + +At the present moment Athanase, leaning pensively on his elbow at the +breakfast table, was twirling his spoon in his empty cup and +contemplating with a preoccupied eye the poor room with its red brick +floor, its straw chairs, its painted wooden buffet, its pink and white +curtains chequered like a backgammon board, which communicated with +the kitchen through a glass door. As his back was to the chimney which +his mother faced, and as the chimney was opposite to the door, his +pallid face, strongly lighted from the window, framed in beautiful +black hair, the eyes gleaming with despair and fiery with morning +thoughts, was the first object which met the eyes of the incoming +Suzanne. The grisette, who belonged to a class which certainly has the +instinct of misery and the sufferings of the heart, suddenly felt that +electric spark, darting from Heaven knows where, which can never be +explained, which some strong minds deny, but the sympathetic stroke of +which has been felt by many men and many women. It is at once a light +which lightens the darkness of the future, a presentiment of the +sacred joys of a shared love, the certainty of mutual comprehension. +Above all, it is like the touch of a firm and able hand on the +keyboard of the senses. The eyes are fascinated by an irresistible +attraction; the heart is stirred; the melodies of happiness echo in +the soul and in the ears; a voice cries out, "It is he!" Often +reflection casts a douche of cold water on this boiling emotion, and +all is over. + +In a moment, as rapid as the flash of the lightning, Suzanne received +the broadside of this emotion in her heart. The flame of a real love +burned up the evil weeds fostered by a libertine and dissipated life. +She saw how much she was losing of decency and value by accusing +herself falsely. What had seemed to her a joke the night before became +to her eyes a serious charge against herself. She recoiled at her own +success. But the impossibility of any result; the poverty of the young +man; a vague hope of enriching herself, of going to Paris, and +returning with full hands to say, "I love you! here are the means of +happiness!" or mere fate, if you will have it so, dried up the next +moment this beneficent dew. + +The ambitious grisette asked with a timid air for a moment's interview +with Madame Granson, who took her at once into her bedchamber. When +Suzanne came out she looked again at Athanase; he was still in the +same position, and the tears came into her eyes. As for Madame +Granson, she was radiant with joy. At last she had a weapon, and a +terrible one, against du Bousquier; she could now deal him a mortal +blow. She had of course promised the poor seduced girl the support of +all charitable ladies and that of the members of the Maternity Society +in particular; she foresaw a dozen visits which would occupy her whole +day, and brew up a frightful storm on the head of the guilty du +Bousquier. The Chevalier de Valois, while foreseeing the turn the +affair would take, had really no idea of the scandal which would +result from his own action. + +"My dear child," said Madame Granson to her son, "we are to dine, you +know, with Mademoiselle Cormon; do take a little pains with your +appearance. You are wrong to neglect your dress as you do. Put on that +handsome frilled shirt and your green coat of Elbeuf cloth. I have my +reasons," she added slyly. "Besides, Mademoiselle Cormon is going to +Prebaudet, and many persons will doubtless call to bid her good-bye. +When a young man is marriageable he ought to take every means to make +himself agreeable. If girls would only tell the truth, heavens! my +dear boy, you'd be astonished at what makes them fall in love. Often +it suffices for a man to ride past them at the head of a company of +artillery, or show himself at a ball in tight clothes. Sometimes a +mere turn of the head, a melancholy attitude, makes them suppose a +man's whole life; they'll invent a romance to match the hero--who is +often a mere brute, but the marriage is made. Watch the Chevalier de +Valois: study him; copy his manners; see with what ease he presents +himself; he never puts on a stiff air, as you do. Talk a little more; +one would really think you didn't know anything,--you, who know Hebrew +by heart." + +Athanase listened to his mother with a surprised but submissive air; +then he rose, took his cap, and went off to the mayor's office, saying +to himself, "Can my mother suspect my secret?" + +He passed through the rue du Val-Noble, where Mademoiselle Cormon +lived,--a little pleasure which he gave himself every morning, +thinking, as usual, a variety of fanciful things:-- + +"How little she knows that a young man is passing before her house who +loves her well, who would be faithful to her, who would never cause +her any grief; who would leave her the entire management of her +fortune without interference. Good God! what fatality! here, side by +side, in the same town, are two persons in our mutual condition, and +yet nothing can bring them together. Suppose I were to speak to her +this evening?" + +During this time Suzanne had returned to her mother's house thinking +of Athanase; and, like many other women who have longed to help an +adored man beyond the limit of human powers, she felt herself capable +of making her body a stepping-stone on which he could rise to attain +his throne. + +It is now necessary to enter the house of this old maid toward whom so +many interests are converging, where the actors in this scene, with +the exception of Suzanne, were all to meet this very evening. As for +Suzanne, that handsome individual bold enough to burn her ships like +Alexander at her start in life, and to begin the battle by a +falsehood, she disappears from the stage, having introduced upon it a +violent element of interest. Her utmost wishes were gratified. She +quitted her native town a few days later, well supplied with money and +good clothes, among which was a fine dress of green reps and a +charming green bonnet lined with pink, the gift of Monsieur de Valois, +--a present which she preferred to all the rest, even the money. If +the chevalier had gone to Paris in the days of her future brilliancy, +she would certainly have left every one for him. Like the chaste +Susannah of the Bible, whom the Elders hardly saw, she established +herself joyously and full of hope in Paris, while all Alencon was +deploring her misfortunes, for which the ladies of two Societies +(Charity and Maternity) manifested the liveliest sympathy. Though +Suzanne is a fair specimen of those handsome Norman women whom a +learned physician reckons as comprising one third of her fallen class +whom our monstrous Paris absorbs, it must be stated that she remained +in the upper and more decent regions of gallantry. At an epoch when, +as Monsieur de Valois said, Woman no longer existed, she was simply +"Madame du Val-Noble"; in other days she would have rivalled the +Rhodopes, the Imperias, the Ninons of the past. One of the most +distinguished writers of the Restoration has taken her under his +protection; perhaps he may marry her. He is a journalist, and +consequently above public opinion, inasmuch as he manufactures it +afresh every year or two. + + + + CHAPTER III + + MADEMOISELLE CORMON + +In nearly all the second-class prefectures of France there exists one +salon which is the meeting-ground of those considerable and +well-considered persons of the community who are, nevertheless, /not/ +the cream of the best society. The master and mistress of such an +establishment are counted among the leading persons of the town; they +are received wherever it may please them to visit; no fete is given, +no formal or diplomatic dinner takes place, to which they are not +invited. But the chateau people, heads of families possessing great +estates, in short, the highest personages in the department, do not go +to their houses; social intercourse between them is carried on by +cards from one to the other, and a dinner or soiree accepted and +returned. + +This salon, in which the lesser nobility, the clergy, and the +magistracy meet together, exerts a great influence. The judgment and +mind of the region reside in that solid, unostentatious society, where +each man knows the resources of his neighbor, where complete +indifference is shown to luxury and dress,--pleasures which are +thought childish in comparison to that of obtaining ten or twelve +acres of pasture land,--a purchase coveted for years, which has +probably given rise to endless diplomatic combinations. Immovable in +its prejudices, good or evil, this social circle follows a beaten +track, looking neither before it nor behind it. It accepts nothing +from Paris without long examination and trial; it rejects cashmeres as +it does investments on the Grand-Livre; it scoffs at fashions and +novelties; reads nothing, prefers ignorance, whether of science, +literature, or industrial inventions. It insists on the removal of a +prefect when that official does not suit it; and if the administration +resists, it isolates him, after the manner of bees who wall up a snail +in wax when it gets into their hive. + +In this society gossip is often turned into solemn verdicts. Young +women are seldom seen there; when they come it is to seek approbation +of their conduct,--a consecration of their self-importance. This +supremacy granted to one house is apt to wound the sensibilities of +other natives of the region, who console themselves by adding up the +cost it involves, and by which they profit. If it so happens that +there is no fortune large enough to keep open house in this way, the +big-wigs of the place choose a place of meeting, as they did at +Alencon, in the house of some inoffensive person, whose settled life +and character and position offers no umbrage to the vanities or the +interests of any one. + +For some years the upper classes of Alencon had met in this way at the +house of an old maid, whose fortune was, unknown to herself, the aim +and object of Madame Granson, her second cousin, and of the two old +bachelors whose secret hopes in that direction we have just unveiled. +This lady lived with her maternal uncle, a former grand-vicar of the +bishopric of Seez, once her guardian, and whose heir she was. The +family of which Rose-Marie-Victoire Cormon was the present +representative had been in earlier days among the most considerable in +the province. Though belonging to the middle classes, she consorted +with the nobility, among whom she was more or less allied, her family +having furnished, in past years, stewards to the Duc d'Alencon, many +magistrates to the long robe, and various bishops to the clergy. +Monsieur de Sponde, the maternal grandfather of Mademoiselle Cormon, +was elected by the Nobility to the States-General, and Monsieur +Cormon, her father, by the Tiers-Etat, though neither accepted the +mission. For the last hundred years the daughters of the family had +married nobles belonging to the provinces; consequently, this family +had thrown out so many suckers throughout the duchy as to appear on +nearly all the genealogical trees. No bourgeois family had ever seemed +so like nobility. + +The house in which Mademoiselle Cormon lived, build in Henri IV.'s +time, by Pierre Cormon, the steward of the last Duc d'Alencon, had +always belonged to the family; and among the old maid's visible +possessions this one was particularly stimulating to the covetous +desires of the two old lovers. Yet, far from producing revenue, the +house was a cause of expense. But it is so rare to find in the very +centre of a provincial town a private dwelling without unpleasant +surroundings, handsome in outward structure and convenient within, +that Alencon shared the envy of the lovers. + +This old mansion stands exactly in the middle of the rue du Val-Noble. +It is remarkable for the strength of its construction,--a style of +building introduced by Marie de' Medici. Though built of granite,--a +stone which is hard to work,--its angles, and the casings of the doors +and windows, are decorated with corner blocks cut into diamond facets. +It has only one clear story above the ground-floor; but the roof, +rising steeply, has several projecting windows, with carved spandrels +rather elegantly enclosed in oaken frames, and externally adorned with +balustrades. Between each of these windows is a gargoyle presenting +the fantastic jaws of an animal without a body, vomiting the +rain-water upon large stones pierced with five holes. The two gables +are surmounted by leaden bouquets,--a symbol of the bourgeoisie; for +nobles alone had the privilege in former days of having weather-vanes. +To right of the courtyard are the stables and coach-house; to left, +the kitchen, wood-house, and laundry. + +One side of the porte-cochere, being left open, allowed the passers in +the street to see in the midst of the vast courtyard a flower-bed, the +raised earth of which was held in place by a low privet hedge. A few +monthly roses, pinkes, lilies, and Spanish broom filled this bed, +around which in the summer season boxes of paurestinus, pomegranates, +and myrtle were placed. Struck by the scrupulous cleanliness of the +courtyard and its dependencies, a stranger would at once have divined +that the place belonged to an old maid. The eye which presided there +must have been an unoccupied, ferreting eye; minutely careful, less +from nature than for want of something to do. An old maid, forced to +employ her vacant days, could alone see to the grass being hoed from +between the paving stones, the tops of the walls kept clean, the broom +continually going, and the leather curtains of the coach-house always +closed. She alone would have introduced, out of busy idleness, a sort +of Dutch cleanliness into a house on the confines of Bretagne and +Normandie,--a region where they take pride in professing an utter +indifference to comfort. + +Never did the Chevalier de Valois, or du Bousquier, mount the steps of +the double stairway leading to the portico of this house without +saying to himself, one, that it was fit for a peer of France, the +other, that the mayor of the town ought to live there. + +A glass door gave entrance from this portico into an antechamber, a +species of gallery paved in red tiles and wainscoted, which served as +a hospital for the family portraits,--some having an eye put out, +others suffering from a dislocated shoulder; this one held his hat in +a hand that no longer existed; that one was a case of amputation at +the knee. Here were deposited the cloaks, clogs, overshoes, umbrellas, +hoods, and pelisses of the guests. It was an arsenal where each +arrival left his baggage on arriving, and took it up when departing. +Along each wall was a bench for the servants who arrived with +lanterns, and a large stove, to counteract the north wind, which blew +through this hall from the garden to the courtyard. + +The house was divided in two equal parts. On one side, toward the +courtyard, was the well of the staircase, a large dining-room looking +to the garden, and an office or pantry which communicated with the +kitchen. On the other side was the salon, with four windows, beyond +which were two smaller rooms,--one looking on the garden, and used as +a boudoir, the other lighted from the courtyard, and used as a sort of +office. + +The upper floor contained a complete apartment for a family household, +and a suite of rooms where the venerable Abbe de Sponde had his abode. +The garrets offered fine quarters to the rats and mice, whose +nocturnal performances were related by Mademoiselle Cormon to the +Chevalier de Valois, with many expressions of surprise at the +inutility of her efforts to get rid of them. The garden, about half an +acre in size, is margined by the Brillante, so named from the +particles of mica which sparkle in its bed elsewhere than in the +Val-Noble, where its shallow waters are stained by the dyehouses, and +loaded with refuse from the other industries of the town. The shore +opposite to Mademoiselle Cormon's garden is crowded with houses where +a variety of trades are carried on; happily for her, the occupants are +quiet people,--a baker, a cleaner, an upholsterer, and several +bourgeois. The garden, full of common flowers, ends in a natural +terrace, forming a quay, down which are several steps leading to the +river. Imagine on the balustrade of this terrace a number of tall +vases of blue and white pottery, in which are gilliflowers; and to +right and left, along the neighboring walls, hedges of linden closely +trimmed in, and you will gain an idea of the landscape, full of +tranquil chastity, modest cheerfulness, but commonplace withal, which +surrounded the venerable edifice of the Cormon family. What peace! +what tranquillity! nothing pretentious, but nothing transitory; all +seems eternal there! + +The ground-floor is devoted wholly to the reception-rooms. The old, +unchangeable provincial spirit pervades them. The great square salon +has four windows, modestly cased in woodwork painted gray. A single +oblong mirror is placed above the fireplace; the top of its frame +represented the Dawn led by the Hours, and painted in camaieu (two +shades of one color). This style of painting infested the decorative +art of the day, especially above door-frames, where the artist +displayed his eternal Seasons, and made you, in most houses in the +centre of France, abhor the odious Cupids, endlessly employed in +skating, gleaning, twirling, or garlanding one another with flowers. +Each window was draped in green damask curtains, looped up by heavy +cords, which made them resemble a vast dais. The furniture, covered +with tapestry, the woodwork, painted and varnished, and remarkable for +the twisted forms so much the fashion in the last century, bore scenes +from the fables of La Fontaine on the chair-backs; some of this +tapestry had been mended. The ceiling was divided at the centre of the +room by a huge beam, from which depended an old chandelier of +rock-crystal swathed in green gauze. On the fireplace were two vases +in Sevres blue, and two old girandoles attached to the frame of the +mirror, and a clock, the subject of which, taken from the last scene +of the "Deserteur," proved the enormous popularity of Sedaine's work. +This clock, of bronze-gilt, bore eleven personages upon it, each about +four inches tall. At the back the Deserter was seen issuing from +prison between the soldiers; in the foreground the young woman lay +fainting, and pointing to his pardon. On the walls of this salon were +several of the more recent portraits of the family,--one or two by +Rigaud, and three pastels by Latour. Four card tables, a backgammon +board, and a piquet table occupied the vast room, the only one in the +house, by the bye, which was ceiled. + +The dining-room, paved in black and white stone, not ceiled, and its +beams painted, was furnished with one of those enormous sideboards +with marble tops, required by the war waged in the provinces against +the human stomach. The walls, painted in fresco, represented a flowery +trellis. The seats were of varnished cane, and the doors of natural +wood. All things about the place carried out the patriarchal air which +emanated from the inside as well as the outside of the house. The +genius of the provinces preserved everything; nothing was new or old, +neither young nor decrepit. A cold precision made itself felt +throughout. + +Tourists in Normandy, Brittany, Maine, and Anjou must all have seen in +the capitals of those provinces many houses which resemble more or +less that of the Cormons; for it is, in its way, an archetype of the +burgher houses in that region of France, and it deserves a place in +this history because it serves to explain manners and customs, and +represents ideas. Who does not already feel that life must have been +calm and monotonously regular in this old edifice? It contained a +library; but that was placed below the level of the river. The books +were well bound and shelved, and the dust, far from injuring them, +only made them valuable. They were preserved with the care given in +these provinces deprived of vineyards to other native products, +desirable for their antique perfume, and issued by the presses of +Bourgogne, Touraine, Gascogne, and the South. The cost of +transportation was too great to allow any but the best products to be +imported. + +The basis of Mademoiselle Cormon's society consisted of about one +hundred and fifty persons; some went at times to the country; others +were occasionally ill; a few travelled about the department on +business; but certain of the faithful came every night (unless invited +elsewhere), and so did certain others compelled by duties or by habit +to live permanently in the town. All the personages were of ripe age; +few among them had ever travelled; nearly all had spent their lives in +the provinces, and some had taken part in the chouannerie. The latter +were beginning to speak fearlessly of that war, now that rewards were +being showered on the defenders of the good cause. Monsieur de Valois, +one of the movers in the last uprising (during which the Marquis de +Montauran, betrayed by his mistress, perished in spite of the devotion +of Marche-a-Terre, now tranquilly raising cattle for the market near +Mayenne),--Monsieur de Valois had, during the last six months, given +the key to several choice stratagems practised upon an old republican +named Hulot, the commander of a demi-brigade stationed at Alencon from +1798 to 1800, who had left many memories in the place. [See "The +Chouans."] + +The women of this society took little pains with their dress, except +on Wednesdays, when Mademoiselle Cormon gave a dinner, on which +occasion the guests invited on the previous Wednesday paid their +"visit of digestion." Wednesdays were gala days: the assembly was +numerous; guests and visitors appeared in fiocchi; some women brought +their sewing, knitting, or worsted work; the young girls were not +ashamed to make patterns for the Alencon point lace, with the proceeds +of which they paid for their personal expenses. Certain husbands +brought their wives out of policy, for young men were few in that +house; not a word could be whispered in any ear without attracting the +attention of all; there was therefore no danger, either for young +girls or wives, of love-making. + +Every evening, at six o'clock, the long antechamber received its +furniture. Each habitue brought his cane, his cloak, his lantern. All +these persons knew each other so well, and their habits and ways were +so familiarly patriarchal, that if by chance the old Abbe de Sponde +was lying down, or Mademoiselle Cormon was in her chamber, neither +Josette, the maid, nor Jacquelin, the man-servant, nor Mariette, the +cook, informed them. The first comer received the second; then, when +the company were sufficiently numerous for whist, piquet, or boston, +they began the game without awaiting either the Abbe de Sponde or +mademoiselle. If it was dark, Josette or Jacquelin would hasten to +light the candles as soon as the first bell rang. Seeing the salon +lighted up, the abbe would slowly hurry to come down. Every evening +the backgammon and the piquet tables, the three boston tables, and the +whist table were filled,--which gave occupation to twenty-five or +thirty persons; but as many as forty were usually present. Jacquelin +would then light the candles in the other rooms. + +Between eight and nine o'clock the servants began to arrive in the +antechamber to accompany their masters home; and, short of a +revolution, no one remained in the salon at ten o'clock. At that hour +the guests were departing in groups along the street, discoursing on +the game, or continuing conversations on the land they were covetous +of buying, on the terms of some one's will, on quarrels among heirs, +on the haughty assumption of the aristocratic portion of the +community. It was like Paris when the audience of a theatre disperses. + +Certain persons who talk much of poesy and know nothing about it, +declaim against the habits of life in the provinces. But put your +forehead in your left hand, rest one foot on the fender, and your +elbow on your knee; then, if you compass the idea of this quiet and +uniform scene, this house and its interior, this company and its +interests, heightened by the pettiness of its intellect like goldleaf +beaten between sheets of parchment, ask yourself, What is human life? +Try to decide between him who scribbles jokes on Egyptian obelisks, +and him who has "bostoned" for twenty years with Du Bousquier, +Monsieur de Valois, Mademoiselle Cormon, the judge of the court, the +king's attorney, the Abbe de Sponde, Madame Granson, and tutti quanti. +If the daily and punctual return of the same steps to the same path is +not happiness, it imitates happiness so well that men driven by the +storms of an agitated life to reflect upon the blessings of +tranquillity would say that here was happiness /enough/. + +To reckon the importance of Mademoiselle Cormon's salon at its true +value, it will suffice to say that the born statistician of the +society, du Bousquier, had estimated that the persons who frequented +it controlled one hundred and thirty-one votes in the electoral +college, and mustered among themselves eighteen hundred thousand +francs a year from landed estate in the neighborhood. + +The town of Alencon, however, was not entirely represented by this +salon. The higher aristocracy had a salon of their own; moreover, that +of the receiver-general was like an administration inn kept by the +government, where society danced, plotted, fluttered, loved, and +supped. These two salons communicated by means of certain mixed +individuals with the house of Cormon, and vice-versa; but the Cormon +establishment sat severely in judgment on the two other camps. The +luxury of their dinners was criticised; the ices at their balls were +pondered; the behavior of the women, the dresses, and "novelties" +there produced were discussed and disapproved. + +Mademoiselle Cormon, a species of firm, as one might say, under whose +name was comprised an imposing coterie, was naturally the aim and +object of two ambitious men as deep and wily as the Chevalier de +Valois and du Bousquier. To the one as well as to the other, she meant +election as deputy, resulting, for the noble, in the peerage, for the +purveyor, in a receiver-generalship. A leading salon is a difficult +thing to create, whether in Paris or the provinces, and here was one +already created. To marry Mademoiselle Cormon was to reign in Alencon. +Athanase Granson, the only one of the three suitors for the hand of +the old maid who no longer calculated profits, now loved her person as +well as her fortune. + +To employ the jargon of the day, is there not a singular drama in the +situation of these four personages? Surely there is something odd and +fantastic in three rivalries silently encompassing a woman who never +guessed their existence, in spite of an eager and legitimate desire to +be married. And yet, though all these circumstances make the +spinsterhood of this old maid an extraordinary thing, it is not +difficult to explain how and why, in spite of her fortune and her +three lovers, she was still unmarried. In the first place, +Mademoiselle Cormon, following the custom and rule of her house, had +always desired to marry a nobleman; but from 1788 to 1798 public +circumstances were very unfavorable to such pretensions. Though she +wanted to be a woman of condition, as the saying is, she was horribly +afraid of the Revolutionary tribunal. The two sentiments, equal in +force, kept her stationary by a law as true in ethics as it is in +statics. This state of uncertain expectation is pleasing to unmarried +women as long as they feel themselves young, and in a position to +choose a husband. France knows that the political system of Napoleon +resulted in making many widows. Under that regime heiresses were +entirely out of proportion in numbers to the bachelors who wanted to +marry. When the Consulate restored internal order, external +difficulties made the marriage of Mademoiselle Cormon as difficult to +arrange as it had been in the past. If, on the one hand, +Rose-Marie-Victoire refused to marry an old man, on the other, the +fear of ridicule forbade her to marry a very young one. + +In the provinces, families marry their sons early to escape the +conscription. In addition to all this, she was obstinately determined +not to marry a soldier: she did not intend to take a man and then give +him up to the Emperor; she wanted him for herself alone. With these +views, she found it therefore impossible, from 1804 to 1815, to enter +the lists with young girls who were rivalling each other for suitable +matches. + +Besides her predilection for the nobility, Mademoiselle Cormon had +another and very excusable mania: that of being loved for herself. You +could hardly believe the lengths to which this desire led her. She +employed her mind on setting traps for her possible lovers, in order +to test their real sentiments. Her nets were so well laid that the +luckless suitors were all caught, and succumbed to the test she +applied to them without their knowledge. Mademoiselle Cormon did not +study them; she watched them. A single word said heedlessly, a joke +(that she often was unable to understand), sufficed to make her reject +an aspirant as unworthy: this one had neither heart nor delicacy; that +one told lies, and was not religious; a third only wanted to coin +money under the cloak of marriage; another was not of a nature to make +a woman happy; here she suspected hereditary gout; there certain +immoral antecedents alarmed her. Like the Church, she required a noble +priest at her altar; she even wanted to be married for imaginary +ugliness and pretended defects, just as other women wish to be loved +for the good qualities they have not, and for imaginary beauties. +Mademoiselle Cormon's ambition took its rise in the most delicate and +sensitive feminine feeling; she longed to reward a lover by revealing +to him a thousand virtues after marriage, as other women then betray +the imperfections they have hitherto concealed. But she was ill +understood. The noble woman met with none but common souls in whom the +reckoning of actual interests was paramount, and who knew nothing of +the nobler calculations of sentiment. + +The farther she advanced towards that fatal epoch so adroitly called +the "second youth," the more her distrust increased. She affected to +present herself in the most unfavorable light, and played her part so +well that the last wooers hesitated to link their fate to that of a +person whose virtuous blind-man's-buff required an amount of +penetration that men who want the virtuous ready-made would not bestow +upon it. The constant fear of being married for her money rendered her +suspicious and uneasy beyond all reason. She turned to the rich men; +but the rich are in search of great marriages; she feared the poor +men, in whom she denied the disinterestedness she sought so eagerly. +After each disappointment in marriage, the poor lady, led to despise +mankind, began to see them all in a false light. Her character +acquired, necessarily, a secret misanthropy, which threw a tinge of +bitterness into her conversation, and some severity into her eyes. +Celibacy gave to her manners and habits a certain increasing rigidity; +for she endeavored to sanctify herself in despair of fate. Noble +vengeance! she was cutting for God the rough diamond rejected by man. +Before long public opinion was against her; for society accepts the +verdict an independent woman renders on herself by not marrying, +either through losing suitors or rejecting them. Everybody supposed +that these rejections were founded on secret reasons, always ill +interpreted. One said she was deformed; another suggested some hidden +fault; but the poor girl was really as pure as a saint, as healthy as +an infant, and full of loving kindness; Nature had intended her for +all the pleasures, all the joys, and all the fatigues of motherhood. + +Mademoiselle Cormon did not possess in her person an obliging +auxiliary to her desires. She had no other beauty than that very +improperly called la beaute du diable, which consists of a buxom +freshness of youth that the devil, theologically speaking, could never +have,--though perhaps the expression may be explained by the constant +desire that must surely possess him to cool and refresh himself. The +feet of the heiress were broad and flat. Her leg, which she often +exposed to sight by her manner (be it said without malice) of lifting +her gown when it rained, could never have been taken for the leg of a +woman. It was sinewy, with a thick projecting calf like a sailor's. A +stout waist, the plumpness of a wet-nurse, strong dimpled arms, red +hands, were all in keeping with the swelling outlines and the fat +whiteness of Norman beauty. Projecting eyes, undecided in color, gave +to her face, the rounded outline of which had no dignity, an air of +surprise and sheepish simplicity, which was suitable perhaps for an +old maid. If Rose had not been, as she was, really innocent, she would +have seemed so. An aquiline nose contrasted curiously with the +narrowness of her forehead; for it is rare that that form of nose does +not carry with it a fine brow. In spite of her thick red lips, a sign +of great kindliness, the forehead revealed too great a lack of ideas +to allow of the heart being guided by intellect; she was evidently +benevolent without grace. How severely we reproach Virtue for its +defects, and how full of indulgence we all are for the pleasanter +qualities of Vice! + +Chestnut hair of extraordinary length gave to Rose Cormon's face a +beauty which results from vigor and abundance,--the physical qualities +most apparent in her person. In the days of her chief pretensions, +Rose affected to hold her head at the three-quarter angle, in order to +exhibit a very pretty ear, which detached itself from the blue-veined +whiteness of her throat and temples, set off, as it was, by her wealth +of hair. Seen thus in a ball-dress, she might have seemed handsome. +Her protuberant outlines and her vigorous health did, in fact, draw +from the officers of the Empire the approving exclamation,-- + +"What a fine slip of a girl!" + +But, as years rolled on, this plumpness, encouraged by a tranquil, +wholesome life, had insensibly so ill spread itself over the whole of +Mademoiselle Cormon's body that her primitive proportions were +destroyed. At the present moment, no corset could restore a pair of +hips to the poor lady, who seemed to have been cast in a single mould. +The youthful harmony of her bosom existed no longer; and its excessive +amplitude made the spectator fear that if she stooped its heavy masses +might topple her over. But nature had provided against this by giving +her a natural counterpoise, which rendered needless the deceitful +adjunct of a bustle; in Rose Cormon everything was genuine. Her chin, +as it doubled, reduced the length of her neck, and hindered the easy +carriage of her head. Rose had no wrinkles, but she had folds of +flesh; and jesters declared that to save chafing she powdered her skin +as they do an infant's. + +This ample person offered to a young man full of ardent desires like +Athanase an attraction to which he had succumbed. Young imaginations, +essentially eager and courageous, like to rove upon these fine living +sheets of flesh. Rose was like a plump partridge attracting the knife +of a gourmet. Many an elegant deep in debt would very willingly have +resigned himself to make the happiness of Mademoiselle Cormon. But, +alas! the poor girl was now forty years old. At this period, after +vainly seeking to put into her life those interests which make the +Woman, and finding herself forced to be still unmarried, she fortified +her virtue by stern religious practices. She had recourse to religion, +the great consoler of oppressed virginity. A confessor had, for the +last three years, directed Mademoiselle Cormon rather stupidly in the +path of maceration; he advised the use of scourging, which, if modern +medical science is to be believed, produces an effect quite the +contrary to that expected by the worthy priest, whose hygienic +knowledge was not extensive. + +These absurd practices were beginning to shed a monastic tint over the +face of Rose Cormon, who now saw with something like despair her white +skin assuming the yellow tones which proclaim maturity. A slight down +on her upper lip, about the corners, began to spread and darken like a +trail of smoke; her temples grew shiny; decadence was beginning! It +was authentic in Alencon that Mademoiselle Cormon suffered from rush +of blood to the head. She confided her ills to the Chevalier de +Valois, enumerating her foot-baths, and consulting him as to +refrigerants. On such occasions the shrewd old gentleman would pull +out his snuff-box, gaze at the Princess Goritza, and say, by way of +conclusion:-- + +"The right composing draught, my dear lady, is a good and kind +husband." + +"But whom can one trust?" she replied. + +The chevalier would then brush away the snuff which had settled in the +folds of his waistcoat or his paduasoy breeches. To the world at large +this gesture would have seemed very natural; but it always gave +extreme uneasiness to the poor woman. + +The violence of this hope without an object was so great that Rose was +afraid to look a man in the face lest he should perceive in her eyes +the feelings that filled her soul. By a wilfulness, which was perhaps +only the continuation of her earlier methods, though she felt herself +attracted toward the men who might still suit her, she was so afraid +of being accused of folly that she treated them ungraciously. Most +persons in her society, being incapable of appreciating her motives, +which were always noble, explained her manner towards her co-celibates +as the revenge of a refusal received or expected. When the year 1815 +began, Rose had reached that fatal age which she dared not avow. She +was forty-two years old. Her desire for marriage then acquired an +intensity which bordered on monomania, for she saw plainly that all +chance of progeny was about to escape her; and the thing which in her +celestial ignorance she desired above all things was the possession of +children. Not a person in all Alencon ever attributed to this virtuous +woman a single desire for amorous license. She loved, as it were, in +bulk without the slightest imagination of love. Rose was a Catholic +Agnes, incapable of inventing even one of the wiles of Moliere's +Agnes. + +For some months past she had counted on chance. The disbandment of the +Imperial troops and the reorganization of the Royal army caused a +change in the destination of many officers, who returned, some on +half-pay, others with or without a pension, to their native towns, +--all having a desire to counteract their luckless fate, and to end +their life in a way which might to Rose Cormon be a happy beginning of +hers. It would surely be strange if, among those who returned to +Alencon or its neighborhood, no brave, honorable, and, above all, +sound and healthy officer of suitable age could be found, whose +character would be a passport among Bonaparte opinions; or some +ci-devant noble who, to regain his lost position, would join the ranks +of the royalists. This hope kept Mademoiselle Cormon in heart during +the early months of that year. But, alas! all the soldiers who thus +returned were either too old or too young; too aggressively +Bonapartist, or too dissipated; in short, their several situations +were out of keeping with the rank, fortune, and morals of Mademoiselle +Cormon, who now grew daily more and more desperate. The poor woman in +vain prayed to God to send her a husband with whom she could be +piously happy: it was doubtless written above that she should die both +virgin and martyr; no man suitable for a husband presented himself. +The conversations in her salon every evening kept her informed of the +arrival of all strangers in Alencon, and of the facts of their +fortunes, rank, and habits. But Alencon is not a town which attracts +visitors; it is not on the road to any capital; even sailors, +travelling from Brest to Paris, never stop there. The poor woman ended +by admitting to herself that she was reduced to the aborigines. Her +eye now began to assume a certain savage expression, to which the +malicious chevalier responded by a shrewd look as he drew out his +snuff-box and gazed at the Princess Goritza. Monsieur de Valois was +well aware that in the feminine ethics of love fidelity to a first +attachment is considered a pledge for the future. + +But Mademoiselle Cormon--we must admit it--was wanting in intellect, +and did not understand the snuff-box performance. She redoubled her +vigilance against "the evil spirit"; her rigid devotion and fixed +principles kept her cruel sufferings hidden among the mysteries of +private life. Every evening, after the company had left her, she +thought of her lost youth, her faded bloom, the hopes of thwarted +nature; and, all the while immolating her passions at the feet of the +Cross (like poems condemned to stay in a desk), she resolved firmly +that if, by chance, any suitor presented himself, to subject him to no +tests, but to accept him at once for whatever he might be. She even +went so far as to think of marrying a sub-lieutenant, a man who smoked +tobacco, whom she proposed to render, by dint of care and kindness, +one of the best men in the world, although he was hampered with debts. + +But it was only in the silence of night watches that these fantastic +marriages, in which she played the sublime role of guardian angel, +took place. The next day, though Josette found her mistress' bed in a +tossed and tumbled condition, Mademoiselle Cormon had recovered her +dignity, and could only think of a man of forty, a land-owner, well +preserved, and a quasi-young man. + +The Abbe de Sponde was incapable of giving his niece the slightest aid +in her matrimonial manoeuvres. The worthy soul, now seventy years of +age, attributed the disasters of the French Revolution to the design +of Providence, eager to punish a dissolute Church. He had therefore +flung himself into the path, long since abandoned, which anchorites +once followed in order to reach heaven: he led an ascetic life without +proclaiming it, and without external credit. He hid from the world his +works of charity, his continual prayers, his penances; he thought that +all priests should have acted thus during the days of wrath and +terror, and he preached by example. While presenting to the world a +calm and smiling face, he had ended by detaching himself utterly from +earthly interests; his mind turned exclusively to sufferers, to the +needs of the Church, and to his own salvation. He left the management +of his property to his niece, who gave him the income of it, and to +whom he paid a slender board in order to spend the surplus in secret +alms and gifts to the Church. + +All the abbe's affections were concentrated on his niece, who regarded +him as a father, but an abstracted father, unable to conceive the +agitations of the flesh, and thanking God for maintaining his dear +daughter in a state of celibacy; for he had, from his youth up, +adopted the principles of Saint John Chrysostom, who wrote that "the +virgin state is as far above the marriage state as the angel is above +humanity." Accustomed to reverence her uncle, Mademoiselle Cormon +dared not initiate him into the desires which filled her soul for a +change of state. The worthy man, accustomed, on his side, to the ways +of the house, would scarcely have liked the introduction of a husband. +Preoccupied by the sufferings he soothed, lost in the depths of +prayer, the Abbe de Sponde had periods of abstraction which the +habitues of the house regarded as absent-mindedness. In any case, he +talked little; but his silence was affable and benevolent. He was a +man of great height and spare, with grave and solemn manners, though +his face expressed all gentle sentiments and an inward calm; while his +mere presence carried with it a sacred authority. He was very fond of +the Voltairean chevalier. Those two majestic relics of the nobility +and clergy, though of very different habits and morals, recognized +each other by their generous traits. Besides, the chevalier was as +unctuous with the abbe as he was paternal with the grisettes. + +Some persons may fancy that Mademoiselle Cormon used every means to +attain her end; and that among the legitimate lures of womanhood she +devoted herself to dress, wore low-necked gowns, and employed the +negative coquetries of a magnificent display of arms. Not at all! She +was as heroic and immovable in her high-necked chemisette as a sentry +in his box. Her gowns, bonnets, and chiffons were all cut and made by +the dressmaker and the milliner of Alencon, two hump-backed sisters, +who were not without some taste. In spite of the entreaties of these +artists, Mademoiselle Cormon refused to employ the airy deceits of +elegance; she chose to be substantial in all things, flesh and +feathers. But perhaps the heavy fashion of her gowns was best suited +to her cast of countenance. Let those laugh who will at this poor +girl; you would have thought her sublime, O generous souls! who care +but little what form true feeling takes, but admire it where it /is/. + +Here some light-minded person may exclaim against the truth of this +statement; they will say that there is not in all France a girl so +silly as to be ignorant of the art of angling for men; that +Mademoiselle Cormon is one of those monstrous exceptions which +commonsense should prevent a writer from using as a type; that the +most virtuous and also the silliest girl who desires to catch her fish +knows well how to bait the hook. But these criticisms fall before the +fact that the noble catholic, apostolic, and Roman religion is still +erect in Brittany and in the ancient duchy of Alencon. Faith and piety +admit of no subtleties. Mademoiselle Cormon trod the path of +salvation, preferring the sorrows of her virginity so cruelly +prolonged to the evils of trickery and the sin of a snare. In a woman +armed with a scourge virtue could never compromise; consequently both +love and self-interest were forced to seek her, and seek her +resolutely. And here let us have the courage to make a cruel +observation, in days when religion is nothing more than a useful means +to some, and a poesy to others. Devotion causes a moral ophthalmia. By +some providential grace, it takes from souls on the road to eternity +the sight of many little earthly things. In a word, pious persons, +devotes, are stupid on various points. This stupidity proves with what +force they turn their minds to celestial matters; although the +Voltairean Chevalier de Valois declared that it was difficult to +decide whether stupid people became naturally pious, or whether piety +had the effect of making intelligent young women stupid. But reflect +upon this carefully: the purest catholic virtue, with its loving +acceptance of all cups, with its pious submission to the will of God, +with its belief in the print of the divine finger on the clay of all +earthly life, is the mysterious light which glides into the innermost +folds of human history, setting them in relief and magnifying them in +the eyes of those who still have Faith. Besides, if there be +stupidity, why not concern ourselves with the sorrows of stupidity as +well as with the sorrows of genius? The former is a social element +infinitely more abundant than the latter. + +So, then, Mademoiselle Cormon was guilty in the eyes of the world of +the divine ignorance of virgins. She was no observer, and her behavior +with her suitors proved it. At this very moment, a young girl of +sixteen, who had never opened a novel, would have read a hundred +chapters of a love story in the eyes of Athanase Granson, where +Mademoiselle Cormon saw absolutely nothing. Shy herself, she never +suspected shyness in others; she did not recognize in the quavering +tones of his speech the force of a sentiment he could not utter. +Capable of inventing those refinements of sentimental grandeur which +hindered her marriage in her early years, she yet could not recognize +them in Athanase. This moral phenomenon will not seem surprising to +persons who know that the qualities of the heart are as distinct from +those of the mind as the faculties of genius are from the nobility of +soul. A perfect, all-rounded man is so rare that Socrates, one of the +noblest pearls of humanity, declared (as a phrenologist of that day) +that he was born to be a scamp, and a very bad one. A great general +may save his country at Zurich, and take commissions from purveyors. A +great musician may conceive the sublimest music and commit a forgery. +A woman of true feeling may be a fool. In short, a devote may have a +sublime soul and yet be unable to recognize the tones of a noble soul +beside her. The caprices produced by physical infirmities are equally +to be met with in the mental and moral regions. + +This good creature, who grieved at making her yearly preserves for no +one but her uncle and herself, was becoming almost ridiculous. Those +who felt a sympathy for her on account of her good qualities, and +others on account of her defects, now made fun of her abortive +marriages. More than one conversation was based on what would become +of so fine a property, together with the old maid's savings and her +uncle's inheritance. For some time past she had been suspected of +being au fond, in spite of appearances, an "original." In the +provinces it was not permissible to be original: being original means +having ideas that are not understood by others; the provinces demand +equality of mind as well as equality of manners and customs. + +The marriage of Mademoiselle Cormon seemed, after 1804, a thing so +problematical that the saying "married like Mademoiselle Cormon" +became proverbial in Alencon as applied to ridiculous failures. Surely +the sarcastic mood must be an imperative need in France, that so +excellent a woman should excite the laughter of Alencon. Not only did +she receive the whole society of the place at her house, not only was +she charitable, pious, incapable of saying an unkind thing, but she +was fully in accord with the spirit of the place and the habits and +customs of the inhabitants, who liked her as the symbol of their +lives; she was absolutely inlaid into the ways of the provinces; she +had never quitted them; she imbibed all their prejudices; she espoused +all their interests; she adored them. + +In spite of her income of eighteen thousand francs from landed +property, a very considerable fortune in the provinces, she lived on a +footing with families who were less rich. When she went to her +country-place at Prebaudet, she drove there in an old wicker carriole, +hung on two straps of white leather, drawn by a wheezy mare, and +scarcely protected by two leather curtains rusty with age. This +carriole, known to all the town, was cared for by Jacquelin as though +it were the finest coupe in all Paris. Mademoiselle valued it; she had +used it for twelve years,--a fact to which she called attention with +the triumphant joy of happy avarice. Most of the inhabitants of the +town were grateful to Mademoiselle Cormon for not humiliating them by +the luxury she could have displayed; we may even believe that had she +imported a caleche from Paris they would have gossiped more about that +than about her various matrimonial failures. The most brilliant +equipage would, after all, have only taken her, like the old carriole, +to Prebaudet. Now the provinces, which look solely to results, care +little about the beauty or elegance of the means, provided they are +efficient. + + + + CHAPTER V + + AN OLD MAID'S HOUSEHOLD + +To complete the picture of the internal habits and ways of this house, +it is necessary to group around Mademoiselle Cormon and the Abbe de +Sponde Jacquelin, Josette, and Mariette, the cook, who employed +themselves in providing for the comfort of uncle and niece. + +Jacquelin, a man of forty, short, fat, ruddy, and brown, with a face +like a Breton sailor, had been in the service of the house for +twenty-two years. He waited at table, groomed the mare, gardened, +blacked the abbe's boots, went on errands, chopped the wood, drove the +carriole, and fetched the oats, straw, and hay from Prebaudet. He sat +in the antechamber during the evening, where he slept like a dormouse. +He was in love with Josette, a girl of thirty, whom Mademoiselle would +have dismissed had she married him. So the poor fond pair laid by +their wages, and loved each other silently, waiting, hoping for +mademoiselle's own marriage, as the Jews are waiting for the Messiah. +Josette, born between Alencon and Mortagne, was short and plump; her +face, which looked like a dirty apricot, was not wanting in sense and +character; it was said that she ruled her mistress. Josette and +Jacquelin, sure of results, endeavored to hide an inward satisfaction +which allows it to be supposed that, as lovers, they had discounted +the future. Mariette, the cook, who had been fifteen years in the +household, knew how to make all the dishes held in most honor in +Alencon. + +Perhaps we ought to count for much the fat old Norman brown-bay mare, +which drew Mademoiselle Cormon to her country-seat at Prebaudet; for +the five inhabitants of the house bore to this animal a maniacal +affection. She was called Penelope, and had served the family for +eighteen years; but she was kept so carefully and fed with such +regularity that mademoiselle and Jacquelin both hoped to use her for +ten years longer. This beast was the subject of perpetual talk and +occupation; it seemed as if poor Mademoiselle Cormon, having no +children on whom her repressed motherly feelings could expend +themselves, had turned those sentiments wholly on this most fortunate +animal. + +The four faithful servants--for Penelope's intelligence raised her to +the level of the other good servants; while they, on the other hand, +had lowered themselves to the mute, submissive regularity of the beast +--went and came daily in the same occupations with the infallible +accuracy of mechanism. But, as they said in their idiom, they had +eaten their white bread first. Mademoiselle Cormon, like all persons +nervously agitated by a fixed idea, became hard to please, and +nagging, less by nature than from the need of employing her activity. +Having no husband or children to occupy her, she fell back on petty +details. She talked for hours about mere nothings, on a dozen napkins +marked "Z," placed in the closet before the "O's." + +"What can Josette be thinking of?" she exclaimed. "Josette is +beginning to neglect things." + +Mademoiselle inquired for eight days running whether Penelope had had +her oats at two o'clock, because on one occasion Jacquelin was a +trifle late. Her narrow imagination spent itself on trifles. A layer +of dust forgotten by the feather-duster, a slice of toast ill-made by +Mariette, Josette's delay in closing the blinds when the sun came +round to fade the colors of the furniture,--all these great little +things gave rise to serious quarrels in which mademoiselle grew angry. +"Everything was changing," she would cry; "she did not know her own +servants; the fact was she spoiled them!" On one occasion Josette gave +her the "Journee du Chretien" instead of the "Quinzaine de Paques." +The whole town heard of this disaster the same evening. Mademoiselle +had been forced to leave the church and return home; and her sudden +departure, upsetting the chairs, made people suppose a catastrophe had +happened. She was therefore obliged to explain the facts to her +friends. + +"Josette," she said gently, "such a thing must never happen again." + +Mademoiselle Cormon was, without being aware of it, made happier by +such little quarrels, which served as cathartics to relieve her +bitterness. The soul has its needs, and, like the body, its +gymnastics. These uncertainties of temper were accepted by Josette and +Jacquelin as changes in the weather are accepted by husbandmen. Those +worthy souls remark, "It is fine to-day," or "It rains," without +arraigning the heavens. And so when they met in the morning the +servants would wonder in what humor mademoiselle would get up, just as +a farmer wonders about the mists at dawn. + +Mademoiselle Cormon had ended, as it was natural she should end, in +contemplating herself only in the infinite pettinesses of her life. +Herself and God, her confessor and the weekly wash, her preserves and +the church services, and her uncle to care for, absorbed her feeble +intellect. To her the atoms of life were magnified by an optic +peculiar to persons who are selfish by nature or self-absorbed by some +accident. Her perfect health gave alarming meaning to the least little +derangement of her digestive organs. She lived under the iron rod of +the medical science of our forefathers, and took yearly four +precautionary doses, strong enough to have killed Penelope, though +they seemed to rejuvenate her mistress. If Josette, when dressing her, +chanced to discover a little pimple on the still satiny shoulders of +mademoiselle, it became the subject of endless inquiries as to the +various alimentary articles of the preceding week. And what a triumph +when Josette reminded her mistress of a certain hare that was rather +"high," and had doubtless raised that accursed pimple! With what joy +they said to each other: "No doubt, no doubt, it /was/ the hare!" + +"Mariette over-seasoned it," said mademoiselle. "I am always telling +her to do so lightly for my uncle and for me; but Mariette has no more +memory than--" + +"The hare," said Josette. + +"Just so," replied Mademoiselle; "she has no more memory than a hare, +--a very just remark." + +Four times a year, at the beginning of each season, Mademoiselle +Cormon went to pass a certain number of days on her estate of +Prebaudet. It was now the middle of May, the period at which she +wished to see how her apple-trees had "snowed," a saying of that +region which expressed the effect produced beneath the trees by the +falling of their blossoms. When the circular deposit of these fallen +petals resembled a layer of snow the owner of the trees might hope for +an abundant supply of cider. While she thus gauged her vats, +Mademoiselle Cormon also attended to the repairs which the winter +necessitated; she ordered the digging of her flower-beds and her +vegetable garden, from which she supplied her table. Every season had +its own business. Mademoiselle always gave a dinner of farewell to her +intimate friends the day before her departure, although she was +certain to see them again within three weeks. It was always a piece of +news which echoed through Alencon when Mademoiselle Cormon departed. +All her visitors, especially those who had missed a visit, came to bid +her good-bye; the salon was thronged, and every one said farewell as +though she were starting for Calcutta. The next day the shopkeepers +would stand at their doors to see the old carriole pass, and they +seemed to be telling one another some news by repeating from shop to +shop:-- + +"So Mademoiselle Cormon is going to Prebaudet!" + +Some said: "/Her/ bread is baked." + +"Hey! my lad," replied the next man. "She's a worthy woman; if money +always came into such hands we shouldn't see a beggar in the country." + +Another said: "Dear me, I shouldn't be surprised if the vineyards were +in bloom; here's Mademoiselle Cormon going to Prebaudet. How happens +it she doesn't marry?" + +"I'd marry her myself," said a wag; "in fact, the marriage is +half-made, for here's one consenting party; but the other side won't. +Pooh! the oven is heating for Monsieur du Bousquier." + +"Monsieur du Bousquier! Why, she has refused him." + +That evening at all the gatherings it was told gravely:-- + +"Mademoiselle Cormon has gone." + +Or:-- + +"So you have really let Mademoiselle Cormon go." + +The Wednesday chosen by Suzanne to make known her scandal happened to +be this farewell Wednesday,--a day on which Mademoiselle Cormon drove +Josette distracted on the subject of packing. During the morning, +therefore, things had been said and done in the town which lent the +utmost interest to this farewell meeting. Madame Granson had gone the +round of a dozen houses while the old maid was deliberating on the +things she needed for the journey; and the malicious Chevalier de +Valois was playing piquet with Mademoiselle Armande, sister of a +distinguished old marquis, and the queen of the salon of the +aristocrats. If it was not uninteresting to any one to see what figure +the seducer would cut that evening, it was all important for the +chevalier and Madame Granson to know how Mademoiselle Cormon would +take the news in her double capacity of marriageable woman and +president of the Maternity Society. As for the innocent du Bousquier, +he was taking a walk on the promenade, and beginning to suspect that +Suzanne had tricked him; this suspicion confirmed him in his +principles as to women. + +On gala days the table was laid at Mademoiselle Cormon's about +half-past three o'clock. At that period the fashionable people of +Alencon dined at four. Under the Empire they still dined as in former +times at half-past two; but then they supped! One of the pleasures +which Mademoiselle Cormon valued most was (without meaning any malice, +although the fact certainly rests on egotism) the unspeakable +satisfaction she derived from seeing herself dressed as mistress of +the house to receive her guests. When she was thus under arms a ray of +hope would glide into the darkness of her heart; a voice told her that +nature had not so abundantly provided for her in vain, and that some +man, brave and enterprising, would surely present himself. Her desire +was refreshed like her person; she contemplated herself in her heavy +stuffs with a sort of intoxication, and this satisfaction continued +when she descended the stairs to cast her redoubtable eye on the +salon, the dinner-table, and the boudoir. She would then walk about +with the naive contentment of the rich,--who remember at all moments +that they are rich and will never want for anything. She looked at her +eternal furniture, her curiosities, her lacquers, and said to herself +that all these fine things wanted was a master. After admiring the +dining-room, and the oblong dinner-table, on which was spread a +snow-white cloth adorned with twenty covers placed at equal distances; +after verifying the squadron of bottles she had ordered to be brought +up, and which all bore honorable labels; after carefully verifying the +names written on little bits of paper in the trembling handwriting of +the abbe (the only duty he assumed in the household, and one which +gave rise to grave discussions on the place of each guest),--after +going through all these preliminary acts mademoiselle went, in her +fine clothes, to her uncle, who was accustomed at this, the best hour +in the day, to take his walk on the terrace which overlooked the +Brillante, where he could listen to the warble of birds which were +resting in the coppice, unafraid of either sportsmen or children. At +such times of waiting she never joined the Abbe de Sponde without +asking him some ridiculous question, in order to draw the old man into +a discussion which might serve to amuse him. And her reason was this, +--which will serve to complete our picture of this excellent woman's +nature:-- + +Mademoiselle Cormon regarded it as one of her duties to talk; not that +she was talkative, for she had unfortunately too few ideas, and did +not know enough phrases to converse readily. But she believed she was +accomplishing one of the social duties enjoined by religion, which +orders us to make ourselves agreeable to our neighbor. This obligation +cost her so much that she consulted her director, the Abbe Couturier, +upon the subject of this honest but puerile civility. In spite of the +humble remark of his penitent, confessing the inward labor of her mind +in finding anything to say, the old priest, rigid on the point of +discipline, read her a passage from Saint-Francois de Sales on the +duties of women in society, which dwelt on the decent gayety of pious +Christian women, who were bound to reserve their sternness for +themselves, and to be amiable and pleasing in their homes, and see +that their neighbors enjoyed themselves. Thus, filled with a sense of +duty, and wishing, at all costs, to obey her director, who bade her +converse with amenity, the poor soul perspired in her corset when the +talk around her languished, so much did she suffer from the effort of +emitting ideas in order to revive it. Under such circumstances she +would put forth the silliest statements, such as: "No one can be in +two places at once--unless it is a little bird," by which she one day +roused, and not without success, a discussion on the ubiquity of the +apostles, which she was unable to comprehend. Such efforts at +conversation won her the appellation of "that good Mademoiselle +Cormon," which, from the lips of the beaux esprits of society, means +that she was as ignorant as a carp, and rather a poor fool; but many +persons of her own calibre took the remark in its literal sense, and +answered:-- + +"Yes; oh yes! Mademoiselle Cormon is an excellent woman." + +Sometimes she would put such absurd questions (always for the purpose +of fulfilling her duties to society, and making herself agreeable to +her guests) that everybody burst out laughing. She asked, for +instance, what the government did with the taxes they were always +receiving; and why the Bible had not been printed in the days of Jesus +Christ, inasmuch as it was written by Moses. Her mental powers were +those of the English "country gentleman" who, hearing constant mention +of "posterity" in the House of Commons, rose to make the speech that +has since become celebrated: "Gentlemen," he said, "I hear much talk +in this place about Posterity. I should be glad to know what that +power has ever done for England." + +Under these circumstances the heroic Chevalier de Valois would bring +to the succor of the old maid all the powers of his clever diplomacy, +whenever he saw the pitiless smile of wiser heads. The old gentleman, +who loved to assist women, turned Mademoiselle Cormon's sayings into +wit by sustaining them paradoxically, and he often covered the retreat +so well that it seemed as if the good woman had said nothing silly. +She asserted very seriously one evening that she did not see any +difference between an ox and a bull. The dear chevalier instantly +arrested the peals of laughter by asserting that there was only the +difference between a sheep and a lamb. + +But the Chevalier de Valois served an ungrateful dame, for never did +Mademoiselle Cormon comprehend his chivalrous services. Observing that +the conversation grew lively, she simply thought that she was not so +stupid as she was,--the result being that she settled down into her +ignorance with some complacency; she lost her timidity, and acquired a +self-possession which gave to her "speeches" something of the +solemnity with which the British enunciate their patriotic +absurdities,--the self-conceit of stupidity, as it may be called. + +As she approached her uncle, on this occasion, with a majestic step, +she was ruminating over a question that might draw him from a silence, +which always troubled her, for she feared he was dull. + +"Uncle," she said, leaning on his arm and clinging to his side (this +was one of her fictions; for she said to herself "If I had a husband I +should do just so"),--"uncle, if everything here below happens +according to the will of God, there must be a reason for everything." + +"Certainly," replied the abbe, gravely. The worthy man, who cherished +his niece, always allowed her to tear him from his meditations with +angelic patience. + +"Then if I remain unmarried,--supposing that I do,--God wills it?" + +"Yes, my child," replied the abbe. + +"And yet, as nothing prevents me from marrying to-morrow if I choose, +His will can be destroyed by mine?" + +"That would be true if we knew what was really the will of God," +replied the former prior of the Sorbonne. "Observe, my daughter, that +you put in an /if/." + +The poor woman, who expected to draw her uncle into a matrimonial +discussion by an argument ad omnipotentem, was stupefied; but persons +of obtuse mind have the terrible logic of children, which consists in +turning from answer to question,--a logic that is frequently +embarrassing. + +"But, uncle, God did not make women intending them not to marry; +otherwise they ought all to stay unmarried; if not, they ought all to +marry. There's great injustice in the distribution of parts." + +"Daughter," said the worthy abbe, "you are blaming the Church, which +declares celibacy to be the better way to God." + +"But if the Church is right, and all the world were good Catholics, +wouldn't the human race come to an end, uncle?" + +"You have too much mind, Rose; you don't need so much to be happy." + +That remark brought a smile of satisfaction to the lips of the poor +woman, and confirmed her in the good opinion she was beginning to +acquire about herself. That is how the world, our friends, and our +enemies are the accomplices of our defects! + +At this moment the conversation was interrupted by the successive +arrival of the guests. On these ceremonial days, friendly +familiarities were exchanged between the servants of the house and the +company. Mariette remarked to the chief-justice as he passed the +kitchen:-- + +"Ah, Monsieur du Ronceret, I've cooked the cauliflowers au gratin +expressly for you, for mademoiselle knows how you like them; and she +said to me: 'Now don't forget, Mariette, for Monsieur du Ronceret is +coming.'" + +"That good Mademoiselle Cormon!" ejaculated the chief legal authority +of the town. "Mariette, did you steep them in gravy instead of +soup-stock? it is much richer." + +The chief-justice was not above entering the chamber of council where +Mariette held court; he cast the eye of a gastronome around it, and +offered the advice of a past master in cookery. + +"Good-day, madame," said Josette to Madame Granson, who courted the +maid. "Mademoiselle has thought of you, and there's fish for dinner." + +As for the Chevalier de Valois, he remarked to Mariette, in the easy +tone of a great seigneur who condescends to be familiar:-- + +"Well, my dear cordon-bleu, to whom I should give the cross of the +Legion of honor, is there some little dainty for which I had better +reserve myself?" + +"Yes, yes, Monsieur de Valois,--a hare sent from Prebaudet; weighs +fourteen pounds." + +Du Bousquier was not invited. Mademoiselle Cormon, faithful to the +system which we know of, treated that fifty-year-old suitor extremely +ill, although she felt inexplicable sentiments towards him in the +depths of her heart. She had refused him; yet at times she repented; +and a presentiment that she should yet marry him, together with a +terror at the idea which prevented her from wishing for the marriage, +assailed her. Her mind, stimulated by these feelings, was much +occupied by du Bousquier. Without being aware of it, she was +influenced by the herculean form of the republican. Madame Granson and +the Chevalier de Valois, although they could not explain to themselves +Mademoiselle Cormon's inconsistencies, had detected her naive glances +in that direction, the meaning of which seemed clear enough to make +them both resolve to ruin the hopes of the already rejected purveyor, +--hopes which it was evident he still indulged. + +Two guests, whose functions excused them, kept the dinner waiting. One +was Monsieur du Coudrai, the recorder of mortgages; the other Monsieur +Choisnel, former bailiff to the house of Esgrignon, and now the notary +of the upper aristocracy, by whom he was received with a distinction +due to his virtues; he was also a man of considerable wealth. When the +two belated guests arrived, Jacquelin said to them as he saw them +about to enter the salon:-- + +"/They/ are all in the garden." + +No doubt the assembled stomachs were impatient; for on the appearance +of the register of mortgages--who had no defect except that of having +married for her money an intolerable old woman, and of perpetrating +endless puns, at which he was the first to laugh--the gentle murmur by +which such late-comers are welcomed arose. While awaiting the official +announcement of dinner, the company were sauntering on the terrace +above the river, and gazing at the water-plants, the mosaic of the +currents, and the various pretty details of the houses clustering +across the river, their old wooden galleries, their mouldering +window-frames, their little gardens where clothes were drying, the +cabinet-maker's shop,--in short, the many details of a small community +to which the vicinity of a river, a weeping willow, flowers, +rose-bushes, added a certain grace, making the scene quite worthy of a +landscape painter. + +The chevalier studied all faces, for he knew that his firebrand had +been very successfully introduced into the chief houses of the place. +But no one as yet referred openly to the great news of Suzanne and du +Bousquier. Provincials possess in the highest degree the art of +distilling gossip; the right moment for openly discussing this strange +affair had not arrived; it was first necessary that all present should +put themselves on record. So the whispers went round from ear to +ear:-- + +"You have heard?" + +"Yes." + +"Du Bousquier?" + +"And that handsome Suzanne." + +"Does Mademoiselle Cormon know of it?" + +"No." + +"Ha!" + +This was the /piano/ of the scandal; the /rinforzando/ would break +forth as soon as the first course had been removed. Suddenly Monsieur +de Valois's eyes lighted on Madame Granson, arrayed in her green hat +with bunches of auriculas, and beaming with evident joy. Was it merely +the joy of opening the concert? Though such a piece of news was like a +gold mine to work in the monotonous lives of these personages, the +observant and distrustful chevalier thought he recognized in the +worthy woman a far more extended sentiment; namely, the joy caused by +the triumph of self-interest. Instantly he turned to examine Athanase, +and detected him in the significant silence of deep meditation. +Presently, a look cast by the young man on Mademoiselle Cormon carried +to the soul of the chevalier a sudden gleam. That momentary flash of +lightning enabled him to read the past. + +"Ha! the devil!" he said to himself; "what a checkmate I'm exposed +to!" + +Monsieur de Valois now approached Mademoiselle Cormon, and offered his +arm. The old maid's feeling to the chevalier was that of respectful +consideration; and certainly his name, together with the position he +occupied among the aristocratic constellations of the department made +him the most brilliant ornament of her salon. In her inmost mind +Mademoiselle Cormon had wished for the last dozen years to become +Madame de Valois. That name was like the branch of a tree, to which +the ideas which /swarmed/ in her mind about rank, nobility, and the +external qualities of a husband had fastened. But, though the +Chevalier de Valois was the man chosen by her heart, and mind, and +ambition, that elderly ruin, combed and curled like a little +Saint-John in a procession, alarmed Mademoiselle Cormon. She saw the +gentleman in him, but she could not see a husband. The indifference +which the chevalier affected as to marriage, above all, the apparent +purity of his morals in a house which abounded in grisettes, did +singular harm in her mind to Monsieur de Valois against his +expectations. The worthy man, who showed such judgment in the matter +of his annuity, was at fault here. Without being herself aware of it, +the thoughts of Mademoiselle Cormon on the too virtuous chevalier +might be translated thus:-- + +"What a pity that he isn't a trifle dissipated!" + +Observers of the human heart have remarked the leaning of pious women +toward scamps; some have expressed surprise at this taste, considering +it opposed to Christian virtue. But, in the first place, what nobler +destiny can you offer to a virtuous woman than to purify, like +charcoal, the muddy waters of vice? How is it some observers fail to +see that these noble creatures, obliged by the sternness of their own +principles never to infringe on conjugal fidelity, must naturally +desire a husband of wider practical experience than their own? The +scamps of social life are great men in love. Thus the poor woman +groaned in spirit at finding her chosen vessel parted into two pieces. +God alone could solder together a Chevalier de Valois and a du +Bousquier. + +In order to explain the importance of the few words which the +chevalier and Mademoiselle Cormon are about to say to each other, it +is necessary to reveal two serious matters which agitated the town, +and about which opinions were divided; besides, du Bousquier was +mysteriously connected with them. + +One concerns the rector of Alencon, who had formerly taken the +constitutional oath, and who was now conquering the repugnance of the +Catholics by a display of the highest virtues. He was Cheverus on a +small scale, and became in time so fully appreciated that when he died +the whole town mourned him. Mademoiselle Cormon and the Abbe de Sponde +belonged to that "little Church," sublime in its orthodoxy, which was +to the court of Rome what the Ultras were to be to Louis XVIII. The +abbe, more especially, refused to recognize a Church which had +compromised with the constitutionals. The rector was therefore not +received in the Cormon household, whose sympathies were all given to +the curate of Saint-Leonard, the aristocratic parish of Alencon. Du +Bousquier, that fanatic liberal now concealed under the skin of a +royalist, knowing how necessary rallying points are to all discontents +(which are really at the bottom of all oppositions), had drawn the +sympathies of the middle classes around the rector. So much for the +first case; the second was this:-- + +Under the secret inspiration of du Bousquier the idea of building a +theatre had dawned on Alencon. The henchmen of the purveyor did not +know their Mohammed; and they thought they were ardent in carrying out +their own conception. Athanase Granson was one of the warmest +partisans for the theatre; and of late he had urged at the mayor's +office a cause which all the other young clerks had eagerly adopted. + +The chevalier, as we have said, offered his arm to the old maid for a +turn on the terrace. She accepted it, not without thanking him by a +happy look for this attention, to which the chevalier replied by +motioning toward Athanase with a meaning eye. + +"Mademoiselle," he began, "you have so much sense and judgment in +social proprieties, and also, you are connected with that young man by +certain ties--" + +"Distant ones," she said, interrupting him. + +"Ought you not," he continued, "to use the influence you have over his +mother and over himself by saving him from perdition? He is not very +religious, as you know; indeed he approves of the rector; but that is +not all; there is something far more serious; isn't he throwing +himself headlong into an opposition without considering what influence +his present conduct may exert upon his future? He is working for the +construction of a theatre. In this affair he is simply the dupe of +that disguised republican du Bousquier--" + +"Good gracious! Monsieur de Valois," she replied; "his mother is +always telling me he has so much mind, and yet he can't say two words; +he stands planted before me as mum as a post--" + +"Which doesn't think at all!" cried the recorder of mortgages. "I +caught your words on the fly. I present my compliments to Monsieur de +Valois," he added, bowing to that gentleman with much emphasis. + +The chevalier returned the salutation stiffly, and drew Mademoiselle +Cormon toward some flower-pots at a little distance, in order to show +the interrupter that he did not choose to be spied upon. + +"How is it possible," he continued, lowering his voice, and leaning +towards Mademoiselle Cormon's ear, "that a young man brought up in +those detestable lyceums should have ideas? Only sound morals and +noble habits will ever produce great ideas and a true love. It is easy +to see by a mere look at him that the poor lad is likely to be +imbecile, and come, perhaps, to some sad end. See how pale and haggard +he is!" + +"His mother declares he works too hard," replied the old maid, +innocently. "He sits up late, and for what? reading books and writing! +What business ought to require a young man to write at night?" + +"It exhausts him," replied the chevalier, trying to bring the old +maid's thoughts back to the ground where he hoped to inspire her with +horror for her youthful lover. "The morals of those Imperial lyceums +are really shocking." + +"Oh, yes!" said the ingenuous creature. "They march the pupils about +with drums at their head. The masters have no more religion than +pagans. And they put the poor lads in uniform, as if they were troops. +What ideas!" + +"And behold the product!" said the chevalier, motioning to Athanase. +"In my day, young men were not so shy of looking at a pretty woman. As +for him, he drops his eyes whenever he sees you. That young man +frightens me because I am really interested in him. Tell him not to +intrigue with the Bonapartists, as he is now doing about that theatre. +When all these petty folks cease to ask for it insurrectionally, +--which to my mind is the synonym of constitutionally,--the government +will build it. Besides which, tell his mother to keep an eye on him." + +"Oh, I'm sure she will prevent him from seeing those half-pay, +questionable people. I'll talk to her," said Mademoiselle Cormon, "for +he might lose his place in the mayor's office; and then what would he +and his mother have to live on? It makes me shudder." + +As Monsieur de Talleyrand said of his wife, so the chevalier said to +himself, looking at Mademoiselle Cormon:-- + +"Find me another as stupid! Good powers! isn't virtue which drives out +intellect vice? But what an adorable wife for a man of my age! What +principles! what ignorance!" + +Remember that this monologue, addressed to the Princess Goritza, was +mentally uttered while he took a pinch of snuff. + +Madame Granson had divined that the chevalier was talking about +Athanase. Eager to know the result of the conversation, she followed +Mademoiselle Cormon, who was now approaching the young man with much +dignity. But at this moment Jacquelin appeared to announce that +mademoiselle was served. The old maid gave a glance of appeal to the +chevalier; but the gallant recorder of mortgages, who was beginning to +see in the manners of that gentleman the barrier which the provincial +nobles were setting up about this time between themselves and the +bourgeoisie, made the most of his chance to cut out Monsieur de +Valois. He was close to Mademoiselle Cormon, and promptly offered his +arm, which she found herself compelled to accept. The chevalier then +darted, out of policy, upon Madame Granson. + +"Mademoiselle Cormon, my dear lady," he said to her, walking slowly +after all the other guests, "feels the liveliest interest in your dear +Athanase; but I fear it will vanish through his own fault. He is +irreligious and liberal; he is agitating this matter of the theatre; +he frequents the Bonapartists; he takes the side of that rector. Such +conduct may make him lose his place in the mayor's office. You know +with what care the government is beginning to weed out such opinions. +If your dear Athanase loses his place, where can he find other +employment? I advise him not to get himself in bad odor with the +administration." + +"Monsieur le Chevalier," said the poor frightened mother, "how +grateful I am to you! You are right: my son is the tool of a bad set +of people; I shall enlighten him." + +The chevalier had long since fathomed the nature of Athanase, and +recognized in it that unyielding element of republican convictions to +which in his youth a young man is willing to sacrifice everything, +carried away by the word "liberty," so ill-defined and so little +understood, but which to persons disdained by fate is a banner of +revolt; and to such, revolt is vengeance. Athanase would certainly +persist in that faith, for his opinions were woven in with his +artistic sorrows, with his bitter contemplation of the social state. +He was ignorant of the fact that at thirty-six years of age,--the +period of life when a man has judged men and social interests and +relations,--the opinions for which he was ready to sacrifice his +future would be modified in him, as they are in all men of real +superiority. To remain faithful to the Left side of Alencon was to +gain the aversion of Mademoiselle Cormon. There, indeed, the chevalier +saw true. + +Thus we see that this society, so peaceful in appearance, was +internally as agitated as any diplomatic circle, where craft, ability, +and passions group themselves around the grave questions of an empire. +The guests were now seated at the table laden with the first course, +which they ate as provincials eat, without shame at possessing a good +appetite, and not as in Paris, where it seems as if jaws gnashed under +sumptuary laws, which made it their business to contradict the laws of +anatomy. In Paris people eat with their teeth, and trifle with their +pleasure; in the provinces things are done naturally, and interest is +perhaps rather too much concentrated on the grand and universal means +of existence to which God has condemned his creatures. + +It was at the end of the first course that Mademoiselle Cormon made +the most celebrated of her "speeches"; it was talked about for fully +two years, and is still told at the gatherings of the lesser +bourgeoisie whenever the topic of her marriage comes up. + +The conversation, becoming lively as the penultimate entree was +reached, had turned naturally on the affair of the theatre and the +constitutionally sworn rector. In the first fervor of royalty, during +the year 1816, those who later were called Jesuits were all for the +expulsion of the Abbe Francois from his parish. Du Bousquier, +suspected by Monsieur de Valois of sustaining the priest and being at +the bottom of the theatre intrigues, and on whose back the adroit +chevalier would in any case have put those sins with his customary +cleverness, was in the dock with no lawyer to defend him. Athanase, +the only guest loyal enough to stand by du Bousquier, had not the +nerve to emit his ideas in the presence of those potentates of +Alencon, whom in his heart he thought stupid. None but provincial +youths now retain a respectful demeanor before men of a certain age, +and dare neither to censure nor contradict them. The talk, diminished +under the effect of certain delicious ducks dressed with olives, was +falling flat. Mademoiselle Cormon, feeling the necessity of +maintaining it against her own ducks, attempted to defend du +Bousquier, who was being represented as a pernicious fomenter of +intrigues, capable of any trickery. + +"As for me," she said, "I thought that Monsieur du Bousquier cared +chiefly for childish things." + +Under existing circumstances the remark had enormous success. +Mademoiselle Cormon obtained a great triumph; she brought the nose of +the Princess Goritza flat on the table. The chevalier, who little +expected such an apt remark from his Dulcinea, was so amazed that he +could at first find no words to express his admiration; he applauded +noiselessly, as they do at the Opera, tapping his fingers together to +imitate applause. + +"She is adorably witty," he said to Madame Granson. "I always said +that some day she would unmask her batteries." + +"In private she is always charming," replied the widow. + +"In private, madame, all women have wit," returned the chevalier. + +The Homeric laugh thus raised having subsided, Mademoiselle Cormon +asked the reason of her success. Then began the /forte/ of the gossip. +Du Bousquier was depicted as a species of celibate Pere Gigogne, a +monster, who for the last fifteen years had kept the Foundling +Hospital supplied. His immoral habits were at last revealed! these +Parisian saturnalias were the result of them, etc., etc. Conducted by +the Chevalier de Valois, a most able leader of an orchestra of this +kind, the opening of the /cancan/ was magnificent. + +"I really don't know," he said, "what should hinder a du Bousquier +from marrying a Mademoiselle Suzanne What's-her-name. What /is/ her +name, do you know? Suzette! Though I have lodgings at Madame Lardot's, +I know her girls only by sight. If this Suzette is a tall, fine, saucy +girl, with gray eyes, a slim waist, and a pretty foot, whom I have +occasionally seen, and whose behavior always seemed to me extremely +insolent, she is far superior in manners to du Bousquier. Besides, the +girl has the nobility of beauty; from that point of view the marriage +would be a poor one for her; she might do better. You know how the +Emperor Joseph had the curiosity to see the du Barry at Luciennes. He +offered her his arm to walk about, and the poor thing was so surprised +at the honor that she hesitated to accept it: 'Beauty is ever a +queen,' said the Emperor. And he, you know, was an Austrian-German," +added the chevalier. "But I can tell you that Germany, which is +thought here very rustic, is a land of noble chivalry and fine +manners, especially in Poland and Hungary, where--" + +Here the chevalier stopped, fearing to slip into some allusion to his +personal happiness; he took out his snuff-box, and confided the rest +of his remarks to the princess, who had smiled upon him for thirty-six +years and more. + +"That speech was rather a delicate one for Louis XV.," said du +Ronceret. + +"But it was, I think, the Emperor Joseph who made it, and not Louis +XV.," remarked Mademoiselle Cormon, in a correcting tone. + +"Mademoiselle," said the chevalier, observing the malicious glance +exchanged between the judge, the notary, and the recorder, "Madame du +Barry was the Suzanne of Louis XV.,--a circumstance well known to +scamps like ourselves, but unsuitable for the knowledge of young +ladies. Your ignorance proves you to be a flawless diamond; historical +corruptions do not enter your mind." + +The Abbe de Sponde looked graciously at the Chevalier de Valois, and +nodded his head in sign of his laudatory approbation. + +"Doesn't mademoiselle know history?" asked the recorder of mortgages. + +"If you mix up Louis XV. and this girl Suzanne, how am I to know +history?" replied Mademoiselle Cormon, angelically, glad to see that +the dish of ducks was empty at last, and the conversation so ready to +revive that all present laughed with their mouths full at her last +remark. + +"Poor girl!" said the Abbe de Sponde. "When a great misfortune +happens, charity, which is divine love, and as blind as pagan love, +ought not to look into the causes of it. Niece, you are president of +the Maternity Society; you must succor that poor girl, who will now +find it difficult to marry." + +"Poor child!" ejaculated Mademoiselle Cormon. + +"Do you suppose du Bousquier would marry her?" asked the judge. + +"If he is an honorable man he ought to do so," said Madame Granson; +"but really, to tell the truth, my dog has better morals than he--" + +"Azor is, however, a good purveyor," said the recorder of mortgages, +with the air of saying a witty thing. + +At dessert du Bousquier was still the topic of conversation, having +given rise to various little jokes which the wine rendered sparkling. +Following the example of the recorder, each guest capped his +neighbor's joke with another: Du Bousquier was a father, but not a +confessor; he was father less; he was father LY; he was not a reverend +father; nor yet a conscript-father-- + +"Nor can he be a foster-father," said the Abbe de Sponde, with a +gravity which stopped the laughter. + +"Nor a noble father," added the chevalier. + +The Church and the nobility descended thus into the arena of puns, +without, however, losing their dignity. + +"Hush!" exclaimed the recorder of mortgages. "I hear the creaking of +du Bousquier's boots." + +It usually happens that a man is ignorant of rumors that are afloat +about him. A whole town may be talking of his affairs; may calumniate +and decry him, but if he has no good friends, he will know nothing +about it. Now the innocent du Bousquier was superb in his ignorance. +No one had told him as yet of Suzanne's revelations; he therefore +appeared very jaunty and slightly conceited when the company, leaving +the dining-room, returned to the salon for their coffee; several other +guests had meantime assembled for the evening. Mademoiselle Cormon, +from a sense of shamefacedness, dared not look at the terrible +seducer. She seized upon Athanase, and began to lecture him with the +queerest platitudes about royalist politics and religious morality. +Not possessing, like the Chevalier de Valois, a snuff-box adorned with +a princess, by the help of which he could stand this torrent of +silliness, the poor poet listened to the words of her whom he loved +with a stupid air, gazing, meanwhile, at her enormous bust, which held +itself before him in that still repose which is the attribute of all +great masses. His love produced in him a sort of intoxication which +changed the shrill voice of the old maid into a soft murmur, and her +flat remarks into witty speeches. Love is a maker of false coin, +continually changing copper pennies into gold-pieces, and sometimes +turning its real gold into copper. + +"Well, Athanase, will you promise me?" + +This final sentence struck the ear of the absorbed young man like one +of those noises which wake us with a bound. + +"What, mademoiselle?" + +Mademoiselle Cormon rose hastily, and looked at du Bousquier, who at +that moment resembled the stout god of Fable which the Republic +stamped upon her coins. She walked up to Madame Granson, and said in +her ear:-- + +"My dear friend, you son is an idiot. That lyceum has ruined him," she +added, remembering the insistence with which the chevalier had spoken +of the evils of education in such schools. + +What a catastrophe! Unknown to himself, the luckless Athanase had had +an occasion to fling an ember of his own fire upon the pile of brush +gathered in the heart of the old maid. Had he listened to her, he +might have made her, then and there, perceive his passion; for, in the +agitated state of Mademoiselle Cormon's mind, a single word would have +sufficed. But that stupid absorption in his own sentiments, which +characterizes young and true love, had ruined him, as a child full of +life sometimes kills itself out of ignorance. + +"What have you been saying to Mademoiselle Cormon?" demanded his +mother. + +"Nothing." + +"Nothing; well, I can explain that," she thought to herself, putting +off till the next day all further reflection on the matter, and +attaching but little importance to Mademoiselle Cormon's words; for +she fully believed that du Bousquier was forever lost in the old +maid's esteem after the revelation of that evening. + +Soon the four tables were filled with their sixteen players. Four +persons were playing piquet,--an expensive game, at which the most +money was lost. Monsieur Choisnel, the procureur-du-roi, and two +ladies went into the boudoir for a game at backgammon. The glass +lustres were lighted; and then the flower of Mademoiselle Cormon's +company gathered before the fireplace, on sofas, and around the +tables, and each couple said to her as they arrived,-- + +"So you are going to-morrow to Prebaudet?" + +"Yes, I really must," she replied. + +On this occasion the mistress of the house appeared preoccupied. +Madame Granson was the first to perceive the quite unnatural state of +the old maid's mind,--Mademoiselle Cormon was thinking! + +"What are you thinking of, cousin?" she said at last, finding her +seated in the boudoir. + +"I am thinking," she replied, "of that poor girl. As the president of +the Maternity Society, I will give you fifty francs for her." + +"Fifty francs!" cried Madame Granson. "But you have never given as +much as that." + +"But, my dear cousin, it is so natural to have children." + +That immoral speech coming from the heart of the old maid staggered +the treasurer of the Maternity Society. Du Bousquier had evidently +advanced in the estimation of Mademoiselle Cormon. + +"Upon my word," said Madame Granson, "du Bousquier is not only a +monster, he is a villain. When a man has done a wrong like that, he +ought to pay the indemnity. Isn't it his place rather than ours to +look after the girl?--who, to tell you the truth, seems to me rather +questionable; there are plenty of better men in Alencon than that +cynic du Bousquier. A girl must be depraved, indeed, to go after him." + +"Cynic! Your son teaches you to talk Latin, my dear, which is wholly +incomprehensible. Certainly I don't wish to excuse Monsieur du +Bousquier; but pray explain to me why a woman is depraved because she +prefers one man to another." + +"My dear cousin, suppose you married my son Athanase; nothing could be +more natural. He is young and handsome, full of promise, and he will +be the glory of Alencon; and yet everybody will exclaim against you: +evil tongues will say all sorts of things; jealous women will accuse +you of depravity,--but what will that matter? you will be loved, and +loved truly. If Athanase seemed to you an idiot, my dear, it is that +he has too many ideas; extremes meet. He lives the life of a girl of +fifteen; he has never wallowed in the impurities of Paris, not he! +Well, change the terms, as my poor husband used to say; it is the same +thing with du Bousquier in connection with Suzanne. /You/ would be +calumniated; but in the case of du Bousquier, the charge would be +true. Don't you understand me?" + +"No more than if you were talking Greek," replied Mademoiselle Cormon, +who opened her eyes wide, and strained all the forces of her +intellect. + +"Well, cousin, if I must dot all the i's, it is impossible for Suzanne +to love du Bousquier. And if the heart counts for nothing in this +affair--" + +"But, cousin, what do people love with if not their hearts?" + +Here Madame Granson said to herself, as the chevalier had previously +thought: "My poor cousin is altogether too innocent; such stupidity +passes all bounds!--Dear child," she continued aloud, "it seems to me +that children are not conceived by the spirit only." + +"Why, yes, my dear; the Holy Virgin herself--" + +"But, my love, du Bousquier isn't the Holy Ghost!" + +"True," said the old maid; "he is a man!--a man whose personal +appearance makes him dangerous enough for his friends to advise him to +marry." + +"You could yourself bring about that result, cousin." + +"How so?" said the old maid, with the meekness of Christian charity. + +"By not receiving him in your house until he marries. You owe it to +good morals and to religion to manifest under such circumstances an +exemplary displeasure." + +"On my return from Prebaudet we will talk further of this, my dear +Madame Granson. I will consult my uncle and the Abbe Couturier," said +Mademoiselle Cormon, returning to the salon, where the animation was +now at its height. + +The lights, the group of women in their best clothes, the solemn tone, +the dignified air of the assembly, made Mademoiselle Cormon not a +little proud of her company. To many persons nothing better could be +seen in Paris in the highest society. + +At this moment du Bousquier, who was playing whist with the chevalier +and two old ladies,--Madame du Coudrai and Madame du Ronceret,--was +the object of deep but silent curiosity. A few young women arrived, +who, under pretext of watching the game, gazed fixedly at him in so +singular a manner, though slyly, that the old bachelor began to think +that there must be some deficiency in his toilet. + +"Can my false front be crooked?" he asked himself, seized by one of +those anxieties which beset old bachelors. + +He took advantage of a lost trick, which ended a seventh rubber, to +rise and leave the table. + +"I can't touch a card without losing," he said. "I am decidedly too +unlucky." + +"But you are lucky in other ways," said the chevalier, giving him a +sly look. + +That speech naturally made the rounds of the salon, where every one +exclaimed on the exquisite taste of the chevalier, the Prince de +Talleyrand of the province. + +"There's no one like Monsieur de Valois for such wit." + +Du Bousquier went to look at himself in a little oblong mirror, placed +above the "Deserter," but he saw nothing strange in his appearance. + +After innumerable repetitions of the same text, varied in all keys, +the departure of the company took place about ten o'clock, through the +long antechamber, Mademoiselle Cormon conducting certain of her +favorite guests to the portico. There the groups parted; some followed +the Bretagne road towards the chateau; the others went in the +direction of the river Sarthe. Then began the usual conversation, +which for twenty years had echoed at that hour through this particular +street of Alencon. It was invariably:-- + +"Mademoiselle Cormon looked very well to-night." + +"Mademoiselle Cormon? why, I thought her rather strange." + +"How that poor abbe fails! Did you notice that he slept? He does not +know what cards he holds; he is getting very absent-minded." + +"We shall soon have the grief of losing him." + +"What a fine night! It will be a fine day to-morrow." + +"Good weather for the apple-blossoms." + +"You beat us; but when you play with Monsieur de Valois you never do +otherwise." + +"How much did he win?" + +"Well, to-night, three or four francs; he never loses." + +"True; and don't you know there are three hundred and sixty-five days +a year? At that price his gains are the value of a farm." + +"Ah! what hands we had to-night!" + +"Here you are at home, monsieur and madame, how lucky you are, while +we have half the town to cross!" + +"I don't pity you; you could afford a carriage, and dispense with the +fatigue of going on foot." + +"Ah, monsieur! we have a daughter to marry, which takes off one wheel, +and the support of our son in Paris carries off another." + +"You persist in making a magistrate of him?" + +"What else can be done with a young man? Besides, there's no shame in +serving the king." + +Sometimes a discussion on ciders and flax, always couched in the same +terms, and returning at the same time of year, was continued on the +homeward way. If any observer of human customs had lived in this +street, he would have known the months and seasons by simply +overhearing the conversations. + +On this occasion it was exclusively jocose; for du Bousquier, who +chanced to march alone in front of the groups, was humming the +well-known air,--little thinking of its appropriateness,--"Tender +woman! hear the warble of the birds," etc. To some, du Bousquier was +a strong man and a misjudged man. Ever since he had been confirmed in +his present office by a royal decree, Monsieur du Ronceret had been in +favor of du Bousquier. To others the purveyor seemed dangerous,--a man +of bad habits, capable of anything. In the provinces, as in Paris, men +before the public eye are like that statue in the fine allegorical +tale of Addison, for which two knights on arriving near it fought; for +one saw it white, the other saw it black. Then, when they were both +off their horses, they saw it was white one side and black the other. +A third knight coming along declared it red. + +When the chevalier went home that night, he made many reflections, as +follows:-- + +"It is high time now to spread a rumor of my marriage with +Mademoiselle Cormon. It will leak out from the d'Esgrignon salon, and +go straight to the bishop at Seez, and so get round through the grand +vicars to the curate of Saint-Leonard's, who will be certain to tell +it to the Abbe Couturier; and Mademoiselle Cormon will get the shot in +her upper works. The old Marquis d'Esgrignon shall invite the Abbe de +Sponde to dinner, so as to stop all gossip about Mademoiselle Cormon +if I decide against her, or about me if she refuses me. The abbe shall +be well cajoled; and Mademoiselle Cormon will certainly not hold out +against a visit from Mademoiselle Armande, who will show her the +grandeur and future chances of such an alliance. The abbe's property +is undoubtedly as much as three hundred thousand; her own savings must +amount to more than two hundred thousand; she has her house and +Prebaudet and fifteen thousand francs a year. A word to my friend the +Comte de Fontaine, and I should be mayor of Alencon to-morrow, and +deputy. Then, once seated on the Right benches, we shall reach the +peerage, shouting, 'Cloture!' 'Ordre!'" + +As soon as she reached home Madame Granson had a lively argument with +her son, who could not be made to see the connection which existed +between his love and his political opinions. It was the first quarrel +that had ever troubled that poor household. + + + + CHAPTER VI + + FINAL DISAPPOINTMENT AND ITS FIRST RESULT + +The next day, Mademoiselle Cormon, packed into the old carriole with +Josette, and looking like a pyramid on a vast sea of parcels, drove up +the rue Saint-Blaise on her way to Prebaudet, where she was overtaken +by an event which hurried on her marriage,--an event entirely unlooked +for by either Madame Granson, du Bousquier, Monsieur de Valois, or +Mademoiselle Cormon himself. Chance is the greatest of all artificers. + +The day after her arrival at Prebaudet, she was innocently employed, +about eight o'clock in the morning, in listening, as she breakfasted, +to the various reports of her keeper and her gardener, when Jacquelin +made a violent irruption into the dining-room. + +"Mademoiselle," he cried, out of breath, "Monsieur l'abbe sends you an +express, the son of Mere Grosmort, with a letter. The lad left Alencon +before daylight, and he has just arrived; he ran like Penelope! Can't +I give him a glass of wine?" + +"What can have happened, Josette? Do you think my uncle can be--" + +"He couldn't write if he were," said Josette, guessing her mistress's +fears. + +"Quick! quick!" cried Mademoiselle Cormon, as soon as she had read the +first lines. "Tell Jacquelin to harness Penelope-- Get ready, Josette; +pack up everything in half an hour. We must go back to town--" + +"Jacquelin!" called Josette, excited by the sentiment she saw on her +mistress's face. + +Jacquelin, informed by Josette, came in to say,-- + +"But, mademoiselle, Penelope is eating her oats." + +"What does that signify? I must start at once." + +"But, mademoiselle, it is going to rain." + +"Then we shall get wet." + +"The house is on fire!" muttered Josette, piqued at the silence her +mistress kept as to the contents of the letter, which she read and +reread. + +"Finish your coffee, at any rate, mademoiselle; don't excite your +blood; just see how red you are." + +"Am I red, Josette?" she said, going to a mirror, from which the +quicksilver was peeling, and which presented her features to her +upside down. + +"Good heavens!" thought Mademoiselle Cormon, "suppose I should look +ugly! Come, Josette; come, my dear, dress me at once; I want to be +ready before Jacquelin has harnessed Penelope. If you can't pack my +things in time, I will leave them here rather than lose a single +minute." + +If you have thoroughly comprehended the positive monomania to which +the desire of marriage had brought Mademoiselle Cormon, you will share +her emotion. The worthy uncle announced in this sudden missive that +Monsieur de Troisville, of the Russian army during the Emigration, +grandson of one of his best friends, was desirous of retiring to +Alencon, and asked his, the abbe's hospitality, on the ground of his +friendship for his grandfather, the Vicomte de Troisville. The old +abbe, alarmed at the responsibility, entreated his niece to return +instantly and help him to receive this guest, and do the honors of the +house; for the viscount's letter had been delayed, and he might +descend upon his shoulders that very night. + +After reading this missive could there be a question of the demands of +Prebaudet? The keeper and the gardener, witnesses to Mademoiselle +Cormon's excitement, stood aside and awaited her orders. But when, as +she was about to leave the room, they stopped her to ask for +instructions, for the first time in her life the despotic old maid, +who saw to everything at Prebaudet with her own eyes, said, to their +stupefaction, "Do what you like." This from a mistress who carried her +administration to the point of counting her fruits, and marking them +so as to order their consumption according to the number and condition +of each! + +"I believe I'm dreaming," thought Josette, as she saw her mistress +flying down the staircase like an elephant to which God has given +wings. + +Presently, in spite of a driving rain, Mademoiselle Cormon drove away +from Prebaudet, leaving her factotums with the reins on their necks. +Jacquelin dared not take upon himself to hasten the usual little trot +of the peaceable Penelope, who, like the beautiful queen whose name +she bore, had an appearance of making as many steps backward as she +made forward. Impatient with the pace, mademoiselle ordered Jacquelin +in a sharp voice to drive at a gallop, with the whip, if necessary, to +the great astonishment of the poor beast, so afraid was she of not +having time to arrange the house suitably to receive Monsieur de +Troisville. She calculated that the grandson of her uncle's friend was +probably about forty years of age; a soldier just from service was +undoubtedly a bachelor; and she resolved, her uncle aiding, not to let +Monsieur de Troisville quit their house in the condition he entered +it. Though Penelope galloped, Mademoiselle Cormon, absorbed in +thoughts of her trousseau and the wedding-day, declared again and +again that Jacquelin made no way at all. She twisted about in the +carriole without replying to Josette's questions, and talked to +herself like a person who is mentally revolving important designs. + +The carriole at last arrived in the main street of Alencon, called the +rue Saint-Blaise at the end toward Montagne, but near the hotel du +More it takes the name of the rue de la Porte-de-Seez, and becomes the +rue du Bercail as it enters the road to Brittany. If the departure of +Mademoiselle Cormon made a great noise in Alencon, it is easy to +imagine the uproar caused by her sudden return on the following day, +in a pouring rain which beat her face without her apparently minding +it. Penelope at a full gallop was observed by every one, and +Jacquelin's grin, the early hour, the parcels stuffed into the +carriole topsy-turvy, and the evident impatience of Mademoiselle +Cormon were all noted. + +The property of the house of Troisville lay between Alencon and +Mortagne. Josette knew the various branches of the family. A word +dropped by mademoiselle as they entered Alencon had put Josette on the +scent of the affair; and a discussion having started between them, it +was settled that the expected de Troisville must be between forty and +forty-two years of age, a bachelor, and neither rich nor poor. +Mademoiselle Cormon beheld herself speedily Vicomtesse de Troisville. + +"And to think that my uncle told me nothing! thinks of nothing! +inquires nothing! That's my uncle all over. He'd forget his own nose +if it wasn't fastened to his face." + +Have you never remarked that, under circumstances such as these, old +maids become, like Richard III., keen-witted, fierce, bold, +promissory,--if one may so use the word,--and, like inebriate clerks, +no longer in awe of anything? + +Immediately the town of Alencon, speedily informed from the farther +end of the rue de Saint-Blaise to the gate of Seez of this precipitate +return, accompanied by singular circumstances, was perturbed +throughout its viscera, both public and domestic. Cooks, shopkeepers, +street passengers, told the news from door to door; thence it rose to +the upper regions. Soon the words: "Mademoiselle Cormon has returned!" +burst like a bombshell into all households. At that moment Jacquelin +was descending from his wooden seat (polished by a process unknown to +cabinet-makers), on which he perched in front of the carriole. He +opened the great green gate, round at the top, and closed in sign of +mourning; for during Mademoiselle Cormon's absence the evening +assemblies did not take place. The faithful invited the Abbe de Sponde +to their several houses; and Monsieur de Valois paid his debt by +inviting him to dine at the Marquis d'Esgrignon's. Jacquelin, having +opened the gate, called familiarly to Penelope, whom he had left in +the middle of the street. That animal, accustomed to this proceeding, +turned in of herself, and circled round the courtyard in a manner to +avoid injuring the flower-bed. Jacquelin then took her bridle, and led +the carriage to the portico. + +"Mariette!" cried Mademoiselle Cormon. + +"Mademoiselle!" exclaimed Mariette, who was occupied in closing the +gate. + +"Has the gentleman arrived?" + +"No, mademoiselle." + +"Where's my uncle?" + +"He is at church, mademoiselle." + +Jacquelin and Josette were by this time on the first step of the +portico, holding out their hands to manoeuvre the exit of their +mistress from the carriole as she pulled herself up by the sides of +the vehicle and clung to the curtains. Mademoiselle then threw herself +into their arms; because for the last two years she dared not risk her +weight on the iron step, affixed to the frame of the carriage by a +horrible mechanism of clumsy bolts. + +When Mademoiselle Cormon reached the level of the portico she looked +about her courtyard with an air of satisfaction. + +"Come, come, Mariette, leave that gate alone; I want you." + +"There's something in the wind," whispered Jacquelin, as Mariette +passed the carriole. + +"Mariette, what provisions have you in the house?" asked Mademoiselle +Cormon, sitting down on the bench in the long antechamber like a +person overcome with fatigue. + +"I haven't anything," replied Mariette, with her hands on her hips. +"Mademoiselle knows very well that during her absence Monsieur l'abbe +dines out every day. Yesterday I went to fetch him from Mademoiselle +Armande's." + +"Where is he now?" + +"Monsieur l'abbe? Why, at church; he won't be in before three +o'clock." + +"He thinks of nothing! he ought to have told you to go to market. +Mariette, go at once; and without wasting money, don't spare it; get +all there is that is good and delicate. Go to the diligence office and +see if you can send for pates; and I want shrimps from the Brillante. +What o'clock is it?" + +"A quarter to nine." + +"Good heavens! Mariette, don't stop to chatter. The person my uncle +expects may arrive at any moment. If we had to give him breakfast, +where should we be with nothing in the house?" + +Mariette turned back to Penelope in a lather, and looked at Jacquelin +as if she would say, "Mademoiselle has put her hand on a husband +/this/ time." + +"Now, Josette," continued the old maid, "let us see where we had +better put Monsieur de Troisville to sleep." + +With what joy she said the words, "Put Monsieur de Troisville" +(pronounced Treville) "to sleep." How many ideas in those few words! +The old maid was bathed in hope. + +"Will you put him in the green chamber?" + +"The bishop's room? No; that's too near mine," said Mademoiselle +Cormon. "All very well for monseigneur; he's a saintly man." + +"Give him your uncle's room." + +"Oh, that's so bare; it is actually indecent." + +"Well, then, mademoiselle, why not arrange a bed in your boudoir? It +is easily done; and there's a fire-place. Moreau can certainly find in +his warerooms a bed to match the hangings." + +"You are right, Josette. Go yourself to Moreau; consult with him what +to do; I authorize you to get what is wanted. If the bed could be put +up to-night without Monsieur de Troisville observing it (in case +Monsieur de Troisville arrives while Moreau is here), I should like +it. If Moreau won't engage to do this, then I must put Monsieur de +Troisville in the green room, although Monsieur de Troisville would be +so very near to me." + +Josette was departing when her mistress recalled her. + +"Stop! explain the matter to Jacquelin," she cried, in a loud nervous +tone. "Tell /him/ to go to Moreau; I must be dressed! Fancy if Monsieur +de Troisville surprised me as I am now! and my uncle not here to +receive him! Oh, uncle, uncle! Come, Josette; come and dress me at +once." + +"But Penelope?" said Josette, imprudently. + +"Always Penelope! Penelope this, Penelope that! Is Penelope the +mistress of this house?" + +"But she is all of a lather, and she hasn't had time to eat her oats." + +"Then let her starve!" cried Mademoiselle Cormon; "provided I marry," +she thought to herself. + +Hearing these words, which seemed to her like homicide, Josette stood +still for a moment, speechless. Then, at a gesture from her mistress, +she ran headlong down the steps of the portico. + +"The devil is in her, Jacquelin," were the first words she uttered. + +Thus all things conspired on this fateful day to produce the great +scenic effect which decided the future life of Mademoiselle Cormon. +The town was already topsy-turvy in mind, as a consequence of the five +extraordinary circumstances which accompanied Mademoiselle Cormon's +return; to wit, the pouring rain; Penelope at a gallop, in a lather, +and blown; the early hour; the parcels half-packed; and the singular +air of the excited old maid. But when Mariette made an invasion of the +market, and bought all the best things; when Jacquelin went to the +principal upholsterer in Alencon, two doors from the church, in search +of a bed,--there was matter for the gravest conjectures. These +extraordinary events were discussed on all sides; they occupied the +minds of every one, even Mademoiselle Armande herself, with whom was +Monsieur de Valois. Within two days the town of Alencon had been +agitated by such startling events that certain good women were heard +to remark that the world was coming to an end. This last news, +however, resolved itself into a single question, "What is happening at +the Cormons?" + +The Abbe de Sponde, adroitly questioned when he left Saint-Leonard's +to take his daily walk with the Abbe Couturier, replied with his usual +kindliness that he expected the Vicomte de Troisville, a nobleman in +the service of Russia during the Emigration, who was returning to +Alencon to settle there. From two to five o'clock a species of labial +telegraphy went on throughout the town; and all the inhabitants +learned that Mademoiselle Cormon had at last found a husband by +letter, and was about to marry the Vicomte de Troisville. Some said, +"Moreau has sold them a bed." The bed was six feet wide in that +quarter; it was four feet wide at Madame Granson's, in the rue du +Bercail; but it was reduced to a simple couch at Monsieur du +Ronceret's, where du Bousquier was dining. The lesser bourgeoisie +declared that the cost was eleven hundred francs. But generally it was +thought that, as to this, rumor was counting the chickens before they +were hatched. In other quarters it was said that Mariette had made +such a raid on the market that the price of carp had risen. At the end +of the rue Saint-Blaise, Penelope had dropped dead. This decease was +doubted in the house of the receiver-general; but at the Prefecture it +was authenticated that the poor beast had expired as she turned into +the courtyard of the hotel Cormon, with such velocity had the old maid +flown to meet her husband. The harness-maker, who lived at the corner +of the rue de Seez, was bold enough to call at the house and ask if +anything had happened to Mademoiselle Cormon's carriage, in order to +discover whether Penelope was really dead. From the end of the rue +Saint-Blaise to the end of the rue du Bercail, it was then made known +that, thanks to Jacquelin's devotion, Penelope, that silent victim of +her mistress's impetuosity, still lived, though she seemed to be +suffering. + +Along the road to Brittany the Vicomte de Troisville was stated to be +a younger son without a penny, for the estates in Perche belonged to +the Marquis de Troisville, peer of France, who had children; the +marriage would be, therefore, an enormous piece of luck for a poor +emigre. The aristocracy along that road approved of the marriage; +Mademoiselle Cormon could not do better with her money. But among the +Bourgeoisie, the Vicomte de Troisville was a Russian general who had +fought against France, and was now returning with a great fortune made +at the court of Saint-Petersburg; he was a /foreigner/; one of those +/allies/ so hated by the liberals; the Abbe de Sponde had slyly +negotiated this marriage. All the persons who had a right to call upon +Mademoiselle Cormon determined to do so that very evening. + +During this transurban excitement, which made that of Suzanne almost a +forgotten affair, Mademoiselle was not less agitated; she was filled +with a variety of novel emotions. Looking about her salon, +dining-room, and boudoir, cruel apprehensions took possession of her. +A species of demon showed her with a sneer her old-fashioned luxury. +The handsome things she had admired from her youth up she suddenly +suspected of age and absurdity. In short, she felt that fear which +takes possession of nearly all authors when they read over a work they +have hitherto thought proof against every exacting or blase critic: +new situations seem timeworn; the best-turned and most highly polished +phrases limp and squint; metaphors and images grin or contradict each +other; whatsoever is false strikes the eye. In like manner this poor +woman trembled lest she should see on the lips of Monsieur de +Troisville a smile of contempt for this episcopal salon; she dreaded +the cold look he might cast over that ancient dining-room; in short, +she feared the frame might injure and age the portrait. Suppose these +antiquities should cast a reflected light of old age upon herself? +This question made her flesh creep. She would gladly, at that moment, +spend half her savings on refitting her house if some fairy wand could +do it in a moment. Where is the general who has not trembled on the +eve of a battle? The poor woman was now between her Austerlitz and her +Waterloo. + +"Madame la Vicomtesse de Troisville," she said to herself; "a noble +name! Our property will go to a good family, at any rate." + +She fell a prey to an irritation which made every fibre of her nerves +quiver to all their papillae, long sunk in flesh. Her blood, lashed by +this new hope, was in motion. She felt the strength to converse, if +necessary, with Monsieur de Troisville. + +It is useless to relate the activity with which Josette, Jacquelin, +Mariette, Moreau, and his agents went about their functions. It was +like the busyness of ants about their eggs. All that daily care had +already rendered neat and clean was again gone over and brushed and +rubbed and scrubbed. The china of ceremony saw the light; the damask +linen marked "A, B, C" was drawn from depths where it lay under a +triple guard of wrappings, still further defended by formidable lines +of pins. Above all, Mademoiselle Cormon sacrificed on the altar of her +hopes three bottles of the famous liqueurs of Madame Amphoux, the most +illustrious of all the distillers of the tropics,--a name very dear to +gourmets. Thanks to the devotion of her lieutenants, mademoiselle was +soon ready for the conflict. The different weapons--furniture, +cookery, provisions, in short, all the various munitions of war, +together with a body of reserve forces--were ready along the whole +line. Jacquelin, Mariette, and Josette received orders to appear in +full dress. The garden was raked. The old maid regretted that she +couldn't come to an understanding with the nightingales nesting in the +trees, in order to obtain their finest trilling. + +At last, about four o'clock, at the very moment when the Abbe de +Sponde returned home, and just as mademoiselle began to think she had +set the table with the best plate and linen and prepared the choicest +dishes to no purpose, the click-clack of a postilion was heard in the +Val-Noble. + +"'Tis he!" she said to herself, the snap of the whip echoing in her +heart. + +True enough; heralded by all this gossip, a post-chaise, in which was +a single gentleman, made so great a sensation coming down the rue +Saint-Blaise and turning into the rue du Cours that several little +gamains and some grown persons followed it, and stood in groups about +the gate of the hotel Cormon to see it enter. Jacquelin, who foresaw +his own marriage in that of his mistress, had also heard the +click-clack in the rue Saint-Blaise, and had opened wide the gates +into the courtyard. The postilion, a friend of his, took pride in +making a fine turn-in, and drew up sharply before the portico. The +abbe came forward to greet his guest, whose carriage was emptied with +a speed that highwaymen might put into the operation; the chaise +itself was rolled into the coach-house, the gates closed, and in a few +moments all signs of Monsieur de Troisville's arrival had disappeared. +Never did two chemicals blend into each other with greater rapidity +than the hotel Cormon displayed in absorbing the Vicomte de Troisville. + +Mademoiselle, whose heart was beating like a lizard caught by a +herdsman, sat heroically still on her sofa, beside the fire in the +salon. Josette opened the door; and the Vicomte de Troisville, +followed by the Abbe de Sponde, presented himself to the eyes of the +spinster. + +"Niece, this is Monsieur le Vicomte de Troisville, the grandson of one +of my old schoolmates; Monsieur de Troisville, my niece, Mademoiselle +Cormon." + +"Ah! that good uncle; how well he does it!" thought +Rose-Marie-Victoire. + +The Vicomte de Troisville was, to paint him in two words, du Bousquier +ennobled. Between the two men there was precisely the difference which +separates the vulgar style from the noble style. If they had both been +present, the most fanatic liberal would not have denied the existence +of aristocracy. The viscount's strength had all the distinction of +elegance; his figure had preserved its magnificent dignity. He had +blue eyes, black hair, an olive skin, and looked to be about forty-six +years of age. You might have thought him a handsome Spaniard preserved +in the ice of Russia. His manner, carriage, and attitude, all denoted +a diplomat who had seen Europe. His dress was that of a well-bred +traveller. As he seemed fatigued, the abbe offered to show him to his +room, and was much amazed when his niece threw open the door of the +boudoir, transformed into a bedroom. + +Mademoiselle Cormon and her uncle then left the noble stranger to +attend to his own affairs, aided by Jacquelin, who brought up his +luggage, and went themselves to walk beside the river until their +guest had made his toilet. Although the Abbe de Sponde chanced to be +even more absent-minded than usual, Mademoiselle Cormon was not less +preoccupied. They both walked on in silence. The old maid had never +before met any man as seductive as this Olympean viscount. She might +have said to herself, as the Germans do, "This is my ideal!" instead +of which she felt herself bound from head to foot, and could only say, +"Here's my affair!" Then she flew to Mariette to know if the dinner +could be put back a while without loss of excellence. + +"Uncle, your Monsieur de Troisville is very amiable," she said, on +returning. + +"Why, niece, he hasn't as yet said a word." + +"But you can see it in his ways, his manners, his face. Is he a +bachelor?" + +"I'm sure I don't know," replied the abbe, who was thinking of a +discussion on mercy, lately begun between the Abbe Couturier and +himself. "Monsieur de Troisville wrote me that he wanted to buy a +house here. If he was married, he wouldn't come alone on such an +errand," added the abbe, carelessly, not conceiving the idea that his +niece could be thinking of marriage. + +"Is he rich?" + +"He is a younger son of the younger branch," replied her uncle. "His +grandfather commanded a squadron, but the father of this young man +made a bad marriage." + +"Young man!" exclaimed the old maid. "It seems to me, uncle, that he +must be at least forty-five." She felt the strongest desire to put +their years on a par. + +"Yes," said the abbe; "but to a poor priest of seventy, Rose, a man of +forty seems a youth." + +All Alencon knew by this time that Monsieur de Troisville had arrived +at the Cormons. The traveller soon rejoined his hosts, and began to +admire the Brillante, the garden, and the house. + +"Monsieur l'abbe," he said, "my whole ambition is to have a house like +this." The old maid fancied a declaration lurked in that speech, and +she lowered her eyes. "You must enjoy it very much, mademoiselle," +added the viscount. + +"How could it be otherwise? It has been in our family since 1574, the +period at which one of our ancestors, steward to the Duc d'Alencon, +acquired the land and built the house," replied Mademoiselle Cormon. +"It is built on piles," she added. + +Jacquelin announced dinner. Monsieur de Troisville offered his arm to +the happy woman, who endeavored not to lean too heavily upon it; she +feared, as usual, to seem to make advances. + +"Everything is so harmonious here," said the viscount, as he seated +himself at table. + +"Yes, our trees are full of birds, which give us concerts for nothing; +no one ever frightens them; and the nightingales sing at night," said +Mademoiselle Cormon. + +"I was speaking of the interior of the house," remarked the viscount, +who did not trouble himself to observe Mademoiselle Cormon, and +therefore did not perceive the dulness of her mind. "Everything is so +in keeping,--the tones of color, the furniture, the general +character." + +"But it costs a great deal; taxes are enormous," responded the +excellent woman. + +"Ah! taxes are high, are they?" said the viscount, preoccupied with +his own ideas. + +"I don't know," replied the abbe. "My niece manages the property of +each of us." + +"Taxes are not of much importance to the rich," said Mademoiselle +Cormon, not wishing to be thought miserly. "As for the furniture, I +shall leave it as it is, and change nothing,--unless I marry; and +then, of course, everything here must suit the husband." + +"You have noble principles, mademoiselle," said the viscount, smiling. +"You will make one happy man." + +"No one ever made to me such a pretty speech," thought the old maid. + +The viscount complimented Mademoiselle Cormon on the excellence of her +service and the admirable arrangements of the house, remarking that he +had supposed the provinces behind the age in that respect; but, on the +contrary, he found them, as the English say, "very comfortable." + +"What can that word mean?" she thought. "Oh, where is the chevalier to +explain it to me? 'Comfortable,'--there seem to be several words in +it. Well, courage!" she said to herself. "I can't be expected to +answer a foreign language-- But," she continued aloud, feeling her +tongue untied by the eloquence which nearly all human creatures find +in momentous circumstances, "we have a very brilliant society here, +monsieur. It assembles at my house, and you shall judge of it this +evening, for some of my faithful friends have no doubt heard of my +return and your arrival. Among them is the Chevalier de Valois, a +seigneur of the old court, a man of infinite wit and taste; then there +is Monsieur le Marquis d'Esgrignon and Mademoiselle Armande, his +sister" (she bit her tongue with vexation),--"a woman remarkable in +her way," she added. "She resolved to remain unmarried in order to +leave all her fortune to her brother and nephew." + +"Ah!" exclaimed the viscount. "Yes, the d'Esgrignons,--I remember +them." + +"Alencon is very gay," continued the old maid, now fairly launched. +"There's much amusement: the receiver-general gives balls; the prefect +is an amiable man; and Monseigneur the bishop sometimes honors us with +a visit--" + +"Well, then," said the viscount, smiling, "I have done wisely to come +back, like the hare, to die in my form." + +"Yes," she said. "I, too, attach myself or I die." + +The viscount smiled. + +"Ah!" thought the old maid, "all is well; he understands me." + +The conversation continued on generalities. By one of those mysterious +unknown and undefinable faculties, Mademoiselle Cormon found in her +brain, under the pressure of her desire to be agreeable, all the +phrases and opinions of the Chevalier de Valois. It was like a duel in +which the devil himself pointed the pistol. Never was any adversary +better aimed at. The viscount was far too well-bred to speak of the +excellence of the dinner; but his silence was praise. As he drank the +delicious wines which Jacquelin served to him profusely, he seemed to +feel he was with friends, and to meet them with pleasure; for the true +connoisseur does not applaud, he enjoys. He inquired the price of +land, of houses, of estates; he made Mademoiselle Cormon describe at +length the confluence of the Sarthe and the Brillante; he expressed +surprise that the town was placed so far from the river, and seemed to +be much interested in the topography of the place. + +The silent abbe left his niece to throw the dice of conversation; and +she truly felt that she pleased Monsieur de Troisville, who smiled at +her gracefully, and committed himself during this dinner far more than +her most eager suitors had ever done in ten days. Imagine, therefore, +the little attentions with which he was petted; you might have thought +him a cherished lover, whose return brought joy to the household. +Mademoiselle foresaw the moment when the viscount wanted bread; she +watched his every look; when he turned his head she adroitly put upon +his plate a portion of some dish he seemed to like; had he been a +gourmand, she would almost have killed him; but what a delightful +specimen of the attentions she would show to a husband! She did not +commit the folly of depreciating herself; on the contrary, she set +every sail bravely, ran up all her flags, assumed the bearing of the +queen of Alencon, and boasted of her excellent preserves. In fact, she +fished for compliments in speaking of herself, for she saw that she +pleased the viscount; the truth being that her eager desire had so +transformed her that she became almost a woman. + +At dessert she heard, not without emotions of delight, certain sounds +in the antechamber and salon which denoted the arrival of her usual +guests. She called the attention of her uncle and Monsieur de +Troisville to this prompt attendance as a proof of the affection that +was felt for her; whereas it was really the result of the poignant +curiosity which had seized upon the town. Impatient to show herself in +all her glory, Mademoiselle Cormon told Jacquelin to serve coffee and +liqueurs in the salon, where he presently set out, in view of the +whole company, a magnificent liqueur-stand of Dresden china which saw +the light only twice a year. This circumstance was taken note of by +the company, standing ready to gossip over the merest trifle:-- + +"The deuce!" muttered du Bousquier. "Actually Madame Amphoux's +liqueurs, which they only serve at the four church festivals!" + +"Undoubtedly the marriage was arranged a year ago by letter," said the +chief-justice du Ronceret. "The postmaster tells me his office has +received letters postmarked Odessa for more than a year." + +Madame Granson trembled. The Chevalier de Valois, though he had dined +with the appetite of four men, turned pale even to the left section of +his face. Feeling that he was about to betray himself, he said +hastily,-- + +"Don't you think it is very cold to-day? I am almost frozen." + +"The neighborhood of Russia, perhaps," said du Bousquier. + +The chevalier looked at him as if to say, "Well played!" + +Mademoiselle Cormon appeared so radiant, so triumphant, that the +company thought her handsome. This extraordinary brilliancy was not +the effect of sentiment only. Since early morning her blood had been +whirling tempestuously within her, and her nerves were agitated by the +presentiment of some great crisis. It required all these circumstances +combined to make her so unlike herself. With what joy did she now make +her solemn presentation of the viscount to the chevalier, the +chevalier to the viscount, and all Alencon to Monsieur de Troisville, +and Monsieur de Troisville to all Alencon! + +By an accident wholly explainable, the viscount and chevalier, +aristocrats by nature, came instantly into unison; they recognized +each other at once as men belonging to the same sphere. Accordingly, +they began to converse together, standing before the fireplace. A +circle formed around them; and their conversation, though uttered in a +low voice, was listened to in religious silence. To give the effect of +this scene it is necessary to dramatize it, and to picture +Mademoiselle Cormon occupied in pouring out the coffee of her +imaginary suitor, with her back to the fireplace. + +Monsieur de Valois. "Monsieur le vicomte has come, I am told, to +settle in Alencon?" + +Monsieur de Troisville. "Yes, monsieur, I am looking for a house." +[Mademoiselle Cormon, cup in hand, turns round.] "It must be a large +house" [Mademoiselle Cormon offers him the cup] "to lodge my whole +family." [The eyes of the old maid are troubled.] + +Monsieur de Valois. "Are you married?" + +Monsieur de Troisville. "Yes, for the last sixteen years, to a +daughter of the Princess Scherbellof." + +Mademoiselle Cormon fainted; du Bousquier, who saw her stagger, sprang +forward and received her in his arms; some one opened the door and +allowed him to pass out with his enormous burden. The fiery +republican, instructed by Josette, found strength to carry the old +maid to her bedroom, where he laid her out on the bed. Josette, armed +with scissors, cut the corset, which was terribly tight. Du Bousquier +flung water on Mademoiselle Cormon's face and bosom, which, released +from the corset, overflowed like the Loire in flood. The poor woman +opened her eyes, saw du Bousquier, and gave a cry of modesty at the +sight of him. Du Bousquier retired at once, leaving six women, at the +head of whom was Madame Granson, radiant with joy, to take care of the +invalid. + +What had the Chevalier de Valois been about all this time? Faithful to +his system, he had covered the retreat. + +"That poor Mademoiselle Cormon," he said to Monsieur de Troisville, +gazing at the assembly, whose laughter was repressed by his cool +aristocratic glances, "her blood is horribly out of order; she +wouldn't be bled before going to Prebaudet (her estate),--and see the +result!" + +"She came back this morning in the rain," said the Abbe de Sponde, +"and she may have taken cold. It won't be anything; it is only a +little upset she is subject to." + +"She told me yesterday she had not had one for three months, adding +that she was afraid it would play her a trick at last," said the +chevalier. + +"Ha! so you are married?" said Jacquelin to himself as he looked at +Monsieur de Troisville, who was quietly sipping his coffee. + +The faithful servant espoused his mistress's disappointment; he +divined it, and he promptly carried away the liqueurs of Madame +Amphoux, which were offered to a bachelor, and not to the husband of a +Russian woman. + +All these details were noticed and laughed at. The Abbe de Sponde knew +the object of Monsieur de Troisville's journey; but, absent-minded as +usual, he forgot it, not supposing that his niece could have the +slightest interest in Monsieur de Troisville's marriage. As for the +viscount, preoccupied with the object of his journey, and, like many +husbands, not eager to talk about his wife, he had had no occasion to +say he was married; besides, he would naturally suppose that +Mademoiselle Cormon knew it. + +Du Bousquier reappeared, and was questioned furiously. One of the six +women came down soon after, and announced that Mademoiselle Cormon was +much better, and that the doctor had come. She intended to stay in +bed, as it was necessary to bleed her. The salon was now full. +Mademoiselle Cormon's absence allowed the ladies present to discuss +the tragi-comic scene--embellished, extended, historified, +embroidered, wreathed, colored, and adorned--which had just taken +place, and which, on the morrow, was destined to occupy all Alencon. + +"That good Monsieur du Bousquier! how well he carried you!" said +Josette to her mistress. "He was really pale at the sight of you; he +loves you still." + +That speech served as closure to this solemn and terrible evening. + +Throughout the morning of the next day every circumstance of the late +comedy was known in the household of Alencon, and--let us say it to +the shame of that town,--they caused inextinguishable laughter. But on +that day Mademoiselle Cormon (much benefited by the bleeding) would +have seemed sublime even to the boldest scoffers, had they witnessed +the noble dignity, the splendid Christian resignation which influenced +her as she gave her arm to her involuntary deceiver to go into +breakfast. Cruel jesters! why could you not have seen her as she said +to the viscount,-- + +"Madame de Troisville will have difficulty in finding a suitable +house; do me the favor, monsieur, of accepting the use of mine during +the time you are in search of yours." + +"But, mademoiselle, I have two sons and two daughters; we should +greatly inconvenience you." + +"Pray do not refuse me," she said earnestly. + +"I made you the same offer in the answer I wrote to your letter," said +the abbe; "but you did not receive it." + +"What, uncle! then you knew--" + +The poor woman stopped. Josette sighed. Neither the viscount nor the +abbe observed anything amiss. After breakfast the Abbe de Sponde +carried off his guest, as agreed upon the previous evening, to show +him the various houses in Alencon which could be bought, and the lots +of lands on which he might build. + +Left alone in the salon, Mademoiselle Cormon said to Josette, with a +deeply distressed air, "My child, I am now the talk of the whole +town." + +"Well, then, mademoiselle, you should marry." + +"But I am not prepared to make a choice." + +"Bah! if I were in your place, I should take Monsieur du Bousquier." + +"Josette, Monsieur de Valois says he is so republican." + +"They don't know what they say, your gentlemen: sometimes they declare +that he robbed the republic; he couldn't love it if he did that," said +Josette, departing. + +"That girl has an amazing amount of sense," thought Mademoiselle +Cormon, who remained alone, a prey to her perplexities. + +She saw plainly that a prompt marriage was the only way to silence the +town. This last checkmate, so evidently mortifying, was of a nature to +drive her into some extreme action; for persons deficient in mind find +difficulty in getting out of any path, either good or evil, into which +they have entered. + +Each of the two old bachelors had fully understood the situation in +which Mademoiselle Cormon was about to find herself; consequently, +each resolved to call in the course of that morning to ask after her +health, and take occasion, in bachelor language, to "press his point." +Monsieur de Valois considered that such an occasion demanded a +painstaking toilet; he therefore took a bath and groomed himself with +extraordinary care. For the first and last time Cesarine observed him +putting on with incredible art a suspicion of rouge. Du Bousquier, on +the other hand, that coarse republican, spurred by a brisk will, paid +no attention to his dress, and arrived the first. + +Such little things decide the fortunes of men, as they do of empires. +Kellerman's charge at Marengo, Blucher's arrival at Waterloo, Louis +XIV.'s disdain for Prince Eugene, the rector of Denain,--all these +great causes of fortune or catastrophe history has recorded; but no +one ever profits by them to avoid the small neglects of their own +life. Consequently, observe what happens: the Duchesse de Langeais +(see "History of the Thirteen") makes herself a nun for the lack of +ten minutes' patience; Judge Popinot (see "Commission in Lunacy") puts +off till the morrow the duty of examining the Marquis d'Espard; +Charles Grandet (see "Eugenie Grandet") goes to Paris from Bordeaux +instead of returning by Nantes; and such events are called chance or +fatality! A touch of rouge carefully applied destroyed the hopes of +the Chevalier de Valois; could that nobleman perish in any other way? +He had lived by the Graces, and he was doomed to die by their hand. +While the chevalier was giving this last touch to his toilet the rough +du Bousquier was entering the salon of the desolate old maid. This +entrance produced a thought in Mademoiselle Cormon's mind which was +favorable to the republican, although in all other respects the +Chevalier de Valois held the advantages. + +"God wills it!" she said piously, on seeing du Bousquier. + +"Mademoiselle, you will not, I trust, think my eagerness importunate. +I could not trust to my stupid Rene to bring news of your condition, +and therefore I have come myself." + +"I am perfectly recovered," she replied, in a tone of emotion. "I +thank you, Monsieur du Bousquier," she added, after a slight pause, +and in a significant tone of voice, "for the trouble you have taken, +and for that which I gave you yesterday--" + +She remembered having been in his arms, and that again seemed to her +an order from heaven. She had been seen for the first time by a man +with her laces cut, her treasures violently bursting from their +casket. + +"I carried you with such joy that you seemed to me light." + +Here Mademoiselle Cormon looked at du Bousquier as she had never yet +looked at any man in the world. Thus encouraged, the purveyor cast +upon the old maid a glance which reached her heart. + +"I would," he said, "that that moment had given me the right to keep +you as mine forever" [she listened with a delighted air]; "as you lay +fainting upon that bed, you were enchanting. I have never in my life +seen a more beautiful person,--and I have seen many handsome women. +Plump ladies have this advantage: they are superb to look upon; they +have only to show themselves and they triumph." + +"I fear you are making fun of me," said the old maid, "and that is not +kind when all the town will probably misinterpret what happened to me +yesterday." + +"As true as my name is du Bousquier, mademoiselle, I have never +changed in my feelings toward you; and your first refusal has not +discouraged me." + +The old maid's eyes were lowered. There was a moment of cruel silence +for du Bousquier, and then Mademoiselle Cormon decided on her course. +She raised her eyelids; tears flowed from her eyes, and she gave du +Bousquier a tender glance. + +"If that is so, monsieur," she said, in a trembling voice, "promise me +to live in a Christian manner, and not oppose my religious customs, +but to leave me the right to select my confessors, and I will grant +you my hand"; as she said the words, she held it out to him. + +Du Bousquier seized the good fat hand so full of money, and kissed it +solemnly. + +"But," she said, allowing him to kiss it, "one thing more I must +require of you." + +"If it is a possible thing, it is granted," replied the purveyor. + +"Alas!" returned the old maid. "For my sake, I must ask you to take +upon yourself a sin which I feel to be enormous,--for to lie is one of +the capital sins. But you will confess it, will you not? We will do +penance for it together" [they looked at each other tenderly]. +"Besides, it may be one of those lies which the Church permits as +necessary--" + +"Can she be as Suzanne says she is?" thought du Bousquier. "What luck! +Well, mademoiselle, what is it?" he said aloud. + +"That you will take upon yourself to--" + +"What?" + +"To say that this marriage has been agreed upon between us for the +last six months." + +"Charming woman," said the purveyor, in the tone of a man willing to +devote himself, "such sacrifices can be made only for a creature +adored these ten years." + +"In spite of my harshness?" she said. + +"Yes, in spite of your harshness." + +"Monsieur du Bousquier, I have misjudged you." + +Again she held out the fat red hand, which du Bousquier kissed again. + +At this moment the door opened; the betrothed pair, looking round to +see who entered, beheld the delightful, but tardy Chevalier de Valois. + +"Ah!" he said, on entering, "I see you are about to be up, fair +queen." + +She smiled at the chevalier, feeling a weight upon her heart. Monsieur +de Valois, remarkably young and seductive, had the air of a Lauzun +re-entering the apartments of the Grande Mademoiselle in the +Palais-Royal. + +"Hey! dear du Bousquier," said he, in a jaunty tone, so sure was he of +success, "Monsieur de Troisville and the Abbe de Sponde are examining +your house like appraisers." + +"Faith!" said du Bousquier, "if the Vicomte de Troisville wants it, it +it is his for forty thousand francs. It is useless to me now. If +mademoiselle will permit--it must soon be known-- Mademoiselle, may I +tell it?-- Yes! Well, then, be the first, /my dear Chevalier/, to hear" +[Mademoiselle Cormon dropped her eyes] "of the honor that mademoiselle +has done me, the secret of which I have kept for some months. We shall +be married in a few days; the contract is already drawn, and we shall +sign it to-morrow. You see, therefore, that my house in the rue du +Cygne is useless to me. I have been privately looking for a purchaser +for some time; and the Abbe de Sponde, who knew that fact, has +naturally taken Monsieur de Troisville to see the house." + +This falsehood bore such an appearance of truth that the chevalier was +taken in by it. That "my dear chevalier" was like the revenge taken by +Peter the Great on Charles XII. at Pultawa for all his past defeats. +Du Bousquier revenged himself deliciously for the thousand little +shafts he had long borne in silence; but in his triumph he made a +lively youthful gesture by running his hands through his hair, and in +so doing he--knocked aside his false front. + +"I congratulate you both," said the chevalier, with an agreeable air; +"and I wish that the marriage may end like a fairy tale: /They were +happy ever after, and had--many--children/!" So saying, he took a pinch +of snuff. "But, monsieur," he added satirically, "you forget--that you +are wearing a false front." + +Du Bousquier blushed. The false front was hanging half a dozen inches +from his skull. Mademoiselle Cormon raised her eyes, saw that skull in +all its nudity, and lowered them, abashed. Du Bousquier cast upon the +chevalier the most venomous look that toad ever darted on its prey. + +"Dogs of aristocrats who despise me," thought he, "I'll crush you some +day." + +The chevalier thought he had recovered his advantage. But Mademoiselle +Cormon was not a woman to understand the connection which the +chevalier intimated between his congratulatory wish and the false +front. Besides, even if she had comprehended it, her word was passed, +her hand given. Monsieur de Valois saw at once that all was lost. The +innocent woman, with the two now silent men before her, wished, true +to her sense of duty, to amuse them. + +"Why not play a game of piquet together?" she said artlessly, without +the slightest malice. + +Du Bousquier smiled, and went, as the future master of the house, to +fetch the piquet table. Whether the Chevalier de Valois lost his head, +or whether he wanted to stay and study the causes of his disaster and +remedy it, certain it is that he allowed himself to be led like a lamb +to the slaughter. He had received the most violent knock-down blow +that ever struck a man; any nobleman would have lost his senses for +less. + +The Abbe de Sponde and the Vicomte de Troisville soon returned. +Mademoiselle Cormon instantly rose, hurried into the antechamber, and +took her uncle apart to tell him her resolution. Learning that the +house in the rue du Cygne exactly suited the viscount, she begged her +future husband to do her the kindness to tell him that her uncle knew +it was for sale. She dared not confide that lie to the abbe, fearing +his absent-mindedness. The lie, however, prospered better than if it +had been a virtuous action. In the course of that evening all Alencon +heard the news. For the last four days the town had had as much to +think of as during the fatal days of 1814 and 1815. Some laughed; +others admitted the marriage. These blamed it; those approved it. The +middle classes of Alencon rejoiced; they regarded it as a victory. The +next day, among friends, the Chevalier de Valois said a cruel thing:-- + +"The Cormons end as they began; there's only a hand's breadth between +a steward and a purveyor." + + + + CHAPTER VII + + OTHER RESULTS + +The news of Mademoiselle Cormon's choice stabbed poor Athanase Granson +to the heart; but he showed no outward sign of the terrible agitation +within him. When he first heard of the marriage he was at the house of +the chief-justice, du Ronceret, where his mother was playing boston. +Madame Granson looked at her son in a mirror, and thought him pale; +but he had been so all day, for a vague rumor of the matter had +already reached him. + +Mademoiselle Cormon was the card on which Athanase had staked his +life; and the cold presentiment of a catastrophe was already upon him. +When the soul and the imagination have magnified a misfortune and made +it too heavy for the shoulders and the brain to bear; when a hope long +cherished, the realization of which would pacify the vulture feeding +on the heart, is balked, and the man has faith neither in himself, +despite his powers, nor in the future, despite of the Divine power, +--then that man is lost. Athanase was a fruit of the Imperial system +of education. Fatality, the Emperor's religion, had filtered down from +the throne to the lowest ranks of the army and the benches of the +lyceums. Athanase sat still, with his eyes fixed on Madame du +Ronceret's cards, in a stupor that might so well pass for indifference +that Madame Granson herself was deceived about his feelings. This +apparent unconcern explained her son's refusal to make a sacrifice for +this marriage of his /liberal/ opinions,--the term "liberal" having +lately been created for the Emperor Alexander by, I think, Madame de +Stael, through the lips of Benjamin Constant. + +After that fatal evening the young man took to rambling among the +picturesque regions of the Sarthe, the banks of which are much +frequented by sketchers who come to Alencon for points of view. +Windmills are there, and the river is gay in the meadows. The shores +of the Sarthe are bordered with beautiful trees, well grouped. Though +the landscape is flat, it is not without those modest graces which +distinguish France, where the eye is never wearied by the brilliancy +of Oriental skies, nor saddened by constant fog. The place is +solitary. In the provinces no one pays much attention to a fine view, +either because provincials are blases on the beauty around them, or +because they have no poesy in their souls. If there exists in the +provinces a mall, a promenade, a vantage-ground from which a fine view +can be obtained, that is the point to which no one goes. Athanase was +fond of this solitude, enlivened by the sparkling water, where the +fields were the first to green under the earliest smiling of the +springtide sun. Those persons who saw him sitting beneath a poplar, +and who noticed the vacant eye which he turned to them, would say to +Madame Granson:-- + +"Something is the matter with your son." + +"I know what it is," the mother would reply; hinting that he was +meditating over some great work. + +Athanase no longer took part in politics: he ceased to have opinions; +but he appeared at times quite gay,--gay with the satire of those who +think to insult a whole world with their own individual scorn. This +young man, outside of all the ideas and all the pleasures of the +provinces, interested few persons; he was not even an object of +curiosity. If persons spoke of him to his mother, it was for her sake, +not his. There was not a single soul in Alencon that sympathized with +his; not a woman, not a friend came near to dry his tears; they +dropped into the Sarthe. If the gorgeous Suzanne had happened that +way, how many young miseries might have been born of the meeting! for +the two would surely have loved each other. + +She did come, however. Suzanne's ambition was early excited by the +tale of a strange adventure which had happened at the tavern of the +More,--a tale which had taken possession of her childish brain. A +Parisian woman, beautiful as the angels, was sent by Fouche to +entangle the Marquis de Montauran, otherwise called "The Gars," in a +love-affair (see "The Chouans"). She met him at the tavern of the More +on his return from an expedition to Mortagne; she cajoled him, made +him love her, and then betrayed him. That fantastic power--the power +of beauty over mankind; in fact, the whole story of Marie de Verneuil +and the Gars--dazzled Suzanne; she longed to grow up in order to play +upon men. Some months after her hasty departure she passed through her +native town with an artist on his way to Brittany. She wanted to see +Fougeres, where the adventure of the Marquis de Montauran culminated, +and to stand upon the scene of that picturesque war, the tragedies of +which, still so little known, had filled her childish mind. Besides +this, she had a fancy to pass through Alencon so elegantly equipped +that no one could recognize her; to put her mother above the reach of +necessity, and also to send to poor Athanase, in a delicate manner, a +sum of money,--which in our age is to genius what in the middle ages +was the charger and the coat of mail that Rebecca conveyed to Ivanhoe. + +One month passed away in the strangest uncertainties respecting the +marriage of Mademoiselle Cormon. A party of unbelievers denied the +marriage altogether; the believers, on the other hand, affirmed it. At +the end of two weeks, the faction of unbelief received a vigorous blow +in the sale of du Bousquier's house to the Marquis de Troisville, who +only wanted a simple establishment in Alencon, intending to go to +Paris after the death of the Princess Scherbellof; he proposed to +await that inheritance in retirement, and then to reconstitute his +estates. This seemed positive. The unbelievers, however, were not +crushed. They declared that du Bousquier, married or not, had made an +excellent sale, for the house had only cost him twenty-seven thousand +francs. The believers were depressed by this practical observation of +the incredulous. Choisnel, Mademoiselle Cormon's notary, asserted the +latter, had heard nothing about the marriage contract; but the +believers, still firm in their faith, carried off, on the twentieth +day, a signal victory: Monsieur Lepressoir, the notary of the +liberals, went to Mademoiselle Cormon's house, and the contract was +signed. + +This was the first of the numerous sacrifices which Mademoiselle +Cormon was destined to make to her husband. Du Bousquier bore the +deepest hatred to Choisnel; to him he owed the refusal of the hand of +Mademoiselle Armande,--a refusal which, as he believed, had influenced +that of Mademoiselle Cormon. This circumstance alone made the marriage +drag along. Mademoiselle received several anonymous letters. She +learned, to her great astonishment, that Suzanne was as truly a virgin +as herself so far as du Bousquier was concerned, for that seducer with +the false toupet could never be the hero of any such adventure. +Mademoiselle Cormon disdained anonymous letters; but she wrote to +Suzanne herself, on the ground of enlightening the Maternity Society. +Suzanne, who had no doubt heard of du Bousquier's proposed marriage, +acknowledged her trick, sent a thousand francs to the society, and did +all the harm she could to the old purveyor. Mademoiselle Cormon +convoked the Maternity Society, which held a special meeting at which +it was voted that the association would not in future assist any +misfortunes about to happen, but solely those that had happened. + +In spite of all these various events which kept the town in the +choicest gossip, the banns were published in the churches and at the +mayor's office. Athanase prepared the deeds. As a matter of propriety +and public decency, the bride retired to Prebaudet, where du +Bousquier, bearing sumptuous and horrible bouquets, betook himself +every morning, returning home for dinner. + +At last, on a dull and rainy morning in June, the marriage of +Mademoiselle Cormon and the Sieur du Bousquier took place at noon in +the parish church of Alencon, in sight of the whole town. The bridal +pair went from their own house to the mayor's office, and from the +mayor's office to the church in an open caleche, a magnificent vehicle +for Alencon, which du Bousquier had sent for secretly to Paris. The +loss of the old carriole was a species of calamity in the eyes of the +community. The harness-maker of the Porte de Seez bemoaned it, for he +lost the fifty francs a year which it cost in repairs. Alencon saw +with alarm the possibility of luxury being thus introduced into the +town. Every one feared a rise in the price of rents and provisions, +and a coming invasion of Parisian furniture. Some persons were +sufficiently pricked by curiosity to give ten sous to Jacquelin to +allow them a close inspection of the vehicle which threatened to upset +the whole economy of the region. A pair of horses, bought in +Normandie, were also most alarming. + +"If we bought our own horses," said the Ronceret circle, "we couldn't +sell them to those who come to buy." + +Stupid as it was, this reasoning seemed sound; for surely such a +course would prevent the region from grasping the money of foreigners. +In the eyes of the provinces wealth consisted less in the rapid +turning over of money than in sterile accumulation. It may be +mentioned here that Penelope succumbed to a pleurisy which she +acquired about six weeks before the marriage; nothing could save her. + +Madame Granson, Mariette, Madame du Coudrai, Madame du Ronceret, and +through them the whole town, remarked that Madame du Bousquier entered +the church /with her left foot/,--an omen all the more dreadful because +the term Left was beginning to acquire a political meaning. The priest +whose duty it was to read the opening formula opened his book by +chance at the De Profundis. Thus the marriage was accompanied by +circumstances so fateful, so alarming, so annihilating that no one +dared to augur well of it. Matters, in fact, went from bad to worse. +There was no wedding party; the married pair departed immediately for +Prebaudet. Parisian customs, said the community, were about to triumph +over time-honored provincial ways. + +The marriage of Jacquelin and Josette now took place: it was gay; and +they were the only two persons in Alencon who refuted the sinister +prophecies relating to the marriage of their mistress. + +Du Bousquier determined to use the proceeds of the sale of his late +residence in restoring and modernizing the hotel Cormon. He decided to +remain through two seasons at Prebaudet, and took the Abbe de Sponde +with them. This news spread terror through the town, where every +individual felt that du Bousquier was about to drag the community into +the fatal path of "comfort." This fear increased when the inhabitants +of Alencon saw the bridegroom driving in from Prebaudet one morning to +inspect his works, in a fine tilbury drawn by a new horse, having Rene +at his side in livery. The first act of his administration had been to +place his wife's savings on the Grand-Livre, which was then quoted at +67 fr. 50 cent. In the space of one year, during which he played +constantly for a rise, he made himself a personal fortune almost as +considerable as that of his wife. + +But all these foreboding prophecies, these perturbing innovations, +were superseded and surpassed by an event connected with this marriage +which gave a still more fatal aspect to it. + +On the very evening of the ceremony, Athanase and his mother were +sitting, after their dinner, over a little fire of fagots, which the +servant lighted usually at dessert. + +"Well, we will go this evening to the du Roncerets', inasmuch as we +have lost Mademoiselle Cormon," said Madame Granson. "Heavens! how +shall I ever accustom myself to call her Madame du Bousquier! that +name burns my lips." + +Athanase looked at his mother with a constrained and melancholy air; +he could not smile; but he seemed to wish to welcome that naive +sentiment which soothed his wound, though it could not cure his +anguish. + +"Mamma," he said, in the voice of his childhood, so tender was it, and +using the name he had abandoned for several years,--"my dear mamma, do +not let us go out just yet; it is so pleasant here before the fire." + +The mother heard, without comprehending, that supreme prayer of a +mortal sorrow. + +"Yes, let us stay, my child," she said. "I like much better to talk +with you and listen to your projects than to play at boston and lose +my money." + +"You are so handsome to-night I love to look at you. Besides, I am in +a current of ideas which harmonize with this poor little salon where +we have suffered so much." + +"And where we shall still suffer, my poor Athanase, until your works +succeed. For myself, I am trained to poverty; but you, my treasure! to +see your youth go by without a joy! nothing but toil for my poor boy +in life! That thought is like an illness to a mother; it tortures me +at night; it wakes me in the morning. O God! what have I done? for +what crime dost thou punish me thus?" + +She left her sofa, took a little chair, and sat close to Athanase, so +as to lay her head on the bosom of her child. There is always the +grace of love in true motherhood. Athanase kissed her on the eyes, on +her gray hair, on her forehead, with the sacred desire of laying his +soul wherever he applied his lips. + +"I shall never succeed," he said, trying to deceive his mother as to +the fatal resolution he was revolving in his mind. + +"Pooh! don't get discouraged. As you often say, thought can do all +things. With ten bottles of ink, ten reams of paper, and his powerful +will, Luther upset all Europe. Well, you'll make yourself famous; you +will do good things by the same means which he used to do evil things. +Haven't you said so yourself? For my part, I listen to you; I +understand you a great deal more than you think I do,--for I still +bear you in my bosom, and your every thought still stirs me as your +slightest motion did in other days." + +"I shall never succeed here, mamma; and I don't want you to witness +the sight of my struggles, my misery, my anguish. Oh, mother, let me +leave Alencon! I want to suffer away from you." + +"And I wish to be at your side," replied his mother, proudly. "Suffer +without your mother!--that poor mother who would be your servant if +necessary; who will efface herself rather than injure you; your +mother, who will never shame you. No, no, Athanase; we must not part." + +Athanase clung to his mother with the ardor of a dying man who clings +to life. + +"But I wish it, nevertheless. If not, you will lose me; this double +grief, yours and mine, is killing me. You would rather I lived than +died?" + +Madame Granson looked at her son with a haggard eye. + +"So this is what you have been brooding?" she said. "They told me +right. Do you really mean to go?" + +"Yes." + +"You will not go without telling me; without warning me? You must have +an outfit and money. I have some louis sewn into my petticoat; I shall +give them to you." + +Athanase wept. + +"That's all I wanted to tell you," he said. "Now I'll take you to the +du Roncerets'. Come." + +The mother and the son went out. Athanase left his mother at the door +of the house where she intended to pass the evening. He looked long at +the light which came through the shutters; he clung closely to the +wall, and a frenzied joy came over him when he presently heard his +mother say, "He has great independence of heart." + +"Poor mother! I have deceived her," he cried, as he made his way to +the Sarthe. + +He reached the noble poplar beneath which he had meditated so much for +the last forty days, and where he had placed two heavy stones on which +he now sat down. He contemplated that beautiful nature lighted by the +moon; he reviewed once more the glorious future he had longed for; he +passed through towns that were stirred by his name; he heard the +applauding crowds; he breathed the incense of his fame; he adored that +life long dreamed of; radiant, he sprang to radiant triumphs; he +raised his stature; he evoked his illusions to bid them farewell in a +last Olympic feast. The magic had been potent for a moment; but now it +vanished forever. In that awful hour he clung to the beautiful tree to +which, as to a friend, he had attached himself; then he put the two +stones into the pockets of his overcoat, which he buttoned across his +breast. He had come intentionally without a hat. He now went to the +deep pool he had long selected, and glided into it resolutely, trying +to make as little noise as possible, and, in fact, making scarcely +any. + +When, at half-past nine o'clock, Madame Granson returned home, her +servant said nothing of Athanase, but gave her a letter. She opened it +and read these few words,-- + +"My good mother, I have departed; don't be angry with me." + +"A pretty trick he has played me!" she thought. "And his linen! and +the money! Well, he will write to me, and then I'll follow him. These +poor children think they are so much cleverer than their fathers and +mothers." + +And she went to bed in peace. + +During the preceding morning the Sarthe had risen to a height foreseen +by the fisherman. These sudden rises of muddy water brought eels from +their various runlets. It so happened that a fisherman had spread his +net at the very place where poor Athanase had flung himself, believing +that no one would ever find him. About six o'clock in the morning the +man drew in his net, and with it the young body. The few friends of +the poor mother took every precaution in preparing her to receive the +dreadful remains. The news of this suicide made, as may well be +supposed, a great excitement in Alencon. The poor young man of genius +had no protector the night before, but on the morrow of his death a +thousand voices cried aloud, "I would have helped him." It is so easy +and convenient to be charitable gratis! + +The suicide was explained by the Chevalier de Valois. He revealed, in +a spirit of revenge, the artless, sincere, and genuine love of +Athanase for Mademoiselle Cormon. Madame Granson, enlightened by the +chevalier, remembered a thousand little circumstances which confirmed +the chevalier's statement. The story then became touching, and many +women wept over it. Madame Granson's grief was silent, concentrated, +and little understood. There are two forms of mourning for mothers. +Often the world can enter fully into the nature of their loss: their +son, admired, appreciated, young, perhaps handsome, with a noble path +before him, leading to fortune, possibly to fame, excites universal +regret; society joins in the grief, and alleviates while it magnifies +it. But there is another sorrow of mothers who alone know what their +child was really; who alone have received his smiles and observed the +treasures of a life too soon cut short. That sorrow hides its woe, the +blackness of which surpasses all other mourning; it cannot be +described; happily there are but few women whose heart-strings are +thus severed. + +Before Madame du Bousquier returned to town, Madame du Ronceret, one +of her good friends, had driven out to Prebaudet to fling this corpse +upon the roses of her joy, to show her the love she had ignored, and +sweetly shed a thousand drops of wormwood into the honey of her bridal +month. As Madame du Bousquier drove back to Alencon, she chanced to +meet Madame Granson at the corner of the rue Val-Noble. The glance of +the mother, dying of her grief, struck to the heart of the poor woman. +A thousand maledictions, a thousand flaming reproaches, were in that +look: Madame du Bousquier was horror-struck; that glance predicted and +called down evil upon her head. + +The evening after the catastrophe, Madame Granson, one of the persons +most opposed to the rector of the town, and who had hitherto supported +the minister of Saint-Leonard, began to tremble as she thought of the +inflexible Catholic doctrines professed by her own party. After +placing her son's body in its shroud with her own hands, thinking of +the mother of the Saviour, she went, with a soul convulsed by anguish, +to the house of the hated rector. There she found the modest priest in +an outer room, engaged in putting away the flax and yarns with which +he supplied poor women, in order that they might never be wholly out +of work,--a form of charity which saved many who were incapable of +begging from actual penury. The rector left his yarns and hastened to +take Madame Granson into his dining-room, where the wretched mother +noticed, as she looked at his supper, the frugal method of his own +living. + +"Monsieur l'abbe," she said, "I have come to implore you--" She burst +into tears, unable to continue. + +"I know what brings you," replied the saintly man. "I must trust to +you, madame, and to your relation, Madame du Bousquier, to pacify +Monseigneur the Bishop at Seez. Yes, I will pray for your unhappy +child; yes, I will say the masses. But we must avoid all scandal, and +give no opportunity for evil-judging persons to assemble in the +church. I alone, without other clergy, at night--" + +"Yes, yes, as you think best; if only he may lie in consecrated +ground," said the poor mother, taking the priest's hand and kissing +it. + +Toward midnight a coffin was clandestinely borne to the parish church +by four young men, comrades whom Athanase had liked the best. A few +friends of Madame Granson, women dressed in black, and veiled, were +present; and half a dozen other young men who had been somewhat +intimate with this lost genius. Four torches flickered on the coffin, +which was covered with crape. The rector, assisted by one discreet +choirboy, said the mortuary mass. Then the body of the suicide was +noiselessly carried to a corner of the cemetery, where a black wooden +cross, without inscription, was all that indicated its place hereafter +to the mother. Athanase lived and died in shadow. No voice was raised +to blame the rector; the bishop kept silence. The piety of the mother +redeemed the impiety of the son's last act. + +Some months later, the poor woman, half beside herself with grief, and +moved by one of those inexplicable thirsts which misery feels to steep +its lips in the bitter chalice, determined to see the spot where her +son was drowned. Her instinct may have told her that thoughts of his +could be recovered beneath that poplar; perhaps, too, she desired to +see what his eyes had seen for the last time. Some mothers would die +of the sight; others give themselves up to it in saintly adoration. +Patient anatomists of human nature cannot too often enunciate the +truths before which all educations, laws, and philosophical systems +must give way. Let us repeat continually: it is absurd to force +sentiments into one formula: appearing as they do, in each individual +man, they combine with the elements that form his nature and take his +own physiognomy. + +Madame Granson, as she stood on that fatal spot, saw a woman approach +it, who exclaimed,-- + +"Was it here?" + +That woman wept as the mother wept. It was Suzanne. Arriving that +morning at the hotel du More, she had been told of the catastrophe. If +poor Athanase had been living, she meant to do as many noble souls, +who are moneyless, dream of doing, and as the rich never think of +doing,--she meant to have sent him several thousand francs, writing up +the envelope the words: "Money due to your father from a comrade who +makes restitution to you." This tender scheme had been arranged by +Suzanne during her journey. + +The courtesan caught sight of Madame Granson and moved rapidly away, +whispering as she passed her, "I loved him!" + +Suzanne, faithful to her nature, did not leave Alencon on this +occasion without changing the orange-blossoms of the bride to rue. She +was the first to declare that Madame du Bousquier would never be +anything but Mademoiselle Cormon. With one stab of her tongue she +revenged poor Athanase and her dear chevalier. + +Alencon now witnessed a suicide that was slower and quite differently +pitiful from that of poor Athanase, who was quickly forgotten by +society, which always makes haste to forget its dead. The poor +Chevalier de Valois died in life; his suicide was a daily occurrence +for fourteen years. Three months after the du Bousquier marriage +society remarked, not without astonishment, that the linen of the +chevalier was frayed and rusty, that his hair was irregularly combed +and brushed. With a frowsy head the Chevalier de Valois could no +longer be said to exist! A few of his ivory teeth deserted, though the +keenest observers of human life were unable to discover to what body +they had hitherto belonged, whether to a foreign legion or whether +they were indigenous, vegetable or animal; whether age had pulled them +from the chevalier's mouth, or whether they were left forgotten in the +drawer of his dressing-table. The cravat was crooked, indifferent to +elegance. The negroes' heads grew pale with dust and grease. The +wrinkles of the face were blackened and puckered; the skin became +parchment. The nails, neglected, were often seen, alas! with a black +velvet edging. The waistcoat was tracked and stained with droppings +which spread upon its surface like autumn leaves. The cotton in the +ears was seldom changed. Sadness reigned upon that brow, and slipped +its yellowing tints into the depths of each furrow. In short, the +ruins, hitherto so cleverly hidden, now showed through the cracks and +crevices of that fine edifice, and proved the power of the soul over +the body; for the fair and dainty man, the cavalier, the young blood, +died when hope deserted him. Until then the nose of the chevalier was +ever delicate and nice; never had a damp black blotch, nor an amber +drop fall from it; but now that nose, smeared with tobacco around the +nostrils, degraded by the driblets which took advantage of the natural +gutter placed between itself and the upper lip,--that nose, which no +longer cared to seem agreeable, revealed the infinite pains which the +chevalier had formerly taken with his person, and made observers +comprehend, by the extent of its degradation, the greatness and +persistence of the man's designs upon Mademoiselle Cormon. + +Alas, too, the anecdotes went the way of the teeth; the clever sayings +grew rare. The appetite, however, remained; the old nobleman saved +nothing but his stomach from the wreck of his hopes; though he +languidly prepared his pinches of snuff, he ate alarming dinners. +Perhaps you will more fully understand the disaster that this marriage +was to the mind and heart of the chevalier when you learn that his +intercourse with the Princess Goritza became less frequent. + +One day he appeared in Mademoiselle Armande's salon with the calf of +his leg on the shin-bone. This bankruptcy of the graces was, I do +assure you, terrible, and struck all Alencon with horror. The late +young man had become an old one; this human being, who, by the +breaking-down of his spirit, had passed at once from fifty to ninety +years of age, frightened society. Besides, his secret was betrayed; he +had waited and watched for Mademoiselle Cormon; he had, like a patient +hunter, adjusted his aim for ten whole years, and finally had missed +the game! In short, the impotent Republic had won the day from Valiant +Chivalry, and that, too, under the Restoration! Form triumphed; mind +was vanquished by matter, diplomacy by insurrection. And, O final +blow! a mortified grisette revealed the secret of the chevalier's +mornings, and he now passed for a libertine. The liberals cast at his +door all the foundlings hitherto attributed to du Bousquier. But the +faubourg Saint-Germain of Alencon accepted them proudly: it even said, +"That poor chevalier, what else could he do?" The faubourg pitied him, +gathered him closer to their circle, and brought back a few rare +smiles to his face; but frightful enmity was piled upon the head of du +Bousquier. Eleven persons deserted the Cormon salon, and passed to +that of the d'Esgrignons. + +The old maid's marriage had a signal effect in defining the two +parties in Alencon. The salon d'Esgrignon represented the upper +aristocracy (the returning Troisvilles attached themselves to it); the +Cormon salon represented, under the clever influence of du Bousquier, +that fatal class of opinions which, without being truly liberal or +resolutely royalist, gave birth to the 221 on that famous day when the +struggle openly began between the most august, grandest, and only true +power, /royalty/, and the most false, most changeful, most oppressive of +all powers,--the power called /parliamentary/, which elective assemblies +exercise. The salon du Ronceret, secretly allied to the Cormon salon, +was boldly liberal. + +The Abbe de Sponde, after his return from Prebaudet, bore many and +continual sufferings, which he kept within his breast, saying no word +of them to his niece. But to Mademoiselle Armande he opened his heart, +admitting that, folly for folly, he would much have preferred the +Chevalier de Valois to Monsieur du Bousquier. Never would the dear +chevalier have had the bad taste to contradict and oppose a poor old +man who had but a few days more to live; du Bousquier had destroyed +everything in the good old home. The abbe said, with scanty tears +moistening his aged eyes,-- + +"Mademoiselle, I haven't even the little grove where I have walked for +fifty years. My beloved lindens are all cut down! At the moment of my +death the Republic appears to me more than ever under the form of a +horrible destruction of the Home." + +"You must pardon your niece," said the Chevalier de Valois. +"Republican ideas are the first error of youth which seeks for +liberty; later it finds it the worst of despotisms,--that of an +impotent canaille. Your poor niece is punished where she sinned." + +"What will become of me in a house where naked women are painted on +the walls?" said the poor abbe. "Where shall I find other lindens +beneath which to read my breviary?" + +Like Kant, who was unable to collect his thoughts after the fir-tree +at which he was accustomed to gaze while meditating was cut down, so +the poor abbe could never attain the ardor of his former prayers while +walking up and down the shadeless paths. Du Bousquier had planted an +English garden. + +"It was best," said Madame du Bousquier, without thinking so; but the +Abbe Couterier had authorized her to commit many wrongs to please her +husband. + +These restorations destroyed all the venerable dignity, cordiality, +and patriarchal air of the old house. Like the Chevalier de Valois, +whose personal neglect might be called an abdication, the bourgeois +dignity of the Cormon salon no longer existed when it was turned to +white and gold, with mahogany ottomans covered in blue satin. The +dining-room, adorned in modern taste, was colder in tone than it used +to be, and the dinners were eaten with less appetite than formerly. +Monsieur du Coudrai declared that he felt his puns stick in his throat +as he glanced at the figures painted on the walls, which looked him +out of countenance. Externally, the house was still provincial; but +internally everything revealed the purveyor of the Directory and the +bad taste of the money-changer,--for instance, columns in stucco, +glass doors, Greek mouldings, meaningless outlines, all styles +conglomerated, magnificence out of place and out of season. + +The town of Alencon gabbled for two weeks over this luxury, which +seemed unparalleled; but a few months later the community was proud of +it, and several rich manufacturers restored their houses and set up +fine salons. Modern furniture came into the town, and astral lamps +were seen! + +The Abbe de Sponde was among the first to perceive the secret +unhappiness this marriage now brought to the private life of his +beloved niece. The character of noble simplicity which had hitherto +ruled their lives was lost during the first winter, when du Bousquier +gave two balls every month. Oh, to hear violins and profane music at +these worldly entertainments in the sacred old house! The abbe prayed +on his knees while the revels lasted. Next the political system of the +sober salon was slowly perverted. The abbe fathomed du Bousquier; he +shuddered at his imperious tone; he saw the tears in his niece's eyes +when she felt herself losing all control over her own property; for +her husband now left nothing in her hands but the management of the +linen, the table, and things of a kind which are the lot of women. +Rose had no longer any orders to give. Monsieur's will was alone +regarded by Jacquelin, now become coachman, by Rene, the groom, and by +the chef, who came from Paris, Mariette being reduced to kitchen maid. +Madame du Bousquier had no one to rule but Josette. Who knows what it +costs to relinquish the delights of power? If the triumph of the will +is one of the intoxicating pleasures in the lives of great men, it is +the ALL of life to narrow minds. One must needs have been a minister +dismissed from power to comprehend the bitter pain which came upon +Madame du Bousquier when she found herself reduced to this absolute +servitude. She often got into the carriage against her will; she saw +herself surrounded by servants who were distasteful to her; she no +longer had the handling of her dear money,--she who had known herself +free to spend money, and did not spend it. + +All imposed limits make the human being desire to go beyond them. The +keenest sufferings come from the thwarting of self-will. The beginning +of this state of things was, however, rose-colored. Every concession +made to marital authority was an effect of the love which the poor +woman felt for her husband. Du Bousquier behaved, in the first +instance, admirably to his wife: he was wise; he was excellent; he +gave her the best of reasons for each new encroachment. So for the +first two years of her marriage Madame du Bousquier appeared to be +satisfied. She had that deliberate, demure little air which +distinguishes young women who have married for love. The rush of blood +to her head no longer tormented her. This appearance of satisfaction +routed the scoffers, contradicted certain rumors about du Bousquier, +and puzzled all observers of the human heart. Rose-Marie-Victoire was +so afraid that if she displeased her husband or opposed him, she would +lose his affection and be deprived of his company, that she would +willingly have sacrificed all to him, even her uncle. Her silly little +forms of pleasure deceived even the poor abbe for a time, who endured +his own trials all the better for thinking that his niece was happy, +after all. + +Alencon at first thought the same. But there was one man more +difficult to deceive than the whole town put together. The Chevalier +de Valois, who had taken refuge on the Sacred Mount of the upper +aristocracy, now passed his life at the d'Esgrignons. He listened to +the gossip and the gabble, and he thought day and night upon his +vengeance. He meant to strike du Bousquier to the heart. + +The poor abbe fully understood the baseness of this first and last +love of his niece; he shuddered as, little by little, he perceived the +hypocritical nature of his nephew and his treacherous manoeuvres. +Though du Bousquier restrained himself, as he thought of the abbe's +property, and wished not to cause him vexation, it was his hand that +dealt the blow that sent the old priest to his grave. If you will +interpret the word /intolerance/ as /firmness of principle/, if you do +not wish to condemn in the catholic soul of the Abbe de Sponde the +stoicism which Walter Scott has made you admire in the puritan soul of +Jeanie Deans' father; if you are willing to recognize in the Roman +Church the Potius mori quam foedari that you admire in republican +tenets,--you will understand the sorrow of the Abbe de Sponde when he +saw in his niece's salon the apostate priest, the renegade, the +pervert, the heretic, that enemy of the Church, the guilty taker of +the Constitutional oath. Du Bousquier, whose secret ambition was to +lay down the law to the town, wished, as a first proof of his power, +to reconcile the minister of Saint-Leonard with the rector of the +parish, and he succeeded. His wife thought he had accomplished a work +of peace where the immovable abbe saw only treachery. The bishop came +to visit du Bousquier, and seemed glad of the cessation of +hostilities. The virtues of the Abbe Francois had conquered prejudice, +except that of the aged Roman Catholic, who exclaimed with Cornelle, +"Alas! what virtues do you make me hate!" + +The abbe died when orthodoxy thus expired in the diocese. + +In 1819, the property of the Abbe de Sponde increased Madame du +Bousquier's income from real estate to twenty-five thousand francs +without counting Prebaudet or the house in the Val-Noble. About this +time du Bousquier returned to his wife the capital of her savings +which she had yielded to him; and he made her use it in purchasing +lands contiguous to Prebaudet, which made that domain one of the most +considerable in the department, for the estates of the Abbe de Sponde +also adjoined it. Du Bousquier thus passed for one of the richest men +of the department. This able man, the constant candidate of the +liberals, missing by seven or eight votes only in all the electoral +battles fought under the Restoration, and who ostensibly repudiated +the liberals by trying to be elected as a ministerial royalist +(without ever being able to conquer the aversion of the +administration),--this rancorous republican, mad with ambition, +resolved to rival the royalism and aristocracy of Alencon at the +moment when they once more had the upper hand. He strengthened himself +with the Church by the deceitful appearance of a well-feigned piety: +he accompanied his wife to mass; he gave money for the convents of the +town; he assisted the congregation of the Sacre-Coeur; he took sides +with the clergy on all occasions when the clergy came into collision +with the town, the department, or the State. Secretly supported by the +liberals, protected by the Church, calling himself a constitutional +royalist, he kept beside the aristocracy of the department in the one +hope of ruining it,--and he did ruin it. Ever on the watch for the +faults and blunders of the nobility and the government, he laid plans +for his vengeance against the "chateau-people," and especially against +the d'Esgrignons, in whose bosom he was one day to thrust a poisoned +dagger. + +Among other benefits to the town he gave money liberally to revive the +manufacture of point d'Alencon; he renewed the trade in linens, and +the town had a factory. Inscribing himself thus upon the interests and +heart of the masses, by doing what the royalists did not do, du +Bousquier did not really risk a farthing. Backed by his fortune, he +could afford to wait results which enterprising persons who involve +themselves are forced to abandon to luckier successors. + +Du Bousquier now posed as a banker. This miniature Lafitte was a +partner in all new enterprises, taking good security. He served +himself while apparently serving the interests of the community. He +was the prime mover of insurance companies, the protector of new +enterprises for public conveyance; he suggested petitions for asking +the administration for the necessary roads and bridges. Thus warned, +the government considered this action an encroachment of its own +authority. A struggle was begun injudiciously, for the good of the +community compelled the authorities to yield in the end. Du Bousquier +embittered the provincial nobility against the court nobility and the +peerage; and finally he brought about the shocking adhesion of a +strong party of constitutional royalists to the warfare sustained by +the "Journal des Debats," and M. de Chateaubriand against the throne, +--an ungrateful opposition based on ignoble interests, which was one +cause of the triumph of the bourgeoisie and journalism in 1830. + +Thus du Bousquier, in common with the class he represented, had the +satisfaction of beholding the funeral of royalty. The old republican, +smothered with masses, who for fifteen years had played that comedy to +satisfy his vendetta, himself threw down with his own hand the white +flag of the mayoralty to the applause of the multitude. No man in +France cast upon the new throne raised in August, 1830, a glance of +more intoxicated, joyous vengeance. The accession of the Younger +Branch was the triumph of the Revolution. To him the victory of the +tricolor meant the resurrection of Montagne, which this time should +surely bring the nobility down to the dust by means more certain than +that of the guillotine, because less violent. The peerage without +heredity; the National Guard, which puts on the same camp-bed the +corner grocer and the marquis; the abolition of the entails demanded +by a bourgeois lawyer; the Catholic Church deprived of its supremacy; +and all the other legislative inventions of August, 1830,--were to du +Bousquier the wisest possible application of the principles of 1793. + +Since 1830 this man has been a receiver-general. He relied for his +advancement on his relations with the Duc d'Orleans, father of Louis +Philippe, and with Monsieur de Folmon, formerly steward to the +Duchess-dowager of Orleans. He receives about eighty thousand francs a +year. In the eyes of the people about him Monsieur du Bousquier is a +man of means,--a respectable man, steady in his principles, upright, +and obliging. Alencon owes to him its connection with the industrial +movement by which Brittany may possibly some day be joined to what is +popularly called modern civilization. Alencon, which up to 1816 could +boast of only two private carriages, saw, without amazement, in the +course of ten years, coupes, landaus, tilburies, and cabriolets +rolling through her streets. The burghers and the land-owners, alarmed +at first lest the price of everything should increase, recognized +later that this increase in the style of living had a contrary effect +upon their revenues. The prophetic remark of du Ronceret, "Du +Bousquier is a very strong man," was adopted by the whole +country-side. + +But, unhappily for the wife, that saying has a double meaning. The +husband does not in any way resemble the public politician. This great +citizen, so liberal to the world about him, so kindly inspired with +love for his native place, is a despot in his own house, and utterly +devoid of conjugal affection. This man, so profoundly astute, +hypocritical, and sly; this Cromwell of the Val-Noble,--behaves in his +home as he behaves to the aristocracy, whom he caresses in hopes to +throttle them. Like his friend Bernadotte, he wears a velvet glove +upon his iron hand. His wife has given him no children. Suzanne's +remark and the chevalier's insinuations were therefore justified. But +the liberal bourgeoisie, the constitutional-royalist-bourgeoisie, the +country-squires, the magistracy, and the "church party" laid the blame +on Madame du Bousquier. "She was too old," they said; "Monsieur du +Bousquier had married her too late. Besides, it was very lucky for the +poor woman; it was dangerous at her age to bear children!" When Madame +du Bousquier confided, weeping, her periodic despair to Mesdames du +Coudrai and du Ronceret, those ladies would reply,-- + +"But you are crazy, my dear; you don't know what you are wishing for; +a child would be your death." + +Many men, whose hopes were fastened on du Bousquier's triumph, sang +his praises to their wives, who in turn repeated them to the poor wife +in some such speech as this:-- + +"You are very lucky, dear, to have married such an able man; you'll +escape the misery of women whose husbands are men without energy, +incapable of managing their property, or bringing up their children." + +"Your husband is making you queen of the department, my love. He'll +never leave you embarrassed, not he! Why, he leads all Alencon." + +"But I wish," said the poor wife, "that he gave less time to the +public and--" + +"You are hard to please, my dear Madame du Bousquier. I assure you +that all the women in town envy you your husband." + +Misjudged by society, which began by blaming her, the pious woman +found ample opportunity in her home to display her virtues. She lived +in tears, but she never ceased to present to others a placid face. To +so Christian a soul a certain thought which pecked forever at her +heart was a crime: "I loved the Chevalier de Valois," it said; "but I +have married du Bousquier." The love of poor Athanase Granson also +rose like a phantom of remorse, and pursued her even in her dreams. +The death of her uncle, whose griefs at the last burst forth, made her +life still more sorrowful; for she now felt the suffering her uncle +must have endured in witnessing the change of political and religious +opinion in the old house. Sorrow often falls like a thunderbolt, as it +did on Madame Granson; but in this old maid it slowly spread like a +drop of oil, which never leaves the stuff that slowly imbibes it. + +The Chevalier de Valois was the malicious manipulator who brought +about the crowning misfortune of Madame du Bousquier's life. His heart +was set on undeceiving her pious simplicity; for the chevalier, expert +in love, divined du Bousquier, the married man, as he had divined du +Bousquier, the bachelor. But the wary republican was difficult of +attack. His salon was, of course, closed to the Chevalier de Valois, +as to all those who, in the early days of his marriage, had slighted +the Cormon mansion. He was, moreover, impervious to ridicule; he +possessed a vast fortune; he reigned in Alencon; he cared as little +for his wife as Richard III. cared for the dead horse which had helped +him win a battle. To please her husband, Madame du Bousquier had +broken off relations with the d'Esgrignon household, where she went no +longer, except that sometimes when her husband left her during his +trips to Paris, she would pay a brief visit to Mademoiselle Armande. + +About three years after her marriage, at the time of the Abbe de +Sponde's death, Mademoiselle Armande joined Madame du Bousquier as +they were leaving Saint-Leonard's, where they had gone to hear a +requiem said for him. The generous demoiselle thought that on this +occasion she owed her sympathy to the niece in trouble. They walked +together, talking of the dear deceased, until they reached the +forbidden house, into which Mademoiselle Armande enticed Madame du +Bousquier by the charm of her manner and conversation. The poor +desolate woman was glad to talk of her uncle with one whom he truly +loved. Moreover, she wanted to receive the condolences of the old +marquis, whom she had not seen for nearly three years. It was +half-past one o'clock, and she found at the hotel d'Esgrignon the +Chevalier de Valois, who had come to dinner. As he bowed to her, he +took her by the hands. + +"Well, dear, virtuous, and beloved lady," he said, in a tone of +emotion, "we have lost our sainted friend; we share your grief. Yes, +your loss is as keenly felt here as in your own home,--more so," he +added, alluding to du Bousquier. + +After a few more words of funeral oration, in which all present spoke +from the heart, the chevalier took Madame du Bousquier's arm, and, +gallantly placing it within his own, pressed it adoringly as he led +her to the recess of a window. + +"Are you happy?" he said in a fatherly voice. + +"Yes," she said, dropping her eyes. + +Hearing that "Yes," Madame de Troisville, the daughter of the Princess +Scherbellof, and the old Marquise de Casteran came up and joined the +chevalier, together with Mademoiselle Armande. They all went to walk +in the garden until dinner was served, without any perception on the +part of Madame du Bousquier that a little conspiracy was afoot. "We +have her! now let us find out the secret of the case," were the words +written in the eyes of all present. + +"To make your happiness complete," said Mademoiselle Armande, "you +ought to have children,--a fine lad like my nephew--" + +Tears seemed to start in Madame du Bousquier's eyes. + +"I have heard it said that you were the one to blame in the matter, +and that you feared the dangers of a pregnancy," said the chevalier. + +"I!" she said artlessly. "I would buy a child with a hundred years of +purgatory if I could." + +On the question thus started a discussion arose, conducted by Madame +de Troisville and the old Marquise de Casteran with such delicacy and +adroitness that the poor victim revealed, without being aware of it, +the secrets of her house. Mademoiselle Armande had taken the +chevalier's arm, and walked away so as to leave the three women free +to discuss wedlock. Madame du Bousquier was then enlightened on the +various deceptions of her marriage; and as she was still the same +simpleton she had always been, she amused her advisers by delightful +naivetes. + +Although at first the deceptive marriage of Mademoiselle Cormon made a +laugh throughout the town, which was soon initiated into the story of +the case, before long Madame du Bousquier won the esteem and sympathy +of all the women. The fact that Mademoiselle Cormon had flung herself +headlong into marriage without succeeding in being married, made +everybody laugh at her; but when they learned the exceptional position +in which the sternness of her religious principles placed her, all the +world admired her. "That poor Madame du Bousquier" took the place of +"That good Mademoiselle Cormon." + +Thus the chevalier contrived to render du Bousquier both ridiculous +and odious for a time; but ridicule ends by weakening; when all had +said their say about him, the gossip died out. Besides, at fifty-seven +years of age the dumb republican seemed to many people to have a right +to retire. This affair, however, envenomed the hatred which du +Bousquier already bore to the house of Esgrignon to such a degree that +it made him pitiless when the day of vengeance came. [See "The Gallery +of Antiquities."] Madame du Bousquier received orders never again to +set foot into that house. By way of reprisals upon the chevalier for +the trick thus played him, du Bousquier, who had just created the +journal called the "Courrier de l'Orne," caused the following notice +to be inserted in it:-- + + "Bonds to the amount of one thousand francs a year will be paid to + any person who can prove the existence of one Monsieur de + Pombreton before, during, or after the Emigration." + +Although her marriage was essentially negative, Madame du Bousquier +saw some advantages in it: was it not better to interest herself in +the most remarkable man in the town than to live alone? Du Bousquier +was preferable to a dog, or cat, or those canaries that spinsters +love. He showed for his wife a sentiment more real and less selfish +than that which is felt by servants, confessors, and hopeful heirs. +Later in life she came to consider her husband as the instrument of +divine wrath; for she then saw innumerable sins in her former desires +for marriage; she regarded herself as justly punished for the sorrow +she had brought on Madame Granson, and for the hastened death of her +uncle. Obedient to that religion which commands us to kiss the rod +with which the punishment is inflicted, she praised her husband, and +publicly approved him. But in the confessional, or at night, when +praying, she wept often, imploring God's forgiveness for the apostasy +of the man who thought the contrary of what he professed, and who +desired the destruction of the aristocracy and the Church,--the two +religions of the house of Cormon. + +With all her feelings bruised and immolated within her, compelled by +duty to make her husband happy, attached to him by a certain +indefinable affection, born, perhaps, of habit, her life became one +perpetual contradiction. She had married a man whose conduct and +opinions she hated, but whom she was bound to care for with dutiful +tenderness. Often she walked with the angels when du Bousquier ate her +preserves or thought the dinner good. She watched to see that his +slightest wish was satisfied. If he tore off the cover of his +newspaper and left it on a table, instead of throwing it away, she +would say:-- + +"Rene, leave that where it is; monsieur did not place it there without +intention." + +If du Bousquier had a journey to take, she was anxious about his +trunk, his linen; she took the most minute precautions for his +material benefit. If he went to Prebaudet, she consulted the barometer +the evening before to know if the weather would be fine. She watched +for his will in his eyes, like a dog which hears and sees its master +while sleeping. When the stout du Bousquier, touched by this +scrupulous love, would take her round the waist and kiss her forehead, +saying, "What a good woman you are!" tears of pleasure would come into +the eyes of the poor creature. It is probably that du Bousquier felt +himself obliged to make certain concessions which obtained for him the +respect of Rose-Marie-Victoire; for Catholic virtue does not require a +dissimulation as complete as that of Madame du Bousquier. Often the +good saint sat mutely by and listened to the hatred of men who +concealed themselves under the cloak of constitutional royalists. She +shuddered as she foresaw the ruin of the Church. Occasionally she +risked a stupid word, an observation which du Bousquier cut short with +a glance. + +The worries of such an existence ended by stupefying Madame du +Bousquier, who found it easier and also more dignified to concentrate +her intelligence on her own thoughts and resign herself to lead a life +that was purely animal. She then adopted the submission of a slave, +and regarded it as a meritorious deed to accept the degradation in +which her husband placed her. The fulfilment of his will never once +caused her to murmur. The timid sheep went henceforth in the way the +shepherd led her; she gave herself up to the severest religious +practices, and thought no more of Satan and his works and vanities. +Thus she presented to the eyes of the world a union of all Christian +virtues; and du Bousquier was certainly one of the luckiest men in the +kingdom of France and of Navarre. + +"She will be a simpleton to her last breath," said the former +collector, who, however, dined with her twice a week. + +This history would be strangely incomplete if no mention were made of +the coincidence of the Chevalier de Valois's death occurring at the +same time as that of Suzanne's mother. The chevalier died with the +monarchy, in August, 1830. He had joined the cortege of Charles X. at +Nonancourt, and piously escorted it to Cherbourg with the Troisvilles, +Casterans, d'Esgrignons, Verneuils, etc. The old gentleman had taken +with him fifty thousand francs,--the sum to which his savings then +amounted. He offered them to one of the faithful friends of the king +for transmission to his master, speaking of his approaching death, and +declaring that the money came originally from the goodness of the +king, and, moreover, that the property of the last of the Valois +belonged of right to the crown. It is not known whether the fervor of +his zeal conquered the reluctance of the Bourbon, who abandoned his +fine kingdom of France without carrying away with him a farthing, and +who ought to have been touched by the devotion of the chevalier. It is +certain, however, that Cesarine, the residuary legate of the old man, +received from his estate only six hundred francs a year. The chevalier +returned to Alencon, cruelly weakened by grief and by fatigue; he died +on the very day when Charles X. arrived on a foreign shore. + +Madame du Val-Noble and her protector, who was just then afraid of the +vengeance of the liberal party, were glad of a pretext to remain +incognito in the village where Suzanne's mother died. At the sale of +the chevalier's effects, which took place at that time, Suzanne, +anxious to obtain a souvenir of her first and last friend, pushed up +the price of the famous snuff-box, which was finally knocked down to +her for a thousand francs. The portrait of the Princess Goritza was +alone worth that sum. Two years later, a young dandy, who was making a +collection of the fine snuff-boxes of the last century, obtained from +Madame du Val-Noble the chevalier's treasure. The charming confidant +of many a love and the pleasure of an old age is now on exhibition in +a species of private museum. If the dead could know what happens after +them, the chevalier's head would surely blush upon its left cheek. + +If this history has no other effect than to inspire the possessors of +precious relics with holy fear, and induce them to make codicils to +secure these touching souvenirs of joys that are no more by +bequeathing them to loving hands, it will have done an immense service +to the chivalrous and romantic portion of the community; but it does, +in truth, contain a far higher moral. Does it not show the necessity +for a new species of education? Does it not invoke, from the +enlightened solicitude of the ministers of Public Instruction, the +creation of chairs of anthropology,--a science in which Germany +outstrips us? Modern myths are even less understood than ancient ones, +harried as we are with myths. Myths are pressing us from every point; +they serve all theories, they explain all questions. They are, +according to human ideas, the torches of history; they would save +empires from revolution if only the professors of history would force +the explanations they give into the mind of the provincial masses. If +Mademoiselle Cormon had been a reader or a student, and if there had +existed in the department of the Orne a professor of anthropology, or +even had she read Ariosto, the frightful disasters of her conjugal +life would never have occurred. She would probably have known why the +Italian poet makes Angelica prefer Medoro, who was a blond Chevalier +de Valois, to Orlando, whose mare was dead, and who knew no better +than to fly into a passion. Is not Medoro the mythic form for all +courtiers of feminine royalty, and Orlando the myth of disorderly, +furious, and impotent revolutions, which destroy but cannot produce? +We publish, but without assuming any responsibility for it, this +opinion of a pupil of Monsieur Ballanche. + +No information has reached us as to the fate of the negroes' heads in +diamonds. You may see Madame du Val-Noble every evening at the Opera. +Thanks to the education given her by the Chevalier de Valois, she has +almost the air of a well-bred woman. + +Madame du Bousquier still lives; is not that as much as to say she +still suffers? After reaching the age of sixty--the period at which +women allow themselves to make confessions--she said confidentially to +Madame du Coudrai, that she had never been able to endure the idea of +dying an old maid. + + + +ADDENDUM + +The following personages appear in other stories of the Human Comedy. + +(Note: The Collection of Antiquities is a companion piece to The Old +Maid. In other Addendum appearances they are combined under the title +of The Jealousies of a Country Town.) + +Bordin + The Gondreville Mystery + The Seamy Side of History + The Commission in Lunacy + +Bousquier, Du (or Du Croisier or Du Bourguier) + The Collection of Antiquities (companion piece) + The Middle Classes + +Bousquier, Madame du (du Croisier) (Mlle. Cormon) + The Collection of Antiquities (companion piece) + +Casteran, De + The Chouans + The Seamy Side of History + The Collection of Antiquities (companion piece) + Beatrix + The Peasantry + +Chesnel (or Choisnel) + The Seamy Side of History + The Collection of Antiquities (companion piece) + +Coudrai, Du + The Collection of Antiquities (companion piece) + +Esgrignon, Charles-Marie-Victor-Ange-Carol, Marquis d' (or Des Grignons) + The Chouans + The Collection of Antiquities (companion piece) + +Esgrignon, Marie-Armande-Claire d' + The Collection of Antiquities (companion piece) + +Gaillard, Madame Theodore (Suzanne) + A Distinguished Provincial at Paris + A Bachelor's Establishment + Scenes from a Courtesan's Life + Beatrix + The Unconscious Humorists + +Granson, Athanase + The Government Clerks (mentioned only) + +Lenoncourt, Duc de + The Lily of the Valley + Cesar Birotteau + The Collection of Antiquities (companion piece) + The Gondreville Mystery + Beatrix + +Navarreins, Duc de + Colonel Chabert + The Muse of the Department + The Thirteen + The Peasantry + Scenes from a Courtesan's Life + The Country Parson + The Magic Skin + The Gondreville Mystery + The Secrets of a Princess + Cousin Betty + +Pombreton, Marquis de + Lost Illusions + A Distinguished Provincial at Paris + +Ronceret, Du + The Collection of Antiquities (companion piece) + Beatrix + +Ronceret, Madame Du + The Collection of Antiquities (companion piece) + +Simeuse, Admiral de + Beatrix + The Gondreville Mystery + +Troisville, Guibelin, Vicomte de + The Seamy Side of History + The Chouans + The Collection of Antiquities (companion piece) + The Peasantry + +Valois, Chevalier de + The Chouans + The Collection of Antiquities (companion piece) + +Verneuil, Duc de + The Chouans + The Collection of Antiquities (companion piece) + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of An Old Maid, by Honore de Balzac + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AN OLD MAID *** + +***** This file should be named 1352.txt or 1352.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.net/1/3/5/1352/ + +Produced by John Bickers and Dagny + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS*Ver.04.29.93*END* + + + + + +Etext prepared by John Bickers, jbickers@templar.actrix.gen.nz +and Dagny, dagnyj@hotmail.com + + + + + +AN OLD MAID + +BY + +HONORE DE BALZAC + + + +Translated By +Katharine Prescott Wormeley + + + +DEDICATION + +To Monsieur Eugene-Auguste-Georges-Louis Midy de la Greneraye +Surville, Royal Engineer of the Ponts at Chausses. + +As a testimony to the affection of his brother-in-law, + +De Balzac + + + + +AN OLD MAID + + + +CHAPTER I + +ONE OF MANY CHEVALIERS DE VALOIS + +Most persons have encountered, in certain provinces in France, a +number of Chevaliers de Valois. One lived in Normandy, another at +Bourges, a third (with whom we have here to do) flourished in Alencon, +and doubtless the South possesses others. The number of the Valesian +tribe is, however, of no consequence to the present tale. All these +chevaliers, among whom were doubtless some who were Valois as Louis +XIV. was Bourbon, knew so little of one another that it was not +advisable to speak to one about the others. They were all willing to +leave the Bourbons in tranquil possession of the throne of France; for +it was too plainly established that Henri IV. became king for want of +a male heir in the first Orleans branch called the Valois. If there +are any Valois, they descend from Charles de Valois, Duc d'Angouleme, +son of Charles IX. and Marie Touchet, the male line from whom ended, +until proof to the contrary be produced, in the person of the Abbe de +Rothelin. The Valois-Saint-Remy, who descended from Henri II., also +came to an end in the famous Lamothe-Valois implicated in the affair +of the Diamond Necklace. + +Each of these many chevaliers, if we may believe reports, was, like +the Chevalier of Alencon, an old gentleman, tall, thin, withered, and +moneyless. He of Bourges had emigrated; he of Touraine hid himself; he +of Alencon fought in La Vendee and "chouanized" somewhat. The youth of +the latter was spend in Paris, where the Revolution overtook him when +thirty years of age in the midst of his conquests and gallantries. + +The Chevalier de Valois of Alencon was accepted by the highest +aristocracy of the province as a genuine Valois; and he distinguished +himself, like the rest of his homonyms, by excellent manners, which +proved him a man of society. He dined out every day, and played cards +every evening. He was thought witty, thanks to his foible for relating +a quantity of anecdotes on the reign of Louis XV. and the beginnings +of the Revolution. When these tales were heard for the first time, +they were held to be well narrated. He had, moreover, the great merit +of not repeating his personal bons mots and of never speaking of his +love-affairs, though his smiles and his airs and graces were +delightfully indiscreet. The worthy gentleman used his privilege as a +Voltairean noble to stay away from mass; and great indulgence was +shown to his irreligion because of his devotion to the royal cause. +One of his particular graces was the air and manner (imitated, no +doubt, from Mole) with which he took snuff from a gold box adorned +with the portrait of the Princess Goritza,--a charming Hungarian, +celebrated for her beauty in the last years of the reign of Louis XV. +Having been attached during his youth to that illustrious stranger, he +still mentioned her with emotion. For her sake he had fought a duel +with Monsieur de Lauzun. + +The chevalier, now fifty-eight years of age, owned to only fifty; and +he might well allow himself that innocent deception, for, among the +other advantages granted to fair thin persons, he managed to preserve +the still youthful figure which saves men as well as women from an +appearance of old age. Yes, remember this: all of life, or rather all +the elegance that expresses life, is in the figure. Among the +chevalier's other possessions must be counted an enormous nose with +which nature had endowed him. This nose vigorously divided a pale face +into two sections which seemed to have no knowledge of each other, for +one side would redden under the process of digestion, while the other +continued white. This fact is worthy of remark at a period when +physiology is so busy with the human heart. The incandescence, so to +call it, was on the left side. Though his long slim legs, supporting a +lank body, and his pallid skin, were not indicative of health, +Monsieur de Valois ate like an ogre and declared he had a malady +called in the provinces "hot liver," perhaps to excuse his monstrous +appetite. The circumstance of his singular flush confirmed this +declaration; but in a region where repasts are developed on the line +of thirty or forty dishes and last four hours, the chevalier's stomach +would seem to have been a blessing bestowed by Providence on the good +town of Alencon. According to certain doctors, heat on the left side +denotes a prodigal heart. The chevalier's gallantries confirmed this +scientific assertion, the responsibility for which does not rest, +fortunately, on the historian. + +In spite of these symptoms, Monsieur de Valois' constitution was +vigorous, consequently long-lived. If his liver "heated," to use an +old-fashioned word, his heart was not less inflammable. His face was +wrinkled and his hair silvered; but an intelligent observer would have +recognized at once the stigmata of passion and the furrows of pleasure +which appeared in the crow's-feet and the marches-du-palais, so prized +at the court of Cythera. Everything about this dainty chevalier +bespoke the "ladies' man." He was so minute in his ablutions that his +cheeks were a pleasure to look upon; they seemed to have been laved in +some miraculous water. The part of his skull which his hair refused to +cover shone like ivory. His eyebrows, like his hair, affected youth by +the care and regularity with which they were combed. His skin, already +white, seemed to have been extra-whitened by some secret compound. +Without using perfumes, the chevalier exhaled a certain fragrance of +youth, that refreshed the atmosphere. His hands, which were those of a +gentleman, and were cared for like the hands of a pretty woman, +attracted the eye to their rosy, well-shaped nails. In short, had it +not been for his magisterial and stupendous nose, the chevalier might +have been thought a trifle too dainty. + +We must here compel ourselves to spoil this portrait by the avowal of +a littleness. The chevalier put cotton in his ears, and wore, appended +to them, two little ear-rings representing negroes' heads in diamonds, +of admirable workmanship. He clung to these singular appendages, +explaining that since his ears had been bored he had ceased to have +headaches (he had had headaches). We do not present the chevalier as +an accomplished man; but surely we can pardon, in an old celibate +whose heart sends so much blood to his left cheek, these adorable +qualities, founded, perhaps, on some sublime secret history. + +Besides, the Chevalier de Valois redeemed those negroes' heads by so +many other graces that society felt itself sufficiently compensated. +He really took such immense trouble to conceal his age and give +pleasure to his friends. In the first place, we must call attention to +the extreme care he gave to his linen, the only distinction that well- +bred men can nowadays exhibit in their clothes. The linen of the +chevalier was invariably of a fineness and whiteness that were truly +aristocratic. As for his coat, though remarkable for its cleanliness, +it was always half worn-out, but without spots or creases. The +preservation of that garment was something marvellous to those who +noticed the chevalier's high-bred indifference to its shabbiness. He +did not go so far as to scrape the seams with glass,--a refinement +invented by the Prince of Wales; but he did practice the rudiments of +English elegance with a personal satisfaction little understood by the +people of Alencon. The world owes a great deal to persons who take +such pains to please it. In this there is certainly some +accomplishment of that most difficult precept of the Gospel about +rendering good for evil. This freshness of ablution and all the other +little cares harmonized charmingly with the blue eyes, the ivory +teeth, and the blond person of the old chevalier. + +The only blemish was that this retired Adonis had nothing manly about +him; he seemed to be employing this toilet varnish to hide the ruins +occasioned by the military service of gallantry only. But we must +hasten to add that his voice produced what might be called an +antithesis to his blond delicacy. Unless you adopted the opinion of +certain observers of the human heart, and thought that the chevalier +had the voice of his nose, his organ of speech would have amazed you +by its full and redundant sound. Without possessing the volume of +classical bass voices, the tone of it was pleasing from a slightly +muffled quality like that of an English bugle, which is firm and +sweet, strong but velvety. + +The chevalier had repudiated the ridiculous costume still preserved by +certain monarchical old men; he had frankly modernized himself. He was +always seen in a maroon-colored coat with gilt buttons, half-tight +breeches of poult-de-soie with gold buckles, a white waistcoat without +embroidery, and a tight cravat showing no shirt-collar,--a last +vestige of the old French costume which he did not renounce, perhaps, +because it enabled him to show a neck like that of the sleekest abbe. +His shoes were noticeable for their square buckles, a style of which +the present generation has no knowledge; these buckles were fastened +to a square of polished black leather. The chevalier allowed two +watch-chains to hang parallel to each other from each of his waistcoat +pockets,--another vestige of the eighteenth century, which the +Incroyables had not disdained to use under the Directory. This +transition costume, uniting as it did two centuries, was worn by the +chevalier with the high-bred grace of an old French marquis, the +secret of which is lost to France since the day when Fleury, Mole's +last pupil, vanished. + +The private life of this old bachelor was apparently open to all eyes, +though in fact it was quite mysterious. He lived in a lodging that was +modest, to say the best of it, in the rue du Cours, on the second +floor of a house belonging to Madame Lardot, the best and busiest +washerwoman in the town. This circumstance will explain the excessive +nicety of his linen. Ill-luck would have it that the day came when +Alencon was guilty of believing that the chevalier had not always +comported himself as a gentleman should, and that in fact he was +secretly married in his old age to a certain Cesarine,--the mother of +a child which had had the impertinence to come into the world without +being called for. + +"He had given his hand," as a certain Monsieur du Bousquier remarked, +"to the person who had long had him under irons." + +This horrible calumny embittered the last days of the dainty chevalier +all the more because, as the present Scene will show, he had lost a +hope long cherished to which he had made many sacrifices. + +Madame Lardot leased to the chevalier two rooms on the second floor of +her house, for the modest sum of one hundred francs a year. The worthy +gentleman dined out every day, returning only in time to go to bed. +His sole expense therefore was for breakfast, invariably composed of a +cup of chocolate, with bread and butter and fruits in their season. He +made no fire except in the coldest winter, and then only enough to get +up by. Between eleven and four o'clock he walked about, went to read +the papers, and paid visits. From the time of his settling in Alencon +he had nobly admitted his poverty, saying that his whole fortune +consisted in an annuity of six hundred francs a year, the sole remains +of his former opulence,--a property which obliged him to see his man +of business (who held the annuity papers) quarterly. In truth, one of +the Alencon bankers paid him every three months one hundred and fifty +francs, sent down by Monsieur Bordin of Paris, the last of the +procureurs du Chatelet. Every one knew these details because the +chevalier exacted the utmost secrecy from the persons to whom he first +confided them. + +Monsieur de Valois gathered the fruit of his misfortunes. His place at +table was laid in all the most distinguished houses in Alencon, and he +was bidden to all soirees. His talents as a card-player, a narrator, +an amiable man of the highest breeding, were so well known and +appreciated that parties would have seemed a failure if the dainty +connoisseur was absent. Masters of houses and their wives felt the +need of his approving grimace. When a young woman heard the chevalier +say at a ball, "You are delightfully well-dressed!" she was more +pleased at such praise than she would have been at mortifying a rival. +Monsieur de Valois was the only man who could perfectly pronounce +certain phrases of the olden time. The words, "my heart," "my jewel," +"my little pet," "my queen," and the amorous diminutives of 1770, had +a grace that was quite irresistible when they came from his lips. In +short, the chevalier had the privilege of superlatives. His +compliments, of which he was stingy, won the good graces of all the +old women; he made himself agreeable to every one, even to the +officials of the government, from whom he wanted nothing. His behavior +at cards had a lofty distinction which everybody noticed: he never +complained; he praised his adversaries when they lost; he did not +rebuke or teach his partners by showing them how they ought to have +played. When, in the course of a deal, those sickening dissertations +on the game would take place, the chevalier invariably drew out his +snuff-box with a gesture that was worthy of Mole, looked at the +Princess Goritza, raised the cover with dignity, shook, sifted, massed +the snuff, and gathered his pinch, so that by the time the cards were +dealt he had decorated both nostrils and replaced the princess in his +waistcoat pocket,--always on his left side. A gentleman of the "good" +century (in distinction from the "grand" century) could alone have +invented that compromise between contemptuous silence and a sarcasm +which might not have been understood. He accepted poor players and +knew how to make the best of them. His delightful equability of temper +made many persons say,-- + +"I do admire the Chevalier de Valois!" + +His conversation, his manners, seemed bland, like his person. He +endeavored to shock neither man nor woman. Indulgent to defects both +physical and mental, he listened patiently (by the help of the +Princess Goritza) to the many dull people who related to him the petty +miseries of provincial life,--an egg ill-boiled for breakfast, coffee +with feathered cream, burlesque details about health, disturbed sleep, +dreams, visits. The chevalier could call up a languishing look, he +could take on a classic attitude to feign compassion, which made him a +most valuable listener; he could put in an "Ah!" and a "Bah!" and a +"What DID you do?" with charming appropriateness. He died without any +one suspecting him of even an allusion to the tender passages of his +romance with the Princess Goritza. Has any one ever reflected on the +service a dead sentiment can do to society; how love may become both +social and useful? This will serve to explain why, in spite of his +constant winning at play (he never left a salon without carrying off +with him about six francs), the old chevalier remained the spoilt +darling of the town. His losses--which, by the bye, he always +proclaimed, were very rare. + +All who know him declare that they have never met, not even in the +Egyptian museum at Turin, so agreeable a mummy. In no country in the +world did parasitism ever take on so pleasant a form. Never did +selfishness of a most concentrated kind appear less forth-putting, +less offensive, than in this old gentleman; it stood him in place of +devoted friendship. If some one asked Monsieur de Valois to do him a +little service which might have discommoded him, that some one did not +part from the worthy chevalier without being truly enchanted with him, +and quite convinced that he either could not do the service demanded, +or that he should injure the affair if he meddled in it. + +To explain the problematic existence of the chevalier, the historian, +whom Truth, that cruel wanton, grasps by the throat, is compelled to +say that after the "glorious" sad days of July, Alencon discovered +that the chevalier's nightly winnings amounted to about one hundred +and fifty francs every three months; and that the clever old nobleman +had had the pluck to send to himself his annuity in order not to +appear in the eyes of a community, which loves the main chance, to be +entirely without resources. Many of his friends (he was by that time +dead, you will please remark) have contested mordicus this curious +fact, declaring it to be a fable, and upholding the Chevalier de +Valois as a respectable and worthy gentleman whom the liberals +calumniated. Luckily for shrewd players, there are people to be found +among the spectators who will always sustain them. Ashamed of having +to defend a piece of wrong-doing, they stoutly deny it. Do not accuse +them of wilful infatuation; such men have a sense of their dignity; +governments set them the example of a virtue which consists in burying +their dead without chanting the Misere of their defeats. If the +chevalier did allow himself this bit of shrewd practice,--which, by +the bye, would have won him the regard of the Chevalier de Gramont, a +smile from the Baron de Foeneste, a shake of the hand from the Marquis +de Moncade,--was he any the less that amiable guest, that witty +talker, that imperturbable card-player, that famous teller of +anecdotes, in whom all Alencon took delight? Besides, in what way was +this action, which is certainly within the rights of a man's own will, +--in what way was it contrary to the ethics of a gentleman? When so +many persons are forced to pay annuities to others, what more natural +than to pay one to his own best friend? But Laius is dead-- + +To return to the period of which we are writing: after about fifteen +years of this way of life the chevalier had amassed ten thousand and +some odd hundred francs. On the return of the Bourbons, one of his old +friends, the Marquis de Pombreton, formerly lieutenant in the Black +mousquetaires, returned to him--so he said--twelve hundred pistoles +which he had lent to the marquis for the purpose of emigrating. This +event made a sensation; it was used later to refute the sarcasms of +the "Constitutionnel," on the method employed by some emigres in +paying their debts. When this noble act of the Marquis de Pombreton +was lauded before the chevalier, the good man reddened even to his +right cheek. Every one rejoiced frankly at this windfall for Monsieur +de Valois, who went about consulting moneyed people as to the safest +manner of investing this fragment of his past opulence. Confiding in +the future of the Restoration, he finally placed his money on the +Grand-Livre at the moment when the funds were at fifty-six francs and +twenty-five centimes. Messieurs de Lenoncourt, de Navarreins, de +Verneuil, de Fontaine, and La Billardiere, to whom he was known, he +said, obtained for him, from the king's privy purse, a pension of +three hundred francs, and sent him, moreover, the cross of Saint- +Louis. Never was it known positively by what means the old chevalier +obtained these two solemn consecrations of his title and merits. But +one thing is certain; the cross of Saint-Louis authorized him to take +the rank of retired colonel in view of his service in the Catholic +armies of the West. + +Besides his fiction of an annuity, about which no one at the present +time knew anything, the chevalier really had, therefore, a bona fide +income of a thousand francs. But in spite of this bettering of his +circumstances, he made no change in his life, manners, or appearance, +except that the red ribbon made a fine effect on his maroon-colored +coat, and completed, so to speak, the physiognomy of a gentleman. +After 1802, the chevalier sealed his letters with a very old seal, +ill-engraved to be sure, by which the Casterans, the d'Esgrignons, the +Troisvilles were enabled to see that he bore: Party of France, two +cottises gemelled gules, and gules, five mascles or, placed end to +end; on a chief sable, a cross argent. For crest, a knight's helmet. +For motto: "Valeo." Bearing such noble arms, the so-called bastard of +the Valois had the right to get into all the royal carriages of the +world. + +Many persons envied the quiet existence of this old bachelor, spent on +whist, boston, backgammon, reversi, and piquet, all well played, on +dinners well digested, snuff gracefully inhaled, and tranquil walks +about the town. Nearly all Alencon believed this life to be exempt +from ambitions and serious interests; but no man has a life as simple +as envious neighbors attribute to him. You will find in the most out- +of-the way villages human mollusks, creatures apparently dead, who +have passions for lepidoptera or for conchology, let us say,--beings +who will give themselves infinite pains about moths, butterflies, or +the concha Veneris. Not only did the chevalier have his own particular +shells, but he cherished an ambitious desire which he pursued with a +craft so profound as to be worthy of Sixtus the Fifth: he wanted to +marry a certain rich old maid, with the intention, no doubt, of making +her a stepping-stone by which to reach the more elevated regions of +the court. There, then, lay the secret of his royal bearing and of his +residence in Alencon. + + + +CHAPTER II + +SUSANNAH AND THE ELDERS + +On a Wednesday morning, early, toward the middle of spring, in the +year 16,--such was his mode of reckoning,--at the moment when the +chevalier was putting on his old green-flowered damask dressing-gown, +he heard, despite the cotton in his ears, the light step of a young +girl who was running up the stairway. Presently three taps were +discreetly struck upon the door; then, without waiting for any +response, a handsome girl slipped like an eel into the room occupied +by the old bachelor. + +"Ah! is it you, Suzanne?" said the Chevalier de Valois, without +discontinuing his occupation, which was that of stropping his razor. +"What have you come for, my dear little jewel of mischief?" + +"I have come to tell you something which may perhaps give you as much +pleasure as pain?" + +"Is it anything about Cesarine?" + +"Cesarine! much I care about your Cesarine!" she said with a saucy +air, half serious, half indifferent. + +This charming Suzanne, whose present comical performance was to +exercise a great influence in the principal personages of our history, +was a work-girl at Madame Lardot's. One word here on the topography of +the house. The wash-rooms occupied the whole of the ground floor. The +little courtyard was used to hang out on wire cords embroidered +handkerchiefs, collarets, capes, cuffs, frilled shirts, cravats, +laces, embroidered dresses,--in short, all the fine linen of the best +families of the town. The chevalier assumed to know from the number of +her capes in the wash how the love-affairs of the wife of the prefect +were going on. Though he guessed much from observations of this kind, +the chevalier was discretion itself; he was never betrayed into an +epigram (he had plenty of wit) which might have closed to him an +agreeable salon. You are therefore to consider Monsieur de Valois as a +man of superior manners, whose talents, like those of many others, +were lost in a narrow sphere. Only--for, after all, he was a man--he +permitted himself certain penetrating glances which could make some +women tremble; although they all loved him heartily as soon as they +discovered the depth of his discretion and the sympathy that he felt +for their little weaknesses. + +The head woman, Madame Lardot's factotum, an old maid of forty-six, +hideous to behold, lived on the opposite side of the passage to the +chevalier. Above them were the attics where the linen was dried in +winter. Each apartment had two rooms,--one lighted from the street, +the other from the courtyard. Beneath the chevalier's room there lived +a paralytic, Madame Lardot's grandfather, an old buccaneer named +Grevin, who had served under Admiral Simeuse in India, and was now +stone-deaf. As for Madame Lardot, who occupied the other lodging on +the first floor, she had so great a weakness for persons of condition +that she may well have been thought blind to the ways of the +chevalier. To her, Monsieur de Valois was a despotic monarch who did +right in all things. Had any of her workwomen been guilty of a +happiness attributed to the chevalier she would have said, "He is so +lovable!" Thus, though the house was of glass, like all provincial +houses, it was discreet as a robber's cave. + +A born confidant to all the little intrigues of the work-rooms, the +chevalier never passed the door, which usually stood open, without +giving something to his little ducks,--chocolate, bonbons, ribbons, +laces, gilt crosses, and such like trifles adored by grisettes; +consequently, the kind old gentleman was adored in return. Women have +an instinct which enables them to divine the men who love them, who +like to be near them, and exact no payment for gallantries. In this +respect women have the instinct of dogs, who in a mixed company will +go straight to the man to whom animals are sacred. + +The poor Chevalier de Valois retained from his former life the need of +bestowing gallant protection, a quality of the seigneurs of other +days. Faithful to the system of the "petite maison," he liked to +enrich women,--the only beings who know how to receive, because they +can always return. But the poor chevalier could no longer ruin himself +for a mistress. Instead of the choicest bonbons wrapped in bank-bills, +he gallantly presented paper-bags full of toffee. Let us say to the +glory of Alencon that the toffee was accepted with more joy than la +Duthe ever showed at a gilt service or a fine equipage offered by the +Comte d'Artois. All these grisettes fully understood the fallen +majesty of the Chevalier de Valois, and they kept their private +familiarities with him a profound secret for his sake. If they were +questioned about him in certain houses when they carried home the +linen, they always spoke respectfully of the chevalier, and made him +out older than he really was; they talked of him as a most respectable +monsieur, whose life was a flower of sanctity; but once in their own +regions they perched on his shoulders like so many parrots. He liked +to be told the secrets which washerwomen discover in the bosom of +households, and day after day these girls would tell him the cancans +which were going the round of Alencon. He called them his "petticoat +gazettes," his "talking feuilletons." Never did Monsieur de Sartines +have spies more intelligent and less expensive, or minions who showed +more honor while displaying their rascality of mind. So it may be said +that in the mornings, while breakfasting, the chevalier usually amused +himself as much as the saints in heaven. + +Suzanne was one of his favorites, a clever, ambitious girl, made of +the stuff of a Sophie Arnold, and handsome withal, as the handsomest +courtesan invited by Titian to pose on black velvet for a model of +Venus; although her face, fine about the eyes and forehead, +degenerated, lower down, into commonness of outline. Hers was a Norman +beauty, fresh, high-colored, redundant, the flesh of Rubens covering +the muscles of the Farnese Hercules, and not the slender articulations +of the Venus de' Medici, Apollo's graceful consort. + +"Well, my child, tell me your great or your little adventure, whatever +it is." + +The particular point about the chevalier which would have made him +noticeable from Paris to Pekin, was the gentle paternity of his manner +to grisettes. They reminded him of the illustrious operatic queens of +his early days, whose celebrity was European during a good third of +the eighteenth century. It is certain that the old gentleman, who had +lived in days gone by with that feminine nation now as much forgotten +as many other great things,--like the Jesuits, the Buccaneers, the +Abbes, and the Farmers-General,--had acquired an irresistible good- +humor, a kindly ease, a laisser-aller devoid of egotism, the self- +effacement of Jupiter with Alcmene, of the king intending to be duped, +who casts his thunderbolts to the devil, wants his Olympus full of +follies, little suppers, feminine profusions--but with Juno out of the +way, be it understood. + +In spite of his old green damask dressing-gown and the bareness of the +room in which he sat, where the floor was covered with a shabby +tapestry in place of carpet, and the walls were hung with tavern-paper +presenting the profiles of Louis XVI. and members of his family, +traced among the branches of a weeping willow with other +sentimentalities invented by royalism during the Terror,--in spite of +his ruins, the chevalier, trimming his beard before a shabby old +toilet-table, draped with trumpery lace, exhaled an essence of the +eighteenth century. All the libertine graces of his youth reappeared; +he seemed to have the wealth of three hundred thousand francs of debt, +while his vis-a-vis waited before the door. He was grand,--like +Berthier on the retreat from Moscow, issuing orders to an army that +existed no longer. + +"Monsieur le chevalier," replied Suzanne, drolly, "seems to me I +needn't tell you anything; you've only to look." + +And Suzanne presented a side view of herself which gave a sort of +lawyer's comment to her words. The chevalier, who, you must know, was +a sly old bird, lowered his right eye on the grisette, still holding +the razor at his throat, and pretended to understand. + +"Well, well, my little duck, we'll talk about that presently. But you +are rather previous, it seems to me." + +"Why, Monsieur le chevalier, ought I to wait until my mother beats me +and Madame Lardot turns me off? If I don't get away soon to Paris, I +shall never be able to marry here, where men are so ridiculous." + +"It can't be helped, my dear; society is changing; women are just as +much victims to the present state of things as the nobility +themselves. After political overturn comes the overturn of morals. +Alas! before long woman won't exist" (he took out the cotton-wool to +arrange his ears): "she'll lose everything by rushing into sentiment; +she'll wring her nerves; good-bye to all the good little pleasures of +our time, desired without shame, accepted without nonsense." (He +polished up the little negroes' heads.) "Women had hysterics in those +days to get their ends, but now" (he began to laugh) "their vapors end +in charcoal. In short, marriage" (here he picked up his pincers to +remove a hair) "will become a thing intolerable; whereas it used to be +so gay in my day! The reigns of Louis XIV. and Louis XV.--remember +this, my child--said farewell to the finest manners and morals ever +known to the world." + +"But, Monsieur le chevalier," said the grisette, "the matter now +concerns the morals and honor of your poor little Suzanne, and I hope +you won't abandon her." + +"Abandon her!" cried the chevalier, finishing his hair; "I'd sooner +abandon my own name." + +"Ah!" exclaimed Suzanne. + +"Now, listen to me, you little mischief," said the chevalier, sitting +down on a huge sofa, formerly called a duchesse, which Madame Lardot +had been at some pains to find for him. + +He drew the magnificent Suzanne before him, holding her legs between +his knees. She let him do as he liked, although in the street she was +offish enough to other men, refusing their familiarities partly from +decorum and partly for contempt for their commonness. She now stood +audaciously in front of the chevalier, who, having fathomed in his day +many other mysteries in minds that were far more wily, took in the +situation at a single glance. He knew very well that no young girl +would joke about a real dishonor; but he took good care not to knock +over the pretty scaffolding of her lie as he touched it. + +"We slander ourselves," he said with inimitable craft; "we are as +virtuous as that beautiful biblical girl whose name we bear; we can +always marry as we please, but we are thirsty for Paris, where +charming creatures--and we are no fool--get rich without trouble. We +want to go and see if the great capital of pleasures hasn't some young +Chevalier de Valois in store for us, with a carriage, diamonds, an +opera-box, and so forth. Russians, Austrians, Britons, have millions +on which we have an eye. Besides, we are patriotic; we want to help +France in getting back her money from the pockets of those gentry. +Hey! hey! my dear little devil's duck! it isn't a bad plan. The world +you live in may cry out a bit, but success justifies all things. The +worst thing in this world, my dear, is to be without money; that's our +disease, yours and mine. Now inasmuch as we have plenty of wit, we +thought it would be a good thing to parade our dear little honor, or +dishonor, to catch an old boy; but that old boy, my dear heart, knows +the Alpha and Omega of female tricks,--which means that you could +easier put salt on a sparrow's tail than to make me believe I have +anything to do with your little affair. Go to Paris, my dear; go at +the cost of an old celibate, I won't prevent it; in fact, I'll help +you, for an old bachelor, Suzanne, is the natural money-box of a young +girl. But don't drag me into the matter. Listen, my queen, you who +know life pretty well; you would me great harm and give me much pain, +--harm, because you would prevent my marriage in a town where people +cling to morality; pain, because if you are in trouble (which I deny, +you sly puss!) I haven't a penny to get you out of it. I'm as poor as +a church mouse; you know that, my dear. Ah! if I marry Mademoiselle +Cormon, if I am once more rich, of course I would prefer you to +Cesarine. You've always seemed to me as fine as the gold they gild on +lead; you were made to be the love of a great seigneur. I think you so +clever that the trick you are trying to play off on me doesn't +surprise me one bit; I expected it. You are flinging the scabbard +after the sword, and that's daring for a girl. It takes nerve and +superior ideas to do it, my angel, and therefore you have won my +respectful esteem." + +"Monsieur le chevalier, I assure you, you are mistaken, and--" + +She colored, and did not dare to say more. The chevalier, with a +single glance, had guessed and fathomed her whole plan. + +"Yes, yes! I understand: you want me to believe it," he said. "Well! I +do believe it. But take my advice: go to Monsieur du Bousquier. +Haven't you taken linen there for the last six or eight months? I'm +not asking what went on between you; but I know the man: he has +immense conceit; he is an old bachelor, and very rich; and he only +spends a quarter of a comfortable income. If you are as clever as I +suppose, you can go to Paris at his expense. There, run along, my +little doe; go and twist him round your finger. Only, mind this: be as +supple as silk; at every word take a double turn round him and make a +knot. He is a man to fear scandal, and if he has given you a chance to +put him in the pillory--in short, understand; threaten him with the +ladies of the Maternity Hospital. Besides, he's ambitious. A man +succeeds through his wife, and you are handsome and clever enough to +make the fortune of a husband. Hey! the mischief! you could hold your +own against all the court ladies." + +Suzanne, whose mind took in at a flash the chevalier's last words, was +eager to run off to du Bousquier, but, not wishing to depart too +abruptly, she questioned the chevalier about Paris, all the while +helping him to dress. The chevalier, however, divined her desire to be +off, and favored it by asking her to tell Cesarine to bring up his +chocolate, which Madame Lardot made for him every morning. Suzanne +then slipped away to her new victim, whose biography must here be +given. + +Born of an old Alencon family, du Bousquier was a cross between the +bourgeois and the country squire. Finding himself without means on the +death of his father, he went, like other ruined provincials, to Paris. +On the breaking out of the Revolution he took part in public affairs. +In spite of revolutionary principles, which made a hobby of republican +honesty, the management of public business in those days was by no +means clean. A political spy, a stock-jobber, a contractor, a man who +confiscated in collusion with the syndic of a commune the property of +emigres in order to sell them and buy them in, a minister, and a +general were all equally engaged in public business. From 1793 to 1799 +du Bousquier was commissary of provisions to the French armies. He +lived in a magnificent hotel and was one of the matadors of finance, +did business with Ouvrard, kept open house, and led the scandalous +life of the period,--the life of a Cincinnatus, on sacks of corn +harvested without trouble, stolen rations, "little houses" full of +mistresses, in which were given splendid fetes to the Directors of the +Republic. + +The citizen du Bousquier was one of Barras' familiars; he was on the +best of terms with Fouche, stood very well with Bernadotte, and fully +expected to become a minister by throwing himself into the party which +secretly caballed against Bonaparte until Marengo. If it had not been +for Kellermann's charge and Desaix's death, du Bousquier would +probably have become a minister. He was one of the chief assistances +of that secret government whom Napoleon's luck send behind the scenes +in 1793. (See "An Historical Mystery.") The unexpected victory of +Marengo was the defeat of that party who actually had their +proclamations printed to return to the principles of the Montagne in +case the First Consul succumbed. + +Convinced of the impossibility of Bonaparte's triumph, du Bousquier +staked the greater part of his property on a fall in the Funds, and +kept two couriers on the field of battle. The first started for Paris +when Melas' victory was certain; the second, starting four hours +later, brought the news of the defeat of the Austrians. Du Bousquier +cursed Kellermann and Desaix; he dared not curse Bonaparte, who might +owe him millions. This alternative of millions to be earned and +present ruin staring him in the face, deprived the purveyor of most of +his faculties: he became nearly imbecile for several days; the man had +so abused his health by excesses that when the thunderbolt fell upon +him he had no strength to resist. The payment of his bills against the +Exchequer gave him some hopes for the future, but, in spite of all +efforts to ingratiate himself, Napoleon's hatred to the contractors +who had speculated on his defeat made itself felt; du Bousquier was +left without a sou. The immorality of his private life, his intimacy +with Barras and Bernadotte, displeased the First Consul even more than +his manoeuvres at the Bourse, and he struck du Bousquier's name from +the list of the government contractors. + +Out of all his past opulence du Bousquier saved only twelve hundred +francs a year from an investment in the Grand Livre, which he had +happened to place there by pure caprice, and which saved him from +penury. A man ruined by the First Consul interested the town of +Alencon, to which he now returned, where royalism was secretly +dominant. Du Bousquier, furious against Bonaparte, relating stories +against him of his meanness, of Josephine's improprieties, and all the +other scandalous anecdotes of the last ten years, was well received. + +About this time, when he was somewhere between forty and fifty, du +Bousquier's appearance was that of a bachelor of thirty-six, of medium +height, plump as a purveyor, proud of his vigorous calves, with a +strongly marked countenance, a flattened nose, the nostrils garnished +with hair, black eyes with thick lashes, from which darted shrewd +glances like those of Monsieur de Talleyrand, though somewhat dulled. +He still wore republican whiskers and his hair very long; his hands, +adorned with bunches of hair on each knuckle, showed the power of his +muscular system in their prominent blue veins. He had the chest of the +Farnese Hercules, and shoulders fit to carry the stocks. Such +shoulders are seen nowadays only at Tortoni's. This wealth of +masculine vigor counted for much in du Bousquier's relations with +others. And yet in him, as in the chevalier, symptoms appeared which +contrasted oddly with the general aspect of their persons. The late +purveyor had not the voice of his muscles. We do not mean that his +voice was a mere thread, such as we sometimes hear issuing from the +mouth of these walruses; on the contrary, it was a strong voice, but +stifled, an idea of which can be given only by comparing it with the +noise of a saw cutting into soft and moistened wood,--the voice of a +worn-out speculator. + +In spite of the claims which the enmity of the First Consul gave +Monsieur du Bousquier to enter the royalist society of the province, +he was not received in the seven or eight families who composed the +faubourg Saint-Germain of Alencon, among whom the Chevalier de Valois +was welcome. He had offered himself in marriage, through her notary, +to Mademoiselle Armande, sister of the most distinguished noble in the +town; to which offer he received a refusal. He consoled himself as +best he could in the society of a dozen rich families, former +manufacturers of the old point d'Alencon, owners of pastures and +cattle, or merchants doing a wholesale business in linen, among whom, +as he hoped, he might find a wealthy wife. In fact, all his hopes now +converged to the perspective of a fortunate marriage. He was not +without a certain financial ability, which many persons used to their +profit. Like a ruined gambler who advises neophytes, he pointed out +enterprises and speculations, together with the means and chances of +conducting them. He was thought a good administrator, and it was often +a question of making him mayor of Alencon; but the memory of his +underhand jobbery still clung to him, and he was never received at the +prefecture. All the succeeding governments, even that of the Hundred +Days, refused to appoint him mayor of Alencon,--a place he coveted, +which, could he have had it, would, he thought, have won him the hand +of a certain old maid on whom his matrimonial views now turned. + +Du Bousquier's aversion to the Imperial government had thrown him at +first into the royalist circles of Alencon, where he remained in spite +of the rebuffs he received there; but when, after the first return of +the Bourbons, he was still excluded from the prefecture, that +mortification inspired him with a hatred as deep as it was secret +against the royalists. He now returned to his old opinions, and became +the leader of the liberal party in Alencon, the invisible manipulator +of elections, and did immense harm to the Restoration by the +cleverness of his underhand proceedings and the perfidy of his outward +behavior. Du Bousquier, like all those who live by their heads only, +carried on his hatreds with the quiet tranquillity of a rivulet, +feeble apparently, but inexhaustible. His hatred was that of a negro, +so peaceful that it deceived the enemy. His vengeance, brooded over +for fifteen years, was as yet satisfied by no victory, not even that +of July, 1830. + +It was not without some private intention that the Chevalier de Valois +had turned Suzanne's designs upon Monsieur du Bousquier. The liberal +and the royalist had mutually divined each other in spite of the wide +dissimulation with which they hid their common hope from the rest of +the town. The two old bachelors were secretly rivals. Each had formed +a plan to marry the Demoiselle Cormon, whom Monsieur de Valois had +mentioned to Suzanne. Both, ensconced in their idea and wearing the +armor of apparent indifference, awaited the moment when some lucky +chance might deliver the old maid over to them. Thus, if the two old +bachelors had not been kept asunder by the two political systems of +which they each offered a living expression, their private rivalry +would still have made them enemies. Epochs put their mark on men. +These two individuals proved the truth of that axiom by the opposing +historic tints that were visible in their faces, in their +conversation, in their ideas, and in their clothes. One, abrupt, +energetic, with loud, brusque manners, curt, rude speech, dark in +tone, in hair, in look, terrible apparently, in reality as impotent as +an insurrection, represented the republic admirably. The other, gentle +and polished, elegant and nice, attaining his ends by the slow and +infallible means of diplomacy, faithful to good taste, was the express +image of the old courtier regime. + +The two enemies met nearly every evening on the same ground. The war +was courteous and benign on the side of the chevalier; but du +Bousquier showed less ceremony on his, though still preserving the +outward appearances demanded by society, for he did not wish to be +driven from the place. They themselves fully understood each other; +but in spite of the shrewd observation which provincials bestow on the +petty interests of their own little centre, no one in the town +suspected the rivalry of these two men. Monsieur le Chevalier de +Valois occupied a vantage-ground: he had never asked for the hand of +Mademoiselle Cormon; whereas du Bousquier, who entered the lists soon +after his rejection by the most distinguished family in the place, had +been refused. But the chevalier believed that his rival had still such +strong chances of success that he dealt him this coup de Jarnac with a +blade (namely, Suzanne) that was finely tempered for the purpose. The +chevalier had cast his plummet-line into the waters of du Bousquier; +and, as we shall see by the sequel, he was not mistaken in any of his +conjectures. + +Suzanne tripped with a light foot from the rue du Cours, by the rue de +la Porte de Seez and the rue du Bercail, to the rue du Cygne, where, +about five years earlier, du Bousquier had bought a little house built +of gray Jura stone, which is something between Breton slate and Norman +granite. There he established himself more comfortably than any +householder in town; for he had managed to preserve certain furniture +and decorations from the days of his splendor. But provincial manners +and morals obscured, little by little, the rays of this fallen +Sardanapalus; these vestiges of his former luxury now produced the +effect of a glass chandelier in a barn. Harmony, that bond of all +work, human or divine, was lacking in great things as well as in +little ones. The stairs, up which everybody mounted without wiping +their feet, were never polished; the walls, painted by some wretched +artisan of the neighborhood, were a terror to the eye; the stone +mantel-piece, ill-carved, "swore" with the handsome clock, which was +further degraded by the company of contemptible candlesticks. Like the +period which du Bousquier himself represented, the house was a jumble +of dirt and magnificence. Being considered a man of leisure, du +Bousquier led the same parasite life as the chevalier; and he who does +not spend his income is always rich. His only servant was a sort of +Jocrisse, a lad of the neighborhood, rather a ninny, trained slowly +and with difficulty to du Bousquier's requirements. His master had +taught him, as he might an orang-outang, to rub the floors, dust the +furniture, black his boots, brush his coats, and bring a lantern to +guide him home at night if the weather were cloudy, and clogs if it +rained. Like many other human beings, this lad hadn't stuff enough in +him for more than one vice; he was a glutton. Often, when du Bousquier +went to a grand dinner, he would take Rene to wait at table; on such +occasions he made him take off his blue cotton jacket, with its big +pockets hanging round his hips, and always bulging with handkerchiefs, +clasp-knives, fruits, or a handful of nuts, and forced him to put on a +regulation coat. Rene would then stuff his fill with the other +servants. This duty, which du Bousquier had turned into a reward, won +him the most absolute discretion from the Breton servant. + +"You here, mademoiselle!" said Rene to Suzanne when she entered; +"'t'isn't your day. We haven't any linen for the wash, tell Madame +Lardot." + +"Old stupid!" said Suzanne, laughing. + +The pretty girl went upstairs, leaving Rene to finish his porringer of +buckwheat in boiled milk. Du Bousquier, still in bed, was revolving in +his mind his plans of fortune; for ambition was all that was left to +him, as to other men who have sucked dry the orange of pleasure. +Ambition and play are inexhaustible; in a well-organized man the +passions which proceed from the brain will always survive the passions +of the heart. + +"Here am I," said Suzanne, sitting down on the bed and jangling the +curtain-rings back along the rod with despotic vehemence. + +"Quesaco, my charmer?" said the old bachelor, sitting up in bed. + +"Monsieur," said Suzanne, gravely, "you must be astonished to see me +here at this hour; but I find myself in a condition which obliges me +not to care for what people may say about it." + +"What does all that mean?" said du Bousquier, crossing his arms. + +"Don't you understand me?" said Suzanne. "I know," she continued, +making a pretty little face, "how ridiculous it is in a poor girl to +come and nag at a man for what he thinks a mere nothing. But if you +really knew me, monsieur, if you knew all that I am capable of for a +man who would attach himself to me as much as I'm attached to you, you +would never repent having married me. Of course it isn't here, in +Alencon, that I should be of service to you; but if we went to Paris, +you would see where I could lead a man with your mind and your +capacities; and just at this time too, when they are remaking the +government from top to toe. So--between ourselves, be it said--IS what +has happened a misfortune? Isn't it rather a piece of luck, which will +pay you well? Who and what are you working for now?" + +"For myself, of course!" cried du Bousquier, brutally. + +"Monster! you'll never be a father!" said Suzanne, giving a tone of +prophetic malediction to the words. + +"Come, don't talk nonsense, Suzanne," replied du Bousquier; "I really +think I am still dreaming." + +"How much more reality do you want?" cried Suzanne, standing up. + +Du Bousquier rubbed his cotton night-cap to the top of his head with a +rotatory motion, which plainly indicated the tremendous fermentation +of his ideas. + +"He actually believes it!" thought Suzanne, "and he's flattered. +Heaven! how easy it is to gull men!" + +"Suzanne, what the devil must I do? It is so extraordinary--I, who +thought-- The fact is that-- No, no, it can't be--" + +"What? you can't marry me?" + +"Oh! as for that, no; I have engagements." + +"With Mademoiselle Armande or Mademoiselle Cormon, who have both +refused you? Listen to me, Monsieur du Bousquier, my honor doesn't +need gendarmes to drag you to the mayor's office. I sha'n't lack for +husbands, thank goodness! and I don't want a man who can't appreciate +what I'm worth. But some day you'll repent of the way you are +behaving; for I tell you now that nothing on earth, neither gold nor +silver, will induce me to return the good thing that belongs to you, +if you refuse to accept it to-day." + +"But, Suzanne, are you sure?" + +"Oh, monsieur!" cried the grisette, wrapping her virtue round her, +"what do you take me for? I don't remind you of the promises you made +me, which have ruined a poor young girl whose only blame was to have +as much ambition as love." + +Du Bousquier was torn with conflicting sentiments, joy, distrust, +calculation. He had long determined to marry Mademoiselle Cormon; for +the Charter, on which he had just been ruminating, offered to his +ambition, through the half of her property, the political career of a +deputy. Besides, his marriage with the old maid would put him socially +so high in the town that he would have great influence. Consequently, +the storm upraised by that malicious Suzanne drove him into the +wildest embarrassment. Without this secret scheme, he would have +married Suzanne without hesitation. In which case, he could openly +assume the leadership of the liberal party in Alencon. After such a +marriage he would, of course, renounce the best society and take up +with the bourgeois class of tradesmen, rich manufacturers and +graziers, who would certainly carry him in triumph as their candidate. +Du Bousquier already foresaw the Left side. + +This solemn deliberation he did not conceal; he rubbed his hands over +his head, displacing the cap which covered its disastrous baldness. +Suzanne, meantime, like all those persons who succeed beyond their +hopes, was silent and amazed. To hide her astonishment, she assumed +the melancholy pose of an injured girl at the mercy of her seducer; +inwardly she was laughing like a grisette at her clever trick. + +"My dear child," said du Bousquier at length, "I'm not to be taken in +with such BOSH, not I!" + +Such was the curt remark which ended du Bousquier's meditation. He +plumed himself on belonging to the class of cynical philosophers who +could never be "taken in" by women,--putting them, one and all, unto +the same category, as SUSPICIOUS. These strong-minded persons are +usually weak men who have a special catechism in the matter of +womenkind. To them the whole sex, from queens of France to milliners, +are essentially depraved, licentious, intriguing, not a little +rascally, fundamentally deceitful, and incapable of thought about +anything but trifles. To them, women are evil-doing queens, who must +be allowed to dance and sing and laugh as they please; they see +nothing sacred or saintly in them, nor anything grand; to them there +is no poetry in the senses, only gross sensuality. Where such +jurisprudence prevails, if a woman is not perpetually tyrannized over, +she reduces the man to the condition of a slave. Under this aspect du +Bousquier was again the antithesis of the chevalier. When he made his +final remark, he flung his night-cap to the foot of the bed, as Pope +Gregory did the taper when he fulminated an excommunication; Suzanne +then learned for the first time that du Bousquier wore a toupet +covering his bald spot. + +"Please to remember, Monsieur du Bousquier," she replied majestically, +"that in coming here to tell you of this matter I have done my duty; +remember that I have offered you my hand, and asked for yours; but +remember also that I behaved with the dignity of a woman who respects +herself. I have not abased myself to weep like a silly fool; I have +not insisted; I have not tormented you. You now know my situation. You +must see that I cannot stay in Alencon: my mother would beat me, and +Madame Lardot rides a hobby of principles; she'll turn me off. Poor +work-girl that I am, must I go to the hospital? must I beg my bread? +No! I'd rather throw myself into the Brillante or the Sarthe. But +isn't it better that I should go to Paris? My mother could find an +excuse to send me there,--an uncle who wants me, or a dying aunt, or a +lady who sends for me. But I must have some money for the journey and +for--you know what." + +This extraordinary piece of news was far more startling to du +Bousquier than to the Chevalier de Valois. Suzanne's fiction +introduced such confusion into the ideas of the old bachelor that he +was literally incapable of sober reflection. Without this agitation +and without his inward delight (for vanity is a swindler which never +fails of its dupe), he would certainly have reflected that, supposing +it were true, a girl like Suzanne, whose heart was not yet spoiled, +would have died a thousand deaths before beginning a discussion of +this kind and asking for money. + +"Will you really go to Paris, then?" he said. + +A flash of gayety lighted Suzanne's gray eyes as she heard these +words; but the self-satisfied du Bousquier saw nothing. + +"Yes, monsieur," she said. + +Du Bousquier then began bitter lamentations: he had the last payments +to make on his house; the painter, the mason, the upholsterers must be +paid. Suzanne let him run on; she was listening for the figures. Du +Bousquier offered her three hundred francs. Suzanne made what is +called on the stage a false exit; that is, she marched toward the +door. + +"Stop, stop! where are you going?" said du Bousquier, uneasily. "This +is what comes of a bachelor's life!" thought he. "The devil take me if +I ever did anything more than rumple her collar, and, lo and behold! +she makes THAT a ground to put her hand in one's pocket!" + +"I'm going, monsieur," replied Suzanne, "to Madame Granson, the +treasurer of the Maternity Society, who, to my knowledge, has saved +many a poor girl in my condition from suicide." + +"Madame Granson!" + +"Yes," said Suzanne, "a relation of Mademoiselle Cormon, the president +of the Maternity Society. Saving your presence, the ladies of the town +have created an institution to protect poor creatures from destroying +their infants, like that handsome Faustine of Argentan who was +executed for it three years ago." + +"Here, Suzanne," said du Bousquier, giving her a key, "open that +secretary, and take out the bag you'll find there: there's about six +hundred francs in it; it is all I possess." + +"Old cheat!" thought Suzanne, doing as he told her, "I'll tell about +your false toupet." + +She compared du Bousquier with that charming chevalier, who had given +her nothing, it is true, but who had comprehended her, advised her, +and carried all grisettes in his heart. + +"If you deceive me, Suzanne," cried du Bousquier, as he saw her with +her hand in the drawer, "you--" + +"Monsieur," she said, interrupting him with ineffable impertinence, +"wouldn't you have given me money if I had asked for it?" + +Recalled to a sense of gallantry, du Bousquier had a remembrance of +past happiness and grunted his assent. Suzanne took the bag and +departed, after allowing the old bachelor to kiss her, which he did +with an air that seemed to say, "It is a right which costs me dear; +but it is better than being harried by a lawyer in the court of +assizes as the seducer of a girl accused of infanticide." + +Suzanne hid the sack in a sort of gamebag made of osier which she had +on her arm, all the while cursing du Bousquier for his stinginess; for +one thousand francs was the sum she wanted. Once tempted of the devil +to desire that sum, a girl will go far when she has set foot on the +path of trickery. As she made her way along the rue du Bercail, it +came into her head that the Maternity Society, presided over by +Mademoiselle Cormon, might be induced to complete the sum at which she +had reckoned her journey to Paris, which to a grisette of Alencon +seemed considerable. Besides, she hated du Bousquier. The latter had +evidently feared a revelation of his supposed misconduct to Madame +Granson; and Suzanne, at the risk of not getting a penny from the +society, was possessed with the desire, on leaving Alencon, of +entangling the old bachelor in the inextricable meshes of a provincial +slander. In all grisettes there is something of the malevolent +mischief of a monkey. Accordingly, Suzanne now went to see Madame +Granson, composing her face to an expression of the deepest dejection. + + + +CHAPTER III + +ATHANASE + +Madame Granson, widow of a lieutenant-colonel of artillery killed at +Jena, possessed, as her whole means of livelihood, a meagre pension of +nine hundred francs a year, and three hundred francs from property of +her own, plus a son whose support and education had eaten up all her +savings. She occupied, in the rue du Bercail, one of those melancholy +ground-floor apartments which a traveller passing along the principal +street of a little provincial town can look through at a glance. The +street door opened at the top of three steep steps; a passage led to +an interior courtyard, at the end of which was the staircase covered +by a wooden gallery. On one side of the passage was the dining-room +and the kitchen; on the other side, a salon put to many uses, and the +widow's bedchamber. + +Athanase Granson, a young man twenty-three years of age, who slept in +an attic room above the second floor of the house, added six hundred +francs to the income of his poor mother, by the salary of a little +place which the influence of his relation, Mademoiselle Cormon, had +obtained for him in the mayor's office, where he was placed in charge +of the archives. + +From these indications it is easy to imagine Madame Granson in her +cold salon with its yellow curtains and Utrecht velvet furniture, also +yellow, as she straightened the round straw mats which were placed +before each chair, that visitors might not soil the red-tiled floor +while they sat there; after which she returned to her cushioned +armchair and little work-table placed beneath the portrait of the +lieutenant-colonel of artillery between two windows,--a point from +which her eye could rake the rue du Bercail and see all comers. She +was a good woman, dressed with bourgeois simplicity in keeping with +her wan face furrowed by grief. The rigorous humbleness of poverty +made itself felt in all the accessories of this household, the very +air of which was charged with the stern and upright morals of the +provinces. At this moment the son and mother were together in the +dining-room, where they were breakfasting with a cup of coffee, with +bread and butter and radishes. To make the pleasure which Suzanne's +visit was to give to Madame Granson intelligible, we must explain +certain secret interests of the mother and son. + +Athanase Granson was a thin and pale young man, of medium height, with +a hollow face in which his two black eyes, sparkling with thoughts, +gave the effect of bits of coal. The rather irregular lines of his +face, the curve of his lips, a prominent chin, the fine modelling of +his forehead, his melancholy countenance, caused by a sense of his +poverty warring with the powers that he felt within him, were all +indications of repressed and imprisoned talent. In any other place +than the town of Alencon the mere aspect of his person would have won +him the assistance of superior men, or of women who are able to +recognize genius in obscurity. If his was not genius, it was at any +rate the form and aspect of it; if he had not the actual force of a +great heart, the glow of such a heart was in his glance. Although he +was capable of expressing the highest feeling, a casing of timidity +destroyed all the graces of his youth, just as the ice of poverty kept +him from daring to put forth all his powers. Provincial life, without +an opening, without appreciation, without encouragement, described a +circle about him in which languished and died the power of thought,--a +power which as yet had scarcely reached its dawn. Moreover, Athanase +possessed that savage pride which poverty intensifies in noble minds, +exalting them in their struggle with men and things; although at their +start in life it is an obstacle to their advancement. Genius proceeds +in two ways: either it takes its opportunity--like Napoleon, like +Moliere--the moment that it sees it, or it waits to be sought when it +has patiently revealed itself. Young Granson belonged to that class of +men of talent who distrust themselves and are easily discouraged. His +soul was contemplative. He lived more by thought than by action. +Perhaps he might have seemed deficient or incomplete to those who +cannot conceive of genius without the sparkle of French passion; but +he was powerful in the world of mind, and he was liable to reach, +through a series of emotions imperceptible to common souls, those +sudden determinations which make fools say of a man, "He is mad." + +The contempt which the world pours out on poverty was death to +Athanase; the enervating heat of solitude, without a breath or current +of air, relaxed the bow which ever strove to tighten itself; his soul +grew weary in this painful effort without results. Athanase was a man +who might have taken his place among the glories of France; but, eagle +as he was, cooped in a cage without his proper nourishment, he was +about to die of hunger after contemplating with an ardent eye the +fields of air and the mountain heights where genius soars. His work in +the city library escaped attention, and he buried in his soul his +thoughts of fame, fearing that they might injure him; but deeper than +all lay buried within him the secret of his heart,--a passion which +hollowed his cheeks and yellowed his brow. He loved his distant +cousin, this very Mademoiselle Cormon whom the Chevalier de Valois and +du Bousquier, his hidden rivals, were stalking. This love had had its +origin in calculation. Mademoiselle Cormon was thought to be one of +the richest persons in the town: the poor lad had therefore been led +to love her by desires for material happiness, by the hope, long +indulged, of gilding with comfort his mother's last years, by eager +longing for the ease of life so needful to men who live by thought; +but this most innocent point of departure degraded his passion in his +own eyes. Moreover, he feared the ridicule the world would cast upon +the love of a young man of twenty-three for an old maid of forty. + +And yet his passion was real; whatever may seem false about such a +love elsewhere, it can be realized as a fact in the provinces, where, +manners and morals being without change or chance or movement or +mystery, marriage becomes a necessity of life. No family will accept a +young man of dissolute habits. However natural the liaison of a young +man, like Athanase, with a handsome girl, like Suzanne, for instance, +might seem in a capital, it alarms provincial parents, and destroys +the hopes of marriage of a poor young man when possibly the fortune of +a rich one might cause such an unfortunate antecedent to be +overlooked. Between the depravity of certain liaisons and a sincere +love, a man of honor and no fortune will not hesitate: he prefers the +misfortunes of virtue to the evils of vice. But in the provinces women +with whom a young man call fall in love are rare. A rich young girl he +cannot obtain in a region where all is calculation; a poor young girl +he is prevented from loving; it would be, as provincials say, marrying +hunger and thirst. Such monkish solitude is, however, dangerous to +youth. + +These reflections explain why provincial life is so firmly based on +marriage. Thus we find that ardent and vigorous genius, forced to rely +on the independence of its own poverty, quits these cold regions where +thought is persecuted by brutal indifference, where no woman is +willing to be a sister of charity to a man of talent, of art, of +science. + +Who will really understand Athanase Granson's love for Mademoiselle +Cormon? Certainly neither rich men--those sultans of society who fill +their harems--nor middle-class men, who follow the well-beaten high- +road of prejudices; nor women who, not choosing to understand the +passions of artists, impose the yoke of their virtues upon men of +genius, imagining that the two sexes are governed by the same laws. + +Here, perhaps, we should appeal to those young men who suffer from the +repression of their first desires at the moment when all their forces +are developing; to artists sick of their own genius smothering under +the pressure of poverty; to men of talent, persecuted and without +influence, often without friends at the start, who have ended by +triumphing over that double anguish, equally agonizing, of soul and +body. Such men will well understand the lancinating pains of the +cancer which was now consuming Athanase; they have gone through those +long and bitter deliberations made in presence of some grandiose +purpose they had not the means to carry out; they have endured those +secret miscarriages in which the fructifying seed of genius falls on +arid soil. Such men know that the grandeur of desires is in proportion +to the height and breadth of the imagination. The higher they spring, +the lower they fall; and how can it be that ties and bonds should not +be broken by such a fall? Their piercing eye has seen--as did Athanase +--the brilliant future which awaited them, and from which they fancied +that only a thin gauze parted them; but that gauze through which their +eyes could see is changed by Society into a wall of iron. Impelled by +a vocation, by a sentiment of art, they endeavor again and again to +live by sentiments which society as incessantly materializes. Alas! +the provinces calculate and arrange marriage with the one view of +material comfort, and a poor artist or man of science is forbidden to +double its purpose and make it the saviour of his genius by securing +to him the means of subsistence! + +Moved by such ideas, Athanase Granson first thought of marriage with +Mademoiselle Cormon as a means of obtaining a livelihood which would +be permanent. Thence he could rise to fame, and make his mother happy, +knowing at the same time that he was capable of faithfully loving his +wife. But soon his own will created, although he did not know it, a +genuine passion. He began to study the old maid, and, by dint of the +charm which habit gives, he ended by seeing only her beauties and +ignoring her defects. + +In a young man of twenty-three the senses count for much in love; +their fire produces a sort of prism between his eyes and the woman. +From this point of view the clasp with which Beaumarchis' Cherubin +seizes Marceline is a stroke of genius. But when we reflect that in +the utter isolation to which poverty condemned poor Athanase, +Mademoiselle Cormon was the only figure presented to his gaze, that +she attracted his eye incessantly, that all the light he had was +concentrated on her, surely his love may be considered natural. + +This sentiment, so carefully hidden, increased from day to day. +Desires, sufferings, hopes, and meditations swelled in quietness and +silence the lake widening ever in the young man's breast, as hour by +hour added its drop of water to the volume. And the wider this inward +circle, drawn by the imagination, aided by the senses, grew, the more +imposing Mademoiselle Cormon appeared to Athanase, and the more his +own timidity increased. + +The mother had divined the truth. Like all provincial mothers, she +calculated candidly in her own mind the advantages of the match. She +told herself that Mademoiselle Cormon would be very lucky to secure a +husband in a young man of twenty-three, full of talent, who would +always be an honor to his family and the neighborhood; at the same +time the obstacles which her son's want of fortune and Mademoiselle +Cormon's age presented to the marriage seemed to her almost +insurmountable; she could think of nothing but patience as being able +to vanquish them. Like du Bousquier, like the Chevalier de Valois, she +had a policy of her own; she was on the watch for circumstances, +awaiting the propitious moment for a move with the shrewdness of +maternal instinct. Madame Granson had no fears at all as to the +chevalier, but she did suppose that du Bousquier, although refused, +retained certain hopes. As an able and underhand enemy to the latter, +she did him much secret harm in the interests of her son; from whom, +by the bye, she carefully concealed all such proceedings. + +After this explanation it is easy to understand the importance which +Suzanne's lie, confided to Madame Granson, was about to acquire. What +a weapon put into the hands of this charitable lady, the treasurer of +the Maternity Society! How she would gently and demurely spread the +news while collecting assistance for the chaste Suzanne! + +At the present moment Athanase, leaning pensively on his elbow at the +breakfast table, was twirling his spoon in his empty cup and +contemplating with a preoccupied eye the poor room with its red brick +floor, its straw chairs, its painted wooden buffet, its pink and white +curtains chequered like a backgammon board, which communicated with +the kitchen through a glass door. As his back was to the chimney which +his mother faced, and as the chimney was opposite to the door, his +pallid face, strongly lighted from the window, framed in beautiful +black hair, the eyes gleaming with despair and fiery with morning +thoughts, was the first object which met the eyes of the incoming +Suzanne. The grisette, who belonged to a class which certainly has the +instinct of misery and the sufferings of the heart, suddenly felt that +electric spark, darting from Heaven knows where, which can never be +explained, which some strong minds deny, but the sympathetic stroke of +which has been felt by many men and many women. It is at once a light +which lightens the darkness of the future, a presentiment of the +sacred joys of a shared love, the certainty of mutual comprehension. +Above all, it is like the touch of a firm and able hand on the +keyboard of the senses. The eyes are fascinated by an irresistible +attraction; the heart is stirred; the melodies of happiness echo in +the soul and in the ears; a voice cries out, "It is he!" Often +reflection casts a douche of cold water on this boiling emotion, and +all is over. + +In a moment, as rapid as the flash of the lightning, Suzanne received +the broadside of this emotion in her heart. The flame of a real love +burned up the evil weeds fostered by a libertine and dissipated life. +She saw how much she was losing of decency and value by accusing +herself falsely. What had seemed to her a joke the night before became +to her eyes a serious charge against herself. She recoiled at her own +success. But the impossibility of any result; the poverty of the young +man; a vague hope of enriching herself, of going to Paris, and +returning with full hands to say, "I love you! here are the means of +happiness!" or mere fate, if you will have it so, dried up the next +moment this beneficent dew. + +The ambitious grisette asked with a timid air for a moment's interview +with Madame Granson, who took her at once into her bedchamber. When +Suzanne came out she looked again at Athanase; he was still in the +same position, and the tears came into her eyes. As for Madame +Granson, she was radiant with joy. At last she had a weapon, and a +terrible one, against du Bousquier; she could now deal him a mortal +blow. She had of course promised the poor seduced girl the support of +all charitable ladies and that of the members of the Maternity Society +in particular; she foresaw a dozen visits which would occupy her whole +day, and brew up a frightful storm on the head of the guilty du +Bousquier. The Chevalier de Valois, while foreseeing the turn the +affair would take, had really no idea of the scandal which would +result from his own action. + +"My dear child," said Madame Granson to her son, "we are to dine, you +know, with Mademoiselle Cormon; do take a little pains with your +appearance. You are wrong to neglect your dress as you do. Put on that +handsome frilled shirt and your green coat of Elbeuf cloth. I have my +reasons," she added slyly. "Besides, Mademoiselle Cormon is going to +Prebaudet, and many persons will doubtless call to bid her good-bye. +When a young man is marriageable he ought to take every means to make +himself agreeable. If girls would only tell the truth, heavens! my +dear boy, you'd be astonished at what makes them fall in love. Often +it suffices for a man to ride past them at the head of a company of +artillery, or show himself at a ball in tight clothes. Sometimes a +mere turn of the head, a melancholy attitude, makes them suppose a +man's whole life; they'll invent a romance to match the hero--who is +often a mere brute, but the marriage is made. Watch the Chevalier de +Valois: study him; copy his manners; see with what ease he presents +himself; he never puts on a stiff air, as you do. Talk a little more; +one would really think you didn't know anything,--you, who know Hebrew +by heart." + +Athanase listened to his mother with a surprised but submissive air; +then he rose, took his cap, and went off to the mayor's office, saying +to himself, "Can my mother suspect my secret?" + +He passed through the rue du Val-Noble, where Mademoiselle Cormon +lived,--a little pleasure which he gave himself every morning, +thinking, as usual, a variety of fanciful things:-- + +"How little she knows that a young man is passing before her house who +loves her well, who would be faithful to her, who would never cause +her any grief; who would leave her the entire management of her +fortune without interference. Good God! what fatality! here, side by +side, in the same town, are two persons in our mutual condition, and +yet nothing can bring them together. Suppose I were to speak to her +this evening?" + +During this time Suzanne had returned to her mother's house thinking +of Athanase; and, like many other women who have longed to help an +adored man beyond the limit of human powers, she felt herself capable +of making her body a stepping-stone on which he could rise to attain +his throne. + +It is now necessary to enter the house of this old maid toward whom so +many interests are converging, where the actors in this scene, with +the exception of Suzanne, were all to meet this very evening. As for +Suzanne, that handsome individual bold enough to burn her ships like +Alexander at her start in life, and to begin the battle by a +falsehood, she disappears from the stage, having introduced upon it a +violent element of interest. Her utmost wishes were gratified. She +quitted her native town a few days later, well supplied with money and +good clothes, among which was a fine dress of green reps and a +charming green bonnet lined with pink, the gift of Monsieur de Valois, +--a present which she preferred to all the rest, even the money. If +the chevalier had gone to Paris in the days of her future brilliancy, +she would certainly have left every one for him. Like the chaste +Susannah of the Bible, whom the Elders hardly saw, she established +herself joyously and full of hope in Paris, while all Alencon was +deploring her misfortunes, for which the ladies of two Societies +(Charity and Maternity) manifested the liveliest sympathy. Though +Suzanne is a fair specimen of those handsome Norman women whom a +learned physician reckons as comprising one third of her fallen class +whom our monstrous Paris absorbs, it must be stated that she remained +in the upper and more decent regions of gallantry. At an epoch when, +as Monsieur de Valois said, Woman no longer existed, she was simply +"Madame du Val-Noble"; in other days she would have rivalled the +Rhodopes, the Imperias, the Ninons of the past. One of the most +distinguished writers of the Restoration has taken her under his +protection; perhaps he may marry her. He is a journalist, and +consequently above public opinion, inasmuch as he manufactures it +afresh every year or two. + + + +CHAPTER III + +MADEMOISELLE CORMON + +In nearly all the second-class prefectures of France there exists one +salon which is the meeting-ground of those considerable and well- +considered persons of the community who are, nevertheless, NOT the +cream of the best society. The master and mistress of such an +establishment are counted among the leading persons of the town; they +are received wherever it may please them to visit; no fete is given, +no formal or diplomatic dinner takes place, to which they are not +invited. But the chateau people, heads of families possessing great +estates, in short, the highest personages in the department, do not go +to their houses; social intercourse between them is carried on by +cards from one to the other, and a dinner or soiree accepted and +returned. + +This salon, in which the lesser nobility, the clergy, and the +magistracy meet together, exerts a great influence. The judgment and +mind of the region reside in that solid, unostentatious society, where +each man knows the resources of his neighbor, where complete +indifference is shown to luxury and dress,--pleasures which are +thought childish in comparison to that of obtaining ten or twelve +acres of pasture land,--a purchase coveted for years, which has +probably given rise to endless diplomatic combinations. Immovable in +its prejudices, good or evil, this social circle follows a beaten +track, looking neither before it nor behind it. It accepts nothing +from Paris without long examination and trial; it rejects cashmeres as +it does investments on the Grand-Livre; it scoffs at fashions and +novelties; reads nothing, prefers ignorance, whether of science, +literature, or industrial inventions. It insists on the removal of a +prefect when that official does not suit it; and if the administration +resists, it isolates him, after the manner of bees who wall up a snail +in wax when it gets into their hive. + +In this society gossip is often turned into solemn verdicts. Young +women are seldom seen there; when they come it is to seek approbation +of their conduct,--a consecration of their self-importance. This +supremacy granted to one house is apt to wound the sensibilities of +other natives of the region, who console themselves by adding up the +cost it involves, and by which they profit. If it so happens that +there is no fortune large enough to keep open house in this way, the +big-wigs of the place choose a place of meeting, as they did at +Alencon, in the house of some inoffensive person, whose settled life +and character and position offers no umbrage to the vanities or the +interests of any one. + +For some years the upper classes of Alencon had met in this way at the +house of an old maid, whose fortune was, unknown to herself, the aim +and object of Madame Granson, her second cousin, and of the two old +bachelors whose secret hopes in that direction we have just unveiled. +This lady lived with her maternal uncle, a former grand-vicar of the +bishopric of Seez, once her guardian, and whose heir she was. The +family of which Rose-Marie-Victoire Cormon was the present +representative had been in earlier days among the most considerable in +the province. Though belonging to the middle classes, she consorted +with the nobility, among whom she was more or less allied, her family +having furnished, in past years, stewards to the Duc d'Alencon, many +magistrates to the long robe, and various bishops to the clergy. +Monsieur de Sponde, the maternal grandfather of Mademoiselle Cormon, +was elected by the Nobility to the States-General, and Monsieur +Cormon, her father, by the Tiers-Etat, though neither accepted the +mission. For the last hundred years the daughters of the family had +married nobles belonging to the provinces; consequently, this family +had thrown out so many suckers throughout the duchy as to appear on +nearly all the genealogical trees. No bourgeois family had ever seemed +so like nobility. + +The house in which Mademoiselle Cormon lived, build in Henri IV.'s +time, by Pierre Cormon, the steward of the last Duc d'Alencon, had +always belonged to the family; and among the old maid's visible +possessions this one was particularly stimulating to the covetous +desires of the two old lovers. Yet, far from producing revenue, the +house was a cause of expense. But it is so rare to find in the very +centre of a provincial town a private dwelling without unpleasant +surroundings, handsome in outward structure and convenient within, +that Alencon shared the envy of the lovers. + +This old mansion stands exactly in the middle of the rue du Val-Noble. +It is remarkable for the strength of its construction,--a style of +building introduced by Marie de' Medici. Though built of granite,--a +stone which is hard to work,--its angles, and the casings of the doors +and windows, are decorated with corner blocks cut into diamond facets. +It has only one clear story above the ground-floor; but the roof, +rising steeply, has several projecting windows, with carved spandrels +rather elegantly enclosed in oaken frames, and externally adorned with +balustrades. Between each of these windows is a gargoyle presenting +the fantastic jaws of an animal without a body, vomiting the rain- +water upon large stones pierced with five holes. The two gables are +surmounted by leaden bouquets,--a symbol of the bourgeoisie; for +nobles alone had the privilege in former days of having weather-vanes. +To right of the courtyard are the stables and coach-house; to left, +the kitchen, wood-house, and laundry. + +One side of the porte-cochere, being left open, allowed the passers in +the street to see in the midst of the vast courtyard a flower-bed, the +raised earth of which was held in place by a low privet hedge. A few +monthly roses, pinkes, lilies, and Spanish broom filled this bed, +around which in the summer season boxes of paurestinus, pomegranates, +and myrtle were placed. Struck by the scrupulous cleanliness of the +courtyard and its dependencies, a stranger would at once have divined +that the place belonged to an old maid. The eye which presided there +must have been an unoccupied, ferreting eye; minutely careful, less +from nature than for want of something to do. An old maid, forced to +employ her vacant days, could alone see to the grass being hoed from +between the paving stones, the tops of the walls kept clean, the broom +continually going, and the leather curtains of the coach-house always +closed. She alone would have introduced, out of busy idleness, a sort +of Dutch cleanliness into a house on the confines of Bretagne and +Normandie,--a region where they take pride in professing an utter +indifference to comfort. + +Never did the Chevalier de Valois, or du Bousquier, mount the steps of +the double stairway leading to the portico of this house without +saying to himself, one, that it was fit for a peer of France, the +other, that the mayor of the town ought to live there. + +A glass door gave entrance from this portico into an antechamber, a +species of gallery paved in red tiles and wainscoted, which served as +a hospital for the family portraits,--some having an eye put out, +others suffering from a dislocated shoulder; this one held his hat in +a hand that no longer existed; that one was a case of amputation at +the knee. Here were deposited the cloaks, clogs, overshoes, umbrellas, +hoods, and pelisses of the guests. It was an arsenal where each +arrival left his baggage on arriving, and took it up when departing. +Along each wall was a bench for the servants who arrived with +lanterns, and a large stove, to counteract the north wind, which blew +through this hall from the garden to the courtyard. + +The house was divided in two equal parts. On one side, toward the +courtyard, was the well of the staircase, a large dining-room looking +to the garden, and an office or pantry which communicated with the +kitchen. On the other side was the salon, with four windows, beyond +which were two smaller rooms,--one looking on the garden, and used as +a boudoir, the other lighted from the courtyard, and used as a sort of +office. + +The upper floor contained a complete apartment for a family household, +and a suite of rooms where the venerable Abbe de Sponde had his abode. +The garrets offered fine quarters to the rats and mice, whose +nocturnal performances were related by Mademoiselle Cormon to the +Chevalier de Valois, with many expressions of surprise at the +inutility of her efforts to get rid of them. The garden, about half an +acre in size, is margined by the Brillante, so named from the +particles of mica which sparkle in its bed elsewhere than in the Val- +Noble, where its shallow waters are stained by the dyehouses, and +loaded with refuse from the other industries of the town. The shore +opposite to Mademoiselle Cormon's garden is crowded with houses where +a variety of trades are carried on; happily for her, the occupants are +quiet people,--a baker, a cleaner, an upholsterer, and several +bourgeois. The garden, full of common flowers, ends in a natural +terrace, forming a quay, down which are several steps leading to the +river. Imagine on the balustrade of this terrace a number of tall +vases of blue and white pottery, in which are gilliflowers; and to +right and left, along the neighboring walls, hedges of linden closely +trimmed in, and you will gain an idea of the landscape, full of +tranquil chastity, modest cheerfulness, but commonplace withal, which +surrounded the venerable edifice of the Cormon family. What peace! +what tranquillity! nothing pretentious, but nothing transitory; all +seems eternal there! + +The ground-floor is devoted wholly to the reception-rooms. The old, +unchangeable provincial spirit pervades them. The great square salon +has four windows, modestly cased in woodwork painted gray. A single +oblong mirror is placed above the fireplace; the top of its frame +represented the Dawn led by the Hours, and painted in camaieu (two +shades of one color). This style of painting infested the decorative +art of the day, especially above door-frames, where the artist +displayed his eternal Seasons, and made you, in most houses in the +centre of France, abhor the odious Cupids, endlessly employed in +skating, gleaning, twirling, or garlanding one another with flowers. +Each window was draped in green damask curtains, looped up by heavy +cords, which made them resemble a vast dais. The furniture, covered +with tapestry, the woodwork, painted and varnished, and remarkable for +the twisted forms so much the fashion in the last century, bore scenes +from the fables of La Fontaine on the chair-backs; some of this +tapestry had been mended. The ceiling was divided at the centre of the +room by a huge beam, from which depended an old chandelier of rock- +crystal swathed in green gauze. On the fireplace were two vases in +Sevres blue, and two old girandoles attached to the frame of the +mirror, and a clock, the subject of which, taken from the last scene +of the "Deserteur," proved the enormous popularity of Sedaine's work. +This clock, of bronze-gilt, bore eleven personages upon it, each about +four inches tall. At the back the Deserter was seen issuing from +prison between the soldiers; in the foreground the young woman lay +fainting, and pointing to his pardon. On the walls of this salon were +several of the more recent portraits of the family,--one or two by +Rigaud, and three pastels by Latour. Four card tables, a backgammon +board, and a piquet table occupied the vast room, the only one in the +house, by the bye, which was ceiled. + +The dining-room, paved in black and white stone, not ceiled, and its +beams painted, was furnished with one of those enormous sideboards +with marble tops, required by the war waged in the provinces against +the human stomach. The walls, painted in fresco, represented a flowery +trellis. The seats were of varnished cane, and the doors of natural +wood. All things about the place carried out the patriarchal air which +emanated from the inside as well as the outside of the house. The +genius of the provinces preserved everything; nothing was new or old, +neither young nor decrepit. A cold precision made itself felt +throughout. + +Tourists in Normandy, Brittany, Maine, and Anjou must all have seen in +the capitals of those provinces many houses which resemble more or +less that of the Cormons; for it is, in its way, an archetype of the +burgher houses in that region of France, and it deserves a place in +this history because it serves to explain manners and customs, and +represents ideas. Who does not already feel that life must have been +calm and monotonously regular in this old edifice? It contained a +library; but that was placed below the level of the river. The books +were well bound and shelved, and the dust, far from injuring them, +only made them valuable. They were preserved with the care given in +these provinces deprived of vineyards to other native products, +desirable for their antique perfume, and issued by the presses of +Bourgogne, Touraine, Gascogne, and the South. The cost of +transportation was too great to allow any but the best products to be +imported. + +The basis of Mademoiselle Cormon's society consisted of about one +hundred and fifty persons; some went at times to the country; others +were occasionally ill; a few travelled about the department on +business; but certain of the faithful came every night (unless invited +elsewhere), and so did certain others compelled by duties or by habit +to live permanently in the town. All the personages were of ripe age; +few among them had ever travelled; nearly all had spent their lives in +the provinces, and some had taken part in the chouannerie. The latter +were beginning to speak fearlessly of that war, now that rewards were +being showered on the defenders of the good cause. Monsieur de Valois, +one of the movers in the last uprising (during which the Marquis de +Montauran, betrayed by his mistress, perished in spite of the devotion +of Marche-a-Terre, now tranquilly raising cattle for the market near +Mayenne),--Monsieur de Valois had, during the last six months, given +the key to several choice stratagems practised upon an old republican +named Hulot, the commander of a demi-brigade stationed at Alencon from +1798 to 1800, who had left many memories in the place. [See "The +Chouans."] + +The women of this society took little pains with their dress, except +on Wednesdays, when Mademoiselle Cormon gave a dinner, on which +occasion the guests invited on the previous Wednesday paid their +"visit of digestion." Wednesdays were gala days: the assembly was +numerous; guests and visitors appeared in fiocchi; some women brought +their sewing, knitting, or worsted work; the young girls were not +ashamed to make patterns for the Alencon point lace, with the proceeds +of which they paid for their personal expenses. Certain husbands +brought their wives out of policy, for young men were few in that +house; not a word could be whispered in any ear without attracting the +attention of all; there was therefore no danger, either for young +girls or wives, of love-making. + +Every evening, at six o'clock, the long antechamber received its +furniture. Each habitue brought his cane, his cloak, his lantern. All +these persons knew each other so well, and their habits and ways were +so familiarly patriarchal, that if by chance the old Abbe de Sponde +was lying down, or Mademoiselle Cormon was in her chamber, neither +Josette, the maid, nor Jacquelin, the man-servant, nor Mariette, the +cook, informed them. The first comer received the second; then, when +the company were sufficiently numerous for whist, piquet, or boston, +they began the game without awaiting either the Abbe de Sponde or +mademoiselle. If it was dark, Josette or Jacquelin would hasten to +light the candles as soon as the first bell rang. Seeing the salon +lighted up, the abbe would slowly hurry to come down. Every evening +the backgammon and the piquet tables, the three boston tables, and the +whist table were filled,--which gave occupation to twenty-five or +thirty persons; but as many as forty were usually present. Jacquelin +would then light the candles in the other rooms. + +Between eight and nine o'clock the servants began to arrive in the +antechamber to accompany their masters home; and, short of a +revolution, no one remained in the salon at ten o'clock. At that hour +the guests were departing in groups along the street, discoursing on +the game, or continuing conversations on the land they were covetous +of buying, on the terms of some one's will, on quarrels among heirs, +on the haughty assumption of the aristocratic portion of the +community. It was like Paris when the audience of a theatre disperses. + +Certain persons who talk much of poesy and know nothing about it, +declaim against the habits of life in the provinces. But put your +forehead in your left hand, rest one foot on the fender, and your +elbow on your knee; then, if you compass the idea of this quiet and +uniform scene, this house and its interior, this company and its +interests, heightened by the pettiness of its intellect like goldleaf +beaten between sheets of parchment, ask yourself, What is human life? +Try to decide between him who scribbles jokes on Egyptian obelisks, +and him who has "bostoned" for twenty years with Du Bousquier, +Monsieur de Valois, Mademoiselle Cormon, the judge of the court, the +king's attorney, the Abbe de Sponde, Madame Granson, and tutti quanti. +If the daily and punctual return of the same steps to the same path is +not happiness, it imitates happiness so well that men driven by the +storms of an agitated life to reflect upon the blessings of +tranquillity would say that here was happiness ENOUGH. + +To reckon the importance of Mademoiselle Cormon's salon at its true +value, it will suffice to say that the born statistician of the +society, du Bousquier, had estimated that the persons who frequented +it controlled one hundred and thirty-one votes in the electoral +college, and mustered among themselves eighteen hundred thousand +francs a year from landed estate in the neighborhood. + +The town of Alencon, however, was not entirely represented by this +salon. The higher aristocracy had a salon of their own; moreover, that +of the receiver-general was like an administration inn kept by the +government, where society danced, plotted, fluttered, loved, and +supped. These two salons communicated by means of certain mixed +individuals with the house of Cormon, and vice-versa; but the Cormon +establishment sat severely in judgment on the two other camps. The +luxury of their dinners was criticised; the ices at their balls were +pondered; the behavior of the women, the dresses, and "novelties" +there produced were discussed and disapproved. + +Mademoiselle Cormon, a species of firm, as one might say, under whose +name was comprised an imposing coterie, was naturally the aim and +object of two ambitious men as deep and wily as the Chevalier de +Valois and du Bousquier. To the one as well as to the other, she meant +election as deputy, resulting, for the noble, in the peerage, for the +purveyor, in a receiver-generalship. A leading salon is a difficult +thing to create, whether in Paris or the provinces, and here was one +already created. To marry Mademoiselle Cormon was to reign in Alencon. +Athanase Granson, the only one of the three suitors for the hand of +the old maid who no longer calculated profits, now loved her person as +well as her fortune. + +To employ the jargon of the day, is there not a singular drama in the +situation of these four personages? Surely there is something odd and +fantastic in three rivalries silently encompassing a woman who never +guessed their existence, in spite of an eager and legitimate desire to +be married. And yet, though all these circumstances make the +spinsterhood of this old maid an extraordinary thing, it is not +difficult to explain how and why, in spite of her fortune and her +three lovers, she was still unmarried. In the first place, +Mademoiselle Cormon, following the custom and rule of her house, had +always desired to marry a nobleman; but from 1788 to 1798 public +circumstances were very unfavorable to such pretensions. Though she +wanted to be a woman of condition, as the saying is, she was horribly +afraid of the Revolutionary tribunal. The two sentiments, equal in +force, kept her stationary by a law as true in ethics as it is in +statics. This state of uncertain expectation is pleasing to unmarried +women as long as they feel themselves young, and in a position to +choose a husband. France knows that the political system of Napoleon +resulted in making many widows. Under that regime heiresses were +entirely out of proportion in numbers to the bachelors who wanted to +marry. When the Consulate restored internal order, external +difficulties made the marriage of Mademoiselle Cormon as difficult to +arrange as it had been in the past. If, on the one hand, Rose-Marie- +Victoire refused to marry an old man, on the other, the fear of +ridicule forbade her to marry a very young one. + +In the provinces, families marry their sons early to escape the +conscription. In addition to all this, she was obstinately determined +not to marry a soldier: she did not intend to take a man and then give +him up to the Emperor; she wanted him for herself alone. With these +views, she found it therefore impossible, from 1804 to 1815, to enter +the lists with young girls who were rivalling each other for suitable +matches. + +Besides her predilection for the nobility, Mademoiselle Cormon had +another and very excusable mania: that of being loved for herself. You +could hardly believe the lengths to which this desire led her. She +employed her mind on setting traps for her possible lovers, in order +to test their real sentiments. Her nets were so well laid that the +luckless suitors were all caught, and succumbed to the test she +applied to them without their knowledge. Mademoiselle Cormon did not +study them; she watched them. A single word said heedlessly, a joke +(that she often was unable to understand), sufficed to make her reject +an aspirant as unworthy: this one had neither heart nor delicacy; that +one told lies, and was not religious; a third only wanted to coin +money under the cloak of marriage; another was not of a nature to make +a woman happy; here she suspected hereditary gout; there certain +immoral antecedents alarmed her. Like the Church, she required a noble +priest at her altar; she even wanted to be married for imaginary +ugliness and pretended defects, just as other women wish to be loved +for the good qualities they have not, and for imaginary beauties. +Mademoiselle Cormon's ambition took its rise in the most delicate and +sensitive feminine feeling; she longed to reward a lover by revealing +to him a thousand virtues after marriage, as other women then betray +the imperfections they have hitherto concealed. But she was ill +understood. The noble woman met with none but common souls in whom the +reckoning of actual interests was paramount, and who knew nothing of +the nobler calculations of sentiment. + +The farther she advanced towards that fatal epoch so adroitly called +the "second youth," the more her distrust increased. She affected to +present herself in the most unfavorable light, and played her part so +well that the last wooers hesitated to link their fate to that of a +person whose virtuous blind-man's-buff required an amount of +penetration that men who want the virtuous ready-made would not bestow +upon it. The constant fear of being married for her money rendered her +suspicious and uneasy beyond all reason. She turned to the rich men; +but the rich are in search of great marriages; she feared the poor +men, in whom she denied the disinterestedness she sought so eagerly. +After each disappointment in marriage, the poor lady, led to despise +mankind, began to see them all in a false light. Her character +acquired, necessarily, a secret misanthropy, which threw a tinge of +bitterness into her conversation, and some severity into her eyes. +Celibacy gave to her manners and habits a certain increasing rigidity; +for she endeavored to sanctify herself in despair of fate. Noble +vengeance! she was cutting for God the rough diamond rejected by man. +Before long public opinion was against her; for society accepts the +verdict an independent woman renders on herself by not marrying, +either through losing suitors or rejecting them. Everybody supposed +that these rejections were founded on secret reasons, always ill +interpreted. One said she was deformed; another suggested some hidden +fault; but the poor girl was really as pure as a saint, as healthy as +an infant, and full of loving kindness; Nature had intended her for +all the pleasures, all the joys, and all the fatigues of motherhood. + +Mademoiselle Cormon did not possess in her person an obliging +auxiliary to her desires. She had no other beauty than that very +improperly called la beaute du diable, which consists of a buxom +freshness of youth that the devil, theologically speaking, could never +have,--though perhaps the expression may be explained by the constant +desire that must surely possess him to cool and refresh himself. The +feet of the heiress were broad and flat. Her leg, which she often +exposed to sight by her manner (be it said without malice) of lifting +her gown when it rained, could never have been taken for the leg of a +woman. It was sinewy, with a thick projecting calf like a sailor's. A +stout waist, the plumpness of a wet-nurse, strong dimpled arms, red +hands, were all in keeping with the swelling outlines and the fat +whiteness of Norman beauty. Projecting eyes, undecided in color, gave +to her face, the rounded outline of which had no dignity, an air of +surprise and sheepish simplicity, which was suitable perhaps for an +old maid. If Rose had not been, as she was, really innocent, she would +have seemed so. An aquiline nose contrasted curiously with the +narrowness of her forehead; for it is rare that that form of nose does +not carry with it a fine brow. In spite of her thick red lips, a sign +of great kindliness, the forehead revealed too great a lack of ideas +to allow of the heart being guided by intellect; she was evidently +benevolent without grace. How severely we reproach Virtue for its +defects, and how full of indulgence we all are for the pleasanter +qualities of Vice! + +Chestnut hair of extraordinary length gave to Rose Cormon's face a +beauty which results from vigor and abundance,--the physical qualities +most apparent in her person. In the days of her chief pretensions, +Rose affected to hold her head at the three-quarter angle, in order to +exhibit a very pretty ear, which detached itself from the blue-veined +whiteness of her throat and temples, set off, as it was, by her wealth +of hair. Seen thus in a ball-dress, she might have seemed handsome. +Her protuberant outlines and her vigorous health did, in fact, draw +from the officers of the Empire the approving exclamation,-- + +"What a fine slip of a girl!" + +But, as years rolled on, this plumpness, encouraged by a tranquil, +wholesome life, had insensibly so ill spread itself over the whole of +Mademoiselle Cormon's body that her primitive proportions were +destroyed. At the present moment, no corset could restore a pair of +hips to the poor lady, who seemed to have been cast in a single mould. +The youthful harmony of her bosom existed no longer; and its excessive +amplitude made the spectator fear that if she stooped its heavy masses +might topple her over. But nature had provided against this by giving +her a natural counterpoise, which rendered needless the deceitful +adjunct of a bustle; in Rose Cormon everything was genuine. Her chin, +as it doubled, reduced the length of her neck, and hindered the easy +carriage of her head. Rose had no wrinkles, but she had folds of +flesh; and jesters declared that to save chafing she powdered her skin +as they do an infant's. + +This ample person offered to a young man full of ardent desires like +Athanase an attraction to which he had succumbed. Young imaginations, +essentially eager and courageous, like to rove upon these fine living +sheets of flesh. Rose was like a plump partridge attracting the knife +of a gourmet. Many an elegant deep in debt would very willingly have +resigned himself to make the happiness of Mademoiselle Cormon. But, +alas! the poor girl was now forty years old. At this period, after +vainly seeking to put into her life those interests which make the +Woman, and finding herself forced to be still unmarried, she fortified +her virtue by stern religious practices. She had recourse to religion, +the great consoler of oppressed virginity. A confessor had, for the +last three years, directed Mademoiselle Cormon rather stupidly in the +path of maceration; he advised the use of scourging, which, if modern +medical science is to be believed, produces an effect quite the +contrary to that expected by the worthy priest, whose hygienic +knowledge was not extensive. + +These absurd practices were beginning to shed a monastic tint over the +face of Rose Cormon, who now saw with something like despair her white +skin assuming the yellow tones which proclaim maturity. A slight down +on her upper lip, about the corners, began to spread and darken like a +trail of smoke; her temples grew shiny; decadence was beginning! It +was authentic in Alencon that Mademoiselle Cormon suffered from rush +of blood to the head. She confided her ills to the Chevalier de +Valois, enumerating her foot-baths, and consulting him as to +refrigerants. On such occasions the shrewd old gentleman would pull +out his snuff-box, gaze at the Princess Goritza, and say, by way of +conclusion:-- + +"The right composing draught, my dear lady, is a good and kind +husband." + +"But whom can one trust?" she replied. + +The chevalier would then brush away the snuff which had settled in the +folds of his waistcoat or his paduasoy breeches. To the world at large +this gesture would have seemed very natural; but it always gave +extreme uneasiness to the poor woman. + +The violence of this hope without an object was so great that Rose was +afraid to look a man in the face lest he should perceive in her eyes +the feelings that filled her soul. By a wilfulness, which was perhaps +only the continuation of her earlier methods, though she felt herself +attracted toward the men who might still suit her, she was so afraid +of being accused of folly that she treated them ungraciously. Most +persons in her society, being incapable of appreciating her motives, +which were always noble, explained her manner towards her co-celibates +as the revenge of a refusal received or expected. When the year 1815 +began, Rose had reached that fatal age which she dared not avow. She +was forty-two years old. Her desire for marriage then acquired an +intensity which bordered on monomania, for she saw plainly that all +chance of progeny was about to escape her; and the thing which in her +celestial ignorance she desired above all things was the possession of +children. Not a person in all Alencon ever attributed to this virtuous +woman a single desire for amorous license. She loved, as it were, in +bulk without the slightest imagination of love. Rose was a Catholic +Agnes, incapable of inventing even one of the wiles of Moliere's +Agnes. + +For some months past she had counted on chance. The disbandment of the +Imperial troops and the reorganization of the Royal army caused a +change in the destination of many officers, who returned, some on +half-pay, others with or without a pension, to their native towns,-- +all having a desire to counteract their luckless fate, and to end +their life in a way which might to Rose Cormon be a happy beginning of +hers. It would surely be strange if, among those who returned to +Alencon or its neighborhood, no brave, honorable, and, above all, +sound and healthy officer of suitable age could be found, whose +character would be a passport among Bonaparte opinions; or some ci- +devant noble who, to regain his lost position, would join the ranks of +the royalists. This hope kept Mademoiselle Cormon in heart during the +early months of that year. But, alas! all the soldiers who thus +returned were either too old or too young; too aggressively +Bonapartist, or too dissipated; in short, their several situations +were out of keeping with the rank, fortune, and morals of Mademoiselle +Cormon, who now grew daily more and more desperate. The poor woman in +vain prayed to God to send her a husband with whom she could be +piously happy: it was doubtless written above that she should die both +virgin and martyr; no man suitable for a husband presented himself. +The conversations in her salon every evening kept her informed of the +arrival of all strangers in Alencon, and of the facts of their +fortunes, rank, and habits. But Alencon is not a town which attracts +visitors; it is not on the road to any capital; even sailors, +travelling from Brest to Paris, never stop there. The poor woman ended +by admitting to herself that she was reduced to the aborigines. Her +eye now began to assume a certain savage expression, to which the +malicious chevalier responded by a shrewd look as he drew out his +snuff-box and gazed at the Princess Goritza. Monsieur de Valois was +well aware that in the feminine ethics of love fidelity to a first +attachment is considered a pledge for the future. + +But Mademoiselle Cormon--we must admit it--was wanting in intellect, +and did not understand the snuff-box performance. She redoubled her +vigilance against "the evil spirit"; her rigid devotion and fixed +principles kept her cruel sufferings hidden among the mysteries of +private life. Every evening, after the company had left her, she +thought of her lost youth, her faded bloom, the hopes of thwarted +nature; and, all the while immolating her passions at the feet of the +Cross (like poems condemned to stay in a desk), she resolved firmly +that if, by chance, any suitor presented himself, to subject him to no +tests, but to accept him at once for whatever he might be. She even +went so far as to think of marrying a sub-lieutenant, a man who smoked +tobacco, whom she proposed to render, by dint of care and kindness, +one of the best men in the world, although he was hampered with debts. + +But it was only in the silence of night watches that these fantastic +marriages, in which she played the sublime role of guardian angel, +took place. The next day, though Josette found her mistress' bed in a +tossed and tumbled condition, Mademoiselle Cormon had recovered her +dignity, and could only think of a man of forty, a land-owner, well +preserved, and a quasi-young man. + +The Abbe de Sponde was incapable of giving his niece the slightest aid +in her matrimonial manoeuvres. The worthy soul, now seventy years of +age, attributed the disasters of the French Revolution to the design +of Providence, eager to punish a dissolute Church. He had therefore +flung himself into the path, long since abandoned, which anchorites +once followed in order to reach heaven: he led an ascetic life without +proclaiming it, and without external credit. He hid from the world his +works of charity, his continual prayers, his penances; he thought that +all priests should have acted thus during the days of wrath and +terror, and he preached by example. While presenting to the world a +calm and smiling face, he had ended by detaching himself utterly from +earthly interests; his mind turned exclusively to sufferers, to the +needs of the Church, and to his own salvation. He left the management +of his property to his niece, who gave him the income of it, and to +whom he paid a slender board in order to spend the surplus in secret +alms and gifts to the Church. + +All the abbe's affections were concentrated on his niece, who regarded +him as a father, but an abstracted father, unable to conceive the +agitations of the flesh, and thanking God for maintaining his dear +daughter in a state of celibacy; for he had, from his youth up, +adopted the principles of Saint John Chrysostom, who wrote that "the +virgin state is as far above the marriage state as the angel is above +humanity." Accustomed to reverence her uncle, Mademoiselle Cormon +dared not initiate him into the desires which filled her soul for a +change of state. The worthy man, accustomed, on his side, to the ways +of the house, would scarcely have liked the introduction of a husband. +Preoccupied by the sufferings he soothed, lost in the depths of +prayer, the Abbe de Sponde had periods of abstraction which the +habitues of the house regarded as absent-mindedness. In any case, he +talked little; but his silence was affable and benevolent. He was a +man of great height and spare, with grave and solemn manners, though +his face expressed all gentle sentiments and an inward calm; while his +mere presence carried with it a sacred authority. He was very fond of +the Voltairean chevalier. Those two majestic relics of the nobility +and clergy, though of very different habits and morals, recognized +each other by their generous traits. Besides, the chevalier was as +unctuous with the abbe as he was paternal with the grisettes. + +Some persons may fancy that Mademoiselle Cormon used every means to +attain her end; and that among the legitimate lures of womanhood she +devoted herself to dress, wore low-necked gowns, and employed the +negative coquetries of a magnificent display of arms. Not at all! She +was as heroic and immovable in her high-necked chemisette as a sentry +in his box. Her gowns, bonnets, and chiffons were all cut and made by +the dressmaker and the milliner of Alencon, two hump-backed sisters, +who were not without some taste. In spite of the entreaties of these +artists, Mademoiselle Cormon refused to employ the airy deceits of +elegance; she chose to be substantial in all things, flesh and +feathers. But perhaps the heavy fashion of her gowns was best suited +to her cast of countenance. Let those laugh who will at this poor +girl; you would have thought her sublime, O generous souls! who care +but little what form true feeling takes, but admire it where it IS. + +Here some light-minded person may exclaim against the truth of this +statement; they will say that there is not in all France a girl so +silly as to be ignorant of the art of angling for men; that +Mademoiselle Cormon is one of those monstrous exceptions which +commonsense should prevent a writer from using as a type; that the +most virtuous and also the silliest girl who desires to catch her fish +knows well how to bait the hook. But these criticisms fall before the +fact that the noble catholic, apostolic, and Roman religion is still +erect in Brittany and in the ancient duchy of Alencon. Faith and piety +admit of no subtleties. Mademoiselle Cormon trod the path of +salvation, preferring the sorrows of her virginity so cruelly +prolonged to the evils of trickery and the sin of a snare. In a woman +armed with a scourge virtue could never compromise; consequently both +love and self-interest were forced to seek her, and seek her +resolutely. And here let us have the courage to make a cruel +observation, in days when religion is nothing more than a useful means +to some, and a poesy to others. Devotion causes a moral ophthalmia. By +some providential grace, it takes from souls on the road to eternity +the sight of many little earthly things. In a word, pious persons, +devotes, are stupid on various points. This stupidity proves with what +force they turn their minds to celestial matters; although the +Voltairean Chevalier de Valois declared that it was difficult to +decide whether stupid people became naturally pious, or whether piety +had the effect of making intelligent young women stupid. But reflect +upon this carefully: the purest catholic virtue, with its loving +acceptance of all cups, with its pious submission to the will of God, +with its belief in the print of the divine finger on the clay of all +earthly life, is the mysterious light which glides into the innermost +folds of human history, setting them in relief and magnifying them in +the eyes of those who still have Faith. Besides, if there be +stupidity, why not concern ourselves with the sorrows of stupidity as +well as with the sorrows of genius? The former is a social element +infinitely more abundant than the latter. + +So, then, Mademoiselle Cormon was guilty in the eyes of the world of +the divine ignorance of virgins. She was no observer, and her behavior +with her suitors proved it. At this very moment, a young girl of +sixteen, who had never opened a novel, would have read a hundred +chapters of a love story in the eyes of Athanase Granson, where +Mademoiselle Cormon saw absolutely nothing. Shy herself, she never +suspected shyness in others; she did not recognize in the quavering +tones of his speech the force of a sentiment he could not utter. +Capable of inventing those refinements of sentimental grandeur which +hindered her marriage in her early years, she yet could not recognize +them in Athanase. This moral phenomenon will not seem surprising to +persons who know that the qualities of the heart are as distinct from +those of the mind as the faculties of genius are from the nobility of +soul. A perfect, all-rounded man is so rare that Socrates, one of the +noblest pearls of humanity, declared (as a phrenologist of that day) +that he was born to be a scamp, and a very bad one. A great general +may save his country at Zurich, and take commissions from purveyors. A +great musician may conceive the sublimest music and commit a forgery. +A woman of true feeling may be a fool. In short, a devote may have a +sublime soul and yet be unable to recognize the tones of a noble soul +beside her. The caprices produced by physical infirmities are equally +to be met with in the mental and moral regions. + +This good creature, who grieved at making her yearly preserves for no +one but her uncle and herself, was becoming almost ridiculous. Those +who felt a sympathy for her on account of her good qualities, and +others on account of her defects, now made fun of her abortive +marriages. More than one conversation was based on what would become +of so fine a property, together with the old maid's savings and her +uncle's inheritance. For some time past she had been suspected of +being au fond, in spite of appearances, an "original." In the +provinces it was not permissible to be original: being original means +having ideas that are not understood by others; the provinces demand +equality of mind as well as equality of manners and customs. + +The marriage of Mademoiselle Cormon seemed, after 1804, a thing so +problematical that the saying "married like Mademoiselle Cormon" +became proverbial in Alencon as applied to ridiculous failures. Surely +the sarcastic mood must be an imperative need in France, that so +excellent a woman should excite the laughter of Alencon. Not only did +she receive the whole society of the place at her house, not only was +she charitable, pious, incapable of saying an unkind thing, but she +was fully in accord with the spirit of the place and the habits and +customs of the inhabitants, who liked her as the symbol of their +lives; she was absolutely inlaid into the ways of the provinces; she +had never quitted them; she imbibed all their prejudices; she espoused +all their interests; she adored them. + +In spite of her income of eighteen thousand francs from landed +property, a very considerable fortune in the provinces, she lived on a +footing with families who were less rich. When she went to her +country-place at Prebaudet, she drove there in an old wicker carriole, +hung on two straps of white leather, drawn by a wheezy mare, and +scarcely protected by two leather curtains rusty with age. This +carriole, known to all the town, was cared for by Jacquelin as though +it were the finest coupe in all Paris. Mademoiselle valued it; she had +used it for twelve years,--a fact to which she called attention with +the triumphant joy of happy avarice. Most of the inhabitants of the +town were grateful to Mademoiselle Cormon for not humiliating them by +the luxury she could have displayed; we may even believe that had she +imported a caleche from Paris they would have gossiped more about that +than about her various matrimonial failures. The most brilliant +equipage would, after all, have only taken her, like the old carriole, +to Prebaudet. Now the provinces, which look solely to results, care +little about the beauty or elegance of the means, provided they are +efficient. + + + +CHAPTER V + +AN OLD MAID'S HOUSEHOLD + +To complete the picture of the internal habits and ways of this house, +it is necessary to group around Mademoiselle Cormon and the Abbe de +Sponde Jacquelin, Josette, and Mariette, the cook, who employed +themselves in providing for the comfort of uncle and niece. + +Jacquelin, a man of forty, short, fat, ruddy, and brown, with a face +like a Breton sailor, had been in the service of the house for twenty- +two years. He waited at table, groomed the mare, gardened, blacked the +abbe's boots, went on errands, chopped the wood, drove the carriole, +and fetched the oats, straw, and hay from Prebaudet. He sat in the +antechamber during the evening, where he slept like a dormouse. He was +in love with Josette, a girl of thirty, whom Mademoiselle would have +dismissed had she married him. So the poor fond pair laid by their +wages, and loved each other silently, waiting, hoping for +mademoiselle's own marriage, as the Jews are waiting for the Messiah. +Josette, born between Alencon and Mortagne, was short and plump; her +face, which looked like a dirty apricot, was not wanting in sense and +character; it was said that she ruled her mistress. Josette and +Jacquelin, sure of results, endeavored to hide an inward satisfaction +which allows it to be supposed that, as lovers, they had discounted +the future. Mariette, the cook, who had been fifteen years in the +household, knew how to make all the dishes held in most honor in +Alencon. + +Perhaps we ought to count for much the fat old Norman brown-bay mare, +which drew Mademoiselle Cormon to her country-seat at Prebaudet; for +the five inhabitants of the house bore to this animal a maniacal +affection. She was called Penelope, and had served the family for +eighteen years; but she was kept so carefully and fed with such +regularity that mademoiselle and Jacquelin both hoped to use her for +ten years longer. This beast was the subject of perpetual talk and +occupation; it seemed as if poor Mademoiselle Cormon, having no +children on whom her repressed motherly feelings could expend +themselves, had turned those sentiments wholly on this most fortunate +animal. + +The four faithful servants--for Penelope's intelligence raised her to +the level of the other good servants; while they, on the other hand, +had lowered themselves to the mute, submissive regularity of the beast +--went and came daily in the same occupations with the infallible +accuracy of mechanism. But, as they said in their idiom, they had +eaten their white bread first. Mademoiselle Cormon, like all persons +nervously agitated by a fixed idea, became hard to please, and +nagging, less by nature than from the need of employing her activity. +Having no husband or children to occupy her, she fell back on petty +details. She talked for hours about mere nothings, on a dozen napkins +marked "Z," placed in the closet before the "O's." + +"What can Josette be thinking of?" she exclaimed. "Josette is +beginning to neglect things." + +Mademoiselle inquired for eight days running whether Penelope had had +her oats at two o'clock, because on one occasion Jacquelin was a +trifle late. Her narrow imagination spent itself on trifles. A layer +of dust forgotten by the feather-duster, a slice of toast ill-made by +Mariette, Josette's delay in closing the blinds when the sun came +round to fade the colors of the furniture,--all these great little +things gave rise to serious quarrels in which mademoiselle grew angry. +"Everything was changing," she would cry; "she did not know her own +servants; the fact was she spoiled them!" On one occasion Josette gave +her the "Journee du Chretien" instead of the "Quinzaine de Paques." +The whole town heard of this disaster the same evening. Mademoiselle +had been forced to leave the church and return home; and her sudden +departure, upsetting the chairs, made people suppose a catastrophe had +happened. She was therefore obliged to explain the facts to her +friends. + +"Josette," she said gently, "such a thing must never happen again." + +Mademoiselle Cormon was, without being aware of it, made happier by +such little quarrels, which served as cathartics to relieve her +bitterness. The soul has its needs, and, like the body, its +gymnastics. These uncertainties of temper were accepted by Josette and +Jacquelin as changes in the weather are accepted by husbandmen. Those +worthy souls remark, "It is fine to-day," or "It rains," without +arraigning the heavens. And so when they met in the morning the +servants would wonder in what humor mademoiselle would get up, just as +a farmer wonders about the mists at dawn. + +Mademoiselle Cormon had ended, as it was natural she should end, in +contemplating herself only in the infinite pettinesses of her life. +Herself and God, her confessor and the weekly wash, her preserves and +the church services, and her uncle to care for, absorbed her feeble +intellect. To her the atoms of life were magnified by an optic +peculiar to persons who are selfish by nature or self-absorbed by some +accident. Her perfect health gave alarming meaning to the least little +derangement of her digestive organs. She lived under the iron rod of +the medical science of our forefathers, and took yearly four +precautionary doses, strong enough to have killed Penelope, though +they seemed to rejuvenate her mistress. If Josette, when dressing her, +chanced to discover a little pimple on the still satiny shoulders of +mademoiselle, it became the subject of endless inquiries as to the +various alimentary articles of the preceding week. And what a triumph +when Josette reminded her mistress of a certain hare that was rather +"high," and had doubtless raised that accursed pimple! With what joy +they said to each other: "No doubt, no doubt, it WAS the hare!" + +"Mariette over-seasoned it," said mademoiselle. "I am always telling +her to do so lightly for my uncle and for me; but Mariette has no more +memory than--" + +"The hare," said Josette. + +"Just so," replied Mademoiselle; "she has no more memory than a hare, +--a very just remark." + +Four times a year, at the beginning of each season, Mademoiselle +Cormon went to pass a certain number of days on her estate of +Prebaudet. It was now the middle of May, the period at which she +wished to see how her apple-trees had "snowed," a saying of that +region which expressed the effect produced beneath the trees by the +falling of their blossoms. When the circular deposit of these fallen +petals resembled a layer of snow the owner of the trees might hope for +an abundant supply of cider. While she thus gauged her vats, +Mademoiselle Cormon also attended to the repairs which the winter +necessitated; she ordered the digging of her flower-beds and her +vegetable garden, from which she supplied her table. Every season had +its own business. Mademoiselle always gave a dinner of farewell to her +intimate friends the day before her departure, although she was +certain to see them again within three weeks. It was always a piece of +news which echoed through Alencon when Mademoiselle Cormon departed. +All her visitors, especially those who had missed a visit, came to bid +her good-bye; the salon was thronged, and every one said farewell as +though she were starting for Calcutta. The next day the shopkeepers +would stand at their doors to see the old carriole pass, and they +seemed to be telling one another some news by repeating from shop to +shop:-- + +"So Mademoiselle Cormon is going to Prebaudet!" + +Some said: "HER bread is baked." + +"Hey! my lad," replied the next man. "She's a worthy woman; if money +always came into such hands we shouldn't see a beggar in the country." + +Another said: "Dear me, I shouldn't be surprised if the vineyards were +in bloom; here's Mademoiselle Cormon going to Prebaudet. How happens +it she doesn't marry?" + +"I'd marry her myself," said a wag; "in fact, the marriage is half- +made, for here's one consenting party; but the other side won't. Pooh! +the oven is heating for Monsieur du Bousquier." + +"Monsieur du Bousquier! Why, she has refused him." + +That evening at all the gatherings it was told gravely:-- + +"Mademoiselle Cormon has gone." + +Or:-- + +"So you have really let Mademoiselle Cormon go." + +The Wednesday chosen by Suzanne to make known her scandal happened to +be this farewell Wednesday,--a day on which Mademoiselle Cormon drove +Josette distracted on the subject of packing. During the morning, +therefore, things had been said and done in the town which lent the +utmost interest to this farewell meeting. Madame Granson had gone the +round of a dozen houses while the old maid was deliberating on the +things she needed for the journey; and the malicious Chevalier de +Valois was playing piquet with Mademoiselle Armande, sister of a +distinguished old marquis, and the queen of the salon of the +aristocrats. If it was not uninteresting to any one to see what figure +the seducer would cut that evening, it was all important for the +chevalier and Madame Granson to know how Mademoiselle Cormon would +take the news in her double capacity of marriageable woman and +president of the Maternity Society. As for the innocent du Bousquier, +he was taking a walk on the promenade, and beginning to suspect that +Suzanne had tricked him; this suspicion confirmed him in his +principles as to women. + +On gala days the table was laid at Mademoiselle Cormon's about half- +past three o'clock. At that period the fashionable people of Alencon +dined at four. Under the Empire they still dined as in former times at +half-past two; but then they supped! One of the pleasures which +Mademoiselle Cormon valued most was (without meaning any malice, +although the fact certainly rests on egotism) the unspeakable +satisfaction she derived from seeing herself dressed as mistress of +the house to receive her guests. When she was thus under arms a ray of +hope would glide into the darkness of her heart; a voice told her that +nature had not so abundantly provided for her in vain, and that some +man, brave and enterprising, would surely present himself. Her desire +was refreshed like her person; she contemplated herself in her heavy +stuffs with a sort of intoxication, and this satisfaction continued +when she descended the stairs to cast her redoubtable eye on the +salon, the dinner-table, and the boudoir. She would then walk about +with the naive contentment of the rich,--who remember at all moments +that they are rich and will never want for anything. She looked at her +eternal furniture, her curiosities, her lacquers, and said to herself +that all these fine things wanted was a master. After admiring the +dining-room, and the oblong dinner-table, on which was spread a snow- +white cloth adorned with twenty covers placed at equal distances; +after verifying the squadron of bottles she had ordered to be brought +up, and which all bore honorable labels; after carefully verifying the +names written on little bits of paper in the trembling handwriting of +the abbe (the only duty he assumed in the household, and one which +gave rise to grave discussions on the place of each guest),--after +going through all these preliminary acts mademoiselle went, in her +fine clothes, to her uncle, who was accustomed at this, the best hour +in the day, to take his walk on the terrace which overlooked the +Brillante, where he could listen to the warble of birds which were +resting in the coppice, unafraid of either sportsmen or children. At +such times of waiting she never joined the Abbe de Sponde without +asking him some ridiculous question, in order to draw the old man into +a discussion which might serve to amuse him. And her reason was this, +--which will serve to complete our picture of this excellent woman's +nature:-- + +Mademoiselle Cormon regarded it as one of her duties to talk; not that +she was talkative, for she had unfortunately too few ideas, and did +not know enough phrases to converse readily. But she believed she was +accomplishing one of the social duties enjoined by religion, which +orders us to make ourselves agreeable to our neighbor. This obligation +cost her so much that she consulted her director, the Abbe Couturier, +upon the subject of this honest but puerile civility. In spite of the +humble remark of his penitent, confessing the inward labor of her mind +in finding anything to say, the old priest, rigid on the point of +discipline, read her a passage from Saint-Francois de Sales on the +duties of women in society, which dwelt on the decent gayety of pious +Christian women, who were bound to reserve their sternness for +themselves, and to be amiable and pleasing in their homes, and see +that their neighbors enjoyed themselves. Thus, filled with a sense of +duty, and wishing, at all costs, to obey her director, who bade her +converse with amenity, the poor soul perspired in her corset when the +talk around her languished, so much did she suffer from the effort of +emitting ideas in order to revive it. Under such circumstances she +would put forth the silliest statements, such as: "No one can be in +two places at once--unless it is a little bird," by which she one day +roused, and not without success, a discussion on the ubiquity of the +apostles, which she was unable to comprehend. Such efforts at +conversation won her the appellation of "that good Mademoiselle +Cormon," which, from the lips of the beaux esprits of society, means +that she was as ignorant as a carp, and rather a poor fool; but many +persons of her own calibre took the remark in its literal sense, and +answered:-- + +"Yes; oh yes! Mademoiselle Cormon is an excellent woman." + +Sometimes she would put such absurd questions (always for the purpose +of fulfilling her duties to society, and making herself agreeable to +her guests) that everybody burst out laughing. She asked, for +instance, what the government did with the taxes they were always +receiving; and why the Bible had not been printed in the days of Jesus +Christ, inasmuch as it was written by Moses. Her mental powers were +those of the English "country gentleman" who, hearing constant mention +of "posterity" in the House of Commons, rose to make the speech that +has since become celebrated: "Gentlemen," he said, "I hear much talk +in this place about Posterity. I should be glad to know what that +power has ever done for England." + +Under these circumstances the heroic Chevalier de Valois would bring +to the succor of the old maid all the powers of his clever diplomacy, +whenever he saw the pitiless smile of wiser heads. The old gentleman, +who loved to assist women, turned Mademoiselle Cormon's sayings into +wit by sustaining them paradoxically, and he often covered the retreat +so well that it seemed as if the good woman had said nothing silly. +She asserted very seriously one evening that she did not see any +difference between an ox and a bull. The dear chevalier instantly +arrested the peals of laughter by asserting that there was only the +difference between a sheep and a lamb. + +But the Chevalier de Valois served an ungrateful dame, for never did +Mademoiselle Cormon comprehend his chivalrous services. Observing that +the conversation grew lively, she simply thought that she was not so +stupid as she was,--the result being that she settled down into her +ignorance with some complacency; she lost her timidity, and acquired a +self-possession which gave to her "speeches" something of the +solemnity with which the British enunciate their patriotic +absurdities,--the self-conceit of stupidity, as it may be called. + +As she approached her uncle, on this occasion, with a majestic step, +she was ruminating over a question that might draw him from a silence, +which always troubled her, for she feared he was dull. + +"Uncle," she said, leaning on his arm and clinging to his side (this +was one of her fictions; for she said to herself "If I had a husband I +should do just so"),--"uncle, if everything here below happens +according to the will of God, there must be a reason for everything." + +"Certainly," replied the abbe, gravely. The worthy man, who cherished +his niece, always allowed her to tear him from his meditations with +angelic patience. + +"Then if I remain unmarried,--supposing that I do,--God wills it?" + +"Yes, my child," replied the abbe. + +"And yet, as nothing prevents me from marrying to-morrow if I choose, +His will can be destroyed by mine?" + +"That would be true if we knew what was really the will of God," +replied the former prior of the Sorbonne. "Observe, my daughter, that +you put in an IF." + +The poor woman, who expected to draw her uncle into a matrimonial +discussion by an argument ad omnipotentem, was stupefied; but persons +of obtuse mind have the terrible logic of children, which consists in +turning from answer to question,--a logic that is frequently +embarrassing. + +"But, uncle, God did not make women intending them not to marry; +otherwise they ought all to stay unmarried; if not, they ought all to +marry. There's great injustice in the distribution of parts." + +"Daughter," said the worthy abbe, "you are blaming the Church, which +declares celibacy to be the better way to God." + +"But if the Church is right, and all the world were good Catholics, +wouldn't the human race come to an end, uncle?" + +"You have too much mind, Rose; you don't need so much to be happy." + +That remark brought a smile of satisfaction to the lips of the poor +woman, and confirmed her in the good opinion she was beginning to +acquire about herself. That is how the world, our friends, and our +enemies are the accomplices of our defects! + +At this moment the conversation was interrupted by the successive +arrival of the guests. On these ceremonial days, friendly +familiarities were exchanged between the servants of the house and the +company. Mariette remarked to the chief-justice as he passed the +kitchen:-- + +"Ah, Monsieur du Ronceret, I've cooked the cauliflowers au gratin +expressly for you, for mademoiselle knows how you like them; and she +said to me: 'Now don't forget, Mariette, for Monsieur du Ronceret is +coming.'" + +"That good Mademoiselle Cormon!" ejaculated the chief legal authority +of the town. "Mariette, did you steep them in gravy instead of soup- +stock? it is much richer." + +The chief-justice was not above entering the chamber of council where +Mariette held court; he cast the eye of a gastronome around it, and +offered the advice of a past master in cookery. + +"Good-day, madame," said Josette to Madame Granson, who courted the +maid. "Mademoiselle has thought of you, and there's fish for dinner." + +As for the Chevalier de Valois, he remarked to Mariette, in the easy +tone of a great seigneur who condescends to be familiar:-- + +"Well, my dear cordon-bleu, to whom I should give the cross of the +Legion of honor, is there some little dainty for which I had better +reserve myself?" + +"Yes, yes, Monsieur de Valois,--a hare sent from Prebaudet; weighs +fourteen pounds." + +Du Bousquier was not invited. Mademoiselle Cormon, faithful to the +system which we know of, treated that fifty-year-old suitor extremely +ill, although she felt inexplicable sentiments towards him in the +depths of her heart. She had refused him; yet at times she repented; +and a presentiment that she should yet marry him, together with a +terror at the idea which prevented her from wishing for the marriage, +assailed her. Her mind, stimulated by these feelings, was much +occupied by du Bousquier. Without being aware of it, she was +influenced by the herculean form of the republican. Madame Granson and +the Chevalier de Valois, although they could not explain to themselves +Mademoiselle Cormon's inconsistencies, had detected her naive glances +in that direction, the meaning of which seemed clear enough to make +them both resolve to ruin the hopes of the already rejected purveyor, +--hopes which it was evident he still indulged. + +Two guests, whose functions excused them, kept the dinner waiting. One +was Monsieur du Coudrai, the recorder of mortgages; the other Monsieur +Choisnel, former bailiff to the house of Esgrignon, and now the notary +of the upper aristocracy, by whom he was received with a distinction +due to his virtues; he was also a man of considerable wealth. When the +two belated guests arrived, Jacquelin said to them as he saw them +about to enter the salon:-- + +"THEY are all in the garden." + +No doubt the assembled stomachs were impatient; for on the appearance +of the register of mortgages--who had no defect except that of having +married for her money an intolerable old woman, and of perpetrating +endless puns, at which he was the first to laugh--the gentle murmur by +which such late-comers are welcomed arose. While awaiting the official +announcement of dinner, the company were sauntering on the terrace +above the river, and gazing at the water-plants, the mosaic of the +currents, and the various pretty details of the houses clustering +across the river, their old wooden galleries, their mouldering window- +frames, their little gardens where clothes were drying, the cabinet- +maker's shop,--in short, the many details of a small community to +which the vicinity of a river, a weeping willow, flowers, rose-bushes, +added a certain grace, making the scene quite worthy of a landscape +painter. + +The chevalier studied all faces, for he knew that his firebrand had +been very successfully introduced into the chief houses of the place. +But no one as yet referred openly to the great news of Suzanne and du +Bousquier. Provincials possess in the highest degree the art of +distilling gossip; the right moment for openly discussing this strange +affair had not arrived; it was first necessary that all present should +put themselves on record. So the whispers went round from ear to +ear:-- + +"You have heard?" + +"Yes." + +"Du Bousquier?" + +"And that handsome Suzanne." + +"Does Mademoiselle Cormon know of it?" + +"No." + +"Ha!" + +This was the PIANO of the scandal; the RINFORZANDO would break forth +as soon as the first course had been removed. Suddenly Monsieur de +Valois's eyes lighted on Madame Granson, arrayed in her green hat with +bunches of auriculas, and beaming with evident joy. Was it merely the +joy of opening the concert? Though such a piece of news was like a +gold mine to work in the monotonous lives of these personages, the +observant and distrustful chevalier thought he recognized in the +worthy woman a far more extended sentiment; namely, the joy caused by +the triumph of self-interest. Instantly he turned to examine Athanase, +and detected him in the significant silence of deep meditation. +Presently, a look cast by the young man on Mademoiselle Cormon carried +to the soul of the chevalier a sudden gleam. That momentary flash of +lightning enabled him to read the past. + +"Ha! the devil!" he said to himself; "what a checkmate I'm exposed +to!" + +Monsieur de Valois now approached Mademoiselle Cormon, and offered his +arm. The old maid's feeling to the chevalier was that of respectful +consideration; and certainly his name, together with the position he +occupied among the aristocratic constellations of the department made +him the most brilliant ornament of her salon. In her inmost mind +Mademoiselle Cormon had wished for the last dozen years to become +Madame de Valois. That name was like the branch of a tree, to which +the ideas which SWARMED in her mind about rank, nobility, and the +external qualities of a husband had fastened. But, though the +Chevalier de Valois was the man chosen by her heart, and mind, and +ambition, that elderly ruin, combed and curled like a little Saint- +John in a procession, alarmed Mademoiselle Cormon. She saw the +gentleman in him, but she could not see a husband. The indifference +which the chevalier affected as to marriage, above all, the apparent +purity of his morals in a house which abounded in grisettes, did +singular harm in her mind to Monsieur de Valois against his +expectations. The worthy man, who showed such judgment in the matter +of his annuity, was at fault here. Without being herself aware of it, +the thoughts of Mademoiselle Cormon on the too virtuous chevalier +might be translated thus:-- + +"What a pity that he isn't a trifle dissipated!" + +Observers of the human heart have remarked the leaning of pious women +toward scamps; some have expressed surprise at this taste, considering +it opposed to Christian virtue. But, in the first place, what nobler +destiny can you offer to a virtuous woman than to purify, like +charcoal, the muddy waters of vice? How is it some observers fail to +see that these noble creatures, obliged by the sternness of their own +principles never to infringe on conjugal fidelity, must naturally +desire a husband of wider practical experience than their own? The +scamps of social life are great men in love. Thus the poor woman +groaned in spirit at finding her chosen vessel parted into two pieces. +God alone could solder together a Chevalier de Valois and a du +Bousquier. + +In order to explain the importance of the few words which the +chevalier and Mademoiselle Cormon are about to say to each other, it +is necessary to reveal two serious matters which agitated the town, +and about which opinions were divided; besides, du Bousquier was +mysteriously connected with them. + +One concerns the rector of Alencon, who had formerly taken the +constitutional oath, and who was now conquering the repugnance of the +Catholics by a display of the highest virtues. He was Cheverus on a +small scale, and became in time so fully appreciated that when he died +the whole town mourned him. Mademoiselle Cormon and the Abbe de Sponde +belonged to that "little Church," sublime in its orthodoxy, which was +to the court of Rome what the Ultras were to be to Louis XVIII. The +abbe, more especially, refused to recognize a Church which had +compromised with the constitutionals. The rector was therefore not +received in the Cormon household, whose sympathies were all given to +the curate of Saint-Leonard, the aristocratic parish of Alencon. Du +Bousquier, that fanatic liberal now concealed under the skin of a +royalist, knowing how necessary rallying points are to all discontents +(which are really at the bottom of all oppositions), had drawn the +sympathies of the middle classes around the rector. So much for the +first case; the second was this:-- + +Under the secret inspiration of du Bousquier the idea of building a +theatre had dawned on Alencon. The henchmen of the purveyor did not +know their Mohammed; and they thought they were ardent in carrying out +their own conception. Athanase Granson was one of the warmest +partisans for the theatre; and of late he had urged at the mayor's +office a cause which all the other young clerks had eagerly adopted. + +The chevalier, as we have said, offered his arm to the old maid for a +turn on the terrace. She accepted it, not without thanking him by a +happy look for this attention, to which the chevalier replied by +motioning toward Athanase with a meaning eye. + +"Mademoiselle," he began, "you have so much sense and judgment in +social proprieties, and also, you are connected with that young man by +certain ties--" + +"Distant ones," she said, interrupting him. + +"Ought you not," he continued, "to use the influence you have over his +mother and over himself by saving him from perdition? He is not very +religious, as you know; indeed he approves of the rector; but that is +not all; there is something far more serious; isn't he throwing +himself headlong into an opposition without considering what influence +his present conduct may exert upon his future? He is working for the +construction of a theatre. In this affair he is simply the dupe of +that disguised republican du Bousquier--" + +"Good gracious! Monsieur de Valois," she replied; "his mother is +always telling me he has so much mind, and yet he can't say two words; +he stands planted before me as mum as a post--" + +"Which doesn't think at all!" cried the recorder of mortgages. "I +caught your words on the fly. I present my compliments to Monsieur de +Valois," he added, bowing to that gentleman with much emphasis. + +The chevalier returned the salutation stiffly, and drew Mademoiselle +Cormon toward some flower-pots at a little distance, in order to show +the interrupter that he did not choose to be spied upon. + +"How is it possible," he continued, lowering his voice, and leaning +towards Mademoiselle Cormon's ear, "that a young man brought up in +those detestable lyceums should have ideas? Only sound morals and +noble habits will ever produce great ideas and a true love. It is easy +to see by a mere look at him that the poor lad is likely to be +imbecile, and come, perhaps, to some sad end. See how pale and haggard +he is!" + +"His mother declares he works too hard," replied the old maid, +innocently. "He sits up late, and for what? reading books and writing! +What business ought to require a young man to write at night?" + +"It exhausts him," replied the chevalier, trying to bring the old +maid's thoughts back to the ground where he hoped to inspire her with +horror for her youthful lover. "The morals of those Imperial lyceums +are really shocking." + +"Oh, yes!" said the ingenuous creature. "They march the pupils about +with drums at their head. The masters have no more religion than +pagans. And they put the poor lads in uniform, as if they were troops. +What ideas!" + +"And behold the product!" said the chevalier, motioning to Athanase. +"In my day, young men were not so shy of looking at a pretty woman. As +for him, he drops his eyes whenever he sees you. That young man +frightens me because I am really interested in him. Tell him not to +intrigue with the Bonapartists, as he is now doing about that theatre. +When all these petty folks cease to ask for it insurrectionally,-- +which to my mind is the synonym of constitutionally,--the government +will build it. Besides which, tell his mother to keep an eye on him." + +"Oh, I'm sure she will prevent him from seeing those half-pay, +questionable people. I'll talk to her," said Mademoiselle Cormon, "for +he might lose his place in the mayor's office; and then what would he +and his mother have to live on? It makes me shudder." + +As Monsieur de Talleyrand said of his wife, so the chevalier said to +himself, looking at Mademoiselle Cormon:-- + +"Find me another as stupid! Good powers! isn't virtue which drives out +intellect vice? But what an adorable wife for a man of my age! What +principles! what ignorance!" + +Remember that this monologue, addressed to the Princess Goritza, was +mentally uttered while he took a pinch of snuff. + +Madame Granson had divined that the chevalier was talking about +Athanase. Eager to know the result of the conversation, she followed +Mademoiselle Cormon, who was now approaching the young man with much +dignity. But at this moment Jacquelin appeared to announce that +mademoiselle was served. The old maid gave a glance of appeal to the +chevalier; but the gallant recorder of mortgages, who was beginning to +see in the manners of that gentleman the barrier which the provincial +nobles were setting up about this time between themselves and the +bourgeoisie, made the most of his chance to cut out Monsieur de +Valois. He was close to Mademoiselle Cormon, and promptly offered his +arm, which she found herself compelled to accept. The chevalier then +darted, out of policy, upon Madame Granson. + +"Mademoiselle Cormon, my dear lady," he said to her, walking slowly +after all the other guests, "feels the liveliest interest in your dear +Athanase; but I fear it will vanish through his own fault. He is +irreligious and liberal; he is agitating this matter of the theatre; +he frequents the Bonapartists; he takes the side of that rector. Such +conduct may make him lose his place in the mayor's office. You know +with what care the government is beginning to weed out such opinions. +If your dear Athanase loses his place, where can he find other +employment? I advise him not to get himself in bad odor with the +administration." + +"Monsieur le Chevalier," said the poor frightened mother, "how +grateful I am to you! You are right: my son is the tool of a bad set +of people; I shall enlighten him." + +The chevalier had long since fathomed the nature of Athanase, and +recognized in it that unyielding element of republican convictions to +which in his youth a young man is willing to sacrifice everything, +carried away by the word "liberty," so ill-defined and so little +understood, but which to persons disdained by fate is a banner of +revolt; and to such, revolt is vengeance. Athanase would certainly +persist in that faith, for his opinions were woven in with his +artistic sorrows, with his bitter contemplation of the social state. +He was ignorant of the fact that at thirty-six years of age,--the +period of life when a man has judged men and social interests and +relations,--the opinions for which he was ready to sacrifice his +future would be modified in him, as they are in all men of real +superiority. To remain faithful to the Left side of Alencon was to +gain the aversion of Mademoiselle Cormon. There, indeed, the chevalier +saw true. + +Thus we see that this society, so peaceful in appearance, was +internally as agitated as any diplomatic circle, where craft, ability, +and passions group themselves around the grave questions of an empire. +The guests were now seated at the table laden with the first course, +which they ate as provincials eat, without shame at possessing a good +appetite, and not as in Paris, where it seems as if jaws gnashed under +sumptuary laws, which made it their business to contradict the laws of +anatomy. In Paris people eat with their teeth, and trifle with their +pleasure; in the provinces things are done naturally, and interest is +perhaps rather too much concentrated on the grand and universal means +of existence to which God has condemned his creatures. + +It was at the end of the first course that Mademoiselle Cormon made +the most celebrated of her "speeches"; it was talked about for fully +two years, and is still told at the gatherings of the lesser +bourgeoisie whenever the topic of her marriage comes up. + +The conversation, becoming lively as the penultimate entree was +reached, had turned naturally on the affair of the theatre and the +constitutionally sworn rector. In the first fervor of royalty, during +the year 1816, those who later were called Jesuits were all for the +expulsion of the Abbe Francois from his parish. Du Bousquier, +suspected by Monsieur de Valois of sustaining the priest and being at +the bottom of the theatre intrigues, and on whose back the adroit +chevalier would in any case have put those sins with his customary +cleverness, was in the dock with no lawyer to defend him. Athanase, +the only guest loyal enough to stand by du Bousquier, had not the +nerve to emit his ideas in the presence of those potentates of +Alencon, whom in his heart he thought stupid. None but provincial +youths now retain a respectful demeanor before men of a certain age, +and dare neither to censure nor contradict them. The talk, diminished +under the effect of certain delicious ducks dressed with olives, was +falling flat. Mademoiselle Cormon, feeling the necessity of +maintaining it against her own ducks, attempted to defend du +Bousquier, who was being represented as a pernicious fomenter of +intrigues, capable of any trickery. + +"As for me," she said, "I thought that Monsieur du Bousquier cared +chiefly for childish things." + +Under existing circumstances the remark had enormous success. +Mademoiselle Cormon obtained a great triumph; she brought the nose of +the Princess Goritza flat on the table. The chevalier, who little +expected such an apt remark from his Dulcinea, was so amazed that he +could at first find no words to express his admiration; he applauded +noiselessly, as they do at the Opera, tapping his fingers together to +imitate applause. + +"She is adorably witty," he said to Madame Granson. "I always said +that some day she would unmask her batteries." + +"In private she is always charming," replied the widow. + +"In private, madame, all women have wit," returned the chevalier. + +The Homeric laugh thus raised having subsided, Mademoiselle Cormon +asked the reason of her success. Then began the FORTE of the gossip. +Du Bousquier was depicted as a species of celibate Pere Gigogne, a +monster, who for the last fifteen years had kept the Foundling +Hospital supplied. His immoral habits were at last revealed! these +Parisian saturnalias were the result of them, etc., etc. Conducted by +the Chevalier de Valois, a most able leader of an orchestra of this +kind, the opening of the CANCAN was magnificent. + +"I really don't know," he said, "what should hinder a du Bousquier +from marrying a Mademoiselle Suzanne What's-her-name. What IS her +name, do you know? Suzette! Though I have lodgings at Madame Lardot's, +I know her girls only by sight. If this Suzette is a tall, fine, saucy +girl, with gray eyes, a slim waist, and a pretty foot, whom I have +occasionally seen, and whose behavior always seemed to me extremely +insolent, she is far superior in manners to du Bousquier. Besides, the +girl has the nobility of beauty; from that point of view the marriage +would be a poor one for her; she might do better. You know how the +Emperor Joseph had the curiosity to see the du Barry at Luciennes. He +offered her his arm to walk about, and the poor thing was so surprised +at the honor that she hesitated to accept it: 'Beauty is ever a +queen,' said the Emperor. And he, you know, was an Austrian-German," +added the chevalier. "But I can tell you that Germany, which is +thought here very rustic, is a land of noble chivalry and fine +manners, especially in Poland and Hungary, where--" + +Here the chevalier stopped, fearing to slip into some allusion to his +personal happiness; he took out his snuff-box, and confided the rest +of his remarks to the princess, who had smiled upon him for thirty-six +years and more. + +"That speech was rather a delicate one for Louis XV.," said du +Ronceret. + +"But it was, I think, the Emperor Joseph who made it, and not Louis +XV.," remarked Mademoiselle Cormon, in a correcting tone. + +"Mademoiselle," said the chevalier, observing the malicious glance +exchanged between the judge, the notary, and the recorder, "Madame du +Barry was the Suzanne of Louis XV.,--a circumstance well known to +scamps like ourselves, but unsuitable for the knowledge of young +ladies. Your ignorance proves you to be a flawless diamond; historical +corruptions do not enter your mind." + +The Abbe de Sponde looked graciously at the Chevalier de Valois, and +nodded his head in sign of his laudatory approbation. + +"Doesn't mademoiselle know history?" asked the recorder of mortgages. + +"If you mix up Louis XV. and this girl Suzanne, how am I to know +history?" replied Mademoiselle Cormon, angelically, glad to see that +the dish of ducks was empty at last, and the conversation so ready to +revive that all present laughed with their mouths full at her last +remark. + +"Poor girl!" said the Abbe de Sponde. "When a great misfortune +happens, charity, which is divine love, and as blind as pagan love, +ought not to look into the causes of it. Niece, you are president of +the Maternity Society; you must succor that poor girl, who will now +find it difficult to marry." + +"Poor child!" ejaculated Mademoiselle Cormon. + +"Do you suppose du Bousquier would marry her?" asked the judge. + +"If he is an honorable man he ought to do so," said Madame Granson; +"but really, to tell the truth, my dog has better morals than he--" + +"Azor is, however, a good purveyor," said the recorder of mortgages, +with the air of saying a witty thing. + +At dessert du Bousquier was still the topic of conversation, having +given rise to various little jokes which the wine rendered sparkling. +Following the example of the recorder, each guest capped his +neighbor's joke with another: Du Bousquier was a father, but not a +confessor; he was father less; he was father LY; he was not a reverend +father; nor yet a conscript-father-- + +"Nor can he be a foster-father," said the Abbe de Sponde, with a +gravity which stopped the laughter. + +"Nor a noble father," added the chevalier. + +The Church and the nobility descended thus into the arena of puns, +without, however, losing their dignity. + +"Hush!" exclaimed the recorder of mortgages. "I hear the creaking of +du Bousquier's boots." + +It usually happens that a man is ignorant of rumors that are afloat +about him. A whole town may be talking of his affairs; may calumniate +and decry him, but if he has no good friends, he will know nothing +about it. Now the innocent du Bousquier was superb in his ignorance. +No one had told him as yet of Suzanne's revelations; he therefore +appeared very jaunty and slightly conceited when the company, leaving +the dining-room, returned to the salon for their coffee; several other +guests had meantime assembled for the evening. Mademoiselle Cormon, +from a sense of shamefacedness, dared not look at the terrible +seducer. She seized upon Athanase, and began to lecture him with the +queerest platitudes about royalist politics and religious morality. +Not possessing, like the Chevalier de Valois, a snuff-box adorned with +a princess, by the help of which he could stand this torrent of +silliness, the poor poet listened to the words of her whom he loved +with a stupid air, gazing, meanwhile, at her enormous bust, which held +itself before him in that still repose which is the attribute of all +great masses. His love produced in him a sort of intoxication which +changed the shrill voice of the old maid into a soft murmur, and her +flat remarks into witty speeches. Love is a maker of false coin, +continually changing copper pennies into gold-pieces, and sometimes +turning its real gold into copper. + +"Well, Athanase, will you promise me?" + +This final sentence struck the ear of the absorbed young man like one +of those noises which wake us with a bound. + +"What, mademoiselle?" + +Mademoiselle Cormon rose hastily, and looked at du Bousquier, who at +that moment resembled the stout god of Fable which the Republic +stamped upon her coins. She walked up to Madame Granson, and said in +her ear:-- + +"My dear friend, you son is an idiot. That lyceum has ruined him," she +added, remembering the insistence with which the chevalier had spoken +of the evils of education in such schools. + +What a catastrophe! Unknown to himself, the luckless Athanase had had +an occasion to fling an ember of his own fire upon the pile of brush +gathered in the heart of the old maid. Had he listened to her, he +might have made her, then and there, perceive his passion; for, in the +agitated state of Mademoiselle Cormon's mind, a single word would have +sufficed. But that stupid absorption in his own sentiments, which +characterizes young and true love, had ruined him, as a child full of +life sometimes kills itself out of ignorance. + +"What have you been saying to Mademoiselle Cormon?" demanded his +mother. + +"Nothing." + +"Nothing; well, I can explain that," she thought to herself, putting +off till the next day all further reflection on the matter, and +attaching but little importance to Mademoiselle Cormon's words; for +she fully believed that du Bousquier was forever lost in the old +maid's esteem after the revelation of that evening. + +Soon the four tables were filled with their sixteen players. Four +persons were playing piquet,--an expensive game, at which the most +money was lost. Monsieur Choisnel, the procureur-du-roi, and two +ladies went into the boudoir for a game at backgammon. The glass +lustres were lighted; and then the flower of Mademoiselle Cormon's +company gathered before the fireplace, on sofas, and around the +tables, and each couple said to her as they arrived,-- + +"So you are going to-morrow to Prebaudet?" + +"Yes, I really must," she replied. + +On this occasion the mistress of the house appeared preoccupied. +Madame Granson was the first to perceive the quite unnatural state of +the old maid's mind,--Mademoiselle Cormon was thinking! + +"What are you thinking of, cousin?" she said at last, finding her +seated in the boudoir. + +"I am thinking," she replied, "of that poor girl. As the president of +the Maternity Society, I will give you fifty francs for her." + +"Fifty francs!" cried Madame Granson. "But you have never given as +much as that." + +"But, my dear cousin, it is so natural to have children." + +That immoral speech coming from the heart of the old maid staggered +the treasurer of the Maternity Society. Du Bousquier had evidently +advanced in the estimation of Mademoiselle Cormon. + +"Upon my word," said Madame Granson, "du Bousquier is not only a +monster, he is a villain. When a man has done a wrong like that, he +ought to pay the indemnity. Isn't it his place rather than ours to +look after the girl?--who, to tell you the truth, seems to me rather +questionable; there are plenty of better men in Alencon than that +cynic du Bousquier. A girl must be depraved, indeed, to go after him." + +"Cynic! Your son teaches you to talk Latin, my dear, which is wholly +incomprehensible. Certainly I don't wish to excuse Monsieur du +Bousquier; but pray explain to me why a woman is depraved because she +prefers one man to another." + +"My dear cousin, suppose you married my son Athanase; nothing could be +more natural. He is young and handsome, full of promise, and he will +be the glory of Alencon; and yet everybody will exclaim against you: +evil tongues will say all sorts of things; jealous women will accuse +you of depravity,--but what will that matter? you will be loved, and +loved truly. If Athanase seemed to you an idiot, my dear, it is that +he has too many ideas; extremes meet. He lives the life of a girl of +fifteen; he has never wallowed in the impurities of Paris, not he! +Well, change the terms, as my poor husband used to say; it is the same +thing with du Bousquier in connection with Suzanne. YOU would be +calumniated; but in the case of du Bousquier, the charge would be +true. Don't you understand me?" + +"No more than if you were talking Greek," replied Mademoiselle Cormon, +who opened her eyes wide, and strained all the forces of her +intellect. + +"Well, cousin, if I must dot all the i's, it is impossible for Suzanne +to love du Bousquier. And if the heart counts for nothing in this +affair--" + +"But, cousin, what do people love with if not their hearts?" + +Here Madame Granson said to herself, as the chevalier had previously +thought: "My poor cousin is altogether too innocent; such stupidity +passes all bounds!--Dear child," she continued aloud, "it seems to me +that children are not conceived by the spirit only." + +"Why, yes, my dear; the Holy Virgin herself--" + +"But, my love, du Bousquier isn't the Holy Ghost!" + +"True," said the old maid; "he is a man!--a man whose personal +appearance makes him dangerous enough for his friends to advise him to +marry." + +"You could yourself bring about that result, cousin." + +"How so?" said the old maid, with the meekness of Christian charity. + +"By not receiving him in your house until he marries. You owe it to +good morals and to religion to manifest under such circumstances an +exemplary displeasure." + +"On my return from Prebaudet we will talk further of this, my dear +Madame Granson. I will consult my uncle and the Abbe Couturier," said +Mademoiselle Cormon, returning to the salon, where the animation was +now at its height. + +The lights, the group of women in their best clothes, the solemn tone, +the dignified air of the assembly, made Mademoiselle Cormon not a +little proud of her company. To many persons nothing better could be +seen in Paris in the highest society. + +At this moment du Bousquier, who was playing whist with the chevalier +and two old ladies,--Madame du Coudrai and Madame du Ronceret,--was +the object of deep but silent curiosity. A few young women arrived, +who, under pretext of watching the game, gazed fixedly at him in so +singular a manner, though slyly, that the old bachelor began to think +that there must be some deficiency in his toilet. + +"Can my false front be crooked?" he asked himself, seized by one of +those anxieties which beset old bachelors. + +He took advantage of a lost trick, which ended a seventh rubber, to +rise and leave the table. + +"I can't touch a card without losing," he said. "I am decidedly too +unlucky." + +"But you are lucky in other ways," said the chevalier, giving him a +sly look. + +That speech naturally made the rounds of the salon, where every one +exclaimed on the exquisite taste of the chevalier, the Prince de +Talleyrand of the province. + +"There's no one like Monsieur de Valois for such wit." + +Du Bousquier went to look at himself in a little oblong mirror, placed +above the "Deserter," but he saw nothing strange in his appearance. + +After innumerable repetitions of the same text, varied in all keys, +the departure of the company took place about ten o'clock, through the +long antechamber, Mademoiselle Cormon conducting certain of her +favorite guests to the portico. There the groups parted; some followed +the Bretagne road towards the chateau; the others went in the +direction of the river Sarthe. Then began the usual conversation, +which for twenty years had echoed at that hour through this particular +street of Alencon. It was invariably:-- + +"Mademoiselle Cormon looked very well to-night." + +"Mademoiselle Cormon? why, I thought her rather strange." + +"How that poor abbe fails! Did you notice that he slept? He does not +know what cards he holds; he is getting very absent-minded." + +"We shall soon have the grief of losing him." + +"What a fine night! It will be a fine day to-morrow." + +"Good weather for the apple-blossoms." + +"You beat us; but when you play with Monsieur de Valois you never do +otherwise." + +"How much did he win?" + +"Well, to-night, three or four francs; he never loses." + +"True; and don't you know there are three hundred and sixty-five days +a year? At that price his gains are the value of a farm." + +"Ah! what hands we had to-night!" + +"Here you are at home, monsieur and madame, how lucky you are, while +we have half the town to cross!" + +"I don't pity you; you could afford a carriage, and dispense with the +fatigue of going on foot." + +"Ah, monsieur! we have a daughter to marry, which takes off one wheel, +and the support of our son in Paris carries off another." + +"You persist in making a magistrate of him?" + +"What else can be done with a young man? Besides, there's no shame in +serving the king." + +Sometimes a discussion on ciders and flax, always couched in the same +terms, and returning at the same time of year, was continued on the +homeward way. If any observer of human customs had lived in this +street, he would have known the months and seasons by simply +overhearing the conversations. + +On this occasion it was exclusively jocose; for du Bousquier, who +chanced to march alone in front of the groups, was humming the well- +known air,--little thinking of its appropriateness,--"Tender woman! +hear the warble of the birds," etc. To some, du Bousquier was a strong +man and a misjudged man. Ever since he had been confirmed in his +present office by a royal decree, Monsieur du Ronceret had been in +favor of du Bousquier. To others the purveyor seemed dangerous,--a man +of bad habits, capable of anything. In the provinces, as in Paris, men +before the public eye are like that statue in the fine allegorical +tale of Addison, for which two knights on arriving near it fought; for +one saw it white, the other saw it black. Then, when they were both +off their horses, they saw it was white one side and black the other. +A third knight coming along declared it red. + +When the chevalier went home that night, he made many reflections, as +follows:-- + +"It is high time now to spread a rumor of my marriage with +Mademoiselle Cormon. It will leak out from the d'Esgrignon salon, and +go straight to the bishop at Seez, and so get round through the grand +vicars to the curate of Saint-Leonard's, who will be certain to tell +it to the Abbe Couturier; and Mademoiselle Cormon will get the shot in +her upper works. The old Marquis d'Esgrignon shall invite the Abbe de +Sponde to dinner, so as to stop all gossip about Mademoiselle Cormon +if I decide against her, or about me if she refuses me. The abbe shall +be well cajoled; and Mademoiselle Cormon will certainly not hold out +against a visit from Mademoiselle Armande, who will show her the +grandeur and future chances of such an alliance. The abbe's property +is undoubtedly as much as three hundred thousand; her own savings must +amount to more than two hundred thousand; she has her house and +Prebaudet and fifteen thousand francs a year. A word to my friend the +Comte de Fontaine, and I should be mayor of Alencon to-morrow, and +deputy. Then, once seated on the Right benches, we shall reach the +peerage, shouting, 'Cloture!' 'Ordre!'" + +As soon as she reached home Madame Granson had a lively argument with +her son, who could not be made to see the connection which existed +between his love and his political opinions. It was the first quarrel +that had ever troubled that poor household. + + + +CHAPTER VI + +FINAL DISAPPOINTMENT AND ITS FIRST RESULT + +The next day, Mademoiselle Cormon, packed into the old carriole with +Josette, and looking like a pyramid on a vast sea of parcels, drove up +the rue Saint-Blaise on her way to Prebaudet, where she was overtaken +by an event which hurried on her marriage,--an event entirely unlooked +for by either Madame Granson, du Bousquier, Monsieur de Valois, or +Mademoiselle Cormon himself. Chance is the greatest of all artificers. + +The day after her arrival at Prebaudet, she was innocently employed, +about eight o'clock in the morning, in listening, as she breakfasted, +to the various reports of her keeper and her gardener, when Jacquelin +made a violent irruption into the dining-room. + +"Mademoiselle," he cried, out of breath, "Monsieur l'abbe sends you an +express, the son of Mere Grosmort, with a letter. The lad left Alencon +before daylight, and he has just arrived; he ran like Penelope! Can't +I give him a glass of wine?" + +"What can have happened, Josette? Do you think my uncle can be--" + +"He couldn't write if he were," said Josette, guessing her mistress's +fears. + +"Quick! quick!" cried Mademoiselle Cormon, as soon as she had read the +first lines. "Tell Jacquelin to harness Penelope-- Get ready, Josette; +pack up everything in half an hour. We must go back to town--" + +"Jacquelin!" called Josette, excited by the sentiment she saw on her +mistress's face. + +Jacquelin, informed by Josette, came in to say,-- + +"But, mademoiselle, Penelope is eating her oats." + +"What does that signify? I must start at once." + +"But, mademoiselle, it is going to rain." + +"Then we shall get wet." + +"The house is on fire!" muttered Josette, piqued at the silence her +mistress kept as to the contents of the letter, which she read and +reread. + +"Finish your coffee, at any rate, mademoiselle; don't excite your +blood; just see how red you are." + +"Am I red, Josette?" she said, going to a mirror, from which the +quicksilver was peeling, and which presented her features to her +upside down. + +"Good heavens!" thought Mademoiselle Cormon, "suppose I should look +ugly! Come, Josette; come, my dear, dress me at once; I want to be +ready before Jacquelin has harnessed Penelope. If you can't pack my +things in time, I will leave them here rather than lose a single +minute." + +If you have thoroughly comprehended the positive monomania to which +the desire of marriage had brought Mademoiselle Cormon, you will share +her emotion. The worthy uncle announced in this sudden missive that +Monsieur de Troisville, of the Russian army during the Emigration, +grandson of one of his best friends, was desirous of retiring to +Alencon, and asked his, the abbe's hospitality, on the ground of his +friendship for his grandfather, the Vicomte de Troisville. The old +abbe, alarmed at the responsibility, entreated his niece to return +instantly and help him to receive this guest, and do the honors of the +house; for the viscount's letter had been delayed, and he might +descend upon his shoulders that very night. + +After reading this missive could there be a question of the demands of +Prebaudet? The keeper and the gardener, witnesses to Mademoiselle +Cormon's excitement, stood aside and awaited her orders. But when, as +she was about to leave the room, they stopped her to ask for +instructions, for the first time in her life the despotic old maid, +who saw to everything at Prebaudet with her own eyes, said, to their +stupefaction, "Do what you like." This from a mistress who carried her +administration to the point of counting her fruits, and marking them +so as to order their consumption according to the number and condition +of each! + +"I believe I'm dreaming," thought Josette, as she saw her mistress +flying down the staircase like an elephant to which God has given +wings. + +Presently, in spite of a driving rain, Mademoiselle Cormon drove away +from Prebaudet, leaving her factotums with the reins on their necks. +Jacquelin dared not take upon himself to hasten the usual little trot +of the peaceable Penelope, who, like the beautiful queen whose name +she bore, had an appearance of making as many steps backward as she +made forward. Impatient with the pace, mademoiselle ordered Jacquelin +in a sharp voice to drive at a gallop, with the whip, if necessary, to +the great astonishment of the poor beast, so afraid was she of not +having time to arrange the house suitably to receive Monsieur de +Troisville. She calculated that the grandson of her uncle's friend was +probably about forty years of age; a soldier just from service was +undoubtedly a bachelor; and she resolved, her uncle aiding, not to let +Monsieur de Troisville quit their house in the condition he entered +it. Though Penelope galloped, Mademoiselle Cormon, absorbed in +thoughts of her trousseau and the wedding-day, declared again and +again that Jacquelin made no way at all. She twisted about in the +carriole without replying to Josette's questions, and talked to +herself like a person who is mentally revolving important designs. + +The carriole at last arrived in the main street of Alencon, called the +rue Saint-Blaise at the end toward Montagne, but near the hotel du +More it takes the name of the rue de la Porte-de-Seez, and becomes the +rue du Bercail as it enters the road to Brittany. If the departure of +Mademoiselle Cormon made a great noise in Alencon, it is easy to +imagine the uproar caused by her sudden return on the following day, +in a pouring rain which beat her face without her apparently minding +it. Penelope at a full gallop was observed by every one, and +Jacquelin's grin, the early hour, the parcels stuffed into the +carriole topsy-turvy, and the evident impatience of Mademoiselle +Cormon were all noted. + +The property of the house of Troisville lay between Alencon and +Mortagne. Josette knew the various branches of the family. A word +dropped by mademoiselle as they entered Alencon had put Josette on the +scent of the affair; and a discussion having started between them, it +was settled that the expected de Troisville must be between forty and +forty-two years of age, a bachelor, and neither rich nor poor. +Mademoiselle Cormon beheld herself speedily Vicomtesse de Troisville. + +"And to think that my uncle told me nothing! thinks of nothing! +inquires nothing! That's my uncle all over. He'd forget his own nose +if it wasn't fastened to his face." + +Have you never remarked that, under circumstances such as these, old +maids become, like Richard III., keen-witted, fierce, bold, +promissory,--if one may so use the word,--and, like inebriate clerks, +no longer in awe of anything? + +Immediately the town of Alencon, speedily informed from the farther +end of the rue de Saint-Blaise to the gate of Seez of this precipitate +return, accompanied by singular circumstances, was perturbed +throughout its viscera, both public and domestic. Cooks, shopkeepers, +street passengers, told the news from door to door; thence it rose to +the upper regions. Soon the words: "Mademoiselle Cormon has returned!" +burst like a bombshell into all households. At that moment Jacquelin +was descending from his wooden seat (polished by a process unknown to +cabinet-makers), on which he perched in front of the carriole. He +opened the great green gate, round at the top, and closed in sign of +mourning; for during Mademoiselle Cormon's absence the evening +assemblies did not take place. The faithful invited the Abbe de Sponde +to their several houses; and Monsieur de Valois paid his debt by +inviting him to dine at the Marquis d'Esgrignon's. Jacquelin, having +opened the gate, called familiarly to Penelope, whom he had left in +the middle of the street. That animal, accustomed to this proceeding, +turned in of herself, and circled round the courtyard in a manner to +avoid injuring the flower-bed. Jacquelin then took her bridle, and led +the carriage to the portico. + +"Mariette!" cried Mademoiselle Cormon. + +"Mademoiselle!" exclaimed Mariette, who was occupied in closing the +gate. + +"Has the gentleman arrived?" + +"No, mademoiselle." + +"Where's my uncle?" + +"He is at church, mademoiselle." + +Jacquelin and Josette were by this time on the first step of the +portico, holding out their hands to manoeuvre the exit of their +mistress from the carriole as she pulled herself up by the sides of +the vehicle and clung to the curtains. Mademoiselle then threw herself +into their arms; because for the last two years she dared not risk her +weight on the iron step, affixed to the frame of the carriage by a +horrible mechanism of clumsy bolts. + +When Mademoiselle Cormon reached the level of the portico she looked +about her courtyard with an air of satisfaction. + +"Come, come, Mariette, leave that gate alone; I want you." + +"There's something in the wind," whispered Jacquelin, as Mariette +passed the carriole. + +"Mariette, what provisions have you in the house?" asked Mademoiselle +Cormon, sitting down on the bench in the long antechamber like a +person overcome with fatigue. + +"I haven't anything," replied Mariette, with her hands on her hips. +"Mademoiselle knows very well that during her absence Monsieur l'abbe +dines out every day. Yesterday I went to fetch him from Mademoiselle +Armande's." + +"Where is he now?" + +"Monsieur l'abbe? Why, at church; he won't be in before three +o'clock." + +"He thinks of nothing! he ought to have told you to go to market. +Mariette, go at once; and without wasting money, don't spare it; get +all there is that is good and delicate. Go to the diligence office and +see if you can send for pates; and I want shrimps from the Brillante. +What o'clock is it?" + +"A quarter to nine." + +"Good heavens! Mariette, don't stop to chatter. The person my uncle +expects may arrive at any moment. If we had to give him breakfast, +where should we be with nothing in the house?" + +Mariette turned back to Penelope in a lather, and looked at Jacquelin +as if she would say, "Mademoiselle has put her hand on a husband THIS +time." + +"Now, Josette," continued the old maid, "let us see where we had +better put Monsieur de Troisville to sleep." + +With what joy she said the words, "Put Monsieur de Troisville" +(pronounced Treville) "to sleep." How many ideas in those few words! +The old maid was bathed in hope. + +"Will you put him in the green chamber?" + +"The bishop's room? No; that's too near mine," said Mademoiselle +Cormon. "All very well for monseigneur; he's a saintly man." + +"Give him your uncle's room." + +"Oh, that's so bare; it is actually indecent." + +"Well, then, mademoiselle, why not arrange a bed in your boudoir? It +is easily done; and there's a fire-place. Moreau can certainly find in +his warerooms a bed to match the hangings." + +"You are right, Josette. Go yourself to Moreau; consult with him what +to do; I authorize you to get what is wanted. If the bed could be put +up to-night without Monsieur de Troisville observing it (in case +Monsieur de Troisville arrives while Moreau is here), I should like +it. If Moreau won't engage to do this, then I must put Monsieur de +Troisville in the green room, although Monsieur de Troisville would be +so very near to me." + +Josette was departing when her mistress recalled her. + +"Stop! explain the matter to Jacquelin," she cried, in a loud nervous +tone. "Tell HIM to go to Moreau; I must be dressed! Fancy if Monsieur +de Troisville surprised me as I am now! and my uncle not here to +receive him! Oh, uncle, uncle! Come, Josette; come and dress me at +once." + +"But Penelope?" said Josette, imprudently. + +"Always Penelope! Penelope this, Penelope that! Is Penelope the +mistress of this house?" + +"But she is all of a lather, and she hasn't had time to eat her oats." + +"Then let her starve!" cried Mademoiselle Cormon; "provided I marry," +she thought to herself. + +Hearing these words, which seemed to her like homicide, Josette stood +still for a moment, speechless. Then, at a gesture from her mistress, +she ran headlong down the steps of the portico. + +"The devil is in her, Jacquelin," were the first words she uttered. + +Thus all things conspired on this fateful day to produce the great +scenic effect which decided the future life of Mademoiselle Cormon. +The town was already topsy-turvy in mind, as a consequence of the five +extraordinary circumstances which accompanied Mademoiselle Cormon's +return; to wit, the pouring rain; Penelope at a gallop, in a lather, +and blown; the early hour; the parcels half-packed; and the singular +air of the excited old maid. But when Mariette made an invasion of the +market, and bought all the best things; when Jacquelin went to the +principal upholsterer in Alencon, two doors from the church, in search +of a bed,--there was matter for the gravest conjectures. These +extraordinary events were discussed on all sides; they occupied the +minds of every one, even Mademoiselle Armande herself, with whom was +Monsieur de Valois. Within two days the town of Alencon had been +agitated by such startling events that certain good women were heard +to remark that the world was coming to an end. This last news, +however, resolved itself into a single question, "What is happening at +the Cormons?" + +The Abbe de Sponde, adroitly questioned when he left Saint-Leonard's +to take his daily walk with the Abbe Couturier, replied with his usual +kindliness that he expected the Vicomte de Troisville, a nobleman in +the service of Russia during the Emigration, who was returning to +Alencon to settle there. From two to five o'clock a species of labial +telegraphy went on throughout the town; and all the inhabitants +learned that Mademoiselle Cormon had at last found a husband by +letter, and was about to marry the Vicomte de Troisville. Some said, +"Moreau has sold them a bed." The bed was six feet wide in that +quarter; it was four feet wide at Madame Granson's, in the rue du +Bercail; but it was reduced to a simple couch at Monsieur du +Ronceret's, where du Bousquier was dining. The lesser bourgeoisie +declared that the cost was eleven hundred francs. But generally it was +thought that, as to this, rumor was counting the chickens before they +were hatched. In other quarters it was said that Mariette had made +such a raid on the market that the price of carp had risen. At the end +of the rue Saint-Blaise, Penelope had dropped dead. This decease was +doubted in the house of the receiver-general; but at the Prefecture it +was authenticated that the poor beast had expired as she turned into +the courtyard of the hotel Cormon, with such velocity had the old maid +flown to meet her husband. The harness-maker, who lived at the corner +of the rue de Seez, was bold enough to call at the house and ask if +anything had happened to Mademoiselle Cormon's carriage, in order to +discover whether Penelope was really dead. From the end of the rue +Saint-Blaise to the end of the rue du Bercail, it was then made known +that, thanks to Jacquelin's devotion, Penelope, that silent victim of +her mistress's impetuosity, still lived, though she seemed to be +suffering. + +Along the road to Brittany the Vicomte de Troisville was stated to be +a younger son without a penny, for the estates in Perche belonged to +the Marquis de Troisville, peer of France, who had children; the +marriage would be, therefore, an enormous piece of luck for a poor +emigre. The aristocracy along that road approved of the marriage; +Mademoiselle Cormon could not do better with her money. But among the +Bourgeoisie, the Vicomte de Troisville was a Russian general who had +fought against France, and was now returning with a great fortune made +at the court of Saint-Petersburg; he was a FOREIGNER; one of those +ALLIES so hated by the liberals; the Abbe de Sponde had slyly +negotiated this marriage. All the persons who had a right to call upon +Mademoiselle Cormon determined to do so that very evening. + +During this transurban excitement, which made that of Suzanne almost a +forgotten affair, Mademoiselle was not less agitated; she was filled +with a variety of novel emotions. Looking about her salon, dining- +room, and boudoir, cruel apprehensions took possession of her. A +species of demon showed her with a sneer her old-fashioned luxury. The +handsome things she had admired from her youth up she suddenly +suspected of age and absurdity. In short, she felt that fear which +takes possession of nearly all authors when they read over a work they +have hitherto thought proof against every exacting or blase critic: +new situations seem timeworn; the best-turned and most highly polished +phrases limp and squint; metaphors and images grin or contradict each +other; whatsoever is false strikes the eye. In like manner this poor +woman trembled lest she should see on the lips of Monsieur de +Troisville a smile of contempt for this episcopal salon; she dreaded +the cold look he might cast over that ancient dining-room; in short, +she feared the frame might injure and age the portrait. Suppose these +antiquities should cast a reflected light of old age upon herself? +This question made her flesh creep. She would gladly, at that moment, +spend half her savings on refitting her house if some fairy wand could +do it in a moment. Where is the general who has not trembled on the +eve of a battle? The poor woman was now between her Austerlitz and her +Waterloo. + +"Madame la Vicomtesse de Troisville," she said to herself; "a noble +name! Our property will go to a good family, at any rate." + +She fell a prey to an irritation which made every fibre of her nerves +quiver to all their papillae, long sunk in flesh. Her blood, lashed by +this new hope, was in motion. She felt the strength to converse, if +necessary, with Monsieur de Troisville. + +It is useless to relate the activity with which Josette, Jacquelin, +Mariette, Moreau, and his agents went about their functions. It was +like the busyness of ants about their eggs. All that daily care had +already rendered neat and clean was again gone over and brushed and +rubbed and scrubbed. The china of ceremony saw the light; the damask +linen marked "A, B, C" was drawn from depths where it lay under a +triple guard of wrappings, still further defended by formidable lines +of pins. Above all, Mademoiselle Cormon sacrificed on the altar of her +hopes three bottles of the famous liqueurs of Madame Amphoux, the most +illustrious of all the distillers of the tropics,--a name very dear to +gourmets. Thanks to the devotion of her lieutenants, mademoiselle was +soon ready for the conflict. The different weapons--furniture, +cookery, provisions, in short, all the various munitions of war, +together with a body of reserve forces--were ready along the whole +line. Jacquelin, Mariette, and Josette received orders to appear in +full dress. The garden was raked. The old maid regretted that she +couldn't come to an understanding with the nightingales nesting in the +trees, in order to obtain their finest trilling. + +At last, about four o'clock, at the very moment when the Abbe de +Sponde returned home, and just as mademoiselle began to think she had +set the table with the best plate and linen and prepared the choicest +dishes to no purpose, the click-clack of a postilion was heard in the +Val-Noble. + +"'Tis he!" she said to herself, the snap of the whip echoing in her +heart. + +True enough; heralded by all this gossip, a post-chaise, in which was +a single gentleman, made so great a sensation coming down the rue +Saint-Blaise and turning into the rue du Cours that several little +gamains and some grown persons followed it, and stood in groups about +the gate of the hotel Cormon to see it enter. Jacquelin, who foresaw +his own marriage in that of his mistress, had also heard the click- +clack in the rue Saint-Blaise, and had opened wide the gates into the +courtyard. The postilion, a friend of his, took pride in making a fine +turn-in, and drew up sharply before the portico. The abbe came forward +to greet his guest, whose carriage was emptied with a speed that +highwaymen might put into the operation; the chaise itself was rolled +into the coach-house, the gates closed, and in a few moments all signs +of Monsieur de Troisville's arrival had disappeared. Never did two +chemicals blend into each other with greater rapidity than the hotel +Cormon displayed in absorbing the Vicomte de Troisville. + +Mademoiselle, whose heart was beating like a lizard caught by a +herdsman, sat heroically still on her sofa, beside the fire in the +salon. Josette opened the door; and the Vicomte de Troisville, +followed by the Abbe de Sponde, presented himself to the eyes of the +spinster. + +"Niece, this is Monsieur le Vicomte de Troisville, the grandson of one +of my old schoolmates; Monsieur de Troisville, my niece, Mademoiselle +Cormon." + +"Ah! that good uncle; how well he does it!" thought Rose-Marie- +Victoire. + +The Vicomte de Troisville was, to paint him in two words, du Bousquier +ennobled. Between the two men there was precisely the difference which +separates the vulgar style from the noble style. If they had both been +present, the most fanatic liberal would not have denied the existence +of aristocracy. The viscount's strength had all the distinction of +elegance; his figure had preserved its magnificent dignity. He had +blue eyes, black hair, an olive skin, and looked to be about forty-six +years of age. You might have thought him a handsome Spaniard preserved +in the ice of Russia. His manner, carriage, and attitude, all denoted +a diplomat who had seen Europe. His dress was that of a well-bred +traveller. As he seemed fatigued, the abbe offered to show him to his +room, and was much amazed when his niece threw open the door of the +boudoir, transformed into a bedroom. + +Mademoiselle Cormon and her uncle then left the noble stranger to +attend to his own affairs, aided by Jacquelin, who brought up his +luggage, and went themselves to walk beside the river until their +guest had made his toilet. Although the Abbe de Sponde chanced to be +even more absent-minded than usual, Mademoiselle Cormon was not less +preoccupied. They both walked on in silence. The old maid had never +before met any man as seductive as this Olympean viscount. She might +have said to herself, as the Germans do, "This is my ideal!" instead +of which she felt herself bound from head to foot, and could only say, +"Here's my affair!" Then she flew to Mariette to know if the dinner +could be put back a while without loss of excellence. + +"Uncle, your Monsieur de Troisville is very amiable," she said, on +returning. + +"Why, niece, he hasn't as yet said a word." + +"But you can see it in his ways, his manners, his face. Is he a +bachelor?" + +"I'm sure I don't know," replied the abbe, who was thinking of a +discussion on mercy, lately begun between the Abbe Couturier and +himself. "Monsieur de Troisville wrote me that he wanted to buy a +house here. If he was married, he wouldn't come alone on such an +errand," added the abbe, carelessly, not conceiving the idea that his +niece could be thinking of marriage. + +"Is he rich?" + +"He is a younger son of the younger branch," replied her uncle. "His +grandfather commanded a squadron, but the father of this young man +made a bad marriage." + +"Young man!" exclaimed the old maid. "It seems to me, uncle, that he +must be at least forty-five." She felt the strongest desire to put +their years on a par. + +"Yes," said the abbe; "but to a poor priest of seventy, Rose, a man of +forty seems a youth." + +All Alencon knew by this time that Monsieur de Troisville had arrived +at the Cormons. The traveller soon rejoined his hosts, and began to +admire the Brillante, the garden, and the house. + +"Monsieur l'abbe," he said, "my whole ambition is to have a house like +this." The old maid fancied a declaration lurked in that speech, and +she lowered her eyes. "You must enjoy it very much, mademoiselle," +added the viscount. + +"How could it be otherwise? It has been in our family since 1574, the +period at which one of our ancestors, steward to the Duc d'Alencon, +acquired the land and built the house," replied Mademoiselle Cormon. +"It is built on piles," she added. + +Jacquelin announced dinner. Monsieur de Troisville offered his arm to +the happy woman, who endeavored not to lean too heavily upon it; she +feared, as usual, to seem to make advances. + +"Everything is so harmonious here," said the viscount, as he seated +himself at table. + +"Yes, our trees are full of birds, which give us concerts for nothing; +no one ever frightens them; and the nightingales sing at night," said +Mademoiselle Cormon. + +"I was speaking of the interior of the house," remarked the viscount, +who did not trouble himself to observe Mademoiselle Cormon, and +therefore did not perceive the dulness of her mind. "Everything is so +in keeping,--the tones of color, the furniture, the general +character." + +"But it costs a great deal; taxes are enormous," responded the +excellent woman. + +"Ah! taxes are high, are they?" said the viscount, preoccupied with +his own ideas. + +"I don't know," replied the abbe. "My niece manages the property of +each of us." + +"Taxes are not of much importance to the rich," said Mademoiselle +Cormon, not wishing to be thought miserly. "As for the furniture, I +shall leave it as it is, and change nothing,--unless I marry; and +then, of course, everything here must suit the husband." + +"You have noble principles, mademoiselle," said the viscount, smiling. +"You will make one happy man." + +"No one ever made to me such a pretty speech," thought the old maid. + +The viscount complimented Mademoiselle Cormon on the excellence of her +service and the admirable arrangements of the house, remarking that he +had supposed the provinces behind the age in that respect; but, on the +contrary, he found them, as the English say, "very comfortable." + +"What can that word mean?" she thought. "Oh, where is the chevalier to +explain it to me? 'Comfortable,'--there seem to be several words in +it. Well, courage!" she said to herself. "I can't be expected to +answer a foreign language-- But," she continued aloud, feeling her +tongue untied by the eloquence which nearly all human creatures find +in momentous circumstances, "we have a very brilliant society here, +monsieur. It assembles at my house, and you shall judge of it this +evening, for some of my faithful friends have no doubt heard of my +return and your arrival. Among them is the Chevalier de Valois, a +seigneur of the old court, a man of infinite wit and taste; then there +is Monsieur le Marquis d'Esgrignon and Mademoiselle Armande, his +sister" (she bit her tongue with vexation),--"a woman remarkable in +her way," she added. "She resolved to remain unmarried in order to +leave all her fortune to her brother and nephew." + +"Ah!" exclaimed the viscount. "Yes, the d'Esgrignons,--I remember +them." + +"Alencon is very gay," continued the old maid, now fairly launched. +"There's much amusement: the receiver-general gives balls; the prefect +is an amiable man; and Monseigneur the bishop sometimes honors us with +a visit--" + +"Well, then," said the viscount, smiling, "I have done wisely to come +back, like the hare, to die in my form." + +"Yes," she said. "I, too, attach myself or I die." + +The viscount smiled. + +"Ah!" thought the old maid, "all is well; he understands me." + +The conversation continued on generalities. By one of those mysterious +unknown and undefinable faculties, Mademoiselle Cormon found in her +brain, under the pressure of her desire to be agreeable, all the +phrases and opinions of the Chevalier de Valois. It was like a duel in +which the devil himself pointed the pistol. Never was any adversary +better aimed at. The viscount was far too well-bred to speak of the +excellence of the dinner; but his silence was praise. As he drank the +delicious wines which Jacquelin served to him profusely, he seemed to +feel he was with friends, and to meet them with pleasure; for the true +connoisseur does not applaud, he enjoys. He inquired the price of +land, of houses, of estates; he made Mademoiselle Cormon describe at +length the confluence of the Sarthe and the Brillante; he expressed +surprise that the town was placed so far from the river, and seemed to +be much interested in the topography of the place. + +The silent abbe left his niece to throw the dice of conversation; and +she truly felt that she pleased Monsieur de Troisville, who smiled at +her gracefully, and committed himself during this dinner far more than +her most eager suitors had ever done in ten days. Imagine, therefore, +the little attentions with which he was petted; you might have thought +him a cherished lover, whose return brought joy to the household. +Mademoiselle foresaw the moment when the viscount wanted bread; she +watched his every look; when he turned his head she adroitly put upon +his plate a portion of some dish he seemed to like; had he been a +gourmand, she would almost have killed him; but what a delightful +specimen of the attentions she would show to a husband! She did not +commit the folly of depreciating herself; on the contrary, she set +every sail bravely, ran up all her flags, assumed the bearing of the +queen of Alencon, and boasted of her excellent preserves. In fact, she +fished for compliments in speaking of herself, for she saw that she +pleased the viscount; the truth being that her eager desire had so +transformed her that she became almost a woman. + +At dessert she heard, not without emotions of delight, certain sounds +in the antechamber and salon which denoted the arrival of her usual +guests. She called the attention of her uncle and Monsieur de +Troisville to this prompt attendance as a proof of the affection that +was felt for her; whereas it was really the result of the poignant +curiosity which had seized upon the town. Impatient to show herself in +all her glory, Mademoiselle Cormon told Jacquelin to serve coffee and +liqueurs in the salon, where he presently set out, in view of the +whole company, a magnificent liqueur-stand of Dresden china which saw +the light only twice a year. This circumstance was taken note of by +the company, standing ready to gossip over the merest trifle:-- + +"The deuce!" muttered du Bousquier. "Actually Madame Amphoux's +liqueurs, which they only serve at the four church festivals!" + +"Undoubtedly the marriage was arranged a year ago by letter," said the +chief-justice du Ronceret. "The postmaster tells me his office has +received letters postmarked Odessa for more than a year." + +Madame Granson trembled. The Chevalier de Valois, though he had dined +with the appetite of four men, turned pale even to the left section of +his face. Feeling that he was about to betray himself, he said +hastily,-- + +"Don't you think it is very cold to-day? I am almost frozen." + +"The neighborhood of Russia, perhaps," said du Bousquier. + +The chevalier looked at him as if to say, "Well played!" + +Mademoiselle Cormon appeared so radiant, so triumphant, that the +company thought her handsome. This extraordinary brilliancy was not +the effect of sentiment only. Since early morning her blood had been +whirling tempestuously within her, and her nerves were agitated by the +presentiment of some great crisis. It required all these circumstances +combined to make her so unlike herself. With what joy did she now make +her solemn presentation of the viscount to the chevalier, the +chevalier to the viscount, and all Alencon to Monsieur de Troisville, +and Monsieur de Troisville to all Alencon! + +By an accident wholly explainable, the viscount and chevalier, +aristocrats by nature, came instantly into unison; they recognized +each other at once as men belonging to the same sphere. Accordingly, +they began to converse together, standing before the fireplace. A +circle formed around them; and their conversation, though uttered in a +low voice, was listened to in religious silence. To give the effect of +this scene it is necessary to dramatize it, and to picture +Mademoiselle Cormon occupied in pouring out the coffee of her +imaginary suitor, with her back to the fireplace. + +Monsieur de Valois. "Monsieur le vicomte has come, I am told, to +settle in Alencon?" + +Monsieur de Troisville. "Yes, monsieur, I am looking for a house." +[Mademoiselle Cormon, cup in hand, turns round.] "It must be a large +house" [Mademoiselle Cormon offers him the cup] "to lodge my whole +family." [The eyes of the old maid are troubled.] + +Monsieur de Valois. "Are you married?" + +Monsieur de Troisville. "Yes, for the last sixteen years, to a +daughter of the Princess Scherbellof." + +Mademoiselle Cormon fainted; du Bousquier, who saw her stagger, sprang +forward and received her in his arms; some one opened the door and +allowed him to pass out with his enormous burden. The fiery +republican, instructed by Josette, found strength to carry the old +maid to her bedroom, where he laid her out on the bed. Josette, armed +with scissors, cut the corset, which was terribly tight. Du Bousquier +flung water on Mademoiselle Cormon's face and bosom, which, released +from the corset, overflowed like the Loire in flood. The poor woman +opened her eyes, saw du Bousquier, and gave a cry of modesty at the +sight of him. Du Bousquier retired at once, leaving six women, at the +head of whom was Madame Granson, radiant with joy, to take care of the +invalid. + +What had the Chevalier de Valois been about all this time? Faithful to +his system, he had covered the retreat. + +"That poor Mademoiselle Cormon," he said to Monsieur de Troisville, +gazing at the assembly, whose laughter was repressed by his cool +aristocratic glances, "her blood is horribly out of order; she +wouldn't be bled before going to Prebaudet (her estate),--and see the +result!" + +"She came back this morning in the rain," said the Abbe de Sponde, +"and she may have taken cold. It won't be anything; it is only a +little upset she is subject to." + +"She told me yesterday she had not had one for three months, adding +that she was afraid it would play her a trick at last," said the +chevalier. + +"Ha! so you are married?" said Jacquelin to himself as he looked at +Monsieur de Troisville, who was quietly sipping his coffee. + +The faithful servant espoused his mistress's disappointment; he +divined it, and he promptly carried away the liqueurs of Madame +Amphoux, which were offered to a bachelor, and not to the husband of a +Russian woman. + +All these details were noticed and laughed at. The Abbe de Sponde knew +the object of Monsieur de Troisville's journey; but, absent-minded as +usual, he forgot it, not supposing that his niece could have the +slightest interest in Monsieur de Troisville's marriage. As for the +viscount, preoccupied with the object of his journey, and, like many +husbands, not eager to talk about his wife, he had had no occasion to +say he was married; besides, he would naturally suppose that +Mademoiselle Cormon knew it. + +Du Bousquier reappeared, and was questioned furiously. One of the six +women came down soon after, and announced that Mademoiselle Cormon was +much better, and that the doctor had come. She intended to stay in +bed, as it was necessary to bleed her. The salon was now full. +Mademoiselle Cormon's absence allowed the ladies present to discuss +the tragi-comic scene--embellished, extended, historified, +embroidered, wreathed, colored, and adorned--which had just taken +place, and which, on the morrow, was destined to occupy all Alencon. + +"That good Monsieur du Bousquier! how well he carried you!" said +Josette to her mistress. "He was really pale at the sight of you; he +loves you still." + +That speech served as closure to this solemn and terrible evening. + +Throughout the morning of the next day every circumstance of the late +comedy was known in the household of Alencon, and--let us say it to +the shame of that town,--they caused inextinguishable laughter. But on +that day Mademoiselle Cormon (much benefited by the bleeding) would +have seemed sublime even to the boldest scoffers, had they witnessed +the noble dignity, the splendid Christian resignation which influenced +her as she gave her arm to her involuntary deceiver to go into +breakfast. Cruel jesters! why could you not have seen her as she said +to the viscount,-- + +"Madame de Troisville will have difficulty in finding a suitable +house; do me the favor, monsieur, of accepting the use of mine during +the time you are in search of yours." + +"But, mademoiselle, I have two sons and two daughters; we should +greatly inconvenience you." + +"Pray do not refuse me," she said earnestly. + +"I made you the same offer in the answer I wrote to your letter," said +the abbe; "but you did not receive it." + +"What, uncle! then you knew--" + +The poor woman stopped. Josette sighed. Neither the viscount nor the +abbe observed anything amiss. After breakfast the Abbe de Sponde +carried off his guest, as agreed upon the previous evening, to show +him the various houses in Alencon which could be bought, and the lots +of lands on which he might build. + +Left alone in the salon, Mademoiselle Cormon said to Josette, with a +deeply distressed air, "My child, I am now the talk of the whole +town." + +"Well, then, mademoiselle, you should marry." + +"But I am not prepared to make a choice." + +"Bah! if I were in your place, I should take Monsieur du Bousquier." + +"Josette, Monsieur de Valois says he is so republican." + +"They don't know what they say, your gentlemen: sometimes they declare +that he robbed the republic; he couldn't love it if he did that," said +Josette, departing. + +"That girl has an amazing amount of sense," thought Mademoiselle +Cormon, who remained alone, a prey to her perplexities. + +She saw plainly that a prompt marriage was the only way to silence the +town. This last checkmate, so evidently mortifying, was of a nature to +drive her into some extreme action; for persons deficient in mind find +difficulty in getting out of any path, either good or evil, into which +they have entered. + +Each of the two old bachelors had fully understood the situation in +which Mademoiselle Cormon was about to find herself; consequently, +each resolved to call in the course of that morning to ask after her +health, and take occasion, in bachelor language, to "press his point." +Monsieur de Valois considered that such an occasion demanded a +painstaking toilet; he therefore took a bath and groomed himself with +extraordinary care. For the first and last time Cesarine observed him +putting on with incredible art a suspicion of rouge. Du Bousquier, on +the other hand, that coarse republican, spurred by a brisk will, paid +no attention to his dress, and arrived the first. + +Such little things decide the fortunes of men, as they do of empires. +Kellerman's charge at Marengo, Blucher's arrival at Waterloo, Louis +XIV.'s disdain for Prince Eugene, the rector of Denain,--all these +great causes of fortune or catastrophe history has recorded; but no +one ever profits by them to avoid the small neglects of their own +life. Consequently, observe what happens: the Duchesse de Langeais +(see "History of the Thirteen") makes herself a nun for the lack of +ten minutes' patience; Judge Popinot (see "Commission in Lunacy") puts +off till the morrow the duty of examining the Marquis d'Espard; +Charles Grandet (see "Eugenie Grandet") goes to Paris from Bordeaux +instead of returning by Nantes; and such events are called chance or +fatality! A touch of rouge carefully applied destroyed the hopes of +the Chevalier de Valois; could that nobleman perish in any other way? +He had lived by the Graces, and he was doomed to die by their hand. +While the chevalier was giving this last touch to his toilet the rough +du Bousquier was entering the salon of the desolate old maid. This +entrance produced a thought in Mademoiselle Cormon's mind which was +favorable to the republican, although in all other respects the +Chevalier de Valois held the advantages. + +"God wills it!" she said piously, on seeing du Bousquier. + +"Mademoiselle, you will not, I trust, think my eagerness importunate. +I could not trust to my stupid Rene to bring news of your condition, +and therefore I have come myself." + +"I am perfectly recovered," she replied, in a tone of emotion. "I +thank you, Monsieur du Bousquier," she added, after a slight pause, +and in a significant tone of voice, "for the trouble you have taken, +and for that which I gave you yesterday--" + +She remembered having been in his arms, and that again seemed to her +an order from heaven. She had been seen for the first time by a man +with her laces cut, her treasures violently bursting from their +casket. + +"I carried you with such joy that you seemed to me light." + +Here Mademoiselle Cormon looked at du Bousquier as she had never yet +looked at any man in the world. Thus encouraged, the purveyor cast +upon the old maid a glance which reached her heart. + +"I would," he said, "that that moment had given me the right to keep +you as mine forever" [she listened with a delighted air]; "as you lay +fainting upon that bed, you were enchanting. I have never in my life +seen a more beautiful person,--and I have seen many handsome women. +Plump ladies have this advantage: they are superb to look upon; they +have only to show themselves and they triumph." + +"I fear you are making fun of me," said the old maid, "and that is not +kind when all the town will probably misinterpret what happened to me +yesterday." + +"As true as my name is du Bousquier, mademoiselle, I have never +changed in my feelings toward you; and your first refusal has not +discouraged me." + +The old maid's eyes were lowered. There was a moment of cruel silence +for du Bousquier, and then Mademoiselle Cormon decided on her course. +She raised her eyelids; tears flowed from her eyes, and she gave du +Bousquier a tender glance. + +"If that is so, monsieur," she said, in a trembling voice, "promise me +to live in a Christian manner, and not oppose my religious customs, +but to leave me the right to select my confessors, and I will grant +you my hand"; as she said the words, she held it out to him. + +Du Bousquier seized the good fat hand so full of money, and kissed it +solemnly. + +"But," she said, allowing him to kiss it, "one thing more I must +require of you." + +"If it is a possible thing, it is granted," replied the purveyor. + +"Alas!" returned the old maid. "For my sake, I must ask you to take +upon yourself a sin which I feel to be enormous,--for to lie is one of +the capital sins. But you will confess it, will you not? We will do +penance for it together" [they looked at each other tenderly]. +"Besides, it may be one of those lies which the Church permits as +necessary--" + +"Can she be as Suzanne says she is?" thought du Bousquier. "What luck! +Well, mademoiselle, what is it?" he said aloud. + +"That you will take upon yourself to--" + +"What?" + +"To say that this marriage has been agreed upon between us for the +last six months." + +"Charming woman," said the purveyor, in the tone of a man willing to +devote himself, "such sacrifices can be made only for a creature +adored these ten years." + +"In spite of my harshness?" she said. + +"Yes, in spite of your harshness." + +"Monsieur du Bousquier, I have misjudged you." + +Again she held out the fat red hand, which du Bousquier kissed again. + +At this moment the door opened; the betrothed pair, looking round to +see who entered, beheld the delightful, but tardy Chevalier de Valois. + +"Ah!" he said, on entering, "I see you are about to be up, fair +queen." + +She smiled at the chevalier, feeling a weight upon her heart. Monsieur +de Valois, remarkably young and seductive, had the air of a Lauzun re- +entering the apartments of the Grande Mademoiselle in the Palais- +Royal. + +"Hey! dear du Bousquier," said he, in a jaunty tone, so sure was he of +success, "Monsieur de Troisville and the Abbe de Sponde are examining +your house like appraisers." + +"Faith!" said du Bousquier, "if the Vicomte de Troisville wants it, it +it is his for forty thousand francs. It is useless to me now. If +mademoiselle will permit--it must soon be known-- Mademoiselle, may I +tell it?-- Yes! Well, then, be the first, MY DEAR CHEVALIER, to hear" +[Mademoiselle Cormon dropped her eyes] "of the honor that mademoiselle +has done me, the secret of which I have kept for some months. We shall +be married in a few days; the contract is already drawn, and we shall +sign it to-morrow. You see, therefore, that my house in the rue du +Cygne is useless to me. I have been privately looking for a purchaser +for some time; and the Abbe de Sponde, who knew that fact, has +naturally taken Monsieur de Troisville to see the house." + +This falsehood bore such an appearance of truth that the chevalier was +taken in by it. That "my dear chevalier" was like the revenge taken by +Peter the Great on Charles XII. at Pultawa for all his past defeats. +Du Bousquier revenged himself deliciously for the thousand little +shafts he had long borne in silence; but in his triumph he made a +lively youthful gesture by running his hands through his hair, and in +so doing he--knocked aside his false front. + +"I congratulate you both," said the chevalier, with an agreeable air; +"and I wish that the marriage may end like a fairy tale: THEY WERE +HAPPY EVER AFTER, AND HAD--MANY--CHILDREN!" So saying, he took a pinch +of snuff. "But, monsieur," he added satirically, "you forget--that you +are wearing a false front." + +Du Bousquier blushed. The false front was hanging half a dozen inches +from his skull. Mademoiselle Cormon raised her eyes, saw that skull in +all its nudity, and lowered them, abashed. Du Bousquier cast upon the +chevalier the most venomous look that toad ever darted on its prey. + +"Dogs of aristocrats who despise me," thought he, "I'll crush you some +day." + +The chevalier thought he had recovered his advantage. But Mademoiselle +Cormon was not a woman to understand the connection which the +chevalier intimated between his congratulatory wish and the false +front. Besides, even if she had comprehended it, her word was passed, +her hand given. Monsieur de Valois saw at once that all was lost. The +innocent woman, with the two now silent men before her, wished, true +to her sense of duty, to amuse them. + +"Why not play a game of piquet together?" she said artlessly, without +the slightest malice. + +Du Bousquier smiled, and went, as the future master of the house, to +fetch the piquet table. Whether the Chevalier de Valois lost his head, +or whether he wanted to stay and study the causes of his disaster and +remedy it, certain it is that he allowed himself to be led like a lamb +to the slaughter. He had received the most violent knock-down blow +that ever struck a man; any nobleman would have lost his senses for +less. + +The Abbe de Sponde and the Vicomte de Troisville soon returned. +Mademoiselle Cormon instantly rose, hurried into the antechamber, and +took her uncle apart to tell him her resolution. Learning that the +house in the rue du Cygne exactly suited the viscount, she begged her +future husband to do her the kindness to tell him that her uncle knew +it was for sale. She dared not confide that lie to the abbe, fearing +his absent-mindedness. The lie, however, prospered better than if it +had been a virtuous action. In the course of that evening all Alencon +heard the news. For the last four days the town had had as much to +think of as during the fatal days of 1814 and 1815. Some laughed; +others admitted the marriage. These blamed it; those approved it. The +middle classes of Alencon rejoiced; they regarded it as a victory. The +next day, among friends, the Chevalier de Valois said a cruel thing:-- + +"The Cormons end as they began; there's only a hand's breadth between +a steward and a purveyor." + + + +CHAPTER VII + +OTHER RESULTS + +The news of Mademoiselle Cormon's choice stabbed poor Athanase Granson +to the heart; but he showed no outward sign of the terrible agitation +within him. When he first heard of the marriage he was at the house of +the chief-justice, du Ronceret, where his mother was playing boston. +Madame Granson looked at her son in a mirror, and thought him pale; +but he had been so all day, for a vague rumor of the matter had +already reached him. + +Mademoiselle Cormon was the card on which Athanase had staked his +life; and the cold presentiment of a catastrophe was already upon him. +When the soul and the imagination have magnified a misfortune and made +it too heavy for the shoulders and the brain to bear; when a hope long +cherished, the realization of which would pacify the vulture feeding +on the heart, is balked, and the man has faith neither in himself, +despite his powers, nor in the future, despite of the Divine power,-- +then that man is lost. Athanase was a fruit of the Imperial system of +education. Fatality, the Emperor's religion, had filtered down from +the throne to the lowest ranks of the army and the benches of the +lyceums. Athanase sat still, with his eyes fixed on Madame du +Ronceret's cards, in a stupor that might so well pass for indifference +that Madame Granson herself was deceived about his feelings. This +apparent unconcern explained her son's refusal to make a sacrifice for +this marriage of his LIBERAL opinions,--the term "liberal" having +lately been created for the Emperor Alexander by, I think, Madame de +Stael, through the lips of Benjamin Constant. + +After that fatal evening the young man took to rambling among the +picturesque regions of the Sarthe, the banks of which are much +frequented by sketchers who come to Alencon for points of view. +Windmills are there, and the river is gay in the meadows. The shores +of the Sarthe are bordered with beautiful trees, well grouped. Though +the landscape is flat, it is not without those modest graces which +distinguish France, where the eye is never wearied by the brilliancy +of Oriental skies, nor saddened by constant fog. The place is +solitary. In the provinces no one pays much attention to a fine view, +either because provincials are blases on the beauty around them, or +because they have no poesy in their souls. If there exists in the +provinces a mall, a promenade, a vantage-ground from which a fine view +can be obtained, that is the point to which no one goes. Athanase was +fond of this solitude, enlivened by the sparkling water, where the +fields were the first to green under the earliest smiling of the +springtide sun. Those persons who saw him sitting beneath a poplar, +and who noticed the vacant eye which he turned to them, would say to +Madame Granson:-- + +"Something is the matter with your son." + +"I know what it is," the mother would reply; hinting that he was +meditating over some great work. + +Athanase no longer took part in politics: he ceased to have opinions; +but he appeared at times quite gay,--gay with the satire of those who +think to insult a whole world with their own individual scorn. This +young man, outside of all the ideas and all the pleasures of the +provinces, interested few persons; he was not even an object of +curiosity. If persons spoke of him to his mother, it was for her sake, +not his. There was not a single soul in Alencon that sympathized with +his; not a woman, not a friend came near to dry his tears; they +dropped into the Sarthe. If the gorgeous Suzanne had happened that +way, how many young miseries might have been born of the meeting! for +the two would surely have loved each other. + +She did come, however. Suzanne's ambition was early excited by the +tale of a strange adventure which had happened at the tavern of the +More,--a tale which had taken possession of her childish brain. A +Parisian woman, beautiful as the angels, was sent by Fouche to +entangle the Marquis de Montauran, otherwise called "The Gars," in a +love-affair (see "The Chouans"). She met him at the tavern of the More +on his return from an expedition to Mortagne; she cajoled him, made +him love her, and then betrayed him. That fantastic power--the power +of beauty over mankind; in fact, the whole story of Marie de Verneuil +and the Gars--dazzled Suzanne; she longed to grow up in order to play +upon men. Some months after her hasty departure she passed through her +native town with an artist on his way to Brittany. She wanted to see +Fougeres, where the adventure of the Marquis de Montauran culminated, +and to stand upon the scene of that picturesque war, the tragedies of +which, still so little known, had filled her childish mind. Besides +this, she had a fancy to pass through Alencon so elegantly equipped +that no one could recognize her; to put her mother above the reach of +necessity, and also to send to poor Athanase, in a delicate manner, a +sum of money,--which in our age is to genius what in the middle ages +was the charger and the coat of mail that Rebecca conveyed to Ivanhoe. + +One month passed away in the strangest uncertainties respecting the +marriage of Mademoiselle Cormon. A party of unbelievers denied the +marriage altogether; the believers, on the other hand, affirmed it. At +the end of two weeks, the faction of unbelief received a vigorous blow +in the sale of du Bousquier's house to the Marquis de Troisville, who +only wanted a simple establishment in Alencon, intending to go to +Paris after the death of the Princess Scherbellof; he proposed to +await that inheritance in retirement, and then to reconstitute his +estates. This seemed positive. The unbelievers, however, were not +crushed. They declared that du Bousquier, married or not, had made an +excellent sale, for the house had only cost him twenty-seven thousand +francs. The believers were depressed by this practical observation of +the incredulous. Choisnel, Mademoiselle Cormon's notary, asserted the +latter, had heard nothing about the marriage contract; but the +believers, still firm in their faith, carried off, on the twentieth +day, a signal victory: Monsieur Lepressoir, the notary of the +liberals, went to Mademoiselle Cormon's house, and the contract was +signed. + +This was the first of the numerous sacrifices which Mademoiselle +Cormon was destined to make to her husband. Du Bousquier bore the +deepest hatred to Choisnel; to him he owed the refusal of the hand of +Mademoiselle Armande,--a refusal which, as he believed, had influenced +that of Mademoiselle Cormon. This circumstance alone made the marriage +drag along. Mademoiselle received several anonymous letters. She +learned, to her great astonishment, that Suzanne was as truly a virgin +as herself so far as du Bousquier was concerned, for that seducer with +the false toupet could never be the hero of any such adventure. +Mademoiselle Cormon disdained anonymous letters; but she wrote to +Suzanne herself, on the ground of enlightening the Maternity Society. +Suzanne, who had no doubt heard of du Bousquier's proposed marriage, +acknowledged her trick, sent a thousand francs to the society, and did +all the harm she could to the old purveyor. Mademoiselle Cormon +convoked the Maternity Society, which held a special meeting at which +it was voted that the association would not in future assist any +misfortunes about to happen, but solely those that had happened. + +In spite of all these various events which kept the town in the +choicest gossip, the banns were published in the churches and at the +mayor's office. Athanase prepared the deeds. As a matter of propriety +and public decency, the bride retired to Prebaudet, where du +Bousquier, bearing sumptuous and horrible bouquets, betook himself +every morning, returning home for dinner. + +At last, on a dull and rainy morning in June, the marriage of +Mademoiselle Cormon and the Sieur du Bousquier took place at noon in +the parish church of Alencon, in sight of the whole town. The bridal +pair went from their own house to the mayor's office, and from the +mayor's office to the church in an open caleche, a magnificent vehicle +for Alencon, which du Bousquier had sent for secretly to Paris. The +loss of the old carriole was a species of calamity in the eyes of the +community. The harness-maker of the Porte de Seez bemoaned it, for he +lost the fifty francs a year which it cost in repairs. Alencon saw +with alarm the possibility of luxury being thus introduced into the +town. Every one feared a rise in the price of rents and provisions, +and a coming invasion of Parisian furniture. Some persons were +sufficiently pricked by curiosity to give ten sous to Jacquelin to +allow them a close inspection of the vehicle which threatened to upset +the whole economy of the region. A pair of horses, bought in +Normandie, were also most alarming. + +"If we bought our own horses," said the Ronceret circle, "we couldn't +sell them to those who come to buy." + +Stupid as it was, this reasoning seemed sound; for surely such a +course would prevent the region from grasping the money of foreigners. +In the eyes of the provinces wealth consisted less in the rapid +turning over of money than in sterile accumulation. It may be +mentioned here that Penelope succumbed to a pleurisy which she +acquired about six weeks before the marriage; nothing could save her. + +Madame Granson, Mariette, Madame du Coudrai, Madame du Ronceret, and +through them the whole town, remarked that Madame du Bousquier entered +the church WITH HER LEFT FOOT,--an omen all the more dreadful because +the term Left was beginning to acquire a political meaning. The priest +whose duty it was to read the opening formula opened his book by +chance at the De Profundis. Thus the marriage was accompanied by +circumstances so fateful, so alarming, so annihilating that no one +dared to augur well of it. Matters, in fact, went from bad to worse. +There was no wedding party; the married pair departed immediately for +Prebaudet. Parisian customs, said the community, were about to triumph +over time-honored provincial ways. + +The marriage of Jacquelin and Josette now took place: it was gay; and +they were the only two persons in Alencon who refuted the sinister +prophecies relating to the marriage of their mistress. + +Du Bousquier determined to use the proceeds of the sale of his late +residence in restoring and modernizing the hotel Cormon. He decided to +remain through two seasons at Prebaudet, and took the Abbe de Sponde +with them. This news spread terror through the town, where every +individual felt that du Bousquier was about to drag the community into +the fatal path of "comfort." This fear increased when the inhabitants +of Alencon saw the bridegroom driving in from Prebaudet one morning to +inspect his works, in a fine tilbury drawn by a new horse, having Rene +at his side in livery. The first act of his administration had been to +place his wife's savings on the Grand-Livre, which was then quoted at +67 fr. 50 cent. In the space of one year, during which he played +constantly for a rise, he made himself a personal fortune almost as +considerable as that of his wife. + +But all these foreboding prophecies, these perturbing innovations, +were superseded and surpassed by an event connected with this marriage +which gave a still more fatal aspect to it. + +On the very evening of the ceremony, Athanase and his mother were +sitting, after their dinner, over a little fire of fagots, which the +servant lighted usually at dessert. + +"Well, we will go this evening to the du Roncerets', inasmuch as we +have lost Mademoiselle Cormon," said Madame Granson. "Heavens! how +shall I ever accustom myself to call her Madame du Bousquier! that +name burns my lips." + +Athanase looked at his mother with a constrained and melancholy air; +he could not smile; but he seemed to wish to welcome that naive +sentiment which soothed his wound, though it could not cure his +anguish. + +"Mamma," he said, in the voice of his childhood, so tender was it, and +using the name he had abandoned for several years,--"my dear mamma, do +not let us go out just yet; it is so pleasant here before the fire." + +The mother heard, without comprehending, that supreme prayer of a +mortal sorrow. + +"Yes, let us stay, my child," she said. "I like much better to talk +with you and listen to your projects than to play at boston and lose +my money." + +"You are so handsome to-night I love to look at you. Besides, I am in +a current of ideas which harmonize with this poor little salon where +we have suffered so much." + +"And where we shall still suffer, my poor Athanase, until your works +succeed. For myself, I am trained to poverty; but you, my treasure! to +see your youth go by without a joy! nothing but toil for my poor boy +in life! That thought is like an illness to a mother; it tortures me +at night; it wakes me in the morning. O God! what have I done? for +what crime dost thou punish me thus?" + +She left her sofa, took a little chair, and sat close to Athanase, so +as to lay her head on the bosom of her child. There is always the +grace of love in true motherhood. Athanase kissed her on the eyes, on +her gray hair, on her forehead, with the sacred desire of laying his +soul wherever he applied his lips. + +"I shall never succeed," he said, trying to deceive his mother as to +the fatal resolution he was revolving in his mind. + +"Pooh! don't get discouraged. As you often say, thought can do all +things. With ten bottles of ink, ten reams of paper, and his powerful +will, Luther upset all Europe. Well, you'll make yourself famous; you +will do good things by the same means which he used to do evil things. +Haven't you said so yourself? For my part, I listen to you; I +understand you a great deal more than you think I do,--for I still +bear you in my bosom, and your every thought still stirs me as your +slightest motion did in other days." + +"I shall never succeed here, mamma; and I don't want you to witness +the sight of my struggles, my misery, my anguish. Oh, mother, let me +leave Alencon! I want to suffer away from you." + +"And I wish to be at your side," replied his mother, proudly. "Suffer +without your mother!--that poor mother who would be your servant if +necessary; who will efface herself rather than injure you; your +mother, who will never shame you. No, no, Athanase; we must not part." + +Athanase clung to his mother with the ardor of a dying man who clings +to life. + +"But I wish it, nevertheless. If not, you will lose me; this double +grief, yours and mine, is killing me. You would rather I lived than +died?" + +Madame Granson looked at her son with a haggard eye. + +"So this is what you have been brooding?" she said. "They told me +right. Do you really mean to go?" + +"Yes." + +"You will not go without telling me; without warning me? You must have +an outfit and money. I have some louis sewn into my petticoat; I shall +give them to you." + +Athanase wept. + +"That's all I wanted to tell you," he said. "Now I'll take you to the +du Roncerets'. Come." + +The mother and the son went out. Athanase left his mother at the door +of the house where she intended to pass the evening. He looked long at +the light which came through the shutters; he clung closely to the +wall, and a frenzied joy came over him when he presently heard his +mother say, "He has great independence of heart." + +"Poor mother! I have deceived her," he cried, as he made his way to +the Sarthe. + +He reached the noble poplar beneath which he had meditated so much for +the last forty days, and where he had placed two heavy stones on which +he now sat down. He contemplated that beautiful nature lighted by the +moon; he reviewed once more the glorious future he had longed for; he +passed through towns that were stirred by his name; he heard the +applauding crowds; he breathed the incense of his fame; he adored that +life long dreamed of; radiant, he sprang to radiant triumphs; he +raised his stature; he evoked his illusions to bid them farewell in a +last Olympic feast. The magic had been potent for a moment; but now it +vanished forever. In that awful hour he clung to the beautiful tree to +which, as to a friend, he had attached himself; then he put the two +stones into the pockets of his overcoat, which he buttoned across his +breast. He had come intentionally without a hat. He now went to the +deep pool he had long selected, and glided into it resolutely, trying +to make as little noise as possible, and, in fact, making scarcely +any. + +When, at half-past nine o'clock, Madame Granson returned home, her +servant said nothing of Athanase, but gave her a letter. She opened it +and read these few words,-- + +"My good mother, I have departed; don't be angry with me." + +"A pretty trick he has played me!" she thought. "And his linen! and +the money! Well, he will write to me, and then I'll follow him. These +poor children think they are so much cleverer than their fathers and +mothers." + +And she went to bed in peace. + +During the preceding morning the Sarthe had risen to a height foreseen +by the fisherman. These sudden rises of muddy water brought eels from +their various runlets. It so happened that a fisherman had spread his +net at the very place where poor Athanase had flung himself, believing +that no one would ever find him. About six o'clock in the morning the +man drew in his net, and with it the young body. The few friends of +the poor mother took every precaution in preparing her to receive the +dreadful remains. The news of this suicide made, as may well be +supposed, a great excitement in Alencon. The poor young man of genius +had no protector the night before, but on the morrow of his death a +thousand voices cried aloud, "I would have helped him." It is so easy +and convenient to be charitable gratis! + +The suicide was explained by the Chevalier de Valois. He revealed, in +a spirit of revenge, the artless, sincere, and genuine love of +Athanase for Mademoiselle Cormon. Madame Granson, enlightened by the +chevalier, remembered a thousand little circumstances which confirmed +the chevalier's statement. The story then became touching, and many +women wept over it. Madame Granson's grief was silent, concentrated, +and little understood. There are two forms of mourning for mothers. +Often the world can enter fully into the nature of their loss: their +son, admired, appreciated, young, perhaps handsome, with a noble path +before him, leading to fortune, possibly to fame, excites universal +regret; society joins in the grief, and alleviates while it magnifies +it. But there is another sorrow of mothers who alone know what their +child was really; who alone have received his smiles and observed the +treasures of a life too soon cut short. That sorrow hides its woe, the +blackness of which surpasses all other mourning; it cannot be +described; happily there are but few women whose heart-strings are +thus severed. + +Before Madame du Bousquier returned to town, Madame du Ronceret, one +of her good friends, had driven out to Prebaudet to fling this corpse +upon the roses of her joy, to show her the love she had ignored, and +sweetly shed a thousand drops of wormwood into the honey of her bridal +month. As Madame du Bousquier drove back to Alencon, she chanced to +meet Madame Granson at the corner of the rue Val-Noble. The glance of +the mother, dying of her grief, struck to the heart of the poor woman. +A thousand maledictions, a thousand flaming reproaches, were in that +look: Madame du Bousquier was horror-struck; that glance predicted and +called down evil upon her head. + +The evening after the catastrophe, Madame Granson, one of the persons +most opposed to the rector of the town, and who had hitherto supported +the minister of Saint-Leonard, began to tremble as she thought of the +inflexible Catholic doctrines professed by her own party. After +placing her son's body in its shroud with her own hands, thinking of +the mother of the Saviour, she went, with a soul convulsed by anguish, +to the house of the hated rector. There she found the modest priest in +an outer room, engaged in putting away the flax and yarns with which +he supplied poor women, in order that they might never be wholly out +of work,--a form of charity which saved many who were incapable of +begging from actual penury. The rector left his yarns and hastened to +take Madame Granson into his dining-room, where the wretched mother +noticed, as she looked at his supper, the frugal method of his own +living. + +"Monsieur l'abbe," she said, "I have come to implore you--" She burst +into tears, unable to continue. + +"I know what brings you," replied the saintly man. "I must trust to +you, madame, and to your relation, Madame du Bousquier, to pacify +Monseigneur the Bishop at Seez. Yes, I will pray for your unhappy +child; yes, I will say the masses. But we must avoid all scandal, and +give no opportunity for evil-judging persons to assemble in the +church. I alone, without other clergy, at night--" + +"Yes, yes, as you think best; if only he may lie in consecrated +ground," said the poor mother, taking the priest's hand and kissing +it. + +Toward midnight a coffin was clandestinely borne to the parish church +by four young men, comrades whom Athanase had liked the best. A few +friends of Madame Granson, women dressed in black, and veiled, were +present; and half a dozen other young men who had been somewhat +intimate with this lost genius. Four torches flickered on the coffin, +which was covered with crape. The rector, assisted by one discreet +choirboy, said the mortuary mass. Then the body of the suicide was +noiselessly carried to a corner of the cemetery, where a black wooden +cross, without inscription, was all that indicated its place hereafter +to the mother. Athanase lived and died in shadow. No voice was raised +to blame the rector; the bishop kept silence. The piety of the mother +redeemed the impiety of the son's last act. + +Some months later, the poor woman, half beside herself with grief, and +moved by one of those inexplicable thirsts which misery feels to steep +its lips in the bitter chalice, determined to see the spot where her +son was drowned. Her instinct may have told her that thoughts of his +could be recovered beneath that poplar; perhaps, too, she desired to +see what his eyes had seen for the last time. Some mothers would die +of the sight; others give themselves up to it in saintly adoration. +Patient anatomists of human nature cannot too often enunciate the +truths before which all educations, laws, and philosophical systems +must give way. Let us repeat continually: it is absurd to force +sentiments into one formula: appearing as they do, in each individual +man, they combine with the elements that form his nature and take his +own physiognomy. + +Madame Granson, as she stood on that fatal spot, saw a woman approach +it, who exclaimed,-- + +"Was it here?" + +That woman wept as the mother wept. It was Suzanne. Arriving that +morning at the hotel du More, she had been told of the catastrophe. If +poor Athanase had been living, she meant to do as many noble souls, +who are moneyless, dream of doing, and as the rich never think of +doing,--she meant to have sent him several thousand francs, writing up +the envelope the words: "Money due to your father from a comrade who +makes restitution to you." This tender scheme had been arranged by +Suzanne during her journey. + +The courtesan caught sight of Madame Granson and moved rapidly away, +whispering as she passed her, "I loved him!" + +Suzanne, faithful to her nature, did not leave Alencon on this +occasion without changing the orange-blossoms of the bride to rue. She +was the first to declare that Madame du Bousquier would never be +anything but Mademoiselle Cormon. With one stab of her tongue she +revenged poor Athanase and her dear chevalier. + +Alencon now witnessed a suicide that was slower and quite differently +pitiful from that of poor Athanase, who was quickly forgotten by +society, which always makes haste to forget its dead. The poor +Chevalier de Valois died in life; his suicide was a daily occurrence +for fourteen years. Three months after the du Bousquier marriage +society remarked, not without astonishment, that the linen of the +chevalier was frayed and rusty, that his hair was irregularly combed +and brushed. With a frowsy head the Chevalier de Valois could no +longer be said to exist! A few of his ivory teeth deserted, though the +keenest observers of human life were unable to discover to what body +they had hitherto belonged, whether to a foreign legion or whether +they were indigenous, vegetable or animal; whether age had pulled them +from the chevalier's mouth, or whether they were left forgotten in the +drawer of his dressing-table. The cravat was crooked, indifferent to +elegance. The negroes' heads grew pale with dust and grease. The +wrinkles of the face were blackened and puckered; the skin became +parchment. The nails, neglected, were often seen, alas! with a black +velvet edging. The waistcoat was tracked and stained with droppings +which spread upon its surface like autumn leaves. The cotton in the +ears was seldom changed. Sadness reigned upon that brow, and slipped +its yellowing tints into the depths of each furrow. In short, the +ruins, hitherto so cleverly hidden, now showed through the cracks and +crevices of that fine edifice, and proved the power of the soul over +the body; for the fair and dainty man, the cavalier, the young blood, +died when hope deserted him. Until then the nose of the chevalier was +ever delicate and nice; never had a damp black blotch, nor an amber +drop fall from it; but now that nose, smeared with tobacco around the +nostrils, degraded by the driblets which took advantage of the natural +gutter placed between itself and the upper lip,--that nose, which no +longer cared to seem agreeable, revealed the infinite pains which the +chevalier had formerly taken with his person, and made observers +comprehend, by the extent of its degradation, the greatness and +persistence of the man's designs upon Mademoiselle Cormon. + +Alas, too, the anecdotes went the way of the teeth; the clever sayings +grew rare. The appetite, however, remained; the old nobleman saved +nothing but his stomach from the wreck of his hopes; though he +languidly prepared his pinches of snuff, he ate alarming dinners. +Perhaps you will more fully understand the disaster that this marriage +was to the mind and heart of the chevalier when you learn that his +intercourse with the Princess Goritza became less frequent. + +One day he appeared in Mademoiselle Armande's salon with the calf of +his leg on the shin-bone. This bankruptcy of the graces was, I do +assure you, terrible, and struck all Alencon with horror. The late +young man had become an old one; this human being, who, by the +breaking-down of his spirit, had passed at once from fifty to ninety +years of age, frightened society. Besides, his secret was betrayed; he +had waited and watched for Mademoiselle Cormon; he had, like a patient +hunter, adjusted his aim for ten whole years, and finally had missed +the game! In short, the impotent Republic had won the day from Valiant +Chivalry, and that, too, under the Restoration! Form triumphed; mind +was vanquished by matter, diplomacy by insurrection. And, O final +blow! a mortified grisette revealed the secret of the chevalier's +mornings, and he now passed for a libertine. The liberals cast at his +door all the foundlings hitherto attributed to du Bousquier. But the +faubourg Saint-Germain of Alencon accepted them proudly: it even said, +"That poor chevalier, what else could he do?" The faubourg pitied him, +gathered him closer to their circle, and brought back a few rare +smiles to his face; but frightful enmity was piled upon the head of du +Bousquier. Eleven persons deserted the Cormon salon, and passed to +that of the d'Esgrignons. + +The old maid's marriage had a signal effect in defining the two +parties in Alencon. The salon d'Esgrignon represented the upper +aristocracy (the returning Troisvilles attached themselves to it); the +Cormon salon represented, under the clever influence of du Bousquier, +that fatal class of opinions which, without being truly liberal or +resolutely royalist, gave birth to the 221 on that famous day when the +struggle openly began between the most august, grandest, and only true +power, ROYALTY, and the most false, most changeful, most oppressive of +all powers,--the power called PARLIAMENTARY, which elective assemblies +exercise. The salon du Ronceret, secretly allied to the Cormon salon, +was boldly liberal. + +The Abbe de Sponde, after his return from Prebaudet, bore many and +continual sufferings, which he kept within his breast, saying no word +of them to his niece. But to Mademoiselle Armande he opened his heart, +admitting that, folly for folly, he would much have preferred the +Chevalier de Valois to Monsieur du Bousquier. Never would the dear +chevalier have had the bad taste to contradict and oppose a poor old +man who had but a few days more to live; du Bousquier had destroyed +everything in the good old home. The abbe said, with scanty tears +moistening his aged eyes,-- + +"Mademoiselle, I haven't even the little grove where I have walked for +fifty years. My beloved lindens are all cut down! At the moment of my +death the Republic appears to me more than ever under the form of a +horrible destruction of the Home." + +"You must pardon your niece," said the Chevalier de Valois. +"Republican ideas are the first error of youth which seeks for +liberty; later it finds it the worst of despotisms,--that of an +impotent canaille. Your poor niece is punished where she sinned." + +"What will become of me in a house where naked women are painted on +the walls?" said the poor abbe. "Where shall I find other lindens +beneath which to read my breviary?" + +Like Kant, who was unable to collect his thoughts after the fir-tree +at which he was accustomed to gaze while meditating was cut down, so +the poor abbe could never attain the ardor of his former prayers while +walking up and down the shadeless paths. Du Bousquier had planted an +English garden. + +"It was best," said Madame du Bousquier, without thinking so; but the +Abbe Couterier had authorized her to commit many wrongs to please her +husband. + +These restorations destroyed all the venerable dignity, cordiality, +and patriarchal air of the old house. Like the Chevalier de Valois, +whose personal neglect might be called an abdication, the bourgeois +dignity of the Cormon salon no longer existed when it was turned to +white and gold, with mahogany ottomans covered in blue satin. The +dining-room, adorned in modern taste, was colder in tone than it used +to be, and the dinners were eaten with less appetite than formerly. +Monsieur du Coudrai declared that he felt his puns stick in his throat +as he glanced at the figures painted on the walls, which looked him +out of countenance. Externally, the house was still provincial; but +internally everything revealed the purveyor of the Directory and the +bad taste of the money-changer,--for instance, columns in stucco, +glass doors, Greek mouldings, meaningless outlines, all styles +conglomerated, magnificence out of place and out of season. + +The town of Alencon gabbled for two weeks over this luxury, which +seemed unparalleled; but a few months later the community was proud of +it, and several rich manufacturers restored their houses and set up +fine salons. Modern furniture came into the town, and astral lamps +were seen! + +The Abbe de Sponde was among the first to perceive the secret +unhappiness this marriage now brought to the private life of his +beloved niece. The character of noble simplicity which had hitherto +ruled their lives was lost during the first winter, when du Bousquier +gave two balls every month. Oh, to hear violins and profane music at +these worldly entertainments in the sacred old house! The abbe prayed +on his knees while the revels lasted. Next the political system of the +sober salon was slowly perverted. The abbe fathomed du Bousquier; he +shuddered at his imperious tone; he saw the tears in his niece's eyes +when she felt herself losing all control over her own property; for +her husband now left nothing in her hands but the management of the +linen, the table, and things of a kind which are the lot of women. +Rose had no longer any orders to give. Monsieur's will was alone +regarded by Jacquelin, now become coachman, by Rene, the groom, and by +the chef, who came from Paris, Mariette being reduced to kitchen maid. +Madame du Bousquier had no one to rule but Josette. Who knows what it +costs to relinquish the delights of power? If the triumph of the will +is one of the intoxicating pleasures in the lives of great men, it is +the ALL of life to narrow minds. One must needs have been a minister +dismissed from power to comprehend the bitter pain which came upon +Madame du Bousquier when she found herself reduced to this absolute +servitude. She often got into the carriage against her will; she saw +herself surrounded by servants who were distasteful to her; she no +longer had the handling of her dear money,--she who had known herself +free to spend money, and did not spend it. + +All imposed limits make the human being desire to go beyond them. The +keenest sufferings come from the thwarting of self-will. The beginning +of this state of things was, however, rose-colored. Every concession +made to marital authority was an effect of the love which the poor +woman felt for her husband. Du Bousquier behaved, in the first +instance, admirably to his wife: he was wise; he was excellent; he +gave her the best of reasons for each new encroachment. So for the +first two years of her marriage Madame du Bousquier appeared to be +satisfied. She had that deliberate, demure little air which +distinguishes young women who have married for love. The rush of blood +to her head no longer tormented her. This appearance of satisfaction +routed the scoffers, contradicted certain rumors about du Bousquier, +and puzzled all observers of the human heart. Rose-Marie-Victoire was +so afraid that if she displeased her husband or opposed him, she would +lose his affection and be deprived of his company, that she would +willingly have sacrificed all to him, even her uncle. Her silly little +forms of pleasure deceived even the poor abbe for a time, who endured +his own trials all the better for thinking that his niece was happy, +after all. + +Alencon at first thought the same. But there was one man more +difficult to deceive than the whole town put together. The Chevalier +de Valois, who had taken refuge on the Sacred Mount of the upper +aristocracy, now passed his life at the d'Esgrignons. He listened to +the gossip and the gabble, and he thought day and night upon his +vengeance. He meant to strike du Bousquier to the heart. + +The poor abbe fully understood the baseness of this first and last +love of his niece; he shuddered as, little by little, he perceived the +hypocritical nature of his nephew and his treacherous manoeuvres. +Though du Bousquier restrained himself, as he thought of the abbe's +property, and wished not to cause him vexation, it was his hand that +dealt the blow that sent the old priest to his grave. If you will +interpret the word INTOLERANCE as FIRMNESS OF PRINCIPLE, if you do not +wish to condemn in the catholic soul of the Abbe de Sponde the +stoicism which Walter Scott has made you admire in the puritan soul of +Jeanie Deans' father; if you are willing to recognize in the Roman +Church the Potius mori quam foedari that you admire in republican +tenets,--you will understand the sorrow of the Abbe de Sponde when he +saw in his niece's salon the apostate priest, the renegade, the +pervert, the heretic, that enemy of the Church, the guilty taker of +the Constitutional oath. Du Bousquier, whose secret ambition was to +lay down the law to the town, wished, as a first proof of his power, +to reconcile the minister of Saint-Leonard with the rector of the +parish, and he succeeded. His wife thought he had accomplished a work +of peace where the immovable abbe saw only treachery. The bishop came +to visit du Bousquier, and seemed glad of the cessation of +hostilities. The virtues of the Abbe Francois had conquered prejudice, +except that of the aged Roman Catholic, who exclaimed with Cornelle, +"Alas! what virtues do you make me hate!" + +The abbe died when orthodoxy thus expired in the diocese. + +In 1819, the property of the Abbe de Sponde increased Madame du +Bousquier's income from real estate to twenty-five thousand francs +without counting Prebaudet or the house in the Val-Noble. About this +time du Bousquier returned to his wife the capital of her savings +which she had yielded to him; and he made her use it in purchasing +lands contiguous to Prebaudet, which made that domain one of the most +considerable in the department, for the estates of the Abbe de Sponde +also adjoined it. Du Bousquier thus passed for one of the richest men +of the department. This able man, the constant candidate of the +liberals, missing by seven or eight votes only in all the electoral +battles fought under the Restoration, and who ostensibly repudiated +the liberals by trying to be elected as a ministerial royalist +(without ever being able to conquer the aversion of the +administration),--this rancorous republican, mad with ambition, +resolved to rival the royalism and aristocracy of Alencon at the +moment when they once more had the upper hand. He strengthened himself +with the Church by the deceitful appearance of a well-feigned piety: +he accompanied his wife to mass; he gave money for the convents of the +town; he assisted the congregation of the Sacre-Coeur; he took sides +with the clergy on all occasions when the clergy came into collision +with the town, the department, or the State. Secretly supported by the +liberals, protected by the Church, calling himself a constitutional +royalist, he kept beside the aristocracy of the department in the one +hope of ruining it,--and he did ruin it. Ever on the watch for the +faults and blunders of the nobility and the government, he laid plans +for his vengeance against the "chateau-people," and especially against +the d'Esgrignons, in whose bosom he was one day to thrust a poisoned +dagger. + +Among other benefits to the town he gave money liberally to revive the +manufacture of point d'Alencon; he renewed the trade in linens, and +the town had a factory. Inscribing himself thus upon the interests and +heart of the masses, by doing what the royalists did not do, du +Bousquier did not really risk a farthing. Backed by his fortune, he +could afford to wait results which enterprising persons who involve +themselves are forced to abandon to luckier successors. + +Du Bousquier now posed as a banker. This miniature Lafitte was a +partner in all new enterprises, taking good security. He served +himself while apparently serving the interests of the community. He +was the prime mover of insurance companies, the protector of new +enterprises for public conveyance; he suggested petitions for asking +the administration for the necessary roads and bridges. Thus warned, +the government considered this action an encroachment of its own +authority. A struggle was begun injudiciously, for the good of the +community compelled the authorities to yield in the end. Du Bousquier +embittered the provincial nobility against the court nobility and the +peerage; and finally he brought about the shocking adhesion of a +strong party of constitutional royalists to the warfare sustained by +the "Journal des Debats," and M. de Chateaubriand against the throne, +--an ungrateful opposition based on ignoble interests, which was one +cause of the triumph of the bourgeoisie and journalism in 1830. + +Thus du Bousquier, in common with the class he represented, had the +satisfaction of beholding the funeral of royalty. The old republican, +smothered with masses, who for fifteen years had played that comedy to +satisfy his vendetta, himself threw down with his own hand the white +flag of the mayoralty to the applause of the multitude. No man in +France cast upon the new throne raised in August, 1830, a glance of +more intoxicated, joyous vengeance. The accession of the Younger +Branch was the triumph of the Revolution. To him the victory of the +tricolor meant the resurrection of Montagne, which this time should +surely bring the nobility down to the dust by means more certain than +that of the guillotine, because less violent. The peerage without +heredity; the National Guard, which puts on the same camp-bed the +corner grocer and the marquis; the abolition of the entails demanded +by a bourgeois lawyer; the Catholic Church deprived of its supremacy; +and all the other legislative inventions of August, 1830,--were to du +Bousquier the wisest possible application of the principles of 1793. + +Since 1830 this man has been a receiver-general. He relied for his +advancement on his relations with the Duc d'Orleans, father of Louis +Philippe, and with Monsieur de Folmon, formerly steward to the +Duchess-dowager of Orleans. He receives about eighty thousand francs a +year. In the eyes of the people about him Monsieur du Bousquier is a +man of means,--a respectable man, steady in his principles, upright, +and obliging. Alencon owes to him its connection with the industrial +movement by which Brittany may possibly some day be joined to what is +popularly called modern civilization. Alencon, which up to 1816 could +boast of only two private carriages, saw, without amazement, in the +course of ten years, coupes, landaus, tilburies, and cabriolets +rolling through her streets. The burghers and the land-owners, alarmed +at first lest the price of everything should increase, recognized +later that this increase in the style of living had a contrary effect +upon their revenues. The prophetic remark of du Ronceret, "Du +Bousquier is a very strong man," was adopted by the whole country- +side. + +But, unhappily for the wife, that saying has a double meaning. The +husband does not in any way resemble the public politician. This great +citizen, so liberal to the world about him, so kindly inspired with +love for his native place, is a despot in his own house, and utterly +devoid of conjugal affection. This man, so profoundly astute, +hypocritical, and sly; this Cromwell of the Val-Noble,--behaves in his +home as he behaves to the aristocracy, whom he caresses in hopes to +throttle them. Like his friend Bernadotte, he wears a velvet glove +upon his iron hand. His wife has given him no children. Suzanne's +remark and the chevalier's insinuations were therefore justified. But +the liberal bourgeoisie, the constitutional-royalist-bourgeoisie, the +country-squires, the magistracy, and the "church party" laid the blame +on Madame du Bousquier. "She was too old," they said; "Monsieur du +Bousquier had married her too late. Besides, it was very lucky for the +poor woman; it was dangerous at her age to bear children!" When Madame +du Bousquier confided, weeping, her periodic despair to Mesdames du +Coudrai and du Ronceret, those ladies would reply,-- + +"But you are crazy, my dear; you don't know what you are wishing for; +a child would be your death." + +Many men, whose hopes were fastened on du Bousquier's triumph, sang +his praises to their wives, who in turn repeated them to the poor wife +in some such speech as this:-- + +"You are very lucky, dear, to have married such an able man; you'll +escape the misery of women whose husbands are men without energy, +incapable of managing their property, or bringing up their children." + +"Your husband is making you queen of the department, my love. He'll +never leave you embarrassed, not he! Why, he leads all Alencon." + +"But I wish," said the poor wife, "that he gave less time to the +public and--" + +"You are hard to please, my dear Madame du Bousquier. I assure you +that all the women in town envy you your husband." + +Misjudged by society, which began by blaming her, the pious woman +found ample opportunity in her home to display her virtues. She lived +in tears, but she never ceased to present to others a placid face. To +so Christian a soul a certain thought which pecked forever at her +heart was a crime: "I loved the Chevalier de Valois," it said; "but I +have married du Bousquier." The love of poor Athanase Granson also +rose like a phantom of remorse, and pursued her even in her dreams. +The death of her uncle, whose griefs at the last burst forth, made her +life still more sorrowful; for she now felt the suffering her uncle +must have endured in witnessing the change of political and religious +opinion in the old house. Sorrow often falls like a thunderbolt, as it +did on Madame Granson; but in this old maid it slowly spread like a +drop of oil, which never leaves the stuff that slowly imbibes it. + +The Chevalier de Valois was the malicious manipulator who brought +about the crowning misfortune of Madame du Bousquier's life. His heart +was set on undeceiving her pious simplicity; for the chevalier, expert +in love, divined du Bousquier, the married man, as he had divined du +Bousquier, the bachelor. But the wary republican was difficult of +attack. His salon was, of course, closed to the Chevalier de Valois, +as to all those who, in the early days of his marriage, had slighted +the Cormon mansion. He was, moreover, impervious to ridicule; he +possessed a vast fortune; he reigned in Alencon; he cared as little +for his wife as Richard III. cared for the dead horse which had helped +him win a battle. To please her husband, Madame du Bousquier had +broken off relations with the d'Esgrignon household, where she went no +longer, except that sometimes when her husband left her during his +trips to Paris, she would pay a brief visit to Mademoiselle Armande. + +About three years after her marriage, at the time of the Abbe de +Sponde's death, Mademoiselle Armande joined Madame du Bousquier as +they were leaving Saint-Leonard's, where they had gone to hear a +requiem said for him. The generous demoiselle thought that on this +occasion she owed her sympathy to the niece in trouble. They walked +together, talking of the dear deceased, until they reached the +forbidden house, into which Mademoiselle Armande enticed Madame du +Bousquier by the charm of her manner and conversation. The poor +desolate woman was glad to talk of her uncle with one whom he truly +loved. Moreover, she wanted to receive the condolences of the old +marquis, whom she had not seen for nearly three years. It was half- +past one o'clock, and she found at the hotel d'Esgrignon the Chevalier +de Valois, who had come to dinner. As he bowed to her, he took her by +the hands. + +"Well, dear, virtuous, and beloved lady," he said, in a tone of +emotion, "we have lost our sainted friend; we share your grief. Yes, +your loss is as keenly felt here as in your own home,--more so," he +added, alluding to du Bousquier. + +After a few more words of funeral oration, in which all present spoke +from the heart, the chevalier took Madame du Bousquier's arm, and, +gallantly placing it within his own, pressed it adoringly as he led +her to the recess of a window. + +"Are you happy?" he said in a fatherly voice. + +"Yes," she said, dropping her eyes. + +Hearing that "Yes," Madame de Troisville, the daughter of the Princess +Scherbellof, and the old Marquise de Casteran came up and joined the +chevalier, together with Mademoiselle Armande. They all went to walk +in the garden until dinner was served, without any perception on the +part of Madame du Bousquier that a little conspiracy was afoot. "We +have her! now let us find out the secret of the case," were the words +written in the eyes of all present. + +"To make your happiness complete," said Mademoiselle Armande, "you +ought to have children,--a fine lad like my nephew--" + +Tears seemed to start in Madame du Bousquier's eyes. + +"I have heard it said that you were the one to blame in the matter, +and that you feared the dangers of a pregnancy," said the chevalier. + +"I!" she said artlessly. "I would buy a child with a hundred years of +purgatory if I could." + +On the question thus started a discussion arose, conducted by Madame +de Troisville and the old Marquise de Casteran with such delicacy and +adroitness that the poor victim revealed, without being aware of it, +the secrets of her house. Mademoiselle Armande had taken the +chevalier's arm, and walked away so as to leave the three women free +to discuss wedlock. Madame du Bousquier was then enlightened on the +various deceptions of her marriage; and as she was still the same +simpleton she had always been, she amused her advisers by delightful +naivetes. + +Although at first the deceptive marriage of Mademoiselle Cormon made a +laugh throughout the town, which was soon initiated into the story of +the case, before long Madame du Bousquier won the esteem and sympathy +of all the women. The fact that Mademoiselle Cormon had flung herself +headlong into marriage without succeeding in being married, made +everybody laugh at her; but when they learned the exceptional position +in which the sternness of her religious principles placed her, all the +world admired her. "That poor Madame du Bousquier" took the place of +"That good Mademoiselle Cormon." + +Thus the chevalier contrived to render du Bousquier both ridiculous +and odious for a time; but ridicule ends by weakening; when all had +said their say about him, the gossip died out. Besides, at fifty-seven +years of age the dumb republican seemed to many people to have a right +to retire. This affair, however, envenomed the hatred which du +Bousquier already bore to the house of Esgrignon to such a degree that +it made him pitiless when the day of vengeance came. [See "The Gallery +of Antiquities."] Madame du Bousquier received orders never again to +set foot into that house. By way of reprisals upon the chevalier for +the trick thus played him, du Bousquier, who had just created the +journal called the "Courrier de l'Orne," caused the following notice +to be inserted in it:-- + + "Bonds to the amount of one thousand francs a year will be paid to + any person who can prove the existence of one Monsieur de + Pombreton before, during, or after the Emigration." + +Although her marriage was essentially negative, Madame du Bousquier +saw some advantages in it: was it not better to interest herself in +the most remarkable man in the town than to live alone? Du Bousquier +was preferable to a dog, or cat, or those canaries that spinsters +love. He showed for his wife a sentiment more real and less selfish +than that which is felt by servants, confessors, and hopeful heirs. +Later in life she came to consider her husband as the instrument of +divine wrath; for she then saw innumerable sins in her former desires +for marriage; she regarded herself as justly punished for the sorrow +she had brought on Madame Granson, and for the hastened death of her +uncle. Obedient to that religion which commands us to kiss the rod +with which the punishment is inflicted, she praised her husband, and +publicly approved him. But in the confessional, or at night, when +praying, she wept often, imploring God's forgiveness for the apostasy +of the man who thought the contrary of what he professed, and who +desired the destruction of the aristocracy and the Church,--the two +religions of the house of Cormon. + +With all her feelings bruised and immolated within her, compelled by +duty to make her husband happy, attached to him by a certain +indefinable affection, born, perhaps, of habit, her life became one +perpetual contradiction. She had married a man whose conduct and +opinions she hated, but whom she was bound to care for with dutiful +tenderness. Often she walked with the angels when du Bousquier ate her +preserves or thought the dinner good. She watched to see that his +slightest wish was satisfied. If he tore off the cover of his +newspaper and left it on a table, instead of throwing it away, she +would say:-- + +"Rene, leave that where it is; monsieur did not place it there without +intention." + +If du Bousquier had a journey to take, she was anxious about his +trunk, his linen; she took the most minute precautions for his +material benefit. If he went to Prebaudet, she consulted the barometer +the evening before to know if the weather would be fine. She watched +for his will in his eyes, like a dog which hears and sees its master +while sleeping. When the stout du Bousquier, touched by this +scrupulous love, would take her round the waist and kiss her forehead, +saying, "What a good woman you are!" tears of pleasure would come into +the eyes of the poor creature. It is probably that du Bousquier felt +himself obliged to make certain concessions which obtained for him the +respect of Rose-Marie-Victoire; for Catholic virtue does not require a +dissimulation as complete as that of Madame du Bousquier. Often the +good saint sat mutely by and listened to the hatred of men who +concealed themselves under the cloak of constitutional royalists. She +shuddered as she foresaw the ruin of the Church. Occasionally she +risked a stupid word, an observation which du Bousquier cut short with +a glance. + +The worries of such an existence ended by stupefying Madame du +Bousquier, who found it easier and also more dignified to concentrate +her intelligence on her own thoughts and resign herself to lead a life +that was purely animal. She then adopted the submission of a slave, +and regarded it as a meritorious deed to accept the degradation in +which her husband placed her. The fulfilment of his will never once +caused her to murmur. The timid sheep went henceforth in the way the +shepherd led her; she gave herself up to the severest religious +practices, and thought no more of Satan and his works and vanities. +Thus she presented to the eyes of the world a union of all Christian +virtues; and du Bousquier was certainly one of the luckiest men in the +kingdom of France and of Navarre. + +"She will be a simpleton to her last breath," said the former +collector, who, however, dined with her twice a week. + +This history would be strangely incomplete if no mention were made of +the coincidence of the Chevalier de Valois's death occurring at the +same time as that of Suzanne's mother. The chevalier died with the +monarchy, in August, 1830. He had joined the cortege of Charles X. at +Nonancourt, and piously escorted it to Cherbourg with the Troisvilles, +Casterans, d'Esgrignons, Verneuils, etc. The old gentleman had taken +with him fifty thousand francs,--the sum to which his savings then +amounted. He offered them to one of the faithful friends of the king +for transmission to his master, speaking of his approaching death, and +declaring that the money came originally from the goodness of the +king, and, moreover, that the property of the last of the Valois +belonged of right to the crown. It is not known whether the fervor of +his zeal conquered the reluctance of the Bourbon, who abandoned his +fine kingdom of France without carrying away with him a farthing, and +who ought to have been touched by the devotion of the chevalier. It is +certain, however, that Cesarine, the residuary legate of the old man, +received from his estate only six hundred francs a year. The chevalier +returned to Alencon, cruelly weakened by grief and by fatigue; he died +on the very day when Charles X. arrived on a foreign shore. + +Madame du Val-Noble and her protector, who was just then afraid of the +vengeance of the liberal party, were glad of a pretext to remain +incognito in the village where Suzanne's mother died. At the sale of +the chevalier's effects, which took place at that time, Suzanne, +anxious to obtain a souvenir of her first and last friend, pushed up +the price of the famous snuff-box, which was finally knocked down to +her for a thousand francs. The portrait of the Princess Goritza was +alone worth that sum. Two years later, a young dandy, who was making a +collection of the fine snuff-boxes of the last century, obtained from +Madame du Val-Noble the chevalier's treasure. The charming confidant +of many a love and the pleasure of an old age is now on exhibition in +a species of private museum. If the dead could know what happens after +them, the chevalier's head would surely blush upon its left cheek. + +If this history has no other effect than to inspire the possessors of +precious relics with holy fear, and induce them to make codicils to +secure these touching souvenirs of joys that are no more by +bequeathing them to loving hands, it will have done an immense service +to the chivalrous and romantic portion of the community; but it does, +in truth, contain a far higher moral. Does it not show the necessity +for a new species of education? Does it not invoke, from the +enlightened solicitude of the ministers of Public Instruction, the +creation of chairs of anthropology,--a science in which Germany +outstrips us? Modern myths are even less understood than ancient ones, +harried as we are with myths. Myths are pressing us from every point; +they serve all theories, they explain all questions. They are, +according to human ideas, the torches of history; they would save +empires from revolution if only the professors of history would force +the explanations they give into the mind of the provincial masses. If +Mademoiselle Cormon had been a reader or a student, and if there had +existed in the department of the Orne a professor of anthropology, or +even had she read Ariosto, the frightful disasters of her conjugal +life would never have occurred. She would probably have known why the +Italian poet makes Angelica prefer Medoro, who was a blond Chevalier +de Valois, to Orlando, whose mare was dead, and who knew no better +than to fly into a passion. Is not Medoro the mythic form for all +courtiers of feminine royalty, and Orlando the myth of disorderly, +furious, and impotent revolutions, which destroy but cannot produce? +We publish, but without assuming any responsibility for it, this +opinion of a pupil of Monsieur Ballanche. + +No information has reached us as to the fate of the negroes' heads in +diamonds. You may see Madame du Val-Noble every evening at the Opera. +Thanks to the education given her by the Chevalier de Valois, she has +almost the air of a well-bred woman. + +Madame du Bousquier still lives; is not that as much as to say she +still suffers? After reaching the age of sixty--the period at which +women allow themselves to make confessions--she said confidentially to +Madame du Coudrai, that she had never been able to endure the idea of +dying an old maid. + + + +ADDENDUM + +The following personages appear in other stories of the Human Comedy. + +(Note: The Collection of Antiquities is a companion piece to The Old +Maid. In other Addendum appearances they are combined under the title +of The Jealousies of a Country Town.) + +Bordin + The Gondreville Mystery + The Seamy Side of History + The Commission in Lunacy + +Bousquier, Du (or Du Croisier or Du Bourguier) + The Collection of Antiquities (companion piece) + The Middle Classes + +Bousquier, Madame du (du Croisier) (Mlle. Cormon) + The Collection of Antiquities (companion piece) + +Casteran, De + The Chouans + The Seamy Side of History + The Collection of Antiquities (companion piece) + Beatrix + The Peasantry + +Chesnel (or Choisnel) + The Seamy Side of History + The Collection of Antiquities (companion piece) + +Coudrai, Du + The Collection of Antiquities (companion piece) + +Esgrignon, Charles-Marie-Victor-Ange-Carol, Marquis d' (or Des Grignons) + The Chouans + The Collection of Antiquities (companion piece) + +Esgrignon, Marie-Armande-Claire d' + The Collection of Antiquities (companion piece) + +Gaillard, Madame Theodore (Suzanne) + A Distinguished Provincial at Paris + A Bachelor's Establishment + Scenes from a Courtesan's Life + Beatrix + The Unconscious Humorists + +Granson, Athanase + The Government Clerks (mentioned only) + +Lenoncourt, Duc de + The Lily of the Valley + Cesar Birotteau + The Collection of Antiquities (companion piece) + The Gondreville Mystery + Beatrix + +Navarreins, Duc de + Colonel Chabert + The Muse of the Department + The Thirteen + The Peasantry + Scenes from a Courtesan's Life + The Country Parson + The Magic Skin + The Gondreville Mystery + The Secrets of a Princess + Cousin Betty + +Pombreton, Marquis de + Lost Illusions + A Distinguished Provincial at Paris + +Ronceret, Du + The Collection of Antiquities (companion piece) + Beatrix + +Ronceret, Madame Du + The Collection of Antiquities (companion piece) + +Simeuse, Admiral de + Beatrix + The Gondreville Mystery + +Troisville, Guibelin, Vicomte de + The Seamy Side of History + The Chouans + The Collection of Antiquities (companion piece) + The Peasantry + +Valois, Chevalier de + The Chouans + The Collection of Antiquities (companion piece) + +Verneuil, Duc de + The Chouans + The Collection of Antiquities (companion piece) + + + + + +End of The Project Gutenberg Etext of An Old Maid, by Honore de Balzac + diff --git a/old/old/omaid10.zip b/old/old/omaid10.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..5a9d538 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/old/omaid10.zip |