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diff --git a/old/1389-0.txt b/old/1389-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..0813547 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/1389-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,2926 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Gobseck, 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: Gobseck + +Author: Honore de Balzac + +Translator: Ellen Marriage + +Release Date: July, 1997 [Etext #1389] +Posting Date: February 24, 2010 +Last Updated: November 22, 2016 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK GOBSECK *** + + + + +Produced by Dagny, and Bonnie Sala + + + + + +GOBSECK + + +By Honore De Balzac + + +Translated By Ellen Marriage + + + + + DEDICATION + + To M. le Baron Barchou de Penhoen. + + Among all the pupils of the Oratorian school at Vendome, we are, I + think, the only two who have afterwards met in mid-career of a + life of letters--we who once were cultivating Philosophy when by + rights we should have been minding our De viris. When we met, you + were engaged upon your noble works on German philosophy, and I + upon this study. So neither of us has missed his vocation; and + you, when you see your name here, will feel, no doubt, as much + pleasure as he who inscribes his work to you.--Your old + schoolfellow, + + 1840 De Balzac. + + + + + +GOBSECK + + +It was one o’clock in the morning, during the winter of 1829-30, but in +the Vicomtesse de Grandlieu’s salon two persons stayed on who did not +belong to her family circle. A young and good-looking man heard the +clock strike, and took his leave. When the courtyard echoed with the +sound of a departing carriage, the Vicomtesse looked up, saw that no one +was present save her brother and a friend of the family finishing their +game of piquet, and went across to her daughter. The girl, standing by +the chimney-piece, apparently examining a transparent fire-screen, +was listening to the sounds from the courtyard in a way that justified +certain maternal fears. + +“Camille,” said the Vicomtesse, “if you continue to behave to young +Comte de Restaud as you have done this evening, you will oblige me to +see no more of him here. Listen, child, and if you have any confidence +in my love, let me guide you in life. At seventeen one cannot judge of +past or future, nor of certain social considerations. I have only one +thing to say to you. M. de Restaud has a mother, a mother who would +waste millions of francs; a woman of no birth, a Mlle. Goriot; people +talked a good deal about her at one time. She behaved so badly to her +own father, that she certainly does not deserve to have so good a son. +The young Count adores her, and maintains her in her position with +dutifulness worthy of all praise, and he is extremely good to his +brother and sister.--But however admirable _his_ behavior may be,” the +Vicomtesse added with a shrewd expression, “so long as his mother lives, +any family would take alarm at the idea of intrusting a daughter’s +fortune and future to young Restaud.” + +“I overheard a word now and again in your talk with Mlle. de Grandlieu,” + cried the friend of the family, “and it made me anxious to put in a word +of my own.--I have won, M. le Comte,” he added, turning to his opponent. +“I shall throw you over and go to your niece’s assistance.” + +“See what it is to have an attorney’s ears!” exclaimed the Vicomtesse. +“My dear Derville, how could you know what I was saying to Camille in a +whisper?” + +“I knew it from your looks,” answered Derville, seating himself in a low +chair by the fire. + +Camille’s uncle went to her side, and Mme. de Grandlieu took up her +position on a hearth stool between her daughter and Derville. + +“The time has come for telling a story, which should modify your +judgment as to Ernest de Restaud’s prospects.” + +“A story?” cried Camille. “Do begin at once, monsieur.” + +The glance that Derville gave the Vicomtesse told her that this tale was +meant for her. The Vicomtesse de Grandlieu, be it said, was one of the +greatest ladies in the Faubourg Saint-Germain, by reason of her fortune +and her ancient name; and though it may seem improbable that a Paris +attorney should speak so familiarly to her, or be so much at home in her +house, the fact is nevertheless easily explained. + +When Mme. de Grandlieu returned to France with the Royal family, she +came to Paris, and at first lived entirely on the pension allowed her +out of the Civil List by Louis XVIII.--an intolerable position. The +Hotel de Grandlieu had been sold by the Republic. It came to Derville’s +knowledge that there were flaws in the title, and he thought that it +ought to return to the Vicomtesse. He instituted proceedings for nullity +of contract, and gained the day. Encouraged by this success, he used +legal quibbles to such purpose that he compelled some institution or +other to disgorge the Forest of Liceney. Then he won certain lawsuits +against the Canal d’Orleans, and recovered a tolerably large amount +of property, with which the Emperor had endowed various public +institutions. So it fell out that, thanks to the young attorney’s +skilful management, Mme. de Grandlieu’s income reached the sum of some +sixty thousand francs, to say nothing of the vast sums returned to her +by the law of indemnity. And Derville, a man of high character, well +informed, modest, and pleasant in company, became the house-friend of +the family. + +By his conduct of Mme. de Grandlieu’s affairs he had fairly earned the +esteem of the Faubourg Saint-Germain, and numbered the best families +among his clients; but he did not take advantage of his popularity, as +an ambitious man might have done. The Vicomtesse would have had him sell +his practice and enter the magistracy, in which career advancement would +have been swift and certain with such influence at his disposal; but he +persistently refused all offers. He only went into society to keep up +his connections, but he occasionally spent an evening at the Hotel de +Grandlieu. It was a very lucky thing for him that his talents had been +brought into the light by his devotion to Mme. de Grandlieu, for his +practice otherwise might have gone to pieces. Derville had not an +attorney’s soul. Since Ernest de Restaud had appeared at the Hotel de +Grandlieu, and he had noticed that Camille felt attracted to the young +man, Derville had been as assiduous in his visits as any dandy of the +Chausee-d’Antin newly admitted to the noble Faubourg. At a ball only +a few days before, when he happened to stand near Camille, and said, +indicating the Count: + +“It is a pity that yonder youngster has not two or three million francs, +is it not?” + +“Is it a pity? I do not think so,” the girl answered. “M. de Restaud +has plenty of ability; he is well educated, and the Minister, his +chief, thinks well of him. He will be a remarkable man, I have no doubt. +‘Yonder youngster’ will have as much money as he wishes when he comes +into power.” + +“Yes, but suppose that he were rich already?” + +“Rich already?” repeated Camille, flushing red. “Why all the girls +in the room would be quarreling for him,” she said, glancing at the +quadrilles. + +“And then,” retorted the attorney, “Mlle. de Grandlieu might not be the +one towards whom his eyes are always turned? That is what that red color +means! You like him, do you not? Come, speak out.” + +Camille suddenly rose to go. + +“She loves him,” Derville thought. + +Since that evening, Camille had been unwontedly attentive to the +attorney, who approved of her liking for Ernest de Restaud. Hitherto, +although she knew well that her family lay under great obligations to +Derville, she had felt respect rather than real friendship for him, +their relation was more a matter of politeness than of warmth of +feeling; and by her manner, and by the tones of her voice, she had +always made him sensible of the distance which socially lay between +them. Gratitude is a charge upon the inheritance which the second +generation is apt to repudiate. + + + +“This adventure,” Derville began after a pause, “brings the one romantic +event in my life to my mind. You are laughing already,” he went on; +“it seems so ridiculous, doesn’t it, that an attorney should speak of +a romance in his life? But once I was five-and-twenty, like everybody +else, and even then I had seen some queer things. I ought to begin at +the beginning by telling you about some one whom it is impossible that +you should have known. The man in question was a usurer. + +“Can you grasp a clear notion of that sallow, wan face of his? I wish +the _Academie_ would give me leave to dub such faces the _lunar_ +type. It was like silver-gilt, with the gilt rubbed off. His hair was +iron-gray, sleek, and carefully combed; his features might have been +cast in bronze; Talleyrand himself was not more impassive than this +money-lender. A pair of little eyes, yellow as a ferret’s, and with +scarce an eyelash to them, peered out from under the sheltering peak of +a shabby old cap, as if they feared the light. He had the thin lips that +you see in Rembrandt’s or Metsu’s portraits of alchemists and shrunken +old men, and a nose so sharp at the tip that it put you in mind of a +gimlet. His voice was so low; he always spoke suavely; he never flew +into a passion. His age was a problem; it was hard to say whether he had +grown old before his time, or whether by economy of youth he had saved +enough to last him his life. + +“His room, and everything in it, from the green baize of the bureau +to the strip of carpet by the bed, was as clean and threadbare as the +chilly sanctuary of some elderly spinster who spends her days in rubbing +her furniture. In winter time, the live brands of the fire smouldered +all day in a bank of ashes; there was never any flame in his grate. He +went through his day, from his uprising to his evening coughing-fit, +with the regularity of a pendulum, and in some sort was a clockwork man, +wound up by a night’s slumber. Touch a wood-louse on an excursion across +your sheet of paper, and the creature shams death; and in something the +same way my acquaintance would stop short in the middle of a sentence, +while a cart went by, to save the strain to his voice. Following the +example of Fontenelle, he was thrifty of pulse-strokes, and concentrated +all human sensibility in the innermost sanctuary of Self. + +“His life flowed soundless as the sands of an hour-glass. His victims +sometimes flew into a rage and made a great deal of noise, followed by a +great silence; so is it in a kitchen after a fowl’s neck has been wrung. + +“Toward evening this bill of exchange incarnate would assume ordinary +human shape, and his metals were metamorphosed into a human heart. When +he was satisfied with his day’s business, he would rub his hands; his +inward glee would escape like smoke through every rift and wrinkle of +his face;--in no other way is it possible to give an idea of the mute +play of muscle which expressed sensations similar to the soundless +laughter of _Leather Stocking_. Indeed, even in transports of joy, +his conversation was confined to monosyllables; he wore the same +non-committal countenance. + +“This was the neighbor Chance found for me in the house in the Rue +de Gres, where I used to live when as yet I was only a second clerk +finishing my third year’s studies. The house is damp and dark, and +boasts no courtyard. All the windows look on the street; the whole +dwelling, in claustral fashion, is divided into rooms or cells of equal +size, all opening upon a long corridor dimly lit with borrowed lights. +The place must have been part of an old convent once. So gloomy was it, +that the gaiety of eldest sons forsook them on the stairs before they +reached my neighbor’s door. He and his house were much alike; even so +does the oyster resemble his native rock. + +“I was the one creature with whom he had any communication, socially +speaking; he would come in to ask for a light, to borrow a book or a +newspaper, and of an evening he would allow me to go into his cell, +and when he was in the humor we would chat together. These marks of +confidence were the results of four years of neighborhood and my own +sober conduct. From sheer lack of pence, I was bound to live pretty much +as he did. Had he any relations or friends? Was he rich or poor? Nobody +could give an answer to these questions. I myself never saw money in his +room. Doubtless his capital was safely stowed in the strong rooms of the +Bank. He used to collect his bills himself as they fell due, running +all over Paris on a pair of shanks as skinny as a stag’s. On occasion he +would be a martyr to prudence. One day, when he happened to have gold in +his pockets, a double napoleon worked its way, somehow or other, out of +his fob and fell, and another lodger following him up the stairs picked +up the coin and returned it to its owner. + +“‘That isn’t mine!’ said he, with a start of surprise. ‘Mine indeed! If +I were rich, should I live as I do!’ + +“He made his cup of coffee himself every morning on the cast-iron +chafing dish which stood all day in the black angle of the grate; his +dinner came in from a cookshop; and our old porter’s wife went up at the +prescribed hour to set his room in order. Finally, a whimsical chance, +in which Sterne would have seen predestination, had named the man +Gobseck. When I did business for him later, I came to know that he was +about seventy-six years old at the time when we became acquainted. He +was born about 1740, in some outlying suburb of Antwerp, of a Dutch +father and a Jewish mother, and his name was Jean-Esther Van Gobseck. +You remember how all Paris took an interest in that murder case, a +woman named _La belle Hollandaise_? I happened to mention it to my old +neighbor, and he answered without the slightest symptom of interest or +surprise, ‘She is my grandniece.’ + +“That was the only remark drawn from him by the death of his sole +surviving next of kin, his sister’s granddaughter. From reports of the +case I found that _La belle Hollandaise_ was in fact named Sara Van +Gobseck. When I asked by what curious chance his grandniece came to bear +his surname, he smiled: + +“‘The women never marry in our family.’ + +“Singular creature, he had never cared to find out a single relative +among four generations counted on the female side. The thought of his +heirs was abhorrent to him; and the idea that his wealth could pass into +other hands after his death simply inconceivable. + +“He was a child, ten years old, when his mother shipped him off as a +cabin boy on a voyage to the Dutch Straits Settlements, and there he +knocked about for twenty years. The inscrutable lines on that sallow +forehead kept the secret of horrible adventures, sudden panic, +unhoped-for luck, romantic cross events, joys that knew no limit, +hunger endured and love trampled under foot, fortunes risked, lost, and +recovered, life endangered time and time again, and saved, it may be, by +one of the rapid, ruthless decisions absolved by necessity. He had known +Admiral Simeuse, M. de Lally, M. de Kergarouet, M. d’Estaing, _le Bailli +de Suffren_, M. de Portenduere, Lord Cornwallis, Lord Hastings, Tippoo +Sahib’s father, Tippoo Sahib himself. The bully who served Mahadaji +Sindhia, King of Delhi, and did so much to found the power of the +Mahrattas, had had dealings with Gobseck. Long residence at St. Thomas +brought him in contact with Victor Hughes and other notorious pirates. +In his quest of fortune he had left no stone unturned; witness an +attempt to discover the treasure of that tribe of savages so famous in +Buenos Ayres and its neighborhood. He had a personal knowledge of the +events of the American War of Independence. But if he spoke of the +Indies or of America, as he did very rarely with me, and never with +anyone else, he seemed to regard it as an indiscretion and to repent of +it afterwards. If humanity and sociability are in some sort a religion, +Gobseck might be ranked as an infidel; but though I set myself to study +him, I must confess, to my shame, that his real nature was impenetrable +up to the very last. I even felt doubts at times as to his sex. If all +usurers are like this one, I maintain that they belong to the neuter +gender. + +“Did he adhere to his mother’s religion? Did he look on Gentiles as +his legitimate prey? Had he turned Roman Catholic, Lutheran, Mahometan, +Brahmin, or what not? I never knew anything whatsoever about his +religious opinions, and so far as I could see, he was indifferent rather +than incredulous. + +“One evening I went in to see this man who had turned himself to gold; +the usurer, whom his victims (his clients, as he styled them) were +wont to call Daddy Gobseck, perhaps ironically, perhaps by way of +antiphrasis. He was sitting in his armchair, motionless as a statue, +staring fixedly at the mantel-shelf, where he seemed to read the figures +of his statements. A lamp, with a pedestal that had once been green, was +burning in the room; but so far from taking color from its smoky light, +his face seemed to stand out positively paler against the background. He +pointed to a chair set for me, but not a word did he say. + +“‘What thoughts can this being have in his mind?’ said I to myself. +‘Does he know that a God exists; does he know there are such things +as feeling, woman, happiness?’ I pitied him as I might have pitied a +diseased creature. But, at the same time, I knew quite well that while +he had millions of francs at his command, he possessed the world no +less in idea--that world which he had explored, ransacked, weighed, +appraised, and exploited. + +“‘Good day, Daddy Gobseck,’ I began. + +“He turned his face towards me with a slight contraction of his bushy, +black eyebrows; this characteristic shade of expression in him meant as +much as the most jubilant smile on a Southern face. + +“‘You look just as gloomy as you did that day when the news came of the +failure of that bookseller whose sharpness you admired so much, though +you were one of his victims.’ + +“‘One of his victims?’ he repeated, with a look of astonishment. + +“‘Yes. Did you not refuse to accept composition at the meeting of +creditors until he undertook privately to pay you your debt in full; and +did he not give you bills accepted by the insolvent firm; and then, when +he set up in business again, did he not pay you the dividend upon those +bills of yours, signed as they were by the bankrupt firm?’ + +“‘He was a sharp one, but I had it out of him.’ + +“‘Then have you some bills to protest? To-day is the 30th, I believe.’ + +“It was the first time I had spoken to him of money. He looked +ironically up at me; then in those bland accents, not unlike the husky +tones which the tyro draws from a flute, he answered, ‘I am amusing +myself.’ + +“‘So you amuse yourself now and again?’ + +“‘Do you imagine that the only poets in the world are those who print +their verses?’ he asked, with a pitying look and shrug of the shoulders. + +“‘Poetry in that head!’ thought I, for as yet I knew nothing of his +life. + +“‘What life could be as glorious as mine?’ he continued, and his eyes +lighted up. ‘You are young, your mental visions are colored by youthful +blood, you see women’s faces in the fire, while I see nothing but coals +in mine. You have all sorts of beliefs, while I have no beliefs at +all. Keep your illusions--if you can. Now I will show you life with +the discount taken off. Go wherever you like, or stay at home by the +fireside with your wife, there always comes a time when you settle down +in a certain groove, the groove is your preference; and then happiness +consists in the exercise of your faculties by applying them to +realities. Anything more in the way of precept is false. My principles +have been various, among various men; I had to change them with every +change of latitude. Things that we admire in Europe are punishable in +Asia, and a vice in Paris becomes a necessity when you have passed the +Azores. There are no such things as hard-and-fast rules; there are only +conventions adapted to the climate. Fling a man headlong into one social +melting pot after another, and convictions and forms and moral systems +become so many meaningless words to him. The one thing that always +remains, the one sure instinct that nature has implanted in us, is the +instinct of self-interest. If you had lived as long as I have, you would +know that there is but one concrete reality invariable enough to be +worth caring about, and that is--GOLD. Gold represents every form of +human power. I have traveled. I found out that there were either hills +or plains everywhere: the plains are monotonous, the hills a weariness; +consequently, place may be left out of the question. As to manners; man +is man all the world over. The same battle between the poor and the rich +is going on everywhere; it is inevitable everywhere; consequently, it is +better to exploit than to be exploited. Everywhere you find the man of +thews and sinews who toils, and the lymphatic man who torments himself; +and pleasures are everywhere the same, for when all sensations are +exhausted, all that survives is Vanity--Vanity is the abiding substance +of us, the _I_ in us. Vanity is only to be satisfied by gold in floods. +Our dreams need time and physical means and painstaking thought before +they can be realized. Well, gold contains all things in embryo; gold +realizes all things for us. + +“‘None but fools and invalids can find pleasure in shuffling cards all +evening long to find out whether they shall win a few pence at the end. +None but driveling idiots could spend time in inquiring into all that +is happening around them, whether Madame Such-an-One slept single on +her couch or in company, whether she has more blood than lymph, more +temperament than virtue. None but the dupes, who fondly imagine that +they are useful to their like, can interest themselves in laying down +rules for political guidance amid events which neither they nor any one +else foresees, nor ever will foresee. None but simpletons can delight +in talking about stage players and repeating their sayings; making the +daily promenade of a caged animal over a rather larger area; dressing +for others, eating for others, priding themselves on a horse or a +carriage such as no neighbor can have until three days later. What is +all this but Parisian life summed up in a few phrases? Let us find a +higher outlook on life than theirs. Happiness consists either in strong +emotions which drain our vitality, or in methodical occupation which +makes existence like a bit of English machinery, working with the +regularity of clockwork. A higher happiness than either consists in a +curiosity, styled noble, a wish to learn Nature’s secrets, or to attempt +by artificial means to imitate Nature to some extent. What is this in +two words but Science and Art, or passion or calm?--Ah! well, every +human passion wrought up to its highest pitch in the struggle for +existence comes to parade itself before me--as I live in calm. As for +your scientific curiosity, a kind of wrestling bout in which man is +never uppermost, I replace it by an insight into all the springs of +action in man and woman. To sum up, the world is mine without effort of +mine, and the world has not the slightest hold on me. Listen to this,’ +he went on, ‘I will tell you the history of my morning, and you will +divine my pleasures.’ + +“He got up, pushed the bolt of the door, drew a tapestry curtain across +it with a sharp grating sound of the rings on the rod, then he sat down +again. + +“‘This morning,’ he said, ‘I had only two amounts to collect; the rest +of the bills that were due I gave away instead of cash to my customers +yesterday. So much saved, you see, for when I discount a bill I always +deduct two francs for a hired brougham--expenses of collection. A pretty +thing it would be, would it not, if my clients were to set _me_ trudging +all over Paris for half-a-dozen francs of discount, when no man is my +master, and I only pay seven francs in the shape of taxes? + +“‘The first bill for a thousand francs was presented by a young fellow, +a smart buck with a spangled waistcoat, and an eyeglass, and a tilbury +and an English horse, and all the rest of it. The bill bore the +signature of one of the prettiest women in Paris, married to a Count, a +great landowner. Now, how came that Countess to put her name to a +bill of exchange, legally not worth the paper it was written upon, but +practically very good business; for these women, poor things, are afraid +of the scandal that a protested bill makes in a family, and would give +themselves away in payment sooner than fail? I wanted to find out what +that bill of exchange really represented. Was it stupidity, imprudence, +love or charity? + +“‘The second bill, bearing the signature “Fanny Malvaut,” came to me +from a linen-draper on the highway to bankruptcy. Now, no creature who +has any credit with a bank comes to _me_. The first step to my door +means that a man is desperately hard up; that the news of his failure +will soon come out: and, most of all, it means that he has been +everywhere else first. The stag is always at bay when I see him, and a +pack of creditors are hard upon his track. The Countess lived in the Rue +du Helder, and my Fanny in the Rue Montmartre. How many conjectures I +made as I set out this morning! If these two women were not able to pay, +they would show me more respect than they would show their own fathers. +What tricks and grimaces would not the Countess try for a thousand +francs! She would be so nice to me, she would talk to me in that +ingratiating tone peculiar to endorsers of bills, she would pour out +a torrent of coaxing words, perhaps she would beg and pray, and I...’ +(here the old man turned his pale eyes upon me)--‘and I not to be moved, +inexorable!’ he continued. ‘I am there as the avenger, the apparition of +Remorse. So much for hypotheses. I reached the house. + +“‘“Madame la Comtesse is asleep,” says the maid. + +“‘“When can I see her?” + +“‘“At twelve o’clock.” + +“‘“Is Madame la Comtesse ill?” + +“‘“No, sir, but she only came home at three o’clock this morning from a +ball.” + +“‘“My name is Gobseck, tell her that I shall call again at twelve +o’clock,” and I went out, leaving traces of my muddy boots on the carpet +which covered the paved staircase. I like to leave mud on a rich man’s +carpet; it is not petty spite; I like to make them feel a touch of the +claws of Necessity. In the Rue Montmartre I thrust open the old gateway +of a poor-looking house, and looked into a dark courtyard where the +sunlight never shines. The porter’s lodge was grimy, the window looked +like the sleeve of some shabby wadded gown--greasy, dirty, and full of +holes. + +“‘“Mlle. Fanny Malvaut?” + +“‘“She has gone out; but if you have come about a bill, the money is +waiting for you.” + +“‘“I will look in again,” said I. + +“‘As soon as I knew that the porter had the money for me, I wanted to +know what the girl was like; I pictured her as pretty. The rest of the +morning I spent in looking at the prints in the shop windows along the +boulevard; then, just as it struck twelve, I went through the Countess’ +ante-chamber. + +“‘“Madame has just this minute rung for me,” said the maid; “I don’t +think she can see you yet.” + +“‘“I will wait,” said I, and sat down in an easy-chair. + +“‘Venetian shutters were opened, and presently the maid came hurrying +back. + +“‘“Come in, sir.” + +“‘From the sweet tone of the girl’s voice, I knew that the mistress +could not be ready to pay. What a handsome woman it was that I saw in +another moment! She had flung an Indian shawl hastily over her bare +shoulders, covering herself with it completely, while it revealed the +bare outlines of the form beneath. She wore a loose gown trimmed with +snowy ruffles, which told plainly that her laundress’ bills amounted +to something like two thousand francs in the course of a year. Her +dark curls escaped from beneath a bright Indian handkerchief, knotted +carelessly about her head after the fashion of Creole women. The bed lay +in disorder that told of broken slumber. A painter would have paid money +to stay a while to see the scene that I saw. Under the luxurious hanging +draperies, the pillow, crushed into the depths of an eider-down quilt, +its lace border standing out in contrast against the background of blue +silk, bore a vague impress that kindled the imagination. A pair of +satin slippers gleamed from the great bear-skin rug spread by the carved +mahogany lions at the bed-foot, where she had flung them off in her +weariness after the ball. A crumpled gown hung over a chair, the sleeves +touching the floor; stockings which a breath would have blown away were +twisted about the leg of an easy-chair; while ribbon garters straggled +over a settee. A fan of price, half unfolded, glittered on the +chimney-piece. Drawers stood open; flowers, diamonds, gloves, a bouquet, +a girdle, were littered about. The room was full of vague sweet perfume. +And--beneath all the luxury and disorder, beauty and incongruity, I saw +Misery crouching in wait for her or for her adorer, Misery rearing its +head, for the Countess had begun to feel the edge of those fangs. +Her tired face was an epitome of the room strewn with relics of past +festival. The scattered gewgaws, pitiable this morning, when gathered +together and coherent, had turned heads the night before. + +“‘What efforts to drink of the Tantalus cup of bliss I could read +in these traces of love stricken by the thunderbolt remorse--in this +visible presentment of a life of luxury, extravagance, and riot. There +were faint red marks on her young face, signs of the fineness of the +skin; but her features were coarsened, as it were, and the circles about +her eyes were unwontedly dark. Nature nevertheless was so vigorous in +her, that these traces of past folly did not spoil her beauty. Her eyes +glittered. She looked like some _Herodias_ of da Vinci’s (I have dealt +in pictures), so magnificently full of life and energy was she; there +was nothing starved nor stinted in feature or outline; she awakened +desire; it seemed to me that there was some passion in her yet stronger +than love. I was taken with her. It was a long while since my heart +had throbbed; so I was paid then and there--for I would give a thousand +francs for a sensation that should bring me back memories of youth. + +“‘“Monsieur,” she said, finding a chair for me, “will you be so good as +to wait?” + +“‘“Until this time to-morrow, madame,” I said, folding up the bill +again. “I cannot legally protest this bill any sooner.” And within +myself I said--“Pay the price of your luxury, pay for your name, pay for +your ease, pay for the monopoly which you enjoy! The rich have invented +judges and courts of law to secure their goods, and the guillotine--that +candle in which so many lie in silk, under silken coverlets, there is +remorse, and grinding of teeth beneath a smile, and those fantastical +lions’ jaws are gaping to set their fangs in your heart.” + +“‘“Protest the bill! Can you mean it?” she cried, with her eyes upon me; +“could you have so little consideration for me?” + +“‘“If the King himself owed money to me, madame, and did not pay it, I +should summons him even sooner than any other debtor.” + +“‘While we were speaking, somebody tapped gently at the door. + +“‘“I cannot see any one,” she cried imperiously. + +“‘“But, Anastasie, I particularly wish to speak to you.” + +“‘“Not just now, dear,” she answered in a milder tone, but with no sign +of relenting. + +“‘“What nonsense! You are talking to some one,” said the voice, and in +came a man who could only be the Count. + +“‘The Countess gave me a glance. I saw how it was. She was thoroughly +in my power. There was a time, when I was young, and might perhaps have +been stupid enough not to protest the bill. At Pondicherry, in 1763, I +let a woman off, and nicely she paid me out afterwards. I deserved it; +what call was there for me to trust her? + +“‘“What does this gentleman want?” asked the Count. + +“‘I could see that the Countess was trembling from head to foot; the +white satin skin of her throat was rough, “turned to goose flesh,” to +use the familiar expression. As for me, I laughed in myself without +moving a muscle. + +“‘“This gentleman is one of my tradesmen,” she said. + +“‘The Count turned his back on me; I drew the bill half out of my +pocket. After that inexorable movement, she came over to me and put a +diamond into my hands. “Take it,” she said, “and be gone.” + +“‘We exchanged values, and I made my bow and went. The diamond was quite +worth twelve hundred francs to me. Out in the courtyard I saw a swarm of +flunkeys, brushing out their liveries, waxing their boots, and cleaning +sumptuous equipages. + +“‘“This is what brings these people to me!” said I to myself. “It is +to keep up this kind of thing that they steal millions with all due +formalities, and betray their country. The great lord, and the little +man who apes the great lord, bathes in mud once for all to save himself +a splash or two when he goes afoot through the streets.” + +“‘Just then the great gates were opened to admit a cabriolet. It was the +same young fellow who had brought the bill to me. + +“‘“Sir,” I said, as he alighted, “here are two hundred francs, which I +beg you to return to Mme. la Comtesse, and have the goodness to tell her +that I hold the pledge which she deposited with me this morning at her +disposition for a week.” + +“‘He took the two hundred francs, and an ironical smile stole over his +face; it was as if he had said, “Aha! so she has paid it, has she? ... +Faith, so much the better!” I read the Countess’ future in his face. +That good-looking, fair-haired young gentleman is a heartless gambler; +he will ruin himself, ruin her, ruin her husband, ruin the children, eat +up their portions, and work more havoc in Parisian salons than a whole +battery of howitzers in a regiment. + +“‘I went back to see Mlle. Fanny in the Rue Montmartre, climbed a very +steep, narrow staircase, and reached a two-roomed dwelling on the fifth +floor. Everything was as neat as a new ducat. I did not see a speck of +dust on the furniture in the first room, where Mlle. Fanny was sitting. +Mlle. Fanny herself was a young Parisian girl, quietly dressed, with a +delicate fresh face, and a winning look. The arrangement of her neatly +brushed chestnut hair in a double curve on her forehead lent a refined +expression to blue eyes, clear as crystal. The broad daylight streaming +in through the short curtains against the window pane fell with softened +light on her girlish face. A pile of shaped pieces of linen told me that +she was a sempstress. She looked like a spirit of solitude. When I held +out the bill, I remarked that she had not been at home when I called in +the morning. + +“‘“But the money was left with the porter’s wife,” said she. + +“‘I pretended not to understand. + +“‘“You go out early, mademoiselle, it seems.” + +“‘“I very seldom leave my room; but when you work all night, you are +obliged to take a bath sometimes.” + +“‘I looked at her. A glance told me all about her life. Here was a girl +condemned by misfortune to toil, a girl who came of honest farmer folk, +for she had still a freckle or two that told of country birth. There +was an indefinable atmosphere of goodness about her; I felt as if I were +breathing sincerity and frank innocence. It was refreshing to my lungs. +Poor innocent child, she had faith in something; there was a crucifix +and a sprig or two of green box above her poor little painted wooden +bedstead; I felt touched, or somewhat inclined that way. I felt ready +to offer to charge no more than twelve per cent, and so give something +towards establishing her in a good way of business. + +“‘“But maybe she has a little youngster of a cousin,” I said to myself, +“who would raise money on her signature and sponge on the poor girl.” + +“‘So I went away, keeping my generous impulses well under control; for +I have frequently had occasion to observe that when benevolence does no +harm to him who gives it, it is the ruin of him who takes. When you came +in I was thinking that Fanny Malvaut would make a nice little wife; I +was thinking of the contrast between her pure, lonely life and the life +of the Countess--she has sunk as low as a bill of exchange already, she +will sink to the lowest depths of degradation before she has done!’--I +scrutinized him during the deep silence that followed, but in a moment +he spoke again. ‘Well,’ he said, ‘do you think that it is nothing to +have this power of insight into the deepest recesses of the human heart, +to embrace so many lives, to see the naked truth underlying it all? +There are no two dramas alike: there are hideous sores, deadly chagrins, +love scenes, misery that soon will lie under the ripples of the Seine, +young men’s joys that lead to the scaffold, the laughter of despair, +and sumptuous banquets. Yesterday it was a tragedy. A worthy soul of +a father drowned himself because he could not support his family. +To-morrow is a comedy; some youngster will try to rehearse the scene +of M. Dimanche, brought up to date. You have heard the people extol the +eloquence of our latter day preachers; now and again I have wasted my +time by going to hear them; they produced a change in my opinions, but +in my conduct (as somebody said, I can’t recollect his name), in my +conduct--never!--Well, well; these good priests and your Mirabeaus and +Vergniauds and the rest of them, are mere stammering beginners compared +with these orators of mine. + +“‘Often it is some girl in love, some gray-headed merchant on the verge +of bankruptcy, some mother with a son’s wrong-doing to conceal, some +starving artist, some great man whose influence is on the wane, and, for +lack of money, is like to lose the fruit of all his labors--the power +of their pleading has made me shudder. Sublime actors such as these play +for me, for an audience of one, and they cannot deceive me. I can look +into their inmost thoughts, and read them as God reads them. Nothing is +hidden from me. Nothing is refused to the holder of the purse-strings to +loose and to bind. I am rich enough to buy the consciences of those +who control the action of ministers, from their office boys to their +mistresses. Is not that power?--I can possess the fairest women, receive +their softest caresses; is not that Pleasure? And is not your whole +social economy summed up in terms of Power and Pleasure? + +“‘There are ten of us in Paris, silent, unknown kings, the arbiters of +your destinies. What is life but a machine set in motion by money? Know +this for certain--methods are always confounded with results; you +will never succeed in separating the soul from the senses, spirit from +matter. Gold is the spiritual basis of existing society.--The ten of us +are bound by the ties of common interest; we meet on certain days of the +week at the Cafe Themis near the Pont Neuf, and there, in conclave, we +reveal the mysteries of finance. No fortune can deceive us; we are in +possession of family secrets in all directions. We keep a kind of Black +Book, in which we note the most important bills issued, drafts on public +credit, or on banks, or given and taken in the course of business. We +are the Casuists of the Paris Bourse, a kind of Inquisition weighing and +analyzing the most insignificant actions of every man of any fortune, +and our forecasts are infallible. One of us looks out over the judicial +world, one over the financial, another surveys the administrative, and +yet another the business world. I myself keep an eye on eldest +sons, artists, people in the great world, and gamblers--on the most +sensational side of Paris. Every one who comes to us lets us into his +neighbor’s secrets. Thwarted passion and mortified vanity are great +babblers. Vice and disappointment and vindictiveness are the best of +all detectives. My colleagues, like myself, have enjoyed all things, are +sated with all things, and have reached the point when power and money +are loved for their own sake. + +“‘Here,’ he said, indicating his bare, chilly room, ‘here the most +high-mettled gallant, who chafes at a word and draws swords for a +syllable elsewhere will entreat with clasped hands. There is no city +merchant so proud, no woman so vain of her beauty, no soldier of so bold +a spirit, but that they entreat me here, one and all, with tears of rage +or anguish in their eyes. Here they kneel--the famous artist, and the +man of letters, whose name will go down to posterity. Here, in short’ +(he lifted his hand to his forehead), ‘all the inheritances and all the +concerns of all Paris are weighed in the balance. Are you still of the +opinion that there are no delights behind the blank mask which so often +has amazed you by its impassiveness?’ he asked, stretching out that +livid face which reeked of money. + +“I went back to my room, feeling stupefied. The little, wizened old man +had grown great. He had been metamorphosed under my eyes into a strange +visionary symbol; he had come to be the power of gold personified. I +shrank, shuddering, from life and my kind. + +“‘Is it really so?’ I thought; ‘must everything be resolved into gold?’ + +“I remember that it was long before I slept that night. I saw heaps +of gold all about me. My thoughts were full of the lovely Countess; I +confess, to my shame, that the vision completely eclipsed another quiet, +innocent figure, the figure of the woman who had entered upon a life of +toil and obscurity; but on the morrow, through the clouds of slumber, +Fanny’s sweet face rose before me in all its beauty, and I thought of +nothing else.” + + + +“Will you take a glass of _eau sucree_?” asked the Vicomtesse, +interrupting Derville. + +“I should be glad of it.” + +“But I can see nothing in this that can touch our concerns,” said Mme. +de Grandlieu, as she rang the bell. + +“Sardanapalus!” cried Derville, flinging out his favorite invocation. +“Mademoiselle Camille will be wide awake in a moment if I say that her +happiness depended not so long ago upon Daddy Gobseck; but as the old +gentleman died at the age of ninety, M. de Restaud will soon be in +possession of a handsome fortune. This requires some explanation. As for +poor Fanny Malvaut, you know her; she is my wife.” + +“Poor fellow, he would admit that, with his usual frankness, with a +score of people to hear him!” said the Vicomtesse. + +“I would proclaim it to the universe,” said the attorney. + +“Go on, drink your glass, my poor Derville. You will never be anything +but the happiest and the best of men.” + +“I left you in the Rue du Helder,” remarked the uncle, raising his face +after a gentle doze. “You had gone to see a Countess; what have you done +with her?” + + + +“A few days after my conversation with the old Dutchman,” Derville +continued, “I sent in my thesis, and became first a licentiate in +law, and afterwards an advocate. The old miser’s opinion of me went up +considerably. He consulted me (gratuitously) on all the ticklish bits +of business which he undertook when he had made quite sure how he stood, +business which would have seemed unsafe to any ordinary practitioner. +This man, over whom no one appeared to have the slightest influence, +listened to my advice with something like respect. It is true that he +always found that it turned out very well. + +“At length I became head-clerk in the office where I had worked for +three years and then I left the Rue des Gres for rooms in my employer’s +house. I had my board and lodging and a hundred and fifty francs per +month. It was a great day for me! + +“When I went to bid the usurer good-bye, he showed no sign of feeling, +he was neither cordial nor sorry to lose me, he did not ask me to come +to see him, and only gave me one of those glances which seemed in some +sort to reveal a power of second-sight. + +“By the end of a week my old neighbor came to see me with a tolerably +thorny bit of business, an expropriation, and he continued to ask for my +advice with as much freedom as if he paid for it. + +“My principal was a man of pleasure and expensive tastes; before the +second year (1818-1819) was out he had got himself into difficulties, +and was obliged to sell his practice. A professional connection in those +days did not fetch the present exorbitant prices, and my principal asked +a hundred and fifty thousand francs. Now an active man, of competent +knowledge and intelligence, might hope to pay off the capital in ten +years, paying interest and living respectably in the meantime--if +he could command confidence. But I as the seventh child of a small +tradesman at Noyon, I had not a sou to my name, nor personal knowledge +of any capitalist but Daddy Gobseck. An ambitious idea, and an +indefinable glimmer of hope, put heart into me. To Gobseck I betook +myself, and slowly one evening I made my way to the Rue des Gres. My +heart thumped heavily as I knocked at his door in the gloomy house. I +recollected all the things that he used to tell me, at a time when I +myself was very far from suspecting the violence of the anguish awaiting +those who crossed his threshold. Now it was I who was about to beg and +pray like so many others. + +“‘Well, no, not _that_,’ I said to myself; ‘an honest man must keep his +self-respect wherever he goes. Success is not worth cringing for; let us +show him a front as decided as his own.’ + +“Daddy Gobseck had taken my room since I left the house, so as to have +no neighbor; he had made a little grated window too in his door since +then, and did not open until he had taken a look at me and saw who I +was. + +“‘Well,’ said he, in his thin, flute notes, ‘so your principal is +selling his practice?’ + +“‘How did you know that?’ said I; ‘he has not spoken of it as yet except +to me.’ + +“The old man’s lips were drawn in puckers, like a curtain, to either +corner of his mouth, as a soundless smile bore a hard glance company. + +“‘Nothing else would have brought you here,’ he said drily, after a +pause, which I spent in confusion. + +“‘Listen to me, M. Gobseck,’ I began, with such serenity as I could +assume before the old man, who gazed at me with steady eyes. There was a +clear light burning in them that disconcerted me. + +“He made a gesture as if to bid me ‘Go on.’ ‘I know that it is not +easy to work on your feelings, so I will not waste my eloquence on the +attempt to put my position before you--I am a penniless clerk, with no +one to look to but you, and no heart in the world but yours can form +a clear idea of my probable future. Let us leave hearts out of the +question. Business is business, and business is not carried on with +sentimentality like romances. Now to the facts. My principal’s practice +is worth in his hands about twenty thousand francs per annum; in my +hands, I think it would bring in forty thousand. He is willing to +sell it for a hundred and fifty thousand francs. And _here_,’ I +said, striking my forehead, ‘I feel that if you would lend me the +purchase-money, I could clear it off in ten years’ time.’ + +“‘Come, that is plain speaking,’ said Daddy Gobseck, and he held out his +hand and grasped mine. ‘Nobody since I have been in business has stated +the motives of his visit more clearly. Guarantees?’ asked he, scanning +me from head to foot. ‘None to give,’ he added after a pause, ‘How old +are you?’ + +“‘Twenty-five in ten days’ time,’ said I, ‘or I could not open the +matter.’ + +“‘Precisely.’ + +“‘Well?’ + +“‘It is possible.’ + +“‘My word, we must be quick about it, or I shall have some one buying +over my head.’ + +“‘Bring your certificate of birth round to-morrow morning, and we will +talk. I will think it over.’ + +“‘Next morning, at eight o’clock, I stood in the old man’s room. He took +the document, put on his spectacles, coughed, spat, wrapped himself +up in his black greatcoat, and read the whole certificate through from +beginning to end. Then he turned it over and over, looked at me, coughed +again, fidgeted about in his chair, and said, ‘We will try to arrange +this bit of business.’ + +“I trembled. + +“‘I make fifty per cent on my capital,’ he continued, ‘sometimes I make +a hundred, two hundred, five hundred per cent.’ + +“I turned pale at the words. + +“‘But as we are acquaintances, I shall be satisfied to take twelve and +a half per cent per--(he hesitated)--‘well, yes, from you I would be +content to take thirteen per cent per annum. Will that suit you?’ + +“‘Yes,’ I answered. + +“‘But if it is too much, stick up for yourself, Grotius!’ (a name he +jokingly gave me). ‘When I ask you for thirteen per cent, it is all in +the way of business; look into it, see if you can pay it; I don’t like a +man to agree too easily. Is it too much?’ + +“‘No,’ said I, ‘I will make up for it by working a little harder.’ + +“‘Gad! your clients will pay for it!’ said he, looking at me wickedly +out of the corner of his eyes. + +“‘No, by all the devils in hell!’ cried I, ‘it shall be I who will pay. +I would sooner cut my hand off than flay people.’ + +“‘Good-night,’ said Daddy Gobseck. + +“‘Why, fees are all according to scale,’ I added. + +“‘Not for compromises and settlements out of Court, and cases where +litigants come to terms,’ said he. ‘You can send in a bill for thousands +of francs, six thousand even at a swoop (it depends on the importance of +the case), for conferences with So-and-so, and expenses, and drafts, and +memorials, and your jargon. A man must learn to look out for business of +this kind. I will recommend you as a most competent, clever attorney. I +will send you such a lot of work of this sort that your colleagues will +be fit to burst with envy. Werbrust, Palma, and Gigonnet, my cronies, +shall hand over their expropriations to you; they have plenty of them, +the Lord knows! So you will have two practices--the one you are buying, +and the other I will build up for you. You ought almost to pay me +fifteen per cent on my loan.’ + +“‘So be it, but no more,’ said I, with the firmness which means that a +man is determined not to concede another point. + +“Daddy Gobseck’s face relaxed; he looked pleased with me. + +“‘I shall pay the money over to your principal myself,’ said he, ‘so as +to establish a lien on the purchase and caution-money.’ + +“‘Oh, anything you like in the way of guarantees.’ + +“‘And besides that, you will give me bills for the amount made payable +to a third party (name left blank), fifteen bills of ten thousand francs +each.’ + +“‘Well, so long as it is acknowledged in writing that this is a +double----’ + +“‘No!’ Gobseck broke in upon me. ‘No! Why should I trust you any more +than you trust me?’ + +“I kept silence. + +“‘And furthermore,’ he continued, with a sort of good humor, ‘you will +give me your advice without charging fees as long as I live, will you +not?’ + +“‘So be it; so long as there is no outlay.’ + +“‘Precisely,’ said he. “Ah, by the by, you will allow me to go to see +you?’ (Plainly the old man found it not so easy to assume the air of +good-humor.) + +“‘I shall always be glad.’ + +“‘Ah! yes, but it would be very difficult to arrange of a morning. You +will have your affairs to attend to, and I have mine.’ + +“‘Then come in the evening.’ + +“‘Oh, no!’ he answered briskly, ‘you ought to go into society and see +your clients, and I myself have my friends at my cafe.’ + +“‘His friends!’ thought I to myself.--‘Very well,’ said I, ‘why not come +at dinner-time?’ + +“‘That is the time,’ said Gobseck, ‘after ‘Change, at five o’clock. +Good, you will see me Wednesdays and Saturdays. We will talk over +business like a pair of friends. Aha! I am gay sometimes. Just give me +the wing of a partridge and a glass of champagne, and we will have our +chat together. I know a great many things that can be told now at +this distance of time; I will teach you to know men, and what is +more--women!’ + +“‘Oh! a partridge and a glass of champagne if you like.’ + +“‘Don’t do anything foolish, or I shall lose my faith in you. And don’t +set up housekeeping in a grand way. Just one old general servant. I will +come and see that you keep your health. I have capital invested in your +head, he! he! so I am bound to look after you. There, come round in the +evening and bring your principal with you!’ + +“‘Would you mind telling me, if there is no harm in asking, what was the +good of my birth certificate in this business?’ I asked, when the little +old man and I stood on the doorstep. + +“Jean-Esther Van Gobseck shrugged his shoulders, smiled maliciously, and +said, ‘What blockheads youngsters are! Learn, master attorney (for learn +you must if you don’t mean to be taken in), that integrity and brains +in a man under thirty are commodities which can be mortgaged. After that +age there is no counting on a man.’ + +“And with that he shut the door. + + +“Three months later I was an attorney. Before very long, madame, it was +my good fortune to undertake the suit for the recovery of your estates. +I won the day, and my name became known. In spite of the exorbitant rate +of interest, I paid off Gobseck in less than five years. I married Fanny +Malvaut, whom I loved with all my heart. There was a parallel between +her life and mine, between our hard work and our luck, which increased +the strength of feeling on either side. One of her uncles, a well-to-do +farmer, died and left her seventy thousand francs, which helped to clear +off the loan. From that day my life has been nothing but happiness and +prosperity. Nothing is more utterly uninteresting than a happy man, +so let us say no more on that head, and return to the rest of the +characters. + +“About a year after the purchase of the practice, I was dragged into a +bachelor breakfast-party given by one of our number who had lost a +bet to a young man greatly in vogue in the fashionable world. M. de +Trailles, the flower of the dandyism of that day, enjoyed a prodigious +reputation.” + +“But he is still enjoying it,” put in the Comte de Born. “No one wears +his clothes with a finer air, nor drives a tandem with a better grace. +It is Maxime’s gift; he can gamble, eat, and drink more gracefully than +any man in the world. He is a judge of horses, hats, and pictures. All +the women lose their heads over him. He always spends something like a +hundred thousand francs a year, and no creature can discover that he has +an acre of land or a single dividend warrant. The typical knight errant +of our salons, our boudoirs, our boulevards, an amphibian half-way +between a man and a woman--Maxime de Trailles is a singular being, fit +for anything, and good for nothing, quite as capable of perpetrating a +benefit as of planning a crime; sometimes base, sometimes noble, more +often bespattered with mire than besprinkled with blood, knowing more of +anxiety than of remorse, more concerned with his digestion than with any +mental process, shamming passion, feeling nothing. Maxime de Trailles is +a brilliant link between the hulks and the best society; he belongs to +the eminently intelligent class from which a Mirabeau, or a Pitt, or a +Richelieu springs at times, though it is more wont to produce Counts of +Horn, Fouquier-Tinvilles, and Coignards.” + +“Well,” pursued Derville, when he had heard the Vicomtesse’s brother to +the end, “I had heard a good deal about this individual from poor old +Goriot, a client of mine; and I had already been at some pains to avoid +the dangerous honor of his acquaintance, for I came across him sometimes +in society. Still, my chum was so pressing about this breakfast-party of +his that I could not well get out of it, unless I wished to earn a name +for squeamishness. Madame, you could hardly imagine what a bachelor’s +breakfast-party is like. It means superb display and a studied +refinement seldom seen; the luxury of a miser when vanity leads him to +be sumptuous for a day. + +“You are surprised as you enter the room at the neatness of the table, +dazzling by reason of its silver and crystal and linen damask. Life is +here in full bloom; the young fellows are graceful to behold; they smile +and talk in low, demure voices like so many brides; everything about +them looks girlish. Two hours later you might take the room for a +battlefield after the fight. Broken glasses, serviettes crumpled and +torn to rags lie strewn about among the nauseous-looking remnants of +food on the dishes. There is an uproar that stuns you, jesting toasts, a +fire of witticisms and bad jokes; faces are empurpled, eyes inflamed +and expressionless, unintentional confidences tell you the whole truth. +Bottles are smashed, and songs trolled out in the height of a diabolical +racket; men call each other out, hang on each other’s necks, or fall +to fisticuffs; the room is full of a horrid, close scent made up of a +hundred odors, and noise enough for a hundred voices. No one has any +notion of what he is eating or drinking or saying. Some are depressed, +others babble, one will turn monomaniac, repeating the same word over +and over again like a bell set jangling; another tries to keep the +tumult within bounds; the steadiest will propose an orgy. If any one in +possession of his faculties should come in, he would think that he had +interrupted a Bacchanalian rite. + +“It was in the thick of such a chaos that M. de Trailles tried to +insinuate himself into my good graces. My head was fairly clear, I was +upon my guard. As for him, though he pretended to be decently drunk, +he was perfectly cool, and knew very well what he was about. How it was +done I do not know, but the upshot of it was that when we left Grignon’s +rooms about nine o’clock in the evening, M. de Trailles had thoroughly +bewitched me. I had given him my promise that I would introduce him the +next day to our Papa Gobseck. The words ‘honor,’ ‘virtue,’ ‘countess,’ +‘honest woman,’ and ‘ill-luck’ were mingled in his discourse with +magical potency, thanks to that golden tongue of his. + +“When I awoke next morning, and tried to recollect what I had done the +day before, it was with great difficulty that I could make a connected +tale from my impressions. At last, it seemed to me that the daughter of +one of my clients was in danger of losing her reputation, together +with her husband’s love and esteem, if she could not get fifty thousand +francs together in the course of the morning. There had been gaming +debts, and carriage-builders’ accounts, money lost to Heaven knows whom. +My magician of a boon companion had impressed it upon me that she was +rich enough to make good these reverses by a few years of economy. But +only now did I begin to guess the reasons of his urgency. I confess, to +my shame, that I had not the shadow of a doubt but that it was a matter +of importance that Daddy Gobseck should make it up with this dandy. I +was dressing when the young gentleman appeared. + +“‘M. le Comte,’ said I, after the usual greetings, ‘I fail to see why +you should need me to effect an introduction to Van Gobseck, the most +civil and smooth-spoken of capitalists. Money will be forthcoming if he +has any, or rather, if you can give him adequate security.’ + +“‘Monsieur,’ said he, ‘it does not enter into my thoughts to force you +to do me a service, even though you have passed your word.’ + +“‘Sardanapalus!’ said I to myself, ‘am I going to let that fellow +imagine that I will not keep my word with him?’ + +“‘I had the honor of telling you yesterday,’ said he, ‘that I had fallen +out with Daddy Gobseck most inopportunely; and as there is scarcely +another man in Paris who can come down on the nail with a hundred +thousand francs, at the end of the month, I begged of you to make my +peace with him. But let us say no more about it----’ + +“M. de Trailles looked at me with civil insult in his expression, and +made as if he would take his leave. + +“‘I am ready to go with you,’ said I. + +“When we reached the Rue de Gres, my dandy looked about him with a +circumspection and uneasiness that set me wondering. His face grew +livid, flushed, and yellow, turn and turn about, and by the time that +Gobseck’s door came in sight the perspiration stood in drops on his +forehead. We were just getting out of the cabriolet, when a hackney cab +turned into the street. My companion’s hawk eye detected a woman in the +depths of the vehicle. His face lighted up with a gleam of almost savage +joy; he called to a little boy who was passing, and gave him his horse +to hold. Then we went up to the old bill discounter. + +“‘M. Gobseck,’ said I, ‘I have brought one of my most intimate friends +to see you (whom I trust as I would trust the Devil,’ I added for the +old man’s private ear). ‘To oblige me you will do your best for him (at +the ordinary rate), and pull him out of his difficulty (if it suits your +convenience).’ + +“M. de Trailles made his bow to Gobseck, took a seat, and listened to us +with a courtier-like attitude; its charming humility would have touched +your heart to see, but my Gobseck sits in his chair by the fireside +without moving a muscle, or changing a feature. He looked very like the +statue of Voltaire under the peristyle of the Theatre-Francais, as you +see it of an evening; he had partly risen as if to bow, and the skull +cap that covered the top of his head, and the narrow strip of sallow +forehead exhibited, completed his likeness to the man of marble. + +“‘I have no money to spare except for my own clients,’ said he. + +“‘So you are cross because I may have tried in other quarters to ruin +myself?’ laughed the Count. + +“‘Ruin yourself!’ repeated Gobseck ironically. + +“‘Were you about to remark that it is impossible to ruin a man who has +nothing?’ inquired the dandy. ‘Why, I defy you to find a better _stock_ +in Paris!’ he cried, swinging round on his heels. + +“This half-earnest buffoonery produced not the slightest effect upon +Gobseck. + +“‘Am I not on intimate terms with the Ronquerolles, the Marsays, the +Franchessinis, the two Vandenesses, the Ajuda-Pintos,--all the most +fashionable young men in Paris, in short? A prince and an ambassador +(you know them both) are my partners at play. I draw my revenues from +London and Carlsbad and Baden and Bath. Is not this the most brilliant +of all industries!’ + +“‘True.’ + +“‘You make a sponge of me, begad! you do. You encourage me to go and +swell myself out in society, so that you can squeeze me when I am hard +up; but you yourselves are sponges, just as I am, and death will give +you a squeeze some day.’ + +“‘That is possible.’ + +“‘If there were no spendthrifts, what would become of you? The pair of +us are like soul and body.’ + +“‘Precisely so.’ + +“‘Come, now, give us your hand, Grandaddy Gobseck, and be magnanimous if +this is “true” and “possible” and “precisely so.”’ + +“‘You come to me,’ the usurer answered coldly, ‘because Girard, Palma, +Werbrust, and Gigonnet are full up of your paper; they are offering it +at a loss of fifty per cent; and as it is likely they only gave you half +the figure on the face of the bills, they are not worth five-and-twenty +per cent of their supposed value. I am your most obedient! Can I in +common decency lend a stiver to a man who owes thirty thousand francs, +and has not one farthing?’ Gobseck continued. ‘The day before yesterday +you lost ten thousand francs at a ball at the Baron de Nucingen’s.’ + +“‘Sir,’ said the Count, with rare impudence, ‘my affairs are no concern +of yours,’ and he looked the old man up and down. ‘A man has no debts +till payment is due.’ + +“‘True.’ + +“‘My bills will be duly met.’ + +“‘That is possible.’ + +“‘And at this moment the question between you and me is simply whether +the security I am going to offer is sufficient for the sum I have come +to borrow.’ + +“‘Precisely.’ + +“A cab stopped at the door, and the sound of wheels filled the room. + +“‘I will bring something directly which perhaps will satisfy you,’ cried +the young man, and he left the room. + +“‘Oh! my son,’ exclaimed Gobseck, rising to his feet, and stretching +out his arms to me, ‘if he has good security, you have saved my life. It +would be the death of me. Werbrust and Gigonnet imagined that they were +going to play off a trick on me; and now, thanks to you, I shall have a +good laugh at their expense to-night.’ + +“There was something frightful about the old man’s ecstasy. It was the +one occasion when he opened his heart to me; and that flash of joy, +swift though it was, will never be effaced from my memory. + +“‘Favor me so far as to stay here,’ he added. ‘I am armed, and a sure +shot. I have gone tiger-hunting, and fought on the deck when there +was nothing for it but to win or die; but I don’t care to trust yonder +elegant scoundrel.’ + +“He sat down again in his armchair before his bureau, and his face grew +pale and impassive as before. + +“‘Ah!’ he continued, turning to me, ‘you will see that lovely creature +I once told you about; I can hear a fine lady’s step in the corridor; it +is she, no doubt;’ and, as a matter of fact, the young man came in with +a woman on his arm. I recognized the Countess, whose levee Gobseck had +described for me, one of old Goriot’s two daughters. + +“The Countess did not see me at first; I stayed where I was in the +window bay, with my face against the pane; but I saw her give Maxime a +suspicious glance as she came into the money-lender’s damp, dark room. +So beautiful she was, that in spite of her faults I felt sorry for her. +There was a terrible storm of anguish in her heart; her haughty, proud +features were drawn and distorted with pain which she strove in vain +to disguise. The young man had come to be her evil genius. I admired +Gobseck, whose perspicacity had foreseen their future four years ago at +the first bill which she endorsed. + +“‘Probably,’ said I to myself, ‘this monster with the angel face +controls every possible spring of action in her: rules her through +vanity, jealousy, pleasure, and the current of life in the world.’” + +The Vicomtesse de Grandlieu broke in on the story. + +“Why, the woman’s very virtues have been turned against her,” she +exclaimed. “He has made her shed tears of devotion, and then abused her +kindness and made her pay very dearly for unhallowed bliss.” + +Derville did not understand the signs which Mme. de Grandlieu made to +him. + +“I confess,” he said, “that I had no inclination to shed tears over the +lot of this unhappy creature, so brilliant in society, so repulsive to +eyes that could read her heart; I shuddered rather at the sight of her +murderer, a young angel with such a clear brow, such red lips and white +teeth, such a winning smile. There they stood before their judge, he +scrutinizing them much as some fifteenth-century Dominican inquisitor +might have peered into the dungeons of the Holy Office while the torture +was administered to two Moors. + +“The Countess spoke tremulously. ‘Sir,’ she said, ‘is there any way +of obtaining the value of these diamonds, and of keeping the right of +repurchase?’ She held out a jewel-case. + +“‘Yes, madame,’ I put in, and came forwards. + +“She looked at me, and a shudder ran through her as she recognized me, +and gave me the glance which means, ‘Say nothing of this,’ all the world +over. + +“‘This,’ said I, ‘constitutes a sale with faculty of redemption, as it +is called, a formal agreement to transfer and deliver over a piece of +property, either real estate or personalty, for a given time, on the +expiry of which the previous owner recovers his title to the property in +question, upon payment of a stipulated sum.’ + +“She breathed more freely. The Count looked black; he had grave doubts +whether Gobseck would lend very much on the diamonds after such a fall +in their value. Gobseck, impassive as ever, had taken up his magnifying +glass, and was quietly scrutinizing the jewels. If I were to live for +a hundred years, I should never forget the sight of his face at that +moment. There was a flush in his pale cheeks; his eyes seemed to have +caught the sparkle of the stones, for there was an unnatural glitter in +them. He rose and went to the light, holding the diamonds close to his +toothless mouth, as if he meant to devour them; mumbling vague words +over them, holding up bracelets, sprays, necklaces, and tiaras one after +another, to judge their water, whiteness, and cutting; taking them out +of the jewel-case and putting them in again, letting the play of the +light bring out all their fires. He was more like a child than an old +man; or, rather, childhood and dotage seemed to meet in him. + +“‘Fine stones! The set would have fetched three hundred thousand +francs before the Revolution. What water! Genuine Asiatic diamonds from +Golconda or Visapur. Do you know what they are worth? No, no; no one in +Paris but Gobseck can appreciate them. In the time of the Empire such a +set would have cost another two hundred thousand francs!’ + +“He gave a disgusted shrug, and added: + +“‘But now diamonds are going down in value every day. The Brazilians +have swamped the market with them since the Peace; but the Indian stones +are a better color. Others wear them now besides court ladies. Does +madame go to court?’ + +“While he flung out these terrible words, he examined one stone after +another with delight which no words can describe. + +“‘Flawless!’ he said. ‘Here is a speck!... here is a flaw!... A fine +stone that!’ + +“His haggard face was so lighted up by the sparkling jewels, that it put +me in mind of a dingy old mirror, such as you see in country inns. The +glass receives every luminous image without reflecting the light, and +a traveler bold enough to look for his face in it beholds a man in an +apoplectic fit. + +“‘Well?’ asked the Count, clapping Gobseck on the shoulder. + +“The old boy trembled. He put down his playthings on his bureau, took +his seat, and was a money-lender once more--hard, cold, and polished as +a marble column. + +“‘How much do you want?’ + +“‘One hundred thousand francs for three years,’ said the Count. + +“‘That is possible,’ said Gobseck, and then from a mahogany box +(Gobseck’s jewel-case) he drew out a faultlessly adjusted pair of +scales! + +“He weighed the diamonds, calculating the value of stones and setting +at sight (Heaven knows how!), delight and severity struggling in the +expression of his face the meanwhile. The Countess had plunged in a kind +of stupor; to me, watching her, it seemed that she was fathoming the +depths of the abyss into which she had fallen. There was remorse still +left in that woman’s soul. Perhaps a hand held out in human charity +might save her. I would try. + +“‘Are the diamonds your personal property, madame?’ I asked in a clear +voice. + +“‘Yes, monsieur,’ she said, looking at me with proud eyes. + +“‘Make out the deed of purchase with power of redemption, chatterbox,’ +said Gobseck to me, resigning his chair at the bureau in my favor. + +“‘Madame is without doubt a married woman?’ I tried again. + +“She nodded abruptly. + +“‘Then I will not draw up the deed,’ said I. + +“‘And why not?’ asked Gobseck. + +“‘Why not?’ echoed I, as I drew the old man into the bay window so as +to speak aside with him. ‘Why not? This woman is under her husband’s +control; the agreement would be void in law; you could not possibly +assert your ignorance of a fact recorded on the very face of the +document itself. You would be compelled at once to produce the diamonds +deposited with you, according to the weight, value, and cutting therein +described.’ + +“Gobseck cut me short with a nod, and turned towards the guilty couple. + +“‘He is right!’ he said. ‘That puts the whole thing in a different +light. Eighty thousand francs down, and you leave the diamonds with +me,’ he added, in the husky, flute-like voice. ‘In the way of property, +possession is as good as a title.’ + +“‘But----’ objected the young man. + +“‘You can take it or leave it,’ continued Gobseck, returning the +jewel-case to the lady as he spoke. + +“‘I have too many risks to run.’ + +“‘It would be better to throw yourself at your husband’s feet,’ I bent +to whisper in her ear. + +“The usurer doubtless knew what I was saying from the movement of +my lips. He gave me a cool glance. The Count’s face grew livid. The +Countess was visibly wavering. Maxime stepped up to her, and, low as he +spoke, I could catch the words: + +“‘Adieu, dear Anastasie, may you be happy! As for me, by to-morrow my +troubles will be over.’ + +“‘Sir!’ cried the lady, turning to Gobseck. ‘I accept your offer.’ + +“‘Come, now,’ returned Gobseck. ‘You have been a long time in coming to +it, my fair lady.’ + +“He wrote out a cheque for fifty thousand francs on the Bank of France, +and handed it to the Countess. + +“‘Now,’ continued he with a smile, such a smile as you will see in +portraits of M. Voltaire, ‘now I will give you the rest of the amount in +bills, thirty thousand francs’ worth of paper as good as bullion. This +gentleman here has just said, “My bills will be met when they are due,”’ +added he, producing certain drafts bearing the Count’s signature, all +protested the day before at the request of some of the confraternity, +who had probably made them over to him (Gobseck) at a considerably +reduced figure. + +“The young man growled out something, in which the words ‘Old +scoundrel!’ were audible. Daddy Gobseck did not move an eyebrow. He drew +a pair of pistols out of a pigeon-hole, remarking coolly: + +“‘As the insulted man, I fire first.’ + +“‘Maxime, you owe this gentleman an explanation,’ cried the trembling +Countess in a low voice. + +“‘I had no intention of giving offence,’ stammered Maxime. + +“‘I am quite sure of that,’ Gobseck answered calmly; ‘you had no +intention of meeting your bills, that was all.’ + +“The Countess rose, bowed, and vanished, with a great dread gnawing her, +I doubt not. M. de Trailles was bound to follow, but before he went he +managed to say: + +“‘If either of you gentlemen should forget himself, I will have his +blood, or he will have mine.’ + +“‘Amen!’ called Daddy Gobseck as he put his pistols back in their place; +‘but a man must have blood in his veins though before he can risk it, my +son, and you have nothing but mud in yours.’ + +“When the door was closed, and the two vehicles had gone, Gobseck rose +to his feet and began to prance about. + +“‘I have the diamonds! I have the diamonds!’ he cried again and again, +‘the beautiful diamonds! such diamonds! and tolerably cheaply. Aha! aha! +Werbrust and Gigonnet, you thought you had old Papa Gobseck! _Ego +sum papa_! I am master of the lot of you! Paid! paid, principal and +interest! How silly they will look to-night when I shall come out with +this story between two games of dominoes!’ + +“The dark glee, the savage ferocity aroused by the possession of a few +water-white pebbles, set me shuddering. I was dumb with amazement. + +“‘Aha! There you are, my boy!’ said he. ‘We will dine together. We will +have some fun at your place, for I haven’t a home of my own, and these +restaurants, with their broths, and sauces, and wines, would poison the +Devil himself.’ + +“Something in my face suddenly brought back the usual cold, impassive +expression to his. + +“‘You don’t understand it,’ he said, and sitting down by the hearth, +he put a tin saucepan full of milk on the brazier.--‘Will you breakfast +with me?’ continued he. ‘Perhaps there will be enough here for two.’ + +“‘Thanks,’ said I, ‘I do not breakfast till noon.’ + +“I had scarcely spoken before hurried footsteps sounded from the +passage. The stranger stopped at Gobseck’s door and rapped; there was +that in the knock which suggested a man transported with rage. Gobseck +reconnoitred him through the grating; then he opened the door, and in +came a man of thirty-five or so, judged harmless apparently in spite of +his anger. The newcomer, who was quite plainly dressed, bore a strong +resemblance to the late Duc de Richelieu. You must often have met him, +he was the Countess’ husband, a man with the aristocratic figure (permit +the expression to pass) peculiar to statesmen of your faubourg. + +“‘Sir,’ said this person, addressing himself to Gobseck, who had quite +recovered his tranquillity, ‘did my wife go out of this house just now?’ + +“‘That is possible.’ + +“‘Well, sir? do you not take my meaning?’ + +“‘I have not the honor of the acquaintance of my lady your wife,’ +returned Gobseck. ‘I have had a good many visitors this morning, women +and men, and mannish young ladies, and young gentlemen who look like +young ladies. I should find it very hard to say----’ + +“‘A truce to jesting, sir! I mean the woman who has this moment gone out +from you.’ + +“‘How can I know whether she is your wife or not? I never had the +pleasure of seeing you before.’ + +“‘You are mistaken, M. Gobseck,’ said the Count, with profound irony in +his voice. ‘We have met before, one morning in my wife’s bedroom. You +had come to demand payment for a bill--no bill of hers.’ + +“‘It was no business of mine to inquire what value she had received for +it,’ said Gobseck, with a malignant look at the Count. ‘I had come by +the bill in the way of business. At the same time, monsieur,’ continued +Gobseck, quietly pouring coffee into his bowl of milk, without a trace +of excitement or hurry in his voice, ‘you will permit me to observe that +your right to enter my house and expostulate with me is far from proven +to my mind. I came of age in the sixty-first year of the preceding +century.’ + +“‘Sir,’ said the Count, ‘you have just bought family diamonds, which do +not belong to my wife, for a mere trifle.’ + +“‘Without feeling it incumbent upon me to tell you my private affairs, I +will tell you this much M. le Comte--if Mme. la Comtesse has taken your +diamonds, you should have sent a circular around to all the jewelers, +giving them notice not to buy them; she might have sold them +separately.’ + +“‘You know my wife, sir!’ roared the Count. + +“‘True.’ + +“‘She is in her husband’s power.’ + +“‘That is possible.’ + +“‘She had no right to dispose of those diamonds----’ + +“‘Precisely.’ + +“‘Very well, sir?’ + +“‘Very well, sir. I knew your wife, and she is in her husband’s power; +I am quite willing, she is in the power of a good many people; +but--I--do--_not_--know--your diamonds. If Mme. la Comtesse can put her +name to a bill, she can go into business, of course, and buy and sell +diamonds on her own account. The thing is plain on the face of it!’ + +“‘Good-day, sir!’ cried the Count, now white with rage. ‘There are +courts of justice.’ + +“‘Quite so.’ + +“‘This gentleman here,’ he added, indicating me, ‘was a witness of the +sale.’ + +“‘That is possible.’ + +“The Count turned to go. Feeling the gravity of the affair, I suddenly +put in between the two belligerents. + +“‘M. le Comte,’ said I, ‘you are right, and M. Gobseck is by no means in +the wrong. You could not prosecute the purchaser without bringing your +wife into court, and the whole of the odium would not fall on her. I am +an attorney, and I owe it to myself, and still more to my professional +position, to declare that the diamonds of which you speak were purchased +by M. Gobseck in my presence; but, in my opinion, it would be unwise +to dispute the legality of the sale, especially as the goods are not +readily recognizable. In equity our contention would lie, in law it +would collapse. M. Gobseck is too honest a man to deny that the sale was +a profitable transaction, more especially as my conscience, no less than +my duty, compels me to make the admission. But once bring the case into +a court of law, M. le Comte, the issue would be doubtful. My advice to +you is to come to terms with M. Gobseck, who can plead that he bought +the diamonds in all good faith; you would be bound in any case to return +the purchase money. Consent to an arrangement, with power to redeem +at the end of seven or eight months, or a year even, or any convenient +lapse of time, for the repayment of the sum borrowed by Mme. la +Comtesse, unless you would prefer to repurchase them outright and give +security for repayment.’ + +“Gobseck dipped his bread into the bowl of coffee, and ate with perfect +indifference; but at the words ‘come to terms,’ he looked at me as +who should say, ‘A fine fellow that! he has learned something from +my lessons!’ And I, for my part, riposted with a glance, which he +understood uncommonly well. The business was dubious and shady; there +was pressing need of coming to terms. Gobseck could not deny all +knowledge of it, for I should appear as a witness. The Count thanked me +with a smile of good-will. + +“In the debate which followed, Gobseck showed greed enough and skill +enough to baffle a whole congress of diplomatists; but in the end I +drew up an instrument, in which the Count acknowledged the receipt of +eighty-five thousand francs, interest included, in consideration of +which Gobseck undertook to return the diamonds to the Count. + +“‘What waste!’ exclaimed he as he put his signature to the agreement. +‘How is it possible to bridge such a gulf?’ + +“‘Have you many children, sir?’ Gobseck asked gravely. + +“The Count winced at the question; it was as if the old money-lender, +like an experienced physician, had put his finger at once on the sore +spot. The Comtesse’s husband did not reply. + +“‘Well,’ said Gobseck, taking the pained silence for answer, ‘I know +your story by heart. The woman is a fiend, but perhaps you love her +still; I can well believe it; she made an impression on me. Perhaps, +too, you would rather save your fortune, and keep it for one or two of +your children? Well, fling yourself into the whirlpool of society, lose +that fortune at play, come to Gobseck pretty often. The world will say +that I am a Jew, a Tartar, a usurer, a pirate, will say that I have +ruined you! I snap my fingers at them! If anybody insults me, I lay my +man out; nobody is a surer shot nor handles a rapier better than your +servant. And every one knows it. Then, have a friend--if you can find +one--and make over your property to him by a fictitious sale. You call +that a _fidei commissum_, don’t you?’ he asked, turning to me. + +“The Count seemed to be entirely absorbed in his own thoughts. + +“‘You shall have your money to-morrow,’ he said, ‘have the diamonds in +readiness,’ and he went. + +“‘There goes one who looks to me to be as stupid as an honest man,’ +Gobseck said coolly when the Count had gone. + +“‘Say rather stupid as a man of passionate nature.’ + +“‘The Count owes you your fee for drawing up the agreement!’ Gobseck +called after me as I took my leave.” + + +“One morning, a few days after the scene which initiated me into the +terrible depths beneath the surface of the life of a woman of fashion, +the Count came into my private office. + +“‘I have come to consult you on a matter of grave moment,’ he said, ‘and +I begin by telling you that I have perfect confidence in you, as I +hope to prove to you. Your behavior to Mme. de Grandlieu is above all +praise,’ the Count went on. (You see, madame, that you have paid me a +thousand times over for a very simple matter.) + +“I bowed respectfully, and replied that I had done nothing but the duty +of an honest man. + +“‘Well,’ the Count went on, ‘I have made a great many inquiries about +the singular personage to whom you owe your position. And from all that +I can learn, Gobseck is a philosopher of the Cynic school. What do you +think of his probity?’ + +“‘M. le Comte,’ said I, ‘Gobseck is my benefactor--at fifteen per cent,’ +I added, laughing. ‘But his avarice does not authorize me to paint him +to the life for a stranger’s benefit.’ + +“‘Speak out, sir. Your frankness cannot injure Gobseck or yourself. I do +not expect to find an angel in a pawnbroker.’ + +“‘Daddy Gobseck,’ I began, ‘is intimately convinced of the truth of the +principle which he takes for a rule of life. In his opinion, money is a +commodity which you may sell cheap or dear, according to circumstances, +with a clear conscience. A capitalist, by charging a high rate of +interest, becomes in his eyes a secured partner by anticipation. Apart +from the peculiar philosophical views of human nature and financial +principles, which enable him to behave like a usurer, I am fully +persuaded that, out of his business, he is the most loyal and upright +soul in Paris. There are two men in him; he is petty and great--a miser +and a philosopher. If I were to die and leave a family behind me, he +would be the guardian whom I should appoint. This was how I came to see +Gobseck in this light, monsieur. I know nothing of his past life. He +may have been a pirate, may, for anything I know, have been all over the +world, trafficking in diamonds, or men, or women, or State secrets; but +this I affirm of him--never has human soul been more thoroughly +tempered and tried. When I paid off my loan, I asked him, with a little +circumlocution of course, how it was that he had made me pay such an +exorbitant rate of interest; and why, seeing that I was a friend, and +he meant to do me a kindness, he should not have yielded to the wish and +made it complete.--“My son,” he said, “I released you from all need to +feel any gratitude by giving you ground for the belief that you owed +me nothing.”--So we are the best friends in the world. That answer, +monsieur, gives you the man better than any amount of description.’ + +“‘I have made up my mind once and for all,’ said the Count. ‘Draw up the +necessary papers; I am going to transfer my property to Gobseck. I have +no one but you to trust to in the draft of the counter-deed, which will +declare that this transfer is a simulated sale, and that Gobseck as +trustee will administer my estate (as he knows how to administer), and +undertakes to make over my fortune to my eldest son when he comes of +age. Now, sir, this I must tell you: I should be afraid to have that +precious document in my own keeping. My boy is so fond of his mother, +that I cannot trust him with it. So dare I beg of you to keep it for me? +In case of death, Gobseck would make you legatee of my property. Every +contingency is provided for.’ + +“The Count paused for a moment. He seemed greatly agitated. + +“‘A thousand pardons,’ he said at length; ‘I am in great pain, and have +very grave misgivings as to my health. Recent troubles have disturbed me +very painfully, and forced me to take this great step.’ + +“‘Allow me first to thank you, monsieur,’ said I, ‘for the trust you +place me in. But I am bound to deserve it by pointing out to you that +you are disinheriting your--other children. They bear your name. Merely +as the children of a once-loved wife, now fallen from her position, they +have a claim to an assured existence. I tell you plainly that I cannot +accept the trust with which you propose to honor me unless their future +is secured.’ + +“The Count trembled violently at the words, and tears came into his eyes +as he grasped my hand, saying, ‘I did not know my man thoroughly. +You have made me both glad and sorry. We will make provision for the +children in the counter-deed.’ + +“I went with him to the door; it seemed to me that there was a glow of +satisfaction in his face at the thought of this act of justice. + +“Now, Camille, this is how a young wife takes the first step to the +brink of a precipice. A quadrille, a ballad, a picnic party is +sometimes cause sufficient of frightful evils. You are hurried on by +the presumptuous voice of vanity and pride, on the faith of a smile, +or through giddiness and folly! Shame and misery and remorse are three +Furies awaiting every woman the moment she oversteps the limits----” + +“Poor Camille can hardly keep awake,” the Vicomtesse hastily broke +in.--“Go to bed, child; you have no need of appalling pictures to keep +you pure in heart and conduct.” + +Camille de Grandlieu took the hint and went. + +“You were going rather too far, dear M. Derville,” said the Vicomtesse, +“an attorney is not a mother of daughters nor yet a preacher.” + +“But any newspaper is a thousand times----” + +“Poor Derville!” exclaimed the Vicomtesse, “what has come over you? +Do you really imagine that I allow a daughter of mine to read the +newspapers?--Go on,” she added after a pause. + +“Three months after everything was signed and sealed between the Count +and Gobseck----” + +“You can call him the Comte de Restaud, now that Camille is not here,” + said the Vicomtesse. + +“So be it! Well, time went by, and I saw nothing of the counter-deed, +which by rights should have been in my hands. An attorney in Paris lives +in such a whirl of business that with certain exceptions which we make +for ourselves, we have not the time to give each individual client the +amount of interest which he himself takes in his affairs. Still, one day +when Gobseck came to dine with me, I asked him as we left the table if +he knew how it was that I had heard no more of M. de Restaud. + +“‘There are excellent reasons for that,’ he said; ‘the noble Count is at +death’s door. He is one of the soft stamp that cannot learn how to put +an end to chagrin, and allow it to wear them out instead. Life is a +craft, a profession; every man must take the trouble to learn +that business. When he has learned what life is by dint of painful +experiences, the fibre of him is toughened, and acquires a certain +elasticity, so that he has his sensibilities under his own control; he +disciplines himself till his nerves are like steel springs, which +always bend, but never break; given a sound digestion, and a man in +such training ought to live as long as the cedars of Lebanon, and famous +trees they are.’ + +“‘Then is the Count actually dying?’ I asked. + +“‘That is possible,’ said Gobseck; ‘the winding up of his estate will be +a juicy bit of business for you.’ + +“I looked at my man, and said, by way of sounding him: + +“‘Just explain to me how it is that we, the Count and I, are the only +men in whom you take an interest?’ + +“‘Because you are the only two who have trusted me without finessing,’ +he said. + +“Although this answer warranted my belief that Gobseck would act fairly +even if the counter-deed were lost, I resolved to go to see the Count. I +pleaded a business engagement, and we separated. + +“I went straight to the Rue du Helder, and was shown into a room where +the Countess sat playing with her children. When she heard my name, she +sprang up and came to meet me, then she sat down and pointed without a +word to a chair by the fire. Her face wore the inscrutable mask beneath +which women of the world conceal their most vehement emotions. Trouble +had withered that face already. Nothing of its beauty now remained, save +the marvelous outlines in which its principal charm had lain. + +“‘It is essential, madame, that I should speak to M. le Comte----” + +“‘If so, you would be more favored than I am,’ she said, interrupting +me. ‘M. de Restaud will see no one. He will hardly allow his doctor to +come, and will not be nursed even by me. When people are ill, they have +such strange fancies! They are like children, they do not know what they +want.’ + +“‘Perhaps, like children, they know very well what they want.’ + +“The Countess reddened. I almost repented a thrust worthy of Gobseck. +So, by way of changing the conversation, I added, ‘But M. de Restaud +cannot possibly lie there alone all day, madame.’ + +“‘His oldest boy is with him,’ she said. + +“It was useless to gaze at the Countess; she did not blush this time, +and it looked to me as if she were resolved more firmly than ever that I +should not penetrate into her secrets. + +“‘You must understand, madame, that my proceeding is no way indiscreet. +It is strongly to his interest--’ I bit my lips, feeling that I had gone +the wrong way to work. The Countess immediately took advantage of my +slip. + +“‘My interests are in no way separate from my husband’s, sir,’ said she. +‘There is nothing to prevent your addressing yourself to me----’ + +“‘The business which brings me here concerns no one but M. le Comte,’ I +said firmly. + +“‘I will let him know of your wish to see him.’ + +“The civil tone and expression assumed for the occasion did not impose +upon me; I divined that she would never allow me to see her husband. I +chatted on about indifferent matters for a little while, so as to study +her; but, like all women who have once begun to plot for themselves, she +could dissimulate with the rare perfection which, in your sex, means the +last degree of perfidy. If I may dare to say it, I looked for anything +from her, even a crime. She produced this feeling in me, because it was +so evident from her manner and in all that she did or said, down to +the very inflections of her voice, that she had an eye to the future. I +went. + +“Now, I will pass on to the final scenes of this adventure, throwing in +a few circumstances brought to light by time, and some details guessed +by Gobseck’s perspicacity or by my own. + +“When the Comte de Restaud apparently plunged into the vortex of +dissipation, something passed between the husband and wife, something +which remains an impenetrable secret, but the wife sank even lower in +the husband’s eyes. As soon as he became so ill that he was obliged to +take to his bed, he manifested his aversion for the Countess and the two +youngest children. He forbade them to enter his room, and any attempt +to disobey his wishes brought on such dangerous attacks that the doctor +implored the Countess to submit to her husband’s wish. + +“Mme. de Restaud had seen the family estates and property, nay, the very +mansion in which she lived, pass into the hands of Gobseck, who appeared +to play the fantastic ogre so far as their wealth was concerned. +She partially understood what her husband was doing, no doubt. M. de +Trailles was traveling in England (his creditors had been a little too +pressing of late), and no one else was in a position to enlighten the +lady, and explain that her husband was taking precautions against her +at Gobseck’s suggestion. It is said that she held out for a long while +before she gave the signature required by French law for the sale of +the property; nevertheless the Count gained his point. The Countess was +convinced that her husband was realizing his fortune, and that somewhere +or other there would be a little bunch of notes representing the amount; +they had been deposited with a notary, or perhaps at the bank, or in +some safe hiding-place. Following out her train of thought, it was +evident that M. de Restaud must of necessity have some kind of document +in his possession by which any remaining property could be recovered and +handed over to his son. + +“So she made up her mind to keep the strictest possible watch over the +sick-room. She ruled despotically in the house, and everything in it +was submitted to this feminine espionage. All day she sat in the salon +adjoining her husband’s room, so that she could hear every syllable that +he uttered, every least movement that he made. She had a bed put there +for her of a night, but she did not sleep very much. The doctor was +entirely in her interests. Such wifely devotion seemed praiseworthy +enough. With the natural subtlety of perfidy, she took care to disguise +M. de Restaud’s repugnance for her, and feigned distress so perfectly +that she gained a sort of celebrity. Strait-laced women were even found +to say that she had expiated her sins. Always before her eyes she +beheld a vision of the destitution to follow on the Count’s death if her +presence of mind should fail her; and in these ways the wife, repulsed +from the bed of pain on which her husband lay and groaned, had drawn +a charmed circle round about it. So near, yet kept at a distance; +all-powerful, but in disgrace, the apparently devoted wife was lying +in wait for death and opportunity; crouching like the ant-lion at the +bottom of his spiral pit, ever on the watch for the prey that cannot +escape, listening to the fall of every grain of sand. + +“The strictest censor could not but recognize that the Countess pushed +maternal sentiment to the last degree. Her father’s death had been a +lesson to her, people said. She worshiped her children. They were so +young that she could hide the disorders of her life from their eyes, +and could win their love; she had given them the best and most brilliant +education. I confess that I cannot help admiring her and feeling sorry +for her. Gobseck used to joke me about it. Just about that time she had +discovered Maxime’s baseness, and was expiating the sins of the past in +tears of blood. I was sure of it. Hateful as were the measures which +she took for regaining control of her husband’s money, were they not +the result of a mother’s love, and a desire to repair the wrongs she +had done her children? And again, it may be, like many a woman who has +experienced the storm of lawless love, she felt a longing to lead a +virtuous life again. Perhaps she only learned the worth of that life +when she came to reap the woeful harvest sown by her errors. + +“Every time that little Ernest came out of his father’s room, she put +him through a searching examination as to all that his father had done +or said. The boy willingly complied with his mother’s wishes, and told +her even more than she asked in her anxious affection, as he thought. + +“My visit was a ray of light for the Countess. She was determined to +see in me the instrument of the Count’s vengeance, and resolved that +I should not be allowed to go near the dying man. I augured ill of all +this, and earnestly wished for an interview, for I was not easy in my +mind about the fate of the counter-deed. If it should fall into the +Countess’ hands, she might turn it to her own account, and that would +be the beginning of a series of interminable lawsuits between her and +Gobseck. I knew the usurer well enough to feel convinced that he would +never give up the property to her; there was room for plenty of legal +quibbling over a series of transfers, and I alone knew all the ins and +outs of the matter. I was minded to prevent such a tissue of misfortune, +so I went to the Countess a second time. + +“I have noticed, madame,” said Derville, turning to the Vicomtesse, and +speaking in a confidential tone, “certain moral phenomena to which we +do not pay enough attention. I am naturally an observer of human nature, +and instinctively I bring a spirit of analysis to the business that I +transact in the interest of others, when human passions are called into +lively play. Now, I have often noticed, and always with new wonder, that +two antagonists almost always divine each other’s inmost thoughts and +ideas. Two enemies sometimes possess a power of clear insight into +mental processes, and read each other’s minds as two lovers read in +either soul. So when we came together, the Countess and I, I understood +at once the reason of her antipathy for me, disguised though it was by +the most gracious forms of politeness and civility. I had been forced to +be her confidant, and a woman cannot but hate the man before whom she +is compelled to blush. And she on her side knew that if I was the man in +whom her husband placed confidence, that husband had not as yet given up +his fortune. + +“I will spare you the conversation, but it abides in my memory as one of +the most dangerous encounters in my career. Nature had bestowed on her +all the qualities which, combined, are irresistibly fascinating; she +could be pliant and proud by turns, and confiding and coaxing in +her manner; she even went so far as to try to subjugate me. It was a +failure. As I took my leave of her, I caught a gleam of hate and rage +in her eyes that made me shudder. We parted enemies. She would fain have +crushed me out of existence; and for my own part, I felt pity for her, +and for some natures pity is the deadliest of insults. This feeling +pervaded the last representations I put before her; and when I left her, +I left, I think, dread in the depths of her soul, by declaring that, +turn which way she would, ruin lay inevitably before her. + +“‘If I were to see M. le Comte, your children’s property at any rate +would----’ + +“‘I should be at your mercy,’ she said, breaking in upon me, disgust in +her gesture. + +“Now that we had spoken frankly, I made up my mind to save the family +from impending destitution. I resolved to strain the law at need to gain +my ends, and this was what I did. I sued the Comte de Restaud for a sum +of money, ostensibly due to Gobseck, and gained judgment. The Countess, +of course, did not allow him to know of this, but I had gained on my +point, I had a right to affix seals to everything on the death of the +Count. I bribed one of the servants in the house--the man undertook to +let me know at any hour of the day or night if his master should be +at the point of death, so that I could intervene at once, scare +the Countess with a threat of affixing seals, and so secure the +counter-deed. + +“I learned later on that the woman was studying the Code, with her +husband’s dying moans in her ears. If we could picture the thoughts of +those who stand about a deathbed, what fearful sights should we not see? +Money is always the motive-spring of the schemes elaborated, of all the +plans that are made and the plots that are woven about it! Let us leave +these details, nauseating in the nature of them; but perhaps they may +have given you some insight into all that this husband and wife endured; +perhaps too they may unveil much that is passing in secret in other +houses. + +“For two months the Comte de Restaud lay on his bed, alone, and resigned +to his fate. Mortal disease was slowly sapping the strength of mind and +body. Unaccountable and grotesque sick fancies preyed upon him; he would +not suffer them to set his room in order, no one could nurse him, he +would not even allow them to make his bed. All his surroundings bore the +marks of this last degree of apathy, the furniture was out of place, the +daintiest trifles were covered with dust and cobwebs. In health he had +been a man of refined and expensive tastes, now he positively delighted +in the comfortless look of the room. A host of objects required in +illness--rows of medicine bottles, empty and full, most of them dirty, +crumpled linen, and broken plates, littered the writing-table, chairs, +and chimney-piece. An open warming-pan lay on the floor before the +grate; a bath, still full of mineral water had not been taken away. The +sense of coming dissolution pervaded all the details of an unsightly +chaos. Signs of death appeared in things inanimate before the Destroyer +came to the body on the bed. The Comte de Restaud could not bear the +daylight, the Venetian shutters were closed, darkness deepened the gloom +in the dismal chamber. The sick man himself had wasted greatly. All the +life in him seemed to have taken refuge in the still brilliant eyes. The +livid whiteness of his face was something horrible to see, enhanced as +it was by the long dank locks of hair that straggled along his cheeks, +for he would never suffer them to cut it. He looked like some religious +fanatic in the desert. Mental suffering was extinguishing all human +instincts in this man of scarce fifty years of age, whom all Paris had +known as so brilliant and so successful. + +“One morning at the beginning of December 1824, he looked up at Ernest, +who sat at the foot of his bed gazing at his father with wistful eyes. + +“‘Are you in pain?’ the little Vicomte asked. + +“‘No,’ said the Count, with a ghastly smile, ‘it all lies _here and +about my heart_!’ + +“He pointed to his forehead, and then laid his wasted fingers on his +hollow chest. Ernest began to cry at the sight. + +“‘How is it that M. Derville does not come to me?’ the Count asked his +servant (he thought that Maurice was really attached to him, but the man +was entirely in the Countess’ interest)--‘What! Maurice!’ and the dying +man suddenly sat upright in his bed, and seemed to recover all his +presence of mind, ‘I have sent for my attorney seven or eight times +during the last fortnight, and he does not come!’ he cried. ‘Do you +imagine that I am to be trifled with? Go for him, at once, this very +instant, and bring him back with you. If you do not carry out my orders, +I shall get up and go myself.’ + +“‘Madame,’ said the man as he came into the salon, ‘you heard M. le +Comte; what ought I to do?’ + +“‘Pretend to go to the attorney, and when you come back tell your +master that his man of business is forty leagues away from Paris on +an important lawsuit. Say that he is expected back at the end of the +week.--Sick people never know how ill they are,’ thought the Countess; +‘he will wait till the man comes home.’ + +“The doctor had said on the previous evening that the Count could +scarcely live through the day. When the servant came back two hours +later to give that hopeless answer, the dying man seemed to be greatly +agitated. + +“‘Oh God!’ he cried again and again, ‘I put my trust in none but Thee.’ + +“For a long while he lay and gazed at his son, and spoke in a feeble +voice at last. + +“‘Ernest, my boy, you are very young; but you have a good heart; you can +understand, no doubt, that a promise given to a dying man is sacred; +a promise to a father... Do you feel that you can be trusted with a +secret, and keep it so well and so closely that even your mother herself +shall not know that you have a secret to keep? There is no one else in +this house whom I can trust to-day. You will not betray my trust, will +you?’ + +“‘No, father.’ + +“‘Very well, then, Ernest, in a minute or two I will give you a sealed +packet that belongs to M. Derville; you must take such care of it that +no one can know that you have it; then you must slip out of the house +and put the letter into the post-box at the corner.’ + +“‘Yes, father.’ + +“‘Can I depend upon you?’ + +“‘Yes, father.’ + +“‘Come and kiss me. You have made death less bitter to me, dear boy. +In six or seven years’ time you will understand the importance of +this secret, and you will be well rewarded then for your quickness and +obedience, you will know then how much I love you. Leave me alone for a +minute, and let no one--no matter whom--come in meanwhile.’ + +“Ernest went out and saw his mother standing in the next room. + +“‘Ernest,’ said she, ‘come here.’ + +“She sat down, drew her son to her knees, and clasped him in her arms, +and held him tightly to her heart. + +“‘Ernest, your father said something to you just now.’ + +“‘Yes, mamma.’ + +“‘What did he say?’ + +“‘I cannot repeat it, mamma.’ + +“‘Oh, my dear child!’ cried the Countess, kissing him in rapture. ‘You +have kept your secret; how glad that makes me! Never tell a lie; never +fail to keep your word--those are two principles which should never be +forgotten.’ + +“‘Oh! mamma, how beautiful you are! _You_ have never told a lie, I am +quite sure.’ + +“‘Once or twice, Ernest dear, I have lied. Yes, and I have not kept my +word under circumstances which speak louder than all precepts. Listen, +my Ernest, you are big enough and intelligent enough to see that your +father drives me away, and will not allow me to nurse him, and this is +not natural, for you know how much I love him.’ + +“‘Yes, mamma.’ + +“The Countess began to cry. ‘Poor child!’ she said, ‘this misfortune +is the result of treacherous insinuations. Wicked people have tried to +separate me from your father to satisfy their greed. They mean to take +all our money from us and to keep it for themselves. If your father were +well, the division between us would soon be over; he would listen to +me; he is loving and kind; he would see his mistake. But now his mind is +affected, and his prejudices against me have become a fixed idea, a +sort of mania with him. It is one result of his illness. Your father’s +fondness for you is another proof that his mind is deranged. Until +he fell ill you never noticed that he loved you more than Pauline and +Georges. It is all caprice with him now. In his affection for you he +might take it into his head to tell you to do things for him. If you do +not want to ruin us all, my darling, and to see your mother begging her +bread like a pauper woman, you must tell her everything----’ + +“‘Ah!’ cried the Count. He had opened the door and stood there, a +sudden, half-naked apparition, almost as thin and fleshless as a +skeleton. + +“His smothered cry produced a terrible effect upon the Countess; she +sat motionless, as if a sudden stupor had seized her. Her husband was as +white and wasted as if he had risen out of his grave. + +“‘You have filled my life to the full with trouble, and now you are +trying to vex my deathbed, to warp my boy’s mind, and make a depraved +man of him!’ he cried, hoarsely. + +“The Countess flung herself at his feet. His face, working with the last +emotions of life, was almost hideous to see. + +“‘Mercy! mercy!’ she cried aloud, shedding a torrent of tears. + +“‘Have you shown me any pity?’ he asked. ‘I allowed you to squander your +own money, and now do you mean to squander my fortune, too, and ruin my +son?’ + +“‘Ah! well, yes, have no pity for me, be merciless to me!’ she cried. +‘But the children? Condemn your widow to live in a convent; I will obey +you; I will do anything, anything that you bid me, to expiate the wrong +I have done you, if that so the children may be happy! The children! Oh, +the children!’ + +“‘I have only one child,’ said the Count, stretching out a wasted arm, +in his despair, towards his son. + +“‘Pardon a penitent woman, a penitent woman!...’ wailed the Countess, +her arms about her husband’s damp feet. She could not speak for sobbing; +vague, incoherent sounds broke from her parched throat. + +“‘You dare to talk of penitence after all that you said to Ernest!’ +exclaimed the dying man, shaking off the Countess, who lay groveling +over his feet.--‘You turn me to ice!’ he added, and there was something +appalling in the indifference with which he uttered the words. ‘You +have been a bad daughter; you have been a bad wife; you will be a bad +mother.’ + +“The wretched woman fainted away. The dying man reached his bed and lay +down again, and a few hours later sank into unconsciousness. The priests +came and administered the sacraments. + +“At midnight he died; the scene that morning had exhausted his remaining +strength, and on the stroke of midnight I arrived with Daddy Gobseck. +The house was in confusion, and under cover of it we walked up into the +little salon adjoining the death-chamber. The three children were there +in tears, with two priests, who had come to watch with the dead. Ernest +came over to me, and said that his mother desired to be alone in the +Count’s room. + +“‘Do not go in,’ he said; and I admired the child for his tone and +gesture; ‘she is praying there.’ + +“Gobseck began to laugh that soundless laugh of his, but I felt too much +touched by the feeling in Ernest’s little face to join in the miser’s +sardonic amusement. When Ernest saw that we moved towards the door, +he planted himself in front of it, crying out, ‘Mamma, here are some +gentlemen in black who want to see you!’ + +“Gobseck lifted Ernest out of the way as if the child had been a +feather, and opened the door. + +“What a scene it was that met our eyes! The room was in frightful +disorder; clothes and papers and rags lay tossed about in a confusion +horrible to see in the presence of Death; and there, in the midst, stood +the Countess in disheveled despair, unable to utter a word, her eyes +glittering. The Count had scarcely breathed his last before his wife +came in and forced open the drawers and the desk; the carpet was strewn +with litter, some of the furniture and boxes were broken, the signs of +violence could be seen everywhere. But if her search had at first proved +fruitless, there was that in her excitement and attitude which led me to +believe that she had found the mysterious documents at last. I glanced +at the bed, and professional instinct told me all that had happened. The +mattress had been flung contemptuously down by the bedside, and across +it, face downwards, lay the body of the Count, like one of the paper +envelopes that strewed the carpet--he too was nothing now but an +envelope. There was something grotesquely horrible in the attitude of +the stiffening rigid limbs. + +“The dying man must have hidden the counter-deed under his pillow to +keep it safe so long as life should last; and his wife must have guessed +his thought; indeed, it might be read plainly in his last dying gesture, +in the convulsive clutch of his claw-like hands. The pillow had been +flung to the floor at the foot of the bed; I could see the print of +her heel upon it. At her feet lay a paper with the Count’s arms on the +seals; I snatched it up, and saw that it was addressed to me. I looked +steadily at the Countess with the pitiless clear-sightedness of an +examining magistrate confronting a guilty creature. The contents were +blazing in the grate; she had flung them on the fire at the sound of our +approach, imagining, from a first hasty glance at the provisions which +I had suggested for her children, that she was destroying a will which +disinherited them. A tormented conscience and involuntary horror of the +deed which she had done had taken away all power of reflection. She had +been caught in the act, and possibly the scaffold was rising before her +eyes, and she already felt the felon’s branding iron. + +“There she stood gasping for breath, waiting for us to speak, staring at +us with haggard eyes. + +“I went across to the grate and pulled out an unburned fragment. ‘Ah, +madame!’ I exclaimed, ‘you have ruined your children! Those papers were +their titles to their property.’ + +“Her mouth twitched, she looked as if she were threatened by a paralytic +seizure. + +“‘Eh! eh!’ cried Gobseck; the harsh, shrill tone grated upon our ears +like the sound of a brass candlestick scratching a marble surface. + +“There was a pause, then the old man turned to me and said quietly: + +“‘Do you intend Mme. la Comtesse to suppose that I am not the rightful +owner of the property sold to me by her late husband? This house belongs +to me now.’ + +“A sudden blow on the head from a bludgeon would have given me less pain +and astonishment. The Countess saw the look of hesitation in my face. + +“‘Monsieur,’ she cried, ‘Monsieur!’ She could find no other words. + +“‘You are a trustee, are you not?’ I asked. + +“‘That is possible.’ + +“‘Then do you mean to take advantage of this crime of hers?’ + +“‘Precisely.’ + +“I went at that, leaving the Countess sitting by her husband’s bedside, +shedding hot tears. Gobseck followed me. Outside in the street I +separated from him, but he came after me, flung me one of those +searching glances with which he probed men’s minds, and said in the +husky flute-tones, pitched in a shriller key: + +“‘Do you take it upon yourself to judge me?’” + + +“From that time forward we saw little of each other. Gobseck let the +Count’s mansion on lease; he spent the summers on the country estates. +He was a lord of the manor in earnest, putting up farm buildings, +repairing mills and roadways, and planting timber. I came across him one +day in a walk in the Jardin des Tuileries. + +“‘The Countess is behaving like a heroine,’ said I; ‘she gives herself +up entirely to the children’s education; she is giving them a perfect +bringing up. The oldest boy is a charming young fellow----’ + +“‘That is possible.’ + +“‘But ought you not to help Ernest?’ I suggested. + +“‘Help him!’ cried Gobseck. ‘Not I. Adversity is the greatest of all +teachers; adversity teaches us to know the value of money and the worth +of men and women. Let him set sail on the seas of Paris; when he is a +qualified pilot, we will give him a ship to steer.’ + +“I left him without seeking to explain the meaning of his words. + +“M. de Restaud’s mother has prejudiced him against me, and he is very +far from taking me as his legal adviser; still, I went to see Gobseck +last week to tell him about Ernest’s love for Mlle. Camille, and pressed +him to carry out his contract, since that young Restaud is just of age. + +“I found the old bill-discounter had been kept to his bed for a long +time by the complaint of which he was to die. He put me off, saying that +he would give the matter his attention when he could get up again and +see after his business; his idea being no doubt that he would not give +up any of his possessions so long as the breath was in him; no other +reason could be found for his shuffling answer. He seemed to me to be +much worse than he at all suspected. I stayed with him long enough to +discern the progress of a passion which age had converted into a sort of +craze. He wanted to be alone in the house, and had taken the rooms one +by one as they fell vacant. In his own room he had changed nothing; +the furniture which I knew so well sixteen years ago looked the same as +ever; it might have been kept under a glass case. Gobseck’s faithful old +portress, with her husband, a pensioner, who sat in the entry while +she was upstairs, was still his housekeeper and charwoman, and now in +addition his sick-nurse. In spite of his feebleness, Gobseck saw his +clients himself as heretofore, and received sums of money; his affairs +had been so simplified, that he only needed to send his pensioner out +now and again on an errand, and could carry on business in his bed. + +“After the treaty, by which France recognized the Haytian Republic, +Gobseck was one of the members of the commission appointed to liquidate +claims and assess repayments due by Hayti; his special knowledge of old +fortunes in San Domingo, and the planters and their heirs and assigns +to whom the indemnities were due, had led to his nomination. Gobseck’s +peculiar genius had then devised an agency for discounting the planters’ +claims on the government. The business was carried on under the names +of Werbrust and Gigonnet, with whom he shared the spoil without +disbursements, for his knowledge was accepted instead of capital. The +agency was a sort of distillery, in which money was extracted from +doubtful claims, and the claims of those who knew no better, or had no +confidence in the government. As a liquidator, Gobseck could make terms +with the large landed proprietors; and these, either to gain a higher +percentage of their claims, or to ensure prompt settlements, would send +him presents in proportion to their means. In this way presents came to +be a kind of percentage upon sums too large to pass through his control, +while the agency bought up cheaply the small and dubious claims, or the +claims of those persons who preferred a little ready money to a deferred +and somewhat hazy repayment by the Republic. Gobseck was the insatiable +boa constrictor of the great business. Every morning he received his +tribute, eyeing it like a Nabob’s prime minister, as he considers +whether he will sign a pardon. Gobseck would take anything, from the +present of game sent him by some poor devil or the pound’s weight of wax +candles from devout folk, to the rich man’s plate and the speculator’s +gold snuff-box. Nobody knew what became of the presents sent to the old +money-lender. Everything went in, but nothing came out. + +“‘On the word of an honest woman,’ said the portress, an old +acquaintance of mine, ‘I believe he swallows it all and is none the +fatter for it; he is as thin and dried up as the cuckoo in the clock.’ + +“At length, last Monday, Gobseck sent his pensioner for me. The man came +up to my private office. + +“‘Be quick and come, M. Derville,’ said he, ‘the governor is just +going to hand in his checks; he has grown as yellow as a lemon; he is +fidgeting to speak with you; death has fair hold of him; the rattle is +working in his throat.’ + +“When I entered Gobseck’s room, I found the dying man kneeling before +the grate. If there was no fire on the hearth, there was at any rate +a monstrous heap of ashes. He had dragged himself out of bed, but his +strength had failed him, and he could neither go back nor find the voice +to complain. + +“‘You felt cold, old friend,’ I said, as I helped him back to his bed; +‘how can you do without a fire?’ + +“‘I am not cold at all,’ he said. ‘No fire here! no fire! I am going, I +know not where, lad,’ he went on, glancing at me with blank, lightless +eyes, ‘but I am going away from this.--I have _carpology_,’ said he +(the use of the technical term showing how clear and accurate his mental +processes were even now). ‘I thought the room was full of live gold, and +I got up to catch some of it.--To whom will all mine go, I wonder? +Not to the crown; I have left a will, look for it, Grotius. _La belle +Hollandaise_ had a daughter; I once saw the girl somewhere or other, in +the Rue Vivienne, one evening. They call her “_La Torpille_,” I believe; +she is as pretty as pretty can be; look her up, Grotius. You are my +executor; take what you like; help yourself. There are Strasburg pies, +there, and bags of coffee, and sugar, and gold spoons. Give the Odiot +service to your wife. But who is to have the diamonds? Are you going +to take them, lad? There is snuff too--sell it at Hamburg, tobaccos are +worth half as much again at Hamburg. All sorts of things I have in fact, +and now I must go and leave them all.--Come, Papa Gobseck, no weakness, +be yourself!’ + +“He raised himself in bed, the lines of his face standing out as +sharply against the pillow as if the profile had been cast in bronze; he +stretched out a lean arm and bony hand along the coverlet and clutched +it, as if so he would fain keep his hold on life, then he gazed hard at +the grate, cold as his own metallic eyes, and died in full consciousness +of death. To us--the portress, the old pensioner, and myself--he looked +like one of the old Romans standing behind the Consuls in Lethiere’s +picture of the _Death of the Sons of Brutus_. + +“‘He was a good-plucked one, the old Lascar!’ said the pensioner in his +soldierly fashion. + +“But as for me, the dying man’s fantastical enumeration of his riches +still sounding in my ears, and my eyes, following the direction of his, +rested on that heap of ashes. It struck me that it was very large. I +took the tongs, and as soon as I stirred the cinders, I felt the metal +underneath, a mass of gold and silver coins, receipts taken during his +illness, doubtless, after he grew too feeble to lock the money up, and +could trust no one to take it to the bank for him. + +“‘Run for the justice of the peace,’ said I, turning to the old +pensioner, ‘so that everything can be sealed here at once.’ + +“Gobseck’s last words and the old portress’ remarks had struck me. +I took the keys of the rooms on the first and second floor to make a +visitation. The first door that I opened revealed the meaning of the +phrases which I took for mad ravings; and I saw the length to which +covetousness goes when it survives only as an illogical instinct, the +last stage of greed of which you find so many examples among misers in +country towns. + +“In the room next to the one in which Gobseck had died, a quantity of +eatables of all kinds were stored--putrid pies, mouldy fish, nay, even +shell-fish, the stench almost choked me. Maggots and insects swarmed. +These comparatively recent presents were put down, pell-mell, among +chests of tea, bags of coffee, and packing-cases of every shape. A +silver soup tureen on the chimney-piece was full of advices of the +arrival of goods consigned to his order at Havre, bales of cotton, +hogsheads of sugar, barrels of rum, coffees, indigo, tobaccos, a perfect +bazaar of colonial produce. The room itself was crammed with furniture, +and silver-plate, and lamps, and vases, and pictures; there were books, +and curiosities, and fine engravings lying rolled up, unframed. Perhaps +these were not all presents, and some part of this vast quantity of +stuff had been deposited with him in the shape of pledges, and had been +left on his hands in default of payment. I noticed jewel-cases, with +ciphers and armorial bearings stamped upon them, and sets of fine +table-linen, and weapons of price; but none of the things were docketed. +I opened a book which seemed to be misplaced, and found a thousand-franc +note in it. I promised myself that I would go through everything +thoroughly; I would try the ceilings, and floors, and walls, and +cornices to discover all the gold, hoarded with such passionate greed +by a Dutch miser worthy of a Rembrandt’s brush. In all the course of +my professional career I have never seen such impressive signs of the +eccentricity of avarice. + +“I went back to his room, and found an explanation of this chaos +and accumulation of riches in a pile of letters lying under the +paper-weights on his desk--Gobseck’s correspondence with the various +dealers to whom doubtless he usually sold his presents. These persons +had, perhaps, fallen victims to Gobseck’s cleverness, or Gobseck may +have wanted fancy prices for his goods; at any rate, every bargain hung +in suspense. He had not disposed of the eatables to Chevet, because +Chevet would only take them of him at a loss of thirty per cent. Gobseck +haggled for a few francs between the prices, and while they wrangled the +goods became unsalable. Again, Gobseck had refused free delivery of +his silver-plate, and declined to guarantee the weights of his coffees. +There had been a dispute over each article, the first indication in +Gobseck of the childishness and incomprehensible obstinacy of age, a +condition of mind reached at last by all men in whom a strong passion +survives the intellect. + +“I said to myself, as he had said, ‘To whom will all these riches go?’ +... And then I think of the grotesque information he gave me as to the +present address of his heiress, I foresee that it will be my duty +to search all the houses of ill-fame in Paris to pour out an immense +fortune on some worthless jade. But, in the first place, know this--that +in a few days time Ernest de Restaud will come into a fortune to which +his title is unquestionable, a fortune which will put him in a position +to marry Mlle. Camille, even after adequate provision has been made for +his mother the Comtesse de Restaud and his sister and brother.” + + + + +ADDENDUM + +The following personages appear in other stories of the Human Comedy. + + Bidault (known as Gigonnet) + The Government Clerks + The Vendetta + Cesar Birotteau + The Firm of Nucingen + A Daughter of Eve + + Derville + A Start in Life + The Gondreville Mystery + Father Goriot + Colonel Chabert + Scenes from a Courtesan’s Life + + Derville, Madame + Cesar Birotteau + + Gobseck, Jean-Esther Van + Father Goriot + Cesar Birotteau + The Government Clerks + The Unconscious Humorists + + Gobseck, Sarah Van + Cesar Birotteau + The Maranas + Scenes from a Courtesan’s Life + The Member for Arcis + + Gobseck, Esther Van + The Firm of Nucingen + A Bachelor’s Establishment + Scenes from a Courtesan’s Life + + Grandlieu, Vicomtesse de + Scenes from a Courtesan’s Life + Colonel Chabert + + Grandlieu, Vicomte Juste de + Scenes from a Courtesan’s Life + + Grandlieu, Vicomtesse Juste de + Scenes from a Courtesan’s Life + A Daughter of Eve + + Maurice (de Restaud’s valet) + Father Goriot + + Palma (banker) + The Firm of Nucingen + Cesar Birotteau + Lost Illusions + A Distinguished Provincial at Paris + The Ball at Sceaux + + Restaud, Comte de + Father Goriot + + Restaud, Comtesse Anastasie de + Father Goriot + + Restaud, Ernest de + The Member for Arcis + + Restaud, Madame Ernest de + The Member for Arcis + + Restaud, Felix-Georges de + The Member for Arcis + + Trailles, Comte Maxime de + Cesar Birotteau + Father Goriot + Ursule Mirouet + A Man of Business + The Member for Arcis + The Secrets of a Princess + Cousin Betty + The Member for Arcis + Beatrix + The Unconscious Humorists + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Gobseck, by Honore de Balzac + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK GOBSECK *** + +***** This file should be named 1389-0.txt or 1389-0.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/1/3/8/1389/ + +Produced by Dagny, and Bonnie Sala + +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: Gobseck + +Author: Honore de Balzac + +Translator: Ellen Marriage + +Release Date: February 24, 2010 [EBook #1389] +Last Updated: November 22, 2016 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK GOBSECK *** + + + + +Produced by Dagny, and Bonnie Sala, and David Widger + + + + + + +</pre> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <h1> + GOBSECK + </h1> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <h2> + By Honore De Balzac + </h2> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <h3> + Translated By Ellen Marriage + </h3> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + DEDICATION + + To M. le Baron Barchou de Penhoen. + + Among all the pupils of the Oratorian school at Vendome, we are, I + think, the only two who have afterwards met in mid-career of a + life of letters—we who once were cultivating Philosophy when by + rights we should have been minding our De viris. When we met, you + were engaged upon your noble works on German philosophy, and I + upon this study. So neither of us has missed his vocation; and + you, when you see your name here, will feel, no doubt, as much + pleasure as he who inscribes his work to you.—Your old + schoolfellow, + + 1840 De Balzac. +</pre> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <h3> + <a href="#link2H_4_0001"> <b>GOBSECK</b> </a><br /><br /> <a + href="#link2H_4_0002"> ADDENDUM </a> + </h3> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> <a name="link2H_4_0001" id="link2H_4_0001"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h1> + GOBSECK + </h1> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <p> + It was one o’clock in the morning, during the winter of 1829-30, but in + the Vicomtesse de Grandlieu’s salon two persons stayed on who did not + belong to her family circle. A young and good-looking man heard the clock + strike, and took his leave. When the courtyard echoed with the sound of a + departing carriage, the Vicomtesse looked up, saw that no one was present + save her brother and a friend of the family finishing their game of + piquet, and went across to her daughter. The girl, standing by the + chimney-piece, apparently examining a transparent fire-screen, was + listening to the sounds from the courtyard in a way that justified certain + maternal fears. + </p> + <p> + “Camille,” said the Vicomtesse, “if you continue to behave to young Comte + de Restaud as you have done this evening, you will oblige me to see no + more of him here. Listen, child, and if you have any confidence in my + love, let me guide you in life. At seventeen one cannot judge of past or + future, nor of certain social considerations. I have only one thing to say + to you. M. de Restaud has a mother, a mother who would waste millions of + francs; a woman of no birth, a Mlle. Goriot; people talked a good deal + about her at one time. She behaved so badly to her own father, that she + certainly does not deserve to have so good a son. The young Count adores + her, and maintains her in her position with dutifulness worthy of all + praise, and he is extremely good to his brother and sister.—But + however admirable <i>his</i> behavior may be,” the Vicomtesse added with a + shrewd expression, “so long as his mother lives, any family would take + alarm at the idea of intrusting a daughter’s fortune and future to young + Restaud.” + </p> + <p> + “I overheard a word now and again in your talk with Mlle. de Grandlieu,” + cried the friend of the family, “and it made me anxious to put in a word + of my own.—I have won, M. le Comte,” he added, turning to his + opponent. “I shall throw you over and go to your niece’s assistance.” + </p> + <p> + “See what it is to have an attorney’s ears!” exclaimed the Vicomtesse. “My + dear Derville, how could you know what I was saying to Camille in a + whisper?” + </p> + <p> + “I knew it from your looks,” answered Derville, seating himself in a low + chair by the fire. + </p> + <p> + Camille’s uncle went to her side, and Mme. de Grandlieu took up her + position on a hearth stool between her daughter and Derville. + </p> + <p> + “The time has come for telling a story, which should modify your judgment + as to Ernest de Restaud’s prospects.” + </p> + <p> + “A story?” cried Camille. “Do begin at once, monsieur.” + </p> + <p> + The glance that Derville gave the Vicomtesse told her that this tale was + meant for her. The Vicomtesse de Grandlieu, be it said, was one of the + greatest ladies in the Faubourg Saint-Germain, by reason of her fortune + and her ancient name; and though it may seem improbable that a Paris + attorney should speak so familiarly to her, or be so much at home in her + house, the fact is nevertheless easily explained. + </p> + <p> + When Mme. de Grandlieu returned to France with the Royal family, she came + to Paris, and at first lived entirely on the pension allowed her out of + the Civil List by Louis XVIII.—an intolerable position. The Hotel de + Grandlieu had been sold by the Republic. It came to Derville’s knowledge + that there were flaws in the title, and he thought that it ought to return + to the Vicomtesse. He instituted proceedings for nullity of contract, and + gained the day. Encouraged by this success, he used legal quibbles to such + purpose that he compelled some institution or other to disgorge the Forest + of Liceney. Then he won certain lawsuits against the Canal d’Orleans, and + recovered a tolerably large amount of property, with which the Emperor had + endowed various public institutions. So it fell out that, thanks to the + young attorney’s skilful management, Mme. de Grandlieu’s income reached + the sum of some sixty thousand francs, to say nothing of the vast sums + returned to her by the law of indemnity. And Derville, a man of high + character, well informed, modest, and pleasant in company, became the + house-friend of the family. + </p> + <p> + By his conduct of Mme. de Grandlieu’s affairs he had fairly earned the + esteem of the Faubourg Saint-Germain, and numbered the best families among + his clients; but he did not take advantage of his popularity, as an + ambitious man might have done. The Vicomtesse would have had him sell his + practice and enter the magistracy, in which career advancement would have + been swift and certain with such influence at his disposal; but he + persistently refused all offers. He only went into society to keep up his + connections, but he occasionally spent an evening at the Hotel de + Grandlieu. It was a very lucky thing for him that his talents had been + brought into the light by his devotion to Mme. de Grandlieu, for his + practice otherwise might have gone to pieces. Derville had not an + attorney’s soul. Since Ernest de Restaud had appeared at the Hotel de + Grandlieu, and he had noticed that Camille felt attracted to the young + man, Derville had been as assiduous in his visits as any dandy of the + Chausee-d’Antin newly admitted to the noble Faubourg. At a ball only a few + days before, when he happened to stand near Camille, and said, indicating + the Count: + </p> + <p> + “It is a pity that yonder youngster has not two or three million francs, + is it not?” + </p> + <p> + “Is it a pity? I do not think so,” the girl answered. “M. de Restaud has + plenty of ability; he is well educated, and the Minister, his chief, + thinks well of him. He will be a remarkable man, I have no doubt. ‘Yonder + youngster’ will have as much money as he wishes when he comes into power.” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, but suppose that he were rich already?” + </p> + <p> + “Rich already?” repeated Camille, flushing red. “Why all the girls in the + room would be quarreling for him,” she said, glancing at the quadrilles. + </p> + <p> + “And then,” retorted the attorney, “Mlle. de Grandlieu might not be the + one towards whom his eyes are always turned? That is what that red color + means! You like him, do you not? Come, speak out.” + </p> + <p> + Camille suddenly rose to go. + </p> + <p> + “She loves him,” Derville thought. + </p> + <p> + Since that evening, Camille had been unwontedly attentive to the attorney, + who approved of her liking for Ernest de Restaud. Hitherto, although she + knew well that her family lay under great obligations to Derville, she had + felt respect rather than real friendship for him, their relation was more + a matter of politeness than of warmth of feeling; and by her manner, and + by the tones of her voice, she had always made him sensible of the + distance which socially lay between them. Gratitude is a charge upon the + inheritance which the second generation is apt to repudiate. + </p> + <p> + “This adventure,” Derville began after a pause, “brings the one romantic + event in my life to my mind. You are laughing already,” he went on; “it + seems so ridiculous, doesn’t it, that an attorney should speak of a + romance in his life? But once I was five-and-twenty, like everybody else, + and even then I had seen some queer things. I ought to begin at the + beginning by telling you about some one whom it is impossible that you + should have known. The man in question was a usurer. + </p> + <p> + “Can you grasp a clear notion of that sallow, wan face of his? I wish the + <i>Academie</i> would give me leave to dub such faces the <i>lunar</i> + type. It was like silver-gilt, with the gilt rubbed off. His hair was + iron-gray, sleek, and carefully combed; his features might have been cast + in bronze; Talleyrand himself was not more impassive than this + money-lender. A pair of little eyes, yellow as a ferret’s, and with scarce + an eyelash to them, peered out from under the sheltering peak of a shabby + old cap, as if they feared the light. He had the thin lips that you see in + Rembrandt’s or Metsu’s portraits of alchemists and shrunken old men, and a + nose so sharp at the tip that it put you in mind of a gimlet. His voice + was so low; he always spoke suavely; he never flew into a passion. His age + was a problem; it was hard to say whether he had grown old before his + time, or whether by economy of youth he had saved enough to last him his + life. + </p> + <p> + “His room, and everything in it, from the green baize of the bureau to the + strip of carpet by the bed, was as clean and threadbare as the chilly + sanctuary of some elderly spinster who spends her days in rubbing her + furniture. In winter time, the live brands of the fire smouldered all day + in a bank of ashes; there was never any flame in his grate. He went + through his day, from his uprising to his evening coughing-fit, with the + regularity of a pendulum, and in some sort was a clockwork man, wound up + by a night’s slumber. Touch a wood-louse on an excursion across your sheet + of paper, and the creature shams death; and in something the same way my + acquaintance would stop short in the middle of a sentence, while a cart + went by, to save the strain to his voice. Following the example of + Fontenelle, he was thrifty of pulse-strokes, and concentrated all human + sensibility in the innermost sanctuary of Self. + </p> + <p> + “His life flowed soundless as the sands of an hour-glass. His victims + sometimes flew into a rage and made a great deal of noise, followed by a + great silence; so is it in a kitchen after a fowl’s neck has been wrung. + </p> + <p> + “Toward evening this bill of exchange incarnate would assume ordinary + human shape, and his metals were metamorphosed into a human heart. When he + was satisfied with his day’s business, he would rub his hands; his inward + glee would escape like smoke through every rift and wrinkle of his face;—in + no other way is it possible to give an idea of the mute play of muscle + which expressed sensations similar to the soundless laughter of <i>Leather + Stocking</i>. Indeed, even in transports of joy, his conversation was + confined to monosyllables; he wore the same non-committal countenance. + </p> + <p> + “This was the neighbor Chance found for me in the house in the Rue de + Gres, where I used to live when as yet I was only a second clerk finishing + my third year’s studies. The house is damp and dark, and boasts no + courtyard. All the windows look on the street; the whole dwelling, in + claustral fashion, is divided into rooms or cells of equal size, all + opening upon a long corridor dimly lit with borrowed lights. The place + must have been part of an old convent once. So gloomy was it, that the + gaiety of eldest sons forsook them on the stairs before they reached my + neighbor’s door. He and his house were much alike; even so does the oyster + resemble his native rock. + </p> + <p> + “I was the one creature with whom he had any communication, socially + speaking; he would come in to ask for a light, to borrow a book or a + newspaper, and of an evening he would allow me to go into his cell, and + when he was in the humor we would chat together. These marks of confidence + were the results of four years of neighborhood and my own sober conduct. + From sheer lack of pence, I was bound to live pretty much as he did. Had + he any relations or friends? Was he rich or poor? Nobody could give an + answer to these questions. I myself never saw money in his room. Doubtless + his capital was safely stowed in the strong rooms of the Bank. He used to + collect his bills himself as they fell due, running all over Paris on a + pair of shanks as skinny as a stag’s. On occasion he would be a martyr to + prudence. One day, when he happened to have gold in his pockets, a double + napoleon worked its way, somehow or other, out of his fob and fell, and + another lodger following him up the stairs picked up the coin and returned + it to its owner. + </p> + <p> + “‘That isn’t mine!’ said he, with a start of surprise. ‘Mine indeed! If I + were rich, should I live as I do!’ + </p> + <p> + “He made his cup of coffee himself every morning on the cast-iron chafing + dish which stood all day in the black angle of the grate; his dinner came + in from a cookshop; and our old porter’s wife went up at the prescribed + hour to set his room in order. Finally, a whimsical chance, in which + Sterne would have seen predestination, had named the man Gobseck. When I + did business for him later, I came to know that he was about seventy-six + years old at the time when we became acquainted. He was born about 1740, + in some outlying suburb of Antwerp, of a Dutch father and a Jewish mother, + and his name was Jean-Esther Van Gobseck. You remember how all Paris took + an interest in that murder case, a woman named <i>La belle Hollandaise</i>? + I happened to mention it to my old neighbor, and he answered without the + slightest symptom of interest or surprise, ‘She is my grandniece.’ + </p> + <p> + “That was the only remark drawn from him by the death of his sole + surviving next of kin, his sister’s granddaughter. From reports of the + case I found that <i>La belle Hollandaise</i> was in fact named Sara Van + Gobseck. When I asked by what curious chance his grandniece came to bear + his surname, he smiled: + </p> + <p> + “‘The women never marry in our family.’ + </p> + <p> + “Singular creature, he had never cared to find out a single relative among + four generations counted on the female side. The thought of his heirs was + abhorrent to him; and the idea that his wealth could pass into other hands + after his death simply inconceivable. + </p> + <p> + “He was a child, ten years old, when his mother shipped him off as a cabin + boy on a voyage to the Dutch Straits Settlements, and there he knocked + about for twenty years. The inscrutable lines on that sallow forehead kept + the secret of horrible adventures, sudden panic, unhoped-for luck, + romantic cross events, joys that knew no limit, hunger endured and love + trampled under foot, fortunes risked, lost, and recovered, life endangered + time and time again, and saved, it may be, by one of the rapid, ruthless + decisions absolved by necessity. He had known Admiral Simeuse, M. de + Lally, M. de Kergarouet, M. d’Estaing, <i>le Bailli de Suffren</i>, M. de + Portenduere, Lord Cornwallis, Lord Hastings, Tippoo Sahib’s father, Tippoo + Sahib himself. The bully who served Mahadaji Sindhia, King of Delhi, and + did so much to found the power of the Mahrattas, had had dealings with + Gobseck. Long residence at St. Thomas brought him in contact with Victor + Hughes and other notorious pirates. In his quest of fortune he had left no + stone unturned; witness an attempt to discover the treasure of that tribe + of savages so famous in Buenos Ayres and its neighborhood. He had a + personal knowledge of the events of the American War of Independence. But + if he spoke of the Indies or of America, as he did very rarely with me, + and never with anyone else, he seemed to regard it as an indiscretion and + to repent of it afterwards. If humanity and sociability are in some sort a + religion, Gobseck might be ranked as an infidel; but though I set myself + to study him, I must confess, to my shame, that his real nature was + impenetrable up to the very last. I even felt doubts at times as to his + sex. If all usurers are like this one, I maintain that they belong to the + neuter gender. + </p> + <p> + “Did he adhere to his mother’s religion? Did he look on Gentiles as his + legitimate prey? Had he turned Roman Catholic, Lutheran, Mahometan, + Brahmin, or what not? I never knew anything whatsoever about his religious + opinions, and so far as I could see, he was indifferent rather than + incredulous. + </p> + <p> + “One evening I went in to see this man who had turned himself to gold; the + usurer, whom his victims (his clients, as he styled them) were wont to + call Daddy Gobseck, perhaps ironically, perhaps by way of antiphrasis. He + was sitting in his armchair, motionless as a statue, staring fixedly at + the mantel-shelf, where he seemed to read the figures of his statements. A + lamp, with a pedestal that had once been green, was burning in the room; + but so far from taking color from its smoky light, his face seemed to + stand out positively paler against the background. He pointed to a chair + set for me, but not a word did he say. + </p> + <p> + “‘What thoughts can this being have in his mind?’ said I to myself. ‘Does + he know that a God exists; does he know there are such things as feeling, + woman, happiness?’ I pitied him as I might have pitied a diseased + creature. But, at the same time, I knew quite well that while he had + millions of francs at his command, he possessed the world no less in idea—that + world which he had explored, ransacked, weighed, appraised, and exploited. + </p> + <p> + “‘Good day, Daddy Gobseck,’ I began. + </p> + <p> + “He turned his face towards me with a slight contraction of his bushy, + black eyebrows; this characteristic shade of expression in him meant as + much as the most jubilant smile on a Southern face. + </p> + <p> + “‘You look just as gloomy as you did that day when the news came of the + failure of that bookseller whose sharpness you admired so much, though you + were one of his victims.’ + </p> + <p> + “‘One of his victims?’ he repeated, with a look of astonishment. + </p> + <p> + “‘Yes. Did you not refuse to accept composition at the meeting of + creditors until he undertook privately to pay you your debt in full; and + did he not give you bills accepted by the insolvent firm; and then, when + he set up in business again, did he not pay you the dividend upon those + bills of yours, signed as they were by the bankrupt firm?’ + </p> + <p> + “‘He was a sharp one, but I had it out of him.’ + </p> + <p> + “‘Then have you some bills to protest? To-day is the 30th, I believe.’ + </p> + <p> + “It was the first time I had spoken to him of money. He looked ironically + up at me; then in those bland accents, not unlike the husky tones which + the tyro draws from a flute, he answered, ‘I am amusing myself.’ + </p> + <p> + “‘So you amuse yourself now and again?’ + </p> + <p> + “‘Do you imagine that the only poets in the world are those who print + their verses?’ he asked, with a pitying look and shrug of the shoulders. + </p> + <p> + “‘Poetry in that head!’ thought I, for as yet I knew nothing of his life. + </p> + <p> + “‘What life could be as glorious as mine?’ he continued, and his eyes + lighted up. ‘You are young, your mental visions are colored by youthful + blood, you see women’s faces in the fire, while I see nothing but coals in + mine. You have all sorts of beliefs, while I have no beliefs at all. Keep + your illusions—if you can. Now I will show you life with the + discount taken off. Go wherever you like, or stay at home by the fireside + with your wife, there always comes a time when you settle down in a + certain groove, the groove is your preference; and then happiness consists + in the exercise of your faculties by applying them to realities. Anything + more in the way of precept is false. My principles have been various, + among various men; I had to change them with every change of latitude. + Things that we admire in Europe are punishable in Asia, and a vice in + Paris becomes a necessity when you have passed the Azores. There are no + such things as hard-and-fast rules; there are only conventions adapted to + the climate. Fling a man headlong into one social melting pot after + another, and convictions and forms and moral systems become so many + meaningless words to him. The one thing that always remains, the one sure + instinct that nature has implanted in us, is the instinct of + self-interest. If you had lived as long as I have, you would know that + there is but one concrete reality invariable enough to be worth caring + about, and that is—GOLD. Gold represents every form of human power. + I have traveled. I found out that there were either hills or plains + everywhere: the plains are monotonous, the hills a weariness; + consequently, place may be left out of the question. As to manners; man is + man all the world over. The same battle between the poor and the rich is + going on everywhere; it is inevitable everywhere; consequently, it is + better to exploit than to be exploited. Everywhere you find the man of + thews and sinews who toils, and the lymphatic man who torments himself; + and pleasures are everywhere the same, for when all sensations are + exhausted, all that survives is Vanity—Vanity is the abiding + substance of us, the <i>I</i> in us. Vanity is only to be satisfied by + gold in floods. Our dreams need time and physical means and painstaking + thought before they can be realized. Well, gold contains all things in + embryo; gold realizes all things for us. + </p> + <p> + “‘None but fools and invalids can find pleasure in shuffling cards all + evening long to find out whether they shall win a few pence at the end. + None but driveling idiots could spend time in inquiring into all that is + happening around them, whether Madame Such-an-One slept single on her + couch or in company, whether she has more blood than lymph, more + temperament than virtue. None but the dupes, who fondly imagine that they + are useful to their like, can interest themselves in laying down rules for + political guidance amid events which neither they nor any one else + foresees, nor ever will foresee. None but simpletons can delight in + talking about stage players and repeating their sayings; making the daily + promenade of a caged animal over a rather larger area; dressing for + others, eating for others, priding themselves on a horse or a carriage + such as no neighbor can have until three days later. What is all this but + Parisian life summed up in a few phrases? Let us find a higher outlook on + life than theirs. Happiness consists either in strong emotions which drain + our vitality, or in methodical occupation which makes existence like a bit + of English machinery, working with the regularity of clockwork. A higher + happiness than either consists in a curiosity, styled noble, a wish to + learn Nature’s secrets, or to attempt by artificial means to imitate + Nature to some extent. What is this in two words but Science and Art, or + passion or calm?—Ah! well, every human passion wrought up to its + highest pitch in the struggle for existence comes to parade itself before + me—as I live in calm. As for your scientific curiosity, a kind of + wrestling bout in which man is never uppermost, I replace it by an insight + into all the springs of action in man and woman. To sum up, the world is + mine without effort of mine, and the world has not the slightest hold on + me. Listen to this,’ he went on, ‘I will tell you the history of my + morning, and you will divine my pleasures.’ + </p> + <p> + “He got up, pushed the bolt of the door, drew a tapestry curtain across it + with a sharp grating sound of the rings on the rod, then he sat down + again. + </p> + <p> + “‘This morning,’ he said, ‘I had only two amounts to collect; the rest of + the bills that were due I gave away instead of cash to my customers + yesterday. So much saved, you see, for when I discount a bill I always + deduct two francs for a hired brougham—expenses of collection. A + pretty thing it would be, would it not, if my clients were to set <i>me</i> + trudging all over Paris for half-a-dozen francs of discount, when no man + is my master, and I only pay seven francs in the shape of taxes? + </p> + <p> + “‘The first bill for a thousand francs was presented by a young fellow, a + smart buck with a spangled waistcoat, and an eyeglass, and a tilbury and + an English horse, and all the rest of it. The bill bore the signature of + one of the prettiest women in Paris, married to a Count, a great + landowner. Now, how came that Countess to put her name to a bill of + exchange, legally not worth the paper it was written upon, but practically + very good business; for these women, poor things, are afraid of the + scandal that a protested bill makes in a family, and would give themselves + away in payment sooner than fail? I wanted to find out what that bill of + exchange really represented. Was it stupidity, imprudence, love or + charity? + </p> + <p> + “‘The second bill, bearing the signature “Fanny Malvaut,” came to me from + a linen-draper on the highway to bankruptcy. Now, no creature who has any + credit with a bank comes to <i>me</i>. The first step to my door means + that a man is desperately hard up; that the news of his failure will soon + come out: and, most of all, it means that he has been everywhere else + first. The stag is always at bay when I see him, and a pack of creditors + are hard upon his track. The Countess lived in the Rue du Helder, and my + Fanny in the Rue Montmartre. How many conjectures I made as I set out this + morning! If these two women were not able to pay, they would show me more + respect than they would show their own fathers. What tricks and grimaces + would not the Countess try for a thousand francs! She would be so nice to + me, she would talk to me in that ingratiating tone peculiar to endorsers + of bills, she would pour out a torrent of coaxing words, perhaps she would + beg and pray, and I...’ (here the old man turned his pale eyes upon me)—‘and + I not to be moved, inexorable!’ he continued. ‘I am there as the avenger, + the apparition of Remorse. So much for hypotheses. I reached the house. + </p> + <p> + “‘"Madame la Comtesse is asleep,” says the maid. + </p> + <p> + “‘"When can I see her?” + </p> + <p> + “‘"At twelve o’clock.” + </p> + <p> + “‘"Is Madame la Comtesse ill?” + </p> + <p> + “‘"No, sir, but she only came home at three o’clock this morning from a + ball.” + </p> + <p> + “‘"My name is Gobseck, tell her that I shall call again at twelve + o’clock,” and I went out, leaving traces of my muddy boots on the carpet + which covered the paved staircase. I like to leave mud on a rich man’s + carpet; it is not petty spite; I like to make them feel a touch of the + claws of Necessity. In the Rue Montmartre I thrust open the old gateway of + a poor-looking house, and looked into a dark courtyard where the sunlight + never shines. The porter’s lodge was grimy, the window looked like the + sleeve of some shabby wadded gown—greasy, dirty, and full of holes. + </p> + <p> + “‘"Mlle. Fanny Malvaut?” + </p> + <p> + “‘"She has gone out; but if you have come about a bill, the money is + waiting for you.” + </p> + <p> + “‘"I will look in again,” said I. + </p> + <p> + “‘As soon as I knew that the porter had the money for me, I wanted to know + what the girl was like; I pictured her as pretty. The rest of the morning + I spent in looking at the prints in the shop windows along the boulevard; + then, just as it struck twelve, I went through the Countess’ ante-chamber. + </p> + <p> + “‘"Madame has just this minute rung for me,” said the maid; “I don’t think + she can see you yet.” + </p> + <p> + “‘"I will wait,” said I, and sat down in an easy-chair. + </p> + <p> + “‘Venetian shutters were opened, and presently the maid came hurrying + back. + </p> + <p> + “‘"Come in, sir.” + </p> + <p> + “‘From the sweet tone of the girl’s voice, I knew that the mistress could + not be ready to pay. What a handsome woman it was that I saw in another + moment! She had flung an Indian shawl hastily over her bare shoulders, + covering herself with it completely, while it revealed the bare outlines + of the form beneath. She wore a loose gown trimmed with snowy ruffles, + which told plainly that her laundress’ bills amounted to something like + two thousand francs in the course of a year. Her dark curls escaped from + beneath a bright Indian handkerchief, knotted carelessly about her head + after the fashion of Creole women. The bed lay in disorder that told of + broken slumber. A painter would have paid money to stay a while to see the + scene that I saw. Under the luxurious hanging draperies, the pillow, + crushed into the depths of an eider-down quilt, its lace border standing + out in contrast against the background of blue silk, bore a vague impress + that kindled the imagination. A pair of satin slippers gleamed from the + great bear-skin rug spread by the carved mahogany lions at the bed-foot, + where she had flung them off in her weariness after the ball. A crumpled + gown hung over a chair, the sleeves touching the floor; stockings which a + breath would have blown away were twisted about the leg of an easy-chair; + while ribbon garters straggled over a settee. A fan of price, half + unfolded, glittered on the chimney-piece. Drawers stood open; flowers, + diamonds, gloves, a bouquet, a girdle, were littered about. The room was + full of vague sweet perfume. And—beneath all the luxury and + disorder, beauty and incongruity, I saw Misery crouching in wait for her + or for her adorer, Misery rearing its head, for the Countess had begun to + feel the edge of those fangs. Her tired face was an epitome of the room + strewn with relics of past festival. The scattered gewgaws, pitiable this + morning, when gathered together and coherent, had turned heads the night + before. + </p> + <p> + “‘What efforts to drink of the Tantalus cup of bliss I could read in these + traces of love stricken by the thunderbolt remorse—in this visible + presentment of a life of luxury, extravagance, and riot. There were faint + red marks on her young face, signs of the fineness of the skin; but her + features were coarsened, as it were, and the circles about her eyes were + unwontedly dark. Nature nevertheless was so vigorous in her, that these + traces of past folly did not spoil her beauty. Her eyes glittered. She + looked like some <i>Herodias</i> of da Vinci’s (I have dealt in pictures), + so magnificently full of life and energy was she; there was nothing + starved nor stinted in feature or outline; she awakened desire; it seemed + to me that there was some passion in her yet stronger than love. I was + taken with her. It was a long while since my heart had throbbed; so I was + paid then and there—for I would give a thousand francs for a + sensation that should bring me back memories of youth. + </p> + <p> + “‘"Monsieur,” she said, finding a chair for me, “will you be so good as to + wait?” + </p> + <p> + “‘"Until this time to-morrow, madame,” I said, folding up the bill again. + “I cannot legally protest this bill any sooner.” And within myself I said—“Pay + the price of your luxury, pay for your name, pay for your ease, pay for + the monopoly which you enjoy! The rich have invented judges and courts of + law to secure their goods, and the guillotine—that candle in which + so many lie in silk, under silken coverlets, there is remorse, and + grinding of teeth beneath a smile, and those fantastical lions’ jaws are + gaping to set their fangs in your heart.” + </p> + <p> + “‘"Protest the bill! Can you mean it?” she cried, with her eyes upon me; + “could you have so little consideration for me?” + </p> + <p> + “‘"If the King himself owed money to me, madame, and did not pay it, I + should summons him even sooner than any other debtor.” + </p> + <p> + “‘While we were speaking, somebody tapped gently at the door. + </p> + <p> + “‘"I cannot see any one,” she cried imperiously. + </p> + <p> + “‘"But, Anastasie, I particularly wish to speak to you.” + </p> + <p> + “‘"Not just now, dear,” she answered in a milder tone, but with no sign of + relenting. + </p> + <p> + “‘"What nonsense! You are talking to some one,” said the voice, and in + came a man who could only be the Count. + </p> + <p> + “‘The Countess gave me a glance. I saw how it was. She was thoroughly in + my power. There was a time, when I was young, and might perhaps have been + stupid enough not to protest the bill. At Pondicherry, in 1763, I let a + woman off, and nicely she paid me out afterwards. I deserved it; what call + was there for me to trust her? + </p> + <p> + “‘"What does this gentleman want?” asked the Count. + </p> + <p> + “‘I could see that the Countess was trembling from head to foot; the white + satin skin of her throat was rough, “turned to goose flesh,” to use the + familiar expression. As for me, I laughed in myself without moving a + muscle. + </p> + <p> + “‘"This gentleman is one of my tradesmen,” she said. + </p> + <p> + “‘The Count turned his back on me; I drew the bill half out of my pocket. + After that inexorable movement, she came over to me and put a diamond into + my hands. “Take it,” she said, “and be gone.” + </p> + <p> + “‘We exchanged values, and I made my bow and went. The diamond was quite + worth twelve hundred francs to me. Out in the courtyard I saw a swarm of + flunkeys, brushing out their liveries, waxing their boots, and cleaning + sumptuous equipages. + </p> + <p> + “‘"This is what brings these people to me!” said I to myself. “It is to + keep up this kind of thing that they steal millions with all due + formalities, and betray their country. The great lord, and the little man + who apes the great lord, bathes in mud once for all to save himself a + splash or two when he goes afoot through the streets.” + </p> + <p> + “‘Just then the great gates were opened to admit a cabriolet. It was the + same young fellow who had brought the bill to me. + </p> + <p> + “‘"Sir,” I said, as he alighted, “here are two hundred francs, which I beg + you to return to Mme. la Comtesse, and have the goodness to tell her that + I hold the pledge which she deposited with me this morning at her + disposition for a week.” + </p> + <p> + “‘He took the two hundred francs, and an ironical smile stole over his + face; it was as if he had said, “Aha! so she has paid it, has she? ... + Faith, so much the better!” I read the Countess’ future in his face. That + good-looking, fair-haired young gentleman is a heartless gambler; he will + ruin himself, ruin her, ruin her husband, ruin the children, eat up their + portions, and work more havoc in Parisian salons than a whole battery of + howitzers in a regiment. + </p> + <p> + “‘I went back to see Mlle. Fanny in the Rue Montmartre, climbed a very + steep, narrow staircase, and reached a two-roomed dwelling on the fifth + floor. Everything was as neat as a new ducat. I did not see a speck of + dust on the furniture in the first room, where Mlle. Fanny was sitting. + Mlle. Fanny herself was a young Parisian girl, quietly dressed, with a + delicate fresh face, and a winning look. The arrangement of her neatly + brushed chestnut hair in a double curve on her forehead lent a refined + expression to blue eyes, clear as crystal. The broad daylight streaming in + through the short curtains against the window pane fell with softened + light on her girlish face. A pile of shaped pieces of linen told me that + she was a sempstress. She looked like a spirit of solitude. When I held + out the bill, I remarked that she had not been at home when I called in + the morning. + </p> + <p> + “‘"But the money was left with the porter’s wife,” said she. + </p> + <p> + “‘I pretended not to understand. + </p> + <p> + “‘"You go out early, mademoiselle, it seems.” + </p> + <p> + “‘"I very seldom leave my room; but when you work all night, you are + obliged to take a bath sometimes.” + </p> + <p> + “‘I looked at her. A glance told me all about her life. Here was a girl + condemned by misfortune to toil, a girl who came of honest farmer folk, + for she had still a freckle or two that told of country birth. There was + an indefinable atmosphere of goodness about her; I felt as if I were + breathing sincerity and frank innocence. It was refreshing to my lungs. + Poor innocent child, she had faith in something; there was a crucifix and + a sprig or two of green box above her poor little painted wooden bedstead; + I felt touched, or somewhat inclined that way. I felt ready to offer to + charge no more than twelve per cent, and so give something towards + establishing her in a good way of business. + </p> + <p> + “‘"But maybe she has a little youngster of a cousin,” I said to myself, + “who would raise money on her signature and sponge on the poor girl.” + </p> + <p> + “‘So I went away, keeping my generous impulses well under control; for I + have frequently had occasion to observe that when benevolence does no harm + to him who gives it, it is the ruin of him who takes. When you came in I + was thinking that Fanny Malvaut would make a nice little wife; I was + thinking of the contrast between her pure, lonely life and the life of the + Countess—she has sunk as low as a bill of exchange already, she will + sink to the lowest depths of degradation before she has done!’—I + scrutinized him during the deep silence that followed, but in a moment he + spoke again. ‘Well,’ he said, ‘do you think that it is nothing to have + this power of insight into the deepest recesses of the human heart, to + embrace so many lives, to see the naked truth underlying it all? There are + no two dramas alike: there are hideous sores, deadly chagrins, love + scenes, misery that soon will lie under the ripples of the Seine, young + men’s joys that lead to the scaffold, the laughter of despair, and + sumptuous banquets. Yesterday it was a tragedy. A worthy soul of a father + drowned himself because he could not support his family. To-morrow is a + comedy; some youngster will try to rehearse the scene of M. Dimanche, + brought up to date. You have heard the people extol the eloquence of our + latter day preachers; now and again I have wasted my time by going to hear + them; they produced a change in my opinions, but in my conduct (as + somebody said, I can’t recollect his name), in my conduct—never!—Well, + well; these good priests and your Mirabeaus and Vergniauds and the rest of + them, are mere stammering beginners compared with these orators of mine. + </p> + <p> + “‘Often it is some girl in love, some gray-headed merchant on the verge of + bankruptcy, some mother with a son’s wrong-doing to conceal, some starving + artist, some great man whose influence is on the wane, and, for lack of + money, is like to lose the fruit of all his labors—the power of + their pleading has made me shudder. Sublime actors such as these play for + me, for an audience of one, and they cannot deceive me. I can look into + their inmost thoughts, and read them as God reads them. Nothing is hidden + from me. Nothing is refused to the holder of the purse-strings to loose + and to bind. I am rich enough to buy the consciences of those who control + the action of ministers, from their office boys to their mistresses. Is + not that power?—I can possess the fairest women, receive their + softest caresses; is not that Pleasure? And is not your whole social + economy summed up in terms of Power and Pleasure? + </p> + <p> + “‘There are ten of us in Paris, silent, unknown kings, the arbiters of + your destinies. What is life but a machine set in motion by money? Know + this for certain—methods are always confounded with results; you + will never succeed in separating the soul from the senses, spirit from + matter. Gold is the spiritual basis of existing society.—The ten of + us are bound by the ties of common interest; we meet on certain days of + the week at the Cafe Themis near the Pont Neuf, and there, in conclave, we + reveal the mysteries of finance. No fortune can deceive us; we are in + possession of family secrets in all directions. We keep a kind of Black + Book, in which we note the most important bills issued, drafts on public + credit, or on banks, or given and taken in the course of business. We are + the Casuists of the Paris Bourse, a kind of Inquisition weighing and + analyzing the most insignificant actions of every man of any fortune, and + our forecasts are infallible. One of us looks out over the judicial world, + one over the financial, another surveys the administrative, and yet + another the business world. I myself keep an eye on eldest sons, artists, + people in the great world, and gamblers—on the most sensational side + of Paris. Every one who comes to us lets us into his neighbor’s secrets. + Thwarted passion and mortified vanity are great babblers. Vice and + disappointment and vindictiveness are the best of all detectives. My + colleagues, like myself, have enjoyed all things, are sated with all + things, and have reached the point when power and money are loved for + their own sake. + </p> + <p> + “‘Here,’ he said, indicating his bare, chilly room, ‘here the most + high-mettled gallant, who chafes at a word and draws swords for a syllable + elsewhere will entreat with clasped hands. There is no city merchant so + proud, no woman so vain of her beauty, no soldier of so bold a spirit, but + that they entreat me here, one and all, with tears of rage or anguish in + their eyes. Here they kneel—the famous artist, and the man of + letters, whose name will go down to posterity. Here, in short’ (he lifted + his hand to his forehead), ‘all the inheritances and all the concerns of + all Paris are weighed in the balance. Are you still of the opinion that + there are no delights behind the blank mask which so often has amazed you + by its impassiveness?’ he asked, stretching out that livid face which + reeked of money. + </p> + <p> + “I went back to my room, feeling stupefied. The little, wizened old man + had grown great. He had been metamorphosed under my eyes into a strange + visionary symbol; he had come to be the power of gold personified. I + shrank, shuddering, from life and my kind. + </p> + <p> + “‘Is it really so?’ I thought; ‘must everything be resolved into gold?’ + </p> + <p> + “I remember that it was long before I slept that night. I saw heaps of + gold all about me. My thoughts were full of the lovely Countess; I + confess, to my shame, that the vision completely eclipsed another quiet, + innocent figure, the figure of the woman who had entered upon a life of + toil and obscurity; but on the morrow, through the clouds of slumber, + Fanny’s sweet face rose before me in all its beauty, and I thought of + nothing else.” + </p> + <p> + “Will you take a glass of <i>eau sucree</i>?” asked the Vicomtesse, + interrupting Derville. + </p> + <p> + “I should be glad of it.” + </p> + <p> + “But I can see nothing in this that can touch our concerns,” said Mme. de + Grandlieu, as she rang the bell. + </p> + <p> + “Sardanapalus!” cried Derville, flinging out his favorite invocation. + “Mademoiselle Camille will be wide awake in a moment if I say that her + happiness depended not so long ago upon Daddy Gobseck; but as the old + gentleman died at the age of ninety, M. de Restaud will soon be in + possession of a handsome fortune. This requires some explanation. As for + poor Fanny Malvaut, you know her; she is my wife.” + </p> + <p> + “Poor fellow, he would admit that, with his usual frankness, with a score + of people to hear him!” said the Vicomtesse. + </p> + <p> + “I would proclaim it to the universe,” said the attorney. + </p> + <p> + “Go on, drink your glass, my poor Derville. You will never be anything but + the happiest and the best of men.” + </p> + <p> + “I left you in the Rue du Helder,” remarked the uncle, raising his face + after a gentle doze. “You had gone to see a Countess; what have you done + with her?” + </p> + <p> + “A few days after my conversation with the old Dutchman,” Derville + continued, “I sent in my thesis, and became first a licentiate in law, and + afterwards an advocate. The old miser’s opinion of me went up + considerably. He consulted me (gratuitously) on all the ticklish bits of + business which he undertook when he had made quite sure how he stood, + business which would have seemed unsafe to any ordinary practitioner. This + man, over whom no one appeared to have the slightest influence, listened + to my advice with something like respect. It is true that he always found + that it turned out very well. + </p> + <p> + “At length I became head-clerk in the office where I had worked for three + years and then I left the Rue des Gres for rooms in my employer’s house. I + had my board and lodging and a hundred and fifty francs per month. It was + a great day for me! + </p> + <p> + “When I went to bid the usurer good-bye, he showed no sign of feeling, he + was neither cordial nor sorry to lose me, he did not ask me to come to see + him, and only gave me one of those glances which seemed in some sort to + reveal a power of second-sight. + </p> + <p> + “By the end of a week my old neighbor came to see me with a tolerably + thorny bit of business, an expropriation, and he continued to ask for my + advice with as much freedom as if he paid for it. + </p> + <p> + “My principal was a man of pleasure and expensive tastes; before the + second year (1818-1819) was out he had got himself into difficulties, and + was obliged to sell his practice. A professional connection in those days + did not fetch the present exorbitant prices, and my principal asked a + hundred and fifty thousand francs. Now an active man, of competent + knowledge and intelligence, might hope to pay off the capital in ten + years, paying interest and living respectably in the meantime—if he + could command confidence. But I as the seventh child of a small tradesman + at Noyon, I had not a sou to my name, nor personal knowledge of any + capitalist but Daddy Gobseck. An ambitious idea, and an indefinable + glimmer of hope, put heart into me. To Gobseck I betook myself, and slowly + one evening I made my way to the Rue des Gres. My heart thumped heavily as + I knocked at his door in the gloomy house. I recollected all the things + that he used to tell me, at a time when I myself was very far from + suspecting the violence of the anguish awaiting those who crossed his + threshold. Now it was I who was about to beg and pray like so many others. + </p> + <p> + “‘Well, no, not <i>that</i>,’ I said to myself; ‘an honest man must keep + his self-respect wherever he goes. Success is not worth cringing for; let + us show him a front as decided as his own.’ + </p> + <p> + “Daddy Gobseck had taken my room since I left the house, so as to have no + neighbor; he had made a little grated window too in his door since then, + and did not open until he had taken a look at me and saw who I was. + </p> + <p> + “‘Well,’ said he, in his thin, flute notes, ‘so your principal is selling + his practice?’ + </p> + <p> + “‘How did you know that?’ said I; ‘he has not spoken of it as yet except + to me.’ + </p> + <p> + “The old man’s lips were drawn in puckers, like a curtain, to either + corner of his mouth, as a soundless smile bore a hard glance company. + </p> + <p> + “‘Nothing else would have brought you here,’ he said drily, after a pause, + which I spent in confusion. + </p> + <p> + “‘Listen to me, M. Gobseck,’ I began, with such serenity as I could assume + before the old man, who gazed at me with steady eyes. There was a clear + light burning in them that disconcerted me. + </p> + <p> + “He made a gesture as if to bid me ‘Go on.’ ‘I know that it is not easy to + work on your feelings, so I will not waste my eloquence on the attempt to + put my position before you—I am a penniless clerk, with no one to + look to but you, and no heart in the world but yours can form a clear idea + of my probable future. Let us leave hearts out of the question. Business + is business, and business is not carried on with sentimentality like + romances. Now to the facts. My principal’s practice is worth in his hands + about twenty thousand francs per annum; in my hands, I think it would + bring in forty thousand. He is willing to sell it for a hundred and fifty + thousand francs. And <i>here</i>,’ I said, striking my forehead, ‘I feel + that if you would lend me the purchase-money, I could clear it off in ten + years’ time.’ + </p> + <p> + “‘Come, that is plain speaking,’ said Daddy Gobseck, and he held out his + hand and grasped mine. ‘Nobody since I have been in business has stated + the motives of his visit more clearly. Guarantees?’ asked he, scanning me + from head to foot. ‘None to give,’ he added after a pause, ‘How old are + you?’ + </p> + <p> + “‘Twenty-five in ten days’ time,’ said I, ‘or I could not open the + matter.’ + </p> + <p> + “‘Precisely.’ + </p> + <p> + “‘Well?’ + </p> + <p> + “‘It is possible.’ + </p> + <p> + “‘My word, we must be quick about it, or I shall have some one buying over + my head.’ + </p> + <p> + “‘Bring your certificate of birth round to-morrow morning, and we will + talk. I will think it over.’ + </p> + <p> + “‘Next morning, at eight o’clock, I stood in the old man’s room. He took + the document, put on his spectacles, coughed, spat, wrapped himself up in + his black greatcoat, and read the whole certificate through from beginning + to end. Then he turned it over and over, looked at me, coughed again, + fidgeted about in his chair, and said, ‘We will try to arrange this bit of + business.’ + </p> + <p> + “I trembled. + </p> + <p> + “‘I make fifty per cent on my capital,’ he continued, ‘sometimes I make a + hundred, two hundred, five hundred per cent.’ + </p> + <p> + “I turned pale at the words. + </p> + <p> + “‘But as we are acquaintances, I shall be satisfied to take twelve and a + half per cent per—(he hesitated)—‘well, yes, from you I would + be content to take thirteen per cent per annum. Will that suit you?’ + </p> + <p> + “‘Yes,’ I answered. + </p> + <p> + “‘But if it is too much, stick up for yourself, Grotius!’ (a name he + jokingly gave me). ‘When I ask you for thirteen per cent, it is all in the + way of business; look into it, see if you can pay it; I don’t like a man + to agree too easily. Is it too much?’ + </p> + <p> + “‘No,’ said I, ‘I will make up for it by working a little harder.’ + </p> + <p> + “‘Gad! your clients will pay for it!’ said he, looking at me wickedly out + of the corner of his eyes. + </p> + <p> + “‘No, by all the devils in hell!’ cried I, ‘it shall be I who will pay. I + would sooner cut my hand off than flay people.’ + </p> + <p> + “‘Good-night,’ said Daddy Gobseck. + </p> + <p> + “‘Why, fees are all according to scale,’ I added. + </p> + <p> + “‘Not for compromises and settlements out of Court, and cases where + litigants come to terms,’ said he. ‘You can send in a bill for thousands + of francs, six thousand even at a swoop (it depends on the importance of + the case), for conferences with So-and-so, and expenses, and drafts, and + memorials, and your jargon. A man must learn to look out for business of + this kind. I will recommend you as a most competent, clever attorney. I + will send you such a lot of work of this sort that your colleagues will be + fit to burst with envy. Werbrust, Palma, and Gigonnet, my cronies, shall + hand over their expropriations to you; they have plenty of them, the Lord + knows! So you will have two practices—the one you are buying, and + the other I will build up for you. You ought almost to pay me fifteen per + cent on my loan.’ + </p> + <p> + “‘So be it, but no more,’ said I, with the firmness which means that a man + is determined not to concede another point. + </p> + <p> + “Daddy Gobseck’s face relaxed; he looked pleased with me. + </p> + <p> + “‘I shall pay the money over to your principal myself,’ said he, ‘so as to + establish a lien on the purchase and caution-money.’ + </p> + <p> + “‘Oh, anything you like in the way of guarantees.’ + </p> + <p> + “‘And besides that, you will give me bills for the amount made payable to + a third party (name left blank), fifteen bills of ten thousand francs + each.’ + </p> + <p> + “‘Well, so long as it is acknowledged in writing that this is a double——’ + </p> + <p> + “‘No!’ Gobseck broke in upon me. ‘No! Why should I trust you any more than + you trust me?’ + </p> + <p> + “I kept silence. + </p> + <p> + “‘And furthermore,’ he continued, with a sort of good humor, ‘you will + give me your advice without charging fees as long as I live, will you + not?’ + </p> + <p> + “‘So be it; so long as there is no outlay.’ + </p> + <p> + “‘Precisely,’ said he. “Ah, by the by, you will allow me to go to see + you?’ (Plainly the old man found it not so easy to assume the air of + good-humor.) + </p> + <p> + “‘I shall always be glad.’ + </p> + <p> + “‘Ah! yes, but it would be very difficult to arrange of a morning. You + will have your affairs to attend to, and I have mine.’ + </p> + <p> + “‘Then come in the evening.’ + </p> + <p> + “‘Oh, no!’ he answered briskly, ‘you ought to go into society and see your + clients, and I myself have my friends at my cafe.’ + </p> + <p> + “‘His friends!’ thought I to myself.—‘Very well,’ said I, ‘why not + come at dinner-time?’ + </p> + <p> + “‘That is the time,’ said Gobseck, ‘after ‘Change, at five o’clock. Good, + you will see me Wednesdays and Saturdays. We will talk over business like + a pair of friends. Aha! I am gay sometimes. Just give me the wing of a + partridge and a glass of champagne, and we will have our chat together. I + know a great many things that can be told now at this distance of time; I + will teach you to know men, and what is more—women!’ + </p> + <p> + “‘Oh! a partridge and a glass of champagne if you like.’ + </p> + <p> + “‘Don’t do anything foolish, or I shall lose my faith in you. And don’t + set up housekeeping in a grand way. Just one old general servant. I will + come and see that you keep your health. I have capital invested in your + head, he! he! so I am bound to look after you. There, come round in the + evening and bring your principal with you!’ + </p> + <p> + “‘Would you mind telling me, if there is no harm in asking, what was the + good of my birth certificate in this business?’ I asked, when the little + old man and I stood on the doorstep. + </p> + <p> + “Jean-Esther Van Gobseck shrugged his shoulders, smiled maliciously, and + said, ‘What blockheads youngsters are! Learn, master attorney (for learn + you must if you don’t mean to be taken in), that integrity and brains in a + man under thirty are commodities which can be mortgaged. After that age + there is no counting on a man.’ + </p> + <p> + “And with that he shut the door. + </p> + <p> + “Three months later I was an attorney. Before very long, madame, it was my + good fortune to undertake the suit for the recovery of your estates. I won + the day, and my name became known. In spite of the exorbitant rate of + interest, I paid off Gobseck in less than five years. I married Fanny + Malvaut, whom I loved with all my heart. There was a parallel between her + life and mine, between our hard work and our luck, which increased the + strength of feeling on either side. One of her uncles, a well-to-do + farmer, died and left her seventy thousand francs, which helped to clear + off the loan. From that day my life has been nothing but happiness and + prosperity. Nothing is more utterly uninteresting than a happy man, so let + us say no more on that head, and return to the rest of the characters. + </p> + <p> + “About a year after the purchase of the practice, I was dragged into a + bachelor breakfast-party given by one of our number who had lost a bet to + a young man greatly in vogue in the fashionable world. M. de Trailles, the + flower of the dandyism of that day, enjoyed a prodigious reputation.” + </p> + <p> + “But he is still enjoying it,” put in the Comte de Born. “No one wears his + clothes with a finer air, nor drives a tandem with a better grace. It is + Maxime’s gift; he can gamble, eat, and drink more gracefully than any man + in the world. He is a judge of horses, hats, and pictures. All the women + lose their heads over him. He always spends something like a hundred + thousand francs a year, and no creature can discover that he has an acre + of land or a single dividend warrant. The typical knight errant of our + salons, our boudoirs, our boulevards, an amphibian half-way between a man + and a woman—Maxime de Trailles is a singular being, fit for + anything, and good for nothing, quite as capable of perpetrating a benefit + as of planning a crime; sometimes base, sometimes noble, more often + bespattered with mire than besprinkled with blood, knowing more of anxiety + than of remorse, more concerned with his digestion than with any mental + process, shamming passion, feeling nothing. Maxime de Trailles is a + brilliant link between the hulks and the best society; he belongs to the + eminently intelligent class from which a Mirabeau, or a Pitt, or a + Richelieu springs at times, though it is more wont to produce Counts of + Horn, Fouquier-Tinvilles, and Coignards.” + </p> + <p> + “Well,” pursued Derville, when he had heard the Vicomtesse’s brother to + the end, “I had heard a good deal about this individual from poor old + Goriot, a client of mine; and I had already been at some pains to avoid + the dangerous honor of his acquaintance, for I came across him sometimes + in society. Still, my chum was so pressing about this breakfast-party of + his that I could not well get out of it, unless I wished to earn a name + for squeamishness. Madame, you could hardly imagine what a bachelor’s + breakfast-party is like. It means superb display and a studied refinement + seldom seen; the luxury of a miser when vanity leads him to be sumptuous + for a day. + </p> + <p> + “You are surprised as you enter the room at the neatness of the table, + dazzling by reason of its silver and crystal and linen damask. Life is + here in full bloom; the young fellows are graceful to behold; they smile + and talk in low, demure voices like so many brides; everything about them + looks girlish. Two hours later you might take the room for a battlefield + after the fight. Broken glasses, serviettes crumpled and torn to rags lie + strewn about among the nauseous-looking remnants of food on the dishes. + There is an uproar that stuns you, jesting toasts, a fire of witticisms + and bad jokes; faces are empurpled, eyes inflamed and expressionless, + unintentional confidences tell you the whole truth. Bottles are smashed, + and songs trolled out in the height of a diabolical racket; men call each + other out, hang on each other’s necks, or fall to fisticuffs; the room is + full of a horrid, close scent made up of a hundred odors, and noise enough + for a hundred voices. No one has any notion of what he is eating or + drinking or saying. Some are depressed, others babble, one will turn + monomaniac, repeating the same word over and over again like a bell set + jangling; another tries to keep the tumult within bounds; the steadiest + will propose an orgy. If any one in possession of his faculties should + come in, he would think that he had interrupted a Bacchanalian rite. + </p> + <p> + “It was in the thick of such a chaos that M. de Trailles tried to + insinuate himself into my good graces. My head was fairly clear, I was + upon my guard. As for him, though he pretended to be decently drunk, he + was perfectly cool, and knew very well what he was about. How it was done + I do not know, but the upshot of it was that when we left Grignon’s rooms + about nine o’clock in the evening, M. de Trailles had thoroughly bewitched + me. I had given him my promise that I would introduce him the next day to + our Papa Gobseck. The words ‘honor,’ ‘virtue,’ ‘countess,’ ‘honest woman,’ + and ‘ill-luck’ were mingled in his discourse with magical potency, thanks + to that golden tongue of his. + </p> + <p> + “When I awoke next morning, and tried to recollect what I had done the day + before, it was with great difficulty that I could make a connected tale + from my impressions. At last, it seemed to me that the daughter of one of + my clients was in danger of losing her reputation, together with her + husband’s love and esteem, if she could not get fifty thousand francs + together in the course of the morning. There had been gaming debts, and + carriage-builders’ accounts, money lost to Heaven knows whom. My magician + of a boon companion had impressed it upon me that she was rich enough to + make good these reverses by a few years of economy. But only now did I + begin to guess the reasons of his urgency. I confess, to my shame, that I + had not the shadow of a doubt but that it was a matter of importance that + Daddy Gobseck should make it up with this dandy. I was dressing when the + young gentleman appeared. + </p> + <p> + “‘M. le Comte,’ said I, after the usual greetings, ‘I fail to see why you + should need me to effect an introduction to Van Gobseck, the most civil + and smooth-spoken of capitalists. Money will be forthcoming if he has any, + or rather, if you can give him adequate security.’ + </p> + <p> + “‘Monsieur,’ said he, ‘it does not enter into my thoughts to force you to + do me a service, even though you have passed your word.’ + </p> + <p> + “‘Sardanapalus!’ said I to myself, ‘am I going to let that fellow imagine + that I will not keep my word with him?’ + </p> + <p> + “‘I had the honor of telling you yesterday,’ said he, ‘that I had fallen + out with Daddy Gobseck most inopportunely; and as there is scarcely + another man in Paris who can come down on the nail with a hundred thousand + francs, at the end of the month, I begged of you to make my peace with + him. But let us say no more about it——’ + </p> + <p> + “M. de Trailles looked at me with civil insult in his expression, and made + as if he would take his leave. + </p> + <p> + “‘I am ready to go with you,’ said I. + </p> + <p> + “When we reached the Rue de Gres, my dandy looked about him with a + circumspection and uneasiness that set me wondering. His face grew livid, + flushed, and yellow, turn and turn about, and by the time that Gobseck’s + door came in sight the perspiration stood in drops on his forehead. We + were just getting out of the cabriolet, when a hackney cab turned into the + street. My companion’s hawk eye detected a woman in the depths of the + vehicle. His face lighted up with a gleam of almost savage joy; he called + to a little boy who was passing, and gave him his horse to hold. Then we + went up to the old bill discounter. + </p> + <p> + “‘M. Gobseck,’ said I, ‘I have brought one of my most intimate friends to + see you (whom I trust as I would trust the Devil,’ I added for the old + man’s private ear). ‘To oblige me you will do your best for him (at the + ordinary rate), and pull him out of his difficulty (if it suits your + convenience).’ + </p> + <p> + “M. de Trailles made his bow to Gobseck, took a seat, and listened to us + with a courtier-like attitude; its charming humility would have touched + your heart to see, but my Gobseck sits in his chair by the fireside + without moving a muscle, or changing a feature. He looked very like the + statue of Voltaire under the peristyle of the Theatre-Francais, as you see + it of an evening; he had partly risen as if to bow, and the skull cap that + covered the top of his head, and the narrow strip of sallow forehead + exhibited, completed his likeness to the man of marble. + </p> + <p> + “‘I have no money to spare except for my own clients,’ said he. + </p> + <p> + “‘So you are cross because I may have tried in other quarters to ruin + myself?’ laughed the Count. + </p> + <p> + “‘Ruin yourself!’ repeated Gobseck ironically. + </p> + <p> + “‘Were you about to remark that it is impossible to ruin a man who has + nothing?’ inquired the dandy. ‘Why, I defy you to find a better <i>stock</i> + in Paris!’ he cried, swinging round on his heels. + </p> + <p> + “This half-earnest buffoonery produced not the slightest effect upon + Gobseck. + </p> + <p> + “‘Am I not on intimate terms with the Ronquerolles, the Marsays, the + Franchessinis, the two Vandenesses, the Ajuda-Pintos,—all the most + fashionable young men in Paris, in short? A prince and an ambassador (you + know them both) are my partners at play. I draw my revenues from London + and Carlsbad and Baden and Bath. Is not this the most brilliant of all + industries!’ + </p> + <p> + “‘True.’ + </p> + <p> + “‘You make a sponge of me, begad! you do. You encourage me to go and swell + myself out in society, so that you can squeeze me when I am hard up; but + you yourselves are sponges, just as I am, and death will give you a + squeeze some day.’ + </p> + <p> + “‘That is possible.’ + </p> + <p> + “‘If there were no spendthrifts, what would become of you? The pair of us + are like soul and body.’ + </p> + <p> + “‘Precisely so.’ + </p> + <p> + “‘Come, now, give us your hand, Grandaddy Gobseck, and be magnanimous if + this is “true” and “possible” and “precisely so.”’ + </p> + <p> + “‘You come to me,’ the usurer answered coldly, ‘because Girard, Palma, + Werbrust, and Gigonnet are full up of your paper; they are offering it at + a loss of fifty per cent; and as it is likely they only gave you half the + figure on the face of the bills, they are not worth five-and-twenty per + cent of their supposed value. I am your most obedient! Can I in common + decency lend a stiver to a man who owes thirty thousand francs, and has + not one farthing?’ Gobseck continued. ‘The day before yesterday you lost + ten thousand francs at a ball at the Baron de Nucingen’s.’ + </p> + <p> + “‘Sir,’ said the Count, with rare impudence, ‘my affairs are no concern of + yours,’ and he looked the old man up and down. ‘A man has no debts till + payment is due.’ + </p> + <p> + “‘True.’ + </p> + <p> + “‘My bills will be duly met.’ + </p> + <p> + “‘That is possible.’ + </p> + <p> + “‘And at this moment the question between you and me is simply whether the + security I am going to offer is sufficient for the sum I have come to + borrow.’ + </p> + <p> + “‘Precisely.’ + </p> + <p> + “A cab stopped at the door, and the sound of wheels filled the room. + </p> + <p> + “‘I will bring something directly which perhaps will satisfy you,’ cried + the young man, and he left the room. + </p> + <p> + “‘Oh! my son,’ exclaimed Gobseck, rising to his feet, and stretching out + his arms to me, ‘if he has good security, you have saved my life. It would + be the death of me. Werbrust and Gigonnet imagined that they were going to + play off a trick on me; and now, thanks to you, I shall have a good laugh + at their expense to-night.’ + </p> + <p> + “There was something frightful about the old man’s ecstasy. It was the one + occasion when he opened his heart to me; and that flash of joy, swift + though it was, will never be effaced from my memory. + </p> + <p> + “‘Favor me so far as to stay here,’ he added. ‘I am armed, and a sure + shot. I have gone tiger-hunting, and fought on the deck when there was + nothing for it but to win or die; but I don’t care to trust yonder elegant + scoundrel.’ + </p> + <p> + “He sat down again in his armchair before his bureau, and his face grew + pale and impassive as before. + </p> + <p> + “‘Ah!’ he continued, turning to me, ‘you will see that lovely creature I + once told you about; I can hear a fine lady’s step in the corridor; it is + she, no doubt;’ and, as a matter of fact, the young man came in with a + woman on his arm. I recognized the Countess, whose levee Gobseck had + described for me, one of old Goriot’s two daughters. + </p> + <p> + “The Countess did not see me at first; I stayed where I was in the window + bay, with my face against the pane; but I saw her give Maxime a suspicious + glance as she came into the money-lender’s damp, dark room. So beautiful + she was, that in spite of her faults I felt sorry for her. There was a + terrible storm of anguish in her heart; her haughty, proud features were + drawn and distorted with pain which she strove in vain to disguise. The + young man had come to be her evil genius. I admired Gobseck, whose + perspicacity had foreseen their future four years ago at the first bill + which she endorsed. + </p> + <p> + “‘Probably,’ said I to myself, ‘this monster with the angel face controls + every possible spring of action in her: rules her through vanity, + jealousy, pleasure, and the current of life in the world.’” + </p> + <p> + The Vicomtesse de Grandlieu broke in on the story. + </p> + <p> + “Why, the woman’s very virtues have been turned against her,” she + exclaimed. “He has made her shed tears of devotion, and then abused her + kindness and made her pay very dearly for unhallowed bliss.” + </p> + <p> + Derville did not understand the signs which Mme. de Grandlieu made to him. + </p> + <p> + “I confess,” he said, “that I had no inclination to shed tears over the + lot of this unhappy creature, so brilliant in society, so repulsive to + eyes that could read her heart; I shuddered rather at the sight of her + murderer, a young angel with such a clear brow, such red lips and white + teeth, such a winning smile. There they stood before their judge, he + scrutinizing them much as some fifteenth-century Dominican inquisitor + might have peered into the dungeons of the Holy Office while the torture + was administered to two Moors. + </p> + <p> + “The Countess spoke tremulously. ‘Sir,’ she said, ‘is there any way of + obtaining the value of these diamonds, and of keeping the right of + repurchase?’ She held out a jewel-case. + </p> + <p> + “‘Yes, madame,’ I put in, and came forwards. + </p> + <p> + “She looked at me, and a shudder ran through her as she recognized me, and + gave me the glance which means, ‘Say nothing of this,’ all the world over. + </p> + <p> + “‘This,’ said I, ‘constitutes a sale with faculty of redemption, as it is + called, a formal agreement to transfer and deliver over a piece of + property, either real estate or personalty, for a given time, on the + expiry of which the previous owner recovers his title to the property in + question, upon payment of a stipulated sum.’ + </p> + <p> + “She breathed more freely. The Count looked black; he had grave doubts + whether Gobseck would lend very much on the diamonds after such a fall in + their value. Gobseck, impassive as ever, had taken up his magnifying + glass, and was quietly scrutinizing the jewels. If I were to live for a + hundred years, I should never forget the sight of his face at that moment. + There was a flush in his pale cheeks; his eyes seemed to have caught the + sparkle of the stones, for there was an unnatural glitter in them. He rose + and went to the light, holding the diamonds close to his toothless mouth, + as if he meant to devour them; mumbling vague words over them, holding up + bracelets, sprays, necklaces, and tiaras one after another, to judge their + water, whiteness, and cutting; taking them out of the jewel-case and + putting them in again, letting the play of the light bring out all their + fires. He was more like a child than an old man; or, rather, childhood and + dotage seemed to meet in him. + </p> + <p> + “‘Fine stones! The set would have fetched three hundred thousand francs + before the Revolution. What water! Genuine Asiatic diamonds from Golconda + or Visapur. Do you know what they are worth? No, no; no one in Paris but + Gobseck can appreciate them. In the time of the Empire such a set would + have cost another two hundred thousand francs!’ + </p> + <p> + “He gave a disgusted shrug, and added: + </p> + <p> + “‘But now diamonds are going down in value every day. The Brazilians have + swamped the market with them since the Peace; but the Indian stones are a + better color. Others wear them now besides court ladies. Does madame go to + court?’ + </p> + <p> + “While he flung out these terrible words, he examined one stone after + another with delight which no words can describe. + </p> + <p> + “‘Flawless!’ he said. ‘Here is a speck!... here is a flaw!... A fine stone + that!’ + </p> + <p> + “His haggard face was so lighted up by the sparkling jewels, that it put + me in mind of a dingy old mirror, such as you see in country inns. The + glass receives every luminous image without reflecting the light, and a + traveler bold enough to look for his face in it beholds a man in an + apoplectic fit. + </p> + <p> + “‘Well?’ asked the Count, clapping Gobseck on the shoulder. + </p> + <p> + “The old boy trembled. He put down his playthings on his bureau, took his + seat, and was a money-lender once more—hard, cold, and polished as a + marble column. + </p> + <p> + “‘How much do you want?’ + </p> + <p> + “‘One hundred thousand francs for three years,’ said the Count. + </p> + <p> + “‘That is possible,’ said Gobseck, and then from a mahogany box (Gobseck’s + jewel-case) he drew out a faultlessly adjusted pair of scales! + </p> + <p> + “He weighed the diamonds, calculating the value of stones and setting at + sight (Heaven knows how!), delight and severity struggling in the + expression of his face the meanwhile. The Countess had plunged in a kind + of stupor; to me, watching her, it seemed that she was fathoming the + depths of the abyss into which she had fallen. There was remorse still + left in that woman’s soul. Perhaps a hand held out in human charity might + save her. I would try. + </p> + <p> + “‘Are the diamonds your personal property, madame?’ I asked in a clear + voice. + </p> + <p> + “‘Yes, monsieur,’ she said, looking at me with proud eyes. + </p> + <p> + “‘Make out the deed of purchase with power of redemption, chatterbox,’ + said Gobseck to me, resigning his chair at the bureau in my favor. + </p> + <p> + “‘Madame is without doubt a married woman?’ I tried again. + </p> + <p> + “She nodded abruptly. + </p> + <p> + “‘Then I will not draw up the deed,’ said I. + </p> + <p> + “‘And why not?’ asked Gobseck. + </p> + <p> + “‘Why not?’ echoed I, as I drew the old man into the bay window so as to + speak aside with him. ‘Why not? This woman is under her husband’s control; + the agreement would be void in law; you could not possibly assert your + ignorance of a fact recorded on the very face of the document itself. You + would be compelled at once to produce the diamonds deposited with you, + according to the weight, value, and cutting therein described.’ + </p> + <p> + “Gobseck cut me short with a nod, and turned towards the guilty couple. + </p> + <p> + “‘He is right!’ he said. ‘That puts the whole thing in a different light. + Eighty thousand francs down, and you leave the diamonds with me,’ he + added, in the husky, flute-like voice. ‘In the way of property, possession + is as good as a title.’ + </p> + <p> + “‘But——’ objected the young man. + </p> + <p> + “‘You can take it or leave it,’ continued Gobseck, returning the + jewel-case to the lady as he spoke. + </p> + <p> + “‘I have too many risks to run.’ + </p> + <p> + “‘It would be better to throw yourself at your husband’s feet,’ I bent to + whisper in her ear. + </p> + <p> + “The usurer doubtless knew what I was saying from the movement of my lips. + He gave me a cool glance. The Count’s face grew livid. The Countess was + visibly wavering. Maxime stepped up to her, and, low as he spoke, I could + catch the words: + </p> + <p> + “‘Adieu, dear Anastasie, may you be happy! As for me, by to-morrow my + troubles will be over.’ + </p> + <p> + “‘Sir!’ cried the lady, turning to Gobseck. ‘I accept your offer.’ + </p> + <p> + “‘Come, now,’ returned Gobseck. ‘You have been a long time in coming to + it, my fair lady.’ + </p> + <p> + “He wrote out a cheque for fifty thousand francs on the Bank of France, + and handed it to the Countess. + </p> + <p> + “‘Now,’ continued he with a smile, such a smile as you will see in + portraits of M. Voltaire, ‘now I will give you the rest of the amount in + bills, thirty thousand francs’ worth of paper as good as bullion. This + gentleman here has just said, “My bills will be met when they are due,”’ + added he, producing certain drafts bearing the Count’s signature, all + protested the day before at the request of some of the confraternity, who + had probably made them over to him (Gobseck) at a considerably reduced + figure. + </p> + <p> + “The young man growled out something, in which the words ‘Old scoundrel!’ + were audible. Daddy Gobseck did not move an eyebrow. He drew a pair of + pistols out of a pigeon-hole, remarking coolly: + </p> + <p> + “‘As the insulted man, I fire first.’ + </p> + <p> + “‘Maxime, you owe this gentleman an explanation,’ cried the trembling + Countess in a low voice. + </p> + <p> + “‘I had no intention of giving offence,’ stammered Maxime. + </p> + <p> + “‘I am quite sure of that,’ Gobseck answered calmly; ‘you had no intention + of meeting your bills, that was all.’ + </p> + <p> + “The Countess rose, bowed, and vanished, with a great dread gnawing her, I + doubt not. M. de Trailles was bound to follow, but before he went he + managed to say: + </p> + <p> + “‘If either of you gentlemen should forget himself, I will have his blood, + or he will have mine.’ + </p> + <p> + “‘Amen!’ called Daddy Gobseck as he put his pistols back in their place; + ‘but a man must have blood in his veins though before he can risk it, my + son, and you have nothing but mud in yours.’ + </p> + <p> + “When the door was closed, and the two vehicles had gone, Gobseck rose to + his feet and began to prance about. + </p> + <p> + “‘I have the diamonds! I have the diamonds!’ he cried again and again, + ‘the beautiful diamonds! such diamonds! and tolerably cheaply. Aha! aha! + Werbrust and Gigonnet, you thought you had old Papa Gobseck! <i>Ego sum + papa</i>! I am master of the lot of you! Paid! paid, principal and + interest! How silly they will look to-night when I shall come out with + this story between two games of dominoes!’ + </p> + <p> + “The dark glee, the savage ferocity aroused by the possession of a few + water-white pebbles, set me shuddering. I was dumb with amazement. + </p> + <p> + “‘Aha! There you are, my boy!’ said he. ‘We will dine together. We will + have some fun at your place, for I haven’t a home of my own, and these + restaurants, with their broths, and sauces, and wines, would poison the + Devil himself.’ + </p> + <p> + “Something in my face suddenly brought back the usual cold, impassive + expression to his. + </p> + <p> + “‘You don’t understand it,’ he said, and sitting down by the hearth, he + put a tin saucepan full of milk on the brazier.—‘Will you breakfast + with me?’ continued he. ‘Perhaps there will be enough here for two.’ + </p> + <p> + “‘Thanks,’ said I, ‘I do not breakfast till noon.’ + </p> + <p> + “I had scarcely spoken before hurried footsteps sounded from the passage. + The stranger stopped at Gobseck’s door and rapped; there was that in the + knock which suggested a man transported with rage. Gobseck reconnoitred + him through the grating; then he opened the door, and in came a man of + thirty-five or so, judged harmless apparently in spite of his anger. The + newcomer, who was quite plainly dressed, bore a strong resemblance to the + late Duc de Richelieu. You must often have met him, he was the Countess’ + husband, a man with the aristocratic figure (permit the expression to + pass) peculiar to statesmen of your faubourg. + </p> + <p> + “‘Sir,’ said this person, addressing himself to Gobseck, who had quite + recovered his tranquillity, ‘did my wife go out of this house just now?’ + </p> + <p> + “‘That is possible.’ + </p> + <p> + “‘Well, sir? do you not take my meaning?’ + </p> + <p> + “‘I have not the honor of the acquaintance of my lady your wife,’ returned + Gobseck. ‘I have had a good many visitors this morning, women and men, and + mannish young ladies, and young gentlemen who look like young ladies. I + should find it very hard to say——’ + </p> + <p> + “‘A truce to jesting, sir! I mean the woman who has this moment gone out + from you.’ + </p> + <p> + “‘How can I know whether she is your wife or not? I never had the pleasure + of seeing you before.’ + </p> + <p> + “‘You are mistaken, M. Gobseck,’ said the Count, with profound irony in + his voice. ‘We have met before, one morning in my wife’s bedroom. You had + come to demand payment for a bill—no bill of hers.’ + </p> + <p> + “‘It was no business of mine to inquire what value she had received for + it,’ said Gobseck, with a malignant look at the Count. ‘I had come by the + bill in the way of business. At the same time, monsieur,’ continued + Gobseck, quietly pouring coffee into his bowl of milk, without a trace of + excitement or hurry in his voice, ‘you will permit me to observe that your + right to enter my house and expostulate with me is far from proven to my + mind. I came of age in the sixty-first year of the preceding century.’ + </p> + <p> + “‘Sir,’ said the Count, ‘you have just bought family diamonds, which do + not belong to my wife, for a mere trifle.’ + </p> + <p> + “‘Without feeling it incumbent upon me to tell you my private affairs, I + will tell you this much M. le Comte—if Mme. la Comtesse has taken + your diamonds, you should have sent a circular around to all the jewelers, + giving them notice not to buy them; she might have sold them separately.’ + </p> + <p> + “‘You know my wife, sir!’ roared the Count. + </p> + <p> + “‘True.’ + </p> + <p> + “‘She is in her husband’s power.’ + </p> + <p> + “‘That is possible.’ + </p> + <p> + “‘She had no right to dispose of those diamonds——’ + </p> + <p> + “‘Precisely.’ + </p> + <p> + “‘Very well, sir?’ + </p> + <p> + “‘Very well, sir. I knew your wife, and she is in her husband’s power; I + am quite willing, she is in the power of a good many people; but—I—do—<i>not</i>—know—your + diamonds. If Mme. la Comtesse can put her name to a bill, she can go into + business, of course, and buy and sell diamonds on her own account. The + thing is plain on the face of it!’ + </p> + <p> + “‘Good-day, sir!’ cried the Count, now white with rage. ‘There are courts + of justice.’ + </p> + <p> + “‘Quite so.’ + </p> + <p> + “‘This gentleman here,’ he added, indicating me, ‘was a witness of the + sale.’ + </p> + <p> + “‘That is possible.’ + </p> + <p> + “The Count turned to go. Feeling the gravity of the affair, I suddenly put + in between the two belligerents. + </p> + <p> + “‘M. le Comte,’ said I, ‘you are right, and M. Gobseck is by no means in + the wrong. You could not prosecute the purchaser without bringing your + wife into court, and the whole of the odium would not fall on her. I am an + attorney, and I owe it to myself, and still more to my professional + position, to declare that the diamonds of which you speak were purchased + by M. Gobseck in my presence; but, in my opinion, it would be unwise to + dispute the legality of the sale, especially as the goods are not readily + recognizable. In equity our contention would lie, in law it would + collapse. M. Gobseck is too honest a man to deny that the sale was a + profitable transaction, more especially as my conscience, no less than my + duty, compels me to make the admission. But once bring the case into a + court of law, M. le Comte, the issue would be doubtful. My advice to you + is to come to terms with M. Gobseck, who can plead that he bought the + diamonds in all good faith; you would be bound in any case to return the + purchase money. Consent to an arrangement, with power to redeem at the end + of seven or eight months, or a year even, or any convenient lapse of time, + for the repayment of the sum borrowed by Mme. la Comtesse, unless you + would prefer to repurchase them outright and give security for repayment.’ + </p> + <p> + “Gobseck dipped his bread into the bowl of coffee, and ate with perfect + indifference; but at the words ‘come to terms,’ he looked at me as who + should say, ‘A fine fellow that! he has learned something from my + lessons!’ And I, for my part, riposted with a glance, which he understood + uncommonly well. The business was dubious and shady; there was pressing + need of coming to terms. Gobseck could not deny all knowledge of it, for I + should appear as a witness. The Count thanked me with a smile of + good-will. + </p> + <p> + “In the debate which followed, Gobseck showed greed enough and skill + enough to baffle a whole congress of diplomatists; but in the end I drew + up an instrument, in which the Count acknowledged the receipt of + eighty-five thousand francs, interest included, in consideration of which + Gobseck undertook to return the diamonds to the Count. + </p> + <p> + “‘What waste!’ exclaimed he as he put his signature to the agreement. ‘How + is it possible to bridge such a gulf?’ + </p> + <p> + “‘Have you many children, sir?’ Gobseck asked gravely. + </p> + <p> + “The Count winced at the question; it was as if the old money-lender, like + an experienced physician, had put his finger at once on the sore spot. The + Comtesse’s husband did not reply. + </p> + <p> + “‘Well,’ said Gobseck, taking the pained silence for answer, ‘I know your + story by heart. The woman is a fiend, but perhaps you love her still; I + can well believe it; she made an impression on me. Perhaps, too, you would + rather save your fortune, and keep it for one or two of your children? + Well, fling yourself into the whirlpool of society, lose that fortune at + play, come to Gobseck pretty often. The world will say that I am a Jew, a + Tartar, a usurer, a pirate, will say that I have ruined you! I snap my + fingers at them! If anybody insults me, I lay my man out; nobody is a + surer shot nor handles a rapier better than your servant. And every one + knows it. Then, have a friend—if you can find one—and make + over your property to him by a fictitious sale. You call that a <i>fidei + commissum</i>, don’t you?’ he asked, turning to me. + </p> + <p> + “The Count seemed to be entirely absorbed in his own thoughts. + </p> + <p> + “‘You shall have your money to-morrow,’ he said, ‘have the diamonds in + readiness,’ and he went. + </p> + <p> + “‘There goes one who looks to me to be as stupid as an honest man,’ + Gobseck said coolly when the Count had gone. + </p> + <p> + “‘Say rather stupid as a man of passionate nature.’ + </p> + <p> + “‘The Count owes you your fee for drawing up the agreement!’ Gobseck + called after me as I took my leave.” + </p> + <p> + “One morning, a few days after the scene which initiated me into the + terrible depths beneath the surface of the life of a woman of fashion, the + Count came into my private office. + </p> + <p> + “‘I have come to consult you on a matter of grave moment,’ he said, ‘and I + begin by telling you that I have perfect confidence in you, as I hope to + prove to you. Your behavior to Mme. de Grandlieu is above all praise,’ the + Count went on. (You see, madame, that you have paid me a thousand times + over for a very simple matter.) + </p> + <p> + “I bowed respectfully, and replied that I had done nothing but the duty of + an honest man. + </p> + <p> + “‘Well,’ the Count went on, ‘I have made a great many inquiries about the + singular personage to whom you owe your position. And from all that I can + learn, Gobseck is a philosopher of the Cynic school. What do you think of + his probity?’ + </p> + <p> + “‘M. le Comte,’ said I, ‘Gobseck is my benefactor—at fifteen per + cent,’ I added, laughing. ‘But his avarice does not authorize me to paint + him to the life for a stranger’s benefit.’ + </p> + <p> + “‘Speak out, sir. Your frankness cannot injure Gobseck or yourself. I do + not expect to find an angel in a pawnbroker.’ + </p> + <p> + “‘Daddy Gobseck,’ I began, ‘is intimately convinced of the truth of the + principle which he takes for a rule of life. In his opinion, money is a + commodity which you may sell cheap or dear, according to circumstances, + with a clear conscience. A capitalist, by charging a high rate of + interest, becomes in his eyes a secured partner by anticipation. Apart + from the peculiar philosophical views of human nature and financial + principles, which enable him to behave like a usurer, I am fully persuaded + that, out of his business, he is the most loyal and upright soul in Paris. + There are two men in him; he is petty and great—a miser and a + philosopher. If I were to die and leave a family behind me, he would be + the guardian whom I should appoint. This was how I came to see Gobseck in + this light, monsieur. I know nothing of his past life. He may have been a + pirate, may, for anything I know, have been all over the world, + trafficking in diamonds, or men, or women, or State secrets; but this I + affirm of him—never has human soul been more thoroughly tempered and + tried. When I paid off my loan, I asked him, with a little circumlocution + of course, how it was that he had made me pay such an exorbitant rate of + interest; and why, seeing that I was a friend, and he meant to do me a + kindness, he should not have yielded to the wish and made it complete.—“My + son,” he said, “I released you from all need to feel any gratitude by + giving you ground for the belief that you owed me nothing.”—So we + are the best friends in the world. That answer, monsieur, gives you the + man better than any amount of description.’ + </p> + <p> + “‘I have made up my mind once and for all,’ said the Count. ‘Draw up the + necessary papers; I am going to transfer my property to Gobseck. I have no + one but you to trust to in the draft of the counter-deed, which will + declare that this transfer is a simulated sale, and that Gobseck as + trustee will administer my estate (as he knows how to administer), and + undertakes to make over my fortune to my eldest son when he comes of age. + Now, sir, this I must tell you: I should be afraid to have that precious + document in my own keeping. My boy is so fond of his mother, that I cannot + trust him with it. So dare I beg of you to keep it for me? In case of + death, Gobseck would make you legatee of my property. Every contingency is + provided for.’ + </p> + <p> + “The Count paused for a moment. He seemed greatly agitated. + </p> + <p> + “‘A thousand pardons,’ he said at length; ‘I am in great pain, and have + very grave misgivings as to my health. Recent troubles have disturbed me + very painfully, and forced me to take this great step.’ + </p> + <p> + “‘Allow me first to thank you, monsieur,’ said I, ‘for the trust you place + me in. But I am bound to deserve it by pointing out to you that you are + disinheriting your—other children. They bear your name. Merely as + the children of a once-loved wife, now fallen from her position, they have + a claim to an assured existence. I tell you plainly that I cannot accept + the trust with which you propose to honor me unless their future is + secured.’ + </p> + <p> + “The Count trembled violently at the words, and tears came into his eyes + as he grasped my hand, saying, ‘I did not know my man thoroughly. You have + made me both glad and sorry. We will make provision for the children in + the counter-deed.’ + </p> + <p> + “I went with him to the door; it seemed to me that there was a glow of + satisfaction in his face at the thought of this act of justice. + </p> + <p> + “Now, Camille, this is how a young wife takes the first step to the brink + of a precipice. A quadrille, a ballad, a picnic party is sometimes cause + sufficient of frightful evils. You are hurried on by the presumptuous + voice of vanity and pride, on the faith of a smile, or through giddiness + and folly! Shame and misery and remorse are three Furies awaiting every + woman the moment she oversteps the limits——” + </p> + <p> + “Poor Camille can hardly keep awake,” the Vicomtesse hastily broke in.—“Go + to bed, child; you have no need of appalling pictures to keep you pure in + heart and conduct.” + </p> + <p> + Camille de Grandlieu took the hint and went. + </p> + <p> + “You were going rather too far, dear M. Derville,” said the Vicomtesse, + “an attorney is not a mother of daughters nor yet a preacher.” + </p> + <p> + “But any newspaper is a thousand times——” + </p> + <p> + “Poor Derville!” exclaimed the Vicomtesse, “what has come over you? Do you + really imagine that I allow a daughter of mine to read the newspapers?—Go + on,” she added after a pause. + </p> + <p> + “Three months after everything was signed and sealed between the Count and + Gobseck——” + </p> + <p> + “You can call him the Comte de Restaud, now that Camille is not here,” + said the Vicomtesse. + </p> + <p> + “So be it! Well, time went by, and I saw nothing of the counter-deed, + which by rights should have been in my hands. An attorney in Paris lives + in such a whirl of business that with certain exceptions which we make for + ourselves, we have not the time to give each individual client the amount + of interest which he himself takes in his affairs. Still, one day when + Gobseck came to dine with me, I asked him as we left the table if he knew + how it was that I had heard no more of M. de Restaud. + </p> + <p> + “‘There are excellent reasons for that,’ he said; ‘the noble Count is at + death’s door. He is one of the soft stamp that cannot learn how to put an + end to chagrin, and allow it to wear them out instead. Life is a craft, a + profession; every man must take the trouble to learn that business. When + he has learned what life is by dint of painful experiences, the fibre of + him is toughened, and acquires a certain elasticity, so that he has his + sensibilities under his own control; he disciplines himself till his + nerves are like steel springs, which always bend, but never break; given a + sound digestion, and a man in such training ought to live as long as the + cedars of Lebanon, and famous trees they are.’ + </p> + <p> + “‘Then is the Count actually dying?’ I asked. + </p> + <p> + “‘That is possible,’ said Gobseck; ‘the winding up of his estate will be a + juicy bit of business for you.’ + </p> + <p> + “I looked at my man, and said, by way of sounding him: + </p> + <p> + “‘Just explain to me how it is that we, the Count and I, are the only men + in whom you take an interest?’ + </p> + <p> + “‘Because you are the only two who have trusted me without finessing,’ he + said. + </p> + <p> + “Although this answer warranted my belief that Gobseck would act fairly + even if the counter-deed were lost, I resolved to go to see the Count. I + pleaded a business engagement, and we separated. + </p> + <p> + “I went straight to the Rue du Helder, and was shown into a room where the + Countess sat playing with her children. When she heard my name, she sprang + up and came to meet me, then she sat down and pointed without a word to a + chair by the fire. Her face wore the inscrutable mask beneath which women + of the world conceal their most vehement emotions. Trouble had withered + that face already. Nothing of its beauty now remained, save the marvelous + outlines in which its principal charm had lain. + </p> + <p> + “‘It is essential, madame, that I should speak to M. le Comte——” + </p> + <p> + “‘If so, you would be more favored than I am,’ she said, interrupting me. + ‘M. de Restaud will see no one. He will hardly allow his doctor to come, + and will not be nursed even by me. When people are ill, they have such + strange fancies! They are like children, they do not know what they want.’ + </p> + <p> + “‘Perhaps, like children, they know very well what they want.’ + </p> + <p> + “The Countess reddened. I almost repented a thrust worthy of Gobseck. So, + by way of changing the conversation, I added, ‘But M. de Restaud cannot + possibly lie there alone all day, madame.’ + </p> + <p> + “‘His oldest boy is with him,’ she said. + </p> + <p> + “It was useless to gaze at the Countess; she did not blush this time, and + it looked to me as if she were resolved more firmly than ever that I + should not penetrate into her secrets. + </p> + <p> + “‘You must understand, madame, that my proceeding is no way indiscreet. It + is strongly to his interest—’ I bit my lips, feeling that I had gone + the wrong way to work. The Countess immediately took advantage of my slip. + </p> + <p> + “‘My interests are in no way separate from my husband’s, sir,’ said she. + ‘There is nothing to prevent your addressing yourself to me——’ + </p> + <p> + “‘The business which brings me here concerns no one but M. le Comte,’ I + said firmly. + </p> + <p> + “‘I will let him know of your wish to see him.’ + </p> + <p> + “The civil tone and expression assumed for the occasion did not impose + upon me; I divined that she would never allow me to see her husband. I + chatted on about indifferent matters for a little while, so as to study + her; but, like all women who have once begun to plot for themselves, she + could dissimulate with the rare perfection which, in your sex, means the + last degree of perfidy. If I may dare to say it, I looked for anything + from her, even a crime. She produced this feeling in me, because it was so + evident from her manner and in all that she did or said, down to the very + inflections of her voice, that she had an eye to the future. I went. + </p> + <p> + “Now, I will pass on to the final scenes of this adventure, throwing in a + few circumstances brought to light by time, and some details guessed by + Gobseck’s perspicacity or by my own. + </p> + <p> + “When the Comte de Restaud apparently plunged into the vortex of + dissipation, something passed between the husband and wife, something + which remains an impenetrable secret, but the wife sank even lower in the + husband’s eyes. As soon as he became so ill that he was obliged to take to + his bed, he manifested his aversion for the Countess and the two youngest + children. He forbade them to enter his room, and any attempt to disobey + his wishes brought on such dangerous attacks that the doctor implored the + Countess to submit to her husband’s wish. + </p> + <p> + “Mme. de Restaud had seen the family estates and property, nay, the very + mansion in which she lived, pass into the hands of Gobseck, who appeared + to play the fantastic ogre so far as their wealth was concerned. She + partially understood what her husband was doing, no doubt. M. de Trailles + was traveling in England (his creditors had been a little too pressing of + late), and no one else was in a position to enlighten the lady, and + explain that her husband was taking precautions against her at Gobseck’s + suggestion. It is said that she held out for a long while before she gave + the signature required by French law for the sale of the property; + nevertheless the Count gained his point. The Countess was convinced that + her husband was realizing his fortune, and that somewhere or other there + would be a little bunch of notes representing the amount; they had been + deposited with a notary, or perhaps at the bank, or in some safe + hiding-place. Following out her train of thought, it was evident that M. + de Restaud must of necessity have some kind of document in his possession + by which any remaining property could be recovered and handed over to his + son. + </p> + <p> + “So she made up her mind to keep the strictest possible watch over the + sick-room. She ruled despotically in the house, and everything in it was + submitted to this feminine espionage. All day she sat in the salon + adjoining her husband’s room, so that she could hear every syllable that + he uttered, every least movement that he made. She had a bed put there for + her of a night, but she did not sleep very much. The doctor was entirely + in her interests. Such wifely devotion seemed praiseworthy enough. With + the natural subtlety of perfidy, she took care to disguise M. de Restaud’s + repugnance for her, and feigned distress so perfectly that she gained a + sort of celebrity. Strait-laced women were even found to say that she had + expiated her sins. Always before her eyes she beheld a vision of the + destitution to follow on the Count’s death if her presence of mind should + fail her; and in these ways the wife, repulsed from the bed of pain on + which her husband lay and groaned, had drawn a charmed circle round about + it. So near, yet kept at a distance; all-powerful, but in disgrace, the + apparently devoted wife was lying in wait for death and opportunity; + crouching like the ant-lion at the bottom of his spiral pit, ever on the + watch for the prey that cannot escape, listening to the fall of every + grain of sand. + </p> + <p> + “The strictest censor could not but recognize that the Countess pushed + maternal sentiment to the last degree. Her father’s death had been a + lesson to her, people said. She worshiped her children. They were so young + that she could hide the disorders of her life from their eyes, and could + win their love; she had given them the best and most brilliant education. + I confess that I cannot help admiring her and feeling sorry for her. + Gobseck used to joke me about it. Just about that time she had discovered + Maxime’s baseness, and was expiating the sins of the past in tears of + blood. I was sure of it. Hateful as were the measures which she took for + regaining control of her husband’s money, were they not the result of a + mother’s love, and a desire to repair the wrongs she had done her + children? And again, it may be, like many a woman who has experienced the + storm of lawless love, she felt a longing to lead a virtuous life again. + Perhaps she only learned the worth of that life when she came to reap the + woeful harvest sown by her errors. + </p> + <p> + “Every time that little Ernest came out of his father’s room, she put him + through a searching examination as to all that his father had done or + said. The boy willingly complied with his mother’s wishes, and told her + even more than she asked in her anxious affection, as he thought. + </p> + <p> + “My visit was a ray of light for the Countess. She was determined to see + in me the instrument of the Count’s vengeance, and resolved that I should + not be allowed to go near the dying man. I augured ill of all this, and + earnestly wished for an interview, for I was not easy in my mind about the + fate of the counter-deed. If it should fall into the Countess’ hands, she + might turn it to her own account, and that would be the beginning of a + series of interminable lawsuits between her and Gobseck. I knew the usurer + well enough to feel convinced that he would never give up the property to + her; there was room for plenty of legal quibbling over a series of + transfers, and I alone knew all the ins and outs of the matter. I was + minded to prevent such a tissue of misfortune, so I went to the Countess a + second time. + </p> + <p> + “I have noticed, madame,” said Derville, turning to the Vicomtesse, and + speaking in a confidential tone, “certain moral phenomena to which we do + not pay enough attention. I am naturally an observer of human nature, and + instinctively I bring a spirit of analysis to the business that I transact + in the interest of others, when human passions are called into lively + play. Now, I have often noticed, and always with new wonder, that two + antagonists almost always divine each other’s inmost thoughts and ideas. + Two enemies sometimes possess a power of clear insight into mental + processes, and read each other’s minds as two lovers read in either soul. + So when we came together, the Countess and I, I understood at once the + reason of her antipathy for me, disguised though it was by the most + gracious forms of politeness and civility. I had been forced to be her + confidant, and a woman cannot but hate the man before whom she is + compelled to blush. And she on her side knew that if I was the man in whom + her husband placed confidence, that husband had not as yet given up his + fortune. + </p> + <p> + “I will spare you the conversation, but it abides in my memory as one of + the most dangerous encounters in my career. Nature had bestowed on her all + the qualities which, combined, are irresistibly fascinating; she could be + pliant and proud by turns, and confiding and coaxing in her manner; she + even went so far as to try to subjugate me. It was a failure. As I took my + leave of her, I caught a gleam of hate and rage in her eyes that made me + shudder. We parted enemies. She would fain have crushed me out of + existence; and for my own part, I felt pity for her, and for some natures + pity is the deadliest of insults. This feeling pervaded the last + representations I put before her; and when I left her, I left, I think, + dread in the depths of her soul, by declaring that, turn which way she + would, ruin lay inevitably before her. + </p> + <p> + “‘If I were to see M. le Comte, your children’s property at any rate would——’ + </p> + <p> + “‘I should be at your mercy,’ she said, breaking in upon me, disgust in + her gesture. + </p> + <p> + “Now that we had spoken frankly, I made up my mind to save the family from + impending destitution. I resolved to strain the law at need to gain my + ends, and this was what I did. I sued the Comte de Restaud for a sum of + money, ostensibly due to Gobseck, and gained judgment. The Countess, of + course, did not allow him to know of this, but I had gained on my point, I + had a right to affix seals to everything on the death of the Count. I + bribed one of the servants in the house—the man undertook to let me + know at any hour of the day or night if his master should be at the point + of death, so that I could intervene at once, scare the Countess with a + threat of affixing seals, and so secure the counter-deed. + </p> + <p> + “I learned later on that the woman was studying the Code, with her + husband’s dying moans in her ears. If we could picture the thoughts of + those who stand about a deathbed, what fearful sights should we not see? + Money is always the motive-spring of the schemes elaborated, of all the + plans that are made and the plots that are woven about it! Let us leave + these details, nauseating in the nature of them; but perhaps they may have + given you some insight into all that this husband and wife endured; + perhaps too they may unveil much that is passing in secret in other + houses. + </p> + <p> + “For two months the Comte de Restaud lay on his bed, alone, and resigned + to his fate. Mortal disease was slowly sapping the strength of mind and + body. Unaccountable and grotesque sick fancies preyed upon him; he would + not suffer them to set his room in order, no one could nurse him, he would + not even allow them to make his bed. All his surroundings bore the marks + of this last degree of apathy, the furniture was out of place, the + daintiest trifles were covered with dust and cobwebs. In health he had + been a man of refined and expensive tastes, now he positively delighted in + the comfortless look of the room. A host of objects required in illness—rows + of medicine bottles, empty and full, most of them dirty, crumpled linen, + and broken plates, littered the writing-table, chairs, and chimney-piece. + An open warming-pan lay on the floor before the grate; a bath, still full + of mineral water had not been taken away. The sense of coming dissolution + pervaded all the details of an unsightly chaos. Signs of death appeared in + things inanimate before the Destroyer came to the body on the bed. The + Comte de Restaud could not bear the daylight, the Venetian shutters were + closed, darkness deepened the gloom in the dismal chamber. The sick man himself + had wasted greatly. All the life in him seemed to have taken refuge in the + still brilliant eyes. The livid whiteness of his face was something + horrible to see, enhanced as it was by the long dank locks of hair that + straggled along his cheeks, for he would never suffer them to cut it. He + looked like some religious fanatic in the desert. Mental suffering was + extinguishing all human instincts in this man of scarce fifty years of + age, whom all Paris had known as so brilliant and so successful. + </p> + <p> + “One morning at the beginning of December 1824, he looked up at Ernest, + who sat at the foot of his bed gazing at his father with wistful eyes. + </p> + <p> + “‘Are you in pain?’ the little Vicomte asked. + </p> + <p> + “‘No,’ said the Count, with a ghastly smile, ‘it all lies <i>here and + about my heart</i>!’ + </p> + <p> + “He pointed to his forehead, and then laid his wasted fingers on his + hollow chest. Ernest began to cry at the sight. + </p> + <p> + “‘How is it that M. Derville does not come to me?’ the Count asked his + servant (he thought that Maurice was really attached to him, but the man + was entirely in the Countess’ interest)—‘What! Maurice!’ and the + dying man suddenly sat upright in his bed, and seemed to recover all his + presence of mind, ‘I have sent for my attorney seven or eight times during + the last fortnight, and he does not come!’ he cried. ‘Do you imagine that + I am to be trifled with? Go for him, at once, this very instant, and bring + him back with you. If you do not carry out my orders, I shall get up and + go myself.’ + </p> + <p> + “‘Madame,’ said the man as he came into the salon, ‘you heard M. le Comte; + what ought I to do?’ + </p> + <p> + “‘Pretend to go to the attorney, and when you come back tell your master + that his man of business is forty leagues away from Paris on an important + lawsuit. Say that he is expected back at the end of the week.—Sick + people never know how ill they are,’ thought the Countess; ‘he will wait + till the man comes home.’ + </p> + <p> + “The doctor had said on the previous evening that the Count could scarcely + live through the day. When the servant came back two hours later to give + that hopeless answer, the dying man seemed to be greatly agitated. + </p> + <p> + “‘Oh God!’ he cried again and again, ‘I put my trust in none but Thee.’ + </p> + <p> + “For a long while he lay and gazed at his son, and spoke in a feeble voice + at last. + </p> + <p> + “‘Ernest, my boy, you are very young; but you have a good heart; you can + understand, no doubt, that a promise given to a dying man is sacred; a + promise to a father... Do you feel that you can be trusted with a secret, + and keep it so well and so closely that even your mother herself shall not + know that you have a secret to keep? There is no one else in this house + whom I can trust to-day. You will not betray my trust, will you?’ + </p> + <p> + “‘No, father.’ + </p> + <p> + “‘Very well, then, Ernest, in a minute or two I will give you a sealed + packet that belongs to M. Derville; you must take such care of it that no + one can know that you have it; then you must slip out of the house and put + the letter into the post-box at the corner.’ + </p> + <p> + “‘Yes, father.’ + </p> + <p> + “‘Can I depend upon you?’ + </p> + <p> + “‘Yes, father.’ + </p> + <p> + “‘Come and kiss me. You have made death less bitter to me, dear boy. In + six or seven years’ time you will understand the importance of this + secret, and you will be well rewarded then for your quickness and + obedience, you will know then how much I love you. Leave me alone for a + minute, and let no one—no matter whom—come in meanwhile.’ + </p> + <p> + “Ernest went out and saw his mother standing in the next room. + </p> + <p> + “‘Ernest,’ said she, ‘come here.’ + </p> + <p> + “She sat down, drew her son to her knees, and clasped him in her arms, and + held him tightly to her heart. + </p> + <p> + “‘Ernest, your father said something to you just now.’ + </p> + <p> + “‘Yes, mamma.’ + </p> + <p> + “‘What did he say?’ + </p> + <p> + “‘I cannot repeat it, mamma.’ + </p> + <p> + “‘Oh, my dear child!’ cried the Countess, kissing him in rapture. ‘You + have kept your secret; how glad that makes me! Never tell a lie; never + fail to keep your word—those are two principles which should never + be forgotten.’ + </p> + <p> + “‘Oh! mamma, how beautiful you are! <i>You</i> have never told a lie, I am + quite sure.’ + </p> + <p> + “‘Once or twice, Ernest dear, I have lied. Yes, and I have not kept my + word under circumstances which speak louder than all precepts. Listen, my + Ernest, you are big enough and intelligent enough to see that your father + drives me away, and will not allow me to nurse him, and this is not + natural, for you know how much I love him.’ + </p> + <p> + “‘Yes, mamma.’ + </p> + <p> + “The Countess began to cry. ‘Poor child!’ she said, ‘this misfortune is + the result of treacherous insinuations. Wicked people have tried to + separate me from your father to satisfy their greed. They mean to take all + our money from us and to keep it for themselves. If your father were well, + the division between us would soon be over; he would listen to me; he is + loving and kind; he would see his mistake. But now his mind is affected, + and his prejudices against me have become a fixed idea, a sort of mania + with him. It is one result of his illness. Your father’s fondness for you + is another proof that his mind is deranged. Until he fell ill you never + noticed that he loved you more than Pauline and Georges. It is all caprice + with him now. In his affection for you he might take it into his head to + tell you to do things for him. If you do not want to ruin us all, my + darling, and to see your mother begging her bread like a pauper woman, you + must tell her everything——’ + </p> + <p> + “‘Ah!’ cried the Count. He had opened the door and stood there, a sudden, + half-naked apparition, almost as thin and fleshless as a skeleton. + </p> + <p> + “His smothered cry produced a terrible effect upon the Countess; she sat + motionless, as if a sudden stupor had seized her. Her husband was as white + and wasted as if he had risen out of his grave. + </p> + <p> + “‘You have filled my life to the full with trouble, and now you are trying + to vex my deathbed, to warp my boy’s mind, and make a depraved man of + him!’ he cried, hoarsely. + </p> + <p> + “The Countess flung herself at his feet. His face, working with the last + emotions of life, was almost hideous to see. + </p> + <p> + “‘Mercy! mercy!’ she cried aloud, shedding a torrent of tears. + </p> + <p> + “‘Have you shown me any pity?’ he asked. ‘I allowed you to squander your + own money, and now do you mean to squander my fortune, too, and ruin my + son?’ + </p> + <p> + “‘Ah! well, yes, have no pity for me, be merciless to me!’ she cried. ‘But + the children? Condemn your widow to live in a convent; I will obey you; I + will do anything, anything that you bid me, to expiate the wrong I have + done you, if that so the children may be happy! The children! Oh, the + children!’ + </p> + <p> + “‘I have only one child,’ said the Count, stretching out a wasted arm, in + his despair, towards his son. + </p> + <p> + “‘Pardon a penitent woman, a penitent woman!...’ wailed the Countess, her + arms about her husband’s damp feet. She could not speak for sobbing; + vague, incoherent sounds broke from her parched throat. + </p> + <p> + “‘You dare to talk of penitence after all that you said to Ernest!’ + exclaimed the dying man, shaking off the Countess, who lay groveling over + his feet.—‘You turn me to ice!’ he added, and there was something + appalling in the indifference with which he uttered the words. ‘You have + been a bad daughter; you have been a bad wife; you will be a bad mother.’ + </p> + <p> + “The wretched woman fainted away. The dying man reached his bed and lay + down again, and a few hours later sank into unconsciousness. The priests + came and administered the sacraments. + </p> + <p> + “At midnight he died; the scene that morning had exhausted his remaining + strength, and on the stroke of midnight I arrived with Daddy Gobseck. The + house was in confusion, and under cover of it we walked up into the little + salon adjoining the death-chamber. The three children were there in tears, + with two priests, who had come to watch with the dead. Ernest came over to + me, and said that his mother desired to be alone in the Count’s room. + </p> + <p> + “‘Do not go in,’ he said; and I admired the child for his tone and + gesture; ‘she is praying there.’ + </p> + <p> + “Gobseck began to laugh that soundless laugh of his, but I felt too much + touched by the feeling in Ernest’s little face to join in the miser’s + sardonic amusement. When Ernest saw that we moved towards the door, he + planted himself in front of it, crying out, ‘Mamma, here are some + gentlemen in black who want to see you!’ + </p> + <p> + “Gobseck lifted Ernest out of the way as if the child had been a feather, + and opened the door. + </p> + <p> + “What a scene it was that met our eyes! The room was in frightful + disorder; clothes and papers and rags lay tossed about in a confusion + horrible to see in the presence of Death; and there, in the midst, stood + the Countess in disheveled despair, unable to utter a word, her eyes + glittering. The Count had scarcely breathed his last before his wife came + in and forced open the drawers and the desk; the carpet was strewn with + litter, some of the furniture and boxes were broken, the signs of violence + could be seen everywhere. But if her search had at first proved fruitless, + there was that in her excitement and attitude which led me to believe that + she had found the mysterious documents at last. I glanced at the bed, and + professional instinct told me all that had happened. The mattress had been + flung contemptuously down by the bedside, and across it, face downwards, + lay the body of the Count, like one of the paper envelopes that strewed + the carpet—he too was nothing now but an envelope. There was + something grotesquely horrible in the attitude of the stiffening rigid + limbs. + </p> + <p> + “The dying man must have hidden the counter-deed under his pillow to keep + it safe so long as life should last; and his wife must have guessed his + thought; indeed, it might be read plainly in his last dying gesture, in + the convulsive clutch of his claw-like hands. The pillow had been flung to + the floor at the foot of the bed; I could see the print of her heel upon + it. At her feet lay a paper with the Count’s arms on the seals; I snatched + it up, and saw that it was addressed to me. I looked steadily at the + Countess with the pitiless clear-sightedness of an examining magistrate + confronting a guilty creature. The contents were blazing in the grate; she + had flung them on the fire at the sound of our approach, imagining, from a + first hasty glance at the provisions which I had suggested for her + children, that she was destroying a will which disinherited them. A + tormented conscience and involuntary horror of the deed which she had done + had taken away all power of reflection. She had been caught in the act, + and possibly the scaffold was rising before her eyes, and she already felt + the felon’s branding iron. + </p> + <p> + “There she stood gasping for breath, waiting for us to speak, staring at + us with haggard eyes. + </p> + <p> + “I went across to the grate and pulled out an unburned fragment. ‘Ah, + madame!’ I exclaimed, ‘you have ruined your children! Those papers were + their titles to their property.’ + </p> + <p> + “Her mouth twitched, she looked as if she were threatened by a paralytic + seizure. + </p> + <p> + “‘Eh! eh!’ cried Gobseck; the harsh, shrill tone grated upon our ears like + the sound of a brass candlestick scratching a marble surface. + </p> + <p> + “There was a pause, then the old man turned to me and said quietly: + </p> + <p> + “‘Do you intend Mme. la Comtesse to suppose that I am not the rightful + owner of the property sold to me by her late husband? This house belongs + to me now.’ + </p> + <p> + “A sudden blow on the head from a bludgeon would have given me less pain + and astonishment. The Countess saw the look of hesitation in my face. + </p> + <p> + “‘Monsieur,’ she cried, ‘Monsieur!’ She could find no other words. + </p> + <p> + “‘You are a trustee, are you not?’ I asked. + </p> + <p> + “‘That is possible.’ + </p> + <p> + “‘Then do you mean to take advantage of this crime of hers?’ + </p> + <p> + “‘Precisely.’ + </p> + <p> + “I went at that, leaving the Countess sitting by her husband’s bedside, + shedding hot tears. Gobseck followed me. Outside in the street I separated + from him, but he came after me, flung me one of those searching glances + with which he probed men’s minds, and said in the husky flute-tones, + pitched in a shriller key: + </p> + <p> + “‘Do you take it upon yourself to judge me?’” + </p> + <p> + “From that time forward we saw little of each other. Gobseck let the + Count’s mansion on lease; he spent the summers on the country estates. He + was a lord of the manor in earnest, putting up farm buildings, repairing + mills and roadways, and planting timber. I came across him one day in a + walk in the Jardin des Tuileries. + </p> + <p> + “‘The Countess is behaving like a heroine,’ said I; ‘she gives herself up + entirely to the children’s education; she is giving them a perfect + bringing up. The oldest boy is a charming young fellow——’ + </p> + <p> + “‘That is possible.’ + </p> + <p> + “‘But ought you not to help Ernest?’ I suggested. + </p> + <p> + “‘Help him!’ cried Gobseck. ‘Not I. Adversity is the greatest of all + teachers; adversity teaches us to know the value of money and the worth of + men and women. Let him set sail on the seas of Paris; when he is a + qualified pilot, we will give him a ship to steer.’ + </p> + <p> + “I left him without seeking to explain the meaning of his words. + </p> + <p> + “M. de Restaud’s mother has prejudiced him against me, and he is very far + from taking me as his legal adviser; still, I went to see Gobseck last + week to tell him about Ernest’s love for Mlle. Camille, and pressed him to + carry out his contract, since that young Restaud is just of age. + </p> + <p> + “I found the old bill-discounter had been kept to his bed for a long time + by the complaint of which he was to die. He put me off, saying that he + would give the matter his attention when he could get up again and see + after his business; his idea being no doubt that he would not give up any + of his possessions so long as the breath was in him; no other reason could + be found for his shuffling answer. He seemed to me to be much worse than + he at all suspected. I stayed with him long enough to discern the progress + of a passion which age had converted into a sort of craze. He wanted to be + alone in the house, and had taken the rooms one by one as they fell + vacant. In his own room he had changed nothing; the furniture which I knew + so well sixteen years ago looked the same as ever; it might have been kept + under a glass case. Gobseck’s faithful old portress, with her husband, a + pensioner, who sat in the entry while she was upstairs, was still his + housekeeper and charwoman, and now in addition his sick-nurse. In spite of + his feebleness, Gobseck saw his clients himself as heretofore, and + received sums of money; his affairs had been so simplified, that he only + needed to send his pensioner out now and again on an errand, and could + carry on business in his bed. + </p> + <p> + “After the treaty, by which France recognized the Haytian Republic, + Gobseck was one of the members of the commission appointed to liquidate + claims and assess repayments due by Hayti; his special knowledge of old + fortunes in San Domingo, and the planters and their heirs and assigns to + whom the indemnities were due, had led to his nomination. Gobseck’s + peculiar genius had then devised an agency for discounting the planters’ + claims on the government. The business was carried on under the names of + Werbrust and Gigonnet, with whom he shared the spoil without + disbursements, for his knowledge was accepted instead of capital. The + agency was a sort of distillery, in which money was extracted from + doubtful claims, and the claims of those who knew no better, or had no + confidence in the government. As a liquidator, Gobseck could make terms + with the large landed proprietors; and these, either to gain a higher + percentage of their claims, or to ensure prompt settlements, would send + him presents in proportion to their means. In this way presents came to be + a kind of percentage upon sums too large to pass through his control, + while the agency bought up cheaply the small and dubious claims, or the + claims of those persons who preferred a little ready money to a deferred + and somewhat hazy repayment by the Republic. Gobseck was the insatiable + boa constrictor of the great business. Every morning he received his + tribute, eyeing it like a Nabob’s prime minister, as he considers whether + he will sign a pardon. Gobseck would take anything, from the present of + game sent him by some poor devil or the pound’s weight of wax candles from + devout folk, to the rich man’s plate and the speculator’s gold snuff-box. + Nobody knew what became of the presents sent to the old money-lender. + Everything went in, but nothing came out. + </p> + <p> + “‘On the word of an honest woman,’ said the portress, an old acquaintance + of mine, ‘I believe he swallows it all and is none the fatter for it; he + is as thin and dried up as the cuckoo in the clock.’ + </p> + <p> + “At length, last Monday, Gobseck sent his pensioner for me. The man came + up to my private office. + </p> + <p> + “‘Be quick and come, M. Derville,’ said he, ‘the governor is just going to + hand in his checks; he has grown as yellow as a lemon; he is fidgeting to + speak with you; death has fair hold of him; the rattle is working in his + throat.’ + </p> + <p> + “When I entered Gobseck’s room, I found the dying man kneeling before the + grate. If there was no fire on the hearth, there was at any rate a + monstrous heap of ashes. He had dragged himself out of bed, but his + strength had failed him, and he could neither go back nor find the voice + to complain. + </p> + <p> + “‘You felt cold, old friend,’ I said, as I helped him back to his bed; + ‘how can you do without a fire?’ + </p> + <p> + “‘I am not cold at all,’ he said. ‘No fire here! no fire! I am going, I + know not where, lad,’ he went on, glancing at me with blank, lightless + eyes, ‘but I am going away from this.—I have <i>carpology</i>,’ said + he (the use of the technical term showing how clear and accurate his + mental processes were even now). ‘I thought the room was full of live + gold, and I got up to catch some of it.—To whom will all mine go, I + wonder? Not to the crown; I have left a will, look for it, Grotius. <i>La + belle Hollandaise</i> had a daughter; I once saw the girl somewhere or + other, in the Rue Vivienne, one evening. They call her “<i>La Torpille</i>,” + I believe; she is as pretty as pretty can be; look her up, Grotius. You + are my executor; take what you like; help yourself. There are Strasburg + pies, there, and bags of coffee, and sugar, and gold spoons. Give the + Odiot service to your wife. But who is to have the diamonds? Are you going + to take them, lad? There is snuff too—sell it at Hamburg, tobaccos + are worth half as much again at Hamburg. All sorts of things I have in + fact, and now I must go and leave them all.—Come, Papa Gobseck, no + weakness, be yourself!’ + </p> + <p> + “He raised himself in bed, the lines of his face standing out as sharply + against the pillow as if the profile had been cast in bronze; he stretched + out a lean arm and bony hand along the coverlet and clutched it, as if so + he would fain keep his hold on life, then he gazed hard at the grate, cold + as his own metallic eyes, and died in full consciousness of death. To us—the + portress, the old pensioner, and myself—he looked like one of the + old Romans standing behind the Consuls in Lethiere’s picture of the <i>Death + of the Sons of Brutus</i>. + </p> + <p> + “‘He was a good-plucked one, the old Lascar!’ said the pensioner in his + soldierly fashion. + </p> + <p> + “But as for me, the dying man’s fantastical enumeration of his riches + still sounding in my ears, and my eyes, following the direction of his, + rested on that heap of ashes. It struck me that it was very large. I took + the tongs, and as soon as I stirred the cinders, I felt the metal + underneath, a mass of gold and silver coins, receipts taken during his + illness, doubtless, after he grew too feeble to lock the money up, and + could trust no one to take it to the bank for him. + </p> + <p> + “‘Run for the justice of the peace,’ said I, turning to the old pensioner, + ‘so that everything can be sealed here at once.’ + </p> + <p> + “Gobseck’s last words and the old portress’ remarks had struck me. I took + the keys of the rooms on the first and second floor to make a visitation. + The first door that I opened revealed the meaning of the phrases which I + took for mad ravings; and I saw the length to which covetousness goes when + it survives only as an illogical instinct, the last stage of greed of + which you find so many examples among misers in country towns. + </p> + <p> + “In the room next to the one in which Gobseck had died, a quantity of + eatables of all kinds were stored—putrid pies, mouldy fish, nay, + even shell-fish, the stench almost choked me. Maggots and insects swarmed. + These comparatively recent presents were put down, pell-mell, among chests + of tea, bags of coffee, and packing-cases of every shape. A silver soup + tureen on the chimney-piece was full of advices of the arrival of goods + consigned to his order at Havre, bales of cotton, hogsheads of sugar, + barrels of rum, coffees, indigo, tobaccos, a perfect bazaar of colonial + produce. The room itself was crammed with furniture, and silver-plate, and + lamps, and vases, and pictures; there were books, and curiosities, and + fine engravings lying rolled up, unframed. Perhaps these were not all + presents, and some part of this vast quantity of stuff had been deposited + with him in the shape of pledges, and had been left on his hands in + default of payment. I noticed jewel-cases, with ciphers and armorial + bearings stamped upon them, and sets of fine table-linen, and weapons of + price; but none of the things were docketed. I opened a book which seemed + to be misplaced, and found a thousand-franc note in it. I promised myself + that I would go through everything thoroughly; I would try the ceilings, + and floors, and walls, and cornices to discover all the gold, hoarded with + such passionate greed by a Dutch miser worthy of a Rembrandt’s brush. In + all the course of my professional career I have never seen such impressive + signs of the eccentricity of avarice. + </p> + <p> + “I went back to his room, and found an explanation of this chaos and + accumulation of riches in a pile of letters lying under the paper-weights + on his desk—Gobseck’s correspondence with the various dealers to + whom doubtless he usually sold his presents. These persons had, perhaps, + fallen victims to Gobseck’s cleverness, or Gobseck may have wanted fancy + prices for his goods; at any rate, every bargain hung in suspense. He had + not disposed of the eatables to Chevet, because Chevet would only take + them of him at a loss of thirty per cent. Gobseck haggled for a few francs + between the prices, and while they wrangled the goods became unsalable. + Again, Gobseck had refused free delivery of his silver-plate, and declined + to guarantee the weights of his coffees. There had been a dispute over + each article, the first indication in Gobseck of the childishness and + incomprehensible obstinacy of age, a condition of mind reached at last by + all men in whom a strong passion survives the intellect. + </p> + <p> + “I said to myself, as he had said, ‘To whom will all these riches go?’ ... + And then I think of the grotesque information he gave me as to the present + address of his heiress, I foresee that it will be my duty to search all + the houses of ill-fame in Paris to pour out an immense fortune on some + worthless jade. But, in the first place, know this—that in a few + days time Ernest de Restaud will come into a fortune to which his title is + unquestionable, a fortune which will put him in a position to marry Mlle. + Camille, even after adequate provision has been made for his mother the + Comtesse de Restaud and his sister and brother.” + </p> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> <a name="link2H_4_0002" id="link2H_4_0002"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + ADDENDUM + </h2> + <h3> + The following personages appear in other stories of the Human Comedy. + </h3> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Bidault (known as Gigonnet) + The Government Clerks + The Vendetta + Cesar Birotteau + The Firm of Nucingen + A Daughter of Eve + + Derville + A Start in Life + The Gondreville Mystery + Father Goriot + Colonel Chabert + Scenes from a Courtesan’s Life + + Derville, Madame + Cesar Birotteau + + Gobseck, Jean-Esther Van + Father Goriot + Cesar Birotteau + The Government Clerks + The Unconscious Humorists + + Gobseck, Sarah Van + Cesar Birotteau + The Maranas + Scenes from a Courtesan’s Life + The Member for Arcis + + Gobseck, Esther Van + The Firm of Nucingen + A Bachelor’s Establishment + Scenes from a Courtesan’s Life + + Grandlieu, Vicomtesse de + Scenes from a Courtesan’s Life + Colonel Chabert + + Grandlieu, Vicomte Juste de + Scenes from a Courtesan’s Life + + Grandlieu, Vicomtesse Juste de + Scenes from a Courtesan’s Life + A Daughter of Eve + + Maurice (de Restaud’s valet) + Father Goriot + + Palma (banker) + The Firm of Nucingen + Cesar Birotteau + Lost Illusions + A Distinguished Provincial at Paris + The Ball at Sceaux + + Restaud, Comte de + Father Goriot + + Restaud, Comtesse Anastasie de + Father Goriot + + Restaud, Ernest de + The Member for Arcis + + Restaud, Madame Ernest de + The Member for Arcis + + Restaud, Felix-Georges de + The Member for Arcis + + Trailles, Comte Maxime de + Cesar Birotteau + Father Goriot + Ursule Mirouet + A Man of Business + The Member for Arcis + The Secrets of a Princess + Cousin Betty + The Member for Arcis + Beatrix + The Unconscious Humorists +</pre> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Gobseck, by Honore de Balzac + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK GOBSECK *** + +***** This file should be named 1389-h.htm or 1389-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/1/3/8/1389/ + +Produced by Dagny, and Bonnie Sala, 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: Gobseck + +Author: Honore de Balzac + +Translator: Ellen Marriage + +Release Date: July, 1997 [Etext #1389] +Posting Date: February 24, 2010 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK GOBSECK *** + + + + +Produced by Dagny, and Bonnie Sala + + + + + +GOBSECK + + +By Honore De Balzac + + +Translated By Ellen Marriage + + + + + DEDICATION + + To M. le Baron Barchou de Penhoen. + + Among all the pupils of the Oratorian school at Vendome, we are, I + think, the only two who have afterwards met in mid-career of a + life of letters--we who once were cultivating Philosophy when by + rights we should have been minding our De viris. When we met, you + were engaged upon your noble works on German philosophy, and I + upon this study. So neither of us has missed his vocation; and + you, when you see your name here, will feel, no doubt, as much + pleasure as he who inscribes his work to you.--Your old + schoolfellow, + + 1840 De Balzac. + + + + + +GOBSECK + + +It was one o'clock in the morning, during the winter of 1829-30, but in +the Vicomtesse de Grandlieu's salon two persons stayed on who did not +belong to her family circle. A young and good-looking man heard the +clock strike, and took his leave. When the courtyard echoed with the +sound of a departing carriage, the Vicomtesse looked up, saw that no one +was present save her brother and a friend of the family finishing their +game of piquet, and went across to her daughter. The girl, standing by +the chimney-piece, apparently examining a transparent fire-screen, +was listening to the sounds from the courtyard in a way that justified +certain maternal fears. + +"Camille," said the Vicomtesse, "if you continue to behave to young +Comte de Restaud as you have done this evening, you will oblige me to +see no more of him here. Listen, child, and if you have any confidence +in my love, let me guide you in life. At seventeen one cannot judge of +past or future, nor of certain social considerations. I have only one +thing to say to you. M. de Restaud has a mother, a mother who would +waste millions of francs; a woman of no birth, a Mlle. Goriot; people +talked a good deal about her at one time. She behaved so badly to her +own father, that she certainly does not deserve to have so good a son. +The young Count adores her, and maintains her in her position with +dutifulness worthy of all praise, and he is extremely good to his +brother and sister.--But however admirable _his_ behavior may be," the +Vicomtesse added with a shrewd expression, "so long as his mother lives, +any family would take alarm at the idea of intrusting a daughter's +fortune and future to young Restaud." + +"I overheard a word now and again in your talk with Mlle. de Grandlieu," +cried the friend of the family, "and it made me anxious to put in a word +of my own.--I have won, M. le Comte," he added, turning to his opponent. +"I shall throw you over and go to your niece's assistance." + +"See what it is to have an attorney's ears!" exclaimed the Vicomtesse. +"My dear Derville, how could you know what I was saying to Camille in a +whisper?" + +"I knew it from your looks," answered Derville, seating himself in a low +chair by the fire. + +Camille's uncle went to her side, and Mme. de Grandlieu took up her +position on a hearth stool between her daughter and Derville. + +"The time has come for telling a story, which should modify your +judgment as to Ernest de Restaud's prospects." + +"A story?" cried Camille. "Do begin at once, monsieur." + +The glance that Derville gave the Vicomtesse told her that this tale was +meant for her. The Vicomtesse de Grandlieu, be it said, was one of the +greatest ladies in the Faubourg Saint-Germain, by reason of her fortune +and her ancient name; and though it may seem improbable that a Paris +attorney should speak so familiarly to her, or be so much at home in her +house, the fact is nevertheless easily explained. + +When Mme. de Grandlieu returned to France with the Royal family, she +came to Paris, and at first lived entirely on the pension allowed her +out of the Civil List by Louis XVIII.--an intolerable position. The +Hotel de Grandlieu had been sold by the Republic. It came to Derville's +knowledge that there were flaws in the title, and he thought that it +ought to return to the Vicomtesse. He instituted proceedings for nullity +of contract, and gained the day. Encouraged by this success, he used +legal quibbles to such purpose that he compelled some institution or +other to disgorge the Forest of Liceney. Then he won certain lawsuits +against the Canal d'Orleans, and recovered a tolerably large amount +of property, with which the Emperor had endowed various public +institutions. So it fell out that, thanks to the young attorney's +skilful management, Mme. de Grandlieu's income reached the sum of some +sixty thousand francs, to say nothing of the vast sums returned to her +by the law of indemnity. And Derville, a man of high character, well +informed, modest, and pleasant in company, became the house-friend of +the family. + +By his conduct of Mme. de Grandlieu's affairs he had fairly earned the +esteem of the Faubourg Saint-Germain, and numbered the best families +among his clients; but he did not take advantage of his popularity, as +an ambitious man might have done. The Vicomtesse would have had him sell +his practice and enter the magistracy, in which career advancement would +have been swift and certain with such influence at his disposal; but he +persistently refused all offers. He only went into society to keep up +his connections, but he occasionally spent an evening at the Hotel de +Grandlieu. It was a very lucky thing for him that his talents had been +brought into the light by his devotion to Mme. de Grandlieu, for his +practice otherwise might have gone to pieces. Derville had not an +attorney's soul. Since Ernest de Restaud had appeared at the Hotel de +Grandlieu, and he had noticed that Camille felt attracted to the young +man, Derville had been as assiduous in his visits as any dandy of the +Chausee-d'Antin newly admitted to the noble Faubourg. At a ball only +a few days before, when he happened to stand near Camille, and said, +indicating the Count: + +"It is a pity that yonder youngster has not two or three million francs, +is it not?" + +"Is it a pity? I do not think so," the girl answered. "M. de Restaud +has plenty of ability; he is well educated, and the Minister, his +chief, thinks well of him. He will be a remarkable man, I have no doubt. +'Yonder youngster' will have as much money as he wishes when he comes +into power." + +"Yes, but suppose that he were rich already?" + +"Rich already?" repeated Camille, flushing red. "Why all the girls +in the room would be quarreling for him," she said, glancing at the +quadrilles. + +"And then," retorted the attorney, "Mlle. de Grandlieu might not be the +one towards whom his eyes are always turned? That is what that red color +means! You like him, do you not? Come, speak out." + +Camille suddenly rose to go. + +"She loves him," Derville thought. + +Since that evening, Camille had been unwontedly attentive to the +attorney, who approved of her liking for Ernest de Restaud. Hitherto, +although she knew well that her family lay under great obligations to +Derville, she had felt respect rather than real friendship for him, +their relation was more a matter of politeness than of warmth of +feeling; and by her manner, and by the tones of her voice, she had +always made him sensible of the distance which socially lay between +them. Gratitude is a charge upon the inheritance which the second +generation is apt to repudiate. + + + +"This adventure," Derville began after a pause, "brings the one romantic +event in my life to my mind. You are laughing already," he went on; +"it seems so ridiculous, doesn't it, that an attorney should speak of +a romance in his life? But once I was five-and-twenty, like everybody +else, and even then I had seen some queer things. I ought to begin at +the beginning by telling you about some one whom it is impossible that +you should have known. The man in question was a usurer. + +"Can you grasp a clear notion of that sallow, wan face of his? I wish +the _Academie_ would give me leave to dub such faces the _lunar_ +type. It was like silver-gilt, with the gilt rubbed off. His hair was +iron-gray, sleek, and carefully combed; his features might have been +cast in bronze; Talleyrand himself was not more impassive than this +money-lender. A pair of little eyes, yellow as a ferret's, and with +scarce an eyelash to them, peered out from under the sheltering peak of +a shabby old cap, as if they feared the light. He had the thin lips that +you see in Rembrandt's or Metsu's portraits of alchemists and shrunken +old men, and a nose so sharp at the tip that it put you in mind of a +gimlet. His voice was so low; he always spoke suavely; he never flew +into a passion. His age was a problem; it was hard to say whether he had +grown old before his time, or whether by economy of youth he had saved +enough to last him his life. + +"His room, and everything in it, from the green baize of the bureau +to the strip of carpet by the bed, was as clean and threadbare as the +chilly sanctuary of some elderly spinster who spends her days in rubbing +her furniture. In winter time, the live brands of the fire smouldered +all day in a bank of ashes; there was never any flame in his grate. He +went through his day, from his uprising to his evening coughing-fit, +with the regularity of a pendulum, and in some sort was a clockwork man, +wound up by a night's slumber. Touch a wood-louse on an excursion across +your sheet of paper, and the creature shams death; and in something the +same way my acquaintance would stop short in the middle of a sentence, +while a cart went by, to save the strain to his voice. Following the +example of Fontenelle, he was thrifty of pulse-strokes, and concentrated +all human sensibility in the innermost sanctuary of Self. + +"His life flowed soundless as the sands of an hour-glass. His victims +sometimes flew into a rage and made a great deal of noise, followed by a +great silence; so is it in a kitchen after a fowl's neck has been wrung. + +"Toward evening this bill of exchange incarnate would assume ordinary +human shape, and his metals were metamorphosed into a human heart. When +he was satisfied with his day's business, he would rub his hands; his +inward glee would escape like smoke through every rift and wrinkle of +his face;--in no other way is it possible to give an idea of the mute +play of muscle which expressed sensations similar to the soundless +laughter of _Leather Stocking_. Indeed, even in transports of joy, +his conversation was confined to monosyllables; he wore the same +non-committal countenance. + +"This was the neighbor Chance found for me in the house in the Rue +de Gres, where I used to live when as yet I was only a second clerk +finishing my third year's studies. The house is damp and dark, and +boasts no courtyard. All the windows look on the street; the whole +dwelling, in claustral fashion, is divided into rooms or cells of equal +size, all opening upon a long corridor dimly lit with borrowed lights. +The place must have been part of an old convent once. So gloomy was it, +that the gaiety of eldest sons forsook them on the stairs before they +reached my neighbor's door. He and his house were much alike; even so +does the oyster resemble his native rock. + +"I was the one creature with whom he had any communication, socially +speaking; he would come in to ask for a light, to borrow a book or a +newspaper, and of an evening he would allow me to go into his cell, +and when he was in the humor we would chat together. These marks of +confidence were the results of four years of neighborhood and my own +sober conduct. From sheer lack of pence, I was bound to live pretty much +as he did. Had he any relations or friends? Was he rich or poor? Nobody +could give an answer to these questions. I myself never saw money in his +room. Doubtless his capital was safely stowed in the strong rooms of the +Bank. He used to collect his bills himself as they fell due, running +all over Paris on a pair of shanks as skinny as a stag's. On occasion he +would be a martyr to prudence. One day, when he happened to have gold in +his pockets, a double napoleon worked its way, somehow or other, out of +his fob and fell, and another lodger following him up the stairs picked +up the coin and returned it to its owner. + +"'That isn't mine!' said he, with a start of surprise. 'Mine indeed! If +I were rich, should I live as I do!' + +"He made his cup of coffee himself every morning on the cast-iron +chafing dish which stood all day in the black angle of the grate; his +dinner came in from a cookshop; and our old porter's wife went up at the +prescribed hour to set his room in order. Finally, a whimsical chance, +in which Sterne would have seen predestination, had named the man +Gobseck. When I did business for him later, I came to know that he was +about seventy-six years old at the time when we became acquainted. He +was born about 1740, in some outlying suburb of Antwerp, of a Dutch +father and a Jewish mother, and his name was Jean-Esther Van Gobseck. +You remember how all Paris took an interest in that murder case, a +woman named _La belle Hollandaise_? I happened to mention it to my old +neighbor, and he answered without the slightest symptom of interest or +surprise, 'She is my grandniece.' + +"That was the only remark drawn from him by the death of his sole +surviving next of kin, his sister's granddaughter. From reports of the +case I found that _La belle Hollandaise_ was in fact named Sara Van +Gobseck. When I asked by what curious chance his grandniece came to bear +his surname, he smiled: + +"'The women never marry in our family.' + +"Singular creature, he had never cared to find out a single relative +among four generations counted on the female side. The thought of his +heirs was abhorrent to him; and the idea that his wealth could pass into +other hands after his death simply inconceivable. + +"He was a child, ten years old, when his mother shipped him off as a +cabin boy on a voyage to the Dutch Straits Settlements, and there he +knocked about for twenty years. The inscrutable lines on that sallow +forehead kept the secret of horrible adventures, sudden panic, +unhoped-for luck, romantic cross events, joys that knew no limit, +hunger endured and love trampled under foot, fortunes risked, lost, and +recovered, life endangered time and time again, and saved, it may be, by +one of the rapid, ruthless decisions absolved by necessity. He had known +Admiral Simeuse, M. de Lally, M. de Kergarouet, M. d'Estaing, _le Bailli +de Suffren_, M. de Portenduere, Lord Cornwallis, Lord Hastings, Tippoo +Sahib's father, Tippoo Sahib himself. The bully who served Mahadaji +Sindhia, King of Delhi, and did so much to found the power of the +Mahrattas, had had dealings with Gobseck. Long residence at St. Thomas +brought him in contact with Victor Hughes and other notorious pirates. +In his quest of fortune he had left no stone unturned; witness an +attempt to discover the treasure of that tribe of savages so famous in +Buenos Ayres and its neighborhood. He had a personal knowledge of the +events of the American War of Independence. But if he spoke of the +Indies or of America, as he did very rarely with me, and never with +anyone else, he seemed to regard it as an indiscretion and to repent of +it afterwards. If humanity and sociability are in some sort a religion, +Gobseck might be ranked as an infidel; but though I set myself to study +him, I must confess, to my shame, that his real nature was impenetrable +up to the very last. I even felt doubts at times as to his sex. If all +usurers are like this one, I maintain that they belong to the neuter +gender. + +"Did he adhere to his mother's religion? Did he look on Gentiles as +his legitimate prey? Had he turned Roman Catholic, Lutheran, Mahometan, +Brahmin, or what not? I never knew anything whatsoever about his +religious opinions, and so far as I could see, he was indifferent rather +than incredulous. + +"One evening I went in to see this man who had turned himself to gold; +the usurer, whom his victims (his clients, as he styled them) were +wont to call Daddy Gobseck, perhaps ironically, perhaps by way of +antiphrasis. He was sitting in his armchair, motionless as a statue, +staring fixedly at the mantel-shelf, where he seemed to read the figures +of his statements. A lamp, with a pedestal that had once been green, was +burning in the room; but so far from taking color from its smoky light, +his face seemed to stand out positively paler against the background. He +pointed to a chair set for me, but not a word did he say. + +"'What thoughts can this being have in his mind?' said I to myself. +'Does he know that a God exists; does he know there are such things +as feeling, woman, happiness?' I pitied him as I might have pitied a +diseased creature. But, at the same time, I knew quite well that while +he had millions of francs at his command, he possessed the world no +less in idea--that world which he had explored, ransacked, weighed, +appraised, and exploited. + +"'Good day, Daddy Gobseck,' I began. + +"He turned his face towards me with a slight contraction of his bushy, +black eyebrows; this characteristic shade of expression in him meant as +much as the most jubilant smile on a Southern face. + +"'You look just as gloomy as you did that day when the news came of the +failure of that bookseller whose sharpness you admired so much, though +you were one of his victims.' + +"'One of his victims?' he repeated, with a look of astonishment. + +"'Yes. Did you not refuse to accept composition at the meeting of +creditors until he undertook privately to pay you your debt in full; and +did he not give you bills accepted by the insolvent firm; and then, when +he set up in business again, did he not pay you the dividend upon those +bills of yours, signed as they were by the bankrupt firm?' + +"'He was a sharp one, but I had it out of him.' + +"'Then have you some bills to protest? To-day is the 30th, I believe.' + +"It was the first time I had spoken to him of money. He looked +ironically up at me; then in those bland accents, not unlike the husky +tones which the tyro draws from a flute, he answered, 'I am amusing +myself.' + +"'So you amuse yourself now and again?' + +"'Do you imagine that the only poets in the world are those who print +their verses?' he asked, with a pitying look and shrug of the shoulders. + +"'Poetry in that head!' thought I, for as yet I knew nothing of his +life. + +"'What life could be as glorious as mine?' he continued, and his eyes +lighted up. 'You are young, your mental visions are colored by youthful +blood, you see women's faces in the fire, while I see nothing but coals +in mine. You have all sorts of beliefs, while I have no beliefs at +all. Keep your illusions--if you can. Now I will show you life with +the discount taken off. Go wherever you like, or stay at home by the +fireside with your wife, there always comes a time when you settle down +in a certain groove, the groove is your preference; and then happiness +consists in the exercise of your faculties by applying them to +realities. Anything more in the way of precept is false. My principles +have been various, among various men; I had to change them with every +change of latitude. Things that we admire in Europe are punishable in +Asia, and a vice in Paris becomes a necessity when you have passed the +Azores. There are no such things as hard-and-fast rules; there are only +conventions adapted to the climate. Fling a man headlong into one social +melting pot after another, and convictions and forms and moral systems +become so many meaningless words to him. The one thing that always +remains, the one sure instinct that nature has implanted in us, is the +instinct of self-interest. If you had lived as long as I have, you would +know that there is but one concrete reality invariable enough to be +worth caring about, and that is--GOLD. Gold represents every form of +human power. I have traveled. I found out that there were either hills +or plains everywhere: the plains are monotonous, the hills a weariness; +consequently, place may be left out of the question. As to manners; man +is man all the world over. The same battle between the poor and the rich +is going on everywhere; it is inevitable everywhere; consequently, it is +better to exploit than to be exploited. Everywhere you find the man of +thews and sinews who toils, and the lymphatic man who torments himself; +and pleasures are everywhere the same, for when all sensations are +exhausted, all that survives is Vanity--Vanity is the abiding substance +of us, the _I_ in us. Vanity is only to be satisfied by gold in floods. +Our dreams need time and physical means and painstaking thought before +they can be realized. Well, gold contains all things in embryo; gold +realizes all things for us. + +"'None but fools and invalids can find pleasure in shuffling cards all +evening long to find out whether they shall win a few pence at the end. +None but driveling idiots could spend time in inquiring into all that +is happening around them, whether Madame Such-an-One slept single on +her couch or in company, whether she has more blood than lymph, more +temperament than virtue. None but the dupes, who fondly imagine that +they are useful to their like, can interest themselves in laying down +rules for political guidance amid events which neither they nor any one +else foresees, nor ever will foresee. None but simpletons can delight +in talking about stage players and repeating their sayings; making the +daily promenade of a caged animal over a rather larger area; dressing +for others, eating for others, priding themselves on a horse or a +carriage such as no neighbor can have until three days later. What is +all this but Parisian life summed up in a few phrases? Let us find a +higher outlook on life than theirs. Happiness consists either in strong +emotions which drain our vitality, or in methodical occupation which +makes existence like a bit of English machinery, working with the +regularity of clockwork. A higher happiness than either consists in a +curiosity, styled noble, a wish to learn Nature's secrets, or to attempt +by artificial means to imitate Nature to some extent. What is this in +two words but Science and Art, or passion or calm?--Ah! well, every +human passion wrought up to its highest pitch in the struggle for +existence comes to parade itself before me--as I live in calm. As for +your scientific curiosity, a kind of wrestling bout in which man is +never uppermost, I replace it by an insight into all the springs of +action in man and woman. To sum up, the world is mine without effort of +mine, and the world has not the slightest hold on me. Listen to this,' +he went on, 'I will tell you the history of my morning, and you will +divine my pleasures.' + +"He got up, pushed the bolt of the door, drew a tapestry curtain across +it with a sharp grating sound of the rings on the rod, then he sat down +again. + +"'This morning,' he said, 'I had only two amounts to collect; the rest +of the bills that were due I gave away instead of cash to my customers +yesterday. So much saved, you see, for when I discount a bill I always +deduct two francs for a hired brougham--expenses of collection. A pretty +thing it would be, would it not, if my clients were to set _me_ trudging +all over Paris for half-a-dozen francs of discount, when no man is my +master, and I only pay seven francs in the shape of taxes? + +"'The first bill for a thousand francs was presented by a young fellow, +a smart buck with a spangled waistcoat, and an eyeglass, and a tilbury +and an English horse, and all the rest of it. The bill bore the +signature of one of the prettiest women in Paris, married to a Count, a +great landowner. Now, how came that Countess to put her name to a +bill of exchange, legally not worth the paper it was written upon, but +practically very good business; for these women, poor things, are afraid +of the scandal that a protested bill makes in a family, and would give +themselves away in payment sooner than fail? I wanted to find out what +that bill of exchange really represented. Was it stupidity, imprudence, +love or charity? + +"'The second bill, bearing the signature "Fanny Malvaut," came to me +from a linen-draper on the highway to bankruptcy. Now, no creature who +has any credit with a bank comes to _me_. The first step to my door +means that a man is desperately hard up; that the news of his failure +will soon come out: and, most of all, it means that he has been +everywhere else first. The stag is always at bay when I see him, and a +pack of creditors are hard upon his track. The Countess lived in the Rue +du Helder, and my Fanny in the Rue Montmartre. How many conjectures I +made as I set out this morning! If these two women were not able to pay, +they would show me more respect than they would show their own fathers. +What tricks and grimaces would not the Countess try for a thousand +francs! She would be so nice to me, she would talk to me in that +ingratiating tone peculiar to endorsers of bills, she would pour out +a torrent of coaxing words, perhaps she would beg and pray, and I...' +(here the old man turned his pale eyes upon me)--'and I not to be moved, +inexorable!' he continued. 'I am there as the avenger, the apparition of +Remorse. So much for hypotheses. I reached the house. + +"'"Madame la Comtesse is asleep," says the maid. + +"'"When can I see her?" + +"'"At twelve o'clock." + +"'"Is Madame la Comtesse ill?" + +"'"No, sir, but she only came home at three o'clock this morning from a +ball." + +"'"My name is Gobseck, tell her that I shall call again at twelve +o'clock," and I went out, leaving traces of my muddy boots on the carpet +which covered the paved staircase. I like to leave mud on a rich man's +carpet; it is not petty spite; I like to make them feel a touch of the +claws of Necessity. In the Rue Montmartre I thrust open the old gateway +of a poor-looking house, and looked into a dark courtyard where the +sunlight never shines. The porter's lodge was grimy, the window looked +like the sleeve of some shabby wadded gown--greasy, dirty, and full of +holes. + +"'"Mlle. Fanny Malvaut?" + +"'"She has gone out; but if you have come about a bill, the money is +waiting for you." + +"'"I will look in again," said I. + +"'As soon as I knew that the porter had the money for me, I wanted to +know what the girl was like; I pictured her as pretty. The rest of the +morning I spent in looking at the prints in the shop windows along the +boulevard; then, just as it struck twelve, I went through the Countess' +ante-chamber. + +"'"Madame has just this minute rung for me," said the maid; "I don't +think she can see you yet." + +"'"I will wait," said I, and sat down in an easy-chair. + +"'Venetian shutters were opened, and presently the maid came hurrying +back. + +"'"Come in, sir." + +"'From the sweet tone of the girl's voice, I knew that the mistress +could not be ready to pay. What a handsome woman it was that I saw in +another moment! She had flung an Indian shawl hastily over her bare +shoulders, covering herself with it completely, while it revealed the +bare outlines of the form beneath. She wore a loose gown trimmed with +snowy ruffles, which told plainly that her laundress' bills amounted +to something like two thousand francs in the course of a year. Her +dark curls escaped from beneath a bright Indian handkerchief, knotted +carelessly about her head after the fashion of Creole women. The bed lay +in disorder that told of broken slumber. A painter would have paid money +to stay a while to see the scene that I saw. Under the luxurious hanging +draperies, the pillow, crushed into the depths of an eider-down quilt, +its lace border standing out in contrast against the background of blue +silk, bore a vague impress that kindled the imagination. A pair of +satin slippers gleamed from the great bear-skin rug spread by the carved +mahogany lions at the bed-foot, where she had flung them off in her +weariness after the ball. A crumpled gown hung over a chair, the sleeves +touching the floor; stockings which a breath would have blown away were +twisted about the leg of an easy-chair; while ribbon garters straggled +over a settee. A fan of price, half unfolded, glittered on the +chimney-piece. Drawers stood open; flowers, diamonds, gloves, a bouquet, +a girdle, were littered about. The room was full of vague sweet perfume. +And--beneath all the luxury and disorder, beauty and incongruity, I saw +Misery crouching in wait for her or for her adorer, Misery rearing its +head, for the Countess had begun to feel the edge of those fangs. +Her tired face was an epitome of the room strewn with relics of past +festival. The scattered gewgaws, pitiable this morning, when gathered +together and coherent, had turned heads the night before. + +"'What efforts to drink of the Tantalus cup of bliss I could read +in these traces of love stricken by the thunderbolt remorse--in this +visible presentment of a life of luxury, extravagance, and riot. There +were faint red marks on her young face, signs of the fineness of the +skin; but her features were coarsened, as it were, and the circles about +her eyes were unwontedly dark. Nature nevertheless was so vigorous in +her, that these traces of past folly did not spoil her beauty. Her eyes +glittered. She looked like some _Herodias_ of da Vinci's (I have dealt +in pictures), so magnificently full of life and energy was she; there +was nothing starved nor stinted in feature or outline; she awakened +desire; it seemed to me that there was some passion in her yet stronger +than love. I was taken with her. It was a long while since my heart +had throbbed; so I was paid then and there--for I would give a thousand +francs for a sensation that should bring me back memories of youth. + +"'"Monsieur," she said, finding a chair for me, "will you be so good as +to wait?" + +"'"Until this time to-morrow, madame," I said, folding up the bill +again. "I cannot legally protest this bill any sooner." And within +myself I said--"Pay the price of your luxury, pay for your name, pay for +your ease, pay for the monopoly which you enjoy! The rich have invented +judges and courts of law to secure their goods, and the guillotine--that +candle in which so many lie in silk, under silken coverlets, there is +remorse, and grinding of teeth beneath a smile, and those fantastical +lions' jaws are gaping to set their fangs in your heart." + +"'"Protest the bill! Can you mean it?" she cried, with her eyes upon me; +"could you have so little consideration for me?" + +"'"If the King himself owed money to me, madame, and did not pay it, I +should summons him even sooner than any other debtor." + +"'While we were speaking, somebody tapped gently at the door. + +"'"I cannot see any one," she cried imperiously. + +"'"But, Anastasie, I particularly wish to speak to you." + +"'"Not just now, dear," she answered in a milder tone, but with no sign +of relenting. + +"'"What nonsense! You are talking to some one," said the voice, and in +came a man who could only be the Count. + +"'The Countess gave me a glance. I saw how it was. She was thoroughly +in my power. There was a time, when I was young, and might perhaps have +been stupid enough not to protest the bill. At Pondicherry, in 1763, I +let a woman off, and nicely she paid me out afterwards. I deserved it; +what call was there for me to trust her? + +"'"What does this gentleman want?" asked the Count. + +"'I could see that the Countess was trembling from head to foot; the +white satin skin of her throat was rough, "turned to goose flesh," to +use the familiar expression. As for me, I laughed in myself without +moving a muscle. + +"'"This gentleman is one of my tradesmen," she said. + +"'The Count turned his back on me; I drew the bill half out of my +pocket. After that inexorable movement, she came over to me and put a +diamond into my hands. "Take it," she said, "and be gone." + +"'We exchanged values, and I made my bow and went. The diamond was quite +worth twelve hundred francs to me. Out in the courtyard I saw a swarm of +flunkeys, brushing out their liveries, waxing their boots, and cleaning +sumptuous equipages. + +"'"This is what brings these people to me!" said I to myself. "It is +to keep up this kind of thing that they steal millions with all due +formalities, and betray their country. The great lord, and the little +man who apes the great lord, bathes in mud once for all to save himself +a splash or two when he goes afoot through the streets." + +"'Just then the great gates were opened to admit a cabriolet. It was the +same young fellow who had brought the bill to me. + +"'"Sir," I said, as he alighted, "here are two hundred francs, which I +beg you to return to Mme. la Comtesse, and have the goodness to tell her +that I hold the pledge which she deposited with me this morning at her +disposition for a week." + +"'He took the two hundred francs, and an ironical smile stole over his +face; it was as if he had said, "Aha! so she has paid it, has she? ... +Faith, so much the better!" I read the Countess' future in his face. +That good-looking, fair-haired young gentleman is a heartless gambler; +he will ruin himself, ruin her, ruin her husband, ruin the children, eat +up their portions, and work more havoc in Parisian salons than a whole +battery of howitzers in a regiment. + +"'I went back to see Mlle. Fanny in the Rue Montmartre, climbed a very +steep, narrow staircase, and reached a two-roomed dwelling on the fifth +floor. Everything was as neat as a new ducat. I did not see a speck of +dust on the furniture in the first room, where Mlle. Fanny was sitting. +Mlle. Fanny herself was a young Parisian girl, quietly dressed, with a +delicate fresh face, and a winning look. The arrangement of her neatly +brushed chestnut hair in a double curve on her forehead lent a refined +expression to blue eyes, clear as crystal. The broad daylight streaming +in through the short curtains against the window pane fell with softened +light on her girlish face. A pile of shaped pieces of linen told me that +she was a sempstress. She looked like a spirit of solitude. When I held +out the bill, I remarked that she had not been at home when I called in +the morning. + +"'"But the money was left with the porter's wife," said she. + +"'I pretended not to understand. + +"'"You go out early, mademoiselle, it seems." + +"'"I very seldom leave my room; but when you work all night, you are +obliged to take a bath sometimes." + +"'I looked at her. A glance told me all about her life. Here was a girl +condemned by misfortune to toil, a girl who came of honest farmer folk, +for she had still a freckle or two that told of country birth. There +was an indefinable atmosphere of goodness about her; I felt as if I were +breathing sincerity and frank innocence. It was refreshing to my lungs. +Poor innocent child, she had faith in something; there was a crucifix +and a sprig or two of green box above her poor little painted wooden +bedstead; I felt touched, or somewhat inclined that way. I felt ready +to offer to charge no more than twelve per cent, and so give something +towards establishing her in a good way of business. + +"'"But maybe she has a little youngster of a cousin," I said to myself, +"who would raise money on her signature and sponge on the poor girl." + +"'So I went away, keeping my generous impulses well under control; for +I have frequently had occasion to observe that when benevolence does no +harm to him who gives it, it is the ruin of him who takes. When you came +in I was thinking that Fanny Malvaut would make a nice little wife; I +was thinking of the contrast between her pure, lonely life and the life +of the Countess--she has sunk as low as a bill of exchange already, she +will sink to the lowest depths of degradation before she has done!'--I +scrutinized him during the deep silence that followed, but in a moment +he spoke again. 'Well,' he said, 'do you think that it is nothing to +have this power of insight into the deepest recesses of the human heart, +to embrace so many lives, to see the naked truth underlying it all? +There are no two dramas alike: there are hideous sores, deadly chagrins, +love scenes, misery that soon will lie under the ripples of the Seine, +young men's joys that lead to the scaffold, the laughter of despair, +and sumptuous banquets. Yesterday it was a tragedy. A worthy soul of +a father drowned himself because he could not support his family. +To-morrow is a comedy; some youngster will try to rehearse the scene +of M. Dimanche, brought up to date. You have heard the people extol the +eloquence of our latter day preachers; now and again I have wasted my +time by going to hear them; they produced a change in my opinions, but +in my conduct (as somebody said, I can't recollect his name), in my +conduct--never!--Well, well; these good priests and your Mirabeaus and +Vergniauds and the rest of them, are mere stammering beginners compared +with these orators of mine. + +"'Often it is some girl in love, some gray-headed merchant on the verge +of bankruptcy, some mother with a son's wrong-doing to conceal, some +starving artist, some great man whose influence is on the wane, and, for +lack of money, is like to lose the fruit of all his labors--the power +of their pleading has made me shudder. Sublime actors such as these play +for me, for an audience of one, and they cannot deceive me. I can look +into their inmost thoughts, and read them as God reads them. Nothing is +hidden from me. Nothing is refused to the holder of the purse-strings to +loose and to bind. I am rich enough to buy the consciences of those +who control the action of ministers, from their office boys to their +mistresses. Is not that power?--I can possess the fairest women, receive +their softest caresses; is not that Pleasure? And is not your whole +social economy summed up in terms of Power and Pleasure? + +"'There are ten of us in Paris, silent, unknown kings, the arbiters of +your destinies. What is life but a machine set in motion by money? Know +this for certain--methods are always confounded with results; you +will never succeed in separating the soul from the senses, spirit from +matter. Gold is the spiritual basis of existing society.--The ten of us +are bound by the ties of common interest; we meet on certain days of the +week at the Cafe Themis near the Pont Neuf, and there, in conclave, we +reveal the mysteries of finance. No fortune can deceive us; we are in +possession of family secrets in all directions. We keep a kind of Black +Book, in which we note the most important bills issued, drafts on public +credit, or on banks, or given and taken in the course of business. We +are the Casuists of the Paris Bourse, a kind of Inquisition weighing and +analyzing the most insignificant actions of every man of any fortune, +and our forecasts are infallible. One of us looks out over the judicial +world, one over the financial, another surveys the administrative, and +yet another the business world. I myself keep an eye on eldest +sons, artists, people in the great world, and gamblers--on the most +sensational side of Paris. Every one who comes to us lets us into his +neighbor's secrets. Thwarted passion and mortified vanity are great +babblers. Vice and disappointment and vindictiveness are the best of +all detectives. My colleagues, like myself, have enjoyed all things, are +sated with all things, and have reached the point when power and money +are loved for their own sake. + +"'Here,' he said, indicating his bare, chilly room, 'here the most +high-mettled gallant, who chafes at a word and draws swords for a +syllable elsewhere will entreat with clasped hands. There is no city +merchant so proud, no woman so vain of her beauty, no soldier of so bold +a spirit, but that they entreat me here, one and all, with tears of rage +or anguish in their eyes. Here they kneel--the famous artist, and the +man of letters, whose name will go down to posterity. Here, in short' +(he lifted his hand to his forehead), 'all the inheritances and all the +concerns of all Paris are weighed in the balance. Are you still of the +opinion that there are no delights behind the blank mask which so often +has amazed you by its impassiveness?' he asked, stretching out that +livid face which reeked of money. + +"I went back to my room, feeling stupefied. The little, wizened old man +had grown great. He had been metamorphosed under my eyes into a strange +visionary symbol; he had come to be the power of gold personified. I +shrank, shuddering, from life and my kind. + +"'Is it really so?' I thought; 'must everything be resolved into gold?' + +"I remember that it was long before I slept that night. I saw heaps +of gold all about me. My thoughts were full of the lovely Countess; I +confess, to my shame, that the vision completely eclipsed another quiet, +innocent figure, the figure of the woman who had entered upon a life of +toil and obscurity; but on the morrow, through the clouds of slumber, +Fanny's sweet face rose before me in all its beauty, and I thought of +nothing else." + + + +"Will you take a glass of _eau sucree_?" asked the Vicomtesse, +interrupting Derville. + +"I should be glad of it." + +"But I can see nothing in this that can touch our concerns," said Mme. +de Grandlieu, as she rang the bell. + +"Sardanapalus!" cried Derville, flinging out his favorite invocation. +"Mademoiselle Camille will be wide awake in a moment if I say that her +happiness depended not so long ago upon Daddy Gobseck; but as the old +gentleman died at the age of ninety, M. de Restaud will soon be in +possession of a handsome fortune. This requires some explanation. As for +poor Fanny Malvaut, you know her; she is my wife." + +"Poor fellow, he would admit that, with his usual frankness, with a +score of people to hear him!" said the Vicomtesse. + +"I would proclaim it to the universe," said the attorney. + +"Go on, drink your glass, my poor Derville. You will never be anything +but the happiest and the best of men." + +"I left you in the Rue du Helder," remarked the uncle, raising his face +after a gentle doze. "You had gone to see a Countess; what have you done +with her?" + + + +"A few days after my conversation with the old Dutchman," Derville +continued, "I sent in my thesis, and became first a licentiate in +law, and afterwards an advocate. The old miser's opinion of me went up +considerably. He consulted me (gratuitously) on all the ticklish bits +of business which he undertook when he had made quite sure how he stood, +business which would have seemed unsafe to any ordinary practitioner. +This man, over whom no one appeared to have the slightest influence, +listened to my advice with something like respect. It is true that he +always found that it turned out very well. + +"At length I became head-clerk in the office where I had worked for +three years and then I left the Rue des Gres for rooms in my employer's +house. I had my board and lodging and a hundred and fifty francs per +month. It was a great day for me! + +"When I went to bid the usurer good-bye, he showed no sign of feeling, +he was neither cordial nor sorry to lose me, he did not ask me to come +to see him, and only gave me one of those glances which seemed in some +sort to reveal a power of second-sight. + +"By the end of a week my old neighbor came to see me with a tolerably +thorny bit of business, an expropriation, and he continued to ask for my +advice with as much freedom as if he paid for it. + +"My principal was a man of pleasure and expensive tastes; before the +second year (1818-1819) was out he had got himself into difficulties, +and was obliged to sell his practice. A professional connection in those +days did not fetch the present exorbitant prices, and my principal asked +a hundred and fifty thousand francs. Now an active man, of competent +knowledge and intelligence, might hope to pay off the capital in ten +years, paying interest and living respectably in the meantime--if +he could command confidence. But I as the seventh child of a small +tradesman at Noyon, I had not a sou to my name, nor personal knowledge +of any capitalist but Daddy Gobseck. An ambitious idea, and an +indefinable glimmer of hope, put heart into me. To Gobseck I betook +myself, and slowly one evening I made my way to the Rue des Gres. My +heart thumped heavily as I knocked at his door in the gloomy house. I +recollected all the things that he used to tell me, at a time when I +myself was very far from suspecting the violence of the anguish awaiting +those who crossed his threshold. Now it was I who was about to beg and +pray like so many others. + +"'Well, no, not _that_,' I said to myself; 'an honest man must keep his +self-respect wherever he goes. Success is not worth cringing for; let us +show him a front as decided as his own.' + +"Daddy Gobseck had taken my room since I left the house, so as to have +no neighbor; he had made a little grated window too in his door since +then, and did not open until he had taken a look at me and saw who I +was. + +"'Well,' said he, in his thin, flute notes, 'so your principal is +selling his practice?' + +"'How did you know that?' said I; 'he has not spoken of it as yet except +to me.' + +"The old man's lips were drawn in puckers, like a curtain, to either +corner of his mouth, as a soundless smile bore a hard glance company. + +"'Nothing else would have brought you here,' he said drily, after a +pause, which I spent in confusion. + +"'Listen to me, M. Gobseck,' I began, with such serenity as I could +assume before the old man, who gazed at me with steady eyes. There was a +clear light burning in them that disconcerted me. + +"He made a gesture as if to bid me 'Go on.' 'I know that it is not +easy to work on your feelings, so I will not waste my eloquence on the +attempt to put my position before you--I am a penniless clerk, with no +one to look to but you, and no heart in the world but yours can form +a clear idea of my probable future. Let us leave hearts out of the +question. Business is business, and business is not carried on with +sentimentality like romances. Now to the facts. My principal's practice +is worth in his hands about twenty thousand francs per annum; in my +hands, I think it would bring in forty thousand. He is willing to +sell it for a hundred and fifty thousand francs. And _here_,' I +said, striking my forehead, 'I feel that if you would lend me the +purchase-money, I could clear it off in ten years' time.' + +"'Come, that is plain speaking,' said Daddy Gobseck, and he held out his +hand and grasped mine. 'Nobody since I have been in business has stated +the motives of his visit more clearly. Guarantees?' asked he, scanning +me from head to foot. 'None to give,' he added after a pause, 'How old +are you?' + +"'Twenty-five in ten days' time,' said I, 'or I could not open the +matter.' + +"'Precisely.' + +"'Well?' + +"'It is possible.' + +"'My word, we must be quick about it, or I shall have some one buying +over my head.' + +"'Bring your certificate of birth round to-morrow morning, and we will +talk. I will think it over.' + +"'Next morning, at eight o'clock, I stood in the old man's room. He took +the document, put on his spectacles, coughed, spat, wrapped himself +up in his black greatcoat, and read the whole certificate through from +beginning to end. Then he turned it over and over, looked at me, coughed +again, fidgeted about in his chair, and said, 'We will try to arrange +this bit of business.' + +"I trembled. + +"'I make fifty per cent on my capital,' he continued, 'sometimes I make +a hundred, two hundred, five hundred per cent.' + +"I turned pale at the words. + +"'But as we are acquaintances, I shall be satisfied to take twelve and +a half per cent per--(he hesitated)--'well, yes, from you I would be +content to take thirteen per cent per annum. Will that suit you?' + +"'Yes,' I answered. + +"'But if it is too much, stick up for yourself, Grotius!' (a name he +jokingly gave me). 'When I ask you for thirteen per cent, it is all in +the way of business; look into it, see if you can pay it; I don't like a +man to agree too easily. Is it too much?' + +"'No,' said I, 'I will make up for it by working a little harder.' + +"'Gad! your clients will pay for it!' said he, looking at me wickedly +out of the corner of his eyes. + +"'No, by all the devils in hell!' cried I, 'it shall be I who will pay. +I would sooner cut my hand off than flay people.' + +"'Good-night,' said Daddy Gobseck. + +"'Why, fees are all according to scale,' I added. + +"'Not for compromises and settlements out of Court, and cases where +litigants come to terms,' said he. 'You can send in a bill for thousands +of francs, six thousand even at a swoop (it depends on the importance of +the case), for conferences with So-and-so, and expenses, and drafts, and +memorials, and your jargon. A man must learn to look out for business of +this kind. I will recommend you as a most competent, clever attorney. I +will send you such a lot of work of this sort that your colleagues will +be fit to burst with envy. Werbrust, Palma, and Gigonnet, my cronies, +shall hand over their expropriations to you; they have plenty of them, +the Lord knows! So you will have two practices--the one you are buying, +and the other I will build up for you. You ought almost to pay me +fifteen per cent on my loan.' + +"'So be it, but no more,' said I, with the firmness which means that a +man is determined not to concede another point. + +"Daddy Gobseck's face relaxed; he looked pleased with me. + +"'I shall pay the money over to your principal myself,' said he, 'so as +to establish a lien on the purchase and caution-money.' + +"'Oh, anything you like in the way of guarantees.' + +"'And besides that, you will give me bills for the amount made payable +to a third party (name left blank), fifteen bills of ten thousand francs +each.' + +"'Well, so long as it is acknowledged in writing that this is a +double----' + +"'No!' Gobseck broke in upon me. 'No! Why should I trust you any more +than you trust me?' + +"I kept silence. + +"'And furthermore,' he continued, with a sort of good humor, 'you will +give me your advice without charging fees as long as I live, will you +not?' + +"'So be it; so long as there is no outlay.' + +"'Precisely,' said he. "Ah, by the by, you will allow me to go to see +you?' (Plainly the old man found it not so easy to assume the air of +good-humor.) + +"'I shall always be glad.' + +"'Ah! yes, but it would be very difficult to arrange of a morning. You +will have your affairs to attend to, and I have mine.' + +"'Then come in the evening.' + +"'Oh, no!' he answered briskly, 'you ought to go into society and see +your clients, and I myself have my friends at my cafe.' + +"'His friends!' thought I to myself.--'Very well,' said I, 'why not come +at dinner-time?' + +"'That is the time,' said Gobseck, 'after 'Change, at five o'clock. +Good, you will see me Wednesdays and Saturdays. We will talk over +business like a pair of friends. Aha! I am gay sometimes. Just give me +the wing of a partridge and a glass of champagne, and we will have our +chat together. I know a great many things that can be told now at +this distance of time; I will teach you to know men, and what is +more--women!' + +"'Oh! a partridge and a glass of champagne if you like.' + +"'Don't do anything foolish, or I shall lose my faith in you. And don't +set up housekeeping in a grand way. Just one old general servant. I will +come and see that you keep your health. I have capital invested in your +head, he! he! so I am bound to look after you. There, come round in the +evening and bring your principal with you!' + +"'Would you mind telling me, if there is no harm in asking, what was the +good of my birth certificate in this business?' I asked, when the little +old man and I stood on the doorstep. + +"Jean-Esther Van Gobseck shrugged his shoulders, smiled maliciously, and +said, 'What blockheads youngsters are! Learn, master attorney (for learn +you must if you don't mean to be taken in), that integrity and brains +in a man under thirty are commodities which can be mortgaged. After that +age there is no counting on a man.' + +"And with that he shut the door. + + +"Three months later I was an attorney. Before very long, madame, it was +my good fortune to undertake the suit for the recovery of your estates. +I won the day, and my name became known. In spite of the exorbitant rate +of interest, I paid off Gobseck in less than five years. I married Fanny +Malvaut, whom I loved with all my heart. There was a parallel between +her life and mine, between our hard work and our luck, which increased +the strength of feeling on either side. One of her uncles, a well-to-do +farmer, died and left her seventy thousand francs, which helped to clear +off the loan. From that day my life has been nothing but happiness and +prosperity. Nothing is more utterly uninteresting than a happy man, +so let us say no more on that head, and return to the rest of the +characters. + +"About a year after the purchase of the practice, I was dragged into a +bachelor breakfast-party given by one of our number who had lost a +bet to a young man greatly in vogue in the fashionable world. M. de +Trailles, the flower of the dandyism of that day, enjoyed a prodigious +reputation." + +"But he is still enjoying it," put in the Comte de Born. "No one wears +his clothes with a finer air, nor drives a tandem with a better grace. +It is Maxime's gift; he can gamble, eat, and drink more gracefully than +any man in the world. He is a judge of horses, hats, and pictures. All +the women lose their heads over him. He always spends something like a +hundred thousand francs a year, and no creature can discover that he has +an acre of land or a single dividend warrant. The typical knight errant +of our salons, our boudoirs, our boulevards, an amphibian half-way +between a man and a woman--Maxime de Trailles is a singular being, fit +for anything, and good for nothing, quite as capable of perpetrating a +benefit as of planning a crime; sometimes base, sometimes noble, more +often bespattered with mire than besprinkled with blood, knowing more of +anxiety than of remorse, more concerned with his digestion than with any +mental process, shamming passion, feeling nothing. Maxime de Trailles is +a brilliant link between the hulks and the best society; he belongs to +the eminently intelligent class from which a Mirabeau, or a Pitt, or a +Richelieu springs at times, though it is more wont to produce Counts of +Horn, Fouquier-Tinvilles, and Coignards." + +"Well," pursued Derville, when he had heard the Vicomtesse's brother to +the end, "I had heard a good deal about this individual from poor old +Goriot, a client of mine; and I had already been at some pains to avoid +the dangerous honor of his acquaintance, for I came across him sometimes +in society. Still, my chum was so pressing about this breakfast-party of +his that I could not well get out of it, unless I wished to earn a name +for squeamishness. Madame, you could hardly imagine what a bachelor's +breakfast-party is like. It means superb display and a studied +refinement seldom seen; the luxury of a miser when vanity leads him to +be sumptuous for a day. + +"You are surprised as you enter the room at the neatness of the table, +dazzling by reason of its silver and crystal and linen damask. Life is +here in full bloom; the young fellows are graceful to behold; they smile +and talk in low, demure voices like so many brides; everything about +them looks girlish. Two hours later you might take the room for a +battlefield after the fight. Broken glasses, serviettes crumpled and +torn to rags lie strewn about among the nauseous-looking remnants of +food on the dishes. There is an uproar that stuns you, jesting toasts, a +fire of witticisms and bad jokes; faces are empurpled, eyes inflamed +and expressionless, unintentional confidences tell you the whole truth. +Bottles are smashed, and songs trolled out in the height of a diabolical +racket; men call each other out, hang on each other's necks, or fall +to fisticuffs; the room is full of a horrid, close scent made up of a +hundred odors, and noise enough for a hundred voices. No one has any +notion of what he is eating or drinking or saying. Some are depressed, +others babble, one will turn monomaniac, repeating the same word over +and over again like a bell set jangling; another tries to keep the +tumult within bounds; the steadiest will propose an orgy. If any one in +possession of his faculties should come in, he would think that he had +interrupted a Bacchanalian rite. + +"It was in the thick of such a chaos that M. de Trailles tried to +insinuate himself into my good graces. My head was fairly clear, I was +upon my guard. As for him, though he pretended to be decently drunk, +he was perfectly cool, and knew very well what he was about. How it was +done I do not know, but the upshot of it was that when we left Grignon's +rooms about nine o'clock in the evening, M. de Trailles had thoroughly +bewitched me. I had given him my promise that I would introduce him the +next day to our Papa Gobseck. The words 'honor,' 'virtue,' 'countess,' +'honest woman,' and 'ill-luck' were mingled in his discourse with +magical potency, thanks to that golden tongue of his. + +"When I awoke next morning, and tried to recollect what I had done the +day before, it was with great difficulty that I could make a connected +tale from my impressions. At last, it seemed to me that the daughter of +one of my clients was in danger of losing her reputation, together +with her husband's love and esteem, if she could not get fifty thousand +francs together in the course of the morning. There had been gaming +debts, and carriage-builders' accounts, money lost to Heaven knows whom. +My magician of a boon companion had impressed it upon me that she was +rich enough to make good these reverses by a few years of economy. But +only now did I begin to guess the reasons of his urgency. I confess, to +my shame, that I had not the shadow of a doubt but that it was a matter +of importance that Daddy Gobseck should make it up with this dandy. I +was dressing when the young gentleman appeared. + +"'M. le Comte,' said I, after the usual greetings, 'I fail to see why +you should need me to effect an introduction to Van Gobseck, the most +civil and smooth-spoken of capitalists. Money will be forthcoming if he +has any, or rather, if you can give him adequate security.' + +"'Monsieur,' said he, 'it does not enter into my thoughts to force you +to do me a service, even though you have passed your word.' + +"'Sardanapalus!' said I to myself, 'am I going to let that fellow +imagine that I will not keep my word with him?' + +"'I had the honor of telling you yesterday,' said he, 'that I had fallen +out with Daddy Gobseck most inopportunely; and as there is scarcely +another man in Paris who can come down on the nail with a hundred +thousand francs, at the end of the month, I begged of you to make my +peace with him. But let us say no more about it----' + +"M. de Trailles looked at me with civil insult in his expression, and +made as if he would take his leave. + +"'I am ready to go with you,' said I. + +"When we reached the Rue de Gres, my dandy looked about him with a +circumspection and uneasiness that set me wondering. His face grew +livid, flushed, and yellow, turn and turn about, and by the time that +Gobseck's door came in sight the perspiration stood in drops on his +forehead. We were just getting out of the cabriolet, when a hackney cab +turned into the street. My companion's hawk eye detected a woman in the +depths of the vehicle. His face lighted up with a gleam of almost savage +joy; he called to a little boy who was passing, and gave him his horse +to hold. Then we went up to the old bill discounter. + +"'M. Gobseck,' said I, 'I have brought one of my most intimate friends +to see you (whom I trust as I would trust the Devil,' I added for the +old man's private ear). 'To oblige me you will do your best for him (at +the ordinary rate), and pull him out of his difficulty (if it suits your +convenience).' + +"M. de Trailles made his bow to Gobseck, took a seat, and listened to us +with a courtier-like attitude; its charming humility would have touched +your heart to see, but my Gobseck sits in his chair by the fireside +without moving a muscle, or changing a feature. He looked very like the +statue of Voltaire under the peristyle of the Theatre-Francais, as you +see it of an evening; he had partly risen as if to bow, and the skull +cap that covered the top of his head, and the narrow strip of sallow +forehead exhibited, completed his likeness to the man of marble. + +"'I have no money to spare except for my own clients,' said he. + +"'So you are cross because I may have tried in other quarters to ruin +myself?' laughed the Count. + +"'Ruin yourself!' repeated Gobseck ironically. + +"'Were you about to remark that it is impossible to ruin a man who has +nothing?' inquired the dandy. 'Why, I defy you to find a better _stock_ +in Paris!' he cried, swinging round on his heels. + +"This half-earnest buffoonery produced not the slightest effect upon +Gobseck. + +"'Am I not on intimate terms with the Ronquerolles, the Marsays, the +Franchessinis, the two Vandenesses, the Ajuda-Pintos,--all the most +fashionable young men in Paris, in short? A prince and an ambassador +(you know them both) are my partners at play. I draw my revenues from +London and Carlsbad and Baden and Bath. Is not this the most brilliant +of all industries!' + +"'True.' + +"'You make a sponge of me, begad! you do. You encourage me to go and +swell myself out in society, so that you can squeeze me when I am hard +up; but you yourselves are sponges, just as I am, and death will give +you a squeeze some day.' + +"'That is possible.' + +"'If there were no spendthrifts, what would become of you? The pair of +us are like soul and body.' + +"'Precisely so.' + +"'Come, now, give us your hand, Grandaddy Gobseck, and be magnanimous if +this is "true" and "possible" and "precisely so."' + +"'You come to me,' the usurer answered coldly, 'because Girard, Palma, +Werbrust, and Gigonnet are full up of your paper; they are offering it +at a loss of fifty per cent; and as it is likely they only gave you half +the figure on the face of the bills, they are not worth five-and-twenty +per cent of their supposed value. I am your most obedient! Can I in +common decency lend a stiver to a man who owes thirty thousand francs, +and has not one farthing?' Gobseck continued. 'The day before yesterday +you lost ten thousand francs at a ball at the Baron de Nucingen's.' + +"'Sir,' said the Count, with rare impudence, 'my affairs are no concern +of yours,' and he looked the old man up and down. 'A man has no debts +till payment is due.' + +"'True.' + +"'My bills will be duly met.' + +"'That is possible.' + +"'And at this moment the question between you and me is simply whether +the security I am going to offer is sufficient for the sum I have come +to borrow.' + +"'Precisely.' + +"A cab stopped at the door, and the sound of wheels filled the room. + +"'I will bring something directly which perhaps will satisfy you,' cried +the young man, and he left the room. + +"'Oh! my son,' exclaimed Gobseck, rising to his feet, and stretching +out his arms to me, 'if he has good security, you have saved my life. It +would be the death of me. Werbrust and Gigonnet imagined that they were +going to play off a trick on me; and now, thanks to you, I shall have a +good laugh at their expense to-night.' + +"There was something frightful about the old man's ecstasy. It was the +one occasion when he opened his heart to me; and that flash of joy, +swift though it was, will never be effaced from my memory. + +"'Favor me so far as to stay here,' he added. 'I am armed, and a sure +shot. I have gone tiger-hunting, and fought on the deck when there +was nothing for it but to win or die; but I don't care to trust yonder +elegant scoundrel.' + +"He sat down again in his armchair before his bureau, and his face grew +pale and impassive as before. + +"'Ah!' he continued, turning to me, 'you will see that lovely creature +I once told you about; I can hear a fine lady's step in the corridor; it +is she, no doubt;' and, as a matter of fact, the young man came in with +a woman on his arm. I recognized the Countess, whose levee Gobseck had +described for me, one of old Goriot's two daughters. + +"The Countess did not see me at first; I stayed where I was in the +window bay, with my face against the pane; but I saw her give Maxime a +suspicious glance as she came into the money-lender's damp, dark room. +So beautiful she was, that in spite of her faults I felt sorry for her. +There was a terrible storm of anguish in her heart; her haughty, proud +features were drawn and distorted with pain which she strove in vain +to disguise. The young man had come to be her evil genius. I admired +Gobseck, whose perspicacity had foreseen their future four years ago at +the first bill which she endorsed. + +"'Probably,' said I to myself, 'this monster with the angel face +controls every possible spring of action in her: rules her through +vanity, jealousy, pleasure, and the current of life in the world.'" + +The Vicomtesse de Grandlieu broke in on the story. + +"Why, the woman's very virtues have been turned against her," she +exclaimed. "He has made her shed tears of devotion, and then abused her +kindness and made her pay very dearly for unhallowed bliss." + +Derville did not understand the signs which Mme. de Grandlieu made to +him. + +"I confess," he said, "that I had no inclination to shed tears over the +lot of this unhappy creature, so brilliant in society, so repulsive to +eyes that could read her heart; I shuddered rather at the sight of her +murderer, a young angel with such a clear brow, such red lips and white +teeth, such a winning smile. There they stood before their judge, he +scrutinizing them much as some fifteenth-century Dominican inquisitor +might have peered into the dungeons of the Holy Office while the torture +was administered to two Moors. + +"The Countess spoke tremulously. 'Sir,' she said, 'is there any way +of obtaining the value of these diamonds, and of keeping the right of +repurchase?' She held out a jewel-case. + +"'Yes, madame,' I put in, and came forwards. + +"She looked at me, and a shudder ran through her as she recognized me, +and gave me the glance which means, 'Say nothing of this,' all the world +over. + +"'This,' said I, 'constitutes a sale with faculty of redemption, as it +is called, a formal agreement to transfer and deliver over a piece of +property, either real estate or personalty, for a given time, on the +expiry of which the previous owner recovers his title to the property in +question, upon payment of a stipulated sum.' + +"She breathed more freely. The Count looked black; he had grave doubts +whether Gobseck would lend very much on the diamonds after such a fall +in their value. Gobseck, impassive as ever, had taken up his magnifying +glass, and was quietly scrutinizing the jewels. If I were to live for +a hundred years, I should never forget the sight of his face at that +moment. There was a flush in his pale cheeks; his eyes seemed to have +caught the sparkle of the stones, for there was an unnatural glitter in +them. He rose and went to the light, holding the diamonds close to his +toothless mouth, as if he meant to devour them; mumbling vague words +over them, holding up bracelets, sprays, necklaces, and tiaras one after +another, to judge their water, whiteness, and cutting; taking them out +of the jewel-case and putting them in again, letting the play of the +light bring out all their fires. He was more like a child than an old +man; or, rather, childhood and dotage seemed to meet in him. + +"'Fine stones! The set would have fetched three hundred thousand +francs before the Revolution. What water! Genuine Asiatic diamonds from +Golconda or Visapur. Do you know what they are worth? No, no; no one in +Paris but Gobseck can appreciate them. In the time of the Empire such a +set would have cost another two hundred thousand francs!' + +"He gave a disgusted shrug, and added: + +"'But now diamonds are going down in value every day. The Brazilians +have swamped the market with them since the Peace; but the Indian stones +are a better color. Others wear them now besides court ladies. Does +madame go to court?' + +"While he flung out these terrible words, he examined one stone after +another with delight which no words can describe. + +"'Flawless!' he said. 'Here is a speck!... here is a flaw!... A fine +stone that!' + +"His haggard face was so lighted up by the sparkling jewels, that it put +me in mind of a dingy old mirror, such as you see in country inns. The +glass receives every luminous image without reflecting the light, and +a traveler bold enough to look for his face in it beholds a man in an +apoplectic fit. + +"'Well?' asked the Count, clapping Gobseck on the shoulder. + +"The old boy trembled. He put down his playthings on his bureau, took +his seat, and was a money-lender once more--hard, cold, and polished as +a marble column. + +"'How much do you want?' + +"'One hundred thousand francs for three years,' said the Count. + +"'That is possible,' said Gobseck, and then from a mahogany box +(Gobseck's jewel-case) he drew out a faultlessly adjusted pair of +scales! + +"He weighed the diamonds, calculating the value of stones and setting +at sight (Heaven knows how!), delight and severity struggling in the +expression of his face the meanwhile. The Countess had plunged in a kind +of stupor; to me, watching her, it seemed that she was fathoming the +depths of the abyss into which she had fallen. There was remorse still +left in that woman's soul. Perhaps a hand held out in human charity +might save her. I would try. + +"'Are the diamonds your personal property, madame?' I asked in a clear +voice. + +"'Yes, monsieur,' she said, looking at me with proud eyes. + +"'Make out the deed of purchase with power of redemption, chatterbox,' +said Gobseck to me, resigning his chair at the bureau in my favor. + +"'Madame is without doubt a married woman?' I tried again. + +"She nodded abruptly. + +"'Then I will not draw up the deed,' said I. + +"'And why not?' asked Gobseck. + +"'Why not?' echoed I, as I drew the old man into the bay window so as +to speak aside with him. 'Why not? This woman is under her husband's +control; the agreement would be void in law; you could not possibly +assert your ignorance of a fact recorded on the very face of the +document itself. You would be compelled at once to produce the diamonds +deposited with you, according to the weight, value, and cutting therein +described.' + +"Gobseck cut me short with a nod, and turned towards the guilty couple. + +"'He is right!' he said. 'That puts the whole thing in a different +light. Eighty thousand francs down, and you leave the diamonds with +me,' he added, in the husky, flute-like voice. 'In the way of property, +possession is as good as a title.' + +"'But----' objected the young man. + +"'You can take it or leave it,' continued Gobseck, returning the +jewel-case to the lady as he spoke. + +"'I have too many risks to run.' + +"'It would be better to throw yourself at your husband's feet,' I bent +to whisper in her ear. + +"The usurer doubtless knew what I was saying from the movement of +my lips. He gave me a cool glance. The Count's face grew livid. The +Countess was visibly wavering. Maxime stepped up to her, and, low as he +spoke, I could catch the words: + +"'Adieu, dear Anastasie, may you be happy! As for me, by to-morrow my +troubles will be over.' + +"'Sir!' cried the lady, turning to Gobseck. 'I accept your offer.' + +"'Come, now,' returned Gobseck. 'You have been a long time in coming to +it, my fair lady.' + +"He wrote out a cheque for fifty thousand francs on the Bank of France, +and handed it to the Countess. + +"'Now,' continued he with a smile, such a smile as you will see in +portraits of M. Voltaire, 'now I will give you the rest of the amount in +bills, thirty thousand francs' worth of paper as good as bullion. This +gentleman here has just said, "My bills will be met when they are due,"' +added he, producing certain drafts bearing the Count's signature, all +protested the day before at the request of some of the confraternity, +who had probably made them over to him (Gobseck) at a considerably +reduced figure. + +"The young man growled out something, in which the words 'Old +scoundrel!' were audible. Daddy Gobseck did not move an eyebrow. He drew +a pair of pistols out of a pigeon-hole, remarking coolly: + +"'As the insulted man, I fire first.' + +"'Maxime, you owe this gentleman an explanation,' cried the trembling +Countess in a low voice. + +"'I had no intention of giving offence,' stammered Maxime. + +"'I am quite sure of that,' Gobseck answered calmly; 'you had no +intention of meeting your bills, that was all.' + +"The Countess rose, bowed, and vanished, with a great dread gnawing her, +I doubt not. M. de Trailles was bound to follow, but before he went he +managed to say: + +"'If either of you gentlemen should forget himself, I will have his +blood, or he will have mine.' + +"'Amen!' called Daddy Gobseck as he put his pistols back in their place; +'but a man must have blood in his veins though before he can risk it, my +son, and you have nothing but mud in yours.' + +"When the door was closed, and the two vehicles had gone, Gobseck rose +to his feet and began to prance about. + +"'I have the diamonds! I have the diamonds!' he cried again and again, +'the beautiful diamonds! such diamonds! and tolerably cheaply. Aha! aha! +Werbrust and Gigonnet, you thought you had old Papa Gobseck! _Ego +sum papa_! I am master of the lot of you! Paid! paid, principal and +interest! How silly they will look to-night when I shall come out with +this story between two games of dominoes!' + +"The dark glee, the savage ferocity aroused by the possession of a few +water-white pebbles, set me shuddering. I was dumb with amazement. + +"'Aha! There you are, my boy!' said he. 'We will dine together. We will +have some fun at your place, for I haven't a home of my own, and these +restaurants, with their broths, and sauces, and wines, would poison the +Devil himself.' + +"Something in my face suddenly brought back the usual cold, impassive +expression to his. + +"'You don't understand it,' he said, and sitting down by the hearth, +he put a tin saucepan full of milk on the brazier.--'Will you breakfast +with me?' continued he. 'Perhaps there will be enough here for two.' + +"'Thanks,' said I, 'I do not breakfast till noon.' + +"I had scarcely spoken before hurried footsteps sounded from the +passage. The stranger stopped at Gobseck's door and rapped; there was +that in the knock which suggested a man transported with rage. Gobseck +reconnoitred him through the grating; then he opened the door, and in +came a man of thirty-five or so, judged harmless apparently in spite of +his anger. The newcomer, who was quite plainly dressed, bore a strong +resemblance to the late Duc de Richelieu. You must often have met him, +he was the Countess' husband, a man with the aristocratic figure (permit +the expression to pass) peculiar to statesmen of your faubourg. + +"'Sir,' said this person, addressing himself to Gobseck, who had quite +recovered his tranquillity, 'did my wife go out of this house just now?' + +"'That is possible.' + +"'Well, sir? do you not take my meaning?' + +"'I have not the honor of the acquaintance of my lady your wife,' +returned Gobseck. 'I have had a good many visitors this morning, women +and men, and mannish young ladies, and young gentlemen who look like +young ladies. I should find it very hard to say----' + +"'A truce to jesting, sir! I mean the woman who has this moment gone out +from you.' + +"'How can I know whether she is your wife or not? I never had the +pleasure of seeing you before.' + +"'You are mistaken, M. Gobseck,' said the Count, with profound irony in +his voice. 'We have met before, one morning in my wife's bedroom. You +had come to demand payment for a bill--no bill of hers.' + +"'It was no business of mine to inquire what value she had received for +it,' said Gobseck, with a malignant look at the Count. 'I had come by +the bill in the way of business. At the same time, monsieur,' continued +Gobseck, quietly pouring coffee into his bowl of milk, without a trace +of excitement or hurry in his voice, 'you will permit me to observe that +your right to enter my house and expostulate with me is far from proven +to my mind. I came of age in the sixty-first year of the preceding +century.' + +"'Sir,' said the Count, 'you have just bought family diamonds, which do +not belong to my wife, for a mere trifle.' + +"'Without feeling it incumbent upon me to tell you my private affairs, I +will tell you this much M. le Comte--if Mme. la Comtesse has taken your +diamonds, you should have sent a circular around to all the jewelers, +giving them notice not to buy them; she might have sold them +separately.' + +"'You know my wife, sir!' roared the Count. + +"'True.' + +"'She is in her husband's power.' + +"'That is possible.' + +"'She had no right to dispose of those diamonds----' + +"'Precisely.' + +"'Very well, sir?' + +"'Very well, sir. I knew your wife, and she is in her husband's power; +I am quite willing, she is in the power of a good many people; +but--I--do--_not_--know--your diamonds. If Mme. la Comtesse can put her +name to a bill, she can go into business, of course, and buy and sell +diamonds on her own account. The thing is plain on the face of it!' + +"'Good-day, sir!' cried the Count, now white with rage. 'There are +courts of justice.' + +"'Quite so.' + +"'This gentleman here,' he added, indicating me, 'was a witness of the +sale.' + +"'That is possible.' + +"The Count turned to go. Feeling the gravity of the affair, I suddenly +put in between the two belligerents. + +"'M. le Comte,' said I, 'you are right, and M. Gobseck is by no means in +the wrong. You could not prosecute the purchaser without bringing your +wife into court, and the whole of the odium would not fall on her. I am +an attorney, and I owe it to myself, and still more to my professional +position, to declare that the diamonds of which you speak were purchased +by M. Gobseck in my presence; but, in my opinion, it would be unwise +to dispute the legality of the sale, especially as the goods are not +readily recognizable. In equity our contention would lie, in law it +would collapse. M. Gobseck is too honest a man to deny that the sale was +a profitable transaction, more especially as my conscience, no less than +my duty, compels me to make the admission. But once bring the case into +a court of law, M. le Comte, the issue would be doubtful. My advice to +you is to come to terms with M. Gobseck, who can plead that he bought +the diamonds in all good faith; you would be bound in any case to return +the purchase money. Consent to an arrangement, with power to redeem +at the end of seven or eight months, or a year even, or any convenient +lapse of time, for the repayment of the sum borrowed by Mme. la +Comtesse, unless you would prefer to repurchase them outright and give +security for repayment.' + +"Gobseck dipped his bread into the bowl of coffee, and ate with perfect +indifference; but at the words 'come to terms,' he looked at me as +who should say, 'A fine fellow that! he has learned something from +my lessons!' And I, for my part, riposted with a glance, which he +understood uncommonly well. The business was dubious and shady; there +was pressing need of coming to terms. Gobseck could not deny all +knowledge of it, for I should appear as a witness. The Count thanked me +with a smile of good-will. + +"In the debate which followed, Gobseck showed greed enough and skill +enough to baffle a whole congress of diplomatists; but in the end I +drew up an instrument, in which the Count acknowledged the receipt of +eighty-five thousand francs, interest included, in consideration of +which Gobseck undertook to return the diamonds to the Count. + +"'What waste!' exclaimed he as he put his signature to the agreement. +'How is it possible to bridge such a gulf?' + +"'Have you many children, sir?' Gobseck asked gravely. + +"The Count winced at the question; it was as if the old money-lender, +like an experienced physician, had put his finger at once on the sore +spot. The Comtesse's husband did not reply. + +"'Well,' said Gobseck, taking the pained silence for answer, 'I know +your story by heart. The woman is a fiend, but perhaps you love her +still; I can well believe it; she made an impression on me. Perhaps, +too, you would rather save your fortune, and keep it for one or two of +your children? Well, fling yourself into the whirlpool of society, lose +that fortune at play, come to Gobseck pretty often. The world will say +that I am a Jew, a Tartar, a usurer, a pirate, will say that I have +ruined you! I snap my fingers at them! If anybody insults me, I lay my +man out; nobody is a surer shot nor handles a rapier better than your +servant. And every one knows it. Then, have a friend--if you can find +one--and make over your property to him by a fictitious sale. You call +that a _fidei commissum_, don't you?' he asked, turning to me. + +"The Count seemed to be entirely absorbed in his own thoughts. + +"'You shall have your money to-morrow,' he said, 'have the diamonds in +readiness,' and he went. + +"'There goes one who looks to me to be as stupid as an honest man,' +Gobseck said coolly when the Count had gone. + +"'Say rather stupid as a man of passionate nature.' + +"'The Count owes you your fee for drawing up the agreement!' Gobseck +called after me as I took my leave." + + +"One morning, a few days after the scene which initiated me into the +terrible depths beneath the surface of the life of a woman of fashion, +the Count came into my private office. + +"'I have come to consult you on a matter of grave moment,' he said, 'and +I begin by telling you that I have perfect confidence in you, as I +hope to prove to you. Your behavior to Mme. de Grandlieu is above all +praise,' the Count went on. (You see, madame, that you have paid me a +thousand times over for a very simple matter.) + +"I bowed respectfully, and replied that I had done nothing but the duty +of an honest man. + +"'Well,' the Count went on, 'I have made a great many inquiries about +the singular personage to whom you owe your position. And from all that +I can learn, Gobseck is a philosopher of the Cynic school. What do you +think of his probity?' + +"'M. le Comte,' said I, 'Gobseck is my benefactor--at fifteen per cent,' +I added, laughing. 'But his avarice does not authorize me to paint him +to the life for a stranger's benefit.' + +"'Speak out, sir. Your frankness cannot injure Gobseck or yourself. I do +not expect to find an angel in a pawnbroker.' + +"'Daddy Gobseck,' I began, 'is intimately convinced of the truth of the +principle which he takes for a rule of life. In his opinion, money is a +commodity which you may sell cheap or dear, according to circumstances, +with a clear conscience. A capitalist, by charging a high rate of +interest, becomes in his eyes a secured partner by anticipation. Apart +from the peculiar philosophical views of human nature and financial +principles, which enable him to behave like a usurer, I am fully +persuaded that, out of his business, he is the most loyal and upright +soul in Paris. There are two men in him; he is petty and great--a miser +and a philosopher. If I were to die and leave a family behind me, he +would be the guardian whom I should appoint. This was how I came to see +Gobseck in this light, monsieur. I know nothing of his past life. He +may have been a pirate, may, for anything I know, have been all over the +world, trafficking in diamonds, or men, or women, or State secrets; but +this I affirm of him--never has human soul been more thoroughly +tempered and tried. When I paid off my loan, I asked him, with a little +circumlocution of course, how it was that he had made me pay such an +exorbitant rate of interest; and why, seeing that I was a friend, and +he meant to do me a kindness, he should not have yielded to the wish and +made it complete.--"My son," he said, "I released you from all need to +feel any gratitude by giving you ground for the belief that you owed +me nothing."--So we are the best friends in the world. That answer, +monsieur, gives you the man better than any amount of description.' + +"'I have made up my mind once and for all,' said the Count. 'Draw up the +necessary papers; I am going to transfer my property to Gobseck. I have +no one but you to trust to in the draft of the counter-deed, which will +declare that this transfer is a simulated sale, and that Gobseck as +trustee will administer my estate (as he knows how to administer), and +undertakes to make over my fortune to my eldest son when he comes of +age. Now, sir, this I must tell you: I should be afraid to have that +precious document in my own keeping. My boy is so fond of his mother, +that I cannot trust him with it. So dare I beg of you to keep it for me? +In case of death, Gobseck would make you legatee of my property. Every +contingency is provided for.' + +"The Count paused for a moment. He seemed greatly agitated. + +"'A thousand pardons,' he said at length; 'I am in great pain, and have +very grave misgivings as to my health. Recent troubles have disturbed me +very painfully, and forced me to take this great step.' + +"'Allow me first to thank you, monsieur,' said I, 'for the trust you +place me in. But I am bound to deserve it by pointing out to you that +you are disinheriting your--other children. They bear your name. Merely +as the children of a once-loved wife, now fallen from her position, they +have a claim to an assured existence. I tell you plainly that I cannot +accept the trust with which you propose to honor me unless their future +is secured.' + +"The Count trembled violently at the words, and tears came into his eyes +as he grasped my hand, saying, 'I did not know my man thoroughly. +You have made me both glad and sorry. We will make provision for the +children in the counter-deed.' + +"I went with him to the door; it seemed to me that there was a glow of +satisfaction in his face at the thought of this act of justice. + +"Now, Camille, this is how a young wife takes the first step to the +brink of a precipice. A quadrille, a ballad, a picnic party is +sometimes cause sufficient of frightful evils. You are hurried on by +the presumptuous voice of vanity and pride, on the faith of a smile, +or through giddiness and folly! Shame and misery and remorse are three +Furies awaiting every woman the moment she oversteps the limits----" + +"Poor Camille can hardly keep awake," the Vicomtesse hastily broke +in.--"Go to bed, child; you have no need of appalling pictures to keep +you pure in heart and conduct." + +Camille de Grandlieu took the hint and went. + +"You were going rather too far, dear M. Derville," said the Vicomtesse, +"an attorney is not a mother of daughters nor yet a preacher." + +"But any newspaper is a thousand times----" + +"Poor Derville!" exclaimed the Vicomtesse, "what has come over you? +Do you really imagine that I allow a daughter of mine to read the +newspapers?--Go on," she added after a pause. + +"Three months after everything was signed and sealed between the Count +and Gobseck----" + +"You can call him the Comte de Restaud, now that Camille is not here," +said the Vicomtesse. + +"So be it! Well, time went by, and I saw nothing of the counter-deed, +which by rights should have been in my hands. An attorney in Paris lives +in such a whirl of business that with certain exceptions which we make +for ourselves, we have not the time to give each individual client the +amount of interest which he himself takes in his affairs. Still, one day +when Gobseck came to dine with me, I asked him as we left the table if +he knew how it was that I had heard no more of M. de Restaud. + +"'There are excellent reasons for that,' he said; 'the noble Count is at +death's door. He is one of the soft stamp that cannot learn how to put +an end to chagrin, and allow it to wear them out instead. Life is a +craft, a profession; every man must take the trouble to learn +that business. When he has learned what life is by dint of painful +experiences, the fibre of him is toughened, and acquires a certain +elasticity, so that he has his sensibilities under his own control; he +disciplines himself till his nerves are like steel springs, which +always bend, but never break; given a sound digestion, and a man in +such training ought to live as long as the cedars of Lebanon, and famous +trees they are.' + +"'Then is the Count actually dying?' I asked. + +"'That is possible,' said Gobseck; 'the winding up of his estate will be +a juicy bit of business for you.' + +"I looked at my man, and said, by way of sounding him: + +"'Just explain to me how it is that we, the Count and I, are the only +men in whom you take an interest?' + +"'Because you are the only two who have trusted me without finessing,' +he said. + +"Although this answer warranted my belief that Gobseck would act fairly +even if the counter-deed were lost, I resolved to go to see the Count. I +pleaded a business engagement, and we separated. + +"I went straight to the Rue du Helder, and was shown into a room where +the Countess sat playing with her children. When she heard my name, she +sprang up and came to meet me, then she sat down and pointed without a +word to a chair by the fire. Her face wore the inscrutable mask beneath +which women of the world conceal their most vehement emotions. Trouble +had withered that face already. Nothing of its beauty now remained, save +the marvelous outlines in which its principal charm had lain. + +"'It is essential, madame, that I should speak to M. le Comte----" + +"'If so, you would be more favored than I am,' she said, interrupting +me. 'M. de Restaud will see no one. He will hardly allow his doctor to +come, and will not be nursed even by me. When people are ill, they have +such strange fancies! They are like children, they do not know what they +want.' + +"'Perhaps, like children, they know very well what they want.' + +"The Countess reddened. I almost repented a thrust worthy of Gobseck. +So, by way of changing the conversation, I added, 'But M. de Restaud +cannot possibly lie there alone all day, madame.' + +"'His oldest boy is with him,' she said. + +"It was useless to gaze at the Countess; she did not blush this time, +and it looked to me as if she were resolved more firmly than ever that I +should not penetrate into her secrets. + +"'You must understand, madame, that my proceeding is no way indiscreet. +It is strongly to his interest--' I bit my lips, feeling that I had gone +the wrong way to work. The Countess immediately took advantage of my +slip. + +"'My interests are in no way separate from my husband's, sir,' said she. +'There is nothing to prevent your addressing yourself to me----' + +"'The business which brings me here concerns no one but M. le Comte,' I +said firmly. + +"'I will let him know of your wish to see him.' + +"The civil tone and expression assumed for the occasion did not impose +upon me; I divined that she would never allow me to see her husband. I +chatted on about indifferent matters for a little while, so as to study +her; but, like all women who have once begun to plot for themselves, she +could dissimulate with the rare perfection which, in your sex, means the +last degree of perfidy. If I may dare to say it, I looked for anything +from her, even a crime. She produced this feeling in me, because it was +so evident from her manner and in all that she did or said, down to +the very inflections of her voice, that she had an eye to the future. I +went. + +"Now, I will pass on to the final scenes of this adventure, throwing in +a few circumstances brought to light by time, and some details guessed +by Gobseck's perspicacity or by my own. + +"When the Comte de Restaud apparently plunged into the vortex of +dissipation, something passed between the husband and wife, something +which remains an impenetrable secret, but the wife sank even lower in +the husband's eyes. As soon as he became so ill that he was obliged to +take to his bed, he manifested his aversion for the Countess and the two +youngest children. He forbade them to enter his room, and any attempt +to disobey his wishes brought on such dangerous attacks that the doctor +implored the Countess to submit to her husband's wish. + +"Mme. de Restaud had seen the family estates and property, nay, the very +mansion in which she lived, pass into the hands of Gobseck, who appeared +to play the fantastic ogre so far as their wealth was concerned. +She partially understood what her husband was doing, no doubt. M. de +Trailles was traveling in England (his creditors had been a little too +pressing of late), and no one else was in a position to enlighten the +lady, and explain that her husband was taking precautions against her +at Gobseck's suggestion. It is said that she held out for a long while +before she gave the signature required by French law for the sale of +the property; nevertheless the Count gained his point. The Countess was +convinced that her husband was realizing his fortune, and that somewhere +or other there would be a little bunch of notes representing the amount; +they had been deposited with a notary, or perhaps at the bank, or in +some safe hiding-place. Following out her train of thought, it was +evident that M. de Restaud must of necessity have some kind of document +in his possession by which any remaining property could be recovered and +handed over to his son. + +"So she made up her mind to keep the strictest possible watch over the +sick-room. She ruled despotically in the house, and everything in it +was submitted to this feminine espionage. All day she sat in the salon +adjoining her husband's room, so that she could hear every syllable that +he uttered, every least movement that he made. She had a bed put there +for her of a night, but she did not sleep very much. The doctor was +entirely in her interests. Such wifely devotion seemed praiseworthy +enough. With the natural subtlety of perfidy, she took care to disguise +M. de Restaud's repugnance for her, and feigned distress so perfectly +that she gained a sort of celebrity. Strait-laced women were even found +to say that she had expiated her sins. Always before her eyes she +beheld a vision of the destitution to follow on the Count's death if her +presence of mind should fail her; and in these ways the wife, repulsed +from the bed of pain on which her husband lay and groaned, had drawn +a charmed circle round about it. So near, yet kept at a distance; +all-powerful, but in disgrace, the apparently devoted wife was lying +in wait for death and opportunity; crouching like the ant-lion at the +bottom of his spiral pit, ever on the watch for the prey that cannot +escape, listening to the fall of every grain of sand. + +"The strictest censor could not but recognize that the Countess pushed +maternal sentiment to the last degree. Her father's death had been a +lesson to her, people said. She worshiped her children. They were so +young that she could hide the disorders of her life from their eyes, +and could win their love; she had given them the best and most brilliant +education. I confess that I cannot help admiring her and feeling sorry +for her. Gobseck used to joke me about it. Just about that time she had +discovered Maxime's baseness, and was expiating the sins of the past in +tears of blood. I was sure of it. Hateful as were the measures which +she took for regaining control of her husband's money, were they not +the result of a mother's love, and a desire to repair the wrongs she +had done her children? And again, it may be, like many a woman who has +experienced the storm of lawless love, she felt a longing to lead a +virtuous life again. Perhaps she only learned the worth of that life +when she came to reap the woeful harvest sown by her errors. + +"Every time that little Ernest came out of his father's room, she put +him through a searching examination as to all that his father had done +or said. The boy willingly complied with his mother's wishes, and told +her even more than she asked in her anxious affection, as he thought. + +"My visit was a ray of light for the Countess. She was determined to +see in me the instrument of the Count's vengeance, and resolved that +I should not be allowed to go near the dying man. I augured ill of all +this, and earnestly wished for an interview, for I was not easy in my +mind about the fate of the counter-deed. If it should fall into the +Countess' hands, she might turn it to her own account, and that would +be the beginning of a series of interminable lawsuits between her and +Gobseck. I knew the usurer well enough to feel convinced that he would +never give up the property to her; there was room for plenty of legal +quibbling over a series of transfers, and I alone knew all the ins and +outs of the matter. I was minded to prevent such a tissue of misfortune, +so I went to the Countess a second time. + +"I have noticed, madame," said Derville, turning to the Vicomtesse, and +speaking in a confidential tone, "certain moral phenomena to which we +do not pay enough attention. I am naturally an observer of human nature, +and instinctively I bring a spirit of analysis to the business that I +transact in the interest of others, when human passions are called into +lively play. Now, I have often noticed, and always with new wonder, that +two antagonists almost always divine each other's inmost thoughts and +ideas. Two enemies sometimes possess a power of clear insight into +mental processes, and read each other's minds as two lovers read in +either soul. So when we came together, the Countess and I, I understood +at once the reason of her antipathy for me, disguised though it was by +the most gracious forms of politeness and civility. I had been forced to +be her confidant, and a woman cannot but hate the man before whom she +is compelled to blush. And she on her side knew that if I was the man in +whom her husband placed confidence, that husband had not as yet given up +his fortune. + +"I will spare you the conversation, but it abides in my memory as one of +the most dangerous encounters in my career. Nature had bestowed on her +all the qualities which, combined, are irresistibly fascinating; she +could be pliant and proud by turns, and confiding and coaxing in +her manner; she even went so far as to try to subjugate me. It was a +failure. As I took my leave of her, I caught a gleam of hate and rage +in her eyes that made me shudder. We parted enemies. She would fain have +crushed me out of existence; and for my own part, I felt pity for her, +and for some natures pity is the deadliest of insults. This feeling +pervaded the last representations I put before her; and when I left her, +I left, I think, dread in the depths of her soul, by declaring that, +turn which way she would, ruin lay inevitably before her. + +"'If I were to see M. le Comte, your children's property at any rate +would----' + +"'I should be at your mercy,' she said, breaking in upon me, disgust in +her gesture. + +"Now that we had spoken frankly, I made up my mind to save the family +from impending destitution. I resolved to strain the law at need to gain +my ends, and this was what I did. I sued the Comte de Restaud for a sum +of money, ostensibly due to Gobseck, and gained judgment. The Countess, +of course, did not allow him to know of this, but I had gained on my +point, I had a right to affix seals to everything on the death of the +Count. I bribed one of the servants in the house--the man undertook to +let me know at any hour of the day or night if his master should be +at the point of death, so that I could intervene at once, scare +the Countess with a threat of affixing seals, and so secure the +counter-deed. + +"I learned later on that the woman was studying the Code, with her +husband's dying moans in her ears. If we could picture the thoughts of +those who stand about a deathbed, what fearful sights should we not see? +Money is always the motive-spring of the schemes elaborated, of all the +plans that are made and the plots that are woven about it! Let us leave +these details, nauseating in the nature of them; but perhaps they may +have given you some insight into all that this husband and wife endured; +perhaps too they may unveil much that is passing in secret in other +houses. + +"For two months the Comte de Restaud lay on his bed, alone, and resigned +to his fate. Mortal disease was slowly sapping the strength of mind and +body. Unaccountable and grotesque sick fancies preyed upon him; he would +not suffer them to set his room in order, no one could nurse him, he +would not even allow them to make his bed. All his surroundings bore the +marks of this last degree of apathy, the furniture was out of place, the +daintiest trifles were covered with dust and cobwebs. In health he had +been a man of refined and expensive tastes, now he positively delighted +in the comfortless look of the room. A host of objects required in +illness--rows of medicine bottles, empty and full, most of them dirty, +crumpled linen, and broken plates, littered the writing-table, chairs, +and chimney-piece. An open warming-pan lay on the floor before the +grate; a bath, still full of mineral water had not been taken away. The +sense of coming dissolution pervaded all the details of an unsightly +chaos. Signs of death appeared in things inanimate before the Destroyer +came to the body on the bed. The Comte de Restaud could not bear the +daylight, the Venetian shutters were closed, darkness deepened the gloom +in the dismal chamber. The sick man himself had wasted greatly. All the +life in him seemed to have taken refuge in the still brilliant eyes. The +livid whiteness of his face was something horrible to see, enhanced as +it was by the long dank locks of hair that straggled along his cheeks, +for he would never suffer them to cut it. He looked like some religious +fanatic in the desert. Mental suffering was extinguishing all human +instincts in this man of scarce fifty years of age, whom all Paris had +known as so brilliant and so successful. + +"One morning at the beginning of December 1824, he looked up at Ernest, +who sat at the foot of his bed gazing at his father with wistful eyes. + +"'Are you in pain?' the little Vicomte asked. + +"'No,' said the Count, with a ghastly smile, 'it all lies _here and +about my heart_!' + +"He pointed to his forehead, and then laid his wasted fingers on his +hollow chest. Ernest began to cry at the sight. + +"'How is it that M. Derville does not come to me?' the Count asked his +servant (he thought that Maurice was really attached to him, but the man +was entirely in the Countess' interest)--'What! Maurice!' and the dying +man suddenly sat upright in his bed, and seemed to recover all his +presence of mind, 'I have sent for my attorney seven or eight times +during the last fortnight, and he does not come!' he cried. 'Do you +imagine that I am to be trifled with? Go for him, at once, this very +instant, and bring him back with you. If you do not carry out my orders, +I shall get up and go myself.' + +"'Madame,' said the man as he came into the salon, 'you heard M. le +Comte; what ought I to do?' + +"'Pretend to go to the attorney, and when you come back tell your +master that his man of business is forty leagues away from Paris on +an important lawsuit. Say that he is expected back at the end of the +week.--Sick people never know how ill they are,' thought the Countess; +'he will wait till the man comes home.' + +"The doctor had said on the previous evening that the Count could +scarcely live through the day. When the servant came back two hours +later to give that hopeless answer, the dying man seemed to be greatly +agitated. + +"'Oh God!' he cried again and again, 'I put my trust in none but Thee.' + +"For a long while he lay and gazed at his son, and spoke in a feeble +voice at last. + +"'Ernest, my boy, you are very young; but you have a good heart; you can +understand, no doubt, that a promise given to a dying man is sacred; +a promise to a father... Do you feel that you can be trusted with a +secret, and keep it so well and so closely that even your mother herself +shall not know that you have a secret to keep? There is no one else in +this house whom I can trust to-day. You will not betray my trust, will +you?' + +"'No, father.' + +"'Very well, then, Ernest, in a minute or two I will give you a sealed +packet that belongs to M. Derville; you must take such care of it that +no one can know that you have it; then you must slip out of the house +and put the letter into the post-box at the corner.' + +"'Yes, father.' + +"'Can I depend upon you?' + +"'Yes, father.' + +"'Come and kiss me. You have made death less bitter to me, dear boy. +In six or seven years' time you will understand the importance of +this secret, and you will be well rewarded then for your quickness and +obedience, you will know then how much I love you. Leave me alone for a +minute, and let no one--no matter whom--come in meanwhile.' + +"Ernest went out and saw his mother standing in the next room. + +"'Ernest,' said she, 'come here.' + +"She sat down, drew her son to her knees, and clasped him in her arms, +and held him tightly to her heart. + +"'Ernest, your father said something to you just now.' + +"'Yes, mamma.' + +"'What did he say?' + +"'I cannot repeat it, mamma.' + +"'Oh, my dear child!' cried the Countess, kissing him in rapture. 'You +have kept your secret; how glad that makes me! Never tell a lie; never +fail to keep your word--those are two principles which should never be +forgotten.' + +"'Oh! mamma, how beautiful you are! _You_ have never told a lie, I am +quite sure.' + +"'Once or twice, Ernest dear, I have lied. Yes, and I have not kept my +word under circumstances which speak louder than all precepts. Listen, +my Ernest, you are big enough and intelligent enough to see that your +father drives me away, and will not allow me to nurse him, and this is +not natural, for you know how much I love him.' + +"'Yes, mamma.' + +"The Countess began to cry. 'Poor child!' she said, 'this misfortune +is the result of treacherous insinuations. Wicked people have tried to +separate me from your father to satisfy their greed. They mean to take +all our money from us and to keep it for themselves. If your father were +well, the division between us would soon be over; he would listen to +me; he is loving and kind; he would see his mistake. But now his mind is +affected, and his prejudices against me have become a fixed idea, a +sort of mania with him. It is one result of his illness. Your father's +fondness for you is another proof that his mind is deranged. Until +he fell ill you never noticed that he loved you more than Pauline and +Georges. It is all caprice with him now. In his affection for you he +might take it into his head to tell you to do things for him. If you do +not want to ruin us all, my darling, and to see your mother begging her +bread like a pauper woman, you must tell her everything----' + +"'Ah!' cried the Count. He had opened the door and stood there, a +sudden, half-naked apparition, almost as thin and fleshless as a +skeleton. + +"His smothered cry produced a terrible effect upon the Countess; she +sat motionless, as if a sudden stupor had seized her. Her husband was as +white and wasted as if he had risen out of his grave. + +"'You have filled my life to the full with trouble, and now you are +trying to vex my deathbed, to warp my boy's mind, and make a depraved +man of him!' he cried, hoarsely. + +"The Countess flung herself at his feet. His face, working with the last +emotions of life, was almost hideous to see. + +"'Mercy! mercy!' she cried aloud, shedding a torrent of tears. + +"'Have you shown me any pity?' he asked. 'I allowed you to squander your +own money, and now do you mean to squander my fortune, too, and ruin my +son?' + +"'Ah! well, yes, have no pity for me, be merciless to me!' she cried. +'But the children? Condemn your widow to live in a convent; I will obey +you; I will do anything, anything that you bid me, to expiate the wrong +I have done you, if that so the children may be happy! The children! Oh, +the children!' + +"'I have only one child,' said the Count, stretching out a wasted arm, +in his despair, towards his son. + +"'Pardon a penitent woman, a penitent woman!...' wailed the Countess, +her arms about her husband's damp feet. She could not speak for sobbing; +vague, incoherent sounds broke from her parched throat. + +"'You dare to talk of penitence after all that you said to Ernest!' +exclaimed the dying man, shaking off the Countess, who lay groveling +over his feet.--'You turn me to ice!' he added, and there was something +appalling in the indifference with which he uttered the words. 'You +have been a bad daughter; you have been a bad wife; you will be a bad +mother.' + +"The wretched woman fainted away. The dying man reached his bed and lay +down again, and a few hours later sank into unconsciousness. The priests +came and administered the sacraments. + +"At midnight he died; the scene that morning had exhausted his remaining +strength, and on the stroke of midnight I arrived with Daddy Gobseck. +The house was in confusion, and under cover of it we walked up into the +little salon adjoining the death-chamber. The three children were there +in tears, with two priests, who had come to watch with the dead. Ernest +came over to me, and said that his mother desired to be alone in the +Count's room. + +"'Do not go in,' he said; and I admired the child for his tone and +gesture; 'she is praying there.' + +"Gobseck began to laugh that soundless laugh of his, but I felt too much +touched by the feeling in Ernest's little face to join in the miser's +sardonic amusement. When Ernest saw that we moved towards the door, +he planted himself in front of it, crying out, 'Mamma, here are some +gentlemen in black who want to see you!' + +"Gobseck lifted Ernest out of the way as if the child had been a +feather, and opened the door. + +"What a scene it was that met our eyes! The room was in frightful +disorder; clothes and papers and rags lay tossed about in a confusion +horrible to see in the presence of Death; and there, in the midst, stood +the Countess in disheveled despair, unable to utter a word, her eyes +glittering. The Count had scarcely breathed his last before his wife +came in and forced open the drawers and the desk; the carpet was strewn +with litter, some of the furniture and boxes were broken, the signs of +violence could be seen everywhere. But if her search had at first proved +fruitless, there was that in her excitement and attitude which led me to +believe that she had found the mysterious documents at last. I glanced +at the bed, and professional instinct told me all that had happened. The +mattress had been flung contemptuously down by the bedside, and across +it, face downwards, lay the body of the Count, like one of the paper +envelopes that strewed the carpet--he too was nothing now but an +envelope. There was something grotesquely horrible in the attitude of +the stiffening rigid limbs. + +"The dying man must have hidden the counter-deed under his pillow to +keep it safe so long as life should last; and his wife must have guessed +his thought; indeed, it might be read plainly in his last dying gesture, +in the convulsive clutch of his claw-like hands. The pillow had been +flung to the floor at the foot of the bed; I could see the print of +her heel upon it. At her feet lay a paper with the Count's arms on the +seals; I snatched it up, and saw that it was addressed to me. I looked +steadily at the Countess with the pitiless clear-sightedness of an +examining magistrate confronting a guilty creature. The contents were +blazing in the grate; she had flung them on the fire at the sound of our +approach, imagining, from a first hasty glance at the provisions which +I had suggested for her children, that she was destroying a will which +disinherited them. A tormented conscience and involuntary horror of the +deed which she had done had taken away all power of reflection. She had +been caught in the act, and possibly the scaffold was rising before her +eyes, and she already felt the felon's branding iron. + +"There she stood gasping for breath, waiting for us to speak, staring at +us with haggard eyes. + +"I went across to the grate and pulled out an unburned fragment. 'Ah, +madame!' I exclaimed, 'you have ruined your children! Those papers were +their titles to their property.' + +"Her mouth twitched, she looked as if she were threatened by a paralytic +seizure. + +"'Eh! eh!' cried Gobseck; the harsh, shrill tone grated upon our ears +like the sound of a brass candlestick scratching a marble surface. + +"There was a pause, then the old man turned to me and said quietly: + +"'Do you intend Mme. la Comtesse to suppose that I am not the rightful +owner of the property sold to me by her late husband? This house belongs +to me now.' + +"A sudden blow on the head from a bludgeon would have given me less pain +and astonishment. The Countess saw the look of hesitation in my face. + +"'Monsieur,' she cried, 'Monsieur!' She could find no other words. + +"'You are a trustee, are you not?' I asked. + +"'That is possible.' + +"'Then do you mean to take advantage of this crime of hers?' + +"'Precisely.' + +"I went at that, leaving the Countess sitting by her husband's bedside, +shedding hot tears. Gobseck followed me. Outside in the street I +separated from him, but he came after me, flung me one of those +searching glances with which he probed men's minds, and said in the +husky flute-tones, pitched in a shriller key: + +"'Do you take it upon yourself to judge me?'" + + +"From that time forward we saw little of each other. Gobseck let the +Count's mansion on lease; he spent the summers on the country estates. +He was a lord of the manor in earnest, putting up farm buildings, +repairing mills and roadways, and planting timber. I came across him one +day in a walk in the Jardin des Tuileries. + +"'The Countess is behaving like a heroine,' said I; 'she gives herself +up entirely to the children's education; she is giving them a perfect +bringing up. The oldest boy is a charming young fellow----' + +"'That is possible.' + +"'But ought you not to help Ernest?' I suggested. + +"'Help him!' cried Gobseck. 'Not I. Adversity is the greatest of all +teachers; adversity teaches us to know the value of money and the worth +of men and women. Let him set sail on the seas of Paris; when he is a +qualified pilot, we will give him a ship to steer.' + +"I left him without seeking to explain the meaning of his words. + +"M. de Restaud's mother has prejudiced him against me, and he is very +far from taking me as his legal adviser; still, I went to see Gobseck +last week to tell him about Ernest's love for Mlle. Camille, and pressed +him to carry out his contract, since that young Restaud is just of age. + +"I found the old bill-discounter had been kept to his bed for a long +time by the complaint of which he was to die. He put me off, saying that +he would give the matter his attention when he could get up again and +see after his business; his idea being no doubt that he would not give +up any of his possessions so long as the breath was in him; no other +reason could be found for his shuffling answer. He seemed to me to be +much worse than he at all suspected. I stayed with him long enough to +discern the progress of a passion which age had converted into a sort of +craze. He wanted to be alone in the house, and had taken the rooms one +by one as they fell vacant. In his own room he had changed nothing; +the furniture which I knew so well sixteen years ago looked the same as +ever; it might have been kept under a glass case. Gobseck's faithful old +portress, with her husband, a pensioner, who sat in the entry while +she was upstairs, was still his housekeeper and charwoman, and now in +addition his sick-nurse. In spite of his feebleness, Gobseck saw his +clients himself as heretofore, and received sums of money; his affairs +had been so simplified, that he only needed to send his pensioner out +now and again on an errand, and could carry on business in his bed. + +"After the treaty, by which France recognized the Haytian Republic, +Gobseck was one of the members of the commission appointed to liquidate +claims and assess repayments due by Hayti; his special knowledge of old +fortunes in San Domingo, and the planters and their heirs and assigns +to whom the indemnities were due, had led to his nomination. Gobseck's +peculiar genius had then devised an agency for discounting the planters' +claims on the government. The business was carried on under the names +of Werbrust and Gigonnet, with whom he shared the spoil without +disbursements, for his knowledge was accepted instead of capital. The +agency was a sort of distillery, in which money was extracted from +doubtful claims, and the claims of those who knew no better, or had no +confidence in the government. As a liquidator, Gobseck could make terms +with the large landed proprietors; and these, either to gain a higher +percentage of their claims, or to ensure prompt settlements, would send +him presents in proportion to their means. In this way presents came to +be a kind of percentage upon sums too large to pass through his control, +while the agency bought up cheaply the small and dubious claims, or the +claims of those persons who preferred a little ready money to a deferred +and somewhat hazy repayment by the Republic. Gobseck was the insatiable +boa constrictor of the great business. Every morning he received his +tribute, eyeing it like a Nabob's prime minister, as he considers +whether he will sign a pardon. Gobseck would take anything, from the +present of game sent him by some poor devil or the pound's weight of wax +candles from devout folk, to the rich man's plate and the speculator's +gold snuff-box. Nobody knew what became of the presents sent to the old +money-lender. Everything went in, but nothing came out. + +"'On the word of an honest woman,' said the portress, an old +acquaintance of mine, 'I believe he swallows it all and is none the +fatter for it; he is as thin and dried up as the cuckoo in the clock.' + +"At length, last Monday, Gobseck sent his pensioner for me. The man came +up to my private office. + +"'Be quick and come, M. Derville,' said he, 'the governor is just +going to hand in his checks; he has grown as yellow as a lemon; he is +fidgeting to speak with you; death has fair hold of him; the rattle is +working in his throat.' + +"When I entered Gobseck's room, I found the dying man kneeling before +the grate. If there was no fire on the hearth, there was at any rate +a monstrous heap of ashes. He had dragged himself out of bed, but his +strength had failed him, and he could neither go back nor find the voice +to complain. + +"'You felt cold, old friend,' I said, as I helped him back to his bed; +'how can you do without a fire?' + +"'I am not cold at all,' he said. 'No fire here! no fire! I am going, I +know not where, lad,' he went on, glancing at me with blank, lightless +eyes, 'but I am going away from this.--I have _carpology_,' said he +(the use of the technical term showing how clear and accurate his mental +processes were even now). 'I thought the room was full of live gold, and +I got up to catch some of it.--To whom will all mine go, I wonder? +Not to the crown; I have left a will, look for it, Grotius. _La belle +Hollandaise_ had a daughter; I once saw the girl somewhere or other, in +the Rue Vivienne, one evening. They call her "_La Torpille_," I believe; +she is as pretty as pretty can be; look her up, Grotius. You are my +executor; take what you like; help yourself. There are Strasburg pies, +there, and bags of coffee, and sugar, and gold spoons. Give the Odiot +service to your wife. But who is to have the diamonds? Are you going +to take them, lad? There is snuff too--sell it at Hamburg, tobaccos are +worth half as much again at Hamburg. All sorts of things I have in fact, +and now I must go and leave them all.--Come, Papa Gobseck, no weakness, +be yourself!' + +"He raised himself in bed, the lines of his face standing out as +sharply against the pillow as if the profile had been cast in bronze; he +stretched out a lean arm and bony hand along the coverlet and clutched +it, as if so he would fain keep his hold on life, then he gazed hard at +the grate, cold as his own metallic eyes, and died in full consciousness +of death. To us--the portress, the old pensioner, and myself--he looked +like one of the old Romans standing behind the Consuls in Lethiere's +picture of the _Death of the Sons of Brutus_. + +"'He was a good-plucked one, the old Lascar!' said the pensioner in his +soldierly fashion. + +"But as for me, the dying man's fantastical enumeration of his riches +still sounding in my ears, and my eyes, following the direction of his, +rested on that heap of ashes. It struck me that it was very large. I +took the tongs, and as soon as I stirred the cinders, I felt the metal +underneath, a mass of gold and silver coins, receipts taken during his +illness, doubtless, after he grew too feeble to lock the money up, and +could trust no one to take it to the bank for him. + +"'Run for the justice of the peace,' said I, turning to the old +pensioner, 'so that everything can be sealed here at once.' + +"Gobseck's last words and the old portress' remarks had struck me. +I took the keys of the rooms on the first and second floor to make a +visitation. The first door that I opened revealed the meaning of the +phrases which I took for mad ravings; and I saw the length to which +covetousness goes when it survives only as an illogical instinct, the +last stage of greed of which you find so many examples among misers in +country towns. + +"In the room next to the one in which Gobseck had died, a quantity of +eatables of all kinds were stored--putrid pies, mouldy fish, nay, even +shell-fish, the stench almost choked me. Maggots and insects swarmed. +These comparatively recent presents were put down, pell-mell, among +chests of tea, bags of coffee, and packing-cases of every shape. A +silver soup tureen on the chimney-piece was full of advices of the +arrival of goods consigned to his order at Havre, bales of cotton, +hogsheads of sugar, barrels of rum, coffees, indigo, tobaccos, a perfect +bazaar of colonial produce. The room itself was crammed with furniture, +and silver-plate, and lamps, and vases, and pictures; there were books, +and curiosities, and fine engravings lying rolled up, unframed. Perhaps +these were not all presents, and some part of this vast quantity of +stuff had been deposited with him in the shape of pledges, and had been +left on his hands in default of payment. I noticed jewel-cases, with +ciphers and armorial bearings stamped upon them, and sets of fine +table-linen, and weapons of price; but none of the things were docketed. +I opened a book which seemed to be misplaced, and found a thousand-franc +note in it. I promised myself that I would go through everything +thoroughly; I would try the ceilings, and floors, and walls, and +cornices to discover all the gold, hoarded with such passionate greed +by a Dutch miser worthy of a Rembrandt's brush. In all the course of +my professional career I have never seen such impressive signs of the +eccentricity of avarice. + +"I went back to his room, and found an explanation of this chaos +and accumulation of riches in a pile of letters lying under the +paper-weights on his desk--Gobseck's correspondence with the various +dealers to whom doubtless he usually sold his presents. These persons +had, perhaps, fallen victims to Gobseck's cleverness, or Gobseck may +have wanted fancy prices for his goods; at any rate, every bargain hung +in suspense. He had not disposed of the eatables to Chevet, because +Chevet would only take them of him at a loss of thirty per cent. Gobseck +haggled for a few francs between the prices, and while they wrangled the +goods became unsalable. Again, Gobseck had refused free delivery of +his silver-plate, and declined to guarantee the weights of his coffees. +There had been a dispute over each article, the first indication in +Gobseck of the childishness and incomprehensible obstinacy of age, a +condition of mind reached at last by all men in whom a strong passion +survives the intellect. + +"I said to myself, as he had said, 'To whom will all these riches go?' +... And then I think of the grotesque information he gave me as to the +present address of his heiress, I foresee that it will be my duty +to search all the houses of ill-fame in Paris to pour out an immense +fortune on some worthless jade. But, in the first place, know this--that +in a few days time Ernest de Restaud will come into a fortune to which +his title is unquestionable, a fortune which will put him in a position +to marry Mlle. Camille, even after adequate provision has been made for +his mother the Comtesse de Restaud and his sister and brother." + + + + +ADDENDUM + +The following personages appear in other stories of the Human Comedy. + + Bidault (known as Gigonnet) + The Government Clerks + The Vendetta + Cesar Birotteau + The Firm of Nucingen + A Daughter of Eve + + Derville + A Start in Life + The Gondreville Mystery + Father Goriot + Colonel Chabert + Scenes from a Courtesan's Life + + Derville, Madame + Cesar Birotteau + + Gobseck, Jean-Esther Van + Father Goriot + Cesar Birotteau + The Government Clerks + The Unconscious Humorists + + Gobseck, Sarah Van + Cesar Birotteau + The Maranas + Scenes from a Courtesan's Life + The Member for Arcis + + Gobseck, Esther Van + The Firm of Nucingen + A Bachelor's Establishment + Scenes from a Courtesan's Life + + Grandlieu, Vicomtesse de + Scenes from a Courtesan's Life + Colonel Chabert + + Grandlieu, Vicomte Juste de + Scenes from a Courtesan's Life + + Grandlieu, Vicomtesse Juste de + Scenes from a Courtesan's Life + A Daughter of Eve + + Maurice (de Restaud's valet) + Father Goriot + + Palma (banker) + The Firm of Nucingen + Cesar Birotteau + Lost Illusions + A Distinguished Provincial at Paris + The Ball at Sceaux + + Restaud, Comte de + Father Goriot + + Restaud, Comtesse Anastasie de + Father Goriot + + Restaud, Ernest de + The Member for Arcis + + Restaud, Madame Ernest de + The Member for Arcis + + Restaud, Felix-Georges de + The Member for Arcis + + Trailles, Comte Maxime de + Cesar Birotteau + Father Goriot + Ursule Mirouet + A Man of Business + The Member for Arcis + The Secrets of a Princess + Cousin Betty + The Member for Arcis + Beatrix + The Unconscious Humorists + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Gobseck, by Honore de Balzac + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK GOBSECK *** + +***** This file should be named 1389.txt or 1389.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/1/3/8/1389/ + +Produced by Dagny, and Bonnie Sala + +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: Gobseck + +Author: Honore de Balzac + +Release Date: October 19, 2004 [EBook #1389] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK GOBSECK *** + + + + +Produced by Dagny, and Bonnie Sala + + + + + GOBSECK + + BY + + HONORE DE BALZAC + + + Translated By + Ellen Marriage + + + + DEDICATION + + To M. le Baron Barchou de Penhoen. + + Among all the pupils of the Oratorian school at Vendome, we are, I + think, the only two who have afterwards met in mid-career of a + life of letters--we who once were cultivating Philosophy when by + rights we should have been minding our De viris. When we met, you + were engaged upon your noble works on German philosophy, and I + upon this study. So neither of us has missed his vocation; and + you, when you see your name here, will feel, no doubt, as much + pleasure as he who inscribes his work to you.--Your old + schoolfellow, + + 1840 De Balzac. + + + + GOBSECK + +It was one o'clock in the morning, during the winter of 1829-30, but +in the Vicomtesse de Grandlieu's salon two persons stayed on who did +not belong to her family circle. A young and good-looking man heard +the clock strike, and took his leave. When the courtyard echoed with +the sound of a departing carriage, the Vicomtesse looked up, saw that +no one was present save her brother and a friend of the family +finishing their game of piquet, and went across to her daughter. The +girl, standing by the chimney-piece, apparently examining a +transparent fire-screen, was listening to the sounds from the +courtyard in a way that justified certain maternal fears. + +"Camille," said the Vicomtesse, "if you continue to behave to young +Comte de Restaud as you have done this evening, you will oblige me to +see no more of him here. Listen, child, and if you have any confidence +in my love, let me guide you in life. At seventeen one cannot judge of +past or future, nor of certain social considerations. I have only one +thing to say to you. M. de Restaud has a mother, a mother who would +waste millions of francs; a woman of no birth, a Mlle. Goriot; people +talked a good deal about her at one time. She behaved so badly to her +own father, that she certainly does not deserve to have so good a son. +The young Count adores her, and maintains her in her position with +dutifulness worthy of all praise, and he is extremely good to his +brother and sister.--But however admirable _his_ behavior may be," the +Vicomtesse added with a shrewd expression, "so long as his mother +lives, any family would take alarm at the idea of intrusting a +daughter's fortune and future to young Restaud." + +"I overheard a word now and again in your talk with Mlle. de +Grandlieu," cried the friend of the family, "and it made me anxious to +put in a word of my own.--I have won, M. le Comte," he added, turning +to his opponent. "I shall throw you over and go to your niece's +assistance." + +"See what it is to have an attorney's ears!" exclaimed the Vicomtesse. +"My dear Derville, how could you know what I was saying to Camille in +a whisper?" + +"I knew it from your looks," answered Derville, seating himself in a +low chair by the fire. + +Camille's uncle went to her side, and Mme. de Grandlieu took up her +position on a hearth stool between her daughter and Derville. + +"The time has come for telling a story, which should modify your +judgment as to Ernest de Restaud's prospects." + +"A story?" cried Camille. "Do begin at once, monsieur." + +The glance that Derville gave the Vicomtesse told her that this tale +was meant for her. The Vicomtesse de Grandlieu, be it said, was one of +the greatest ladies in the Faubourg Saint-Germain, by reason of her +fortune and her ancient name; and though it may seem improbable that a +Paris attorney should speak so familiarly to her, or be so much at +home in her house, the fact is nevertheless easily explained. + +When Mme. de Grandlieu returned to France with the Royal family, she +came to Paris, and at first lived entirely on the pension allowed her +out of the Civil List by Louis XVIII.--an intolerable position. The +Hotel de Grandlieu had been sold by the Republic. It came to +Derville's knowledge that there were flaws in the title, and he +thought that it ought to return to the Vicomtesse. He instituted +proceedings for nullity of contract, and gained the day. Encouraged by +this success, he used legal quibbles to such purpose that he compelled +some institution or other to disgorge the Forest of Liceney. Then he +won certain lawsuits against the Canal d'Orleans, and recovered a +tolerably large amount of property, with which the Emperor had endowed +various public institutions. So it fell out that, thanks to the young +attorney's skilful management, Mme. de Grandlieu's income reached the +sum of some sixty thousand francs, to say nothing of the vast sums +returned to her by the law of indemnity. And Derville, a man of high +character, well informed, modest, and pleasant in company, became the +house-friend of the family. + +By his conduct of Mme. de Grandlieu's affairs he had fairly earned the +esteem of the Faubourg Saint-Germain, and numbered the best families +among his clients; but he did not take advantage of his popularity, as +an ambitious man might have done. The Vicomtesse would have had him +sell his practice and enter the magistracy, in which career +advancement would have been swift and certain with such influence at +his disposal; but he persistently refused all offers. He only went +into society to keep up his connections, but he occasionally spent an +evening at the Hotel de Grandlieu. It was a very lucky thing for him +that his talents had been brought into the light by his devotion to +Mme. de Grandlieu, for his practice otherwise might have gone to +pieces. Derville had not an attorney's soul. Since Ernest de Restaud +had appeared at the Hotel de Grandlieu, and he had noticed that +Camille felt attracted to the young man, Derville had been as +assiduous in his visits as any dandy of the Chausee-d'Antin newly +admitted to the noble Faubourg. At a ball only a few days before, when +he happened to stand near Camille, and said, indicating the Count: + +"It is a pity that yonder youngster has not two or three million +francs, is it not?" + +"Is it a pity? I do not think so," the girl answered. "M. de Restaud +has plenty of ability; he is well educated, and the Minister, his +chief, thinks well of him. He will be a remarkable man, I have no +doubt. 'Yonder youngster' will have as much money as he wishes when he +comes into power." + +"Yes, but suppose that he were rich already?" + +"Rich already?" repeated Camille, flushing red. "Why all the girls in +the room would be quarreling for him," she said, glancing at the +quadrilles. + +"And then," retorted the attorney, "Mlle. de Grandlieu might not be +the one towards whom his eyes are always turned? That is what that red +color means! You like him, do you not? Come, speak out." + +Camille suddenly rose to go. + +"She loves him," Derville thought. + +Since that evening, Camille had been unwontedly attentive to the +attorney, who approved of her liking for Ernest de Restaud. Hitherto, +although she knew well that her family lay under great obligations to +Derville, she had felt respect rather than real friendship for him, +their relation was more a matter of politeness than of warmth of +feeling; and by her manner, and by the tones of her voice, she had +always made him sensible of the distance which socially lay between +them. Gratitude is a charge upon the inheritance which the second +generation is apt to repudiate. + + + +"This adventure," Derville began after a pause, "brings the one +romantic event in my life to my mind. You are laughing already," he +went on; "it seems so ridiculous, doesn't it, that an attorney should +speak of a romance in his life? But once I was five-and-twenty, like +everybody else, and even then I had seen some queer things. I ought to +begin at the beginning by telling you about some one whom it is +impossible that you should have known. The man in question was a +usurer. + +"Can you grasp a clear notion of that sallow, wan face of his? I +wish the _Academie_ would give me leave to dub such faces the _lunar_ +type. It was like silver-gilt, with the gilt rubbed off. His hair was +iron-gray, sleek, and carefully combed; his features might have been +cast in bronze; Talleyrand himself was not more impassive than this +money-lender. A pair of little eyes, yellow as a ferret's, and with +scarce an eyelash to them, peered out from under the sheltering peak +of a shabby old cap, as if they feared the light. He had the thin lips +that you see in Rembrandt's or Metsu's portraits of alchemists and +shrunken old men, and a nose so sharp at the tip that it put you in mind +of a gimlet. His voice was so low; he always spoke suavely; he never +flew into a passion. His age was a problem; it was hard to say whether +he had grown old before his time, or whether by economy of youth he had +saved enough to last him his life. + +"His room, and everything in it, from the green baize of the bureau to +the strip of carpet by the bed, was as clean and threadbare as the +chilly sanctuary of some elderly spinster who spends her days in +rubbing her furniture. In winter time, the live brands of the fire +smouldered all day in a bank of ashes; there was never any flame in +his grate. He went through his day, from his uprising to his evening +coughing-fit, with the regularity of a pendulum, and in some sort was +a clockwork man, wound up by a night's slumber. Touch a wood-louse on +an excursion across your sheet of paper, and the creature shams death; +and in something the same way my acquaintance would stop short in the +middle of a sentence, while a cart went by, to save the strain to +his voice. Following the example of Fontenelle, he was thrifty of +pulse-strokes, and concentrated all human sensibility in the innermost +sanctuary of Self. + +"His life flowed soundless as the sands of an hour-glass. His victims +sometimes flew into a rage and made a great deal of noise, followed by +a great silence; so is it in a kitchen after a fowl's neck has been +wrung. + +"Toward evening this bill of exchange incarnate would assume ordinary +human shape, and his metals were metamorphosed into a human heart. +When he was satisfied with his day's business, he would rub his hands; +his inward glee would escape like smoke through every rift and wrinkle +of his face;--in no other way is it possible to give an idea of the +mute play of muscle which expressed sensations similar to the +soundless laughter of _Leather Stocking_. Indeed, even in transports of +joy, his conversation was confined to monosyllables; he wore the same +non-committal countenance. + +"This was the neighbor Chance found for me in the house in the Rue de +Gres, where I used to live when as yet I was only a second clerk +finishing my third year's studies. The house is damp and dark, and +boasts no courtyard. All the windows look on the street; the whole +dwelling, in claustral fashion, is divided into rooms or cells of +equal size, all opening upon a long corridor dimly lit with borrowed +lights. The place must have been part of an old convent once. So +gloomy was it, that the gaiety of eldest sons forsook them on the +stairs before they reached my neighbor's door. He and his house were +much alike; even so does the oyster resemble his native rock. + +"I was the one creature with whom he had any communication, socially +speaking; he would come in to ask for a light, to borrow a book or a +newspaper, and of an evening he would allow me to go into his cell, +and when he was in the humor we would chat together. These marks of +confidence were the results of four years of neighborhood and my own +sober conduct. From sheer lack of pence, I was bound to live pretty +much as he did. Had he any relations or friends? Was he rich or poor? +Nobody could give an answer to these questions. I myself never saw +money in his room. Doubtless his capital was safely stowed in the +strong rooms of the Bank. He used to collect his bills himself as they +fell due, running all over Paris on a pair of shanks as skinny as a +stag's. On occasion he would be a martyr to prudence. One day, when he +happened to have gold in his pockets, a double napoleon worked its +way, somehow or other, out of his fob and fell, and another lodger +following him up the stairs picked up the coin and returned it to its +owner. + +"'That isn't mine!' said he, with a start of surprise. 'Mine indeed! +If I were rich, should I live as I do!' + +"He made his cup of coffee himself every morning on the cast-iron +chafing dish which stood all day in the black angle of the grate; his +dinner came in from a cookshop; and our old porter's wife went up at +the prescribed hour to set his room in order. Finally, a whimsical +chance, in which Sterne would have seen predestination, had named the +man Gobseck. When I did business for him later, I came to know that he +was about seventy-six years old at the time when we became acquainted. +He was born about 1740, in some outlying suburb of Antwerp, of a Dutch +father and a Jewish mother, and his name was Jean-Esther Van Gobseck. +You remember how all Paris took an interest in that murder case, a +woman named _La belle Hollandaise_? I happened to mention it to my old +neighbor, and he answered without the slightest symptom of interest or +surprise, 'She is my grandniece.' + +"That was the only remark drawn from him by the death of his sole +surviving next of kin, his sister's granddaughter. From reports of the +case I found that _La belle Hollandaise_ was in fact named Sara Van +Gobseck. When I asked by what curious chance his grandniece came to +bear his surname, he smiled: + +"'The women never marry in our family.' + +"Singular creature, he had never cared to find out a single relative +among four generations counted on the female side. The thought of his +heirs was abhorrent to him; and the idea that his wealth could pass +into other hands after his death simply inconceivable. + +"He was a child, ten years old, when his mother shipped him off as a +cabin boy on a voyage to the Dutch Straits Settlements, and there he +knocked about for twenty years. The inscrutable lines on that sallow +forehead kept the secret of horrible adventures, sudden panic, +unhoped-for luck, romantic cross events, joys that knew no limit, +hunger endured and love trampled under foot, fortunes risked, lost, +and recovered, life endangered time and time again, and saved, it may +be, by one of the rapid, ruthless decisions absolved by necessity. He +had known Admiral Simeuse, M. de Lally, M. de Kergarouet, M. +d'Estaing, _le Bailli de Suffren_, M. de Portenduere, Lord Cornwallis, +Lord Hastings, Tippoo Sahib's father, Tippoo Sahib himself. The bully +who served Mahadaji Sindhia, King of Delhi, and did so much to found +the power of the Mahrattas, had had dealings with Gobseck. Long +residence at St. Thomas brought him in contact with Victor Hughes and +other notorious pirates. In his quest of fortune he had left no stone +unturned; witness an attempt to discover the treasure of that tribe of +savages so famous in Buenos Ayres and its neighborhood. He had a +personal knowledge of the events of the American War of Independence. +But if he spoke of the Indies or of America, as he did very rarely +with me, and never with anyone else, he seemed to regard it as an +indiscretion and to repent of it afterwards. If humanity and +sociability are in some sort a religion, Gobseck might be ranked as an +infidel; but though I set myself to study him, I must confess, to my +shame, that his real nature was impenetrable up to the very last. I +even felt doubts at times as to his sex. If all usurers are like this +one, I maintain that they belong to the neuter gender. + +"Did he adhere to his mother's religion? Did he look on Gentiles as +his legitimate prey? Had he turned Roman Catholic, Lutheran, +Mahometan, Brahmin, or what not? I never knew anything whatsoever +about his religious opinions, and so far as I could see, he was +indifferent rather than incredulous. + +"One evening I went in to see this man who had turned himself to gold; +the usurer, whom his victims (his clients, as he styled them) were +wont to call Daddy Gobseck, perhaps ironically, perhaps by way of +antiphrasis. He was sitting in his armchair, motionless as a statue, +staring fixedly at the mantel-shelf, where he seemed to read the +figures of his statements. A lamp, with a pedestal that had once been +green, was burning in the room; but so far from taking color from its +smoky light, his face seemed to stand out positively paler against the +background. He pointed to a chair set for me, but not a word did he +say. + +"'What thoughts can this being have in his mind?' said I to myself. +'Does he know that a God exists; does he know there are such things as +feeling, woman, happiness?' I pitied him as I might have pitied a +diseased creature. But, at the same time, I knew quite well that while +he had millions of francs at his command, he possessed the world no +less in idea--that world which he had explored, ransacked, weighed, +appraised, and exploited. + +"'Good day, Daddy Gobseck,' I began. + +"He turned his face towards me with a slight contraction of his bushy, +black eyebrows; this characteristic shade of expression in him meant +as much as the most jubilant smile on a Southern face. + +"'You look just as gloomy as you did that day when the news came of +the failure of that bookseller whose sharpness you admired so much, +though you were one of his victims.' + +"'One of his victims?' he repeated, with a look of astonishment. + +"'Yes. Did you not refuse to accept composition at the meeting of +creditors until he undertook privately to pay you your debt in full; +and did he not give you bills accepted by the insolvent firm; and +then, when he set up in business again, did he not pay you the +dividend upon those bills of yours, signed as they were by the +bankrupt firm?' + +"'He was a sharp one, but I had it out of him.' + +"'Then have you some bills to protest? To-day is the 30th, I +believe.' + +"It was the first time I had spoken to him of money. He looked +ironically up at me; then in those bland accents, not unlike the husky +tones which the tyro draws from a flute, he answered, 'I am amusing +myself.' + +"'So you amuse yourself now and again?' + +"'Do you imagine that the only poets in the world are those who print +their verses?' he asked, with a pitying look and shrug of the +shoulders. + +"'Poetry in that head!' thought I, for as yet I knew nothing of his +life. + +"'What life could be as glorious as mine?' he continued, and his eyes +lighted up. 'You are young, your mental visions are colored by +youthful blood, you see women's faces in the fire, while I see nothing +but coals in mine. You have all sorts of beliefs, while I have no +beliefs at all. Keep your illusions--if you can. Now I will show you +life with the discount taken off. Go wherever you like, or stay at +home by the fireside with your wife, there always comes a time when +you settle down in a certain groove, the groove is your preference; +and then happiness consists in the exercise of your faculties by +applying them to realities. Anything more in the way of precept is +false. My principles have been various, among various men; I had to +change them with every change of latitude. Things that we admire in +Europe are punishable in Asia, and a vice in Paris becomes a necessity +when you have passed the Azores. There are no such things as +hard-and-fast rules; there are only conventions adapted to the climate. +Fling a man headlong into one social melting pot after another, and +convictions and forms and moral systems become so many meaningless +words to him. The one thing that always remains, the one sure instinct +that nature has implanted in us, is the instinct of self-interest. If +you had lived as long as I have, you would know that there is but one +concrete reality invariable enough to be worth caring about, and that +is--GOLD. Gold represents every form of human power. I have traveled. +I found out that there were either hills or plains everywhere: the +plains are monotonous, the hills a weariness; consequently, place may +be left out of the question. As to manners; man is man all the world +over. The same battle between the poor and the rich is going on +everywhere; it is inevitable everywhere; consequently, it is better to +exploit than to be exploited. Everywhere you find the man of thews and +sinews who toils, and the lymphatic man who torments himself; and +pleasures are everywhere the same, for when all sensations are +exhausted, all that survives is Vanity--Vanity is the abiding +substance of us, the _I_ in us. Vanity is only to be satisfied by gold +in floods. Our dreams need time and physical means and painstaking +thought before they can be realized. Well, gold contains all things in +embryo; gold realizes all things for us. + +"'None but fools and invalids can find pleasure in shuffling cards +all evening long to find out whether they shall win a few pence at the +end. None but driveling idiots could spend time in inquiring into all +that is happening around them, whether Madame Such-an-One slept single +on her couch or in company, whether she has more blood than lymph, +more temperament than virtue. None but the dupes, who fondly imagine +that they are useful to their like, can interest themselves in laying +down rules for political guidance amid events which neither they nor +any one else foresees, nor ever will foresee. None but simpletons can +delight in talking about stage players and repeating their sayings; +making the daily promenade of a caged animal over a rather larger +area; dressing for others, eating for others, priding themselves on a +horse or a carriage such as no neighbor can have until three days +later. What is all this but Parisian life summed up in a few phrases? +Let us find a higher outlook on life than theirs. Happiness consists +either in strong emotions which drain our vitality, or in methodical +occupation which makes existence like a bit of English machinery, +working with the regularity of clockwork. A higher happiness than +either consists in a curiosity, styled noble, a wish to learn Nature's +secrets, or to attempt by artificial means to imitate Nature to some +extent. What is this in two words but Science and Art, or passion or +calm?--Ah! well, every human passion wrought up to its highest pitch +in the struggle for existence comes to parade itself before me--as I +live in calm. As for your scientific curiosity, a kind of wrestling +bout in which man is never uppermost, I replace it by an insight into +all the springs of action in man and woman. To sum up, the world is +mine without effort of mine, and the world has not the slightest hold +on me. Listen to this,' he went on, 'I will tell you the history of my +morning, and you will divine my pleasures.' + +"He got up, pushed the bolt of the door, drew a tapestry curtain +across it with a sharp grating sound of the rings on the rod, then he +sat down again. + +"'This morning,' he said, 'I had only two amounts to collect; the +rest of the bills that were due I gave away instead of cash to my +customers yesterday. So much saved, you see, for when I discount a +bill I always deduct two francs for a hired brougham--expenses of +collection. A pretty thing it would be, would it not, if my clients +were to set _me_ trudging all over Paris for half-a-dozen francs of +discount, when no man is my master, and I only pay seven francs in the +shape of taxes? + +"'The first bill for a thousand francs was presented by a young +fellow, a smart buck with a spangled waistcoat, and an eyeglass, and a +tilbury and an English horse, and all the rest of it. The bill bore +the signature of one of the prettiest women in Paris, married to a +Count, a great landowner. Now, how came that Countess to put her name +to a bill of exchange, legally not worth the paper it was written +upon, but practically very good business; for these women, poor +things, are afraid of the scandal that a protested bill makes in a +family, and would give themselves away in payment sooner than fail? I +wanted to find out what that bill of exchange really represented. Was +it stupidity, imprudence, love or charity? + +"'The second bill, bearing the signature "Fanny Malvaut," came to me +from a linen-draper on the highway to bankruptcy. Now, no creature who +has any credit with a bank comes to _me_. The first step to my door +means that a man is desperately hard up; that the news of his failure +will soon come out: and, most of all, it means that he has been +everywhere else first. The stag is always at bay when I see him, and a +pack of creditors are hard upon his track. The Countess lived in the +Rue du Helder, and my Fanny in the Rue Montmartre. How many +conjectures I made as I set out this morning! If these two women were +not able to pay, they would show me more respect than they would show +their own fathers. What tricks and grimaces would not the Countess try +for a thousand francs! She would be so nice to me, she would talk to +me in that ingratiating tone peculiar to endorsers of bills, she would +pour out a torrent of coaxing words, perhaps she would beg and pray, +and I . . .' (here the old man turned his pale eyes upon me)--'and I +not to be moved, inexorable!' he continued. 'I am there as the +avenger, the apparition of Remorse. So much for hypotheses. I reached +the house. + +"'"Madame la Comtesse is asleep," says the maid. + +"'"When can I see her?" + +"'"At twelve o'clock." + +"'"Is Madame la Comtesse ill?" + +"'"No, sir, but she only came home at three o'clock this morning +from a ball." + +"'"My name is Gobseck, tell her that I shall call again at twelve +o'clock," and I went out, leaving traces of my muddy boots on the +carpet which covered the paved staircase. I like to leave mud on a +rich man's carpet; it is not petty spite; I like to make them feel a +touch of the claws of Necessity. In the Rue Montmartre I thrust open +the old gateway of a poor-looking house, and looked into a dark +courtyard where the sunlight never shines. The porter's lodge was +grimy, the window looked like the sleeve of some shabby wadded gown +--greasy, dirty, and full of holes. + +"'"Mlle. Fanny Malvaut?" + +"'"She has gone out; but if you have come about a bill, the money is +waiting for you." + +"'"I will look in again," said I. + +"'As soon as I knew that the porter had the money for me, I wanted to +know what the girl was like; I pictured her as pretty. The rest of the +morning I spent in looking at the prints in the shop windows along the +boulevard; then, just as it struck twelve, I went through the +Countess' ante-chamber. + +"'"Madame has just this minute rung for me," said the maid; "I don't +think she can see you yet." + +"'"I will wait," said I, and sat down in an easy-chair. + +"'Venetian shutters were opened, and presently the maid came hurrying +back. + +"'"Come in, sir." + +"'From the sweet tone of the girl's voice, I knew that the mistress +could not be ready to pay. What a handsome woman it was that I saw in +another moment! She had flung an Indian shawl hastily over her bare +shoulders, covering herself with it completely, while it revealed the +bare outlines of the form beneath. She wore a loose gown trimmed with +snowy ruffles, which told plainly that her laundress' bills amounted +to something like two thousand francs in the course of a year. Her +dark curls escaped from beneath a bright Indian handkerchief, knotted +carelessly about her head after the fashion of Creole women. The bed +lay in disorder that told of broken slumber. A painter would have paid +money to stay a while to see the scene that I saw. Under the luxurious +hanging draperies, the pillow, crushed into the depths of an +eider-down quilt, its lace border standing out in contrast against the +background of blue silk, bore a vague impress that kindled the +imagination. A pair of satin slippers gleamed from the great bear-skin +rug spread by the carved mahogany lions at the bed-foot, where she had +flung them off in her weariness after the ball. A crumpled gown hung +over a chair, the sleeves touching the floor; stockings which a breath +would have blown away were twisted about the leg of an easy-chair; +while ribbon garters straggled over a settee. A fan of price, half +unfolded, glittered on the chimney-piece. Drawers stood open; flowers, +diamonds, gloves, a bouquet, a girdle, were littered about. The room +was full of vague sweet perfume. And--beneath all the luxury and +disorder, beauty and incongruity, I saw Misery crouching in wait for +her or for her adorer, Misery rearing its head, for the Countess had +begun to feel the edge of those fangs. Her tired face was an epitome +of the room strewn with relics of past festival. The scattered +gewgaws, pitiable this morning, when gathered together and coherent, +had turned heads the night before. + +"'What efforts to drink of the Tantalus cup of bliss I could read in +these traces of love stricken by the thunderbolt remorse--in this +visible presentment of a life of luxury, extravagance, and riot. There +were faint red marks on her young face, signs of the fineness of the +skin; but her features were coarsened, as it were, and the circles +about her eyes were unwontedly dark. Nature nevertheless was so +vigorous in her, that these traces of past folly did not spoil her +beauty. Her eyes glittered. She looked like some _Herodias_ of da +Vinci's (I have dealt in pictures), so magnificently full of life and +energy was she; there was nothing starved nor stinted in feature or +outline; she awakened desire; it seemed to me that there was some +passion in her yet stronger than love. I was taken with her. It was a +long while since my heart had throbbed; so I was paid then and there +--for I would give a thousand francs for a sensation that should bring +me back memories of youth. + +"'"Monsieur," she said, finding a chair for me, "will you be so good +as to wait?" + +"'"Until this time to-morrow, madame," I said, folding up the bill +again. "I cannot legally protest this bill any sooner." And within +myself I said--"Pay the price of your luxury, pay for your name, pay +for your ease, pay for the monopoly which you enjoy! The rich have +invented judges and courts of law to secure their goods, and the +guillotine--that candle in which so many lie in silk, under silken +coverlets, there is remorse, and grinding of teeth beneath a smile, +and those fantastical lions' jaws are gaping to set their fangs in +your heart." + +"'"Protest the bill! Can you mean it?" she cried, with her eyes upon +me; "could you have so little consideration for me?" + +"'"If the King himself owed money to me, madame, and did not pay it, +I should summons him even sooner than any other debtor." + +"'While we were speaking, somebody tapped gently at the door. + +"'"I cannot see any one," she cried imperiously. + +"'"But, Anastasie, I particularly wish to speak to you." + +"'"Not just now, dear," she answered in a milder tone, but with no +sign of relenting. + +"'"What nonsense! You are talking to some one," said the voice, and +in came a man who could only be the Count. + +"'The Countess gave me a glance. I saw how it was. She was thoroughly +in my power. There was a time, when I was young, and might perhaps +have been stupid enough not to protest the bill. At Pondicherry, in +1763, I let a woman off, and nicely she paid me out afterwards. I +deserved it; what call was there for me to trust her? + +"'"What does this gentleman want?" asked the Count. + +"'I could see that the Countess was trembling from head to foot; the +white satin skin of her throat was rough, "turned to goose flesh," to +use the familiar expression. As for me, I laughed in myself without +moving a muscle. + +"'"This gentleman is one of my tradesmen," she said. + +"'The Count turned his back on me; I drew the bill half out of my +pocket. After that inexorable movement, she came over to me and put a +diamond into my hands. "Take it," she said, "and be gone." + +"'We exchanged values, and I made my bow and went. The diamond was +quite worth twelve hundred francs to me. Out in the courtyard I saw a +swarm of flunkeys, brushing out their liveries, waxing their boots, +and cleaning sumptuous equipages. + +"'"This is what brings these people to me!" said I to myself. "It is +to keep up this kind of thing that they steal millions with all due +formalities, and betray their country. The great lord, and the little +man who apes the great lord, bathes in mud once for all to save +himself a splash or two when he goes afoot through the streets." + +"'Just then the great gates were opened to admit a cabriolet. It was +the same young fellow who had brought the bill to me. + +"'"Sir," I said, as he alighted, "here are two hundred francs, which +I beg you to return to Mme. la Comtesse, and have the goodness to tell +her that I hold the pledge which she deposited with me this morning at +her disposition for a week." + +"'He took the two hundred francs, and an ironical smile stole over +his face; it was as if he had said, "Aha! so she has paid it, has she? +. . . Faith, so much the better!" I read the Countess' future in his +face. That good-looking, fair-haired young gentleman is a heartless +gambler; he will ruin himself, ruin her, ruin her husband, ruin the +children, eat up their portions, and work more havoc in Parisian +salons than a whole battery of howitzers in a regiment. + +"'I went back to see Mlle. Fanny in the Rue Montmartre, climbed a +very steep, narrow staircase, and reached a two-roomed dwelling on the +fifth floor. Everything was as neat as a new ducat. I did not see a +speck of dust on the furniture in the first room, where Mlle. Fanny +was sitting. Mlle. Fanny herself was a young Parisian girl, quietly +dressed, with a delicate fresh face, and a winning look. The +arrangement of her neatly brushed chestnut hair in a double curve on +her forehead lent a refined expression to blue eyes, clear as crystal. +The broad daylight streaming in through the short curtains against the +window pane fell with softened light on her girlish face. A pile of +shaped pieces of linen told me that she was a sempstress. She looked +like a spirit of solitude. When I held out the bill, I remarked that +she had not been at home when I called in the morning. + +"'"But the money was left with the porter's wife," said she. + +"'I pretended not to understand. + +"'"You go out early, mademoiselle, it seems." + +"'"I very seldom leave my room; but when you work all night, you are +obliged to take a bath sometimes." + +"'I looked at her. A glance told me all about her life. Here was a +girl condemned by misfortune to toil, a girl who came of honest farmer +folk, for she had still a freckle or two that told of country birth. +There was an indefinable atmosphere of goodness about her; I felt as +if I were breathing sincerity and frank innocence. It was refreshing +to my lungs. Poor innocent child, she had faith in something; there +was a crucifix and a sprig or two of green box above her poor little +painted wooden bedstead; I felt touched, or somewhat inclined that +way. I felt ready to offer to charge no more than twelve per cent, and +so give something towards establishing her in a good way of business. + +"'"But maybe she has a little youngster of a cousin," I said to +myself, "who would raise money on her signature and sponge on the poor +girl." + +"'So I went away, keeping my generous impulses well under control; +for I have frequently had occasion to observe that when benevolence +does no harm to him who gives it, it is the ruin of him who takes. +When you came in I was thinking that Fanny Malvaut would make a nice +little wife; I was thinking of the contrast between her pure, lonely +life and the life of the Countess--she has sunk as low as a bill of +exchange already, she will sink to the lowest depths of degradation +before she has done!'--I scrutinized him during the deep silence that +followed, but in a moment he spoke again. 'Well,' he said, 'do you +think that it is nothing to have this power of insight into the +deepest recesses of the human heart, to embrace so many lives, to see +the naked truth underlying it all? There are no two dramas alike: +there are hideous sores, deadly chagrins, love scenes, misery that +soon will lie under the ripples of the Seine, young men's joys that +lead to the scaffold, the laughter of despair, and sumptuous banquets. +Yesterday it was a tragedy. A worthy soul of a father drowned himself +because he could not support his family. To-morrow is a comedy; some +youngster will try to rehearse the scene of M. Dimanche, brought up to +date. You have heard the people extol the eloquence of our latter day +preachers; now and again I have wasted my time by going to hear them; +they produced a change in my opinions, but in my conduct (as somebody +said, I can't recollect his name), in my conduct--never!--Well, well; +these good priests and your Mirabeaus and Vergniauds and the rest of +them, are mere stammering beginners compared with these orators of +mine. + +"'Often it is some girl in love, some gray-headed merchant on the +verge of bankruptcy, some mother with a son's wrong-doing to conceal, +some starving artist, some great man whose influence is on the wane, +and, for lack of money, is like to lose the fruit of all his labors +--the power of their pleading has made me shudder. Sublime actors such +as these play for me, for an audience of one, and they cannot deceive +me. I can look into their inmost thoughts, and read them as God reads +them. Nothing is hidden from me. Nothing is refused to the holder of +the purse-strings to loose and to bind. I am rich enough to buy the +consciences of those who control the action of ministers, from their +office boys to their mistresses. Is not that power?--I can possess the +fairest women, receive their softest caresses; is not that Pleasure? +And is not your whole social economy summed up in terms of Power and +Pleasure? + +"'There are ten of us in Paris, silent, unknown kings, the arbiters +of your destinies. What is life but a machine set in motion by money? +Know this for certain--methods are always confounded with results; you +will never succeed in separating the soul from the senses, spirit from +matter. Gold is the spiritual basis of existing society.--The ten of +us are bound by the ties of common interest; we meet on certain days +of the week at the Cafe Themis near the Pont Neuf, and there, in +conclave, we reveal the mysteries of finance. No fortune can deceive +us; we are in possession of family secrets in all directions. We keep +a kind of Black Book, in which we note the most important bills +issued, drafts on public credit, or on banks, or given and taken in +the course of business. We are the Casuists of the Paris Bourse, a +kind of Inquisition weighing and analyzing the most insignificant +actions of every man of any fortune, and our forecasts are infallible. +One of us looks out over the judicial world, one over the financial, +another surveys the administrative, and yet another the business +world. I myself keep an eye on eldest sons, artists, people in the +great world, and gamblers--on the most sensational side of Paris. +Every one who comes to us lets us into his neighbor's secrets. +Thwarted passion and mortified vanity are great babblers. Vice and +disappointment and vindictiveness are the best of all detectives. My +colleagues, like myself, have enjoyed all things, are sated with all +things, and have reached the point when power and money are loved for +their own sake. + +"'Here,' he said, indicating his bare, chilly room, 'here the most +high-mettled gallant, who chafes at a word and draws swords for a +syllable elsewhere will entreat with clasped hands. There is no city +merchant so proud, no woman so vain of her beauty, no soldier of so +bold a spirit, but that they entreat me here, one and all, with tears +of rage or anguish in their eyes. Here they kneel--the famous artist, +and the man of letters, whose name will go down to posterity. Here, in +short' (he lifted his hand to his forehead), 'all the inheritances and +all the concerns of all Paris are weighed in the balance. Are you +still of the opinion that there are no delights behind the blank mask +which so often has amazed you by its impassiveness?' he asked, +stretching out that livid face which reeked of money. + +"I went back to my room, feeling stupefied. The little, wizened old +man had grown great. He had been metamorphosed under my eyes into a +strange visionary symbol; he had come to be the power of gold +personified. I shrank, shuddering, from life and my kind. + +"'Is it really so?' I thought; 'must everything be resolved into +gold?' + +"I remember that it was long before I slept that night. I saw heaps of +gold all about me. My thoughts were full of the lovely Countess; I +confess, to my shame, that the vision completely eclipsed another +quiet, innocent figure, the figure of the woman who had entered upon a +life of toil and obscurity; but on the morrow, through the clouds of +slumber, Fanny's sweet face rose before me in all its beauty, and I +thought of nothing else." + + + +"Will you take a glass of _eau sucree_?" asked the Vicomtesse, +interrupting Derville. + +"I should be glad of it." + +"But I can see nothing in this that can touch our concerns," said Mme. +de Grandlieu, as she rang the bell. + +"Sardanapalus!" cried Derville, flinging out his favorite invocation. +"Mademoiselle Camille will be wide awake in a moment if I say that her +happiness depended not so long ago upon Daddy Gobseck; but as the old +gentleman died at the age of ninety, M. de Restaud will soon be in +possession of a handsome fortune. This requires some explanation. As +for poor Fanny Malvaut, you know her; she is my wife." + +"Poor fellow, he would admit that, with his usual frankness, with a +score of people to hear him!" said the Vicomtesse. + +"I would proclaim it to the universe," said the attorney. + +"Go on, drink your glass, my poor Derville. You will never be anything +but the happiest and the best of men." + +"I left you in the Rue du Helder," remarked the uncle, raising his +face after a gentle doze. "You had gone to see a Countess; what have +you done with her?" + + + +"A few days after my conversation with the old Dutchman," Derville +continued, "I sent in my thesis, and became first a licentiate in law, +and afterwards an advocate. The old miser's opinion of me went up +considerably. He consulted me (gratuitously) on all the ticklish bits +of business which he undertook when he had made quite sure how he +stood, business which would have seemed unsafe to any ordinary +practitioner. This man, over whom no one appeared to have the +slightest influence, listened to my advice with something like +respect. It is true that he always found that it turned out very well. + +"At length I became head-clerk in the office where I had worked for +three years and then I left the Rue des Gres for rooms in my +employer's house. I had my board and lodging and a hundred and fifty +francs per month. It was a great day for me! + +"When I went to bid the usurer good-bye, he showed no sign of feeling, +he was neither cordial nor sorry to lose me, he did not ask me to come +to see him, and only gave me one of those glances which seemed in some +sort to reveal a power of second-sight. + +"By the end of a week my old neighbor came to see me with a tolerably +thorny bit of business, an expropriation, and he continued to ask for +my advice with as much freedom as if he paid for it. + +"My principal was a man of pleasure and expensive tastes; before the +second year (1818-1819) was out he had got himself into difficulties, +and was obliged to sell his practice. A professional connection in +those days did not fetch the present exorbitant prices, and my +principal asked a hundred and fifty thousand francs. Now an active +man, of competent knowledge and intelligence, might hope to pay off +the capital in ten years, paying interest and living respectably in +the meantime--if he could command confidence. But I as the seventh +child of a small tradesman at Noyon, I had not a sou to my name, nor +personal knowledge of any capitalist but Daddy Gobseck. An ambitious +idea, and an indefinable glimmer of hope, put heart into me. To +Gobseck I betook myself, and slowly one evening I made my way to the +Rue des Gres. My heart thumped heavily as I knocked at his door in the +gloomy house. I recollected all the things that he used to tell me, at +a time when I myself was very far from suspecting the violence of the +anguish awaiting those who crossed his threshold. Now it was I who was +about to beg and pray like so many others. + +"'Well, no, not _that_,' I said to myself; 'an honest man must keep his +self-respect wherever he goes. Success is not worth cringing for; let +us show him a front as decided as his own.' + +"Daddy Gobseck had taken my room since I left the house, so as to have +no neighbor; he had made a little grated window too in his door since +then, and did not open until he had taken a look at me and saw who I +was. + +"'Well,' said he, in his thin, flute notes, 'so your principal is +selling his practice?' + +"'How did you know that?' said I; 'he has not spoken of it as yet +except to me.' + +"The old man's lips were drawn in puckers, like a curtain, to either +corner of his mouth, as a soundless smile bore a hard glance company. + +"'Nothing else would have brought you here,' he said drily, after a +pause, which I spent in confusion. + +"'Listen to me, M. Gobseck,' I began, with such serenity as I could +assume before the old man, who gazed at me with steady eyes. There was +a clear light burning in them that disconcerted me. + +"He made a gesture as if to bid me 'Go on.' 'I know that it is not +easy to work on your feelings, so I will not waste my eloquence on the +attempt to put my position before you--I am a penniless clerk, with no +one to look to but you, and no heart in the world but yours can form a +clear idea of my probable future. Let us leave hearts out of the +question. Business is business, and business is not carried on with +sentimentality like romances. Now to the facts. My principal's +practice is worth in his hands about twenty thousand francs per annum; +in my hands, I think it would bring in forty thousand. He is willing +to sell it for a hundred and fifty thousand francs. And _here_,' I +said, striking my forehead, 'I feel that if you would lend me the +purchase-money, I could clear it off in ten years' time.' + +"'Come, that is plain speaking,' said Daddy Gobseck, and he held out +his hand and grasped mine. 'Nobody since I have been in business has +stated the motives of his visit more clearly. Guarantees?' asked he, +scanning me from head to foot. 'None to give,' he added after a pause, +'How old are you?' + +"'Twenty-five in ten days' time,' said I, 'or I could not open the +matter.' + +"'Precisely.' + +"'Well?' + +"'It is possible.' + +"'My word, we must be quick about it, or I shall have some one buying +over my head.' + +"'Bring your certificate of birth round to-morrow morning, and we +will talk. I will think it over.' + +"'Next morning, at eight o'clock, I stood in the old man's room. He +took the document, put on his spectacles, coughed, spat, wrapped +himself up in his black greatcoat, and read the whole certificate +through from beginning to end. Then he turned it over and over, looked +at me, coughed again, fidgeted about in his chair, and said, 'We will +try to arrange this bit of business.' + +"I trembled. + +"'I make fifty per cent on my capital,' he continued, 'sometimes I +make a hundred, two hundred, five hundred per cent.' + +"I turned pale at the words. + +"'But as we are acquaintances, I shall be satisfied to take twelve +and a half per cent per--(he hesitated)--'well, yes, from you I would +be content to take thirteen per cent per annum. Will that suit you?' + +"'Yes,' I answered. + +"'But if it is too much, stick up for yourself, Grotius!' (a name he +jokingly gave me). 'When I ask you for thirteen per cent, it is all in +the way of business; look into it, see if you can pay it; I don't like +a man to agree too easily. Is it too much?' + +"'No,' said I, 'I will make up for it by working a little harder.' + +"'Gad! your clients will pay for it!' said he, looking at me wickedly +out of the corner of his eyes. + +"'No, by all the devils in hell!' cried I, 'it shall be I who will +pay. I would sooner cut my hand off than flay people.' + +"'Good-night,' said Daddy Gobseck. + +"'Why, fees are all according to scale,' I added. + +"'Not for compromises and settlements out of Court, and cases where +litigants come to terms,' said he. 'You can send in a bill for +thousands of francs, six thousand even at a swoop (it depends on the +importance of the case), for conferences with So-and-so, and expenses, +and drafts, and memorials, and your jargon. A man must learn to look +out for business of this kind. I will recommend you as a most +competent, clever attorney. I will send you such a lot of work of this +sort that your colleagues will be fit to burst with envy. Werbrust, +Palma, and Gigonnet, my cronies, shall hand over their expropriations +to you; they have plenty of them, the Lord knows! So you will have two +practices--the one you are buying, and the other I will build up for +you. You ought almost to pay me fifteen per cent on my loan.' + +"'So be it, but no more,' said I, with the firmness which means that +a man is determined not to concede another point. + +"Daddy Gobseck's face relaxed; he looked pleased with me. + +"'I shall pay the money over to your principal myself,' said he, 'so +as to establish a lien on the purchase and caution-money.' + +"'Oh, anything you like in the way of guarantees.' + +"'And besides that, you will give me bills for the amount made +payable to a third party (name left blank), fifteen bills of ten +thousand francs each.' + +"'Well, so long as it is acknowledged in writing that this is a +double----' + +"'No!' Gobseck broke in upon me. 'No! Why should I trust you any more +than you trust me?' + +"I kept silence. + +"'And furthermore,' he continued, with a sort of good humor, 'you +will give me your advice without charging fees as long as I live, will +you not?' + +"'So be it; so long as there is no outlay.' + +"'Precisely,' said he. "Ah, by the by, you will allow me to go to see +you?' (Plainly the old man found it not so easy to assume the air of +good-humor.) + +"'I shall always be glad.' + +"'Ah! yes, but it would be very difficult to arrange of a morning. +You will have your affairs to attend to, and I have mine.' + +"'Then come in the evening.' + +"'Oh, no!' he answered briskly, 'you ought to go into society and see +your clients, and I myself have my friends at my cafe.' + +"'His friends!' thought I to myself.--'Very well,' said I, 'why not +come at dinner-time?' + +"'That is the time,' said Gobseck, 'after 'Change, at five o'clock. +Good, you will see me Wednesdays and Saturdays. We will talk over +business like a pair of friends. Aha! I am gay sometimes. Just give me +the wing of a partridge and a glass of champagne, and we will have our +chat together. I know a great many things that can be told now at this +distance of time; I will teach you to know men, and what is more +--women!' + +"'Oh! a partridge and a glass of champagne if you like.' + +"'Don't do anything foolish, or I shall lose my faith in you. And +don't set up housekeeping in a grand way. Just one old general +servant. I will come and see that you keep your health. I have capital +invested in your head, he! he! so I am bound to look after you. There, +come round in the evening and bring your principal with you!' + +"'Would you mind telling me, if there is no harm in asking, what was +the good of my birth certificate in this business?' I asked, when the +little old man and I stood on the doorstep. + +"Jean-Esther Van Gobseck shrugged his shoulders, smiled maliciously, +and said, 'What blockheads youngsters are! Learn, master attorney (for +learn you must if you don't mean to be taken in), that integrity and +brains in a man under thirty are commodities which can be mortgaged. +After that age there is no counting on a man.' + +"And with that he shut the door. + + + +"Three months later I was an attorney. Before very long, madame, it +was my good fortune to undertake the suit for the recovery of your +estates. I won the day, and my name became known. In spite of the +exorbitant rate of interest, I paid off Gobseck in less than five +years. I married Fanny Malvaut, whom I loved with all my heart. There +was a parallel between her life and mine, between our hard work and +our luck, which increased the strength of feeling on either side. One +of her uncles, a well-to-do farmer, died and left her seventy thousand +francs, which helped to clear off the loan. From that day my life has +been nothing but happiness and prosperity. Nothing is more utterly +uninteresting than a happy man, so let us say no more on that head, +and return to the rest of the characters. + +"About a year after the purchase of the practice, I was dragged into a +bachelor breakfast-party given by one of our number who had lost a bet +to a young man greatly in vogue in the fashionable world. M. de +Trailles, the flower of the dandyism of that day, enjoyed a prodigious +reputation." + +"But he is still enjoying it," put in the Comte de Born. "No one wears +his clothes with a finer air, nor drives a tandem with a better grace. +It is Maxime's gift; he can gamble, eat, and drink more gracefully +than any man in the world. He is a judge of horses, hats, and +pictures. All the women lose their heads over him. He always spends +something like a hundred thousand francs a year, and no creature can +discover that he has an acre of land or a single dividend warrant. The +typical knight errant of our salons, our boudoirs, our boulevards, an +amphibian half-way between a man and a woman--Maxime de Trailles is a +singular being, fit for anything, and good for nothing, quite as +capable of perpetrating a benefit as of planning a crime; sometimes +base, sometimes noble, more often bespattered with mire than +besprinkled with blood, knowing more of anxiety than of remorse, more +concerned with his digestion than with any mental process, shamming +passion, feeling nothing. Maxime de Trailles is a brilliant link +between the hulks and the best society; he belongs to the eminently +intelligent class from which a Mirabeau, or a Pitt, or a Richelieu +springs at times, though it is more wont to produce Counts of Horn, +Fouquier-Tinvilles, and Coignards." + +"Well," pursued Derville, when he had heard the Vicomtesse's brother +to the end, "I had heard a good deal about this individual from poor +old Goriot, a client of mine; and I had already been at some pains to +avoid the dangerous honor of his acquaintance, for I came across him +sometimes in society. Still, my chum was so pressing about this +breakfast-party of his that I could not well get out of it, unless I +wished to earn a name for squeamishness. Madame, you could hardly +imagine what a bachelor's breakfast-party is like. It means superb +display and a studied refinement seldom seen; the luxury of a miser +when vanity leads him to be sumptuous for a day. + +"You are surprised as you enter the room at the neatness of the table, +dazzling by reason of its silver and crystal and linen damask. Life is +here in full bloom; the young fellows are graceful to behold; they +smile and talk in low, demure voices like so many brides; everything +about them looks girlish. Two hours later you might take the room for +a battlefield after the fight. Broken glasses, serviettes crumpled and +torn to rags lie strewn about among the nauseous-looking remnants of +food on the dishes. There is an uproar that stuns you, jesting toasts, +a fire of witticisms and bad jokes; faces are empurpled, eyes inflamed +and expressionless, unintentional confidences tell you the whole +truth. Bottles are smashed, and songs trolled out in the height of a +diabolical racket; men call each other out, hang on each other's +necks, or fall to fisticuffs; the room is full of a horrid, close +scent made up of a hundred odors, and noise enough for a hundred +voices. No one has any notion of what he is eating or drinking or +saying. Some are depressed, others babble, one will turn monomaniac, +repeating the same word over and over again like a bell set jangling; +another tries to keep the tumult within bounds; the steadiest will +propose an orgy. If any one in possession of his faculties should come +in, he would think that he had interrupted a Bacchanalian rite. + +"It was in the thick of such a chaos that M. de Trailles tried to +insinuate himself into my good graces. My head was fairly clear, I was +upon my guard. As for him, though he pretended to be decently drunk, +he was perfectly cool, and knew very well what he was about. How it +was done I do not know, but the upshot of it was that when we left +Grignon's rooms about nine o'clock in the evening, M. de Trailles had +thoroughly bewitched me. I had given him my promise that I would +introduce him the next day to our Papa Gobseck. The words 'honor,' +'virtue,' 'countess,' 'honest woman,' and 'ill-luck' were mingled in +his discourse with magical potency, thanks to that golden tongue of +his. + +"When I awoke next morning, and tried to recollect what I had done the +day before, it was with great difficulty that I could make a connected +tale from my impressions. At last, it seemed to me that the daughter +of one of my clients was in danger of losing her reputation, together +with her husband's love and esteem, if she could not get fifty +thousand francs together in the course of the morning. There had been +gaming debts, and carriage-builders' accounts, money lost to Heaven +knows whom. My magician of a boon companion had impressed it upon me +that she was rich enough to make good these reverses by a few years of +economy. But only now did I begin to guess the reasons of his urgency. +I confess, to my shame, that I had not the shadow of a doubt but that +it was a matter of importance that Daddy Gobseck should make it up +with this dandy. I was dressing when the young gentleman appeared. + +"'M. le Comte,' said I, after the usual greetings, 'I fail to see why +you should need me to effect an introduction to Van Gobseck, the most +civil and smooth-spoken of capitalists. Money will be forthcoming if +he has any, or rather, if you can give him adequate security.' + +"'Monsieur,' said he, 'it does not enter into my thoughts to force +you to do me a service, even though you have passed your word.' + +"'Sardanapalus!' said I to myself, 'am I going to let that fellow +imagine that I will not keep my word with him?' + +"'I had the honor of telling you yesterday,' said he, 'that I had +fallen out with Daddy Gobseck most inopportunely; and as there is +scarcely another man in Paris who can come down on the nail with a +hundred thousand francs, at the end of the month, I begged of you to +make my peace with him. But let us say no more about it----' + +"M. de Trailles looked at me with civil insult in his expression, and +made as if he would take his leave. + +"'I am ready to go with you,' said I. + +"When we reached the Rue de Gres, my dandy looked about him with a +circumspection and uneasiness that set me wondering. His face grew +livid, flushed, and yellow, turn and turn about, and by the time that +Gobseck's door came in sight the perspiration stood in drops on his +forehead. We were just getting out of the cabriolet, when a hackney +cab turned into the street. My companion's hawk eye detected a woman +in the depths of the vehicle. His face lighted up with a gleam of +almost savage joy; he called to a little boy who was passing, and gave +him his horse to hold. Then we went up to the old bill discounter. + +"'M. Gobseck,' said I, 'I have brought one of my most intimate +friends to see you (whom I trust as I would trust the Devil,' I added +for the old man's private ear). 'To oblige me you will do your best +for him (at the ordinary rate), and pull him out of his difficulty (if +it suits your convenience).' + +"M. de Trailles made his bow to Gobseck, took a seat, and listened to +us with a courtier-like attitude; its charming humility would have +touched your heart to see, but my Gobseck sits in his chair by the +fireside without moving a muscle, or changing a feature. He looked +very like the statue of Voltaire under the peristyle of the +Theatre-Francais, as you see it of an evening; he had partly risen as +if to bow, and the skull cap that covered the top of his head, and the +narrow strip of sallow forehead exhibited, completed his likeness to +the man of marble. + +"'I have no money to spare except for my own clients,' said he. + +"'So you are cross because I may have tried in other quarters to ruin +myself?' laughed the Count. + +"'Ruin yourself!' repeated Gobseck ironically. + +"'Were you about to remark that it is impossible to ruin a man who +has nothing?' inquired the dandy. 'Why, I defy you to find a better +_stock_ in Paris!' he cried, swinging round on his heels. + +"This half-earnest buffoonery produced not the slightest effect upon +Gobseck. + +"'Am I not on intimate terms with the Ronquerolles, the Marsays, the +Franchessinis, the two Vandenesses, the Ajuda-Pintos,--all the most +fashionable young men in Paris, in short? A prince and an ambassador +(you know them both) are my partners at play. I draw my revenues from +London and Carlsbad and Baden and Bath. Is not this the most brilliant +of all industries!' + +"'True.' + +"'You make a sponge of me, begad! you do. You encourage me to go and +swell myself out in society, so that you can squeeze me when I am hard +up; but you yourselves are sponges, just as I am, and death will give +you a squeeze some day.' + +"'That is possible.' + +"'If there were no spendthrifts, what would become of you? The pair +of us are like soul and body.' + +"'Precisely so.' + +"'Come, now, give us your hand, Grandaddy Gobseck, and be magnanimous +if this is "true" and "possible" and "precisely so."' + +"'You come to me,' the usurer answered coldly, 'because Girard, +Palma, Werbrust, and Gigonnet are full up of your paper; they are +offering it at a loss of fifty per cent; and as it is likely they only +gave you half the figure on the face of the bills, they are not worth +five-and-twenty per cent of their supposed value. I am your most +obedient! Can I in common decency lend a stiver to a man who owes +thirty thousand francs, and has not one farthing?' Gobseck continued. +'The day before yesterday you lost ten thousand francs at a ball at +the Baron de Nucingen's.' + +"'Sir,' said the Count, with rare impudence, 'my affairs are no +concern of yours,' and he looked the old man up and down. 'A man has +no debts till payment is due.' + +"'True.' + +"'My bills will be duly met.' + +"'That is possible.' + +"'And at this moment the question between you and me is simply +whether the security I am going to offer is sufficient for the sum I +have come to borrow.' + +"'Precisely.' + +"A cab stopped at the door, and the sound of wheels filled the room. + +"'I will bring something directly which perhaps will satisfy you,' +cried the young man, and he left the room. + +"'Oh! my son,' exclaimed Gobseck, rising to his feet, and stretching +out his arms to me, 'if he has good security, you have saved my life. +It would be the death of me. Werbrust and Gigonnet imagined that they +were going to play off a trick on me; and now, thanks to you, I shall +have a good laugh at their expense to-night.' + +"There was something frightful about the old man's ecstasy. It was the +one occasion when he opened his heart to me; and that flash of joy, +swift though it was, will never be effaced from my memory. + +"'Favor me so far as to stay here,' he added. 'I am armed, and a sure +shot. I have gone tiger-hunting, and fought on the deck when there was +nothing for it but to win or die; but I don't care to trust yonder +elegant scoundrel.' + +"He sat down again in his armchair before his bureau, and his face +grew pale and impassive as before. + +"'Ah!' he continued, turning to me, 'you will see that lovely +creature I once told you about; I can hear a fine lady's step in the +corridor; it is she, no doubt;' and, as a matter of fact, the young +man came in with a woman on his arm. I recognized the Countess, whose +levee Gobseck had described for me, one of old Goriot's two daughters. + +"The Countess did not see me at first; I stayed where I was in the +window bay, with my face against the pane; but I saw her give Maxime a +suspicious glance as she came into the money-lender's damp, dark room. +So beautiful she was, that in spite of her faults I felt sorry for +her. There was a terrible storm of anguish in her heart; her haughty, +proud features were drawn and distorted with pain which she strove in +vain to disguise. The young man had come to be her evil genius. I +admired Gobseck, whose perspicacity had foreseen their future four +years ago at the first bill which she endorsed. + +"'Probably,' said I to myself, 'this monster with the angel face +controls every possible spring of action in her: rules her through +vanity, jealousy, pleasure, and the current of life in the world.'" + +The Vicomtesse de Grandlieu broke in on the story. + +"Why, the woman's very virtues have been turned against her," she +exclaimed. "He has made her shed tears of devotion, and then abused +her kindness and made her pay very dearly for unhallowed bliss." + +Derville did not understand the signs which Mme. de Grandlieu made to +him. + +"I confess," he said, "that I had no inclination to shed tears over +the lot of this unhappy creature, so brilliant in society, so +repulsive to eyes that could read her heart; I shuddered rather at the +sight of her murderer, a young angel with such a clear brow, such red +lips and white teeth, such a winning smile. There they stood before +their judge, he scrutinizing them much as some fifteenth-century +Dominican inquisitor might have peered into the dungeons of the Holy +Office while the torture was administered to two Moors. + +"The Countess spoke tremulously. 'Sir,' she said, 'is there any way of +obtaining the value of these diamonds, and of keeping the right of +repurchase?' She held out a jewel-case. + +"'Yes, madame,' I put in, and came forwards. + +"She looked at me, and a shudder ran through her as she recognized me, +and gave me the glance which means, 'Say nothing of this,' all the +world over. + +"'This,' said I, 'constitutes a sale with faculty of redemption, as +it is called, a formal agreement to transfer and deliver over a piece +of property, either real estate or personalty, for a given time, on +the expiry of which the previous owner recovers his title to the +property in question, upon payment of a stipulated sum.' + +"She breathed more freely. The Count looked black; he had grave doubts +whether Gobseck would lend very much on the diamonds after such a fall +in their value. Gobseck, impassive as ever, had taken up his +magnifying glass, and was quietly scrutinizing the jewels. If I were +to live for a hundred years, I should never forget the sight of his +face at that moment. There was a flush in his pale cheeks; his eyes +seemed to have caught the sparkle of the stones, for there was an +unnatural glitter in them. He rose and went to the light, holding the +diamonds close to his toothless mouth, as if he meant to devour them; +mumbling vague words over them, holding up bracelets, sprays, +necklaces, and tiaras one after another, to judge their water, +whiteness, and cutting; taking them out of the jewel-case and putting +them in again, letting the play of the light bring out all their +fires. He was more like a child than an old man; or, rather, childhood +and dotage seemed to meet in him. + +"'Fine stones! The set would have fetched three hundred thousand +francs before the Revolution. What water! Genuine Asiatic diamonds +from Golconda or Visapur. Do you know what they are worth? No, no; no +one in Paris but Gobseck can appreciate them. In the time of the +Empire such a set would have cost another two hundred thousand +francs!' + +"He gave a disgusted shrug, and added: + +"'But now diamonds are going down in value every day. The Brazilians +have swamped the market with them since the Peace; but the Indian +stones are a better color. Others wear them now besides court ladies. +Does madame go to court?' + +"While he flung out these terrible words, he examined one stone after +another with delight which no words can describe. + +"'Flawless!' he said. 'Here is a speck! . . . here is a flaw! . . . A +fine stone that!' + +"His haggard face was so lighted up by the sparkling jewels, that it +put me in mind of a dingy old mirror, such as you see in country inns. +The glass receives every luminous image without reflecting the light, +and a traveler bold enough to look for his face in it beholds a man in +an apoplectic fit. + +"'Well?' asked the Count, clapping Gobseck on the shoulder. + +"The old boy trembled. He put down his playthings on his bureau, took +his seat, and was a money-lender once more--hard, cold, and polished +as a marble column. + +"'How much do you want?' + +"'One hundred thousand francs for three years,' said the Count. + +"'That is possible,' said Gobseck, and then from a mahogany box +(Gobseck's jewel-case) he drew out a faultlessly adjusted pair of +scales! + +"He weighed the diamonds, calculating the value of stones and setting +at sight (Heaven knows how!), delight and severity struggling in the +expression of his face the meanwhile. The Countess had plunged in a +kind of stupor; to me, watching her, it seemed that she was fathoming +the depths of the abyss into which she had fallen. There was remorse +still left in that woman's soul. Perhaps a hand held out in human +charity might save her. I would try. + +"'Are the diamonds your personal property, madame?' I asked in a +clear voice. + +"'Yes, monsieur,' she said, looking at me with proud eyes. + +"'Make out the deed of purchase with power of redemption, +chatterbox,' said Gobseck to me, resigning his chair at the bureau in +my favor. + +"'Madame is without doubt a married woman?' I tried again. + +"She nodded abruptly. + +"'Then I will not draw up the deed,' said I. + +"'And why not?' asked Gobseck. + +"'Why not?' echoed I, as I drew the old man into the bay window so as +to speak aside with him. 'Why not? This woman is under her husband's +control; the agreement would be void in law; you could not possibly +assert your ignorance of a fact recorded on the very face of the +document itself. You would be compelled at once to produce the +diamonds deposited with you, according to the weight, value, and +cutting therein described.' + +"Gobseck cut me short with a nod, and turned towards the guilty +couple. + +"'He is right!' he said. 'That puts the whole thing in a different +light. Eighty thousand francs down, and you leave the diamonds with +me,' he added, in the husky, flute-like voice. 'In the way of +property, possession is as good as a title.' + +"'But----' objected the young man. + +"'You can take it or leave it,' continued Gobseck, returning the +jewel-case to the lady as he spoke. + +"'I have too many risks to run.' + +"'It would be better to throw yourself at your husband's feet,' I +bent to whisper in her ear. + +"The usurer doubtless knew what I was saying from the movement of my +lips. He gave me a cool glance. The Count's face grew livid. The +Countess was visibly wavering. Maxime stepped up to her, and, low as +he spoke, I could catch the words: + +"'Adieu, dear Anastasie, may you be happy! As for me, by to-morrow my +troubles will be over.' + +"'Sir!' cried the lady, turning to Gobseck. 'I accept your offer.' + +"'Come, now,' returned Gobseck. 'You have been a long time in coming +to it, my fair lady.' + +"He wrote out a cheque for fifty thousand francs on the Bank of +France, and handed it to the Countess. + +"'Now,' continued he with a smile, such a smile as you will see in +portraits of M. Voltaire, 'now I will give you the rest of the amount +in bills, thirty thousand francs' worth of paper as good as bullion. +This gentleman here has just said, "My bills will be met when they are +due,"' added he, producing certain drafts bearing the Count's +signature, all protested the day before at the request of some of the +confraternity, who had probably made them over to him (Gobseck) at a +considerably reduced figure. + +"The young man growled out something, in which the words 'Old +scoundrel!' were audible. Daddy Gobseck did not move an eyebrow. He +drew a pair of pistols out of a pigeon-hole, remarking coolly: + +"'As the insulted man, I fire first.' + +"'Maxime, you owe this gentleman an explanation,' cried the trembling +Countess in a low voice. + +"'I had no intention of giving offence,' stammered Maxime. + +"'I am quite sure of that,' Gobseck answered calmly; 'you had no +intention of meeting your bills, that was all.' + +"The Countess rose, bowed, and vanished, with a great dread gnawing +her, I doubt not. M. de Trailles was bound to follow, but before he +went he managed to say: + +"'If either of you gentlemen should forget himself, I will have his +blood, or he will have mine.' + +"'Amen!' called Daddy Gobseck as he put his pistols back in their +place; 'but a man must have blood in his veins though before he can +risk it, my son, and you have nothing but mud in yours.' + +"When the door was closed, and the two vehicles had gone, Gobseck rose +to his feet and began to prance about. + +"'I have the diamonds! I have the diamonds!' he cried again and +again, 'the beautiful diamonds! such diamonds! and tolerably cheaply. +Aha! aha! Werbrust and Gigonnet, you thought you had old Papa Gobseck! +_Ego sum papa_! I am master of the lot of you! Paid! paid, principal and +interest! How silly they will look to-night when I shall come out with +this story between two games of dominoes!' + +"The dark glee, the savage ferocity aroused by the possession of a few +water-white pebbles, set me shuddering. I was dumb with amazement. + +"'Aha! There you are, my boy!' said he. 'We will dine together. We +will have some fun at your place, for I haven't a home of my own, and +these restaurants, with their broths, and sauces, and wines, would +poison the Devil himself.' + +"Something in my face suddenly brought back the usual cold, impassive +expression to his. + +"'You don't understand it,' he said, and sitting down by the hearth, +he put a tin saucepan full of milk on the brazier.--'Will you +breakfast with me?' continued he. 'Perhaps there will be enough here +for two.' + +"'Thanks,' said I, 'I do not breakfast till noon.' + +"I had scarcely spoken before hurried footsteps sounded from the +passage. The stranger stopped at Gobseck's door and rapped; there was +that in the knock which suggested a man transported with rage. Gobseck +reconnoitred him through the grating; then he opened the door, and in +came a man of thirty-five or so, judged harmless apparently in spite +of his anger. The newcomer, who was quite plainly dressed, bore a +strong resemblance to the late Duc de Richelieu. You must often have +met him, he was the Countess' husband, a man with the aristocratic +figure (permit the expression to pass) peculiar to statesmen of your +faubourg. + +"'Sir,' said this person, addressing himself to Gobseck, who had +quite recovered his tranquillity, 'did my wife go out of this house +just now?' + +"'That is possible.' + +"'Well, sir? do you not take my meaning?' + +"'I have not the honor of the acquaintance of my lady your wife,' +returned Gobseck. 'I have had a good many visitors this morning, women +and men, and mannish young ladies, and young gentlemen who look like +young ladies. I should find it very hard to say----' + +"'A truce to jesting, sir! I mean the woman who has this moment gone +out from you.' + +"'How can I know whether she is your wife or not? I never had the +pleasure of seeing you before.' + +"'You are mistaken, M. Gobseck,' said the Count, with profound irony +in his voice. 'We have met before, one morning in my wife's bedroom. +You had come to demand payment for a bill--no bill of hers.' + +"'It was no business of mine to inquire what value she had received +for it,' said Gobseck, with a malignant look at the Count. 'I had come +by the bill in the way of business. At the same time, monsieur,' +continued Gobseck, quietly pouring coffee into his bowl of milk, +without a trace of excitement or hurry in his voice, 'you will permit +me to observe that your right to enter my house and expostulate with +me is far from proven to my mind. I came of age in the sixty-first +year of the preceding century.' + +"'Sir,' said the Count, 'you have just bought family diamonds, which +do not belong to my wife, for a mere trifle.' + +"'Without feeling it incumbent upon me to tell you my private +affairs, I will tell you this much M. le Comte--if Mme. la Comtesse +has taken your diamonds, you should have sent a circular around to all +the jewelers, giving them notice not to buy them; she might have sold +them separately.' + +"'You know my wife, sir!' roared the Count. + +"'True.' + +"'She is in her husband's power.' + +"'That is possible.' + +"'She had no right to dispose of those diamonds----' + +"'Precisely.' + +"'Very well, sir?' + +"'Very well, sir. I knew your wife, and she is in her husband's +power; I am quite willing, she is in the power of a good many people; +but--I--do--_not_--know--your diamonds. If Mme. la Comtesse can put her +name to a bill, she can go into business, of course, and buy and sell +diamonds on her own account. The thing is plain on the face of it!' + +"'Good-day, sir!' cried the Count, now white with rage. 'There are +courts of justice.' + +"'Quite so.' + +"'This gentleman here,' he added, indicating me, 'was a witness of +the sale.' + +"'That is possible.' + +"The Count turned to go. Feeling the gravity of the affair, I suddenly +put in between the two belligerents. + +"'M. le Comte,' said I, 'you are right, and M. Gobseck is by no means +in the wrong. You could not prosecute the purchaser without bringing +your wife into court, and the whole of the odium would not fall on +her. I am an attorney, and I owe it to myself, and still more to my +professional position, to declare that the diamonds of which you speak +were purchased by M. Gobseck in my presence; but, in my opinion, it +would be unwise to dispute the legality of the sale, especially as the +goods are not readily recognizable. In equity our contention would +lie, in law it would collapse. M. Gobseck is too honest a man to deny +that the sale was a profitable transaction, more especially as my +conscience, no less than my duty, compels me to make the admission. +But once bring the case into a court of law, M. le Comte, the issue +would be doubtful. My advice to you is to come to terms with M. +Gobseck, who can plead that he bought the diamonds in all good faith; +you would be bound in any case to return the purchase money. Consent +to an arrangement, with power to redeem at the end of seven or eight +months, or a year even, or any convenient lapse of time, for the +repayment of the sum borrowed by Mme. la Comtesse, unless you would +prefer to repurchase them outright and give security for repayment.' + +"Gobseck dipped his bread into the bowl of coffee, and ate with +perfect indifference; but at the words 'come to terms,' he looked at +me as who should say, 'A fine fellow that! he has learned something +from my lessons!' And I, for my part, riposted with a glance, which he +understood uncommonly well. The business was dubious and shady; there +was pressing need of coming to terms. Gobseck could not deny all +knowledge of it, for I should appear as a witness. The Count thanked +me with a smile of good-will. + +"In the debate which followed, Gobseck showed greed enough and skill +enough to baffle a whole congress of diplomatists; but in the end I +drew up an instrument, in which the Count acknowledged the receipt of +eighty-five thousand francs, interest included, in consideration of +which Gobseck undertook to return the diamonds to the Count. + +"'What waste!' exclaimed he as he put his signature to the agreement. +'How is it possible to bridge such a gulf?' + +"'Have you many children, sir?' Gobseck asked gravely. + +"The Count winced at the question; it was as if the old money-lender, +like an experienced physician, had put his finger at once on the sore +spot. The Comtesse's husband did not reply. + +"'Well,' said Gobseck, taking the pained silence for answer, 'I know +your story by heart. The woman is a fiend, but perhaps you love her +still; I can well believe it; she made an impression on me. Perhaps, +too, you would rather save your fortune, and keep it for one or two of +your children? Well, fling yourself into the whirlpool of society, +lose that fortune at play, come to Gobseck pretty often. The world +will say that I am a Jew, a Tartar, a usurer, a pirate, will say that +I have ruined you! I snap my fingers at them! If anybody insults me, I +lay my man out; nobody is a surer shot nor handles a rapier better +than your servant. And every one knows it. Then, have a friend--if you +can find one--and make over your property to him by a fictitious sale. +You call that a _fidei commissum_, don't you?' he asked, turning to me. + +"The Count seemed to be entirely absorbed in his own thoughts. + +"'You shall have your money to-morrow,' he said, 'have the diamonds +in readiness,' and he went. + +"'There goes one who looks to me to be as stupid as an honest man,' +Gobseck said coolly when the Count had gone. + +"'Say rather stupid as a man of passionate nature.' + +"'The Count owes you your fee for drawing up the agreement!' Gobseck +called after me as I took my leave. + + + +"One morning, a few days after the scene which initiated me into the +terrible depths beneath the surface of the life of a woman of fashion, +the Count came into my private office. + +"'I have come to consult you on a matter of grave moment,' he said, +'and I begin by telling you that I have perfect confidence in you, as +I hope to prove to you. Your behavior to Mme. de Grandlieu is above +all praise,' the Count went on. (You see, madame, that you have paid +me a thousand times over for a very simple matter.) + +"I bowed respectfully, and replied that I had done nothing but the +duty of an honest man. + +"'Well,' the Count went on, 'I have made a great many inquiries about +the singular personage to whom you owe your position. And from all +that I can learn, Gobseck is a philosopher of the Cynic school. What +do you think of his probity?' + +"'M. le Comte,' said I, 'Gobseck is my benefactor--at fifteen per +cent,' I added, laughing. 'But his avarice does not authorize me to +paint him to the life for a stranger's benefit.' + +"'Speak out, sir. Your frankness cannot injure Gobseck or yourself. I +do not expect to find an angel in a pawnbroker.' + +"'Daddy Gobseck,' I began, 'is intimately convinced of the truth of +the principle which he takes for a rule of life. In his opinion, money +is a commodity which you may sell cheap or dear, according to +circumstances, with a clear conscience. A capitalist, by charging a +high rate of interest, becomes in his eyes a secured partner by +anticipation. Apart from the peculiar philosophical views of human +nature and financial principles, which enable him to behave like a +usurer, I am fully persuaded that, out of his business, he is the most +loyal and upright soul in Paris. There are two men in him; he is petty +and great--a miser and a philosopher. If I were to die and leave a +family behind me, he would be the guardian whom I should appoint. This +was how I came to see Gobseck in this light, monsieur. I know nothing +of his past life. He may have been a pirate, may, for anything I know, +have been all over the world, trafficking in diamonds, or men, or +women, or State secrets; but this I affirm of him--never has human +soul been more thoroughly tempered and tried. When I paid off my loan, +I asked him, with a little circumlocution of course, how it was that +he had made me pay such an exorbitant rate of interest; and why, +seeing that I was a friend, and he meant to do me a kindness, he +should not have yielded to the wish and made it complete.--"My son," +he said, "I released you from all need to feel any gratitude by giving +you ground for the belief that you owed me nothing."--So we are the +best friends in the world. That answer, monsieur, gives you the man +better than any amount of description.' + +"'I have made up my mind once and for all,' said the Count. 'Draw up +the necessary papers; I am going to transfer my property to Gobseck. I +have no one but you to trust to in the draft of the counter-deed, +which will declare that this transfer is a simulated sale, and that +Gobseck as trustee will administer my estate (as he knows how to +administer), and undertakes to make over my fortune to my eldest son +when he comes of age. Now, sir, this I must tell you: I should be +afraid to have that precious document in my own keeping. My boy is so +fond of his mother, that I cannot trust him with it. So dare I beg of +you to keep it for me? In case of death, Gobseck would make you +legatee of my property. Every contingency is provided for.' + +"The Count paused for a moment. He seemed greatly agitated. + +"'A thousand pardons,' he said at length; 'I am in great pain, and +have very grave misgivings as to my health. Recent troubles have +disturbed me very painfully, and forced me to take this great step.' + +"'Allow me first to thank you, monsieur,' said I, 'for the trust you +place me in. But I am bound to deserve it by pointing out to you that +you are disinheriting your--other children. They bear your name. +Merely as the children of a once-loved wife, now fallen from her +position, they have a claim to an assured existence. I tell you +plainly that I cannot accept the trust with which you propose to honor +me unless their future is secured.' + +"The Count trembled violently at the words, and tears came into his +eyes as he grasped my hand, saying, 'I did not know my man thoroughly. +You have made me both glad and sorry. We will make provision for the +children in the counter-deed.' + +"I went with him to the door; it seemed to me that there was a glow of +satisfaction in his face at the thought of this act of justice. + +"Now, Camille, this is how a young wife takes the first step to the +brink of a precipice. A quadrille, a ballad, a picnic party is +sometimes cause sufficient of frightful evils. You are hurried on by +the presumptuous voice of vanity and pride, on the faith of a smile, +or through giddiness and folly! Shame and misery and remorse are three +Furies awaiting every woman the moment she oversteps the limits----" + +"Poor Camille can hardly keep awake," the Vicomtesse hastily broke in. +--"Go to bed, child; you have no need of appalling pictures to keep +you pure in heart and conduct." + +Camille de Grandlieu took the hint and went. + +"You were going rather too far, dear M. Derville," said the +Vicomtesse, "an attorney is not a mother of daughters nor yet a +preacher." + +"But any newspaper is a thousand times----" + +"Poor Derville!" exclaimed the Vicomtesse, "what has come over you? Do +you really imagine that I allow a daughter of mine to read the +newspapers?--Go on," she added after a pause. + +"Three months after everything was signed and sealed between the Count +and Gobseck----" + +"You can call him the Comte de Restaud, now that Camille is not here," +said the Vicomtesse. + +"So be it! Well, time went by, and I saw nothing of the counter-deed, +which by rights should have been in my hands. An attorney in Paris +lives in such a whirl of business that with certain exceptions which +we make for ourselves, we have not the time to give each individual +client the amount of interest which he himself takes in his affairs. +Still, one day when Gobseck came to dine with me, I asked him as we +left the table if he knew how it was that I had heard no more of M. de +Restaud. + +"'There are excellent reasons for that,' he said; 'the noble Count is +at death's door. He is one of the soft stamp that cannot learn how to +put an end to chagrin, and allow it to wear them out instead. Life is +a craft, a profession; every man must take the trouble to learn that +business. When he has learned what life is by dint of painful +experiences, the fibre of him is toughened, and acquires a certain +elasticity, so that he has his sensibilities under his own control; he +disciplines himself till his nerves are like steel springs, which +always bend, but never break; given a sound digestion, and a man in +such training ought to live as long as the cedars of Lebanon, and +famous trees they are.' + +"'Then is the Count actually dying?' I asked. + +"'That is possible,' said Gobseck; 'the winding up of his estate will +be a juicy bit of business for you.' + +"I looked at my man, and said, by way of sounding him: + +"'Just explain to me how it is that we, the Count and I, are the only +men in whom you take an interest?' + +"'Because you are the only two who have trusted me without +finessing,' he said. + +"Although this answer warranted my belief that Gobseck would act +fairly even if the counter-deed were lost, I resolved to go to see the +Count. I pleaded a business engagement, and we separated. + +"I went straight to the Rue du Helder, and was shown into a room where +the Countess sat playing with her children. When she heard my name, +she sprang up and came to meet me, then she sat down and pointed +without a word to a chair by the fire. Her face wore the inscrutable +mask beneath which women of the world conceal their most vehement +emotions. Trouble had withered that face already. Nothing of its +beauty now remained, save the marvelous outlines in which its +principal charm had lain. + +"'It is essential, madame, that I should speak to M. le Comte----" + +"'If so, you would be more favored than I am,' she said, interrupting +me. 'M. de Restaud will see no one. He will hardly allow his doctor to +come, and will not be nursed even by me. When people are ill, they +have such strange fancies! They are like children, they do not know +what they want.' + +"'Perhaps, like children, they know very well what they want.' + +"The Countess reddened. I almost repented a thrust worthy of Gobseck. +So, by way of changing the conversation, I added, 'But M. de Restaud +cannot possibly lie there alone all day, madame.' + +"'His oldest boy is with him,' she said. + +"It was useless to gaze at the Countess; she did not blush this time, +and it looked to me as if she were resolved more firmly than ever that +I should not penetrate into her secrets. + +"'You must understand, madame, that my proceeding is no way +indiscreet. It is strongly to his interest--' I bit my lips, feeling +that I had gone the wrong way to work. The Countess immediately took +advantage of my slip. + +"'My interests are in no way separate from my husband's, sir,' said +she. 'There is nothing to prevent your addressing yourself to me----' + +"'The business which brings me here concerns no one but M. le Comte,' +I said firmly. + +"'I will let him know of your wish to see him.' + +"The civil tone and expression assumed for the occasion did not impose +upon me; I divined that she would never allow me to see her husband. I +chatted on about indifferent matters for a little while, so as to +study her; but, like all women who have once begun to plot for +themselves, she could dissimulate with the rare perfection which, in +your sex, means the last degree of perfidy. If I may dare to say it, I +looked for anything from her, even a crime. She produced this feeling +in me, because it was so evident from her manner and in all that she +did or said, down to the very inflections of her voice, that she had +an eye to the future. I went. + +"Now, I will pass on to the final scenes of this adventure, throwing +in a few circumstances brought to light by time, and some details +guessed by Gobseck's perspicacity or by my own. + +"When the Comte de Restaud apparently plunged into the vortex of +dissipation, something passed between the husband and wife, something +which remains an impenetrable secret, but the wife sank even lower in +the husband's eyes. As soon as he became so ill that he was obliged to +take to his bed, he manifested his aversion for the Countess and the +two youngest children. He forbade them to enter his room, and any +attempt to disobey his wishes brought on such dangerous attacks that +the doctor implored the Countess to submit to her husband's wish. + +"Mme. de Restaud had seen the family estates and property, nay, the +very mansion in which she lived, pass into the hands of Gobseck, who +appeared to play the fantastic ogre so far as their wealth was +concerned. She partially understood what her husband was doing, no +doubt. M. de Trailles was traveling in England (his creditors had been +a little too pressing of late), and no one else was in a position to +enlighten the lady, and explain that her husband was taking +precautions against her at Gobseck's suggestion. It is said that she +held out for a long while before she gave the signature required by +French law for the sale of the property; nevertheless the Count gained +his point. The Countess was convinced that her husband was realizing +his fortune, and that somewhere or other there would be a little bunch +of notes representing the amount; they had been deposited with a +notary, or perhaps at the bank, or in some safe hiding-place. +Following out her train of thought, it was evident that M. de Restaud +must of necessity have some kind of document in his possession by +which any remaining property could be recovered and handed over to his +son. + +"So she made up her mind to keep the strictest possible watch over the +sick-room. She ruled despotically in the house, and everything in it +was submitted to this feminine espionage. All day she sat in the salon +adjoining her husband's room, so that she could hear every syllable +that he uttered, every least movement that he made. She had a bed put +there for her of a night, but she did not sleep very much. The doctor +was entirely in her interests. Such wifely devotion seemed +praiseworthy enough. With the natural subtlety of perfidy, she took +care to disguise M. de Restaud's repugnance for her, and feigned +distress so perfectly that she gained a sort of celebrity. +Strait-laced women were even found to say that she had expiated her +sins. Always before her eyes she beheld a vision of the destitution to +follow on the Count's death if her presence of mind should fail her; +and in these ways the wife, repulsed from the bed of pain on which her +husband lay and groaned, had drawn a charmed circle round about it. So +near, yet kept at a distance; all-powerful, but in disgrace, the +apparently devoted wife was lying in wait for death and opportunity; +crouching like the ant-lion at the bottom of his spiral pit, ever on +the watch for the prey that cannot escape, listening to the fall of +every grain of sand. + +"The strictest censor could not but recognize that the Countess pushed +maternal sentiment to the last degree. Her father's death had been a +lesson to her, people said. She worshiped her children. They were so +young that she could hide the disorders of her life from their eyes, +and could win their love; she had given them the best and most +brilliant education. I confess that I cannot help admiring her and +feeling sorry for her. Gobseck used to joke me about it. Just about +that time she had discovered Maxime's baseness, and was expiating the +sins of the past in tears of blood. I was sure of it. Hateful as were +the measures which she took for regaining control of her husband's +money, were they not the result of a mother's love, and a desire to +repair the wrongs she had done her children? And again, it may be, +like many a woman who has experienced the storm of lawless love, she +felt a longing to lead a virtuous life again. Perhaps she only learned +the worth of that life when she came to reap the woeful harvest sown +by her errors. + +"Every time that little Ernest came out of his father's room, she put +him through a searching examination as to all that his father had done +or said. The boy willingly complied with his mother's wishes, and told +her even more than she asked in her anxious affection, as he thought. + +"My visit was a ray of light for the Countess. She was determined to +see in me the instrument of the Count's vengeance, and resolved that I +should not be allowed to go near the dying man. I augured ill of all +this, and earnestly wished for an interview, for I was not easy in my +mind about the fate of the counter-deed. If it should fall into the +Countess' hands, she might turn it to her own account, and that would +be the beginning of a series of interminable lawsuits between her and +Gobseck. I knew the usurer well enough to feel convinced that he would +never give up the property to her; there was room for plenty of legal +quibbling over a series of transfers, and I alone knew all the ins and +outs of the matter. I was minded to prevent such a tissue of +misfortune, so I went to the Countess a second time. + +"I have noticed, madame," said Derville, turning to the Vicomtesse, +and speaking in a confidential tone, "certain moral phenomena to which +we do not pay enough attention. I am naturally an observer of human +nature, and instinctively I bring a spirit of analysis to the business +that I transact in the interest of others, when human passions are +called into lively play. Now, I have often noticed, and always with +new wonder, that two antagonists almost always divine each other's +inmost thoughts and ideas. Two enemies sometimes possess a power of +clear insight into mental processes, and read each other's minds as +two lovers read in either soul. So when we came together, the Countess +and I, I understood at once the reason of her antipathy for me, +disguised though it was by the most gracious forms of politeness and +civility. I had been forced to be her confidant, and a woman cannot +but hate the man before whom she is compelled to blush. And she on her +side knew that if I was the man in whom her husband placed confidence, +that husband had not as yet given up his fortune. + +"I will spare you the conversation, but it abides in my memory as one +of the most dangerous encounters in my career. Nature had bestowed on +her all the qualities which, combined, are irresistibly fascinating; +she could be pliant and proud by turns, and confiding and coaxing in +her manner; she even went so far as to try to subjugate me. It was a +failure. As I took my leave of her, I caught a gleam of hate and rage +in her eyes that made me shudder. We parted enemies. She would fain +have crushed me out of existence; and for my own part, I felt pity for +her, and for some natures pity is the deadliest of insults. This +feeling pervaded the last representations I put before her; and when I +left her, I left, I think, dread in the depths of her soul, by +declaring that, turn which way she would, ruin lay inevitably before +her. + +"'If I were to see M. le Comte, your children's property at any rate +would----' + +"'I should be at your mercy,' she said, breaking in upon me, disgust +in her gesture. + +"Now that we had spoken frankly, I made up my mind to save the family +from impending destitution. I resolved to strain the law at need to +gain my ends, and this was what I did. I sued the Comte de Restaud for +a sum of money, ostensibly due to Gobseck, and gained judgment. The +Countess, of course, did not allow him to know of this, but I had +gained on my point, I had a right to affix seals to everything on the +death of the Count. I bribed one of the servants in the house--the man +undertook to let me know at any hour of the day or night if his master +should be at the point of death, so that I could intervene at once, +scare the Countess with a threat of affixing seals, and so secure the +counter-deed. + +"I learned later on that the woman was studying the Code, with her +husband's dying moans in her ears. If we could picture the thoughts of +those who stand about a deathbed, what fearful sights should we not +see? Money is always the motive-spring of the schemes elaborated, of +all the plans that are made and the plots that are woven about it! Let +us leave these details, nauseating in the nature of them; but perhaps +they may have given you some insight into all that this husband and +wife endured; perhaps too they may unveil much that is passing in +secret in other houses. + +"For two months the Comte de Restaud lay on his bed, alone, and +resigned to his fate. Mortal disease was slowly sapping the strength +of mind and body. Unaccountable and grotesque sick fancies preyed upon +him; he would not suffer them to set his room in order, no one could +nurse him, he would not even allow them to make his bed. All his +surroundings bore the marks of this last degree of apathy, the +furniture was out of place, the daintiest trifles were covered with +dust and cobwebs. In health he had been a man of refined and expensive +tastes, now he positively delighted in the comfortless look of the +room. A host of objects required in illness--rows of medicine bottles, +empty and full, most of them dirty, crumpled linen, and broken plates, +littered the writing-table, chairs, and chimney-piece. An open +warming-pan lay on the floor before the grate; a bath, still full of +mineral water had not been taken away. The sense of coming dissolution +pervaded all the details of an unsightly chaos. Signs of death +appeared in things inanimate before the Destroyer came to the body on +the bed. The Comte de Restaud could not bear the daylight, the +Venetian shutters were closed, darkness deepened the gloom in the +dismal chamber. The sick man himself had wasted greatly. All the life +in him seemed to have taken refuge in the still brilliant eyes. The +livid whiteness of his face was something horrible to see, enhanced as +it was by the long dank locks of hair that straggled along his cheeks, +for he would never suffer them to cut it. He looked like some +religious fanatic in the desert. Mental suffering was extinguishing +all human instincts in this man of scarce fifty years of age, whom all +Paris had known as so brilliant and so successful. + +"One morning at the beginning of December 1824, he looked up at +Ernest, who sat at the foot of his bed gazing at his father with +wistful eyes. + +"'Are you in pain?' the little Vicomte asked. + +"'No,' said the Count, with a ghastly smile, 'it all lies _here and +about my heart_!' + +"He pointed to his forehead, and then laid his wasted fingers on his +hollow chest. Ernest began to cry at the sight. + +"'How is it that M. Derville does not come to me?' the Count asked +his servant (he thought that Maurice was really attached to him, but +the man was entirely in the Countess' interest)--'What! Maurice!' and +the dying man suddenly sat upright in his bed, and seemed to recover +all his presence of mind, 'I have sent for my attorney seven or eight +times during the last fortnight, and he does not come!' he cried. 'Do +you imagine that I am to be trifled with? Go for him, at once, this +very instant, and bring him back with you. If you do not carry out my +orders, I shall get up and go myself.' + +"'Madame,' said the man as he came into the salon, 'you heard M. le +Comte; what ought I to do?' + +"'Pretend to go to the attorney, and when you come back tell your +master that his man of business is forty leagues away from Paris on an +important lawsuit. Say that he is expected back at the end of the +week.--Sick people never know how ill they are,' thought the Countess; +'he will wait till the man comes home.' + +"The doctor had said on the previous evening that the Count could +scarcely live through the day. When the servant came back two hours +later to give that hopeless answer, the dying man seemed to be greatly +agitated. + +"'Oh God!' he cried again and again, 'I put my trust in none but +Thee.' + +"For a long while he lay and gazed at his son, and spoke in a feeble +voice at last. + +"'Ernest, my boy, you are very young; but you have a good heart; you +can understand, no doubt, that a promise given to a dying man is +sacred; a promise to a father . . . Do you feel that you can be +trusted with a secret, and keep it so well and so closely that even +your mother herself shall not know that you have a secret to keep? +There is no one else in this house whom I can trust to-day. You will +not betray my trust, will you?' + +"'No, father.' + +"'Very well, then, Ernest, in a minute or two I will give you a +sealed packet that belongs to M. Derville; you must take such care of +it that no one can know that you have it; then you must slip out of +the house and put the letter into the post-box at the corner.' + +"'Yes, father.' + +"'Can I depend upon you?' + +"'Yes, father.' + +"'Come and kiss me. You have made death less bitter to me, dear boy. +In six or seven years' time you will understand the importance of this +secret, and you will be well rewarded then for your quickness and +obedience, you will know then how much I love you. Leave me alone for +a minute, and let no one--no matter whom--come in meanwhile.' + +"Ernest went out and saw his mother standing in the next room. + +"'Ernest,' said she, 'come here.' + +"She sat down, drew her son to her knees, and clasped him in her arms, +and held him tightly to her heart. + +"'Ernest, your father said something to you just now.' + +"'Yes, mamma.' + +"'What did he say?' + +"'I cannot repeat it, mamma.' + +"'Oh, my dear child!' cried the Countess, kissing him in rapture. +'You have kept your secret; how glad that makes me! Never tell a lie; +never fail to keep your word--those are two principles which should +never be forgotten.' + +"'Oh! mamma, how beautiful you are! _You_ have never told a lie, I am +quite sure.' + +"'Once or twice, Ernest dear, I have lied. Yes, and I have not kept +my word under circumstances which speak louder than all precepts. +Listen, my Ernest, you are big enough and intelligent enough to see +that your father drives me away, and will not allow me to nurse him, +and this is not natural, for you know how much I love him.' + +"'Yes, mamma.' + +"The Countess began to cry. 'Poor child!' she said, 'this misfortune +is the result of treacherous insinuations. Wicked people have tried to +separate me from your father to satisfy their greed. They mean to take +all our money from us and to keep it for themselves. If your father +were well, the division between us would soon be over; he would listen +to me; he is loving and kind; he would see his mistake. But now his +mind is affected, and his prejudices against me have become a fixed +idea, a sort of mania with him. It is one result of his illness. Your +father's fondness for you is another proof that his mind is deranged. +Until he fell ill you never noticed that he loved you more than +Pauline and Georges. It is all caprice with him now. In his affection +for you he might take it into his head to tell you to do things for +him. If you do not want to ruin us all, my darling, and to see your +mother begging her bread like a pauper woman, you must tell her +everything----' + +"'Ah!' cried the Count. He had opened the door and stood there, a +sudden, half-naked apparition, almost as thin and fleshless as a +skeleton. + +"His smothered cry produced a terrible effect upon the Countess; she +sat motionless, as if a sudden stupor had seized her. Her husband was +as white and wasted as if he had risen out of his grave. + +"'You have filled my life to the full with trouble, and now you are +trying to vex my deathbed, to warp my boy's mind, and make a depraved +man of him!' he cried, hoarsely. + +"The Countess flung herself at his feet. His face, working with the +last emotions of life, was almost hideous to see. + +"'Mercy! mercy!' she cried aloud, shedding a torrent of tears. + +"'Have you shown me any pity?' he asked. 'I allowed you to squander +your own money, and now do you mean to squander my fortune, too, and +ruin my son?' + +"'Ah! well, yes, have no pity for me, be merciless to me!' she cried. +'But the children? Condemn your widow to live in a convent; I will +obey you; I will do anything, anything that you bid me, to expiate the +wrong I have done you, if that so the children may be happy! The +children! Oh, the children!' + +"'I have only one child,' said the Count, stretching out a wasted +arm, in his despair, towards his son. + +"'Pardon a penitent woman, a penitent woman! . . .' wailed the +Countess, her arms about her husband's damp feet. She could not speak +for sobbing; vague, incoherent sounds broke from her parched throat. + +"'You dare to talk of penitence after all that you said to Ernest!' +exclaimed the dying man, shaking off the Countess, who lay groveling +over his feet.--'You turn me to ice!' he added, and there was +something appalling in the indifference with which he uttered the +words. 'You have been a bad daughter; you have been a bad wife; you +will be a bad mother.' + +"The wretched woman fainted away. The dying man reached his bed and +lay down again, and a few hours later sank into unconsciousness. The +priests came and administered the sacraments. + +"At midnight he died; the scene that morning had exhausted his +remaining strength, and on the stroke of midnight I arrived with Daddy +Gobseck. The house was in confusion, and under cover of it we walked +up into the little salon adjoining the death-chamber. The three +children were there in tears, with two priests, who had come to watch +with the dead. Ernest came over to me, and said that his mother +desired to be alone in the Count's room. + +"'Do not go in,' he said; and I admired the child for his tone and +gesture; 'she is praying there.' + +"Gobseck began to laugh that soundless laugh of his, but I felt too +much touched by the feeling in Ernest's little face to join in the +miser's sardonic amusement. When Ernest saw that we moved towards the +door, he planted himself in front of it, crying out, 'Mamma, here are +some gentlemen in black who want to see you!' + +"Gobseck lifted Ernest out of the way as if the child had been a +feather, and opened the door. + +"What a scene it was that met our eyes! The room was in frightful +disorder; clothes and papers and rags lay tossed about in a confusion +horrible to see in the presence of Death; and there, in the midst, +stood the Countess in disheveled despair, unable to utter a word, her +eyes glittering. The Count had scarcely breathed his last before his +wife came in and forced open the drawers and the desk; the carpet was +strewn with litter, some of the furniture and boxes were broken, the +signs of violence could be seen everywhere. But if her search had at +first proved fruitless, there was that in her excitement and attitude +which led me to believe that she had found the mysterious documents at +last. I glanced at the bed, and professional instinct told me all that +had happened. The mattress had been flung contemptuously down by the +bedside, and across it, face downwards, lay the body of the Count, +like one of the paper envelopes that strewed the carpet--he too was +nothing now but an envelope. There was something grotesquely horrible +in the attitude of the stiffening rigid limbs. + +"The dying man must have hidden the counter-deed under his pillow to +keep it safe so long as life should last; and his wife must have +guessed his thought; indeed, it might be read plainly in his last +dying gesture, in the convulsive clutch of his claw-like hands. The +pillow had been flung to the floor at the foot of the bed; I could see +the print of her heel upon it. At her feet lay a paper with the +Count's arms on the seals; I snatched it up, and saw that it was +addressed to me. I looked steadily at the Countess with the pitiless +clear-sightedness of an examining magistrate confronting a guilty +creature. The contents were blazing in the grate; she had flung them +on the fire at the sound of our approach, imagining, from a first +hasty glance at the provisions which I had suggested for her children, +that she was destroying a will which disinherited them. A tormented +conscience and involuntary horror of the deed which she had done had +taken away all power of reflection. She had been caught in the act, +and possibly the scaffold was rising before her eyes, and she already +felt the felon's branding iron. + +"There she stood gasping for breath, waiting for us to speak, staring +at us with haggard eyes. + +"I went across to the grate and pulled out an unburned fragment. 'Ah, +madame!' I exclaimed, 'you have ruined your children! Those papers +were their titles to their property.' + +"Her mouth twitched, she looked as if she were threatened by a +paralytic seizure. + +"'Eh! eh!' cried Gobseck; the harsh, shrill tone grated upon our ears +like the sound of a brass candlestick scratching a marble surface. + +"There was a pause, then the old man turned to me and said quietly: + +"'Do you intend Mme. la Comtesse to suppose that I am not the +rightful owner of the property sold to me by her late husband? This +house belongs to me now.' + +"A sudden blow on the head from a bludgeon would have given me less +pain and astonishment. The Countess saw the look of hesitation in my +face. + +"'Monsieur,' she cried, 'Monsieur!' She could find no other words. + +"'You are a trustee, are you not?' I asked. + +"'That is possible.' + +"'Then do you mean to take advantage of this crime of hers?' + +"'Precisely.' + +"I went at that, leaving the Countess sitting by her husband's +bedside, shedding hot tears. Gobseck followed me. Outside in the +street I separated from him, but he came after me, flung me one of +those searching glances with which he probed men's minds, and said in +the husky flute-tones, pitched in a shriller key: + +"'Do you take it upon yourself to judge me?' + + + +"From that time forward we saw little of each other. Gobseck let the +Count's mansion on lease; he spent the summers on the country estates. +He was a lord of the manor in earnest, putting up farm buildings, +repairing mills and roadways, and planting timber. I came across him +one day in a walk in the Jardin des Tuileries. + +"'The Countess is behaving like a heroine,' said I; 'she gives +herself up entirely to the children's education; she is giving them a +perfect bringing up. The oldest boy is a charming young fellow----' + +"'That is possible.' + +"'But ought you not to help Ernest?' I suggested. + +"'Help him!' cried Gobseck. 'Not I. Adversity is the greatest of all +teachers; adversity teaches us to know the value of money and the +worth of men and women. Let him set sail on the seas of Paris; when he +is a qualified pilot, we will give him a ship to steer.' + +"I left him without seeking to explain the meaning of his words. + +"M. de Restaud's mother has prejudiced him against me, and he is very +far from taking me as his legal adviser; still, I went to see Gobseck +last week to tell him about Ernest's love for Mlle. Camille, and +pressed him to carry out his contract, since that young Restaud is +just of age. + +"I found the old bill-discounter had been kept to his bed for a long +time by the complaint of which he was to die. He put me off, saying +that he would give the matter his attention when he could get up again +and see after his business; his idea being no doubt that he would not +give up any of his possessions so long as the breath was in him; no +other reason could be found for his shuffling answer. He seemed to me +to be much worse than he at all suspected. I stayed with him long +enough to discern the progress of a passion which age had converted +into a sort of craze. He wanted to be alone in the house, and had +taken the rooms one by one as they fell vacant. In his own room he had +changed nothing; the furniture which I knew so well sixteen years ago +looked the same as ever; it might have been kept under a glass case. +Gobseck's faithful old portress, with her husband, a pensioner, who +sat in the entry while she was upstairs, was still his housekeeper and +charwoman, and now in addition his sick-nurse. In spite of his +feebleness, Gobseck saw his clients himself as heretofore, and +received sums of money; his affairs had been so simplified, that he +only needed to send his pensioner out now and again on an errand, and +could carry on business in his bed. + +"After the treaty, by which France recognized the Haytian Republic, +Gobseck was one of the members of the commission appointed to +liquidate claims and assess repayments due by Hayti; his special +knowledge of old fortunes in San Domingo, and the planters and their +heirs and assigns to whom the indemnities were due, had led to his +nomination. Gobseck's peculiar genius had then devised an agency for +discounting the planters' claims on the government. The business was +carried on under the names of Werbrust and Gigonnet, with whom he +shared the spoil without disbursements, for his knowledge was accepted +instead of capital. The agency was a sort of distillery, in which +money was extracted from doubtful claims, and the claims of those who +knew no better, or had no confidence in the government. As a +liquidator, Gobseck could make terms with the large landed +proprietors; and these, either to gain a higher percentage of their +claims, or to ensure prompt settlements, would send him presents in +proportion to their means. In this way presents came to be a kind of +percentage upon sums too large to pass through his control, while the +agency bought up cheaply the small and dubious claims, or the claims +of those persons who preferred a little ready money to a deferred and +somewhat hazy repayment by the Republic. Gobseck was the insatiable +boa constrictor of the great business. Every morning he received his +tribute, eyeing it like a Nabob's prime minister, as he considers +whether he will sign a pardon. Gobseck would take anything, from the +present of game sent him by some poor devil or the pound's weight of +wax candles from devout folk, to the rich man's plate and the +speculator's gold snuff-box. Nobody knew what became of the presents +sent to the old money-lender. Everything went in, but nothing came +out. + +"'On the word of an honest woman,' said the portress, an old +acquaintance of mine, 'I believe he swallows it all and is none the +fatter for it; he is as thin and dried up as the cuckoo in the clock.' + +"At length, last Monday, Gobseck sent his pensioner for me. The man +came up to my private office. + +"'Be quick and come, M. Derville,' said he, 'the governor is just +going to hand in his checks; he has grown as yellow as a lemon; he is +fidgeting to speak with you; death has fair hold of him; the rattle is +working in his throat.' + +"When I entered Gobseck's room, I found the dying man kneeling before +the grate. If there was no fire on the hearth, there was at any rate a +monstrous heap of ashes. He had dragged himself out of bed, but his +strength had failed him, and he could neither go back nor find the +voice to complain. + +"'You felt cold, old friend,' I said, as I helped him back to his +bed; 'how can you do without a fire?' + +"'I am not cold at all,' he said. 'No fire here! no fire! I am going, +I know not where, lad,' he went on, glancing at me with blank, +lightless eyes, 'but I am going away from this.--I have _carpology_,' +said he (the use of the technical term showing how clear and accurate +his mental processes were even now). 'I thought the room was full of +live gold, and I got up to catch some of it.--To whom will all mine +go, I wonder? Not to the crown; I have left a will, look for it, +Grotius. _La belle Hollandaise_ had a daughter; I once saw the girl +somewhere or other, in the Rue Vivienne, one evening. They call her +"_La Torpille_," I believe; she is as pretty as pretty can be; look her +up, Grotius. You are my executor; take what you like; help yourself. +There are Strasburg pies, there, and bags of coffee, and sugar, and +gold spoons. Give the Odiot service to your wife. But who is to have +the diamonds? Are you going to take them, lad? There is snuff too +--sell it at Hamburg, tobaccos are worth half as much again at Hamburg. +All sorts of things I have in fact, and now I must go and leave them +all.--Come, Papa Gobseck, no weakness, be yourself!' + +"He raised himself in bed, the lines of his face standing out as +sharply against the pillow as if the profile had been cast in bronze; +he stretched out a lean arm and bony hand along the coverlet and +clutched it, as if so he would fain keep his hold on life, then he +gazed hard at the grate, cold as his own metallic eyes, and died in +full consciousness of death. To us--the portress, the old pensioner, +and myself--he looked like one of the old Romans standing behind the +Consuls in Lethiere's picture of the _Death of the Sons of Brutus_. + +"'He was a good-plucked one, the old Lascar!' said the pensioner in +his soldierly fashion. + +"But as for me, the dying man's fantastical enumeration of his riches +still sounding in my ears, and my eyes, following the direction of +his, rested on that heap of ashes. It struck me that it was very +large. I took the tongs, and as soon as I stirred the cinders, I felt +the metal underneath, a mass of gold and silver coins, receipts taken +during his illness, doubtless, after he grew too feeble to lock the +money up, and could trust no one to take it to the bank for him. + +"'Run for the justice of the peace,' said I, turning to the old +pensioner, 'so that everything can be sealed here at once.' + +"Gobseck's last words and the old portress' remarks had struck me. I +took the keys of the rooms on the first and second floor to make a +visitation. The first door that I opened revealed the meaning of the +phrases which I took for mad ravings; and I saw the length to which +covetousness goes when it survives only as an illogical instinct, the +last stage of greed of which you find so many examples among misers in +country towns. + +"In the room next to the one in which Gobseck had died, a quantity of +eatables of all kinds were stored--putrid pies, mouldy fish, nay, even +shell-fish, the stench almost choked me. Maggots and insects swarmed. +These comparatively recent presents were put down, pell-mell, among +chests of tea, bags of coffee, and packing-cases of every shape. A +silver soup tureen on the chimney-piece was full of advices of the +arrival of goods consigned to his order at Havre, bales of cotton, +hogsheads of sugar, barrels of rum, coffees, indigo, tobaccos, a +perfect bazaar of colonial produce. The room itself was crammed with +furniture, and silver-plate, and lamps, and vases, and pictures; there +were books, and curiosities, and fine engravings lying rolled up, +unframed. Perhaps these were not all presents, and some part of this +vast quantity of stuff had been deposited with him in the shape of +pledges, and had been left on his hands in default of payment. I +noticed jewel-cases, with ciphers and armorial bearings stamped upon +them, and sets of fine table-linen, and weapons of price; but none of +the things were docketed. I opened a book which seemed to be +misplaced, and found a thousand-franc note in it. I promised myself +that I would go through everything thoroughly; I would try the +ceilings, and floors, and walls, and cornices to discover all the +gold, hoarded with such passionate greed by a Dutch miser worthy of a +Rembrandt's brush. In all the course of my professional career I have +never seen such impressive signs of the eccentricity of avarice. + +"I went back to his room, and found an explanation of this chaos +and accumulation of riches in a pile of letters lying under the +paper-weights on his desk--Gobseck's correspondence with the various +dealers to whom doubtless he usually sold his presents. These persons +had, perhaps, fallen victims to Gobseck's cleverness, or Gobseck may +have wanted fancy prices for his goods; at any rate, every bargain hung +in suspense. He had not disposed of the eatables to Chevet, because +Chevet would only take them of him at a loss of thirty per cent. +Gobseck haggled for a few francs between the prices, and while they +wrangled the goods became unsalable. Again, Gobseck had refused free +delivery of his silver-plate, and declined to guarantee the weights of +his coffees. There had been a dispute over each article, the first +indication in Gobseck of the childishness and incomprehensible +obstinacy of age, a condition of mind reached at last by all men in +whom a strong passion survives the intellect. + +"I said to myself, as he had said, 'To whom will all these riches go?' +. . . And then I think of the grotesque information he gave me as to +the present address of his heiress, I foresee that it will be my duty +to search all the houses of ill-fame in Paris to pour out an immense +fortune on some worthless jade. But, in the first place, know this +--that in a few days time Ernest de Restaud will come into a fortune +to which his title is unquestionable, a fortune which will put him in +a position to marry Mlle. Camille, even after adequate provision has +been made for his mother the Comtesse de Restaud and his sister and +brother." + + + + +ADDENDUM + +The following personages appear in other stories of the Human Comedy. + +Bidault (known as Gigonnet) + The Government Clerks + The Vendetta + Cesar Birotteau + The Firm of Nucingen + A Daughter of Eve + +Derville + A Start in Life + The Gondreville Mystery + Father Goriot + Colonel Chabert + Scenes from a Courtesan's Life + +Derville, Madame + Cesar Birotteau + +Gobseck, Jean-Esther Van + Father Goriot + Cesar Birotteau + The Government Clerks + The Unconscious Humorists + +Gobseck, Sarah Van + Cesar Birotteau + The Maranas + Scenes from a Courtesan's Life + The Member for Arcis + +Gobseck, Esther Van + The Firm of Nucingen + A Bachelor's Establishment + Scenes from a Courtesan's Life + +Grandlieu, Vicomtesse de + Scenes from a Courtesan's Life + Colonel Chabert + +Grandlieu, Vicomte Juste de + Scenes from a Courtesan's Life + +Grandlieu, Vicomtesse Juste de + Scenes from a Courtesan's Life + A Daughter of Eve + +Maurice (de Restaud's valet) + Father Goriot + +Palma (banker) + The Firm of Nucingen + Cesar Birotteau + Lost Illusions + A Distinguished Provincial at Paris + The Ball at Sceaux + +Restaud, Comte de + Father Goriot + +Restaud, Comtesse Anastasie de + Father Goriot + +Restaud, Ernest de + The Member for Arcis + +Restaud, Madame Ernest de + The Member for Arcis + +Restaud, Felix-Georges de + The Member for Arcis + +Trailles, Comte Maxime de + Cesar Birotteau + Father Goriot + Ursule Mirouet + A Man of Business + The Member for Arcis + The Secrets of a Princess + Cousin Betty + The Member for Arcis + Beatrix + The Unconscious Humorists + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Gobseck, by Honore de Balzac + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK GOBSECK *** + +***** This file should be named 1389.txt or 1389.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.net/1/3/8/1389/ + +Produced by Dagny, and Bonnie Sala + +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 Dagny, dagnyj@hotmail.com +and Bonnie Sala + + + + + +GOBSECK + +BY + +HONORE DE BALZAC + + + +Translated By +Ellen Marriage + + + +DEDICATION + + To M. le Baron Barchou de Penhoen. + + Among all the pupils of the Oratorian school at Vendome, we are, I + think, the only two who have afterwards met in mid-career of a + life of letters--we who once were cultivating Philosophy when by + rights we should have been minding our De viris. When we met, you + were engaged upon your noble works on German philosophy, and I + upon this study. So neither of us has missed his vocation; and + you, when you see your name here, will feel, no doubt, as much + pleasure as he who inscribes his work to you.--Your old + schoolfellow, + +1840 + +De Balzac + + + + +GOBSECK + +It was one o'clock in the morning, during the winter of 1829-30, but +in the Vicomtesse de Grandlieu's salon two persons stayed on who did +not belong to her family circle. A young and good-looking man heard +the clock strike, and took his leave. When the courtyard echoed with +the sound of a departing carriage, the Vicomtesse looked up, saw that +no one was present save her brother and a friend of the family +finishing their game of piquet, and went across to her daughter. The +girl, standing by the chimney-piece, apparently examining a +transparent fire-screen, was listening to the sounds from the +courtyard in a way that justified certain maternal fears. + +"Camille," said the Vicomtesse, "if you continue to behave to young +Comte de Restaud as you have done this evening, you will oblige me to +see no more of him here. Listen, child, and if you have any confidence +in my love, let me guide you in life. At seventeen one cannot judge of +past or future, nor of certain social considerations. I have only one +thing to say to you. M. de Restaud has a mother, a mother who would +waste millions of francs; a woman of no birth, a Mlle. Goriot; people +talked a good deal about her at one time. She behaved so badly to her +own father, that she certainly does not deserve to have so good a son. +The young Count adores her, and maintains her in her position with +dutifulness worthy of all praise, and he is extremely good to his +brother and sister.--But however admirable HIS behavior may be," the +Vicomtesse added with a shrewd expression, "so long as his mother +lives, any family would take alarm at the idea of intrusting a +daughter's fortune and future to young Restaud." + +"I overheard a word now and again in your talk with Mlle. de +Grandlieu," cried the friend of the family, "and it made me anxious to +put in a word of my own.--I have won, M. le Comte," he added, turning +to his opponent. "I shall throw you over and go to your niece's +assistance." + +"See what it is to have an attorney's ears!" exclaimed the Vicomtesse. +"My dear Derville, how could you know what I was saying to Camille in +a whisper?" + +"I knew it from your looks," answered Derville, seating himself in a +low chair by the fire. + +Camille's uncle went to her side, and Mme. de Grandlieu took up her +position on a hearth stool between her daughter and Derville. + +"The time has come for telling a story, which should modify your +judgment as to Ernest de Restaud's prospects." + +"A story?" cried Camille. "Do begin at once, monsieur." + +The glance that Derville gave the Vicomtesse told her that this tale +was meant for her. The Vicomtesse de Grandlieu, be it said, was one of +the greatest ladies in the Faubourg Saint-Germain, by reason of her +fortune and her ancient name; and though it may seem improbable that a +Paris attorney should speak so familiarly to her, or be so much at +home in her house, the fact is nevertheless easily explained. + +When Mme. de Grandlieu returned to France with the Royal family, she +came to Paris, and at first lived entirely on the pension allowed her +out of the Civil List by Louis XVIII.--an intolerable position. The +Hotel de Grandlieu had been sold by the Republic. It came to +Derville's knowledge that there were flaws in the title, and he +thought that it ought to return to the Vicomtesse. He instituted +proceedings for nullity of contract, and gained the day. Encouraged by +this success, he used legal quibbles to such purpose that he compelled +some institution or other to disgorge the Forest of Liceney. Then he +won certain lawsuits against the Canal d'Orleans, and recovered a +tolerably large amount of property, with which the Emperor had endowed +various public institutions. So it fell out that, thanks to the young +attorney's skilful management, Mme. de Grandlieu's income reached the +sum of some sixty thousand francs, to say nothing of the vast sums +returned to her by the law of indemnity. And Derville, a man of high +character, well informed, modest, and pleasant in company, became the +house-friend of the family. + +By his conduct of Mme. de Grandlieu's affairs he had fairly earned the +esteem of the Faubourg Saint-Germain, and numbered the best families +among his clients; but he did not take advantage of his popularity, as +an ambitious man might have done. The Vicomtesse would have had him +sell his practice and enter the magistracy, in which career +advancement would have been swift and certain with such influence at +his disposal; but he persistently refused all offers. He only went +into society to keep up his connections, but he occasionally spent an +evening at the Hotel de Grandlieu. It was a very lucky thing for him +that his talents had been brought into the light by his devotion to +Mme. de Grandlieu, for his practice otherwise might have gone to +pieces. Derville had not an attorney's soul. Since Ernest de Restaud +had appeared at the Hotel de Grandlieu, and he had noticed that +Camille felt attracted to the young man, Derville had been as +assiduous in his visits as any dandy of the Chausee-d'Antin newly +admitted to the noble Faubourg. At a ball only a few days before, when +he happened to stand near Camille, and said, indicating the Count: + +"It is a pity that yonder youngster has not two or three million +francs, is it not?" + +"Is it a pity? I do not think so," the girl answered. "M. de Restaud +has plenty of ability; he is well educated, and the Minister, his +chief, thinks well of him. He will be a remarkable man, I have no +doubt. 'Yonder youngster' will have as much money as he wishes when he +comes into power." + +"Yes, but suppose that he were rich already?" + +"Rich already?" repeated Camille, flushing red. "Why all the girls in +the room would be quarreling for him," she said, glancing at the +quadrilles. + +"And then," retorted the attorney, "Mlle. de Grandlieu might not be +the one towards whom his eyes are always turned? That is what that red +color means! You like him, do you not? Come, speak out." + +Camille suddenly rose to go. + +"She loves him," Derville thought. + +Since that evening, Camille had been unwontedly attentive to the +attorney, who approved of her liking for Ernest de Restaud. Hitherto, +although she knew well that her family lay under great obligations to +Derville, she had felt respect rather than real friendship for him, +their relation was more a matter of politeness than of warmth of +feeling; and by her manner, and by the tones of her voice, she had +always made him sensible of the distance which socially lay between +them. Gratitude is a charge upon the inheritance which the second +generation is apt to repudiate. + + + +"This adventure," Derville began after a pause, "brings the one +romantic event in my life to my mind. You are laughing already," he +went on; "it seems so ridiculous, doesn't it, that an attorney should +speak of a romance in his life? But once I was five-and-twenty, like +everybody else, and even then I had seen some queer things. I ought to +begin at the beginning by telling you about some one whom it is +impossible that you should have known. The man in question was a +usurer. + +"Can you grasp a clear notion of that sallow, wan face of his? I wish +the Academie would give me leave to dub such faces the lunar type. It +was like silver-gilt, with the gilt rubbed off. His hair was iron- +gray, sleek, and carefully combed; his features might have been cast +in bronze; Talleyrand himself was not more impassive than this money- +lender. A pair of little eyes, yellow as a ferret's, and with scarce +an eyelash to them, peered out from under the sheltering peak of a +shabby old cap, as if they feared the light. He had the thin lips that +you see in Rembrandt's or Metsu's portraits of alchemists and shrunken +old men, and a nose so sharp at the tip that it put you in mind of a +gimlet. His voice was so low; he always spoke suavely; he never flew +into a passion. His age was a problem; it was hard to say whether he +had grown old before his time, or whether by economy of youth he had +saved enough to last him his life. + +"His room, and everything in it, from the green baize of the bureau to +the strip of carpet by the bed, was as clean and threadbare as the +chilly sanctuary of some elderly spinster who spends her days in +rubbing her furniture. In winter time, the live brands of the fire +smouldered all day in a bank of ashes; there was never any flame in +his grate. He went through his day, from his uprising to his evening +coughing-fit, with the regularity of a pendulum, and in some sort was +a clockwork man, wound up by a night's slumber. Touch a wood-louse on +an excursion across your sheet of paper, and the creature shams death; +and in something the same way my acquaintance would stop short in the +middle of a sentence, while a cart went by, to save the strain to his +voice. Following the example of Fontenelle, he was thrifty of pulse- +strokes, and concentrated all human sensibility in the innermost +sanctuary of Self. + +"His life flowed soundless as the sands of an hour-glass. His victims +sometimes flew into a rage and made a great deal of noise, followed by +a great silence; so is it in a kitchen after a fowl's neck has been +wrung. + +"Toward evening this bill of exchange incarnate would assume ordinary +human shape, and his metals were metamorphosed into a human heart. +When he was satisfied with his day's business, he would rub his hands; +his inward glee would escape like smoke through every rift and wrinkle +of his face;--in no other way is it possible to give an idea of the +mute play of muscle which expressed sensations similar to the +soundless laughter of Leather Stocking. Indeed, even in transports of +joy, his conversation was confined to monosyllables; he wore the same +non-committal countenance. + +"This was the neighbor Chance found for me in the house in the Rue de +Gres, where I used to live when as yet I was only a second clerk +finishing my third year's studies. The house is damp and dark, and +boasts no courtyard. All the windows look on the street; the whole +dwelling, in claustral fashion, is divided into rooms or cells of +equal size, all opening upon a long corridor dimly lit with borrowed +lights. The place must have been part of an old convent once. So +gloomy was it, that the gaiety of eldest sons forsook them on the +stairs before they reached my neighbor's door. He and his house were +much alike; even so does the oyster resemble his native rock. + +"I was the one creature with whom he had any communication, socially +speaking; he would come in to ask for a light, to borrow a book or a +newspaper, and of an evening he would allow me to go into his cell, +and when he was in the humor we would chat together. These marks of +confidence were the results of four years of neighborhood and my own +sober conduct. From sheer lack of pence, I was bound to live pretty +much as he did. Had he any relations or friends? Was he rich or poor? +Nobody could give an answer to these questions. I myself never saw +money in his room. Doubtless his capital was safely stowed in the +strong rooms of the Bank. He used to collect his bills himself as they +fell due, running all over Paris on a pair of shanks as skinny as a +stag's. On occasion he would be a martyr to prudence. One day, when he +happened to have gold in his pockets, a double napoleon worked its +way, somehow or other, out of his fob and fell, and another lodger +following him up the stairs picked up the coin and returned it to its +owner. + +" 'That isn't mine!' said he, with a start of surprise. 'Mine indeed! +If I were rich, should I live as I do!' + +"He made his cup of coffee himself every morning on the cast-iron +chafing dish which stood all day in the black angle of the grate; his +dinner came in from a cookshop; and our old porter's wife went up at +the prescribed hour to set his room in order. Finally, a whimsical +chance, in which Sterne would have seen predestination, had named the +man Gobseck. When I did business for him later, I came to know that he +was about seventy-six years old at the time when we became acquainted. +He was born about 1740, in some outlying suburb of Antwerp, of a Dutch +father and a Jewish mother, and his name was Jean-Esther Van Gobseck. +You remember how all Paris took an interest in that murder case, a +woman named La belle Hollandaise? I happened to mention it to my old +neighbor, and he answered without the slightest symptom of interest or +surprise, 'She is my grandniece.' + +"That was the only remark drawn from him by the death of his sole +surviving next of kin, his sister's granddaughter. From reports of the +case I found that La belle Hollandaise was in fact named Sara Van +Gobseck. When I asked by what curious chance his grandniece came to +bear his surname, he smiled: + +" 'The women never marry in our family.' + +"Singular creature, he had never cared to find out a single relative +among four generations counted on the female side. The thought of his +heirs was abhorrent to him; and the idea that his wealth could pass +into other hands after his death simply inconceivable. + +"He was a child, ten years old, when his mother shipped him off as a +cabin boy on a voyage to the Dutch Straits Settlements, and there he +knocked about for twenty years. The inscrutable lines on that sallow +forehead kept the secret of horrible adventures, sudden panic, +unhoped-for luck, romantic cross events, joys that knew no limit, +hunger endured and love trampled under foot, fortunes risked, lost, +and recovered, life endangered time and time again, and saved, it may +be, by one of the rapid, ruthless decisions absolved by necessity. He +had known Admiral Simeuse, M. de Lally, M. de Kergarouet, M. +d'Estaing, le Bailli de Suffren, M. de Portenduere, Lord Cornwallis, +Lord Hastings, Tippoo Sahib's father, Tippoo Sahib himself. The bully +who served Mahadaji Sindhia, King of Delhi, and did so much to found +the power of the Mahrattas, had had dealings with Gobseck. Long +residence at St. Thomas brought him in contact with Victor Hughes and +other notorious pirates. In his quest of fortune he had left no stone +unturned; witness an attempt to discover the treasure of that tribe of +savages so famous in Buenos Ayres and its neighborhood. He had a +personal knowledge of the events of the American War of Independence. +But if he spoke of the Indies or of America, as he did very rarely +with me, and never with anyone else, he seemed to regard it as an +indiscretion and to repent of it afterwards. If humanity and +sociability are in some sort a religion, Gobseck might be ranked as an +infidel; but though I set myself to study him, I must confess, to my +shame, that his real nature was impenetrable up to the very last. I +even felt doubts at times as to his sex. If all usurers are like this +one, I maintain that they belong to the neuter gender. + +"Did he adhere to his mother's religion? Did he look on Gentiles as +his legitimate prey? Had he turned Roman Catholic, Lutheran, +Mahometan, Brahmin, or what not? I never knew anything whatsoever +about his religious opinions, and so far as I could see, he was +indifferent rather than incredulous. + +"One evening I went in to see this man who had turned himself to gold; +the usurer, whom his victims (his clients, as he styled them) were +wont to call Daddy Gobseck, perhaps ironically, perhaps by way of +antiphrasis. He was sitting in his armchair, motionless as a statue, +staring fixedly at the mantel-shelf, where he seemed to read the +figures of his statements. A lamp, with a pedestal that had once been +green, was burning in the room; but so far from taking color from its +smoky light, his face seemed to stand out positively paler against the +background. He pointed to a chair set for me, but not a word did he +say. + +" 'What thoughts can this being have in his mind?' said I to myself. +'Does he know that a God exists; does he know there are such things as +feeling, woman, happiness?' I pitied him as I might have pitied a +diseased creature. But, at the same time, I knew quite well that while +he had millions of francs at his command, he possessed the world no +less in idea--that world which he had explored, ransacked, weighed, +appraised, and exploited. + +" 'Good day, Daddy Gobseck,' I began. + +"He turned his face towards me with a slight contraction of his bushy, +black eyebrows; this characteristic shade of expression in him meant +as much as the most jubilant smile on a Southern face. + +" 'You look just as gloomy as you did that day when the news came of +the failure of that bookseller whose sharpness you admired so much, +though you were one of his victims.' + +" 'One of his victims?' he repeated, with a look of astonishment. + +" 'Yes. Did you not refuse to accept composition at the meeting of +creditors until he undertook privately to pay you your debt in full; +and did he not give you bills accepted by the insolvent firm; and +then, when he set up in business again, did he not pay you the +dividend upon those bills of yours, signed as they were by the +bankrupt firm?' + +" 'He was a sharp one, but I had it out of him.' + +" 'Then have you some bills to protest? To-day is the 30th, I +believe.' + +"It was the first time I had spoken to him of money. He looked +ironically up at me; then in those bland accents, not unlike the husky +tones which the tyro draws from a flute, he answered, 'I am amusing +myself.' + +" 'So you amuse yourself now and again?' + +" 'Do you imagine that the only poets in the world are those who print +their verses?' he asked, with a pitying look and shrug of the +shoulders. + +" 'Poetry in that head!' thought I, for as yet I knew nothing of his +life. + +" 'What life could be as glorious as mine?' he continued, and his eyes +lighted up. 'You are young, your mental visions are colored by +youthful blood, you see women's faces in the fire, while I see nothing +but coals in mine. You have all sorts of beliefs, while I have no +beliefs at all. Keep your illusions--if you can. Now I will show you +life with the discount taken off. Go wherever you like, or stay at +home by the fireside with your wife, there always comes a time when +you settle down in a certain groove, the groove is your preference; +and then happiness consists in the exercise of your faculties by +applying them to realities. Anything more in the way of precept is +false. My principles have been various, among various men; I had to +change them with every change of latitude. Things that we admire in +Europe are punishable in Asia, and a vice in Paris becomes a necessity +when you have passed the Azores. There are no such things as hard-and- +fast rules; there are only conventions adapted to the climate. Fling a +man headlong into one social melting pot after another, and +convictions and forms and moral systems become so many meaningless +words to him. The one thing that always remains, the one sure instinct +that nature has implanted in us, is the instinct of self-interest. If +you had lived as long as I have, you would know that there is but one +concrete reality invariable enough to be worth caring about, and that +is--GOLD. Gold represents every form of human power. I have traveled. +I found out that there were either hills or plains everywhere: the +plains are monotonous, the hills a weariness; consequently, place may +be left out of the question. As to manners; man is man all the world +over. The same battle between the poor and the rich is going on +everywhere; it is inevitable everywhere; consequently, it is better to +exploit than to be exploited. Everywhere you find the man of thews and +sinews who toils, and the lymphatic man who torments himself; and +pleasures are everywhere the same, for when all sensations are +exhausted, all that survives is Vanity--Vanity is the abiding +substance of us, the _I_ in us. Vanity is only to be satisfied by gold +in floods. Our dreams need time and physical means and painstaking +thought before they can be realized. Well, gold contains all things in +embryo; gold realizes all things for us. + +" 'None but fools and invalids can find pleasure in shuffling cards +all evening long to find out whether they shall win a few pence at the +end. None but driveling idiots could spend time in inquiring into all +that is happening around them, whether Madame Such-an-One slept single +on her couch or in company, whether she has more blood than lymph, +more temperament than virtue. None but the dupes, who fondly imagine +that they are useful to their like, can interest themselves in laying +down rules for political guidance amid events which neither they nor +any one else foresees, nor ever will foresee. None but simpletons can +delight in talking about stage players and repeating their sayings; +making the daily promenade of a caged animal over a rather larger +area; dressing for others, eating for others, priding themselves on a +horse or a carriage such as no neighbor can have until three days +later. What is all this but Parisian life summed up in a few phrases? +Let us find a higher outlook on life than theirs. Happiness consists +either in strong emotions which drain our vitality, or in methodical +occupation which makes existence like a bit of English machinery, +working with the regularity of clockwork. A higher happiness than +either consists in a curiosity, styled noble, a wish to learn Nature's +secrets, or to attempt by artificial means to imitate Nature to some +extent. What is this in two words but Science and Art, or passion or +calm?--Ah! well, every human passion wrought up to its highest pitch +in the struggle for existence comes to parade itself before me--as I +live in calm. As for your scientific curiosity, a kind of wrestling +bout in which man is never uppermost, I replace it by an insight into +all the springs of action in man and woman. To sum up, the world is +mine without effort of mine, and the world has not the slightest hold +on me. Listen to this,' he went on, 'I will tell you the history of my +morning, and you will divine my pleasures.' + +"He got up, pushed the bolt of the door, drew a tapestry curtain +across it with a sharp grating sound of the rings on the rod, then he +sat down again. + +" 'This morning,' he said, 'I had only two amounts to collect; the +rest of the bills that were due I gave away instead of cash to my +customers yesterday. So much saved, you see, for when I discount a +bill I always deduct two francs for a hired brougham--expenses of +collection. A pretty thing it would be, would it not, if my clients +were to set ME trudging all over Paris for half-a-dozen francs of +discount, when no man is my master, and I only pay seven francs in the +shape of taxes? + +" 'The first bill for a thousand francs was presented by a young +fellow, a smart buck with a spangled waistcoat, and an eyeglass, and a +tilbury and an English horse, and all the rest of it. The bill bore +the signature of one of the prettiest women in Paris, married to a +Count, a great landowner. Now, how came that Countess to put her name +to a bill of exchange, legally not worth the paper it was written +upon, but practically very good business; for these women, poor +things, are afraid of the scandal that a protested bill makes in a +family, and would give themselves away in payment sooner than fail? I +wanted to find out what that bill of exchange really represented. Was +it stupidity, imprudence, love or charity? + +" 'The second bill, bearing the signature "Fanny Malvaut," came to me +from a linen-draper on the highway to bankruptcy. Now, no creature who +has any credit with a bank comes to ME. The first step to my door +means that a man is desperately hard up; that the news of his failure +will soon come out: and, most of all, it means that he has been +everywhere else first. The stag is always at bay when I see him, and a +pack of creditors are hard upon his track. The Countess lived in the +Rue du Helder, and my Fanny in the Rue Montmartre. How many +conjectures I made as I set out this morning! If these two women were +not able to pay, they would show me more respect than they would show +their own fathers. What tricks and grimaces would not the Countess try +for a thousand francs! She would be so nice to me, she would talk to +me in that ingratiating tone peculiar to endorsers of bills, she would +pour out a torrent of coaxing words, perhaps she would beg and pray, +and I . . .' (here the old man turned his pale eyes upon me)--'and I +not to be moved, inexorable!' he continued. 'I am there as the +avenger, the apparition of Remorse. So much for hypotheses. I reached +the house. + +" ' "Madame la Comtesse is asleep," says the maid. + +" ' "When can I see her?" + +" ' "At twelve o'clock." + +" ' "Is Madame la Comtesse ill?" + +" ' "No, sir, but she only came home at three o'clock this morning +from a ball." + +" ' "My name is Gobseck, tell her that I shall call again at twelve +o'clock," and I went out, leaving traces of my muddy boots on the +carpet which covered the paved staircase. I like to leave mud on a +rich man's carpet; it is not petty spite; I like to make them feel a +touch of the claws of Necessity. In the Rue Montmartre I thrust open +the old gateway of a poor-looking house, and looked into a dark +courtyard where the sunlight never shines. The porter's lodge was +grimy, the window looked like the sleeve of some shabby wadded gown-- +greasy, dirty, and full of holes. + +" ' "Mlle. Fanny Malvaut?" + +" ' "She has gone out; but if you have come about a bill, the money is +waiting for you." + +" ' "I will look in again," said I. + +" 'As soon as I knew that the porter had the money for me, I wanted to +know what the girl was like; I pictured her as pretty. The rest of the +morning I spent in looking at the prints in the shop windows along the +boulevard; then, just as it struck twelve, I went through the +Countess' ante-chamber. + +" ' "Madame has just this minute rung for me," said the maid; "I don't +think she can see you yet." + +" ' "I will wait," said I, and sat down in an easy-chair. + +" 'Venetian shutters were opened, and presently the maid came hurrying +back. + +" ' "Come in, sir." + +" 'From the sweet tone of the girl's voice, I knew that the mistress +could not be ready to pay. What a handsome woman it was that I saw in +another moment! She had flung an Indian shawl hastily over her bare +shoulders, covering herself with it completely, while it revealed the +bare outlines of the form beneath. She wore a loose gown trimmed with +snowy ruffles, which told plainly that her laundress' bills amounted +to something like two thousand francs in the course of a year. Her +dark curls escaped from beneath a bright Indian handkerchief, knotted +carelessly about her head after the fashion of Creole women. The bed +lay in disorder that told of broken slumber. A painter would have paid +money to stay a while to see the scene that I saw. Under the luxurious +hanging draperies, the pillow, crushed into the depths of an eider- +down quilt, its lace border standing out in contrast against the +background of blue silk, bore a vague impress that kindled the +imagination. A pair of satin slippers gleamed from the great bear-skin +rug spread by the carved mahogany lions at the bed-foot, where she had +flung them off in her weariness after the ball. A crumpled gown hung +over a chair, the sleeves touching the floor; stockings which a breath +would have blown away were twisted about the leg of an easy-chair; +while ribbon garters straggled over a settee. A fan of price, half +unfolded, glittered on the chimney-piece. Drawers stood open; flowers, +diamonds, gloves, a bouquet, a girdle, were littered about. The room +was full of vague sweet perfume. And--beneath all the luxury and +disorder, beauty and incongruity, I saw Misery crouching in wait for +her or for her adorer, Misery rearing its head, for the Countess had +begun to feel the edge of those fangs. Her tired face was an epitome +of the room strewn with relics of past festival. The scattered +gewgaws, pitiable this morning, when gathered together and coherent, +had turned heads the night before. + +" 'What efforts to drink of the Tantalus cup of bliss I could read in +these traces of love stricken by the thunderbolt remorse--in this +visible presentment of a life of luxury, extravagance, and riot. There +were faint red marks on her young face, signs of the fineness of the +skin; but her features were coarsened, as it were, and the circles +about her eyes were unwontedly dark. Nature nevertheless was so +vigorous in her, that these traces of past folly did not spoil her +beauty. Her eyes glittered. She looked like some Herodias of da +Vinci's (I have dealt in pictures), so magnificently full of life and +energy was she; there was nothing starved nor stinted in feature or +outline; she awakened desire; it seemed to me that there was some +passion in her yet stronger than love. I was taken with her. It was a +long while since my heart had throbbed; so I was paid then and there-- +for I would give a thousand francs for a sensation that should bring +me back memories of youth. + +" ' "Monsieur," she said, finding a chair for me, "will you be so good +as to wait?" + +" ' "Until this time to-morrow, madame," I said, folding up the bill +again. "I cannot legally protest this bill any sooner." And within +myself I said--"Pay the price of your luxury, pay for your name, pay +for your ease, pay for the monopoly which you enjoy! The rich have +invented judges and courts of law to secure their goods, and the +guillotine--that candle in which so many lie in silk, under silken +coverlets, there is remorse, and grinding of teeth beneath a smile, +and those fantastical lions' jaws are gaping to set their fangs in +your heart." + +" ' "Protest the bill! Can you mean it?" she cried, with her eyes upon +me; "could you have so little consideration for me?" + +" ' "If the King himself owed money to me, madame, and did not pay it, +I should summons him even sooner than any other debtor." + +" 'While we were speaking, somebody tapped gently at the door. + +" ' "I cannot see any one," she cried imperiously. + +" ' "But, Anastasie, I particularly wish to speak to you." + +" ' "Not just now, dear," she answered in a milder tone, but with no +sign of relenting. + +" ' "What nonsense! You are talking to some one," said the voice, and +in came a man who could only be the Count. + +" 'The Countess gave me a glance. I saw how it was. She was thoroughly +in my power. There was a time, when I was young, and might perhaps +have been stupid enough not to protest the bill. At Pondicherry, in +1763, I let a woman off, and nicely she paid me out afterwards. I +deserved it; what call was there for me to trust her? + +" ' "What does this gentleman want?" asked the Count. + +" 'I could see that the Countess was trembling from head to foot; the +white satin skin of her throat was rough, "turned to goose flesh," to +use the familiar expression. As for me, I laughed in myself without +moving a muscle. + +" ' "This gentleman is one of my tradesmen," she said. + +" 'The Count turned his back on me; I drew the bill half out of my +pocket. After that inexorable movement, she came over to me and put a +diamond into my hands. "Take it," she said, "and be gone." + +" 'We exchanged values, and I made my bow and went. The diamond was +quite worth twelve hundred francs to me. Out in the courtyard I saw a +swarm of flunkeys, brushing out their liveries, waxing their boots, +and cleaning sumptuous equipages. + +" ' "This is what brings these people to me!" said I to myself. "It is +to keep up this kind of thing that they steal millions with all due +formalities, and betray their country. The great lord, and the little +man who apes the great lord, bathes in mud once for all to save +himself a splash or two when he goes afoot through the streets." + +" 'Just then the great gates were opened to admit a cabriolet. It was +the same young fellow who had brought the bill to me. + +" ' "Sir," I said, as he alighted, "here are two hundred francs, which +I beg you to return to Mme. la Comtesse, and have the goodness to tell +her that I hold the pledge which she deposited with me this morning at +her disposition for a week." + +" 'He took the two hundred francs, and an ironical smile stole over +his face; it was as if he had said, "Aha! so she has paid it, has she? +. . . Faith, so much the better!" I read the Countess' future in his +face. That good-looking, fair-haired young gentleman is a heartless +gambler; he will ruin himself, ruin her, ruin her husband, ruin the +children, eat up their portions, and work more havoc in Parisian +salons than a whole battery of howitzers in a regiment. + +" 'I went back to see Mlle. Fanny in the Rue Montmartre, climbed a +very steep, narrow staircase, and reached a two-roomed dwelling on the +fifth floor. Everything was as neat as a new ducat. I did not see a +speck of dust on the furniture in the first room, where Mlle. Fanny +was sitting. Mlle. Fanny herself was a young Parisian girl, quietly +dressed, with a delicate fresh face, and a winning look. The +arrangement of her neatly brushed chestnut hair in a double curve on +her forehead lent a refined expression to blue eyes, clear as crystal. +The broad daylight streaming in through the short curtains against the +window pane fell with softened light on her girlish face. A pile of +shaped pieces of linen told me that she was a sempstress. She looked +like a spirit of solitude. When I held out the bill, I remarked that +she had not been at home when I called in the morning. + +" ' "But the money was left with the porter's wife," said she. + +" 'I pretended not to understand. + +" ' "You go out early, mademoiselle, it seems." + +" ' "I very seldom leave my room; but when you work all night, you are +obliged to take a bath sometimes." + +" 'I looked at her. A glance told me all about her life. Here was a +girl condemned by misfortune to toil, a girl who came of honest farmer +folk, for she had still a freckle or two that told of country birth. +There was an indefinable atmosphere of goodness about her; I felt as +if I were breathing sincerity and frank innocence. It was refreshing +to my lungs. Poor innocent child, she had faith in something; there +was a crucifix and a sprig or two of green box above her poor little +painted wooden bedstead; I felt touched, or somewhat inclined that +way. I felt ready to offer to charge no more than twelve per cent, and +so give something towards establishing her in a good way of business. + +" ' "But maybe she has a little youngster of a cousin," I said to +myself, "who would raise money on her signature and sponge on the poor +girl." + +" 'So I went away, keeping my generous impulses well under control; +for I have frequently had occasion to observe that when benevolence +does no harm to him who gives it, it is the ruin of him who takes. +When you came in I was thinking that Fanny Malvaut would make a nice +little wife; I was thinking of the contrast between her pure, lonely +life and the life of the Countess--she has sunk as low as a bill of +exchange already, she will sink to the lowest depths of degradation +before she has done!'--I scrutinized him during the deep silence that +followed, but in a moment he spoke again. 'Well,' he said, 'do you +think that it is nothing to have this power of insight into the +deepest recesses of the human heart, to embrace so many lives, to see +the naked truth underlying it all? There are no two dramas alike: +there are hideous sores, deadly chagrins, love scenes, misery that +soon will lie under the ripples of the Seine, young men's joys that +lead to the scaffold, the laughter of despair, and sumptuous banquets. +Yesterday it was a tragedy. A worthy soul of a father drowned himself +because he could not support his family. To-morrow is a comedy; some +youngster will try to rehearse the scene of M. Dimanche, brought up to +date. You have heard the people extol the eloquence of our latter day +preachers; now and again I have wasted my time by going to hear them; +they produced a change in my opinions, but in my conduct (as somebody +said, I can't recollect his name), in my conduct--never!--Well, well; +these good priests and your Mirabeaus and Vergniauds and the rest of +them, are mere stammering beginners compared with these orators of +mine. + +" 'Often it is some girl in love, some gray-headed merchant on the +verge of bankruptcy, some mother with a son's wrong-doing to conceal, +some starving artist, some great man whose influence is on the wane, +and, for lack of money, is like to lose the fruit of all his labors-- +the power of their pleading has made me shudder. Sublime actors such +as these play for me, for an audience of one, and they cannot deceive +me. I can look into their inmost thoughts, and read them as God reads +them. Nothing is hidden from me. Nothing is refused to the holder of +the purse-strings to loose and to bind. I am rich enough to buy the +consciences of those who control the action of ministers, from their +office boys to their mistresses. Is not that power?--I can possess the +fairest women, receive their softest caresses; is not that Pleasure? +And is not your whole social economy summed up in terms of Power and +Pleasure? + +" 'There are ten of us in Paris, silent, unknown kings, the arbiters +of your destinies. What is life but a machine set in motion by money? +Know this for certain--methods are always confounded with results; you +will never succeed in separating the soul from the senses, spirit from +matter. Gold is the spiritual basis of existing society.--The ten of +us are bound by the ties of common interest; we meet on certain days +of the week at the Cafe Themis near the Pont Neuf, and there, in +conclave, we reveal the mysteries of finance. No fortune can deceive +us; we are in possession of family secrets in all directions. We keep +a kind of Black Book, in which we note the most important bills +issued, drafts on public credit, or on banks, or given and taken in +the course of business. We are the Casuists of the Paris Bourse, a +kind of Inquisition weighing and analyzing the most insignificant +actions of every man of any fortune, and our forecasts are infallible. +One of us looks out over the judicial world, one over the financial, +another surveys the administrative, and yet another the business +world. I myself keep an eye on eldest sons, artists, people in the +great world, and gamblers--on the most sensational side of Paris. +Every one who comes to us lets us into his neighbor's secrets. +Thwarted passion and mortified vanity are great babblers. Vice and +disappointment and vindictiveness are the best of all detectives. My +colleagues, like myself, have enjoyed all things, are sated with all +things, and have reached the point when power and money are loved for +their own sake. + +" 'Here,' he said, indicating his bare, chilly room, 'here the most +high-mettled gallant, who chafes at a word and draws swords for a +syllable elsewhere will entreat with clasped hands. There is no city +merchant so proud, no woman so vain of her beauty, no soldier of so +bold a spirit, but that they entreat me here, one and all, with tears +of rage or anguish in their eyes. Here they kneel--the famous artist, +and the man of letters, whose name will go down to posterity. Here, in +short' (he lifted his hand to his forehead), 'all the inheritances and +all the concerns of all Paris are weighed in the balance. Are you +still of the opinion that there are no delights behind the blank mask +which so often has amazed you by its impassiveness?' he asked, +stretching out that livid face which reeked of money. + +"I went back to my room, feeling stupefied. The little, wizened old +man had grown great. He had been metamorphosed under my eyes into a +strange visionary symbol; he had come to be the power of gold +personified. I shrank, shuddering, from life and my kind. + +" 'Is it really so?' I thought; 'must everything be resolved into +gold?' + +"I remember that it was long before I slept that night. I saw heaps of +gold all about me. My thoughts were full of the lovely Countess; I +confess, to my shame, that the vision completely eclipsed another +quiet, innocent figure, the figure of the woman who had entered upon a +life of toil and obscurity; but on the morrow, through the clouds of +slumber, Fanny's sweet face rose before me in all its beauty, and I +thought of nothing else." + + + +"Will you take a glass of eau sucree?" asked the Vicomtesse, +interrupting Derville. + +"I should be glad of it." + +"But I can see nothing in this that can touch our concerns," said Mme. +de Grandlieu, as she rang the bell. + +"Sardanapalus!" cried Derville, flinging out his favorite invocation. +"Mademoiselle Camille will be wide awake in a moment if I say that her +happiness depended not so long ago upon Daddy Gobseck; but as the old +gentleman died at the age of ninety, M. de Restaud will soon be in +possession of a handsome fortune. This requires some explanation. As +for poor Fanny Malvaut, you know her; she is my wife." + +"Poor fellow, he would admit that, with his usual frankness, with a +score of people to hear him!" said the Vicomtesse. + +"I would proclaim it to the universe," said the attorney. + +"Go on, drink your glass, my poor Derville. You will never be anything +but the happiest and the best of men." + +"I left you in the Rue du Helder," remarked the uncle, raising his +face after a gentle doze. "You had gone to see a Countess; what have +you done with her?" + + + +"A few days after my conversation with the old Dutchman," Derville +continued, "I sent in my thesis, and became first a licentiate in law, +and afterwards an advocate. The old miser's opinion of me went up +considerably. He consulted me (gratuitously) on all the ticklish bits +of business which he undertook when he had made quite sure how he +stood, business which would have seemed unsafe to any ordinary +practitioner. This man, over whom no one appeared to have the +slightest influence, listened to my advice with something like +respect. It is true that he always found that it turned out very well. + +"At length I became head-clerk in the office where I had worked for +three years and then I left the Rue des Gres for rooms in my +employer's house. I had my board and lodging and a hundred and fifty +francs per month. It was a great day for me! + +"When I went to bid the usurer good-bye, he showed no sign of feeling, +he was neither cordial nor sorry to lose me, he did not ask me to come +to see him, and only gave me one of those glances which seemed in some +sort to reveal a power of second-sight. + +"By the end of a week my old neighbor came to see me with a tolerably +thorny bit of business, an expropriation, and he continued to ask for +my advice with as much freedom as if he paid for it. + +"My principal was a man of pleasure and expensive tastes; before the +second year (1818-1819) was out he had got himself into difficulties, +and was obliged to sell his practice. A professional connection in +those days did not fetch the present exorbitant prices, and my +principal asked a hundred and fifty thousand francs. Now an active +man, of competent knowledge and intelligence, might hope to pay off +the capital in ten years, paying interest and living respectably in +the meantime--if he could command confidence. But I as the seventh +child of a small tradesman at Noyon, I had not a sou to my name, nor +personal knowledge of any capitalist but Daddy Gobseck. An ambitious +idea, and an indefinable glimmer of hope, put heart into me. To +Gobseck I betook myself, and slowly one evening I made my way to the +Rue des Gres. My heart thumped heavily as I knocked at his door in the +gloomy house. I recollected all the things that he used to tell me, at +a time when I myself was very far from suspecting the violence of the +anguish awaiting those who crossed his threshold. Now it was I who was +about to beg and pray like so many others. + +" 'Well, no, not THAT,' I said to myself; 'an honest man must keep his +self-respect wherever he goes. Success is not worth cringing for; let +us show him a front as decided as his own.' + +"Daddy Gobseck had taken my room since I left the house, so as to have +no neighbor; he had made a little grated window too in his door since +then, and did not open until he had taken a look at me and saw who I +was. + +" 'Well,' said he, in his thin, flute notes, 'so your principal is +selling his practice?' + +" 'How did you know that?' said I; 'he has not spoken of it as yet +except to me.' + +"The old man's lips were drawn in puckers, like a curtain, to either +corner of his mouth, as a soundless smile bore a hard glance company. + +" 'Nothing else would have brought you here,' he said drily, after a +pause, which I spent in confusion. + +" 'Listen to me, M. Gobseck,' I began, with such serenity as I could +assume before the old man, who gazed at me with steady eyes. There was +a clear light burning in them that disconcerted me. + +"He made a gesture as if to bid me 'Go on.' 'I know that it is not +easy to work on your feelings, so I will not waste my eloquence on the +attempt to put my position before you--I am a penniless clerk, with no +one to look to but you, and no heart in the world but yours can form a +clear idea of my probable future. Let us leave hearts out of the +question. Business is business, and business is not carried on with +sentimentality like romances. Now to the facts. My principal's +practice is worth in his hands about twenty thousand francs per annum; +in my hands, I think it would bring in forty thousand. He is willing +to sell it for a hundred and fifty thousand francs. And HERE,' I said, +striking my forehead, 'I feel that if you would lend me the purchase- +money, I could clear it off in ten years' time.' + +" 'Come, that is plain speaking,' said Daddy Gobseck, and he held out +his hand and grasped mine. 'Nobody since I have been in business has +stated the motives of his visit more clearly. Guarantees?' asked he, +scanning me from head to foot. 'None to give,' he added after a pause, +'How old are you?' + +" 'Twenty-five in ten days' time,' said I, 'or I could not open the +matter.' + +" 'Precisely.' + +" 'Well?' + +" 'It is possible.' + +" 'My word, we must be quick about it, or I shall have some one buying +over my head.' + +" 'Bring your certificate of birth round to-morrow morning, and we +will talk. I will think it over.' + +" 'Next morning, at eight o'clock, I stood in the old man's room. He +took the document, put on his spectacles, coughed, spat, wrapped +himself up in his black greatcoat, and read the whole certificate +through from beginning to end. Then he turned it over and over, looked +at me, coughed again, fidgeted about in his chair, and said, 'We will +try to arrange this bit of business.' + +"I trembled. + +" 'I make fifty per cent on my capital,' he continued, 'sometimes I +make a hundred, two hundred, five hundred per cent.' + +"I turned pale at the words. + +" 'But as we are acquaintances, I shall be satisfied to take twelve +and a half per cent per--(he hesitated)--'well, yes, from you I would +be content to take thirteen per cent per annum. Will that suit you?' + +" 'Yes,' I answered. + +" 'But if it is too much, stick up for yourself, Grotius!' (a name he +jokingly gave me). 'When I ask you for thirteen per cent, it is all in +the way of business; look into it, see if you can pay it; I don't like +a man to agree too easily. Is it too much?' + +" 'No,' said I, 'I will make up for it by working a little harder.' + +" 'Gad! your clients will pay for it!' said he, looking at me wickedly +out of the corner of his eyes. + +" 'No, by all the devils in hell!' cried I, 'it shall be I who will +pay. I would sooner cut my hand off than flay people.' + +" 'Good-night,' said Daddy Gobseck. + +" 'Why, fees are all according to scale,' I added. + +" 'Not for compromises and settlements out of Court, and cases where +litigants come to terms,' said he. 'You can send in a bill for +thousands of francs, six thousand even at a swoop (it depends on the +importance of the case), for conferences with So-and-so, and expenses, +and drafts, and memorials, and your jargon. A man must learn to look +out for business of this kind. I will recommend you as a most +competent, clever attorney. I will send you such a lot of work of this +sort that your colleagues will be fit to burst with envy. Werbrust, +Palma, and Gigonnet, my cronies, shall hand over their expropriations +to you; they have plenty of them, the Lord knows! So you will have two +practices--the one you are buying, and the other I will build up for +you. You ought almost to pay me fifteen per cent on my loan.' + +" 'So be it, but no more,' said I, with the firmness which means that +a man is determined not to concede another point. + +"Daddy Gobseck's face relaxed; he looked pleased with me. + +" 'I shall pay the money over to your principal myself,' said he, 'so +as to establish a lien on the purchase and caution-money.' + +" 'Oh, anything you like in the way of guarantees.' + +" 'And besides that, you will give me bills for the amount made +payable to a third party (name left blank), fifteen bills of ten +thousand francs each.' + +" 'Well, so long as it is acknowledged in writing that this is a +double----' + +" 'No!' Gobseck broke in upon me. 'No! Why should I trust you any more +than you trust me?' + +"I kept silence. + +" 'And furthermore,' he continued, with a sort of good humor, 'you +will give me your advice without charging fees as long as I live, will +you not?' + +" 'So be it; so long as there is no outlay.' + +" 'Precisely,' said he. "Ah, by the by, you will allow me to go to see +you?' (Plainly the old man found it not so easy to assume the air of +good-humor.) + +" 'I shall always be glad.' + +" 'Ah! yes, but it would be very difficult to arrange of a morning. +You will have your affairs to attend to, and I have mine.' + +" 'Then come in the evening.' + +" 'Oh, no!' he answered briskly, 'you ought to go into society and see +your clients, and I myself have my friends at my cafe.' + +" 'His friends!' thought I to myself.--'Very well,' said I, 'why not +come at dinner-time?' + +" 'That is the time,' said Gobseck, 'after 'Change, at five o'clock. +Good, you will see me Wednesdays and Saturdays. We will talk over +business like a pair of friends. Aha! I am gay sometimes. Just give me +the wing of a partridge and a glass of champagne, and we will have our +chat together. I know a great many things that can be told now at this +distance of time; I will teach you to know men, and what is more-- +women!' + +" 'Oh! a partridge and a glass of champagne if you like.' + +" 'Don't do anything foolish, or I shall lose my faith in you. And +don't set up housekeeping in a grand way. Just one old general +servant. I will come and see that you keep your health. I have capital +invested in your head, he! he! so I am bound to look after you. There, +come round in the evening and bring your principal with you!' + +" 'Would you mind telling me, if there is no harm in asking, what was +the good of my birth certificate in this business?' I asked, when the +little old man and I stood on the doorstep. + +"Jean-Esther Van Gobseck shrugged his shoulders, smiled maliciously, +and said, 'What blockheads youngsters are! Learn, master attorney (for +learn you must if you don't mean to be taken in), that integrity and +brains in a man under thirty are commodities which can be mortgaged. +After that age there is no counting on a man.' + +"And with that he shut the door. + + + +"Three months later I was an attorney. Before very long, madame, it +was my good fortune to undertake the suit for the recovery of your +estates. I won the day, and my name became known. In spite of the +exorbitant rate of interest, I paid off Gobseck in less than five +years. I married Fanny Malvaut, whom I loved with all my heart. There +was a parallel between her life and mine, between our hard work and +our luck, which increased the strength of feeling on either side. One +of her uncles, a well-to-do farmer, died and left her seventy thousand +francs, which helped to clear off the loan. From that day my life has +been nothing but happiness and prosperity. Nothing is more utterly +uninteresting than a happy man, so let us say no more on that head, +and return to the rest of the characters. + +"About a year after the purchase of the practice, I was dragged into a +bachelor breakfast-party given by one of our number who had lost a bet +to a young man greatly in vogue in the fashionable world. M. de +Trailles, the flower of the dandyism of that day, enjoyed a prodigious +reputation." + +"But he is still enjoying it," put in the Comte de Born. "No one wears +his clothes with a finer air, nor drives a tandem with a better grace. +It is Maxime's gift; he can gamble, eat, and drink more gracefully +than any man in the world. He is a judge of horses, hats, and +pictures. All the women lose their heads over him. He always spends +something like a hundred thousand francs a year, and no creature can +discover that he has an acre of land or a single dividend warrant. The +typical knight errant of our salons, our boudoirs, our boulevards, an +amphibian half-way between a man and a woman--Maxime de Trailles is a +singular being, fit for anything, and good for nothing, quite as +capable of perpetrating a benefit as of planning a crime; sometimes +base, sometimes noble, more often bespattered with mire than +besprinkled with blood, knowing more of anxiety than of remorse, more +concerned with his digestion than with any mental process, shamming +passion, feeling nothing. Maxime de Trailles is a brilliant link +between the hulks and the best society; he belongs to the eminently +intelligent class from which a Mirabeau, or a Pitt, or a Richelieu +springs at times, though it is more wont to produce Counts of Horn, +Fouquier-Tinvilles, and Coignards." + +"Well," pursued Derville, when he had heard the Vicomtesse's brother +to the end, "I had heard a good deal about this individual from poor +old Goriot, a client of mine; and I had already been at some pains to +avoid the dangerous honor of his acquaintance, for I came across him +sometimes in society. Still, my chum was so pressing about this +breakfast-party of his that I could not well get out of it, unless I +wished to earn a name for squeamishness. Madame, you could hardly +imagine what a bachelor's breakfast-party is like. It means superb +display and a studied refinement seldom seen; the luxury of a miser +when vanity leads him to be sumptuous for a day. + +"You are surprised as you enter the room at the neatness of the table, +dazzling by reason of its silver and crystal and linen damask. Life is +here in full bloom; the young fellows are graceful to behold; they +smile and talk in low, demure voices like so many brides; everything +about them looks girlish. Two hours later you might take the room for +a battlefield after the fight. Broken glasses, serviettes crumpled and +torn to rags lie strewn about among the nauseous-looking remnants of +food on the dishes. There is an uproar that stuns you, jesting toasts, +a fire of witticisms and bad jokes; faces are empurpled, eyes inflamed +and expressionless, unintentional confidences tell you the whole +truth. Bottles are smashed, and songs trolled out in the height of a +diabolical racket; men call each other out, hang on each other's +necks, or fall to fisticuffs; the room is full of a horrid, close +scent made up of a hundred odors, and noise enough for a hundred +voices. No one has any notion of what he is eating or drinking or +saying. Some are depressed, others babble, one will turn monomaniac, +repeating the same word over and over again like a bell set jangling; +another tries to keep the tumult within bounds; the steadiest will +propose an orgy. If any one in possession of his faculties should come +in, he would think that he had interrupted a Bacchanalian rite. + +"It was in the thick of such a chaos that M. de Trailles tried to +insinuate himself into my good graces. My head was fairly clear, I was +upon my guard. As for him, though he pretended to be decently drunk, +he was perfectly cool, and knew very well what he was about. How it +was done I do not know, but the upshot of it was that when we left +Grignon's rooms about nine o'clock in the evening, M. de Trailles had +thoroughly bewitched me. I had given him my promise that I would +introduce him the next day to our Papa Gobseck. The words 'honor,' +'virtue,' 'countess,' 'honest woman,' and 'ill-luck' were mingled in +his discourse with magical potency, thanks to that golden tongue of +his. + +"When I awoke next morning, and tried to recollect what I had done the +day before, it was with great difficulty that I could make a connected +tale from my impressions. At last, it seemed to me that the daughter +of one of my clients was in danger of losing her reputation, together +with her husband's love and esteem, if she could not get fifty +thousand francs together in the course of the morning. There had been +gaming debts, and carriage-builders' accounts, money lost to Heaven +knows whom. My magician of a boon companion had impressed it upon me +that she was rich enough to make good these reverses by a few years of +economy. But only now did I begin to guess the reasons of his urgency. +I confess, to my shame, that I had not the shadow of a doubt but that +it was a matter of importance that Daddy Gobseck should make it up +with this dandy. I was dressing when the young gentleman appeared. + +" 'M. le Comte,' said I, after the usual greetings, 'I fail to see why +you should need me to effect an introduction to Van Gobseck, the most +civil and smooth-spoken of capitalists. Money will be forthcoming if +he has any, or rather, if you can give him adequate security.' + +" 'Monsieur,' said he, 'it does not enter into my thoughts to force +you to do me a service, even though you have passed your word.' + +" 'Sardanapalus!' said I to myself, 'am I going to let that fellow +imagine that I will not keep my word with him?' + +" 'I had the honor of telling you yesterday,' said he, 'that I had +fallen out with Daddy Gobseck most inopportunely; and as there is +scarcely another man in Paris who can come down on the nail with a +hundred thousand francs, at the end of the month, I begged of you to +make my peace with him. But let us say no more about it----' + +"M. de Trailles looked at me with civil insult in his expression, and +made as if he would take his leave. + +" 'I am ready to go with you,' said I. + +"When we reached the Rue de Gres, my dandy looked about him with a +circumspection and uneasiness that set me wondering. His face grew +livid, flushed, and yellow, turn and turn about, and by the time that +Gobseck's door came in sight the perspiration stood in drops on his +forehead. We were just getting out of the cabriolet, when a hackney +cab turned into the street. My companion's hawk eye detected a woman +in the depths of the vehicle. His face lighted up with a gleam of +almost savage joy; he called to a little boy who was passing, and gave +him his horse to hold. Then we went up to the old bill discounter. + +" 'M. Gobseck,' said I, 'I have brought one of my most intimate +friends to see you (whom I trust as I would trust the Devil,' I added +for the old man's private ear). 'To oblige me you will do your best +for him (at the ordinary rate), and pull him out of his difficulty (if +it suits your convenience).' + +"M. de Trailles made his bow to Gobseck, took a seat, and listened to +us with a courtier-like attitude; its charming humility would have +touched your heart to see, but my Gobseck sits in his chair by the +fireside without moving a muscle, or changing a feature. He looked +very like the statue of Voltaire under the peristyle of the Theatre- +Francais, as you see it of an evening; he had partly risen as if to +bow, and the skull cap that covered the top of his head, and the +narrow strip of sallow forehead exhibited, completed his likeness to +the man of marble. + +" 'I have no money to spare except for my own clients,' said he. + +" 'So you are cross because I may have tried in other quarters to ruin +myself?' laughed the Count. + +" 'Ruin yourself!' repeated Gobseck ironically. + +" 'Were you about to remark that it is impossible to ruin a man who +has nothing?' inquired the dandy. 'Why, I defy you to find a better +STOCK in Paris!' he cried, swinging round on his heels. + +"This half-earnest buffoonery produced not the slightest effect upon +Gobseck. + +" 'Am I not on intimate terms with the Ronquerolles, the Marsays, the +Franchessinis, the two Vandenesses, the Ajuda-Pintos,--all the most +fashionable young men in Paris, in short? A prince and an ambassador +(you know them both) are my partners at play. I draw my revenues from +London and Carlsbad and Baden and Bath. Is not this the most brilliant +of all industries!' + +" 'True.' + +" 'You make a sponge of me, begad! you do. You encourage me to go and +swell myself out in society, so that you can squeeze me when I am hard +up; but you yourselves are sponges, just as I am, and death will give +you a squeeze some day.' + +" 'That is possible.' + +" 'If there were no spendthrifts, what would become of you? The pair +of us are like soul and body.' + +" 'Precisely so.' + +" 'Come, now, give us your hand, Grandaddy Gobseck, and be magnanimous +if this is "true" and "possible" and "precisely so." ' + +" 'You come to me,' the usurer answered coldly, 'because Girard, +Palma, Werbrust, and Gigonnet are full up of your paper; they are +offering it at a loss of fifty per cent; and as it is likely they only +gave you half the figure on the face of the bills, they are not worth +five-and-twenty per cent of their supposed value. I am your most +obedient! Can I in common decency lend a stiver to a man who owes +thirty thousand francs, and has not one farthing?' Gobseck continued. +'The day before yesterday you lost ten thousand francs at a ball at +the Baron de Nucingen's.' + +" 'Sir,' said the Count, with rare impudence, 'my affairs are no +concern of yours,' and he looked the old man up and down. 'A man has +no debts till payment is due.' + +" 'True.' + +" 'My bills will be duly met.' + +" 'That is possible.' + +" 'And at this moment the question between you and me is simply +whether the security I am going to offer is sufficient for the sum I +have come to borrow.' + +" 'Precisely.' + +"A cab stopped at the door, and the sound of wheels filled the room. + +" 'I will bring something directly which perhaps will satisfy you,' +cried the young man, and he left the room. + +" 'Oh! my son,' exclaimed Gobseck, rising to his feet, and stretching +out his arms to me, 'if he has good security, you have saved my life. +It would be the death of me. Werbrust and Gigonnet imagined that they +were going to play off a trick on me; and now, thanks to you, I shall +have a good laugh at their expense to-night.' + +"There was something frightful about the old man's ecstasy. It was the +one occasion when he opened his heart to me; and that flash of joy, +swift though it was, will never be effaced from my memory. + +" 'Favor me so far as to stay here,' he added. 'I am armed, and a sure +shot. I have gone tiger-hunting, and fought on the deck when there was +nothing for it but to win or die; but I don't care to trust yonder +elegant scoundrel.' + +"He sat down again in his armchair before his bureau, and his face +grew pale and impassive as before. + +" 'Ah!' he continued, turning to me, 'you will see that lovely +creature I once told you about; I can hear a fine lady's step in the +corridor; it is she, no doubt;' and, as a matter of fact, the young +man came in with a woman on his arm. I recognized the Countess, whose +levee Gobseck had described for me, one of old Goriot's two daughters. + +"The Countess did not see me at first; I stayed where I was in the +window bay, with my face against the pane; but I saw her give Maxime a +suspicious glance as she came into the money-lender's damp, dark room. +So beautiful she was, that in spite of her faults I felt sorry for +her. There was a terrible storm of anguish in her heart; her haughty, +proud features were drawn and distorted with pain which she strove in +vain to disguise. The young man had come to be her evil genius. I +admired Gobseck, whose perspicacity had foreseen their future four +years ago at the first bill which she endorsed. + +" 'Probably,' said I to myself, 'this monster with the angel face +controls every possible spring of action in her: rules her through +vanity, jealousy, pleasure, and the current of life in the world.' " + +The Vicomtesse de Grandlieu broke in on the story. + +"Why, the woman's very virtues have been turned against her," she +exclaimed. "He has made her shed tears of devotion, and then abused +her kindness and made her pay very dearly for unhallowed bliss." + +Derville did not understand the signs which Mme. de Grandlieu made to +him. + +"I confess," he said, "that I had no inclination to shed tears over +the lot of this unhappy creature, so brilliant in society, so +repulsive to eyes that could read her heart; I shuddered rather at the +sight of her murderer, a young angel with such a clear brow, such red +lips and white teeth, such a winning smile. There they stood before +their judge, he scrutinizing them much as some fifteenth-century +Dominican inquisitor might have peered into the dungeons of the Holy +Office while the torture was administered to two Moors. + +"The Countess spoke tremulously. 'Sir,' she said, 'is there any way of +obtaining the value of these diamonds, and of keeping the right of +repurchase?' She held out a jewel-case. + +" 'Yes, madame,' I put in, and came forwards. + +"She looked at me, and a shudder ran through her as she recognized me, +and gave me the glance which means, 'Say nothing of this,' all the +world over. + +" 'This,' said I, 'constitutes a sale with faculty of redemption, as +it is called, a formal agreement to transfer and deliver over a piece +of property, either real estate or personalty, for a given time, on +the expiry of which the previous owner recovers his title to the +property in question, upon payment of a stipulated sum.' + +"She breathed more freely. The Count looked black; he had grave doubts +whether Gobseck would lend very much on the diamonds after such a fall +in their value. Gobseck, impassive as ever, had taken up his +magnifying glass, and was quietly scrutinizing the jewels. If I were +to live for a hundred years, I should never forget the sight of his +face at that moment. There was a flush in his pale cheeks; his eyes +seemed to have caught the sparkle of the stones, for there was an +unnatural glitter in them. He rose and went to the light, holding the +diamonds close to his toothless mouth, as if he meant to devour them; +mumbling vague words over them, holding up bracelets, sprays, +necklaces, and tiaras one after another, to judge their water, +whiteness, and cutting; taking them out of the jewel-case and putting +them in again, letting the play of the light bring out all their +fires. He was more like a child than an old man; or, rather, childhood +and dotage seemed to meet in him. + +" 'Fine stones! The set would have fetched three hundred thousand +francs before the Revolution. What water! Genuine Asiatic diamonds +from Golconda or Visapur. Do you know what they are worth? No, no; no +one in Paris but Gobseck can appreciate them. In the time of the +Empire such a set would have cost another two hundred thousand +francs!' + +"He gave a disgusted shrug, and added: + +" 'But now diamonds are going down in value every day. The Brazilians +have swamped the market with them since the Peace; but the Indian +stones are a better color. Others wear them now besides court ladies. +Does madame go to court?' + +"While he flung out these terrible words, he examined one stone after +another with delight which no words can describe. + +" 'Flawless!' he said. 'Here is a speck! . . . here is a flaw! . . . A +fine stone that!' + +"His haggard face was so lighted up by the sparkling jewels, that it +put me in mind of a dingy old mirror, such as you see in country inns. +The glass receives every luminous image without reflecting the light, +and a traveler bold enough to look for his face in it beholds a man in +an apoplectic fit. + +" 'Well?' asked the Count, clapping Gobseck on the shoulder. + +"The old boy trembled. He put down his playthings on his bureau, took +his seat, and was a money-lender once more--hard, cold, and polished +as a marble column. + +" 'How much do you want?' + +" 'One hundred thousand francs for three years,' said the Count. + +" 'That is possible,' said Gobseck, and then from a mahogany box +(Gobseck's jewel-case) he drew out a faultlessly adjusted pair of +scales! + +"He weighed the diamonds, calculating the value of stones and setting +at sight (Heaven knows how!), delight and severity struggling in the +expression of his face the meanwhile. The Countess had plunged in a +kind of stupor; to me, watching her, it seemed that she was fathoming +the depths of the abyss into which she had fallen. There was remorse +still left in that woman's soul. Perhaps a hand held out in human +charity might save her. I would try. + +" 'Are the diamonds your personal property, madame?' I asked in a +clear voice. + +" 'Yes, monsieur,' she said, looking at me with proud eyes. + +" 'Make out the deed of purchase with power of redemption, +chatterbox,' said Gobseck to me, resigning his chair at the bureau in +my favor. + +" 'Madame is without doubt a married woman?' I tried again. + +"She nodded abruptly. + +" 'Then I will not draw up the deed,' said I. + +" 'And why not?' asked Gobseck. + +" 'Why not?' echoed I, as I drew the old man into the bay window so as +to speak aside with him. 'Why not? This woman is under her husband's +control; the agreement would be void in law; you could not possibly +assert your ignorance of a fact recorded on the very face of the +document itself. You would be compelled at once to produce the +diamonds deposited with you, according to the weight, value, and +cutting therein described.' + +"Gobseck cut me short with a nod, and turned towards the guilty +couple. + +" 'He is right!' he said. 'That puts the whole thing in a different +light. Eighty thousand francs down, and you leave the diamonds with +me,' he added, in the husky, flute-like voice. 'In the way of +property, possession is as good as a title.' + +" 'But----' objected the young man. + +" 'You can take it or leave it,' continued Gobseck, returning the +jewel-case to the lady as he spoke. + +" 'I have too many risks to run.' + +" 'It would be better to throw yourself at your husband's feet,' I +bent to whisper in her ear. + +"The usurer doubtless knew what I was saying from the movement of my +lips. He gave me a cool glance. The Count's face grew livid. The +Countess was visibly wavering. Maxime stepped up to her, and, low as +he spoke, I could catch the words: + +" 'Adieu, dear Anastasie, may you be happy! As for me, by to-morrow my +troubles will be over.' + +" 'Sir!' cried the lady, turning to Gobseck. 'I accept your offer.' + +" 'Come, now,' returned Gobseck. 'You have been a long time in coming +to it, my fair lady.' + +"He wrote out a cheque for fifty thousand francs on the Bank of +France, and handed it to the Countess. + +" 'Now,' continued he with a smile, such a smile as you will see in +portraits of M. Voltaire, 'now I will give you the rest of the amount +in bills, thirty thousand francs' worth of paper as good as bullion. +This gentleman here has just said, "My bills will be met when they are +due," ' added he, producing certain drafts bearing the Count's +signature, all protested the day before at the request of some of the +confraternity, who had probably made them over to him (Gobseck) at a +considerably reduced figure. + +"The young man growled out something, in which the words 'Old +scoundrel!' were audible. Daddy Gobseck did not move an eyebrow. He +drew a pair of pistols out of a pigeon-hole, remarking coolly: + +" 'As the insulted man, I fire first.' + +" 'Maxime, you owe this gentleman an explanation,' cried the trembling +Countess in a low voice. + +" 'I had no intention of giving offence,' stammered Maxime. + +" 'I am quite sure of that,' Gobseck answered calmly; 'you had no +intention of meeting your bills, that was all.' + +"The Countess rose, bowed, and vanished, with a great dread gnawing +her, I doubt not. M. de Trailles was bound to follow, but before he +went he managed to say: + +" 'If either of you gentlemen should forget himself, I will have his +blood, or he will have mine.' + +" 'Amen!' called Daddy Gobseck as he put his pistols back in their +place; 'but a man must have blood in his veins though before he can +risk it, my son, and you have nothing but mud in yours.' + +"When the door was closed, and the two vehicles had gone, Gobseck rose +to his feet and began to prance about. + +" 'I have the diamonds! I have the diamonds!' he cried again and +again, 'the beautiful diamonds! such diamonds! and tolerably cheaply. +Aha! aha! Werbrust and Gigonnet, you thought you had old Papa Gobseck! +Ego sum papa! I am master of the lot of you! Paid! paid, principal and +interest! How silly they will look to-night when I shall come out with +this story between two games of dominoes!' + +"The dark glee, the savage ferocity aroused by the possession of a few +water-white pebbles, set me shuddering. I was dumb with amazement. + +" 'Aha! There you are, my boy!' said he. 'We will dine together. We +will have some fun at your place, for I haven't a home of my own, and +these restaurants, with their broths, and sauces, and wines, would +poison the Devil himself.' + +"Something in my face suddenly brought back the usual cold, impassive +expression to his. + +" 'You don't understand it,' he said, and sitting down by the hearth, +he put a tin saucepan full of milk on the brazier.--'Will you +breakfast with me?' continued he. 'Perhaps there will be enough here +for two.' + +" 'Thanks,' said I, 'I do not breakfast till noon.' + +"I had scarcely spoken before hurried footsteps sounded from the +passage. The stranger stopped at Gobseck's door and rapped; there was +that in the knock which suggested a man transported with rage. Gobseck +reconnoitred him through the grating; then he opened the door, and in +came a man of thirty-five or so, judged harmless apparently in spite +of his anger. The newcomer, who was quite plainly dressed, bore a +strong resemblance to the late Duc de Richelieu. You must often have +met him, he was the Countess' husband, a man with the aristocratic +figure (permit the expression to pass) peculiar to statesmen of your +faubourg. + +" 'Sir,' said this person, addressing himself to Gobseck, who had +quite recovered his tranquillity, 'did my wife go out of this house +just now?' + +" 'That is possible.' + +" 'Well, sir? do you not take my meaning?' + +" 'I have not the honor of the acquaintance of my lady your wife,' +returned Gobseck. 'I have had a good many visitors this morning, women +and men, and mannish young ladies, and young gentlemen who look like +young ladies. I should find it very hard to say----' + +" 'A truce to jesting, sir! I mean the woman who has this moment gone +out from you.' + +" 'How can I know whether she is your wife or not? I never had the +pleasure of seeing you before.' + +" 'You are mistaken, M. Gobseck,' said the Count, with profound irony +in his voice. 'We have met before, one morning in my wife's bedroom. +You had come to demand payment for a bill--no bill of hers.' + +" 'It was no business of mine to inquire what value she had received +for it,' said Gobseck, with a malignant look at the Count. 'I had come +by the bill in the way of business. At the same time, monsieur,' +continued Gobseck, quietly pouring coffee into his bowl of milk, +without a trace of excitement or hurry in his voice, 'you will permit +me to observe that your right to enter my house and expostulate with +me is far from proven to my mind. I came of age in the sixty-first +year of the preceding century.' + +" 'Sir,' said the Count, 'you have just bought family diamonds, which +do not belong to my wife, for a mere trifle.' + +" 'Without feeling it incumbent upon me to tell you my private +affairs, I will tell you this much M. le Comte--if Mme. la Comtesse +has taken your diamonds, you should have sent a circular around to all +the jewelers, giving them notice not to buy them; she might have sold +them separately.' + +" 'You know my wife, sir!' roared the Count. + +" 'True.' + +" 'She is in her husband's power.' + +" 'That is possible.' + +" 'She had no right to dispose of those diamonds----' + +" 'Precisely.' + +" 'Very well, sir?' + +" 'Very well, sir. I knew your wife, and she is in her husband's +power; I am quite willing, she is in the power of a good many people; +but--I--do--NOT--know--your diamonds. If Mme. la Comtesse can put her +name to a bill, she can go into business, of course, and buy and sell +diamonds on her own account. The thing is plain on the face of it!' + +" 'Good-day, sir!' cried the Count, now white with rage. 'There are +courts of justice.' + +" 'Quite so.' + +" 'This gentleman here,' he added, indicating me, 'was a witness of +the sale.' + +" 'That is possible.' + +"The Count turned to go. Feeling the gravity of the affair, I suddenly +put in between the two belligerents. + +" 'M. le Comte,' said I, 'you are right, and M. Gobseck is by no means +in the wrong. You could not prosecute the purchaser without bringing +your wife into court, and the whole of the odium would not fall on +her. I am an attorney, and I owe it to myself, and still more to my +professional position, to declare that the diamonds of which you speak +were purchased by M. Gobseck in my presence; but, in my opinion, it +would be unwise to dispute the legality of the sale, especially as the +goods are not readily recognizable. In equity our contention would +lie, in law it would collapse. M. Gobseck is too honest a man to deny +that the sale was a profitable transaction, more especially as my +conscience, no less than my duty, compels me to make the admission. +But once bring the case into a court of law, M. le Comte, the issue +would be doubtful. My advice to you is to come to terms with M. +Gobseck, who can plead that he bought the diamonds in all good faith; +you would be bound in any case to return the purchase money. Consent +to an arrangement, with power to redeem at the end of seven or eight +months, or a year even, or any convenient lapse of time, for the +repayment of the sum borrowed by Mme. la Comtesse, unless you would +prefer to repurchase them outright and give security for repayment.' + +"Gobseck dipped his bread into the bowl of coffee, and ate with +perfect indifference; but at the words 'come to terms,' he looked at +me as who should say, 'A fine fellow that! he has learned something +from my lessons!' And I, for my part, riposted with a glance, which he +understood uncommonly well. The business was dubious and shady; there +was pressing need of coming to terms. Gobseck could not deny all +knowledge of it, for I should appear as a witness. The Count thanked +me with a smile of good-will. + +"In the debate which followed, Gobseck showed greed enough and skill +enough to baffle a whole congress of diplomatists; but in the end I +drew up an instrument, in which the Count acknowledged the receipt of +eighty-five thousand francs, interest included, in consideration of +which Gobseck undertook to return the diamonds to the Count. + +" 'What waste!' exclaimed he as he put his signature to the agreement. +'How is it possible to bridge such a gulf?' + +" 'Have you many children, sir?' Gobseck asked gravely. + +"The Count winced at the question; it was as if the old money-lender, +like an experienced physician, had put his finger at once on the sore +spot. The Comtesse's husband did not reply. + +" 'Well,' said Gobseck, taking the pained silence for answer, 'I know +your story by heart. The woman is a fiend, but perhaps you love her +still; I can well believe it; she made an impression on me. Perhaps, +too, you would rather save your fortune, and keep it for one or two of +your children? Well, fling yourself into the whirlpool of society, +lose that fortune at play, come to Gobseck pretty often. The world +will say that I am a Jew, a Tartar, a usurer, a pirate, will say that +I have ruined you! I snap my fingers at them! If anybody insults me, I +lay my man out; nobody is a surer shot nor handles a rapier better +than your servant. And every one knows it. Then, have a friend--if you +can find one--and make over your property to him by a fictitious sale. +You call that a fidei commissum, don't you?' he asked, turning to me. + +"The Count seemed to be entirely absorbed in his own thoughts. + +" 'You shall have your money to-morrow,' he said, 'have the diamonds +in readiness,' and he went. + +" 'There goes one who looks to me to be as stupid as an honest man,' +Gobseck said coolly when the Count had gone. + +" 'Say rather stupid as a man of passionate nature.' + +" 'The Count owes you your fee for drawing up the agreement!' Gobseck +called after me as I took my leave. + + + +"One morning, a few days after the scene which initiated me into the +terrible depths beneath the surface of the life of a woman of fashion, +the Count came into my private office. + +" 'I have come to consult you on a matter of grave moment,' he said, +'and I begin by telling you that I have perfect confidence in you, as +I hope to prove to you. Your behavior to Mme. de Grandlieu is above +all praise,' the Count went on. (You see, madame, that you have paid +me a thousand times over for a very simple matter.) + +"I bowed respectfully, and replied that I had done nothing but the +duty of an honest man. + +" 'Well,' the Count went on, 'I have made a great many inquiries about +the singular personage to whom you owe your position. And from all +that I can learn, Gobseck is a philosopher of the Cynic school. What +do you think of his probity?' + +" 'M. le Comte,' said I, 'Gobseck is my benefactor--at fifteen per +cent,' I added, laughing. 'But his avarice does not authorize me to +paint him to the life for a stranger's benefit.' + +" 'Speak out, sir. Your frankness cannot injure Gobseck or yourself. I +do not expect to find an angel in a pawnbroker.' + +" 'Daddy Gobseck,' I began, 'is intimately convinced of the truth of +the principle which he takes for a rule of life. In his opinion, money +is a commodity which you may sell cheap or dear, according to +circumstances, with a clear conscience. A capitalist, by charging a +high rate of interest, becomes in his eyes a secured partner by +anticipation. Apart from the peculiar philosophical views of human +nature and financial principles, which enable him to behave like a +usurer, I am fully persuaded that, out of his business, he is the most +loyal and upright soul in Paris. There are two men in him; he is petty +and great--a miser and a philosopher. If I were to die and leave a +family behind me, he would be the guardian whom I should appoint. This +was how I came to see Gobseck in this light, monsieur. I know nothing +of his past life. He may have been a pirate, may, for anything I know, +have been all over the world, trafficking in diamonds, or men, or +women, or State secrets; but this I affirm of him--never has human +soul been more thoroughly tempered and tried. When I paid off my loan, +I asked him, with a little circumlocution of course, how it was that +he had made me pay such an exorbitant rate of interest; and why, +seeing that I was a friend, and he meant to do me a kindness, he +should not have yielded to the wish and made it complete.--"My son," +he said, "I released you from all need to feel any gratitude by giving +you ground for the belief that you owed me nothing."--So we are the +best friends in the world. That answer, monsieur, gives you the man +better than any amount of description.' + +" 'I have made up my mind once and for all,' said the Count. 'Draw up +the necessary papers; I am going to transfer my property to Gobseck. I +have no one but you to trust to in the draft of the counter-deed, +which will declare that this transfer is a simulated sale, and that +Gobseck as trustee will administer my estate (as he knows how to +administer), and undertakes to make over my fortune to my eldest son +when he comes of age. Now, sir, this I must tell you: I should be +afraid to have that precious document in my own keeping. My boy is so +fond of his mother, that I cannot trust him with it. So dare I beg of +you to keep it for me? In case of death, Gobseck would make you +legatee of my property. Every contingency is provided for.' + +"The Count paused for a moment. He seemed greatly agitated. + +" 'A thousand pardons,' he said at length; 'I am in great pain, and +have very grave misgivings as to my health. Recent troubles have +disturbed me very painfully, and forced me to take this great step.' + +" 'Allow me first to thank you, monsieur,' said I, 'for the trust you +place me in. But I am bound to deserve it by pointing out to you that +you are disinheriting your--other children. They bear your name. +Merely as the children of a once-loved wife, now fallen from her +position, they have a claim to an assured existence. I tell you +plainly that I cannot accept the trust with which you propose to honor +me unless their future is secured.' + +"The Count trembled violently at the words, and tears came into his +eyes as he grasped my hand, saying, 'I did not know my man thoroughly. +You have made me both glad and sorry. We will make provision for the +children in the counter-deed.' + +"I went with him to the door; it seemed to me that there was a glow of +satisfaction in his face at the thought of this act of justice. + +"Now, Camille, this is how a young wife takes the first step to the +brink of a precipice. A quadrille, a ballad, a picnic party is +sometimes cause sufficient of frightful evils. You are hurried on by +the presumptuous voice of vanity and pride, on the faith of a smile, +or through giddiness and folly! Shame and misery and remorse are three +Furies awaiting every woman the moment she oversteps the limits----" + +"Poor Camille can hardly keep awake," the Vicomtesse hastily broke in. +--"Go to bed, child; you have no need of appalling pictures to keep +you pure in heart and conduct." + +Camille de Grandlieu took the hint and went. + +"You were going rather too far, dear M. Derville," said the +Vicomtesse, "an attorney is not a mother of daughters nor yet a +preacher." + +"But any newspaper is a thousand times----" + +"Poor Derville!" exclaimed the Vicomtesse, "what has come over you? Do +you really imagine that I allow a daughter of mine to read the +newspapers?--Go on," she added after a pause. + +"Three months after everything was signed and sealed between the Count +and Gobseck----" + +"You can call him the Comte de Restaud, now that Camille is not here," +said the Vicomtesse. + +"So be it! Well, time went by, and I saw nothing of the counter-deed, +which by rights should have been in my hands. An attorney in Paris +lives in such a whirl of business that with certain exceptions which +we make for ourselves, we have not the time to give each individual +client the amount of interest which he himself takes in his affairs. +Still, one day when Gobseck came to dine with me, I asked him as we +left the table if he knew how it was that I had heard no more of M. de +Restaud. + +" 'There are excellent reasons for that,' he said; 'the noble Count is +at death's door. He is one of the soft stamp that cannot learn how to +put an end to chagrin, and allow it to wear them out instead. Life is +a craft, a profession; every man must take the trouble to learn that +business. When he has learned what life is by dint of painful +experiences, the fibre of him is toughened, and acquires a certain +elasticity, so that he has his sensibilities under his own control; he +disciplines himself till his nerves are like steel springs, which +always bend, but never break; given a sound digestion, and a man in +such training ought to live as long as the cedars of Lebanon, and +famous trees they are.' + +" 'Then is the Count actually dying?' I asked. + +" 'That is possible,' said Gobseck; 'the winding up of his estate will +be a juicy bit of business for you.' + +"I looked at my man, and said, by way of sounding him: + +" 'Just explain to me how it is that we, the Count and I, are the only +men in whom you take an interest?' + +" 'Because you are the only two who have trusted me without +finessing,' he said. + +"Although this answer warranted my belief that Gobseck would act +fairly even if the counter-deed were lost, I resolved to go to see the +Count. I pleaded a business engagement, and we separated. + +"I went straight to the Rue du Helder, and was shown into a room where +the Countess sat playing with her children. When she heard my name, +she sprang up and came to meet me, then she sat down and pointed +without a word to a chair by the fire. Her face wore the inscrutable +mask beneath which women of the world conceal their most vehement +emotions. Trouble had withered that face already. Nothing of its +beauty now remained, save the marvelous outlines in which its +principal charm had lain. + +" 'It is essential, madame, that I should speak to M. le Comte----" + +" 'If so, you would be more favored than I am,' she said, interrupting +me. 'M. de Restaud will see no one. He will hardly allow his doctor to +come, and will not be nursed even by me. When people are ill, they +have such strange fancies! They are like children, they do not know +what they want.' + +" 'Perhaps, like children, they know very well what they want.' + +"The Countess reddened. I almost repented a thrust worthy of Gobseck. +So, by way of changing the conversation, I added, 'But M. de Restaud +cannot possibly lie there alone all day, madame.' + +" 'His oldest boy is with him,' she said. + +"It was useless to gaze at the Countess; she did not blush this time, +and it looked to me as if she were resolved more firmly than ever that +I should not penetrate into her secrets. + +" 'You must understand, madame, that my proceeding is no way +indiscreet. It is strongly to his interest--' I bit my lips, feeling +that I had gone the wrong way to work. The Countess immediately took +advantage of my slip. + +" 'My interests are in no way separate from my husband's, sir,' said +she. 'There is nothing to prevent your addressing yourself to me----' + +" 'The business which brings me here concerns no one but M. le Comte,' +I said firmly. + +" 'I will let him know of your wish to see him.' + +"The civil tone and expression assumed for the occasion did not impose +upon me; I divined that she would never allow me to see her husband. I +chatted on about indifferent matters for a little while, so as to +study her; but, like all women who have once begun to plot for +themselves, she could dissimulate with the rare perfection which, in +your sex, means the last degree of perfidy. If I may dare to say it, I +looked for anything from her, even a crime. She produced this feeling +in me, because it was so evident from her manner and in all that she +did or said, down to the very inflections of her voice, that she had +an eye to the future. I went. + +"Now, I will pass on to the final scenes of this adventure, throwing +in a few circumstances brought to light by time, and some details +guessed by Gobseck's perspicacity or by my own. + +"When the Comte de Restaud apparently plunged into the vortex of +dissipation, something passed between the husband and wife, something +which remains an impenetrable secret, but the wife sank even lower in +the husband's eyes. As soon as he became so ill that he was obliged to +take to his bed, he manifested his aversion for the Countess and the +two youngest children. He forbade them to enter his room, and any +attempt to disobey his wishes brought on such dangerous attacks that +the doctor implored the Countess to submit to her husband's wish. + +"Mme. de Restaud had seen the family estates and property, nay, the +very mansion in which she lived, pass into the hands of Gobseck, who +appeared to play the fantastic ogre so far as their wealth was +concerned. She partially understood what her husband was doing, no +doubt. M. de Trailles was traveling in England (his creditors had been +a little too pressing of late), and no one else was in a position to +enlighten the lady, and explain that her husband was taking +precautions against her at Gobseck's suggestion. It is said that she +held out for a long while before she gave the signature required by +French law for the sale of the property; nevertheless the Count gained +his point. The Countess was convinced that her husband was realizing +his fortune, and that somewhere or other there would be a little bunch +of notes representing the amount; they had been deposited with a +notary, or perhaps at the bank, or in some safe hiding-place. +Following out her train of thought, it was evident that M. de Restaud +must of necessity have some kind of document in his possession by +which any remaining property could be recovered and handed over to his +son. + +"So she made up her mind to keep the strictest possible watch over the +sick-room. She ruled despotically in the house, and everything in it +was submitted to this feminine espionage. All day she sat in the salon +adjoining her husband's room, so that she could hear every syllable +that he uttered, every least movement that he made. She had a bed put +there for her of a night, but she did not sleep very much. The doctor +was entirely in her interests. Such wifely devotion seemed +praiseworthy enough. With the natural subtlety of perfidy, she took +care to disguise M. de Restaud's repugnance for her, and feigned +distress so perfectly that she gained a sort of celebrity. Strait- +laced women were even found to say that she had expiated her sins. +Always before her eyes she beheld a vision of the destitution to +follow on the Count's death if her presence of mind should fail her; +and in these ways the wife, repulsed from the bed of pain on which her +husband lay and groaned, had drawn a charmed circle round about it. So +near, yet kept at a distance; all-powerful, but in disgrace, the +apparently devoted wife was lying in wait for death and opportunity; +crouching like the ant-lion at the bottom of his spiral pit, ever on +the watch for the prey that cannot escape, listening to the fall of +every grain of sand. + +"The strictest censor could not but recognize that the Countess pushed +maternal sentiment to the last degree. Her father's death had been a +lesson to her, people said. She worshiped her children. They were so +young that she could hide the disorders of her life from their eyes, +and could win their love; she had given them the best and most +brilliant education. I confess that I cannot help admiring her and +feeling sorry for her. Gobseck used to joke me about it. Just about +that time she had discovered Maxime's baseness, and was expiating the +sins of the past in tears of blood. I was sure of it. Hateful as were +the measures which she took for regaining control of her husband's +money, were they not the result of a mother's love, and a desire to +repair the wrongs she had done her children? And again, it may be, +like many a woman who has experienced the storm of lawless love, she +felt a longing to lead a virtuous life again. Perhaps she only learned +the worth of that life when she came to reap the woeful harvest sown +by her errors. + +"Every time that little Ernest came out of his father's room, she put +him through a searching examination as to all that his father had done +or said. The boy willingly complied with his mother's wishes, and told +her even more than she asked in her anxious affection, as he thought. + +"My visit was a ray of light for the Countess. She was determined to +see in me the instrument of the Count's vengeance, and resolved that I +should not be allowed to go near the dying man. I augured ill of all +this, and earnestly wished for an interview, for I was not easy in my +mind about the fate of the counter-deed. If it should fall into the +Countess' hands, she might turn it to her own account, and that would +be the beginning of a series of interminable lawsuits between her and +Gobseck. I knew the usurer well enough to feel convinced that he would +never give up the property to her; there was room for plenty of legal +quibbling over a series of transfers, and I alone knew all the ins and +outs of the matter. I was minded to prevent such a tissue of +misfortune, so I went to the Countess a second time. + +"I have noticed, madame," said Derville, turning to the Vicomtesse, +and speaking in a confidential tone, "certain moral phenomena to which +we do not pay enough attention. I am naturally an observer of human +nature, and instinctively I bring a spirit of analysis to the business +that I transact in the interest of others, when human passions are +called into lively play. Now, I have often noticed, and always with +new wonder, that two antagonists almost always divine each other's +inmost thoughts and ideas. Two enemies sometimes possess a power of +clear insight into mental processes, and read each other's minds as +two lovers read in either soul. So when we came together, the Countess +and I, I understood at once the reason of her antipathy for me, +disguised though it was by the most gracious forms of politeness and +civility. I had been forced to be her confidant, and a woman cannot +but hate the man before whom she is compelled to blush. And she on her +side knew that if I was the man in whom her husband placed confidence, +that husband had not as yet given up his fortune. + +"I will spare you the conversation, but it abides in my memory as one +of the most dangerous encounters in my career. Nature had bestowed on +her all the qualities which, combined, are irresistibly fascinating; +she could be pliant and proud by turns, and confiding and coaxing in +her manner; she even went so far as to try to subjugate me. It was a +failure. As I took my leave of her, I caught a gleam of hate and rage +in her eyes that made me shudder. We parted enemies. She would fain +have crushed me out of existence; and for my own part, I felt pity for +her, and for some natures pity is the deadliest of insults. This +feeling pervaded the last representations I put before her; and when I +left her, I left, I think, dread in the depths of her soul, by +declaring that, turn which way she would, ruin lay inevitably before +her. + +" 'If I were to see M. le Comte, your children's property at any rate +would----' + +" 'I should be at your mercy,' she said, breaking in upon me, disgust +in her gesture. + +"Now that we had spoken frankly, I made up my mind to save the family +from impending destitution. I resolved to strain the law at need to +gain my ends, and this was what I did. I sued the Comte de Restaud for +a sum of money, ostensibly due to Gobseck, and gained judgment. The +Countess, of course, did not allow him to know of this, but I had +gained on my point, I had a right to affix seals to everything on the +death of the Count. I bribed one of the servants in the house--the man +undertook to let me know at any hour of the day or night if his master +should be at the point of death, so that I could intervene at once, +scare the Countess with a threat of affixing seals, and so secure the +counter-deed. + +"I learned later on that the woman was studying the Code, with her +husband's dying moans in her ears. If we could picture the thoughts of +those who stand about a deathbed, what fearful sights should we not +see? Money is always the motive-spring of the schemes elaborated, of +all the plans that are made and the plots that are woven about it! Let +us leave these details, nauseating in the nature of them; but perhaps +they may have given you some insight into all that this husband and +wife endured; perhaps too they may unveil much that is passing in +secret in other houses. + +"For two months the Comte de Restaud lay on his bed, alone, and +resigned to his fate. Mortal disease was slowly sapping the strength +of mind and body. Unaccountable and grotesque sick fancies preyed upon +him; he would not suffer them to set his room in order, no one could +nurse him, he would not even allow them to make his bed. All his +surroundings bore the marks of this last degree of apathy, the +furniture was out of place, the daintiest trifles were covered with +dust and cobwebs. In health he had been a man of refined and expensive +tastes, now he positively delighted in the comfortless look of the +room. A host of objects required in illness--rows of medicine bottles, +empty and full, most of them dirty, crumpled linen, and broken plates, +littered the writing-table, chairs, and chimney-piece. An open +warming-pan lay on the floor before the grate; a bath, still full of +mineral water had not been taken away. The sense of coming dissolution +pervaded all the details of an unsightly chaos. Signs of death +appeared in things inanimate before the Destroyer came to the body on +the bed. The Comte de Restaud could not bear the daylight, the +Venetian shutters were closed, darkness deepened the gloom in the +dismal chamber. The sick man himself had wasted greatly. All the life +in him seemed to have taken refuge in the still brilliant eyes. The +livid whiteness of his face was something horrible to see, enhanced as +it was by the long dank locks of hair that straggled along his cheeks, +for he would never suffer them to cut it. He looked like some +religious fanatic in the desert. Mental suffering was extinguishing +all human instincts in this man of scarce fifty years of age, whom all +Paris had known as so brilliant and so successful. + +"One morning at the beginning of December 1824, he looked up at +Ernest, who sat at the foot of his bed gazing at his father with +wistful eyes. + +" 'Are you in pain?' the little Vicomte asked. + +" 'No,' said the Count, with a ghastly smile, 'it all lies HERE AND +ABOUT MY HEART!' + +"He pointed to his forehead, and then laid his wasted fingers on his +hollow chest. Ernest began to cry at the sight. + +" 'How is it that M. Derville does not come to me?' the Count asked +his servant (he thought that Maurice was really attached to him, but +the man was entirely in the Countess' interest)--'What! Maurice!' and +the dying man suddenly sat upright in his bed, and seemed to recover +all his presence of mind, 'I have sent for my attorney seven or eight +times during the last fortnight, and he does not come!' he cried. 'Do +you imagine that I am to be trifled with? Go for him, at once, this +very instant, and bring him back with you. If you do not carry out my +orders, I shall get up and go myself.' + +" 'Madame,' said the man as he came into the salon, 'you heard M. le +Comte; what ought I to do?' + +" 'Pretend to go to the attorney, and when you come back tell your +master that his man of business is forty leagues away from Paris on an +important lawsuit. Say that he is expected back at the end of the +week.--Sick people never know how ill they are,' thought the Countess; +'he will wait till the man comes home.' + +"The doctor had said on the previous evening that the Count could +scarcely live through the day. When the servant came back two hours +later to give that hopeless answer, the dying man seemed to be greatly +agitated. + +" 'Oh God!' he cried again and again, 'I put my trust in none but +Thee.' + +"For a long while he lay and gazed at his son, and spoke in a feeble +voice at last. + +" 'Ernest, my boy, you are very young; but you have a good heart; you +can understand, no doubt, that a promise given to a dying man is +sacred; a promise to a father . . . Do you feel that you can be +trusted with a secret, and keep it so well and so closely that even +your mother herself shall not know that you have a secret to keep? +There is no one else in this house whom I can trust to-day. You will +not betray my trust, will you?' + +" 'No, father.' + +" 'Very well, then, Ernest, in a minute or two I will give you a +sealed packet that belongs to M. Derville; you must take such care of +it that no one can know that you have it; then you must slip out of +the house and put the letter into the post-box at the corner.' + +" 'Yes, father.' + +" 'Can I depend upon you?' + +" 'Yes, father.' + +" 'Come and kiss me. You have made death less bitter to me, dear boy. +In six or seven years' time you will understand the importance of this +secret, and you will be well rewarded then for your quickness and +obedience, you will know then how much I love you. Leave me alone for +a minute, and let no one--no matter whom--come in meanwhile.' + +"Ernest went out and saw his mother standing in the next room. + +" 'Ernest,' said she, 'come here.' + +"She sat down, drew her son to her knees, and clasped him in her arms, +and held him tightly to her heart. + +" 'Ernest, your father said something to you just now.' + +" 'Yes, mamma.' + +" 'What did he say?' + +" 'I cannot repeat it, mamma.' + +" 'Oh, my dear child!' cried the Countess, kissing him in rapture. +'You have kept your secret; how glad that makes me! Never tell a lie; +never fail to keep your word--those are two principles which should +never be forgotten.' + +" 'Oh! mamma, how beautiful you are! YOU have never told a lie, I am +quite sure.' + +" 'Once or twice, Ernest dear, I have lied. Yes, and I have not kept +my word under circumstances which speak louder than all precepts. +Listen, my Ernest, you are big enough and intelligent enough to see +that your father drives me away, and will not allow me to nurse him, +and this is not natural, for you know how much I love him.' + +" 'Yes, mamma.' + +"The Countess began to cry. 'Poor child!' she said, 'this misfortune +is the result of treacherous insinuations. Wicked people have tried to +separate me from your father to satisfy their greed. They mean to take +all our money from us and to keep it for themselves. If your father +were well, the division between us would soon be over; he would listen +to me; he is loving and kind; he would see his mistake. But now his +mind is affected, and his prejudices against me have become a fixed +idea, a sort of mania with him. It is one result of his illness. Your +father's fondness for you is another proof that his mind is deranged. +Until he fell ill you never noticed that he loved you more than +Pauline and Georges. It is all caprice with him now. In his affection +for you he might take it into his head to tell you to do things for +him. If you do not want to ruin us all, my darling, and to see your +mother begging her bread like a pauper woman, you must tell her +everything----' + +" 'Ah!' cried the Count. He had opened the door and stood there, a +sudden, half-naked apparition, almost as thin and fleshless as a +skeleton. + +"His smothered cry produced a terrible effect upon the Countess; she +sat motionless, as if a sudden stupor had seized her. Her husband was +as white and wasted as if he had risen out of his grave. + +" 'You have filled my life to the full with trouble, and now you are +trying to vex my deathbed, to warp my boy's mind, and make a depraved +man of him!' he cried, hoarsely. + +"The Countess flung herself at his feet. His face, working with the +last emotions of life, was almost hideous to see. + +" 'Mercy! mercy!' she cried aloud, shedding a torrent of tears. + +" 'Have you shown me any pity?' he asked. 'I allowed you to squander +your own money, and now do you mean to squander my fortune, too, and +ruin my son?' + +" 'Ah! well, yes, have no pity for me, be merciless to me!' she cried. +'But the children? Condemn your widow to live in a convent; I will +obey you; I will do anything, anything that you bid me, to expiate the +wrong I have done you, if that so the children may be happy! The +children! Oh, the children!' + +" 'I have only one child,' said the Count, stretching out a wasted +arm, in his despair, towards his son. + +" 'Pardon a penitent woman, a penitent woman! . . .' wailed the +Countess, her arms about her husband's damp feet. She could not speak +for sobbing; vague, incoherent sounds broke from her parched throat. + +" 'You dare to talk of penitence after all that you said to Ernest!' +exclaimed the dying man, shaking off the Countess, who lay groveling +over his feet.--'You turn me to ice!' he added, and there was +something appalling in the indifference with which he uttered the +words. 'You have been a bad daughter; you have been a bad wife; you +will be a bad mother.' + +"The wretched woman fainted away. The dying man reached his bed and +lay down again, and a few hours later sank into unconsciousness. The +priests came and administered the sacraments. + +"At midnight he died; the scene that morning had exhausted his +remaining strength, and on the stroke of midnight I arrived with Daddy +Gobseck. The house was in confusion, and under cover of it we walked +up into the little salon adjoining the death-chamber. The three +children were there in tears, with two priests, who had come to watch +with the dead. Ernest came over to me, and said that his mother +desired to be alone in the Count's room. + +" 'Do not go in,' he said; and I admired the child for his tone and +gesture; 'she is praying there.' + +"Gobseck began to laugh that soundless laugh of his, but I felt too +much touched by the feeling in Ernest's little face to join in the +miser's sardonic amusement. When Ernest saw that we moved towards the +door, he planted himself in front of it, crying out, 'Mamma, here are +some gentlemen in black who want to see you.!' + +"Gobseck lifted Ernest out of the way as if the child had been a +feather, and opened the door. + +"What a scene it was that met our eyes! The room was in frightful +disorder; clothes and papers and rags lay tossed about in a confusion +horrible to see in the presence of Death; and there, in the midst, +stood the Countess in disheveled despair, unable to utter a word, her +eyes glittering. The Count had scarcely breathed his last before his +wife came in and forced open the drawers and the desk; the carpet was +strewn with litter, some of the furniture and boxes were broken, the +signs of violence could be seen everywhere. But if her search had at +first proved fruitless, there was that in her excitement and attitude +which led me to believe that she had found the mysterious documents at +last. I glanced at the bed, and professional instinct told me all that +had happened. The mattress had been flung contemptuously down by the +bedside, and across it, face downwards, lay the body of the Count, +like one of the paper envelopes that strewed the carpet--he too was +nothing now but an envelope. There was something grotesquely horrible +in the attitude of the stiffening rigid limbs. + +"The dying man must have hidden the counter-deed under his pillow to +keep it safe so long as life should last; and his wife must have +guessed his thought; indeed, it might be read plainly in his last +dying gesture, in the convulsive clutch of his claw-like hands. The +pillow had been flung to the floor at the foot of the bed; I could see +the print of her heel upon it. At her feet lay a paper with the +Count's arms on the seals; I snatched it up, and saw that it was +addressed to me. I looked steadily at the Countess with the pitiless +clear-sightedness of an examining magistrate confronting a guilty +creature. The contents were blazing in the grate; she had flung them +on the fire at the sound of our approach, imagining, from a first +hasty glance at the provisions which I had suggested for her children, +that she was destroying a will which disinherited them. A tormented +conscience and involuntary horror of the deed which she had done had +taken away all power of reflection. She had been caught in the act, +and possibly the scaffold was rising before her eyes, and she already +felt the felon's branding iron. + +"There she stood gasping for breath, waiting for us to speak, staring +at us with haggard eyes. + +"I went across to the grate and pulled out an unburned fragment. 'Ah, +madame!' I exclaimed, 'you have ruined your children! Those papers +were their titles to their property.' + +"Her mouth twitched, she looked as if she were threatened by a +paralytic seizure. + +" 'Eh! eh!' cried Gobseck; the harsh, shrill tone grated upon our ears +like the sound of a brass candlestick scratching a marble surface. + +"There was a pause, then the old man turned to me and said quietly: + +" 'Do you intend Mme. la Comtesse to suppose that I am not the +rightful owner of the property sold to me by her late husband? This +house belongs to me now.' + +"A sudden blow on the head from a bludgeon would have given me less +pain and astonishment. The Countess saw the look of hesitation in my +face. + +" 'Monsieur,' she cried, 'Monsieur!' She could find no other words. + +" 'You are a trustee, are you not?' I asked. + +" 'That is possible.' + +" 'Then do you mean to take advantage of this crime of hers?' + +" 'Precisely.' + +"I went at that, leaving the Countess sitting by her husband's +bedside, shedding hot tears. Gobseck followed me. Outside in the +street I separated from him, but he came after me, flung me one of +those searching glances with which he probed men's minds, and said in +the husky flute-tones, pitched in a shriller key: + +" 'Do you take it upon yourself to judge me?' + + + +"From that time forward we saw little of each other. Gobseck let the +Count's mansion on lease; he spent the summers on the country estates. +He was a lord of the manor in earnest, putting up farm buildings, +repairing mills and roadways, and planting timber. I came across him +one day in a walk in the Jardin des Tuileries. + +" 'The Countess is behaving like a heroine,' said I; 'she gives +herself up entirely to the children's education; she is giving them a +perfect bringing up. The oldest boy is a charming young fellow----' + +" 'That is possible.' + +" 'But ought you not to help Ernest?' I suggested. + +" 'Help him!' cried Gobseck. 'Not I. Adversity is the greatest of all +teachers; adversity teaches us to know the value of money and the +worth of men and women. Let him set sail on the seas of Paris; when he +is a qualified pilot, we will give him a ship to steer.' + +"I left him without seeking to explain the meaning of his words. + +"M. de Restaud's mother has prejudiced him against me, and he is very +far from taking me as his legal adviser; still, I went to see Gobseck +last week to tell him about Ernest's love for Mlle. Camille, and +pressed him to carry out his contract, since that young Restaud is +just of age. + +"I found the old bill-discounter had been kept to his bed for a long +time by the complaint of which he was to die. He put me off, saying +that he would give the matter his attention when he could get up again +and see after his business; his idea being no doubt that he would not +give up any of his possessions so long as the breath was in him; no +other reason could be found for his shuffling answer. He seemed to me +to be much worse than he at all suspected. I stayed with him long +enough to discern the progress of a passion which age had converted +into a sort of craze. He wanted to be alone in the house, and had +taken the rooms one by one as they fell vacant. In his own room he had +changed nothing; the furniture which I knew so well sixteen years ago +looked the same as ever; it might have been kept under a glass case. +Gobseck's faithful old portress, with her husband, a pensioner, who +sat in the entry while she was upstairs, was still his housekeeper and +charwoman, and now in addition his sick-nurse. In spite of his +feebleness, Gobseck saw his clients himself as heretofore, and +received sums of money; his affairs had been so simplified, that he +only needed to send his pensioner out now and again on an errand, and +could carry on business in his bed. + +"After the treaty, by which France recognized the Haytian Republic, +Gobseck was one of the members of the commission appointed to +liquidate claims and assess repayments due by Hayti; his special +knowledge of old fortunes in San Domingo, and the planters and their +heirs and assigns to whom the indemnities were due, had led to his +nomination. Gobseck's peculiar genius had then devised an agency for +discounting the planters' claims on the government. The business was +carried on under the names of Werbrust and Gigonnet, with whom he +shared the spoil without disbursements, for his knowledge was accepted +instead of capital. The agency was a sort of distillery, in which +money was extracted from doubtful claims, and the claims of those who +knew no better, or had no confidence in the government. As a +liquidator, Gobseck could make terms with the large landed +proprietors; and these, either to gain a higher percentage of their +claims, or to ensure prompt settlements, would send him presents in +proportion to their means. In this way presents came to be a kind of +percentage upon sums too large to pass through his control, while the +agency bought up cheaply the small and dubious claims, or the claims +of those persons who preferred a little ready money to a deferred and +somewhat hazy repayment by the Republic. Gobseck was the insatiable +boa constrictor of the great business. Every morning he received his +tribute, eyeing it like a Nabob's prime minister, as he considers +whether he will sign a pardon. Gobseck would take anything, from the +present of game sent him by some poor devil or the pound's weight of +wax candles from devout folk, to the rich man's plate and the +speculator's gold snuff-box. Nobody knew what became of the presents +sent to the old money-lender. Everything went in, but nothing came +out. + +" 'On the word of an honest woman,' said the portress, an old +acquaintance of mine, 'I believe he swallows it all and is none the +fatter for it; he is as thin and dried up as the cuckoo in the clock.' + +"At length, last Monday, Gobseck sent his pensioner for me. The man +came up to my private office. + +" 'Be quick and come, M. Derville,' said he, 'the governor is just +going to hand in his checks; he has grown as yellow as a lemon; he is +fidgeting to speak with you; death has fair hold of him; the rattle is +working in his throat.' + +"When I entered Gobseck's room, I found the dying man kneeling before +the grate. If there was no fire on the hearth, there was at any rate a +monstrous heap of ashes. He had dragged himself out of bed, but his +strength had failed him, and he could neither go back nor find the +voice to complain. + +" 'You felt cold, old friend,' I said, as I helped him back to his +bed; 'how can you do without a fire?' + +" 'I am not cold at all,' he said. 'No fire here! no fire! I am going, +I know not where, lad,' he went on, glancing at me with blank, +lightless eyes, 'but I am going away from this.--I have carpology,' +said he (the use of the technical term showing how clear and accurate +his mental processes were even now). 'I thought the room was full of +live gold, and I got up to catch some of it.--To whom will all mine +go, I wonder? Not to the crown; I have left a will, look for it, +Grotius. La belle Hollandaise had a daughter; I once saw the girl +somewhere or other, in the Rue Vivienne, one evening. They call her +"La Torpille," I believe; she is as pretty as pretty can be; look her +up, Grotius. You are my executor; take what you like; help yourself. +There are Strasburg pies, there, and bags of coffee, and sugar, and +gold spoons. Give the Odiot service to your wife. But who is to have +the diamonds? Are you going to take them, lad? There is snuff too-- +sell it at Hamburg, tobaccos are worth half as much again at Hamburg. +All sorts of things I have in fact, and now I must go and leave them +all.--Come, Papa Gobseck, no weakness, be yourself!' + +"He raised himself in bed, the lines of his face standing out as +sharply against the pillow as if the profile had been cast in bronze; +he stretched out a lean arm and bony hand along the coverlet and +clutched it, as if so he would fain keep his hold on life, then he +gazed hard at the grate, cold as his own metallic eyes, and died in +full consciousness of death. To us--the portress, the old pensioner, +and myself--he looked like one of the old Romans standing behind the +Consuls in Lethiere's picture of the Death of the Sons of Brutus. + +" 'He was a good-plucked one, the old Lascar!' said the pensioner in +his soldierly fashion. + +"But as for me, the dying man's fantastical enumeration of his riches +still sounding in my ears, and my eyes, following the direction of +his, rested on that heap of ashes. It struck me that it was very +large. I took the tongs, and as soon as I stirred the cinders, I felt +the metal underneath, a mass of gold and silver coins, receipts taken +during his illness, doubtless, after he grew too feeble to lock the +money up, and could trust no one to take it to the bank for him. + +" 'Run for the justice of the peace,' said I, turning to the old +pensioner, 'so that everything can be sealed here at once.' + +"Gobseck's last words and the old portress' remarks had struck me. I +took the keys of the rooms on the first and second floor to make a +visitation. The first door that I opened revealed the meaning of the +phrases which I took for mad ravings; and I saw the length to which +covetousness goes when it survives only as an illogical instinct, the +last stage of greed of which you find so many examples among misers in +country towns. + +"In the room next to the one in which Gobseck had died, a quantity of +eatables of all kinds were stored--putrid pies, mouldy fish, nay, even +shell-fish, the stench almost choked me. Maggots and insects swarmed. +These comparatively recent presents were put down, pell-mell, among +chests of tea, bags of coffee, and packing-cases of every shape. A +silver soup tureen on the chimney-piece was full of advices of the +arrival of goods consigned to his order at Havre, bales of cotton, +hogsheads of sugar, barrels of rum, coffees, indigo, tobaccos, a +perfect bazaar of colonial produce. The room itself was crammed with +furniture, and silver-plate, and lamps, and vases, and pictures; there +were books, and curiosities, and fine engravings lying rolled up, +unframed. Perhaps these were not all presents, and some part of this +vast quantity of stuff had been deposited with him in the shape of +pledges, and had been left on his hands in default of payment. I +noticed jewel-cases, with ciphers and armorial bearings stamped upon +them, and sets of fine table-linen, and weapons of price; but none of +the things were docketed. I opened a book which seemed to be +misplaced, and found a thousand-franc note in it. I promised myself +that I would go through everything thoroughly; I would try the +ceilings, and floors, and walls, and cornices to discover all the +gold, hoarded with such passionate greed by a Dutch miser worthy of a +Rembrandt's brush. In all the course of my professional career I have +never seen such impressive signs of the eccentricity of avarice. + +"I went back to his room, and found an explanation of this chaos and +accumulation of riches in a pile of letters lying under the paper- +weights on his desk--Gobseck's correspondence with the various dealers +to whom doubtless he usually sold his presents. These persons had, +perhaps, fallen victims to Gobseck's cleverness, or Gobseck may have +wanted fancy prices for his goods; at any rate, every bargain hung in +suspense. He had not disposed of the eatables to Chevet, because +Chevet would only take them of him at a loss of thirty per cent. +Gobseck haggled for a few francs between the prices, and while they +wrangled the goods became unsalable. Again, Gobseck had refused free +delivery of his silver-plate, and declined to guarantee the weights of +his coffees. There had been a dispute over each article, the first +indication in Gobseck of the childishness and incomprehensible +obstinacy of age, a condition of mind reached at last by all men in +whom a strong passion survives the intellect. + +"I said to myself, as he had said, 'To whom will all these riches go?' +. . . And then I think of the grotesque information he gave me as to +the present address of his heiress, I foresee that it will be my duty +to search all the houses of ill-fame in Paris to pour out an immense +fortune on some worthless jade. But, in the first place, know this-- +that in a few days time Ernest de Restaud will come into a fortune to +which his title is unquestionable, a fortune which will put him in a +position to marry Mlle. Camille, even after adequate provision has +been made for his mother the Comtesse de Restaud and his sister and +brother." + + + + +ADDENDUM + +The following personages appear in other stories of the Human Comedy. + +Bidault (known as Gigonnet) + The Government Clerks + The Vendetta + Cesar Birotteau + The Firm of Nucingen + A Daughter of Eve + +Derville + A Start in Life + The Gondreville Mystery + Father Goriot + Colonel Chabert + Scenes from a Courtesan's Life + +Derville, Madame + Cesar Birotteau + +Gobseck, Jean-Esther Van + Father Goriot + Cesar Birotteau + The Government Clerks + The Unconscious Humoriists + +Gobseck, Sarah Van + Cesar Birotteau + The Maranas + Scenes from a Courtesan's Life + The Member for Arcis + +Gobseck, Esther Van + The Firm of Nucingen + A Bachelor's Establishment + Scenes from a Courtesan's Life + +Grandlieu, Vicomtesse de + Scenes from a Courtesan's Life + Colonel Chabert + +Grandlieu, Vicomte Juste de + Scenes from a Courtesan's Life + +Grandlieu, Vicomtesse Juste de + Scenes from a Courtesan's Life + A Daughter of Eve + +Maurice (de Restaud's valet) + Father Goriot + +Palma (banker) + The Firm of Nucingen + Cesar Birotteau + Lost Illusions + A Distinguished Provincial at Paris + The Ball at Sceaux + +Restaud, Comte de + Father Goriot + +Restaud, Comtesse Anastasie de + Father Goriot + +Restaud, Ernest de + The Member for Arcis + +Restaud, Madame Ernest de + The Member for Arcis + +Restaud, Felix-Georges de + The Member for Arcis + +Trailles, Comte Maxime de + Cesar Birotteau + Father Goriot + Ursule Mirouet + A Man of Business + The Member for Arcis + The Secrets of a Princess + Cousin Betty + The Member for Arcis + Beatrix + The Unconscious Humorists + + + + + +End of The Project Gutenberg Etext of Gobseck, by Honore de Balzac + diff --git a/old/old/gbsek10.zip b/old/old/gbsek10.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..31199a3 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/old/gbsek10.zip |