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| author | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 05:17:05 -0700 |
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| committer | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 05:17:05 -0700 |
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diff --git a/1405-h/1405-h.htm b/1405-h/1405-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..01af90b --- /dev/null +++ b/1405-h/1405-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,6439 @@ +<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?> + +<!DOCTYPE html + PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd" > + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" lang="en"> + <head> + <title> + The Collection of Antiquities, by Honore de Balzac + </title> + <style type="text/css" xml:space="preserve"> + + body { margin:5%; background:#faebd0; text-align:justify} + P { text-indent: 1em; margin-top: .25em; margin-bottom: .25em; } + H1,H2,H3,H4,H5,H6 { text-align: center; margin-left: 15%; margin-right: 15%; } + hr { width: 50%; text-align: center;} + .foot { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; text-indent: -3em; font-size: 90%; } + blockquote {font-size: 97%; font-style: italic; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%;} + .mynote {background-color: #DDE; color: #000; padding: .5em; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 95%;} + .toc { margin-left: 10%; margin-bottom: .75em;} + .toc2 { margin-left: 20%;} + div.fig { display:block; margin:0 auto; text-align:center; } + div.middle { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; } + .figleft {float: left; margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 1%;} + .figright {float: right; margin-right: 0%; margin-left: 1%;} + .pagenum {display:inline; font-size: 70%; font-style:normal; + margin: 0; padding: 0; position: absolute; right: 1%; + text-align: right;} + pre { font-style: italic; font-size: 90%; margin-left: 10%;} + +</style> + </head> + <body> +<div>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 1405 ***</div> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <h1> + THE COLLECTION OF ANTIQUITIES + </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> + <h3> + <a href="#link2H_4_0001"> DEDICATION </a><br /><br /> <a + href="#link2H_4_0002"> <b>THE COLLECTION OF ANTIQUITIES</b> </a><br /><br /> + <a href="#link2H_4_0003"> ADDENDUM </a> + </h3> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> <a name="link2H_4_0001" id="link2H_4_0001"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <h2> + DEDICATION + </h2> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + To Baron Von Hammer-Purgstall, Member of the Aulic Council, Author + of the History of the Ottoman Empire. + + Dear Baron,—You have taken so warm an interest in my long, vast + “History of French Manners in the Nineteenth Century,” you have + given me so much encouragement to persevere with my work, that you + have given me a right to associate your name with some portion of + it. Are you not one of the most important representatives of + conscientious, studious Germany? Will not your approval win for me + the approval of others, and protect this attempt of mine? So proud + am I to have gained your good opinion, that I have striven to + deserve it by continuing my labors with the unflagging courage + characteristic of your methods of study, and of that exhaustive + research among documents without which you could never have given + your monumental work to the world of letters. Your sympathy with + such labor as you yourself have bestowed upon the most brilliant + civilization of the East, has often sustained my ardor through + nights of toil given to the details of our modern civilization. + And will not you, whose naive kindliness can only be compared with + that of our own La Fontaine, be glad to know of this? + + May this token of my respect for you and your work find you at + Dobling, dear Baron, and put you and yours in mind of one of your + most sincere admirers and friends. +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + DE BALZAC. +</pre> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> <a name="link2H_4_0002" id="link2H_4_0002"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <h1> + THE COLLECTION OF ANTIQUITIES + </h1> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <p> + There stands a house at a corner of a street, in the middle of a town, in + one of the least important prefectures in France, but the name of the + street and the name of the town must be suppressed here. Every one will + appreciate the motives of this sage reticence demanded by convention; for + if a writer takes upon himself the office of annalist of his own time, he + is bound to touch on many sore subjects. The house was called the Hotel + d’Esgrignon; but let d’Esgrignon be considered a mere fancy name, neither + more nor less connected with real people than the conventional Belval, + Floricour, or Derville of the stage, or the Adalberts and Mombreuses of + romance. After all, the names of the principal characters will be quite as + much disguised; for though in this history the chronicler would prefer to + conceal the facts under a mass of contradictions, anachronisms, + improbabilities, and absurdities, the truth will out in spite of him. You + uproot a vine-stock, as you imagine, and the stem will send up lusty + shoots after you have ploughed your vineyard over. + </p> + <p> + The “Hotel d’Esgrignon” was nothing more nor less than the house in which + the old Marquis lived; or, in the style of ancient documents, Charles + Marie Victor Ange Carol, Marquis d’Esgrignon. It was only an ordinary + house, but the townspeople and tradesmen had begun by calling it the Hotel + d’Esgrignon in jest, and ended after a score of years by giving it that + name in earnest. + </p> + <p> + The name of Carol, or Karawl, as the Thierrys would have spelt it, was + glorious among the names of the most powerful chieftains of the Northmen + who conquered Gaul and established the feudal system there. Never had + Carol bent his head before King or Communes, the Church or Finance. + Intrusted in the days of yore with the keeping of a French March, the + title of marquis in their family meant no shadow of imaginary office; it + had been a post of honor with duties to discharge. Their fief had always + been their domain. Provincial nobles were they in every sense of the word; + they might boast of an unbroken line of great descent; they had been + neglected by the court for two hundred years; they were lords paramount in + the estates of a province where the people looked up to them with + superstitious awe, as to the image of the Holy Virgin that cures the + toothache. The house of d’Esgrignon, buried in its remote border country, + was preserved as the charred piles of one of Caesar’s bridges are + maintained intact in a river bed. For thirteen hundred years the daughters + of the house had been married without a dowry or taken the veil; the + younger sons of every generation had been content with their share of + their mother’s dower and gone forth to be captains or bishops; some had + made a marriage at court; one cadet of the house became an admiral, a + duke, and a peer of France, and died without issue. Never would the + Marquis d’Esgrignon of the elder branch accept the title of duke. + </p> + <p> + “I hold my marquisate as His Majesty holds the realm of France, and on the + same conditions,” he told the Constable de Luynes, a very paltry fellow in + his eyes at that time. + </p> + <p> + You may be sure that d’Esgrignons lost their heads on the scaffold during + the troubles. The old blood showed itself proud and high even in 1789. The + Marquis of that day would not emigrate; he was answerable for his March. + The reverence in which he was held by the countryside saved his head; but + the hatred of the genuine sans-culottes was strong enough to compel him to + pretend to fly, and for a while he lived in hiding. Then, in the name of + the Sovereign People, the d’Esgrignon lands were dishonored by the + District, and the woods sold by the Nation in spite of the personal + protest made by the Marquis, then turned forty. Mlle. d’Esgrignon, his + half-sister, saved some portions of the fief, thanks to the young steward + of the family, who claimed on her behalf the partage de presuccession, + which is to say, the right of a relative to a portion of the emigre’s + lands. To Mlle. d’Esgrignon, therefore, the Republic made over the castle + itself and a few farms. Chesnel [Choisnel], the faithful steward, was + obliged to buy in his own name the church, the parsonage house, the castle + gardens, and other places to which his patron was attached—the + Marquis advancing the money. + </p> + <p> + The slow, swift years of the Terror went by, and the Marquis, whose + character had won the respect of the whole country, decided that he and + his sister ought to return to the castle and improve the property which + Maitre Chesnel—for he was now a notary—had contrived to save + for them out of the wreck. Alas! was not the plundered and dismantled + castle all too vast for a lord of the manor shorn of all his ancient + rights; too large for the landowner whose woods had been sold piecemeal, + until he could scarce draw nine thousand francs of income from the + pickings of his old estates? + </p> + <p> + It was in the month of October 1800 that Chesnel brought the Marquis back + to the old feudal castle, and saw with deep emotion, almost beyond his + control, his patron standing in the midst of the empty courtyard, gazing + round upon the moat, now filled up with rubbish, and the castle towers + razed to the level of the roof. The descendant of the Franks looked for + the missing Gothic turrets and the picturesque weather vanes which used to + rise above them; and his eyes turned to the sky, as if asking of heaven + the reason of this social upheaval. No one but Chesnel could understand + the profound anguish of the great d’Esgrignon, now known as Citizen Carol. + For a long while the Marquis stood in silence, drinking in the influences + of the place, the ancient home of his forefathers, with the air that he + breathed; then he flung out a most melancholy exclamation. + </p> + <p> + “Chesnel,” he said, “we will come back again some day when the troubles + are over; I could not bring myself to live here until the edict of + pacification has been published; <i>they</i> will not allow me to set my + scutcheon on the wall.” + </p> + <p> + He waved his hand toward the castle, mounted his horse, and rode back + beside his sister, who had driven over in the notary’s shabby + basket-chaise. + </p> + <p> + The Hotel d’Esgrignon in the town had been demolished; a couple of + factories now stood on the site of the aristocrat’s house. So Maitre + Chesnel spent the Marquis’ last bag of louis on the purchase of the + old-fashioned building in the square, with its gables, weather-vane, + turret, and dovecote. Once it had been the courthouse of the bailiwick, + and subsequently the presidial; it had belonged to the d’Esgrignons from + generation to generation; and now, in consideration of five hundred louis + d’or, the present owner made it over with the title given by the Nation to + its rightful lord. And so, half in jest, half in earnest, the old house + was christened the Hotel d’Esgrignon. + </p> + <p> + In 1800 little or no difficulty was made over erasing names from the fatal + list, and some few emigres began to return. Among the very first nobles to + come back to the old town were the Baron de Nouastre and his daughter. + They were completely ruined. M. d’Esgrignon generously offered them the + shelter of his roof; and in his house, two months later, the Baron died, + worn out with grief. The Nouastres came of the best blood in the province; + Mlle. de Nouastre was a girl of two-and-twenty; the Marquis d’Esgrignon + married her to continue his line. But she died in childbirth, a victim to + the unskilfulness of her physician, leaving, most fortunately, a son to + bear the name of the d’Esgrignons. The old Marquis—he was but + fifty-three, but adversity and sharp distress had added months to every + year—the poor old Marquis saw the death of the loveliest of human + creatures, a noble woman in whom the charm of the feminine figures of the + sixteenth century lived again, a charm now lost save to men’s + imaginations. With her death the joy died out of his old age. It was one + of those terrible shocks which reverberate through every moment of the + years that follow. For a few moments he stood beside the bed where his + wife lay, with her hands folded like a saint, then he kissed her on the + forehead, turned away, drew out his watch, broke the mainspring, and hung + it up beside the hearth. It was eleven o’clock in the morning. + </p> + <p> + “Mlle. d’Esgrignon,” he said, “let us pray God that this hour may not + prove fatal yet again to our house. My uncle the archbishop was murdered + at this hour; at this hour also my father died——” + </p> + <p> + He knelt down beside the bed and buried his face in the coverlet; his + sister did the same, in another moment they both rose to their feet. Mlle. + d’Esgrignon burst into tears; but the old Marquis looked with dry eyes at + the child, round the room, and again on his dead wife. To the stubbornness + of the Frank he united the fortitude of a Christian. + </p> + <p> + These things came to pass in the second year of the nineteenth century. + Mlle. d’Esgrignon was then twenty-seven years of age. She was a beautiful + woman. An ex-contractor for forage to the armies of the Republic, a man of + the district, with an income of six thousand francs, persuaded Chesnel to + carry a proposal of marriage to the lady. The Marquis and his sister were + alike indignant with such presumption in their man of business, and + Chesnel was almost heartbroken; he could not forgive himself for yielding + to the Sieur du Croisier’s [du Bousquier] blandishments. The Marquis’ + manner with his old servant changed somewhat; never again was there quite + the old affectionate kindliness, which might almost have been taken for + friendship. From that time forth the Marquis was grateful, and his + magnanimous and sincere gratitude continually wounded the poor notary’s + feelings. To some sublime natures gratitude seems an excessive payment; + they would rather have that sweet equality of feeling which springs from + similar ways of thought, and the blending of two spirits by their own + choice and will. And Maitre Chesnel had known the delights of such high + friendship; the Marquis had raised him to his own level. The old noble + looked on the good notary as something more than a servant, something less + than a child; he was the voluntary liege man of the house, a serf bound to + his lord by all the ties of affection. There was no balancing of + obligations; the sincere affection on either side put them out of the + question. + </p> + <p> + In the eyes of the Marquis, Chesnel’s official dignity was as nothing; his + old servitor was merely disguised as a notary. As for Chesnel, the Marquis + was now, as always, a being of a divine race; he believed in nobility; he + did not blush to remember that his father had thrown open the doors of the + salon to announce that “My Lord Marquis is served.” His devotion to the + fallen house was due not so much to his creed as to egoism; he looked on + himself as one of the family. So his vexation was intense. Once he had + ventured to allude to his mistake in spite of the Marquis’ prohibition, + and the old noble answered gravely—“Chesnel, before the troubles you + would not have permitted yourself to entertain such injurious + suppositions. What can these new doctrines be if they have spoiled <i>you</i>?” + </p> + <p> + Maitre Chesnel had gained the confidence of the whole town; people looked + up to him; his high integrity and considerable fortune contributed to make + him a person of importance. From that time forth he felt a very decided + aversion for the Sieur du Crosier; and though there was little rancor in + his composition, he set others against the sometime forage-contractor. Du + Croisier, on the other hand, was a man to bear a grudge and nurse a + vengeance for a score of years. He hated Chesnel and the d’Esgrignon + family with the smothered, all-absorbing hate only to be found in a + country town. His rebuff had simply ruined him with the malicious + provincials among whom he had come to live, thinking to rule over them. It + was so real a disaster that he was not long in feeling the consequences of + it. He betook himself in desperation to a wealthy old maid, and met with a + second refusal. Thus failed the ambitious schemes with which he had + started. He had lost his hope of a marriage with Mlle. d’Esgrignon, which + would have opened the Faubourg Saint-Germain of the province to him; and + after the second rejection, his credit fell away to such an extent that it + was almost as much as he could do to keep his position in the second rank. + </p> + <p> + In 1805, M. de la Roche-Guyon, the oldest son of an ancient family which + had previously intermarried with the d’Esgrignons, made proposals in form + through Maitre Chesnel for Mlle. Marie Armande Clair d’Esgrignon. She + declined to hear the notary. + </p> + <p> + “You must have guessed before now that I am a mother, dear Chesnel,” she + said; she had just put her nephew, a fine little boy of five, to bed. + </p> + <p> + The old Marquis rose and went up to his sister, but just returned from the + cradle; he kissed her hand reverently, and as he sat down again, found + words to say: + </p> + <p> + “My sister, you are a d’Esgrignon.” + </p> + <p> + A quiver ran through the noble girl; the tears stood in her eyes. M. + d’Esgrignon, the father of the present Marquis, had married a second wife, + the daughter of a farmer of taxes ennobled by Louis XIV. It was a shocking + mesalliance in the eyes of his family, but fortunately of no importance, + since a daughter was the one child of the marriage. Armande knew this. + Kind as her brother had always been, he looked on her as a stranger in + blood. And this speech of his had just recognized her as one of the + family. + </p> + <p> + And was not her answer the worthy crown of eleven years of her noble life? + Her every action since she came of age had borne the stamp of the purest + devotion; love for her brother was a sort of religion with her. + </p> + <p> + “I shall die Mlle. d’Esgrignon,” she said simply, turning to the notary. + </p> + <p> + “For you there could be no fairer title,” returned Chesnel, meaning to + convey a compliment. Poor Mlle. d’Esgrignon reddened. + </p> + <p> + “You have blundered, Chesnel,” said the Marquis, flattered by the + steward’s words, but vexed that his sister had been hurt. “A d’Esgrignon + may marry a Montmorency; their descent is not so pure as ours. The + d’Esgrignons bear or, two bends, gules,” he continued, “and nothing during + nine hundred years has changed their scutcheon; as it was at first, so it + is to-day. Hence our device, Cil est nostre, taken at a tournament in the + reign of Philip Augustus, with the supporters, a knight in armor or on the + right, and a lion gules on the left.” + </p> + <p> + “I do not remember that any woman I have ever met has struck my + imagination as Mlle. d’Esgrignon did,” said Emile Blondet, to whom + contemporary literature is indebted for this history among other things. + “Truth to tell, I was a boy, a mere child at the time, and perhaps my + memory-pictures of her owe something of their vivid color to a boy’s + natural turn for the marvelous. + </p> + <p> + “If I was playing with other children on the Parade, and she came to walk + there with her nephew Victurnien, the sight of her in the distance + thrilled me with very much the effect of galvanism on a dead body. Child + as I was, I felt as though new life had been given me. + </p> + <p> + “Mlle. Armande had hair of tawny gold; there was a delicate fine down on + her cheek, with a silver gleam upon it which I loved to catch, putting + myself so that I could see the outlines of her face lit up by the + daylight, and feel the fascination of those dreamy emerald eyes, which + sent a flash of fire through me whenever they fell upon my face. I used to + pretend to roll on the grass before her in our games, only to try to reach + her little feet, and admire them on a closer view. The soft whiteness of + her skin, her delicate features, the clearly cut lines of her forehead, + the grace of her slender figure, took me with a sense of surprise, while + as yet I did not know that her shape was graceful, nor her brows + beautiful, nor the outline of her face a perfect oval. I admired as + children pray at that age, without too clearly understanding why they + pray. When my piercing gaze attracted her notice, when she asked me (in + that musical voice of hers, with more volume in it, as it seemed to me, + than all other voices), ‘What are you doing little one? Why do you look at + me?’—I used to come nearer and wriggle and bite my finger-nails, and + redden and say, ‘I do not know.’ And if she chanced to stroke my hair with + her white hand, and ask me how old I was, I would run away and call from a + distance, ‘Eleven!’ + </p> + <p> + “Every princess and fairy of my visions, as I read the Arabian Nights, + looked and walked like Mlle. d’Esgrignon; and afterwards, when my + drawing-master gave me heads from the antique to copy, I noticed that + their hair was braided like Mlle. d’Esgrignon’s. Still later, when the + foolish fancies had vanished one by one, Mlle. Armande remained vaguely in + my memory as a type; that Mlle. Armande for whom men made way + respectfully, following the tall brown-robed figure with their eyes along + the Parade and out of sight. Her exquisitely graceful form, the rounded + curves sometimes revealed by a chance gust of wind, and always visible to + my eyes in spite of the ample folds of stuff, revisited my young man’s + dreams. Later yet, when I came to think seriously over certain mysteries + of human thought, it seemed to me that the feeling of reverence was first + inspired in me by something expressed in Mlle. d’Esgrignon’s face and + bearing. The wonderful calm of her face, the suppressed passion in it, the + dignity of her movements, the saintly life of duties fulfilled,—all + this touched and awed me. Children are more susceptible than people + imagine to the subtle influences of ideas; they never make game of real + dignity; they feel the charm of real graciousness, and beauty attracts + them, for childhood itself is beautiful, and there are mysterious ties + between things of the same nature. + </p> + <p> + “Mlle. d’Esgrignon was one of my religions. To this day I can never climb + the staircase of some old manor-house but my foolish imagination must + needs picture Mlle. Armande standing there, like the spirit of feudalism. + I can never read old chronicles but she appears before my eyes in the + shape of some famous woman of old times; she is Agnes Sorel, Marie + Touchet, Gabrielle; and I lend her all the love that was lost in her + heart, all the love that she never expressed. The angel shape seen in + glimpses through the haze of childish fancies visits me now sometimes + across the mists of dreams.” + </p> + <p> + Keep this portrait in mind; it is a faithful picture and sketch of + character. Mlle. d’Esgrignon is one of the most instructive figures in + this story; she affords an example of the mischief that may be done by the + purest goodness for lack of intelligence. + </p> + <p> + Two-thirds of the emigres returned to France during 1804 and 1805, and + almost every exile from the Marquis d’Esgrignon’s province came back to + the land of his fathers. There were certainly defections. Men of good + birth entered the service of Napoleon, and went into the army or held + places at the Imperial court, and others made alliances with the upstart + families. All those who cast in their lots with the Empire retrieved their + fortunes and recovered their estates, thanks to the Emperor’s munificence; + and these for the most part went to Paris and stayed there. But some eight + or nine families still remained true to the proscribed noblesse and loyal + to the fallen monarchy. The La Roche-Guyons, Nouastres, Verneuils, + Casterans, Troisvilles, and the rest were some of them rich, some of them + poor; but money, more or less, scarcely counted for anything among them. + They took an antiquarian view of themselves; for them the age and + preservation of the pedigree was the one all-important matter; precisely + as, for an amateur, the weight of metal in a coin is a small matter in + comparison with clean lettering, a flawless stamp, and high antiquity. Of + these families, the Marquis d’Esgrignon was the acknowledged head. His + house became their cenacle. There His Majesty, Emperor and King, was never + anything but “M. de Bonaparte”; there “the King” meant Louis XVIII., then + at Mittau; there the Department was still the Province, and the prefecture + the intendance. + </p> + <p> + The Marquis was honored among them for his admirable behavior, his loyalty + as a noble, his undaunted courage; even as he was respected throughout the + town for his misfortunes, his fortitude, his steadfast adherence to his + political convictions. The man so admirable in adversity was invested with + all the majesty of ruined greatness. His chivalrous fair-mindedness was so + well known, that litigants many a time had referred their disputes to him + for arbitration. All gently bred Imperialists and the authorities + themselves showed as much indulgence for his prejudices as respect for his + personal character; but there was another and a large section of the new + society which was destined to be known after the Restoration as the + Liberal party; and these, with du Croisier as their unacknowledged head, + laughed at an aristocratic oasis which nobody might enter without proof of + irreproachable descent. Their animosity was all the more bitter because + honest country squires and the higher officials, with a good many worthy + folk in the town, were of the opinion that all the best society thereof + was to be found in the Marquis d’Esgrignon’s salon. The prefect himself, + the Emperor’s chamberlain, made overtures to the d’Esgrignons, humbly + sending his wife (a Grandlieu) as ambassadress. + </p> + <p> + Wherefore, those excluded from the miniature provincial Faubourg + Saint-Germain nicknamed the salon “The Collection of Antiquities,” and + called the Marquis himself “M. Carol.” The receiver of taxes, for + instance, addressed his applications to “M. Carol (ci-devant des + Grignons),” maliciously adopting the obsolete way of spelling. + </p> + <p> + “For my own part,” said Emile Blondet, “if I try to recall my childhood + memories, I remember that the nickname of ‘Collection of Antiquities’ + always made me laugh, in spite of my respect—my love, I ought to say—for + Mlle. d’Esgrignon. The Hotel d’Esgrignon stood at the angle of two of the + busiest thoroughfares in the town, and not five hundred paces away from + the market place. Two of the drawing-room windows looked upon the street + and two upon the square; the room was like a glass cage, every one who + came past could look through it from side to side. I was only a boy of + twelve at the time, but I thought, even then, that the salon was one of + those rare curiosities which seem, when you come to think of them + afterwards, to lie just on the borderland between reality and dreams, so + that you can scarcely tell to which side they most belong. + </p> + <p> + “The room, the ancient Hall of Audience, stood above a row of cellars with + grated air-holes, once the prison cells of the old court-house, now + converted into a kitchen. I do not know that the magnificent lofty + chimney-piece of the Louvre, with its marvelous carving, seemed more + wonderful to me than the vast open hearth of the salon d’Esgrignon when I + saw it for the first time. It was covered like a melon with a network of + tracery. Over it stood an equestrian portrait of Henri III., under whom + the ancient duchy of appanage reverted to the crown; it was a great + picture executed in low relief, and set in a carved and gilded frame. The + ceiling spaces between the chestnut cross-beams in the fine old roof were + decorated with scroll-work patterns; there was a little faded gilding + still left along the angles. The walls were covered with Flemish tapestry, + six scenes from the Judgment of Solomon, framed in golden garlands, with + satyrs and cupids playing among the leaves. The parquet floor had been + laid down by the present Marquis, and Chesnel had picked up the furniture + at sales of the wreckage of old chateaux between 1793 and 1795; so that + there were Louis Quatorze consoles, tables, clock-cases, andirons, + candle-sconces and tapestry-covered chairs, which marvelously completed a + stately room, large out of all proportion to the house. Luckily, however, + there was an equally lofty ante-chamber, the ancient Salle des Pas Perdus + of the presidial, which communicated likewise with the magistrate’s + deliberating chamber, used by the d’Esgrignons as a dining-room. + </p> + <p> + “Beneath the old paneling, amid the threadbare braveries of a bygone day, + some eight or ten dowagers were drawn up in state in a quavering line; + some with palsied heads, others dark and shriveled like mummies; some + erect and stiff, others bowed and bent, but all of them tricked out in + more or less fantastic costumes as far as possible removed from the + fashion of the day, with be-ribboned caps above their curled and powdered + ‘heads,’ and old discolored lace. No painter however earnest, no + caricature however wild, ever caught the haunting fascination of those + aged women; they come back to me in dreams; their puckered faces shape + themselves in my memory whenever I meet an old woman who puts me in mind + of them by some faint resemblance of dress or feature. And whether it is + that misfortune has initiated me into the secrets of irremediable and + overwhelming disaster; whether that I have come to understand the whole + range of human feelings, and, best of all, the thoughts of Old Age and + Regret; whatever the reason, nowhere and never again have I seen among the + living or in the faces of the dying the wan look of certain gray eyes that + I remember, nor the dreadful brightness of others that were black. + </p> + <p> + “Neither Hoffmann nor Maturin, the two weirdest imaginations of our time, + ever gave me such a thrill of terror as I used to feel when I watched the + automaton movements of those bodies sheathed in whalebone. The paint on + actors’ faces never caused me a shock; I could see below it the rouge in + grain, the rouge de naissance, to quote a comrade at least as malicious as + I can be. Years had leveled those women’s faces, and at the same time + furrowed them with wrinkles, till they looked like the heads on wooden + nutcrackers carved in Germany. Peeping in through the window-panes, I + gazed at the battered bodies, and ill-jointed limbs (how they were + fastened together, and, indeed, their whole anatomy was a mystery I never + attempted to explain); I saw the lantern jaws, the protuberant bones, the + abnormal development of the hips; and the movements of these figures as + they came and went seemed to me no whit less extraordinary than their + sepulchral immobility as they sat round the card-tables. + </p> + <p> + “The men looked gray and faded like the ancient tapestries on the wall, in + dress they were much more like the men of the day, but even they were not + altogether convincingly alive. Their white hair, their withered waxen-hued + faces, their devastated foreheads and pale eyes, revealed their kinship to + the women, and neutralized any effects of reality borrowed from their + costume. + </p> + <p> + “The very certainty of finding all these folk seated at or among the + tables every day at the same hours invested them at length in my eyes with + a sort of spectacular interest as it were; there was something theatrical, + something unearthly about them. + </p> + <p> + “Whenever, in after times, I have gone through museums of old furniture in + Paris, London, Munich, or Vienna, with the gray-headed custodian who shows + you the splendors of time past, I have peopled the rooms with figures from + the Collection of Antiquities. Often, as little schoolboys of eight or ten + we used to propose to go and take a look at the curiosities in their glass + cage, for the fun of the thing. But as soon as I caught sight of Mlle. + Armande’s sweet face, I used to tremble; and there was a trace of jealousy + in my admiration for the lovely child Victurnien, who belonged, as we all + instinctively felt, to a different and higher order of being from our own. + It struck me as something indescribably strange that the young fresh + creature should be there in that cemetery awakened before the time. We + could not have explained our thoughts to ourselves, yet we felt that we + were bourgeois and insignificant in the presence of that proud court.” + </p> + <p> + The disasters of 1813 and 1814, which brought about the downfall of + Napoleon, gave new life to the Collection of Antiquities, and what was + more than life, the hope of recovering their past importance; but the + events of 1815, the troubles of the foreign occupation, and the + vacillating policy of the Government until the fall of M. Decazes, all + contributed to defer the fulfilment of the expectations of the personages + so vividly described by Blondet. This story, therefore, only begins to + shape itself in 1822. + </p> + <p> + In 1822 the Marquis d’Esgrignon’s fortunes had not improved in spite of + the changes worked by the Restoration in the condition of emigres. Of all + the nobles hardly hit by Revolutionary legislation, his case was the + hardest. Like other great families, the d’Esgrignons before 1789 derived + the greater part of their income from their rights as lords of the manor + in the shape of dues paid by those who held of them; and, naturally, the + old seigneurs had reduced the size of the holdings in order to swell the + amounts paid in quit-rents and heriots. Families in this position were + hopelessly ruined. They were not affected by the ordinance by which Louis + XVIII. put the emigres into possession of such of their lands as had not + been sold; and at a later date it was impossible that the law of indemnity + should indemnify them. Their suppressed rights, as everybody knows, were + revived in the shape of a land tax known by the very name of domaines, but + the money went into the coffers of the State. + </p> + <p> + The Marquis by his position belonged to that small section of the Royalist + party which would hear of no kind of compromise with those whom they + styled, not Revolutionaries, but revolted subjects, or, in more + parliamentary language, they had no dealings with Liberals or + Constitutionnels. Such Royalists, nicknamed Ultras by the opposition, took + for leaders and heroes those courageous orators of the Right, who from the + very beginning attempted, with M. de Polignac, to protest against the + charter granted by Louis XVIII. This they regarded as an ill-advised edict + extorted from the Crown by the necessity of the moment, only to be + annulled later on. And, therefore, so far from co-operating with the King + to bring about a new condition of things, the Marquis d’Esgrignon stood + aloof, an upholder of the straitest sect of the Right in politics, until + such time as his vast fortune should be restored to him. Nor did he so + much as admit the thought of the indemnity which filled the minds of the + Villele ministry, and formed a part of a design of strengthening the Crown + by putting an end to those fatal distinctions of ownership which still + lingered on in spite of legislation. + </p> + <p> + The miracles of the Restoration of 1814, the still greater miracle of + Napoleon’s return in 1815, the portents of a second flight of the + Bourbons, and a second reinstatement (that almost fabulous phase of + contemporary history), all these things took the Marquis by surprise at + the age of sixty-seven. At that time of life, the most high-spirited men + of their age were not so much vanquished as worn out in the struggle with + the Revolution; their activity, in their remote provincial retreats, had + turned into a passionately held and immovable conviction; and almost all + of them were shut in by the enervating, easy round of daily life in the + country. Could worse luck befall a political party than this—to be + represented by old men at a time when its ideas are already stigmatized as + old-fashioned? + </p> + <p> + When the legitimate sovereign appeared to be firmly seated on the throne + again in 1818, the Marquis asked himself what a man of seventy should do + at court; and what duties, what office he could discharge there? The noble + and high-minded d’Esgrignon was fain to be content with the triumph of the + Monarchy and Religion, while he waited for the results of that + unhoped-for, indecisive victory, which proved to be simply an armistice. + He continued as before, lord-paramount of his salon, so felicitously named + the Collection of Antiquities. + </p> + <p> + But when the victors of 1793 became the vanquished in their turn, the + nickname given at first in jest began to be used in bitter earnest. The + town was no more free than other country towns from the hatreds and + jealousies bred of party spirit. Du Croisier, contrary to all expectation, + married the old maid who had refused him at first; carrying her off from + his rival, the darling of the aristocratic quarter, a certain Chevalier + whose illustrious name will be sufficiently hidden by suppressing it + altogether, in accordance with the usage formerly adopted in the place + itself, where he was known by his title only. He was “the Chevalier” in + the town, as the Comte d’Artois was “Monsieur” at court. Now, not only had + that marriage produced a war after the provincial manner, in which all + weapons are fair; it had hastened the separation of the great and little + noblesse, of the aristocratic and bourgeois social elements, which had + been united for a little space by the heavy weight of Napoleonic rule. + After the pressure was removed, there followed that sudden revival of + class divisions which did so much harm to the country. + </p> + <p> + The most national of all sentiments in France is vanity. The wounded + vanity of the many induced a thirst for Equality; though, as the most + ardent innovator will some day discover, Equality is an impossibility. The + Royalists pricked the Liberals in the most sensitive spots, and this + happened specially in the provinces, where either party accused the other + of unspeakable atrocities. In those days the blackest deeds were done in + politics, to secure public opinion on one side or the other, to catch the + votes of that public of fools which holds up hands for those that are + clever enough to serve out weapons to them. Individuals are identified + with their political opinions, and opponents in public life forthwith + became private enemies. It is very difficult in a country town to avoid a + man-to-man conflict of this kind over interests or questions which in + Paris appear in a more general and theoretical form, with the result that + political combatants also rise to a higher level; M. Laffitte, for + example, or M. Casimir-Perier can respect M. de Villele or M. de Payronnet + as a man. M. Laffitte, who drew the fire on the Ministry, would have given + them an asylum in his house if they had fled thither on the 29th of July + 1830. Benjamin Constant sent a copy of his work on Religion to the Vicomte + de Chateaubriand, with a flattering letter acknowledging benefits received + from the former Minister. At Paris men are systems, whereas in the + provinces systems are identified with men; men, moreover, with restless + passions, who must always confront one another, always spy upon each other + in private life, and pull their opponents’ speeches to pieces, and live + generally like two duelists on the watch for a chance to thrust six inches + of steel between an antagonist’s ribs. Each must do his best to get under + his enemy’s guard, and a political hatred becomes as all-absorbing as a + duel to the death. Epigram and slander are used against individuals to + bring the party into discredit. + </p> + <p> + In such warfare as this, waged ceremoniously and without rancor on the + side of the Antiquities, while du Croisier’s faction went so far as to use + the poisoned weapons of savages—in this warfare the advantages of + wit and delicate irony lay on the side of the nobles. But it should never + be forgotten that the wounds made by the tongue and the eyes, by gibe or + slight, are the last of all to heal. When the Chevalier turned his back on + mixed society and entrenched himself on the Mons Sacer of the aristocracy, + his witticisms thenceforward were directed at du Croisier’s salon; he + stirred up the fires of war, not knowing how far the spirit of revenge was + to urge the rival faction. None but purists and loyal gentlemen and women + sure one of another entered the Hotel d’Esgrignon; they committed no + indiscretions of any kind; they had their ideas, true or false, good or + bad, noble or trivial, but there was nothing to laugh at in all this. If + the Liberals meant to make the nobles ridiculous, they were obliged to + fasten on the political actions of their opponents; while the intermediate + party, composed of officials and others who paid court to the higher + powers, kept the nobles informed of all that was done and said in the + Liberal camp, and much of it was abundantly laughable. Du Croisier’s + adherents smarted under a sense of inferiority, which increased their + thirst for revenge. + </p> + <p> + In 1822, du Croisier put himself at the head of the manufacturing interest + of the province, as the Marquis d’Esgrignon headed the noblesse. Each + represented his party. But du Croisier, instead of giving himself out + frankly for a man of the extreme Left, ostensibly adopted the opinions + formulated at a later date by the 221 deputies. + </p> + <p> + By taking up this position, he could keep in touch with the magistrates + and local officials and the capitalists of the department. Du Croisier’s + salon, a power at least equal to the salon d’Esgrignon, larger + numerically, as well as younger and more energetic, made itself felt all + over the countryside; the Collection of Antiquities, on the other hand, + remained inert, a passive appendage, as it were, of a central authority + which was often embarrassed by its own partisans; for not merely did they + encourage the Government in a mistaken policy, but some of its most fatal + blunders were made in consequence of the pressure brought to bear upon it + by the Conservative party. + </p> + <p> + The Liberals, so far, had never contrived to carry their candidate. The + department declined to obey their command knowing that du Croisier, if + elected, would take his place on the Left Centre benches, and as far as + possible to the Left. Du Croisier was in correspondence with the Brothers + Keller, the bankers, the oldest of whom shone conspicuous among “the + nineteen deputies of the Left,” that phalanx made famous by the efforts of + the entire Liberal press. This same M. Keller, moreover, was related by + marriage to the Comte de Gondreville, a Constitutional peer who remained + in favor with Louis XVIII. For these reasons, the Constitutional + Opposition (as distinct from the Liberal party) was always prepared to + vote at the last moment, not for the candidate whom they professed to + support, but for du Croisier, if that worthy could succeed in gaining a + sufficient number of Royalist votes; but at every election du Croisier was + regularly thrown out by the Royalists. The leaders of that party, taking + their tone from the Marquis d’Esgrignon, had pretty thoroughly fathomed + and gauged their man; and with each defeat, du Croisier and his party + waxed more bitter. Nothing so effectually stirs up strife as the failure + of some snare set with elaborate pains. + </p> + <p> + In 1822 there seemed to be a lull in hostilities which had been kept up + with great spirit during the first four years of the Restoration. The + salon du Croisier and the salon d’Esgrignon, having measured their + strength and weakness, were in all probability waiting for opportunity, + that Providence of party strife. Ordinary persons were content with the + surface quiet which deceived the Government; but those who knew du + Croisier better, were well aware that the passion of revenge in him, as in + all men whose whole life consists in mental activity, is implacable, + especially when political ambitions are involved. About this time du + Croisier, who used to turn white and red at the bare mention of + d’Esgrignon or the Chevalier, and shuddered at the name of the Collection + of Antiquities, chose to wear the impassive countenance of a savage. He + smiled upon his enemies, hating them but the more deeply, watching them + the more narrowly from hour to hour. One of his own party, who seconded + him in these calculations of cold wrath, was the President of the + Tribunal, M. du Ronceret, a little country squire, who had vainly + endeavored to gain admittance among the Antiquities. + </p> + <p> + The d’Esgrignons’ little fortune, carefully administered by Maitre + Chesnel, was barely sufficient for the worthy Marquis’ needs; for though + he lived without the slightest ostentation, he also lived like a noble. + The governor found by his Lordship the Bishop for the hope of the house, + the young Comte Victurnien d’Esgrignon, was an elderly Oratorian who must + be paid a certain salary, although he lived with the family. The wages of + a cook, a waiting-woman for Mlle. Armande, an old valet for M. le Marquis, + and a couple of other servants, together with the daily expenses of the + household, and the cost of an education for which nothing was spared, + absorbed the whole family income, in spite of Mlle. Armande’s economies, + in spite of Chesnel’s careful management, and the servants’ affection. As + yet, Chesnel had not been able to set about repairs at the ruined castle; + he was waiting till the leases fell in to raise the rent of the farms, for + rents had been rising lately, partly on account of improved methods of + agriculture, partly by the fall in the value of money, of which the + landlord would get the benefit at the expiration of leases granted in + 1809. + </p> + <p> + The Marquis himself knew nothing of the details of the management of the + house or of his property. He would have been thunderstruck if he had been + told of the excessive precautions needed “to make both ends of the year + meet in December,” to use the housewife’s saying, and he was so near the + end of his life, that every one shrank from opening his eyes. The Marquis + and his adherents believed that a House, to which no one at Court or in + the Government gave a thought, a House that was never heard of beyond the + gates of the town, save here and there in the same department, was about + to revive its ancient greatness, to shine forth in all its glory. The + d’Esgrignons’ line should appear with renewed lustre in the person of + Victurnien, just as the despoiled nobles came into their own again, and + the handsome heir to a great estate would be in a position to go to Court, + enter the King’s service, and marry (as other d’Esgrignons had done before + him) a Navarreins, a Cadignan, a d’Uxelles, a Beausant, a Blamont-Chauvry; + a wife, in short, who should unite all the distinctions of birth and + beauty, wit and wealth, and character. + </p> + <p> + The intimates who came to play their game of cards of an evening—the + Troisvilles (pronounced Treville), the La Roche-Guyons, the Casterans + (pronounced Cateran), and the Duc de Verneuil—had all so long been + accustomed to look up to the Marquis as a person of immense consequence, + that they encouraged him in such notions as these. They were perfectly + sincere in their belief; and indeed, it would have been well founded if + they could have wiped out the history of the last forty years. But the + most honorable and undoubted sanctions of right, such as Louis XVIII. had + tried to set on record when he dated the Charter from the + one-and-twentieth year of his reign, only exist when ratified by the + general consent. The d’Esgrignons not only lacked the very rudiments of + the language of latter-day politics, to wit, money, the great modern <i>relief</i>, + or sufficient rehabilitation of nobility; but, in their case, too, + “historical continuity” was lacking, and that is a kind of renown which + tells quite as much at Court as on the battlefield, in diplomatic circles + as in Parliament, with a book, or in connection with an adventure; it is, + as it were, a sacred ampulla poured upon the heads of each successive + generation. Whereas a noble family, inactive and forgotten, is very much + in the position of a hard-featured, poverty-stricken, simple-minded, and + virtuous maid, these qualifications being the four cardinal points of + misfortune. The marriage of a daughter of the Troisvilles with General + Montcornet, so far from opening the eyes of the Antiquities, very nearly + brought about a rupture between the Troisvilles and the salon d’Esgrignon, + the latter declaring that the Troisvilles were mixing themselves up with + all sorts of people. + </p> + <p> + There was one, and one only, among all these folk who did not share their + illusions. And that one, needless to say, was Chesnel the notary. Although + his devotion, sufficiently proved already, was simply unbounded for the + great house now reduced to three persons; although he accepted all their + ideas, and thought them nothing less than right, he had too much common + sense, he was too good a man of business to more than half the families in + the department, to miss the significance of the great changes that were + taking place in people’s minds, or to be blind to the different conditions + brought about by industrial development and modern manners. He had watched + the Revolution pass through the violent phase of 1793, when men, women, + and children wore arms, and heads fell on the scaffold, and victories were + won in pitched battles with Europe; and now he saw the same forces quietly + at work in men’s minds, in the shape of ideas which sanctioned the issues. + The soil had been cleared, the seed sown, and now came the harvest. To his + thinking, the Revolution had formed the mind of the younger generation; he + touched the hard facts, and knew that although there were countless + unhealed wounds, what had been done was past recall. The death of a king + on the scaffold, the protracted agony of a queen, the division of the + nobles’ lands, in his eyes were so many binding contracts; and where so + many vested interests were involved, it was not likely that those + concerned would allow them to be attacked. Chesnel saw clearly. His + fanatical attachment to the d’Esgrignons was whole-hearted, but it was not + blind, and it was all the fairer for this. The young monk’s faith that + sees heaven laid open and beholds the angels, is something far below the + power of the old monk who points them out to him. The ex-steward was like + the old monk; he would have given his life to defend a worm-eaten shrine. + </p> + <p> + He tried to explain the “innovations” to his old master, using a thousand + tactful precautions; sometimes speaking jestingly, sometimes affecting + surprise or sorrow over this or that; but he always met the same prophetic + smile on the Marquis’ lips, the same fixed conviction in the Marquis’ + mind, that these follies would go by like others. Events contributed in a + way which has escaped attention to assist such noble champions of forlorn + hope to cling to their superstitions. What could Chesnel do when the old + Marquis said, with a lordly gesture, “God swept away Bonaparte with his + armies, his new great vassals, his crowned kings, and his vast + conceptions! God will deliver us from the rest.” And Chesnel hung his head + sadly, and did not dare to answer, “It cannot be God’s will to sweep away + France.” Yet both of them were grand figures; the one, standing out + against the torrent of facts like an ancient block of lichen-covered + granite, still upright in the depths of an Alpine gorge; the other, + watching the course of the flood to turn it to account. Then the good + gray-headed notary would groan over the irreparable havoc which the + superstitions were sure to work in the mind, the habits, and ideas of the + Comte Victurnien d’Esgrignon. + </p> + <p> + Idolized by his father, idolized by his aunt, the young heir was a spoilt + child in every sense of the word; but still a spoilt child who justified + paternal and maternal illusions. Maternal, be it said, for Victurnien’s + aunt was truly a mother to him; and yet, however careful and tender she + may be that never bore a child, there is something lacking in her + motherhood. A mother’s second sight cannot be acquired. An aunt, bound to + her nursling by ties of such pure affection as united Mlle. Armande to + Victurnien, may love as much as a mother might; may be as careful, as + kind, as tender, as indulgent, but she lacks the mother’s instinctive + knowledge when and how to be severe; she has no sudden warnings, none of + the uneasy presentiments of the mother’s heart; for a mother, bound to her + child from the beginnings of life by all the fibres of her being, still is + conscious of the communication, still vibrates with the shock of every + trouble, and thrills with every joy in the child’s life as if it were her + own. If Nature has made of woman, physically speaking, a neutral ground, + it has not been forbidden to her, under certain conditions, to identify + herself completely with her offspring. When she has not merely given life, + but given of her whole life, you behold that wonderful, unexplained, and + inexplicable thing—the love of a woman for one of her children above + the others. The outcome of this story is one more proof of a proven truth—a + mother’s place cannot be filled. A mother foresees danger long before a + Mlle. Armande can admit the possibility of it, even if the mischief is + done. The one prevents the evil, the other remedies it. And besides, in + the maiden’s motherhood there is an element of blind adoration, she cannot + bring herself to scold a beautiful boy. + </p> + <p> + A practical knowledge of life, and the experience of business, had taught + the old notary a habit of distrustful clear-sighted observation something + akin to the mother’s instinct. But Chesnel counted for so little in the + house (especially since he had fallen into something like disgrace over + that unlucky project of a marriage between a d’Esgrignon and a du + Croisier), that he had made up his mind to adhere blindly in future to the + family doctrines. He was a common soldier, faithful to his post, and ready + to give his life; it was never likely that they would take his advice, + even in the height of the storm; unless chance should bring him, like the + King’s bedesman in The Antiquary, to the edge of the sea, when the old + baronet and his daughter were caught by the high tide. + </p> + <p> + Du Croisier caught a glimpse of his revenge in the anomalous education + given to the lad. He hoped, to quote the expressive words of the author + quoted above, “to drown the lamb in its mother’s milk.” <i>This</i> was + the hope which had produced his taciturn resignation and brought that + savage smile on his lips. + </p> + <p> + The young Comte Victurnien was taught to believe in his own supremacy as + soon as an idea could enter his head. All the great nobles of the realm + were his peers, his one superior was the King, and the rest of mankind + were his inferiors, people with whom he had nothing in common, towards + whom he had no duties. They were defeated and conquered enemies, whom he + need not take into account for a moment; their opinions could not affect a + noble, and they all owed him respect. Unluckily, with the rigorous logic + of youth, which leads children and young people to proceed to extremes + whether good or bad, Victurnien pushed these conclusions to their utmost + consequences. His own external advantages, moreover, confirmed him in his + beliefs. He had been extraordinarily beautiful as a child; he became as + accomplished a young man as any father could wish. + </p> + <p> + He was of average height, but well proportioned, slender, and almost + delicate-looking, but muscular. He had the brilliant blue eyes of the + d’Esgrignons, the finely-moulded aquiline nose, the perfect oval of the + face, the auburn hair, the white skin, and the graceful gait of his + family; he had their delicate extremities, their long taper fingers with + the inward curve, and that peculiar distinction of shapeliness of the + wrist and instep, that supple felicity of line, which is as sure a sign of + race in men as in horses. Adroit and alert in all bodily exercises, and an + excellent shot, he handled arms like a St. George, he was a paladin on + horseback. In short, he gratified the pride which parents take in their + children’s appearance; a pride founded, for that matter, on a just idea of + the enormous influence exercised by physical beauty. Personal beauty has + this in common with noble birth; it cannot be acquired afterwards; it is + everywhere recognized, and often is more valued than either brains or + money; beauty has only to appear and triumph; nobody asks more of beauty + than that it should simply exist. + </p> + <p> + Fate had endowed Victurnien, over and above the privileges of good looks + and noble birth, with a high spirit, a wonderful aptitude of + comprehension, and a good memory. His education, therefore, had been + complete. He knew a good deal more than is usually known by young + provincial nobles, who develop into highly-distinguished sportsmen, owners + of land, and consumers of tobacco; and are apt to treat art, sciences, + letters, poetry, or anything offensively above their intellects, + cavalierly enough. Such gifts of nature and education surely would one day + realize the Marquis d’Esgrignon’s ambitions; he already saw his son a + Marshal of France if Victurnien’s tastes were for the army; an ambassador + if diplomacy held any attractions for him; a cabinet minister if that + career seemed good in his eyes; every place in the state belonged to + Victurnien. And, most gratifying thought of all for a father, the young + Count would have made his way in the world by his own merits even if he + had not been a d’Esgrignon. + </p> + <p> + All through his happy childhood and golden youth, Victurnien had never met + with opposition to his wishes. He had been the king of the house; no one + curbed the little prince’s will; and naturally he grew up insolent and + audacious, selfish as a prince, self-willed as the most high-spirited + cardinal of the Middle Ages,—defects of character which any one + might guess from his qualities, essentially those of the noble. + </p> + <p> + The Chevalier was a man of the good old times when the Gray Musketeers + were the terror of the Paris theatres, when they horsewhipped the watch + and drubbed servers of writs, and played a host of page’s pranks, at which + Majesty was wont to smile so long as they were amusing. This charming + deceiver and hero of the ruelles had no small share in bringing about the + disasters which afterwards befell. The amiable old gentleman, with nobody + to understand him, was not a little pleased to find a budding Faublas, who + looked the part to admiration, and put him in mind of his own young days. + So, making no allowance for the difference of the times, he sowed the + maxims of a roue of the Encyclopaedic period broadcast in the boy’s mind. + He told wicked anecdotes of the reign of His Majesty Louis XV.; he + glorified the manners and customs of the year 1750; he told of the orgies + in petites maisons, the follies of courtesans, the capital tricks played + on creditors, the manners, in short, which furnished forth Dancourt’s + comedies and Beaumarchais’ epigrams. And unfortunately, the corruption + lurking beneath the utmost polish tricked itself out in Voltairean wit. If + the Chevalier went rather too far at times, he always added as a + corrective that a man must always behave himself like a gentleman. + </p> + <p> + Of all this discourse, Victurnien comprehended just so much as flattered + his passions. From the first he saw his old father laughing with the + Chevalier. The two elderly men considered that the pride of a d’Esgrignon + was a sufficient safeguard against anything unbefitting; as for a + dishonorable action, no one in the house imagined that a d’Esgrignon could + be guilty of it. <i>Honor</i>, the great principle of Monarchy, was + planted firm like a beacon in the hearts of the family; it lighted up the + least action, it kindled the least thought of a d’Esgrignon. “A + d’Esgrignon ought not to permit himself to do such and such a thing; he + bears a name which pledges him to make a future worthy of the past”—a + noble teaching which should have been sufficient in itself to keep alive + the tradition of noblesse—had been, as it were, the burden of + Victurnien’s cradle song. He heard them from the old Marquis, from Mlle. + Armande, from Chesnel, from the intimates of the house. And so it came to + pass that good and evil met, and in equal forces, in the boy’s soul. + </p> + <p> + At the age of eighteen, Victurnien went into society. He noticed some + slight discrepancies between the outer world of the town and the inner + world of the Hotel d’Esgrignon, but he in no wise tried to seek the causes + of them. And, indeed, the causes were to be found in Paris. He had yet to + learn that the men who spoke their minds out so boldly in evening talk + with his father, were extremely careful of what they said in the presence + of the hostile persons with whom their interests compelled them to mingle. + His own father had won the right of freedom of speech. Nobody dreamed of + contradicting an old man of seventy, and besides, every one was willing to + overlook fidelity to the old order of things in a man who had been + violently despoiled. + </p> + <p> + Victurnien was deceived by appearances, and his behavior set up the backs + of the townspeople. In his impetuous way he tried to carry matters with + too high a hand over some difficulties in the way of sport, which ended in + formidable lawsuits, hushed up by Chesnel for money paid down. Nobody + dared to tell the Marquis of these things. You may judge of his + astonishment if he had heard that his son had been prosecuted for shooting + over his lands, his domains, his covers, under the reign of a son of St. + Louis! People were too much afraid of the possible consequences to tell + him about such trifles, Chesnel said. + </p> + <p> + The young Count indulged in other escapades in the town. These the + Chevalier regarded as “amourettes,” but they cost Chesnel something + considerable in portions for forsaken damsels seduced under imprudent + promises of marriage: yet other cases there were which came under an + article of the Code as to the abduction of minors; and but for Chesnel’s + timely intervention, the new law would have been allowed to take its + brutal course, and it is hard to say where the Count might have ended. + Victurnien grew the bolder for these victories over bourgeois justice. He + was so accustomed to be pulled out of scrapes, that he never thought twice + before any prank. Courts of law, in his opinion, were bugbears to frighten + people who had no hold on him. Things which he would have blamed in common + people were for him only pardonable amusements. His disposition to treat + the new laws cavalierly while obeying the maxims of a Code for + aristocrats, his behavior and character, were all pondered, analyzed, and + tested by a few adroit persons in du Croisier’s interests. These folk + supported each other in the effort to make the people believe that Liberal + slanders were revelations, and that the Ministerial policy at bottom meant + a return to the old order of things. + </p> + <p> + What a bit of luck to find something by way of proof of their assertions! + President du Ronceret, and the public prosecutor likewise, lent themselves + admirably, so far as was compatible with their duty as magistrates, to the + design of letting off the offender as easily as possible; indeed, they + went deliberately out of their way to do this, well pleased to raise a + Liberal clamor against their overlarge concessions. And so, while seeming + to serve the interests of the d’Esgrignons, they stirred up feeling + against them. The treacherous de Ronceret had it in his mind to pose as + incorruptible at the right moment over some serious charge, with public + opinion to back him up. The young Count’s worst tendencies, moreover, were + insidiously encouraged by two or three young men who followed in his + train, paid court to him, won his favor, and flattered and obeyed him, + with a view to confirming his belief in a noble’s supremacy; and all this + at a time when a noble’s one chance of preserving his power lay in using + it with the utmost discretion for half a century to come. + </p> + <p> + Du Croisier hoped to reduce the d’Esgrignons to the last extremity of + poverty; he hoped to see their castle demolished, and their lands sold + piecemeal by auction, through the follies which this harebrained boy was + pretty certain to commit. This was as far as he went; he did not think, + with President du Ronceret, that Victurnien was likely to give justice + another kind of hold upon him. Both men found an ally for their schemes of + revenge in Victurnien’s overweening vanity and love of pleasure. President + du Ronceret’s son, a lad of seventeen, was admirably fitted for the part + of instigator. He was one of the Count’s companions, a new kind of spy in + du Croisier’s pay; du Croisier taught him his lesson, set him to track + down the noble and beautiful boy through his better qualities, and + sardonically prompted him to encourage his victim in his worst faults. + Fabien du Ronceret was a sophisticated youth, to whom such a mystification + was attractive; he had precisely the keen brain and envious nature which + finds in such a pursuit as this the absorbing amusement which a man of an + ingenious turn lacks in the provinces. + </p> + <p> + In three years, between the ages of eighteen and one-and-twenty, + Victurnien cost poor Chesnel nearly eighty thousand francs! And this + without the knowledge of Mlle. Armande or the Marquis. More than half of + the money had been spent in buying off lawsuits; the lad’s extravagance + had squandered the rest. Of the Marquis’ income of ten thousand livres, + five thousand were necessary for the housekeeping; two thousand more + represented Mlle. Armande’s allowance (parsimonious though she was) and + the Marquis’ expenses. The handsome young heir-presumptive, therefore, had + not a hundred louis to spend. And what sort of figure can a man make on + two thousand livres? Victurnien’s tailor’s bills alone absorbed his whole + allowance. He had his linen, his clothes, gloves, and perfumery from + Paris. He wanted a good English saddle-horse, a tilbury, and a second + horse. M. du Croisier had a tilbury and a thoroughbred. Was the + bourgeoisie to cut out the noblesse? Then, the young Count must have a man + in the d’Esgrignon livery. He prided himself on setting the fashion among + young men in the town and the department; he entered that world of + luxuries and fancies which suit youth and good looks and wit so well. + Chesnel paid for it all, not without using, like ancient parliaments, the + right of protest, albeit he spoke with angelic kindness. + </p> + <p> + “What a pity it is that so good a man should be so tiresome!” Victurnien + would say to himself every time that the notary staunched some wound in + his purse. + </p> + <p> + Chesnel had been left a widower, and childless; he had taken his old + master’s son to fill the void in his heart. It was a pleasure to him to + watch the lad driving up the High Street, perched aloft on the box-seat of + the tilbury, whip in hand, and a rose in his button-hole, handsome, well + turned out, envied by every one. + </p> + <p> + Pressing need would bring Victurnien with uneasy eyes and coaxing manner, + but steady voice, to the modest house in the Rue du Bercail; there had + been losses at cards at the Troisvilles, or the Duc de Verneuil’s, or the + prefecture, or the receiver-general’s, and the Count had come to his + providence, the notary. He had only to show himself to carry the day. + </p> + <p> + “Well, what is it, M. le Comte? What has happened?” the old man would ask, + with a tremor in his voice. + </p> + <p> + On great occasions Victurnien would sit down, assume a melancholy, pensive + expression, and submit with little coquetries of voice and gesture to be + questioned. Then when he had thoroughly roused the old man’s fears (for + Chesnel was beginning to fear how such a course of extravagance would + end), he would own up to a peccadillo which a bill for a thousand francs + would absolve. Chesnel possessed a private income of some twelve thousand + livres, but the fund was not inexhaustible. The eighty thousand francs + thus squandered represented his savings, accumulated for the day when the + Marquis should send his son to Paris, or open negotiations for a wealthy + marriage. + </p> + <p> + Chesnel was clear-sighted so long as Victurnien was not there before him. + One by one he lost the illusions which the Marquis and his sister still + fondly cherished. He saw that the young fellow could not be depended upon + in the least, and wished to see him married to some modest, sensible girl + of good birth, wondering within himself how a young man could mean so well + and do so ill, for he made promises one day only to break them all on the + next. + </p> + <p> + But there is never any good to be expected of young men who confess their + sins and repent, and straightway fall into them again. A man of strong + character only confesses his faults to himself, and punishes himself for + them; as for the weak, they drop back into the old ruts when they find + that the bank is too steep to climb. The springs of pride which lie in a + great man’s secret soul had been slackened in Victurnien. With such + guardians as he had, such company as he kept, such a life as he led, he + had suddenly became an enervated voluptuary at that turning-point in his + life when a man most stands in need of the harsh discipline of misfortune + and adversity which formed a Prince Eugene, a Frederick II., a Napoleon. + Chesnel saw that Victurnien possessed that uncontrollable appetite for + enjoyments which should be the prerogative of men endowed with giant + powers; the men who feel the need of counterbalancing their gigantic + labors by pleasures which bring one-sided mortals to the pit. + </p> + <p> + At times the good man stood aghast; then, again, some profound sally, some + sign of the lad’s remarkable range of intellect, would reassure him. He + would say, as the Marquis said at the rumor of some escapade, “Boys will + be boys.” Chesnel had spoken to the Chevalier, lamenting the young lord’s + propensity for getting into debt; but the Chevalier manipulated his pinch + of snuff, and listened with a smile of amusement. + </p> + <p> + “My dear Chesnel, just explain to me what a national debt is,” he + answered. “If France has debts, egad! why should not Victurnien have + debts? At this time and at all times princes have debts, every gentleman + has debts. Perhaps you would rather that Victurnien should bring you his + savings?—Do you know that our great Richelieu (not the Cardinal, a + pitiful fellow that put nobles to death, but the Marechal), do you know + what he did once when his grandson the Prince de Chinon, the last of the + line, let him see that he had not spent his pocket-money at the + University?” + </p> + <p> + “No, M. le Chevalier.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, well; he flung the purse out of the window to a sweeper in the + courtyard, and said to his grandson, ‘Then they do not teach you to be a + prince here?’” + </p> + <p> + Chesnel bent his head and made no answer. But that night, as he lay awake, + he thought that such doctrines as these were fatal in times when there was + one law for everybody, and foresaw the first beginnings of the ruin of the + d’Esgrignons. + </p> + <p> + But for these explanations which depict one side of provincial life in the + time of the Empire and the Restoration, it would not be easy to understand + the opening scene of this history, an incident which took place in the + great salon one evening towards the end of October 1822. The card-tables + were forsaken, the Collection of Antiquities—elderly nobles, elderly + countesses, young marquises, and simple baronesses—had settled their + losses and winnings. The master of the house was pacing up and down the + room, while Mlle. Armande was putting out the candles on the card-tables. + He was not taking exercise alone, the Chevalier was with him, and the two + wrecks of the eighteenth century were talking of Victurnien. The Chevalier + had undertaken to broach the subject with the Marquis. + </p> + <p> + “Yes, Marquis,” he was saying, “your son is wasting his time and his + youth; you ought to send him to court.” + </p> + <p> + “I have always thought,” said the Marquis, “that if my great age prevents + me from going to court—where, between ourselves, I do not know what + I should do among all these new people whom his Majesty receives, and all + that is going on there—that if I could not go myself, I could at + least send my son to present our homage to His Majesty. The King surely + would do something for the Count—give him a company, for instance, + or a place in the Household, a chance, in short, for the boy to win his + spurs. My uncle the Archbishop suffered a cruel martyrdom; I have fought + for the cause without deserting the camp with those who thought it their + duty to follow the Princes. I held that while the King was in France, his + nobles should rally round him.—Ah! well, no one gives us a thought; + a Henry IV. would have written before now to the d’Esgrignons, ‘Come to + me, my friends; we have won the day!’—After all, we are something + better than the Troisvilles, yet here are two Troisvilles made peers of + France; and another, I hear, represents the nobles in the Chamber.” (He + took the upper electoral colleges for assemblies of his own order.) + “Really, they think no more of us than if we did not exist. I was waiting + for the Princes to make their journey through this part of the world; but + as the Princes do not come to us, we must go to the Princes.” + </p> + <p> + “I am enchanted to learn that you think of introducing our dear Victurnien + into society,” the Chevalier put in adroitly. “He ought not to bury his + talents in a hole like this town. The best fortune that he can look for + here is to come across some Norman girl” (mimicking the accent), + “country-bred, stupid, and rich. What could he make of her?—his + wife? Oh! good Lord!” + </p> + <p> + “I sincerely hope that he will defer his marriage until he has obtained + some great office or appointment under the Crown,” returned the + gray-haired Marquis. “Still, there are serious difficulties in the way.” + </p> + <p> + And these were the only difficulties which the Marquis saw at the outset + of his son’s career. + </p> + <p> + “My son, the Comte d’Esgrignon, cannot make his appearance at court like a + tatterdemalion,” he continued after a pause, marked by a sigh; “he must be + equipped. Alas! for these two hundred years we have had no retainers. Ah! + Chevalier, this demolition from top to bottom always brings me back to the + first hammer stroke delivered by M. de Mirabeau. The one thing needful + nowadays is money; that is all that the Revolution has done that I can + see. The King does not ask you whether you are a descendant of the Valois + or a conquerer of Gaul; he asks whether you pay a thousand francs in + tailles which nobles never used to pay. So I cannot well send the Count to + court without a matter of twenty thousand crowns——” + </p> + <p> + “Yes,” assented the Chevalier, “with that trifling sum he could cut a + brave figure.” + </p> + <p> + “Well,” said Mlle. Armande, “I have asked Chesnel to come to-night. Would + you believe it, Chevalier, ever since the day when Chesnel proposed that I + should marry that miserable du Croisier——” + </p> + <p> + “Ah! that was truly unworthy, mademoiselle!” cried the Chevalier. + </p> + <p> + “Unpardonable!” said the Marquis. + </p> + <p> + “Well, since then my brother has never brought himself to ask anything + whatsoever of Chesnel,” continued Mlle. Armande. + </p> + <p> + “Of your old household servant? Why, Marquis, you would do Chesnel honor—an + honor which he would gratefully remember till his latest breath.” + </p> + <p> + “No,” said the Marquis, “the thing is beneath one’s dignity, it seems to + me.” + </p> + <p> + “There is not much question of dignity; it is a matter of necessity,” said + the Chevalier, with the trace of a shrug. + </p> + <p> + “Never,” said the Marquis, riposting with a gesture which decided the + Chevalier to risk a great stroke to open his old friend’s eyes. + </p> + <p> + “Very well,” he said, “since you do not know it, I will tell you myself + that Chesnel has let your son have something already, something like——” + </p> + <p> + “My son is incapable of accepting anything whatever from Chesnel,” the + Marquis broke in, drawing himself up as he spoke. “He might have come to + <i>you</i> to ask you for twenty-five louis——” + </p> + <p> + “Something like a hundred thousand livres,” said the Chevalier, finishing + his sentence. + </p> + <p> + “The Comte d’Esgrignon owes a hundred thousand livres to a Chesnel!” cried + the Marquis, with every sign of deep pain. “Oh! if he were not an only + son, he should set out to-night for Mexico with a captain’s commission. A + man may be in debt to money-lenders, they charge a heavy interest, and you + are quits; that is right enough; but <i>Chesnel</i>! a man to whom one is + attached!——” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, our adorable Victurnien has run through a hundred thousand livres, + dear Marquis,” resumed the Chevalier, flicking a trace of snuff from his + waistcoat; “it is not much, I know. I myself at his age—— But, + after all, let us let old memories be, Marquis. The Count is living in the + provinces; all things taken into consideration, it is not so much amiss. + He will not go far; these irregularities are common in men who do great + things afterwards——” + </p> + <p> + “And he is sleeping upstairs, without a word of this to his father,” + exclaimed the Marquis. + </p> + <p> + “Sleeping innocently as a child who has merely got five or six little + bourgeoises into trouble, and now must have duchesses,” returned the + Chevalier. + </p> + <p> + “Why, he deserves a lettre de cachet!” + </p> + <p> + “‘They’ have done away with lettres de cachet,” said the Chevalier. “You + know what a hubbub there was when they tried to institute a law for + special cases. We could not keep the provost’s courts, which M. <i>de</i> + Bonaparte used to call commissions militaires.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, well; what are we to do if our boys are wild, or turn out + scapegraces? Is there no locking them up in these days?” asked the + Marquis. + </p> + <p> + The Chevalier looked at the heartbroken father and lacked courage to + answer, “We shall be obliged to bring them up properly.” + </p> + <p> + “And you have never said a word of this to me, Mlle. d’Esgrignon,” added + the Marquis, turning suddenly round upon Mlle. Armande. He never addressed + her as Mlle. d’Esgrignon except when he was vexed; usually she was called + “my sister.” + </p> + <p> + “Why, monsieur, when a young man is full of life and spirits, and leads an + idle life in a town like this, what else can you expect?” asked Mlle. + d’Esgrignon. She could not understand her brother’s anger. + </p> + <p> + “Debts! eh! why, hang it all!” added the Chevalier. “He plays cards, he + has little adventures, he shoots,—all these things are horribly + expensive nowadays.” + </p> + <p> + “Come,” said the Marquis, “it is time to send him to the King. I will + spend to-morrow morning in writing to our kinsmen.” + </p> + <p> + “I have some acquaintance with the Ducs de Navarreins, de Lenoncourt, de + Maufrigneuse, and de Chaulieu,” said the Chevalier, though he knew, as he + spoke, that he was pretty thoroughly forgotten. + </p> + <p> + “My dear Chevalier, there is no need of such formalities to present a + d’Esgrignon at court,” the Marquis broke in.—“A hundred thousand + livres,” he muttered; “this Chesnel makes very free. This is what comes of + these accursed troubles. M. Chesnel protects my son. And now I must ask + him.... No, sister, you must undertake this business. Chesnel shall secure + himself for the whole amount by a mortgage on our lands. And just give + this harebrained boy a good scolding; he will end by ruining himself if he + goes on like this.” + </p> + <p> + The Chevalier and Mlle. d’Esgrignon thought these words perfectly simple + and natural, absurd as they would have sounded to any other listener. So + far from seeing anything ridiculous in the speech, they were both very + much touched by a look of something like anguish in the old noble’s face. + Some dark premonition seemed to weigh upon M. d’Esgrignon at that moment, + some glimmering of an insight into the changed times. He went to the + settee by the fireside and sat down, forgetting that Chesnel would be + there before long; that Chesnel, of whom he could not bring himself to ask + anything. + </p> + <p> + Just then the Marquis d’Esgrignon looked exactly as any imagination with a + touch of romance could wish. He was almost bald, but a fringe of silken, + white locks, curled at the tips, covered the back of his head. All the + pride of race might be seen in a noble forehead, such as you may admire in + a Louis XV., a Beaumarchais, a Marechal de Richelieu, it was not the + square, broad brow of the portraits of the Marechal de Saxe; nor yet the + small hard circle of Voltaire, compact to overfulness; it was graciously + rounded and finely moulded, the temples were ivory tinted and soft; and + mettle and spirit, unquenched by age, flashed from the brilliant eyes. The + Marquis had the Conde nose and the lovable Bourbon mouth, from which, as + they used to say of the Comte d’Artois, only witty and urbane words + proceed. His cheeks, sloping rather than foolishly rounded to the chin, + were in keeping with his spare frame, thin legs, and plump hands. The + strangulation cravat at his throat was of the kind which every marquis + wears in all the portraits which adorn eighteenth century literature; it + is common alike to Saint-Preux and to Lovelace, to the elegant + Montesquieu’s heroes and to Diderot’s homespun characters (see the first + editions of those writers’ works). + </p> + <p> + The Marquis always wore a white, gold-embroidered, high waistcoat, with + the red ribbon of a commander of the Order of St. Louis blazing upon his + breast; and a blue coat with wide skirts, and fleur-de-lys on the flaps, + which were turned back—an odd costume which the King had adopted. + But the Marquis could not bring himself to give up the Frenchman’s + knee-breeches nor yet the white silk stockings or the buckles at the + knees. After six o’clock in the evening he appeared in full dress. + </p> + <p> + He read no newspapers but the Quotidienne and the Gazette de France, two + journals accused by the Constitutional press of obscurantist views and + uncounted “monarchical and religious” enormities; while the Marquis + d’Esgrignon, on the other hand, found heresies and revolutionary doctrines + in every issue. No matter to what extremes the organs of this or that + opinion may go, they will never go quite far enough to please the purists + on their own side; even as the portrayer of this magnificent personage is + pretty certain to be accused of exaggeration, whereas he has done his best + to soften down some of the cruder tones and dim the more startling tints + of the original. + </p> + <p> + The Marquis d’Esgrignon rested his elbows on his knees and leant his head + on his hands. During his meditations Mlle. Armande and the Chevalier + looked at one another without uttering the thoughts in their minds. Was he + pained by the discovery that his son’s future must depend upon his + sometime land steward? Was he doubtful of the reception awaiting the young + Count? Did he regret that he had made no preparation for launching his + heir into that brilliant world of court? Poverty had kept him in the + depths of his province; how should he have appeared at court? He sighed + heavily as he raised his head. + </p> + <p> + That sigh, in those days, came from the real aristocracy all over France; + from the loyal provincial noblesse, consigned to neglect with most of + those who had drawn sword and braved the storm for the cause. + </p> + <p> + “What have the Princes done for the du Guenics, or the Fontaines, or the + Bauvans, who never submitted?” he muttered to himself. “They fling + miserable pensions to the men who fought most bravely, and give them a + royal lieutenancy in a fortress somewhere on the outskirts of the + kingdom.” + </p> + <p> + Evidently the Marquis doubted the reigning dynasty. Mlle. d’Esgrignon was + trying to reassure her brother as to the prospects of the journey, when a + step outside on the dry narrow footway gave them notice of Chesnel’s + coming. In another moment Chesnel appeared; Josephin, the Count’s + gray-aired valet, admitted the notary without announcing him. + </p> + <p> + “Chesnel, my boy——” (Chesnel was a white-haired man of + sixty-nine, with a square-jawed, venerable countenance; he wore + knee-breeches, ample enough to fill several chapters of dissertation in + the manner of Sterne, ribbed stockings, shoes with silver clasps, an + ecclesiastical-looking coat and a high waistcoat of scholastic cut.) + </p> + <p> + “Chesnel, my boy, it was very presumptuous of you to lend money to the + Comte d’Esgrignon! If I repaid you at once and we never saw each other + again, it would be no more than you deserve for giving wings to his + vices.” + </p> + <p> + There was a pause, a silence such as there falls at court when the King + publicly reprimands a courtier. The old notary looked humble and contrite. + </p> + <p> + “I am anxious about that boy, Chesnel,” continued the Marquis in a kindly + tone; “I should like to send him to Paris to serve His Majesty. Make + arrangements with my sister for his suitable appearance at court.—And + we will settle accounts——” + </p> + <p> + The Marquis looked grave as he left the room with a friendly gesture of + farewell to Chesnel. + </p> + <p> + “I thank M. le Marquis for all his goodness,” returned the old man, who + still remained standing. + </p> + <p> + Mlle. Armande rose to go to the door with her brother; she had rung the + bell, old Josephin was in readiness to light his master to his room. + </p> + <p> + “Take a seat, Chesnel,” said the lady, as she returned, and with womanly + tact she explained away and softened the Marquis’ harshness. And yet + beneath that harshness Chesnel saw a great affection. The Marquis’ + attachment for his old servant was something of the same order as a man’s + affection for his dog; he will fight any one who kicks the animal, the dog + is like a part of his existence, a something which, if not exactly + himself, represents him in that which is nearest and dearest—his + sensibilities. + </p> + <p> + “It is quite time that M. le Comte should be sent away from the town, + mademoiselle,” he said sententiously. + </p> + <p> + “Yes,” returned she. “Has he been indulging in some new escapade?” + </p> + <p> + “No, mademoiselle.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, why do you blame him?” + </p> + <p> + “I am not blaming him, mademoiselle. No, I am not blaming him. I am very + far from blaming him. I will even say that I shall never blame him, + whatever he may do.” + </p> + <p> + There was a pause. The Chevalier, nothing if not quick to take in a + situation, began to yawn like a sleep-ridden mortal. Gracefully he made + his excuses and went, with as little mind to sleep as to go and drown + himself. The imp Curiosity kept the Chevalier wide awake, and with airy + fingers plucked away the cotton wool from his ears. + </p> + <p> + “Well, Chesnel, is it something new?” Mlle. Armande began anxiously. + </p> + <p> + “Yes, things that cannot be told to M. le Marquis; he would drop down in + an apoplectic fit.” + </p> + <p> + “Speak out,” she said. With her beautiful head leant on the back of her + low chair, and her arms extended listlessly by her side, she looked as if + she were waiting passively for her deathblow. + </p> + <p> + “Mademoiselle, M. le Comte, with all his cleverness, is a plaything in the + hands of mean creatures, petty natures on the lookout for a crushing + revenge. They want to ruin us and bring us low! There is the President of + the Tribunal, M. de Ronceret; he has, as you know, a very great notion of + his descent——” + </p> + <p> + “His grandfather was an attorney,” interposed Mlle. Armande. + </p> + <p> + “I know he was. And for that reason you have not received him; nor does he + go to M. de Troisville’s, nor to M. le Duc de Verneuil’s, nor to the + Marquis de Casteran’s; but he is one of the pillars of du Croisier’s + salon. Your nephew may rub shoulders with young M. Fabien du Ronceret + without condescending too far, for he must have companions of his own age. + Well and good. That young fellow is at the bottom of all M. le Comte’s + follies; he and two or three of the rest of them belong to the other side, + the side of M. le Chevalier’s enemy, who does nothing but breathe threats + of vengeance against you and all the nobles together. They all hope to + ruin you through your nephew. The ringleader of the conspiracy is this + sycophant of a du Croisier, the pretended Royalist. Du Croisier’s wife, + poor thing, knows nothing about it; you know her, I should have heard of + it before this if she had ears to hear evil. For some time these wild + young fellows were not in the secret, nor was anybody else; but the + ringleaders let something drop in jest, and then the fools got to know + about it, and after the Count’s recent escapades they let fall some words + while they were drunk. And those words were carried to me by others who + are sorry to see such a fine, handsome, noble, charming lad ruining + himself with pleasure. So far people feel sorry for him; before many days + are over they will—I am afraid to say what——” + </p> + <p> + “They will despise him; say it out, Chesnel!” Mlle. Armande cried + piteously. + </p> + <p> + “Ah! How can you keep the best people in the town from finding out faults + in their neighbors? They do not know what to do with themselves from + morning to night. And so M. le Comte’s losses at play are all reckoned up. + Thirty thousand francs have taken flight during these two months, and + everybody wonders where he gets the money. If they mention it when I am + present, I just call them to order. Ah! but—‘Do you suppose’ (I told + them this morning), ‘do you suppose that if the d’Esgrignon family have + lost their manorial rights, that therefore they have been robbed of their + hoard of treasure? The young Count has a right to do as he pleases; and so + long as he does not owe you a half-penny, you have no right to say a + word.’” + </p> + <p> + Mlle, Armande held out her hand, and the notary kissed it respectfully. + </p> + <p> + “Good Chesnel!... But, my friend, how shall we find the money for this + journey? Victurnien must appear as befits his rank at court.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh! I have borrowed money on Le Jard, mademoiselle.” + </p> + <p> + “What? You have nothing left! Ah, heaven! what can we do to reward you?” + </p> + <p> + “You can take the hundred thousand francs which I hold at your disposal. + You can understand that the loan was negotiated in confidence, so that it + might not reflect on you; for it is known in the town that I am closely + connected with the d’Esgrignon family.” + </p> + <p> + Tears came into Mlle. Armande’s eyes. Chesnel saw them, took a fold of the + noble woman’s dress in his hands, and kissed it. + </p> + <p> + “Never mind,” he said, “a lad must sow his wild oats. In great salons in + Paris his boyish ideas will take a new turn. And, really, though our old + friends here are the worthiest folk in the world, and no one could have + nobler hearts than they, they are not amusing. If M. le Comte wants + amusement, he is obliged to look below his rank, and he will end by + getting into low company.” + </p> + <p> + Next day the old traveling coach saw the light, and was sent to be put in + repair. In a solemn interview after breakfast, the hope of the house was + duly informed of his father’s intentions regarding him—he was to go + to court and ask to serve His Majesty. He would have time during the + journey to make up his mind about his career. The navy or the army, the + privy council, an embassy, or the Royal Household,—all were open to + a d’Esgrignon, a d’Esgrignon had only to choose. The King would certainly + look favorably upon the d’Esgrignons, because they had asked nothing of + him, and had sent the youngest representative of their house to receive + the recognition of Majesty. + </p> + <p> + But young d’Esgrignon, with all his wild pranks, had guessed instinctively + what society in Paris meant, and formed his own opinions of life. So when + they talked of his leaving the country and the paternal roof, he listened + with a grave countenance to his revered parent’s lecture, and refrained + from giving him a good deal of information in reply. As, for instance, + that young men no longer went into the army or the navy as they used to + do; that if a man had a mind to be a second lieutenant in a cavalry + regiment without passing through a special training in the Ecoles, he must + first serve in the Pages; that sons of the greatest houses went exactly + like commoners to Saint-Cyr and the Ecole polytechnique, and took their + chances of being beaten by base blood. If he had enlightened his relatives + on these points, funds might not have been forthcoming for a stay in + Paris; so he allowed his father and Aunt Armande to believe that he would + be permitted a seat in the King’s carriages, that he must support his + dignity at court as the d’Esgrignon of the time, and rub shoulders with + great lords of the realm. + </p> + <p> + It grieved the Marquis that he could send but one servant with his son; + but he gave him his own valet Josephin, a man who can be trusted to take + care of his young master, and to watch faithfully over his interests. The + poor father must do without Josephin, and hope to replace him with a young + lad. + </p> + <p> + “Remember that you are a Carol, my boy,” he said; “remember that you come + of an unalloyed descent, and that your scutcheon bears the motto Cil est + nostre; with such arms you may hold your head high everywhere, and aspire + to queens. Render grace to your father, as I to mine. We owe it to the + honor of our ancestors, kept stainless until now, that we can look all men + in the face, and need bend the knee to none save a mistress, the King, and + God. This is the greatest of your privileges.” + </p> + <p> + Chesnel, good man, was breakfasting with the family. He took no part in + counsels based on heraldry, nor in the inditing of letters addressed to + divers mighty personages of the day; but he had spent the night in writing + to an old friend of his, one of the oldest established notaries of Paris. + Without this letter it is not possible to understand Chesnel’s real and + assumed fatherhood. It almost recalls Daedalus’ address to Icarus; for + where, save in old mythology, can you look for comparisons worthy of this + man of antique mould? + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “MY DEAR AND ESTIMABLE SORBIER,—I remember with no little + pleasure that I made my first campaign in our honorable profession + under your father, and that you had a liking for me, poor little + clerk that I was. And now I appeal to old memories of the days + when we worked in the same office, old pleasant memories for our + hearts, to ask you to do me the one service that I have ever asked + of you in the course of our long lives, crossed as they have been + by political catastrophes, to which, perhaps, I owe it that I have + the honor to be your colleague. And now I ask this service of you, + my friend, and my white hairs will be brought with sorrow to the + grave if you should refuse my entreaty. It is no question of + myself or of mine, Sorbier, for I lost poor Mme. Chesnel, and I + have no child of my own. Something more to me than my own family + (if I had one) is involved—it is the Marquis d’Esgrignon’s only + son. I have had the honor to be the Marquis’ land steward ever + since I left the office to which his father sent me at his own + expense, with the idea of providing for me. The house which + nurtured me has passed through all the troubles of the Revolution. + I have managed to save some of their property; but what is it, + after all, in comparison with the wealth that they have lost? I + cannot tell you, Sorbier, how deeply I am attached to the great + house, which has been all but swallowed up under my eyes by the + abyss of time. M. le Marquis was proscribed, and his lands + confiscated, he was getting on in years, he had no child. + Misfortunes upon misfortunes! Then M. le Marquis married, and his + wife died when the young Count was born, and to-day this noble, + dear, and precious child is all the life of the d’Esgrignon + family; the fate of the house hangs upon him. He has got into debt + here with amusing himself. What else should he do in the provinces + with an allowance of a miserable hundred louis? Yes, my friend, a + hundred louis, the great house has come to this. + + “In this extremity his father thinks it necessary to send the + Count to Paris to ask for the King’s favor at court. Paris is a + very dangerous place for a lad; if he is to keep steady there, he + must have the grain of sense which makes notaries of us. Besides, + I should be heartbroken to think of the poor boy living amid such + hardships as we have known.—Do you remember the pleasure with + which we spent a day and a night there waiting to see The Marriage + of Figaro? Oh, blind that we were!—We were happy and poor, but a + noble cannot be happy in poverty. A noble in want—it is a thing + against nature! Ah! Sorbier, when one has known the satisfaction + of propping one of the grandest genealogical trees in the kingdom + in its fall, it is so natural to interest oneself in it and to + grow fond of it, and love it and water it and look to see it + blossom. So you will not be surprised at so many precautions on my + part; you will not wonder when I beg the help of your lights, so + that all may go well with our young man. + + “Keep yourself informed of his movements and doings, of the + company which he keeps, and watch over his connections with women. + M. le Chevalier says that an opera dancer often costs less than a + court lady. Obtain information on that point and let me know. If + you are too busy, perhaps Mme. Sorbier might know what becomes of + the young man, and where he goes. The idea of playing the part of + guardian angel to such a noble and charming boy might have + attractions for her. God will remember her for accepting the + sacred trust. Perhaps when you see M. le Comte Victurnien, her + heart may tremble at the thought of all the dangers awaiting him + in Paris; he is very young, and handsome; clever, and at the same + time disposed to trust others. If he forms a connection with some + designing woman, Mme. Sorbier could counsel him better than you + yourself could do. The old man-servant who is with him can tell + you many things; sound Josephin, I have told him to go to you in + delicate matters. + + “But why should I say more? We once were clerks together, and a + pair of scamps; remember our escapades, and be a little bit young + again, my old friend, in your dealings with him. The sixty + thousand francs will be remitted to you in the shape of a bill on + the Treasury by a gentlemen who is going to Paris,” and so forth. +</pre> + <p> + If the old couple to whom this epistle was addressed had followed out + Chesnel’s instructions, they would have been compelled to take three + private detectives into their pay. And yet there was ample wisdom shown in + Chesnel’s choice of a depositary. A banker pays money to any one + accredited to him so long as the money lasts; whereas, Victurnien was + obliged, every time that he was in want of money, to make a personal visit + to the notary, who was quite sure to use the right of remonstrance. + </p> + <p> + Victurnien heard that he was to be allowed two thousand francs every + month, and thought that he betrayed his joy. He knew nothing of Paris. He + fancied that he could keep up princely state on such a sum. + </p> + <p> + Next day he started on his journey. All the benedictions of the Collection + of Antiquities went with him; he was kissed by the dowagers; good wishes + were heaped on his head; his old father, his aunt, and Chesnel went with + him out of the town, tears filling the eyes of all three. The sudden + departure supplied material for conversation for several evenings; and + what was more, it stirred the rancorous minds of the salon du Croisier to + the depths. The forage-contractor, the president, and others who had vowed + to ruin the d’Esgrignons, saw their prey escaping out of their hands. They + had based their schemes of revenge on a young man’s follies, and now he + was beyond their reach. + </p> + <p> + The tendency in human nature, which often gives a bigot a rake for a + daughter, and makes a frivolous woman the mother of a narrow pietist; that + rule of contraries, which, in all probability, is the “resultant” of the + law of similarities, drew Victurnien to Paris by a desire to which he must + sooner or later have yielded. Brought up as he had been in the + old-fashioned provincial house, among the quiet, gentle faces that smiled + upon him, among sober servants attached to the family, and surroundings + tinged with a general color of age, the boy had only seen friends worthy + of respect. All of those about him, with the exception of the Chevalier, + had example of venerable age, were elderly men and women, sedate of + manner, decorous and sententious of speech. He had been petted by those + women in gray gowns and embroidered mittens described by Blondet. The + antiquated splendors of his father’s house were as little calculated as + possible to suggest frivolous thoughts; and lastly, he had been educated + by a sincerely religious abbe, possessed of all the charm of old age, + which has dwelt in two centuries, and brings to the Present its gifts of + the dried roses of experience, the faded flowers of the old customs of its + youth. Everything should have combined to fashion Victurnien to serious + habits; his whole surroundings from childhood bade him continue the glory + of a historic name, by taking his life as something noble and great; and + yet Victurnien listened to dangerous promptings. + </p> + <p> + For him, his noble birth was a stepping-stone which raised him above other + men. He felt that the idol of Noblesse, before which they burned incense + at home, was hollow; he had come to be one of the commonest as well as one + of the worst types from a social point of view—a consistent egoist. + The aristocratic cult of the <i>ego</i> simply taught him to follow his + own fancies; he had been idolized by those who had the care of him in + childhood, and adored by the companions who shared in his boyish + escapades, and so he had formed a habit of looking and judging everything + as it affected his own pleasure; he took it as a matter of course when + good souls saved him from the consequences of his follies, a piece of + mistaken kindness which could only lead to his ruin. Victurnien’s early + training, noble and pious though it was, had isolated him too much. He was + out of the current of the life of the time, for the life of a provincial + town is certainly not in the main current of the age; Victurnien’s true + destiny lifted him above it. He had learned to think of an action, not as + it affected others, nor relatively, but absolutely from his own point of + view. Like despots, he made the law to suit the circumstance, a system + which works in the lives of prodigal sons the same confusion which fancy + brings into art. + </p> + <p> + Victurnien was quick-sighted, he saw clearly and without illusion, but he + acted on impulse, and unwisely. An indefinable flaw of character, often + seen in young men, but impossible to explain, led him to will one thing + and do another. In spite of an active mind, which showed itself in + unexpected ways, the senses had but to assert themselves, and the darkened + brain seemed to exist no longer. He might have astonished wise men; he was + capable of setting fools agape. His desires, like a sudden squall of bad + weather, overclouded all the clear and lucid spaces of his brain in a + moment; and then, after the dissipations which he could not resist, he + sank, utterly exhausted in body, heart, and mind, into a collapsed + condition bordering upon imbecility. Such a character will drag a man down + into the mire if he is left to himself, or bring him to the highest + heights of political power if he has some stern friend to keep him in + hand. Neither Chesnel, nor the lad’s father, nor Aunt Armande had fathomed + the depths of a nature so nearly akin on many sides to the poetic + temperament, yet smitten with a terrible weakness at its core. + </p> + <p> + By the time the old town lay several miles away, Victurnien felt not the + slightest regret; he thought no more about the father, who had loved ten + generations in his son, nor of the aunt, and her almost insane devotion. + He was looking forward to Paris with vehement ill-starred longings; in + thought he had lived in that fairyland, it had been the background of his + brightest dreams. He imagined that he would be first in Paris, as he had + been in the town and the department where his father’s name was potent; + but it was vanity, not pride, that filled his soul, and in his dreams his + pleasures were to be magnified by all the greatness of Paris. The distance + was soon crossed. The traveling coach, like his own thoughts, left the + narrow horizon of the province for the vast world of the great city, + without a break in the journey. He stayed in the Rue de Richelieu, in a + handsome hotel close to the boulevard, and hastened to take possession of + Paris as a famished horse rushes into a meadow. + </p> + <p> + He was not long in finding out the difference between country and town, + and was rather surprised than abashed by the change. His mental quickness + soon discovered how small an entity he was in the midst of this + all-comprehending Babylon; how insane it would be to attempt to stem the + torrent of new ideas and new ways. A single incident was enough. He + delivered his father’s letter of introduction to the Duc de Lenoncourt, a + noble who stood high in favor with the King. He saw the duke in his + splendid mansion, among surroundings befitting his rank. Next day he met + him again. This time the Peer of France was lounging on foot along the + boulevard, just like any ordinary mortal, with an umbrella in his hand; he + did not even wear the Blue Ribbon, without which no knight of the order + could have appeared in public in other times. And, duke and peer and first + gentleman of the bedchamber though he was, M. de Lenoncourt, in spite of + his high courtesy, could not repress a smile as he read his relative’s + letter; and that smile told Victurnien that the Collection of Antiquities + and the Tuileries were separated by more than sixty leagues of road; the + distance of several centuries lay between them. + </p> + <p> + The names of the families grouped about the throne are quite different in + each successive reign, and the characters change with the names. It would + seem that, in the sphere of court, the same thing happens over and over + again in each generation; but each time there is a quite different set of + personages. If history did not prove that this is so, it would seem + incredible. The prominent men at the court of Louis XVIII., for instance, + had scarcely any connection with the Rivieres, Blacas, d’Avarays, + Vitrolles, d’Autichamps, Pasquiers, Larochejaqueleins, Decazes, Dambrays, + Laines, de Villeles, La Bourdonnayes, and others who shone at the court of + Louis XV. Compare the courtiers of Henri IV. with those of Louis XIV.; you + will hardly find five great families of the former time still in + existence. The nephew of the great Richelieu was a very insignificant + person at the court of Louis XIV.; while His Majesty’s favorite, Villeroi, + was the grandson of a secretary ennobled by Charles IX. And so it befell + that the d’Esgrignons, all but princes under the Valois, and all-powerful + in the time of Henri IV., had no fortune whatever at the court of Louis + XVIII., which gave them not so much as a thought. At this day there are + names as famous as those of royal houses—the Foix-Graillys, for + instance, or the d’Herouvilles—left to obscurity tantamount to + extinction for want of money, the one power of the time. + </p> + <p> + All which things Victurnien beheld entirely from his own point of view; he + felt the equality that he saw in Paris as a personal wrong. The monster + Equality was swallowing down the last fragments of social distinction in + the Restoration. Having made up his mind on this head, he immediately + proceeded to try to win back his place with such dangerous, if blunted + weapons, as the age left to the noblesse. It is an expensive matter to + gain the attention of Paris. To this end, Victurnien adopted some of the + ways then in vogue. He felt that it was a necessity to have horses and + fine carriages, and all the accessories of modern luxury; he felt, in + short, “that a man must keep abreast of the times,” as de Marsay said—de + Marsay, the first dandy that he came across in the first drawing-room to + which he was introduced. For his misfortune, he fell in with a set of + roues, with de Marsay, de Ronquerolles, Maxime de Trailles, des Lupeaulx, + Rastignac, Ajuda-Pinto, Beaudenord, de la Roche-Hugon, de Manerville, and + the Vandenesses, whom he met wherever he went, and a great many houses + were open to a young man with his ancient name and reputation for wealth. + He went to the Marquise d’Espard’s, to the Duchesses de Grandlieu, de + Carigliano, and de Chaulieu, to the Marquises d’Aiglemont and de + Listomere, to Mme. de Serizy’s, to the Opera, to the embassies and + elsewhere. The Faubourg Saint-Germain has its provincial genealogies at + its fingers’ ends; a great name once recognized and adopted therein is a + passport which opens many a door that will scarcely turn on its hinges for + unknown names or the lions of a lower rank. + </p> + <p> + Victurnien found his relatives both amiable and ready to welcome him so + long as he did not appear as a suppliant; he saw at once that the surest + way of obtaining nothing was to ask for something. At Paris, if the first + impulse moves people to protect, second thoughts (which last a good deal + longer) impel them to despise the protege. Independence, vanity, and + pride, all the young Count’s better and worse feelings combined, led him, + on the contrary, to assume an aggressive attitude. And therefore the Ducs + de Verneuil, de Lenoncourt, de Chaulieu, de Navarreins, d’Herouville, de + Grandlieu, and de Maufrigneuse, the Princes de Cadignan and de + Blamont-Chauvry, were delighted to present the charming survivor of the + wreck of an ancient family at court. + </p> + <p> + Victurnien went to the Tuileries in a splendid carriage with his armorial + bearings on the panels; but his presentation to His Majesty made it + abundantly clear to him that the people occupied the royal mind so much + that his nobility was like to be forgotten. The restored dynasty, + moreover, was surrounded by triple ranks of eligible old men and + gray-headed courtiers; the young noblesse was reduced to a cipher, and + this Victurnien guessed at once. He saw that there was no suitable place + for him at court, nor in the government, nor the army, nor, indeed, + anywhere else. So he launched out into the world of pleasure. Introduced + at the Elyess-Bourbon, at the Duchesse d’Angouleme’s, at the Pavillon + Marsan, he met on all sides with the surface civilities due to the heir of + an old family, not so old but it could be called to mind by the sight of a + living member. And, after all, it was not a small thing to be remembered. + In the distinction with which Victurnien was honored lay the way to the + peerage and a splendid marriage; he had taken the field with a false + appearance of wealth, and his vanity would not allow him to declare his + real position. Besides, he had been so much complimented on the figure + that he made, he was so pleased with his first success, that, like many + other young men, he felt ashamed to draw back. He took a suite of rooms in + the Rue du Bac, with stables and a complete equipment for the fashionable + life to which he had committed himself. These preliminaries cost him fifty + thousand francs, which money, moreover, the young gentleman managed to + draw in spite of all Chesnel’s wise precautions, thanks to a series of + unforeseen events. + </p> + <p> + Chesnel’s letter certainly reached his friend’s office, but Maitre Sorbier + was dead; and Mme. Sorbier, a matter-of-fact person, seeing it was a + business letter, handed it on to her husband’s successor. Maitre Cardot, + the new notary, informed the young Count that a draft on the Treasury made + payable to the deceased would be useless; and by way of reply to the + letter, which had cost the old provincial notary so much thought, Cardot + despatched four lines intended not to reach Chesnel’s heart, but to + produce the money. Chesnel made the draft payable to Sorbier’s young + successor; and the latter, feeling but little inclination to adopt his + correspondent’s sentimentality, was delighted to put himself at the + Count’s orders, and gave Victurnien as much money as he wanted. + </p> + <p> + Now those who know what life in Paris means, know that fifty thousand + francs will not go very far in furniture, horses, carriages, and elegance + generally; but it must be borne in mind that Victurnien immediately + contracted some twenty thousand francs’ worth of debts besides, and his + tradespeople at first were not at all anxious to be paid, for our young + gentleman’s fortune had been prodigiously increased, partly by rumor, + partly by Josephin, that Chesnel in livery. + </p> + <p> + Victurnien had not been in town a month before he was obliged to repair to + his man of business for ten thousand francs; he had only been playing + whist with the Ducs de Navarreins, de Chaulieu, and de Lenoncourt, and now + and again at his club. He had begun by winning some thousands of francs + but pretty soon lost five or six thousand, which brought home to him the + necessity of a purse for play. Victurnien had the spirit that gains + goodwill everywhere, and puts a young man of a great family on a level + with the very highest. He was not merely admitted at once into the band of + patrician youth, but was even envied by the rest. It was intoxicating to + him to feel that he was envied, nor was he in this mood very likely to + think of reform. Indeed, he had completely lost his head. He would not + think of the means; he dipped into his money-bags as if they could be + refilled indefinitely; he deliberately shut his eyes to the inevitable + results of the system. In that dissipated set, in the continual whirl of + gaiety, people take the actors in their brilliant costumes as they find + them, no one inquires whether a man can afford to make the figure he does, + there is nothing in worse taste than inquiries as to ways and means. A man + ought to renew his wealth perpetually, and as Nature does—below the + surface and out of sight. People talk if somebody comes to grief; they + joke about a newcomer’s fortune till their minds are set at rest, and at + this they draw the line. Victurnien d’Esgrignon, with all the Faubourg + Saint-Germain to back him, with all his protectors exaggerating the amount + of his fortune (were it only to rid themselves of responsibility), and + magnifying his possessions in the most refined and well-bred way, with a + hint or a word; with all these advantages—to repeat—Victurnien + was, in fact, an eligible Count. He was handsome, witty, sound in + politics; his father still possessed the ancestral castle and the lands of + the marquisate. Such a young fellow is sure of an admirable reception in + houses where there are marriageable daughters, fair but portionless + partners at dances, and young married women who find that time hangs heavy + on their hands. So the world, smiling, beckoned him to the foremost + benches in its booth; the seats reserved for marquises are still in the + same place in Paris; and if the names are changed, the things are the same + as ever. + </p> + <p> + In the most exclusive circle of society in the Faubourg Saint-Germain, + Victurnien found the Chevalier’s double in the person of the Vidame de + Pamiers. The Vidame was a Chevalier de Valois raised to the tenth power, + invested with all the prestige of wealth, enjoying all the advantages of + high position. The dear Vidame was a repositary for everybody’s secrets, + and the gazette of the Faubourg besides; nevertheless, he was discreet, + and, like other gazettes, only said things that might safely be published. + Again Victurnien listened to the Chevalier’s esoteric doctrines. The + Vidame told young d’Esgrignon, without mincing matters, to make conquests + among women of quality, supplementing the advice with anecdotes from his + own experience. The Vicomte de Pamiers, it seemed, had permitted himself + much that it would serve no purpose to relate here; so remote was it all + from our modern manners, in which soul and passion play so large a part, + that nobody would believe it. But the excellent Vidame did more than this. + </p> + <p> + “Dine with me at a tavern to-morrow,” said he, by way of conclusion. “We + will digest our dinner at the Opera, and afterwards I will take you to a + house where several people have the greatest wish to meet you.” + </p> + <p> + The Vidame gave a delightful little dinner at the Rocher de Cancale; three + guests only were asked to meet Victurnien—de Marsay, Rastignac, and + Blondet. Emile Blondet, the young Count’s fellow-townsman, was a man of + letters on the outskirts of society to which he had been introduced by a + charming woman from the same province. This was one of the Vicomte de + Troisville’s daughters, now married to the Comte de Montcornet, one of + those of Napoleon’s generals who went over to the Bourbons. The Vidame + held that a dinner-party of more than six persons was beneath contempt. In + that case, according to him, there was an end alike of cookery and + conversation, and a man could not sip his wine in a proper frame of mind. + </p> + <p> + “I have not yet told you, my dear boy, where I mean to take you to-night,” + he said, taking Victurnien’s hands and tapping on them. “You are going to + see Mlle. des Touches; all the pretty women with any pretensions to wit + will be at her house en petit comite. Literature, art, poetry, any sort of + genius, in short, is held in great esteem there. It is one of our + old-world bureaux d’esprit, with a veneer of monarchical doctrine, the + livery of this present age.” + </p> + <p> + “It is sometimes as tiresome and tedious there as a pair of new boots, but + there are women with whom you cannot meet anywhere else,” said de Marsay. + </p> + <p> + “If all the poets who went there to rub up their muse were like our friend + here,” said Rastignac, tapping Blondet familiarly on the shoulder, “we + should have some fun. But a plague of odes, and ballads, and driveling + meditations, and novels with wide margins, pervades the sofas and the + atmosphere.” + </p> + <p> + “I don’t dislike them,” said de Marsay, “so long as they corrupt girls’ + minds, and don’t spoil women.” + </p> + <p> + “Gentlemen,” smiled Blondet, “you are encroaching on my field of + literature.” + </p> + <p> + “You need not talk. You have robbed us of the most charming woman in the + world, you lucky rogue; we may be allowed to steal your less brilliant + ideas,” cried Rastignac. + </p> + <p> + “Yes, he is a lucky rascal,” said the Vidame, and he twitched Blondet’s + ear. “But perhaps Victurnien here will be luckier still this evening——” + </p> + <p> + “<i>Already</i>!” exclaimed de Marsay. “Why, he only came here a month + ago; he has scarcely had time to shake the dust of his old manor house off + his feet, to wipe off the brine in which his aunt kept him preserved; he + has only just set up a decent horse, a tilbury in the latest style, a + groom——” + </p> + <p> + “No, no, not a groom,” interrupted Rastignac; “he has some sort of an + agricultural laborer that he brought with him ‘from his place.’ Buisson, + who understands a livery as well as most, declared that the man was + physically incapable of wearing a jacket.” + </p> + <p> + “I will tell you what, you ought to have modeled yourself on Beaudenord,” + the Vidame said seriously. “He has this advantage over all of you, my + young friends, he has a genuine specimen of the English tiger——” + </p> + <p> + “Just see, gentlemen, what the noblesse have come to in France!” cried + Victurnien. “For them the one important thing is to have a tiger, a + thoroughbred, and baubles——” + </p> + <p> + “Bless me!” said Blondet. “‘This gentleman’s good sense at times appalls + me.’—Well, yes, young moralist, you nobles have come to that. You + have not even left to you that lustre of lavish expenditure for which the + dear Vidame was famous fifty years ago. We revel on a second floor in the + Rue Montorgueil. There are no more wars with the Cardinal, no Field of the + Cloth of Gold. You, Comte d’Esgrignon, in short, are supping in the + company of one Blondet, younger son of a miserable provincial magistrate, + with whom you would not shake hands down yonder; and in ten years’ time + you may sit beside him among peers of the realm. Believe in yourself after + that, if you can.” + </p> + <p> + “Ah, well,” said Rastignac, “we have passed from action to thought, from + brute force to force of intellect, we are talking——” + </p> + <p> + “Let us not talk of our reverses,” protested the Vidame; “I have made up + my mind to die merrily. If our friend here has not a tiger as yet, he + comes of a race of lions, and can dispense with one.” + </p> + <p> + “He cannot do without a tiger,” said Blondet; “he is too newly come to + town.” + </p> + <p> + “His elegance may be new as yet,” returned de Marsay, “but we are adopting + it. He is worthy of us, he understands his age, he has brains, he is nobly + born and gently bred; we are going to like him, and serve him, and push + him——” + </p> + <p> + “Whither?” inquired Blondet. + </p> + <p> + “Inquisitive soul!” said Rastignac. + </p> + <p> + “With whom will he take up to-night?” de Marsay asked. + </p> + <p> + “With a whole seraglio,” said the Vidame. + </p> + <p> + “Plague take it! What can we have done that the dear Vidame is punishing + us by keeping his word to the infanta? I should be pitiable indeed if I + did not know her——” + </p> + <p> + “And I was once a coxcomb even as he,” said the Vidame, indicating de + Marsay. + </p> + <p> + The conversation continued pitched in the same key, charmingly scandalous, + and agreeably corrupt. The dinner went off very pleasantly. Rastignac and + de Marsay went to the Opera with the Vidame and Victurnien, with a view to + following them afterwards to Mlle. des Touches’ salon. And thither, + accordingly, this pair of rakes betook themselves, calculating that by + that time the tragedy would have been read; for of all things to be taken + between eleven and twelve o’clock at night, a tragedy in their opinion was + the most unwholesome. They went to keep a watch on Victurnien and to + embarrass him, a piece of schoolboys’s mischief embittered by a jealous + dandy’s spite. But Victurnien was gifted with that page’s effrontery which + is a great help to ease of manner; and Rastignac, watching him as he made + his entrance, was surprised to see how quickly he caught the tone of the + moment. + </p> + <p> + “That young d’Esgrignon will go far, will he not?” he said, addressing his + companion. + </p> + <p> + “That is as may be,” returned de Marsay, “but he is in a fair way.” + </p> + <p> + The Vidame introduced his young friend to one of the most amiable and + frivolous duchesses of the day, a lady whose adventures caused an + explosion five years later. Just then, however, she was in the full blaze + of her glory; she had been suspected, it is true, of equivocal conduct; + but suspicion, while it is still suspicion and not proof, marks a woman + out with the kind of distinction which slander gives to a man. Nonentities + are never slandered; they chafe because they are left in peace. This woman + was, in fact, the Duchesse de Maufrigneuse, a daughter of the d’Uxelles; + her father-in-law was still alive; she was not to be the Princesse de + Cadignan for some years to come. A friend of the Duchesse de Langeais and + the Vicomtesse de Beauseant, two glories departed, she was likewise + intimate with the Marquise d’Espard, with whom she disputed her fragile + sovereignty as queen of fashion. Great relations lent her countenance for + a long while, but the Duchesse de Maufrigneuse was one of those women who, + in some way, nobody knows how, or why, or where, will spend the rents of + all the lands of earth, and of the moon likewise, if they were not out of + reach. The general outline of her character was scarcely known as yet; de + Marsay, and de Marsay only, really had read her. That redoubtable dandy + now watched the Vidame de Pamiers’ introduction of his young friend to + that lovely woman, and bent over to say in Rastignac’s ear: + </p> + <p> + “My dear fellow, he will go up <i>whizz</i>! like a rocket, and come down + like a stick,” an atrociously vulgar saying which was remarkably + fulfilled. + </p> + <p> + The Duchesse de Maufrigneuse had lost her heart to Victurnien after first + giving her mind to a serious study of him. Any lover who should have + caught the glance by which she expressed her gratitude to the Vidame might + well have been jealous of such friendship. Women are like horses let loose + on a steppe when they feel, as the Duchess felt with the Vidame de + Pamiers, that the ground is safe; at such moments they are themselves; + perhaps it pleases them to give, as it were, samples of their tenderness + in intimacy in this way. It was a guarded glance, nothing was lost between + eye and eye; there was no possibility of reflection in any mirror. Nobody + intercepted it. + </p> + <p> + “See how she has prepared herself,” Rastignac said, turning to de Marsay. + “What a virginal toilette; what swan’s grace in that snow-white throat of + hers! How white her gown is, and she is wearing a sash like a little girl; + she looks round like a madonna inviolate. Who would think that you had + passed that way?” + </p> + <p> + “The very reason why she looks as she does,” returned de Marsay, with a + triumphant air. + </p> + <p> + The two young men exchanged a smile. Mme. de Maufrigneuse saw the smile + and guessed at their conversation, and gave the pair a broadside of her + eyes, an art acquired by Frenchwomen since the Peace, when Englishwomen + imported it into this country, together with the shape of their silver + plate, their horses and harness, and the piles of insular ice which impart + a refreshing coolness to the atmosphere of any room in which a certain + number of British females are gathered together. The young men grew + serious as a couple of clerks at the end of a homily from headquarters + before the receipt of an expected bonus. + </p> + <p> + The Duchess when she lost her heart to Victurnien had made up her mind to + play the part of romantic Innocence, a role much understudied subsequently + by other women, for the misfortune of modern youth. Her Grace of + Maufrigneuse had just come out as an angel at a moment’s notice, precisely + as she meant to turn to literature and science somewhere about her + fortieth year instead of taking to devotion. She made a point of being + like nobody else. Her parts, her dresses, her caps, opinions, toilettes, + and manner of acting were all entirely new and original. Soon after her + marriage, when she was scarcely more than a girl, she had played the part + of a knowing and almost depraved woman; she ventured on risky repartees + with shallow people, and betrayed her ignorance to those who knew better. + As the date of that marriage made it impossible to abstract one little + year from her age without the knowledge of Time, she had taken it into her + head to be immaculate. She scarcely seemed to belong to earth; she shook + out her wide sleeves as if they had been wings. Her eyes fled to heaven at + too warm a glance, or word, or thought. + </p> + <p> + There is a madonna painted by Piola, the great Genoese painter, who bade + fair to bring out a second edition of Raphael till his career was cut + short by jealousy and murder; his madonna, however, you may dimly discern + through a pane of glass in a little street in Genoa. + </p> + <p> + A more chaste-eyed madonna than Piola’s does not exist but compared with + Mme. de Maufrigneuse, that heavenly creature was a Messalina. Women + wondered among themselves how such a giddy young thing had been + transformed by a change of dress into the fair veiled seraph who seemed + (to use an expression now in vogue) to have a soul as white as new fallen + snow on the highest Alpine crests. How had she solved in such short space + the Jesuitical problem how to display a bosom whiter than her soul by + hiding it in gauze? How could she look so ethereal while her eyes drooped + so murderously? Those almost wanton glances seemed to give promise of + untold languorous delight, while by an ascetic’s sigh of aspiration after + a better life the mouth appeared to add that none of those promises would + be fulfilled. Ingenuous youths (for there were a few to be found in the + Guards of that day) privately wondered whether, in the most intimate + moments, it were possible to speak familiarly to this White Lady, this + starry vapor slidden down from the Milky Way. This system, which answered + completely for some years at a stretch, was turned to good account by + women of fashion, whose breasts were lined with a stout philosophy, for + they could cloak no inconsiderable exactions with these little airs from + the sacristy. Not one of the celestial creatures but was quite well aware + of the possibilities of less ethereal love which lay in the longing of + every well-conditioned male to recall such beings to earth. It was a + fashion which permitted them to abide in a semi-religious, semi-Ossianic + empyrean; they could, and did, ignore all the practical details of daily + life, a short and easy method of disposing of many questions. De Marsay, + foreseeing the future developments of the system, added a last word, for + he saw that Rastignac was jealous of Victurnien. + </p> + <p> + “My boy,” said he, “stay as you are. Our Nucingen will make your fortune, + whereas the Duchess would ruin you. She is too expensive.” + </p> + <p> + Rastignac allowed de Marsay to go without asking further questions. He + knew Paris. He knew that the most refined and noble and disinterested of + women—a woman who cannot be induced to accept anything but a bouquet—can + be as dangerous an acquaintance for a young man as any opera girl of + former days. As a matter of fact, the opera girl is an almost mythical + being. As things are now at the theatres, dancers and actresses are about + as amusing as a declaration of the rights of woman, they are puppets that + go abroad in the morning in the character of respected and respectable + mothers of families, and act men’s parts in tight-fitting garments at + night. + </p> + <p> + Worthy M. Chesnel, in his country notary’s office, was right; he had + foreseen one of the reefs on which the Count might shipwreck. Victurnien + was dazzled by the poetic aureole which Mme. de Maufrigneuse chose to + assume; he was chained and padlocked from the first hour in her company, + bound captive by that girlish sash, and caught by the curls twined round + fairy fingers. Far corrupted the boy was already, but he really believed + in that farrago of maidenliness and muslin, in sweet looks as much studied + as an Act of Parliament. And if the one man, who is in duty bound to + believe in feminine fibs, is deceived by them, is not that enough? + </p> + <p> + For a pair of lovers, the rest of their species are about as much alive as + figures on the tapestry. The Duchess, flattery apart, was avowedly and + admittedly one of the ten handsomest women in society. “The loveliest + woman in Paris” is, as you know, as often met with in the world of + love-making as “the finest book that has appeared in this generation,” in + the world of letters. + </p> + <p> + The converse which Victurnien held with the Duchess can be kept up at his + age without too great a strain. He was young enough and ignorant enough of + life in Paris to feel no necessity to be upon his guard, no need to keep a + watch over his lightest words and glances. The religious sentimentalism, + which finds a broadly humorous commentary in the after-thoughts of either + speaker, puts the old-world French chat of men and women, with its + pleasant familiarity, its lively ease, quite out of the question; they + make love in a mist nowadays. + </p> + <p> + Victurnien was just sufficient of an unsophisticated provincial to remain + suspended in a highly appropriate and unfeigned rapture which pleased the + Duchess; for women are no more to be deceived by the comedies which men + play than by their own. Mme. de Maufrigneuse calculated, not without + dismay, that the young Count’s infatuation was likely to hold good for six + whole months of disinterested love. She looked so lovely in this dove’s + mood, quenching the light in her eyes by the golden fringe of their + lashes, that when the Marquise d’Espard bade her friend good-night, she + whispered, “Good! very good, dear!” And with those farewell words, the + fair Marquise left her rival to make the tour of the modern Pays du + Tendre; which, by the way, is not so absurd a conception as some appear to + think. New maps of the country are engraved for each generation; and if + the names of the routes are different, they still lead to the same capital + city. + </p> + <p> + In the course of an hour’s tete-a-tete, on a corner sofa, under the eyes + of the world, the Duchess brought young d’Esgrignon as far as Scipio’s + Generosity, the Devotion of Amadis, and Chivalrous Self-abnegation (for + the Middle Ages were just coming into fashion, with their daggers, + machicolations, hauberks, chain-mail, peaked shoes, and romantic painted + card-board properties). She had an admirable turn, moreover, for leaving + things unsaid, for leaving ideas in a discreet, seeming careless way, to + work their way down, one by one, into Victurnien’s heart, like needles + into a cushion. She possessed a marvelous skill in reticence; she was + charming in hypocrisy, lavish of subtle promises, which revived hope and + then melted away like ice in the sun if you looked at them closely, and + most treacherous in the desire which she felt and inspired. At the close + of this charming encounter she produced the running noose of an invitation + to call, and flung it over him with a dainty demureness which the printed + page can never set forth. + </p> + <p> + “You will forget me,” she said. “You will find so many women eager to pay + court to you instead of enlightening you.... But you will come back to me + undeceived. Are you coming to me first?... No. As you will.—For my + own part, I tell you frankly that your visits will be a great pleasure to + me. People of soul are so rare, and I think that you are one of them.—Come, + good-bye; people will begin to talk about us if we talk together any + longer.” + </p> + <p> + She made good her words and took flight. Victurnien went soon afterwards, + but not before others had guessed his ecstatic condition; his face wore + the expression peculiar to happy men, something between an Inquisitor’s + calm discretion and the self-contained beatitude of a devotee, fresh from + the confessional and absolution. + </p> + <p> + “Mme. de Maufrigneuse went pretty briskly to the point this evening,” said + the Duchesse de Grandlieu, when only half-a-dozen persons were left in + Mlle. des Touches’ little drawing-room—to wit, des Lupeaulx, a + Master of Requests, who at that time stood very well at court, Vandenesse, + the Vicomtesse de Grandlieu, Canalis, and Mme. de Serizy. + </p> + <p> + “D’Esgrignon and Maufrigneuse are two names that are sure to cling + together,” said Mme. de Serizy, who aspired to epigram. + </p> + <p> + “For some days past she has been out at grass on Platonism,” said des + Lupeaulx. + </p> + <p> + “She will ruin that poor innocent,” added Charles de Vandenesse. + </p> + <p> + “What do you mean?” asked Mlle. des Touches. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, morally and financially, beyond all doubt,” said the Vicomtesse, + rising. + </p> + <p> + The cruel words were cruelly true for young d’Esgrignon. + </p> + <p> + Next morning he wrote to his aunt describing his introduction into the + high world of the Faubourg Saint-Germain in bright colors flung by the + prism of love, explaining the reception which met him everywhere in a way + which gratified his father’s family pride. The Marquis would have the + whole long letter read to him twice; he rubbed his hands when he heard of + the Vidame de Pamiers’ dinner—the Vidame was an old acquaintance—and + of the subsequent introduction to the Duchess; but at Blondet’s name he + lost himself in conjectures. What could the younger son of a judge, a + public prosecutor during the Revolution, have been doing there? + </p> + <p> + There was joy that evening among the Collection of Antiquities. They + talked over the young Count’s success. So discreet were they with regard + to Mme. de Maufrigneuse, that the one man who heard the secret was the + Chevalier. There was no financial postscript at the end of the letter, no + unpleasant reference to the sinews of war, which every young man makes in + such a case. Mlle. Armande showed it to Chesnel. Chesnel was pleased and + raised not a single objection. It was clear, as the Marquis and the + Chevalier agreed, that a young man in favor with the Duchesse de + Maufrigneuse would shortly be a hero at court, where in the old days women + were all-powerful. The Count had not made a bad choice. The dowagers told + over all the gallant adventures of the Maufrigneuses from Louis XIII. to + Louis XVI.—they spared to inquire into preceding reigns—and + when all was done they were enchanted.—Mme. de Maufrigneuse was much + praised for interesting herself in Victurnien. Any writer of plays in + search of a piece of pure comedy would have found it well worth his while + to listen to the Antiquities in conclave. + </p> + <p> + Victurnien received charming letters from his father and aunt, and also + from the Chevalier. That gentleman recalled himself to the Vidame’s + memory. He had been at Spa with M. de Pamiers in 1778, after a certain + journey made by a celebrated Hungarian princess. And Chesnel also wrote. + The fond flattery to which the unhappy boy was only too well accustomed + shone out of every page; and Mlle. Armande seemed to share half of Mme. de + Maufrigneuse’s happiness. + </p> + <p> + Thus happy in the approval of his family, the young Count made a spirited + beginning in the perilous and costly ways of dandyism. He had five horses—he + was moderate—de Marsay had fourteen! He returned the Vidame’s + hospitality, even including Blondet in the invitation, as well as de + Marsay and Rastignac. The dinner cost five hundred francs, and the noble + provincial was feted on the same scale. Victurnien played a good deal, + and, for his misfortune, at the fashionable game of whist. + </p> + <p> + He laid out his days in busy idleness. Every day between twelve and three + o’clock he was with the Duchess; afterwards he went to meet her in the + Bois de Boulogne and ride beside her carriage. Sometimes the charming + couple rode together, but this was early in fine summer mornings. Society, + balls, the theatre, and gaiety filled the Count’s evening hours. + Everywhere Victurnien made a brilliant figure, everywhere he flung the + pearls of his wit broadcast. He gave his opinion on men, affairs, and + events in profound sayings; he would have put you in mind of a fruit-tree + putting forth all its strength in blossom. He was leading an enervating + life wasteful of money, and even yet more wasteful, it may be of a man’s + soul; in that life the fairest talents are buried out of sight, the most + incorruptible honesty perishes, the best-tempered springs of will are + slackened. + </p> + <p> + The Duchess, so white and fragile and angel-like, felt attracted to the + dissipations of bachelor life; she enjoyed first nights, she liked + anything amusing, anything improvised. Bohemian restaurants lay outside + her experience; so d’Esgrignon got up a charming little party at the + Rocher de Cancale for her benefit, asked all the amiable scamps whom she + cultivated and sermonized, and there was a vast amount of merriment, wit, + and gaiety, and a corresponding bill to pay. That supper led to others. + And through it all Victurnien worshiped her as an angel. Mme. de + Maufrigneuse for him was still an angel, untouched by any taint of earth; + an angel at the Varietes, where she sat out the half-obscene, vulgar + farces, which made her laugh; an angel through the cross-fire of + highly-flavored jests and scandalous anecdotes, which enlivened a stolen + frolic; a languishing angel in the latticed box at the Vaudeville; an + angel while she criticised the postures of opera dancers with the + experience of an elderly habitue of le coin de la reine; an angel at the + Porte Saint-Martin, at the little boulevard theatres, at the masked balls, + which she enjoyed like any schoolboy. She was an angel who asked him for + the love that lives by self-abnegation and heroism and self-sacrifice; an + angel who would have her lover live like an English lord, with an income + of a million francs. D’Esgrignon once exchanged a horse because the + animal’s coat did not satisfy her notions. At play she was an angel, and + certainly no bourgeoise that ever lived could have bidden d’Esgrignon + “Stake for me!” in such an angelic way. She was so divinely reckless in + her folly, that a man might well have sold his soul to the devil lest this + angel should lose her taste for earthly pleasures. + </p> + <p> + The first winter went by. The Count had drawn on M. Cardot for the + trifling sum of thirty thousand francs over and above Chesnel’s + remittance. As Cardot very carefully refrained from using his right of + remonstrance, Victurnien now learned for the first time that he had + overdrawn his account. He was the more offended by an extremely polite + refusal to make any further advance, since it so happened that he had just + lost six thousand francs at play at the club, and he could not very well + show himself there until they were paid. + </p> + <p> + After growing indignant with Maitre Cardot, who had trusted him with + thirty thousand francs (Cardot had written to Chesnel, but to the fair + Duchess’ favorite he made the most of his so-called confidence in him), + after all this, d’Esgrignon was obliged to ask the lawyer to tell him how + to set about raising the money, since debts of honor were in question. + </p> + <p> + “Draw bills on your father’s banker, and take them to his correspondent; + he, no doubt, will discount them for you. Then write to your family, and + tell them to remit the amount to the banker.” + </p> + <p> + An inner voice seemed to suggest du Croisier’s name in this predicament. + He had seen du Croisier on his knees to the aristocracy, and of the man’s + real disposition he was entirely ignorant. So to du Croisier he wrote a + very offhand letter, informing him that he had drawn a bill of exchange on + him for ten thousand francs, adding that the amount would be repaid on + receipt of the letter either by M. Chesnel or by Mlle. Armande + d’Esgrignon. Then he indited two touching epistles—one to Chesnel, + another to his aunt. In the matter of going headlong to ruin, a young man + often shows singular ingenuity and ability, and fortune favors him. In the + morning Victurnien happened on the name of the Paris bankers in + correspondence with du Croisier, and de Marsay furnished him with the + Kellers’ address. De Marsay knew everything in Paris. The Kellers took the + bill and gave him the sum without a word, after deducting the discount. + The balance of the account was in du Croisier’s favor. + </p> + <p> + But the gaming debt was as nothing in comparison with the state of things + at home. Invoices showered in upon Victurnien. + </p> + <p> + “I say! Do you trouble yourself about that sort of thing?” Rastignac said, + laughing. “Are you putting them in order, my dear boy? I did not think you + were so business-like.” + </p> + <p> + “My dear fellow, it is quite time I thought about it; there are twenty odd + thousand francs there.” + </p> + <p> + De Marsay, coming in to look up d’Esgrignon for a steeplechase, produced a + dainty little pocket-book, took out twenty thousand francs, and handed + them to him. + </p> + <p> + “It is the best way of keeping the money safe,” said he; “I am twice + enchanted to have won it yesterday from my honored father, Milord Dudley.” + </p> + <p> + Such French grace completely fascinated d’Esgrignon; he took it for + friendship; and as to the money, punctually forgot to pay his debts with + it, and spent it on his pleasures. The fact was that de Marsay was looking + on with an unspeakable pleasure while young d’Esgrignon “got out of his + depth,” in dandy’s idiom; it pleased de Marsay in all sorts of fondling + ways to lay an arm on the lad’s shoulder; by and by he should feel its + weight, and disappear the sooner. For de Marsay was jealous; the Duchess + flaunted her love affair; she was not at home to other visitors when + d’Esgrignon was with her. And besides, de Marsay was one of those savage + humorists who delight in mischief, as Turkish women in the bath. So when + he had carried off the prize, and bets were settled at the tavern where + they breakfasted, and a bottle or two of good wine had appeared, de Marsay + turned to d’Esgrignon with a laugh: + </p> + <p> + “Those bills that you are worrying over are not yours, I am sure.” + </p> + <p> + “Eh! if they weren’t, why should he worry himself?” asked Rastignac. + </p> + <p> + “And whose should they be?” d’Esgrignon inquired. + </p> + <p> + “Then you do not know the Duchess’ position?” queried de Marsay, as he + sprang into the saddle. + </p> + <p> + “No,” said d’Esgrignon, his curiosity aroused. + </p> + <p> + “Well, dear fellow, it is like this,” returned de Marsay—“thirty + thousand francs to Victorine, eighteen thousand francs to Houbigaut, + lesser amounts to Herbault, Nattier, Nourtier, and those Latour people,—altogether + a hundred thousand francs.” + </p> + <p> + “An angel!” cried d’Esgrignon, with eyes uplifted to heaven. + </p> + <p> + “This is the bill for her wings,” Rastignac cried facetiously. + </p> + <p> + “She owes all that, my dear boy,” continued de Marsay, “precisely because + she is an angel. But we have all seen angels in this position,” he added, + glancing at Rastignac; “there is this about women that is sublime: they + understand nothing of money; they do not meddle with it, it is no affair + of theirs; they are invited guests at the ‘banquet of life,’ as some poet + or other said that came to an end in the workhouse.” + </p> + <p> + “How do you know this when I do not?” d’Esgrignon artlessly returned. + </p> + <p> + “You are sure to be the last to know it, just as she is sure to be the + last to hear that you are in debt.” + </p> + <p> + “I thought she had a hundred thousand livres a year,” said d’Esgrignon. + </p> + <p> + “Her husband,” replied de Marsay, “lives apart from her. He stays with his + regiment and practises economy, for he has one or two little debts of his + own as well, has our dear Duke. Where do you come from? Just learn to do + as we do and keep our friends’ accounts for them. Mlle. Diane (I fell in + love with her for the name’s sake), Mlle. Diane d’Uxelles brought her + husband sixty thousand livres of income; for the last eight years she has + lived as if she had two hundred thousand. It is perfectly plain that at + this moment her lands are mortgaged up to their full value; some fine + morning the crash must come, and the angel will be put to flight by—must + it be said?—by sheriff’s officers that have the effrontery to lay + hands on an angel just as they might take hold of one of us.” + </p> + <p> + “Poor angel!” + </p> + <p> + “Lord! it costs a great deal to dwell in a Parisian heaven; you must + whiten your wings and your complexion every morning,” said Rastignac. + </p> + <p> + Now as the thought of confessing his debts to his beloved Diane had passed + through d’Esgrignon’s mind, something like a shudder ran through him when + he remembered that he still owed sixty thousand francs, to say nothing of + bills to come for another ten thousand. He went back melancholy enough. + His friends remarked his ill-disguised preoccupation, and spoke of it + among themselves at dinner. + </p> + <p> + “Young d’Esgrignon is getting out of his depth. He is not up to Paris. He + will blow his brains out. A little fool!” and so on and so on. + </p> + <p> + D’Esgrignon, however, promptly took comfort. His servant brought him two + letters. The first was from Chesnel. A letter from Chesnel smacked of the + stale grumbling faithfulness of honesty and its consecrated formulas. With + all respect he put it aside till the evening. But the second letter he + read with unspeakable pleasure. In Ciceronian phrases, du Croisier + groveled before him, like a Sganarelle before a Geronte, begging the young + Count in future to spare him the affront of first depositing the amount of + the bills which he should condescend to draw. The concluding phrase seemed + meant to convey the idea that here was an open cashbox full of coin at the + service of the noble d’Esgrignon family. So strong was the impression that + Victurnien, like Sganarelle or Mascarille in the play, like everybody else + who feels a twinge of conscience at his finger-tips, made an involuntary + gesture. + </p> + <p> + Now that he was sure of unlimited credit with the Kellers, he opened + Chesnel’s letter gaily. He had expected four full pages, full of + expostulation to the brim; he glanced down the sheet for the familiar + words “prudence,” “honor,” “determination to do right,” and the like, and + saw something else instead which made his head swim. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “MONSIEUR LE COMTE,—Of all my fortune I have now but two hundred + thousand francs left. I beg of you not to exceed that amount, if + you should do one of the most devoted servants of your family the + honor of taking it. I present my respects to you. + + “CHESNEL.” + </pre> + <p> + “He is one of Plutarch’s men,” Victurnien said to himself, as he tossed + the letter on the table. He felt chagrined; such magnanimity made him feel + very small. + </p> + <p> + “There! one must reform,” he thought; and instead of going to a restaurant + and spending fifty or sixty francs over his dinner, he retrenched by + dining with the Duchesse de Maufrigneuse, and told her about the letter. + </p> + <p> + “I should like to see that man,” she said, letting her eyes shine like two + fixed stars. + </p> + <p> + “What would you do?” + </p> + <p> + “Why, he should manage my affairs for me.” + </p> + <p> + Diane de Maufrigneuse was divinely dressed; she meant her toilet to do + honor to Victurnien. The levity with which she treated his affairs or, + more properly speaking, his debts fascinated him. + </p> + <p> + The charming pair went to the Italiens. Never had that beautiful and + enchanting woman looked more seraphic, more ethereal. Nobody in the house + could have believed that she had debts which reached the sum total + mentioned by de Marsay that very morning. No single one of the cares of + earth had touched that sublime forehead of hers, full of woman’s pride of + the highest kind. In her, a pensive air seemed to be some gleam of an + earthly love, nobly extinguished. The men for the most part were wagering + that Victurnien, with his handsome figure, laid her under contribution; + while the women, sure of their rival’s subterfuge, admired her as Michael + Angelo admired Raphael, in petto. Victurnien loved Diane, according to one + of these ladies, for the sake of her hair—she had the most beautiful + fair hair in France; another maintained that Diane’s pallor was her + principal merit, for she was not really well shaped, her dress made the + most of her figure; yet others thought that Victurnien loved her for her + foot, her one good point, for she had a flat figure. But (and this brings + the present-day manner of Paris before you in an astonishing manner) + whereas all the men said that the Duchess was subsidizing Victurnien’s + splendor, the women, on the other hand, gave people to understand that it + was Victurnien who paid for the angel’s wings, as Rastignac said. + </p> + <p> + As they drove back again, Victurnien had it on the tip of his tongue a + score of times to open this chapter, for the Duchess’ debts weighed more + heavily upon his mind than his own; and a score of times his purpose died + away before the attitude of the divine creature beside him. He could see + her by the light of the carriage lamps; she was bewitching in the + love-languor which always seemed to be extorted by the violence of passion + from her madonna’s purity. The Duchess did not fall into the mistake of + talking of her virtue, of her angel’s estate, as provincial women, her + imitators, do. She was far too clever. She made him, for whom she made + such great sacrifices, think these things for himself. At the end of six + months she could make him feel that a harmless kiss on her hand was a + deadly sin; she contrived that every grace should be extorted from her, + and this with such consummate art, that it was impossible not to feel that + she was more an angel than ever when she yielded. + </p> + <p> + None but Parisian women are clever enough always to give a new charm to + the moon, to romanticize the stars, to roll in the same sack of charcoal + and emerge each time whiter than ever. This is the highest refinement of + intellectual and Parisian civilization. Women beyond the Rhine or the + English Channel believe nonsense of this sort when they utter it; while + your Parisienne makes her lover believe that she is an angel, the better + to add to his bliss by flattering his vanity on both sides—temporal + and spiritual. Certain persons, detractors of the Duchess, maintain that + she was the first dupe of her own white magic. A wicked slander. The + Duchess believed in nothing but herself. + </p> + <p> + By the end of the year 1823 the Kellers had supplied Victurnien with two + hundred thousand francs, and neither Chesnel nor Mlle. Armande knew + anything about it. He had had, besides, two thousand crowns from Chesnel + at one time and another, the better to hide the sources on which he was + drawing. He wrote lying letters to his poor father and aunt, who lived on, + happy and deceived, like most happy people under the sun. The insidious + current of life in Paris was bringing a dreadful catastrophe upon the + great and noble house; and only one person was in the secret of it. This + was du Croisier. He rubbed his hands gleefully as he went past in the dark + and looked in at the Antiquities. He had good hope of attaining his ends; + and his ends were not, as heretofore, the simple ruin of the d’Esgrignons, + but the dishonor of their house. He felt instinctively at such times that + his revenge was at hand; he scented it in the wind! He had been sure of it + indeed from the day when he discovered that the young Count’s burden of + debt was growing too heavy for the boy to bear. + </p> + <p> + Du Croisier’s first step was to rid himself of his most hated enemy, the + venerable Chesnel. The good old man lived in the Rue du Bercail, in a + house with a steep-pitched roof. There was a little paved courtyard in + front, where the rose-bushes grew and clambered up to the windows of the + upper story. Behind lay a little country garden, with its box-edged + borders, shut in by damp, gloomy-looking walls. The prim, gray-painted + street door, with its wicket opening and bell attached, announced quite as + plainly as the official scutcheon that “a notary lives here.” + </p> + <p> + It was half-past five o’clock in the afternoon, at which hour the old man + usually sat digesting his dinner. He had drawn his black leather-covered + armchair before the fire, and put on his armor, a painted pasteboard + contrivance shaped like a top boot, which protected his stockinged legs + from the heat of the fire; for it was one of the good man’s habits to sit + for a while after dinner with his feet on the dogs and to stir up the + glowing coals. He always ate too much; he was fond of good living. Alas! + if it had not been for that little failing, would he not have been more + perfect than it is permitted to mortal man to be? Chesnel had finished his + cup of coffee. His old housekeeper had just taken away the tray which had + been used for the purpose for the last twenty years. He was waiting for + his clerks to go before he himself went out for his game at cards, and + meanwhile he was thinking—no need to ask of whom or what. A day + seldom passed but he asked himself, “Where is <i>he</i>? What is <i>he</i> + doing?” He thought that the Count was in Italy with the fair Duchesse de + Maufrigneuse. + </p> + <p> + When every franc of a man’s fortune has come to him, not by inheritance, + but through his own earning and saving, it is one of his sweetest + pleasures to look back upon the pains that have gone to the making of it, + and then to plan out a future for his crowns. This it is to conjugate the + verb “to enjoy” in every tense. And the old lawyer, whose affections were + all bound up in a single attachment, was thinking that all the + carefully-chosen, well-tilled land which he had pinched and scraped to buy + would one day go to round the d’Esgrignon estates, and the thought doubled + his pleasure. His pride swelled as he sat at his ease in the old armchair; + and the building of glowing coals, which he raised with the tongs, + sometimes seemed to him to be the old noble house built up again, thanks + to his care. He pictured the young Count’s prosperity, and told himself + that he had done well to live for such an aim. Chesnel was not lacking in + intelligence; sheer goodness was not the sole source of his great + devotion; he had a pride of his own; he was like the nobles who used to + rebuild a pillar in a cathedral to inscribe their name upon it; he meant + his name to be remembered by the great house which he had restored. Future + generations of d’Esgrignons should speak of old Chesnel. Just at this + point his old housekeeper came in with signs of alarm in her countenance. + </p> + <p> + “Is the house on fire, Brigitte?” + </p> + <p> + “Something of the sort,” said she. “Here is M. du Croisier wanting to + speak to you——” + </p> + <p> + “M. du Croisier,” repeated the old lawyer. A stab of cold misgiving gave + him so sharp a pang at the heart that he dropped the tongs. “M. du + Croisier here!” thought he, “our chief enemy!” + </p> + <p> + Du Croisier came in at that moment, like a cat that scents milk in a + dairy. He made a bow, seated himself quietly in the easy-chair which the + lawyer brought forward, and produced a bill for two hundred and + twenty-seven thousand francs, principal and interest, the total amount of + sums advanced to M. Victurnien in bills of exchange drawn upon du + Croisier, and duly honored by him. Of these, he now demanded immediate + payment, with a threat of proceeding to extremities with the + heir-presumptive of the house. Chesnel turned the unlucky letters over one + by one, and asked the enemy to keep the secret. This he engaged to do if + he were paid within forty-eight hours. He was pressed for money he had + obliged various manufacturers; and there followed a series of the + financial fictions by which neither notaries nor borrowers are deceived. + Chesnel’s eyes were dim; he could scarcely keep back the tears. There was + but one way of raising the money; he must mortgage his own lands up to + their full value. But when du Croisier learned the difficulty in the way + of repayment, he forgot that he was hard pressed; he no longer wanted + ready money, and suddenly came out with a proposal to buy the old lawyer’s + property. The sale was completed within two days. Poor Chesnel could not + bear the thought of the son of the house undergoing a five years’ + imprisonment for debt. So in a few days’ time nothing remained to him but + his practice, the sums that were due to him, and the house in which he + lived. Chesnel, stripped of all his lands, paced to and fro in his private + office, paneled with dark oak, his eyes fixed on the beveled edges of the + chestnut cross-beams of the ceiling, or on the trellised vines in the + garden outside. He was not thinking of his farms now, or of Le Jard, his + dear house in the country; not he. + </p> + <p> + “What will become of him? He ought to come back; they must marry him to + some rich heiress,” he said to himself; and his eyes were dim, his head + heavy. + </p> + <p> + How to approach Mlle. Armande, and in what words to break the news to her, + he did not know. The man who had just paid the debts of the family quaked + at the thought of confessing these things. He went from the Rue du Bercail + to the Hotel d’Esgrignon with pulses throbbing like some girl’s heart when + she leaves her father’s roof by stealth, not to return again till she is a + mother and her heart is broken. + </p> + <p> + Mlle. Armande had just received a charming letter, charming in its + hypocrisy. Her nephew was the happiest man under the sun. He had been to + the baths, he had been traveling in Italy with Mme. de Maufrigneuse, and + now sent his journal to his aunt. Every sentence was instinct with love. + There were enchanting descriptions of Venice, and fascinating + appreciations of the great works of Venetian art; there were most + wonderful pages full of the Duomo at Milan, and again of Florence; he + described the Apennines, and how they differed from the Alps, and how in + some village like Chiavari happiness lay all around you, ready made. + </p> + <p> + The poor aunt was under the spell. She saw the far-off country of love, + she saw, hovering above the land, the angel whose tenderness gave to all + that beauty a burning glow. She was drinking in the letter at long + draughts; how should it have been otherwise? The girl who had put love + from her was now a woman ripened by repressed and pent-up passion, by all + the longings continually and gladly offered up as a sacrifice on the altar + of the hearth. Mlle. Armande was not like the Duchess. She did not look + like an angel. She was rather like the little, straight, slim and slender, + ivory-tinted statues, which those wonderful sculptors, the builders of + cathedrals, placed here and there about the buildings. Wild plants + sometimes find a hold in the damp niches, and weave a crown of beautiful + bluebell flowers about the carved stone. At this moment the blue buds were + unfolding in the fair saint’s eyes. Mlle. Armande loved the charming + couple as if they stood apart from real life; she saw nothing wrong in a + married woman’s love for Victurnien; any other woman she would have judged + harshly; but in this case, not to have loved her nephew would have been + the unpardonable sin. Aunts, mothers, and sisters have a code of their own + for nephews and sons and brothers. + </p> + <p> + Mlle. Armande was in Venice; she saw the lines of fairy palaces that stand + on either side of the Grand Canal; she was sitting in Victurnien’s + gondola; he was telling her what happiness it had been to feel that the + Duchess’ beautiful hand lay in his own, to know that she loved him as they + floated together on the breast of the amorous Queen of Italian seas. But + even in that moment of bliss, such as angels know, some one appeared in + the garden walk. It was Chesnel! Alas! the sound of his tread on the + gravel might have been the sound of the sands running from Death’s + hour-glass to be trodden under his unshod feet. The sound, the sight of a + dreadful hopelessness in Chesnel’s face, gave her that painful shock which + follows a sudden recall of the senses when the soul has sent them forth + into the world of dreams. + </p> + <p> + “What is it?” she cried, as if some stab had pierced to her heart. + </p> + <p> + “All is lost!” said Chesnel. “M. le Comte will bring dishonor upon the + house if we do not set it in order.” He held out the bills, and described + the agony of the last few days in a few simple but vigorous and touching + words. + </p> + <p> + “He is deceiving us! The miserable boy!” cried Mlle. Armande, her heart + swelling as the blood surged back to it in heavy throbs. + </p> + <p> + “Let us both say mea culpa, mademoiselle,” the old lawyer said stoutly; + “we have always allowed him to have his own way; he needed stern guidance; + he could not have it from you with your inexperience of life; nor from me, + for he would not listen to me. He has had no mother.” + </p> + <p> + “Fate sometimes deals terribly with a noble house in decay,” said Mlle. + Armande, with tears in her eyes. + </p> + <p> + The Marquis came up as she spoke. He had been walking up and down the + garden while he read the letter sent by his son after his return. + Victurnien gave his itinerary from an aristocrat’s point of view; telling + how he had been welcomed by the greatest Italian families of Genoa, Turin, + Milan, Florence, Venice, Rome, and Naples. This flattering reception he + owed to his name, he said, and partly, perhaps, to the Duchess as well. In + short, he had made his appearance magnificently, and as befitted a + d’Esgrignon. + </p> + <p> + “Have you been at your old tricks, Chesnel?” asked the Marquis. + </p> + <p> + Mlle. Armande made Chesnel an eager sign, dreadful to see. They understood + each other. The poor father, the flower of feudal honor, must die with all + his illusions. A compact of silence and devotion was ratified between the + two noble hearts by a simple inclination of the head. + </p> + <p> + “Ah! Chesnel, it was not exactly in this way that the d’Esgrignons went + into Italy at the end of the fourteenth century, when Marshal Trivulzio, + in the service of the King of France, served under a d’Esgrignon, who had + a Bayard too under his orders. Other times, other pleasures. And, for that + matter, the Duchesse de Maufrigneuse is at least the equal of a Marchesa + di Spinola.” + </p> + <p> + And, on the strength of his genealogical tree, the old man swung himself + off with a coxcomb’s air, as if he himself had once made a conquest of the + Marchesa di Spinola, and still possessed the Duchess of to-day. + </p> + <p> + The two companions in unhappiness were left together on the garden bench, + with the same thought for a bond of union. They sat for a long time, + saying little save vague, unmeaning words, watching the father walk away + in his happiness, gesticulating as if he were talking to himself. + </p> + <p> + “What will become of him now?” Mlle. Armande asked after a while. + </p> + <p> + “Du Croisier has sent instructions to the MM. Keller; he is not to be + allowed to draw any more without authorization.” + </p> + <p> + “And there are debts,” continued Mlle. Armande. + </p> + <p> + “I am afraid so.” + </p> + <p> + “If he is left without resources, what will he do?” + </p> + <p> + “I dare not answer that question to myself.” + </p> + <p> + “But he must be drawn out of that life, he must come back to us, or he + will have nothing left.” + </p> + <p> + “And nothing else left to him,” Chesnel said gloomily. But Mlle. Armande + as yet did not and could not understand the full force of those words. + </p> + <p> + “Is there any hope of getting him away from that woman, that Duchess? + Perhaps she leads him on.” + </p> + <p> + “He would not stick at a crime to be with her,” said Chesnel, trying to + pave the way to an intolerable thought by others less intolerable. + </p> + <p> + “Crime,” repeated Mlle. Armande. “Oh, Chesnel, no one but you would think + of such a thing!” she added, with a withering look; before such a look + from a woman’s eyes no mortal can stand. “There is but one crime that a + noble can commit—the crime of high treason; and when he is beheaded, + the block is covered with a black cloth, as it is for kings.” + </p> + <p> + “The times have changed very much,” said Chesnel, shaking his head. + Victurnien had thinned his last thin, white hairs. “Our Martyr-King did + not die like the English King Charles.” + </p> + <p> + That thought soothed Mlle. Armande’s splendid indignation; a shudder ran + through her; but still she did not realize what Chesnel meant. + </p> + <p> + “To-morrow we will decide what we must do,” she said; “it needs thought. + At the worst, we have our lands.” + </p> + <p> + “Yes,” said Chesnel. “You and M. le Marquis own the estate conjointly; but + the larger part of it is yours. You can raise money upon it without saying + a word to him.” + </p> + <p> + The players at whist, reversis, boston, and backgammon noticed that + evening that Mlle. Armande’s features, usually so serene and pure, showed + signs of agitation. + </p> + <p> + “That poor heroic child!” said the old Marquise de Casteran, “she must be + suffering still. A woman never knows what her sacrifices to her family may + cost her.” + </p> + <p> + Next day it was arranged with Chesnel that Mlle. Armande should go to + Paris to snatch her nephew from perdition. If any one could carry off + Victurnien, was it not the woman whose motherly heart yearned over him? + Mlle. Armande made up her mind that she would go to the Duchesse de + Maufrigneuse and tell her all. Still, some sort of pretext was necessary + to explain the journey to the Marquis and the whole town. At some cost to + her maidenly delicacy, Mlle. Armande allowed it to be thought that she was + suffering from a complaint which called for a consultation of skilled and + celebrated physicians. Goodness knows whether the town talked of this or + no! But Mlle. Armande saw that something far more than her own reputation + was at stake. She set out. Chesnel brought her his last bag of louis; she + took it, without paying any attention to it, as she took her white + capuchine and thread mittens. + </p> + <p> + “Generous girl! What grace!” he said, as he put her into the carriage with + her maid, a woman who looked like a gray sister. + </p> + <p> + Du Croisier had thought out his revenge, as provincials think out + everything. For studying out a question in all its bearings, there are no + folk in this world like savages, peasants, and provincials; and this is + how, when they proceed from thought to action, you find every contingency + provided for from beginning to end. Diplomatists are children compared + with these classes of mammals; they have time before them, an element + which is lacking to those people who are obliged to think about a great + many things, to superintend the progress of all kinds of schemes, to look + forward for all sorts of contingencies in the wider interests of human + affairs. Had de Croisier sounded poor Victurnien’s nature so well, that he + foresaw how easily the young Count would lend himself to his schemes of + revenge? Or was he merely profiting by an opportunity for which he had + been on the watch for years? One circumstance there was, to be sure, in + his manner of preparing his stroke, which shows a certain skill. Who was + it that gave du Croisier warning of the moment? Was it the Kellers? Or + could it have been President du Ronceret’s son, then finishing his law + studies in Paris? + </p> + <p> + Du Croisier wrote to Victurnien, telling him that the Kellers had been + instructed to advance no more money; and that letter was timed to arrive + just as the Duchesse de Maufrigneuse was in the utmost perplexity, and the + Comte d’Esgrignon consumed by the sense of poverty as dreadful as it was + cunningly hidden. The wretched young man was exerting all his ingenuity to + seem as if he were wealthy! + </p> + <p> + Now in the letter which informed the victim that in future the Kellers + would make no further advances without security, there was a tolerably + wide space left between the forms of an exaggerated respect and the + signature. It was quite easy to tear off the best part of the letter and + convert it into a bill of exchange for any amount. The diabolical missive + had been enclosed in an envelope, so that the other side of the sheet was + blank. When it arrived, Victurnien was writhing in the lowest depths of + despair. After two years of the most prosperous, sensual, thoughtless, and + luxurious life, he found himself face to face with the most inexorable + poverty; it was an absolute impossibility to procure money. There had been + some throes of crisis before the journey came to an end. With the Duchess’ + help he had managed to extort various sums from bankers; but it had been + with the greatest difficulty, and, moreover, those very amounts were about + to start up again before him as overdue bills of exchange in all their + rigor, with a stern summons to pay from the Bank of France and the + commercial court. All through the enjoyments of those last weeks the + unhappy boy had felt the point of the Commander’s sword; at every + supper-party he heard, like Don Juan, the heavy tread of the statue + outside upon the stairs. He felt an unaccountable creeping of the flesh, a + warning that the sirocco of debt is nigh at hand. He reckoned on chance. + For five years he had never turned up a blank in the lottery, his purse + had always been replenished. After Chesnel had come du Croisier (he told + himself), after du Croisier surely another gold mine would pour out its + wealth. And besides, he was winning great sums at play; his luck at play + had saved him several unpleasant steps already; and often a wild hope sent + him to the Salon des Etrangers only to lose his winnings afterwards at + whist at the club. His life for the past two months had been like the + immortal finale of Mozart’s Don Giovanni; and of a truth, if a young man + has come to such a plight as Victurnien’s, that finale is enough to make + him shudder. Can anything better prove the enormous power of music than + that sublime rendering of the disorder and confusion arising out of a life + wholly give up to sensual indulgence? that fearful picture of a deliberate + effort to shut out the thought of debts and duels, deceit and evil luck? + In that music Mozart disputes the palm with Moliere. The terrific finale, + with its glow, its power, its despair and laughter, its grisly spectres + and elfish women, centres about the prodigal’s last effort made in the + after-supper heat of wine, the frantic struggle which ends the drama. + Victurnien was living through this infernal poem, and alone. He saw + visions of himself—a friendless, solitary outcast, reading the words + carved on the stone, the last words on the last page of the book that had + held him spellbound—THE END! + </p> + <p> + Yes; for him all would be at an end, and that soon. Already he saw the + cold, ironical eyes which his associates would turn upon him, and their + amusement over his downfall. Some of them he knew were playing high on + that gambling-table kept open all day long at the Bourse, or in private + houses at the clubs, and anywhere and everywhere in Paris; but not one of + these men could spare a banknote to save an intimate. There was no help + for it—Chesnel must be ruined. He had devoured Chesnel’s living. + </p> + <p> + He sat with the Duchess in their box at the Italiens, the whole house + envying them their happiness, and while he smiled at her, all the Furies + were tearing at his heart. Indeed, to give some idea of the depths of + doubt, despair, and incredulity in which the boy was groveling; he who so + clung to life—the life which the angel had made so fair—who so + loved it, that he would have stooped to baseness merely to live; he, the + pleasure-loving scapegrace, the degenerate d’Esgrignon, had even taken out + his pistols, had gone so far as to think of suicide. He who would never + have brooked the appearance of an insult was abusing himself in language + which no man is likely to hear except from himself. + </p> + <p> + He left du Croisier’s letter lying open on the bed. Josephin had brought + it in at nine o’clock. Victurnien’s furniture had been seized, but he + slept none the less. After he came back from the Opera, he and the Duchess + had gone to a voluptuous retreat, where they often spent a few hours + together after the most brilliant court balls and evening parties and + gaieties. Appearances were very cleverly saved. Their love-nest was a + garret like any other to all appearance; Mme. de Maufrigneuse was obliged + to bow her head with its court feathers or wreath of flowers to enter in + at the door; but within all the peris of the East had made the chamber + fair. And now that the Count was on the brink of ruin, he had longed to + bid farewell to the dainty nest, which he had built to realize a day-dream + worthy of his angel. Presently adversity would break the enchanted eggs; + there would be no brood of white doves, no brilliant tropical birds, no + more of the thousand bright-winged fancies which hover above our heads + even to the last days of our lives. Alas! alas! in three days he must be + gone; his bills had fallen into the hands of the money-lenders, the law + proceedings had reached the last stage. + </p> + <p> + An evil thought crossed his brain. He would fly with the Duchess; they + would live in some undiscovered nook in the wilds of North or South + America; but—he would fly with a fortune, and leave his creditors to + confront their bills. To carry out the plan, he had only to cut off the + lower portion of that letter with du Croisier’s signature, and to fill in + the figures to turn it into a bill, and present it to the Kellers. There + was a dreadful struggle with temptation; tears shed, but the honor of the + family triumphed, subject to one condition. Victurnien wanted to be sure + of his beautiful Diane; he would do nothing unless she should consent to + their flight. So he went to the Duchess in the Rue Faubourg Saint-Honore, + and found her in coquettish morning dress, which cost as much in thought + as in money, a fit dress in which to begin to play the part of Angel at + eleven o’clock in the morning. + </p> + <p> + Mme. de Maufrigneuse was somewhat pensive. Cares of a similar kind were + gnawing her mind; but she took them gallantly. Of all the various feminine + organizations classified by physiologists, there is one that has something + indescribably terrible about it. Such women combine strength of soul and + clear insight, with a faculty for prompt decision, and a recklessness, or + rather resolution in a crisis which would shake a man’s nerves. And these + powers lie out of sight beneath an appearance of the most graceful + helplessness. Such women only among womankind afford examples of a + phenomenon which Buffon recognized in men alone, to wit, the union, or + rather the disunion, of two different natures in one human being. Other + women are wholly women; wholly tender, wholly devoted, wholly mothers, + completely null and completely tiresome; nerves and brain and blood are + all in harmony; but the Duchess, and others like her, are capable of + rising to the highest heights of feelings, or of showing the most selfish + insensibility. It is one of the glories of Moliere that he has given us a + wonderful portrait of such a woman, from one point of view only, in that + greatest of his full-length figures—Celimene; Celimene is the + typical aristocratic woman, as Figaro, the second edition of Panurge, + represents the people. + </p> + <p> + So, the Duchess, being overwhelmed with debt, laid it upon herself to give + no more than a moment’s thought to the avalanche of cares, and to take her + resolution once and for all; Napoleon could take up or lay down the burden + of his thoughts in precisely the same way. The Duchess possessed the + faculty of standing aloof from herself; she could look on as a spectator + at the crash when it came, instead of submitting to be buried beneath. + This was certainly great, but repulsive in a woman. When she awoke in the + morning she collected her thoughts; and by the time she had begun to dress + she had looked at the danger in its fullest extent and faced the + possibilities of terrific downfall. She pondered. Should she take refuge + in a foreign country? Or should she go to the King and declare her debts + to him? Or again, should she fascinate a du Tillet or a Nucingen, and + gamble on the stock exchange to pay her creditors? The city man would find + the money; he would be intelligent enough to bring her nothing but the + profits, without so much as mentioning the losses, a piece of delicacy + which would gloss all over. The catastrophe, and these various ways of + averting it, had all been reviewed quite coolly, calmly, and without + trepidation. + </p> + <p> + As a naturalist takes up some king of butterflies and fastens him down on + cotton-wool with a pin, so Mme. de Maufrigneuse had plucked love out of + her heart while she pondered the necessity of the moment, and was quite + ready to replace the beautiful passion on its immaculate setting so soon + as her duchess’ coronet was safe. <i>She</i> knew none of the hesitation + which Cardinal Richelieu hid from all the world but Pere Joseph; none of + the doubts that Napoleon kept at first entirely to himself. “Either the + one or the other,” she told herself. + </p> + <p> + She was sitting by the fire, giving orders for her toilette for a drive in + the Bois if the weather should be fine, when Victurnien came in. + </p> + <p> + The Comte d’Esgrignon, with all his stifled capacity, his so keen + intellect, was in exactly the state which might have been looked for in + the woman. His heart was beating violently, the perspiration broke out + over him as he stood in his dandy’s trappings; he was afraid as yet to lay + a hand on the corner-stone which upheld the pyramid of his life with + Diane. So much it cost him to know the truth. The cleverest men are fain + to deceive themselves on one or two points if the truth once known is + likely to humiliate them in their own eyes, and damage themselves with + themselves. Victurnien forced his own irresolution into the field by + committing himself. + </p> + <p> + “What is the matter with you?” Diane de Maufrigneuse had said at once, at + the sight of her beloved Victurnien’s face. + </p> + <p> + “Why, dear Diane, I am in such a perplexity; a man gone to the bottom and + at his last gasp is happy in comparison.” + </p> + <p> + “Pshaw! it is nothing,” said she; “you are a child. Let us see now; tell + me about it.” + </p> + <p> + “I am hopelessly in debt. I have come to the end of my tether.” + </p> + <p> + “Is that all?” said she, smiling at him. “Money matters can always be + arranged somehow or other; nothing is irretrievable except disasters in + love.” + </p> + <p> + Victurnien’s mind being set at rest by this swift comprehension of his + position, he unrolled the bright-colored web of his life for the last two + years and a half; but it was the seamy side of it which he displayed with + something of genius, and still more of wit, to his Diane. He told his tale + with the inspiration of the moment, which fails no one in great crises; he + had sufficient artistic skill to set it off by a varnish of delicate scorn + for men and things. It was an aristocrat who spoke. And the Duchess + listened as she could listen. + </p> + <p> + One knee was raised, for she sat with her foot on a stool. She rested her + elbow on her knee and leant her face on her hand so that her fingers + closed daintily over her shapely chin. Her eyes never left his; but + thoughts by myriads flitted under the blue surface, like gleams of stormy + light between two clouds. Her forehead was calm, her mouth gravely intent—grave + with love; her lips were knotted fast by Victurnien’s lips. To have her + listening thus was to believe that a divine love flowed from her heart. + Wherefore, when the Count had proposed flight to this soul, so closely + knit to his own, he could not help crying, “You are an angel!” + </p> + <p> + The fair Maufrigneuse made silent answer; but she had not spoken as yet. + </p> + <p> + “Good, very good,” she said at last. (She had not given herself up to the + love expressed in her face; her mind had been entirely absorbed by + deep-laid schemes which she kept to herself.) “But <i>that</i> is not the + question, dear.” (The “angel” was only “that” by this time.) “Let us think + of your affairs. Yes, we will go, and the sooner the better. Arrange it + all; I will follow you. It is glorious to leave Paris and the world + behind. I will set about my preparations in such a way that no one can + suspect anything.” + </p> + <p> + <i>I will follow you</i>! Just so Mlle. Mars might have spoken those words + to send a thrill through two thousand listening men and women. When a + Duchesse de Maufrigneuse offers, in such words, to make such a sacrifice + to love, she has paid her debt. How should Victurnien speak of sordid + details after that? He could so much the better hide his schemes, because + Diane was particularly careful not to inquire into them. She was now, and + always, as de Marsay said, an invited guest at a banquet wreathed with + roses, a banquet which mankind, as in duty bound, made ready for her. + </p> + <p> + Victurnien would not go till the promise had been sealed. He must draw + courage from his happiness before he could bring himself to do a deed on + which, as he inwardly told himself, people would be certain to put a bad + construction. Still (and this was the thought that decided him) he counted + on his aunt and father to hush up the affair; he even counted on Chesnel. + Chesnel would think of one more compromise. Besides, “this business,” as + he called it in his thoughts, was the only way of raising money on the + family estate. With three hundred thousand francs, he and Diane would lead + a happy life hidden in some palace in Venice; and there they would forget + the world. They went through their romance in advance. + </p> + <p> + Next day Victurnien made out a bill for three hundred thousand francs, and + took it to the Kellers. The Kellers advanced the money, for du Croisier + happened to have a balance at the time; but they wrote to let him know + that he must not draw again on them without giving them notice. Du + Croisier, much astonished, asked for a statement of accounts. It was sent. + Everything was explained. The day of his vengeance had arrived. + </p> + <p> + When Victurnien had drawn “his” money, he took it to Mme. de Maufrigneuse. + She locked up the banknotes in her desk, and proposed to bid the world + farewell by going to the Opera to see it for the last time. Victurnien was + thoughtful, absent, and uneasy. He was beginning to reflect. He thought + that his seat in the Duchess’ box might cost him dear; that perhaps, when + he had put the three hundred thousand francs in safety, it would be better + to travel post, to fall at Chesnel’s feet, and tell him all. But before + they left the opera-house, the Duchess, in spite of herself, gave + Victurnien an adorable glance, her eyes were shining with the desire to go + back once more to bid farewell to the nest which she loved so much. And + boy that he was, he lost a night. + </p> + <p> + The next day, at three o’clock, he was back again at the Hotel de + Maufrigneuse; he had come to take the Duchess’ orders for that night’s + escape. And, “Why should we go?” asked she; “I have thought it all out. + The Vicomtesse de Beauseant and the Duchesse de Langeais disappeared. If I + go too, it will be something quite commonplace. We will brave the storm. + It will be a far finer thing to do. I am sure of success.” Victurnien’s + eyes dazzled; he felt as if his skin were dissolving and the blood oozing + out all over him. + </p> + <p> + “What is the matter with you?” cried the fair Diane, noticing a hesitation + which a woman never forgives. Your truly adroit lover will hasten to agree + with any fancy that Woman may take into her head, and suggest reasons for + doing otherwise, while leaving her free exercise of her right to change + her mind, her intentions, and sentiments generally as often as she + pleases. Victurnien was angry for the first time, angry with the wrath of + a weak man of poetic temperament; it was a storm of rain and lightning + flashes, but no thunder followed. The angel on whose faith he had risked + more than his life, the honor of his house, was very roughly handled. + </p> + <p> + “So,” said she, “we have come to this after eighteen months of tenderness! + You are unkind, very unkind. Go away!—I do not want to see you + again. I thought that you loved me. You do not.” + </p> + <p> + “<i>I do not love you</i>?” repeated he, thunderstruck by the reproach. + </p> + <p> + “No, monsieur.” + </p> + <p> + “And yet——” he cried. “Ah! if you but knew what I have just + done for your sake!” + </p> + <p> + “And how have you done so much for me, monsieur? As if a man ought not to + do anything for a woman that has done so much for him.” + </p> + <p> + “You are not worthy to know it!” Victurnien cried in a passion of anger. + </p> + <p> + “Oh!” + </p> + <p> + After that sublime, “Oh!” Diane bowed her head on her hand and sat, still, + cold, and implacable as angels naturally may be expected to do, seeing + that they share none of the passions of humanity. At the sight of the + woman he loved in this terrible attitude, Victurnien forgot his danger. + Had he not just that moment wronged the most angelic creature on earth? He + longed for forgiveness, he threw himself before her, he kissed her feet, + he pleaded, he wept. Two whole hours the unhappy young man spent in all + kinds of follies, only to meet the same cold face, while the great silent + tears dropping one by one, were dried as soon as they fell lest the + unworthy lover should try to wipe them away. The Duchess was acting a + great agony, one of those hours which stamp the woman who passes through + them as something august and sacred. + </p> + <p> + Two more hours went by. By this time the Count had gained possession of + Diane’s hand; it felt cold and spiritless. The beautiful hand, with all + the treasures in its grasp, might have been supple wood; there was nothing + of Diane in it; he had taken it, it had not been given to him. As for + Victurnien, the spirit had ebbed out of his frame, he had ceased to think. + He would not have seen the sun in heaven. What was to be done? What course + should he take? What resolution should he make? The man who can keep his + head in such circumstances must be made of the same stuff as the convict + who spent the night in robbing the Bibliotheque Royale of its gold medals, + and repaired to his honest brother in the morning with a request to melt + down the plunder. “What is to be done?” cried the brother. “Make me some + coffee,” replied the thief. Victurnien sank into a bewildered stupor, + darkness settled down over his brain. Visions of past rapture flitted + across the misty gloom like the figures that Raphael painted against a + black background; to these he must bid farewell. Inexorable and + disdainful, the Duchess played with the tip of her scarf. She looked in + irritation at Victurnien from time to time; she coquetted with memories, + she spoke to her lover of his rivals as if anger had finally decided her + to prefer one of them to a man who could so change in one moment after + twenty-eight months of love. + </p> + <p> + “Ah! that charming young Felix de Vandenesse, so faithful as he was to + Mme. de Mortsauf, would never have permitted himself such a scene! He can + love, can de Vandenesse! De Marsay, that terrible de Marsay, such a tiger + as everyone thought him, was rough with other men; but like all strong + men, he kept his gentleness for women. Montriveau trampled the Duchesse de + Langeais under foot, as Othello killed Desdemona, in a burst of fury which + at any rate proved the extravagance of his love. It was not like a paltry + squabble. There was rapture in being so crushed. Little, fair-haired, + slim, and slender men loved to torment women; they could only reign over + poor, weak creatures; it pleased them to have some ground for believing + that they were men. The tyranny of love was their one chance of asserting + their power. She did not know why she had put herself at the mercy of fair + hair. Such men as de Marsay, Montriveau, and Vandenesse, dark-haired and + well grown, had a ray of sunlight in their eyes.” + </p> + <p> + It was a storm of epigrams. Her speeches, like bullets, came hissing past + his ears. Every word that Diane hurled at him was triple-barbed; she + humiliated, stung, and wounded him with an art that was all her own, as + half a score of savages can torture an enemy bound to a stake. + </p> + <p> + “You are mad!” he cried at last, at the end of his patience, and out he + went in God knows what mood. He drove as if he had never handled the reins + before, locked his wheels in the wheels of other vehicles, collided with + the curbstone in the Place Louis-Quinze, went he knew not whither. The + horse, left to its own devices, made a bolt for the stable along the Quai + d’Orsay; but as he turned into the Rue de l’Universite, Josephin appeared + to stop the runaway. + </p> + <p> + “You cannot go home, sir,” the old man said, with a scared face; “they + have come with a warrant to arrest you.” + </p> + <p> + Victurnien thought that he had been arrested on the criminal charge, + albeit there had not been time for the public prosecutor to receive his + instructions. He had forgotten the matter of the bills of exchange, which + had been stirred up again for some days past in the form of orders to pay, + brought by the officers of the court with accompaniments in the shape of + bailiffs, men in possession, magistrates, commissaries, policemen, and + other representatives of social order. Like most guilty creatures, + Victurnien had forgotten everything but his crime. + </p> + <p> + “It is all over with me,” he cried. + </p> + <p> + “No, M. le Comte, drive as fast as you can to the Hotel du Bon la + Fontaine, in the Rue de Grenelle. Mlle. Armande is waiting there for you, + the horses have been put in, she will take you with her.” + </p> + <p> + Victurnien, in his trouble, caught like a drowning man at the branch that + came to his hand; he rushed off to the inn, reached the place, and flung + his arms about his aunt. Mlle. Armande cried as if her heart would break; + any one might have thought that she had a share in her nephew’s guilt. + They stepped into the carriage. A few minutes later they were on the road + to Brest, and Paris lay behind them. Victurnien uttered not a sound; he + was paralyzed. And when aunt and nephew began to speak, they talked at + cross purposes; Victurnien, still laboring under the unlucky + misapprehension which flung him into Mlle. Armande’s arms, was thinking of + his forgery; his aunt had the debts and the bills on her mind. + </p> + <p> + “You know all, aunt,” he had said. + </p> + <p> + “Poor boy, yes, but we are here. I am not going to scold you just yet. + Take heart.” + </p> + <p> + “I must hide somewhere.” + </p> + <p> + “Perhaps.... Yes, it is a very good idea.” + </p> + <p> + “Perhaps I might get into Chesnel’s house without being seen if we timed + ourselves to arrive in the middle of the night?” + </p> + <p> + “That will be best. We shall be better able to hide this from my brother.—Poor + angel! how unhappy he is!” said she, petting the unworthy child. + </p> + <p> + “Ah! now I begin to know what dishonor means; it has chilled my love.” + </p> + <p> + “Unhappy boy; what bliss and what misery!” And Mlle. Armande drew his + fevered face to her breast and kissed his forehead, cold and damp though + it was, as the holy women might have kissed the brow of the dead Christ + when they laid Him in His grave clothes. Following out the excellent + scheme suggested by the prodigal son, he was brought by night to the quiet + house in the Rue du Bercail; but chance ordered it that by so doing he ran + straight into the wolf’s jaws, as the saying goes. That evening Chesnel + had been making arrangements to sell his connection to M. Lepressoir’s + head-clerk. M. Lepressoir was the notary employed by the Liberals, just as + Chesnel’s practice lay among the aristocratic families. The young fellow’s + relatives were rich enough to pay Chesnel the considerable sum of a + hundred thousand francs in cash. + </p> + <p> + Chesnel was rubbing his hands. “A hundred thousand francs will go a long + way in buying up debts,” he thought. “The young man is paying a high rate + of interest on his loans. We will lock him up down here. I will go yonder + myself and bring those curs to terms.” + </p> + <p> + Chesnel, honest Chesnel, upright, worthy Chesnel, called his darling Comte + Victurnien’s creditors “curs.” + </p> + <p> + Meanwhile his successor was making his way along the Rue du Bercail just + as Mlle. Armande’s traveling carriage turned into it. Any young man might + be expected to feel some curiosity if he saw a traveling carriage stop at + a notary’s door in such a town and at such an hour of the night; the young + man in question was sufficiently inquisitive to stand in a doorway and + watch. He saw Mlle. Armande alight. + </p> + <p> + “Mlle. Armande d’Esgrignon at this time of night!” said he to himself. + “What can be going forward at the d’Esgrignons’?” + </p> + <p> + At the sight of mademoiselle, Chesnel opened the door circumspectly and + set down the light which he was carrying; but when he looked out and saw + Victurnien, Mlle. Armande’s first whispered word made the whole thing + plain to him. He looked up and down the street; it seemed quite deserted; + he beckoned, and the young Count sprang out of the carriage and entered + the courtyard. All was lost. Chesnel’s successor had discovered + Victurnien’s hiding place. + </p> + <p> + Victurnien was hurried into the house and installed in a room beyond + Chesnel’s private office. No one could enter it except across the old + man’s dead body. + </p> + <p> + “Ah! M. le Comte!” exclaimed Chesnel, notary no longer. + </p> + <p> + “Yes, monsieur,” the Count answered, understanding his old friend’s + exclamation. “I did not listen to you; and now I have fallen into the + depths, and I must perish.” + </p> + <p> + “No, no,” the good man answered, looking triumphantly from Mlle. Armande + to the Count. “I have sold my connection. I have been working for a very + long time now, and am thinking of retiring. By noon to-morrow I shall have + a hundred thousand francs; many things can be settled with that. + Mademoiselle, you are tired,” he added; “go back to the carriage and go + home and sleep. Business to-morrow.” + </p> + <p> + “Is he safe?” returned she, looking at Victurnien. + </p> + <p> + “Yes.” + </p> + <p> + She kissed her nephew; a few tears fell on his forehead. Then she went. + </p> + <p> + “My good Chesnel,” said the Count, when they began to talk of business, + “what are your hundred thousand francs in such a position as mine? You do + not know the full extent of my troubles, I think.” + </p> + <p> + Victurnien explained the situation. Chesnel was thunderstruck. But for the + strength of his devotion, he would have succumbed to this blow. Tears + streamed from the eyes that might well have had no tears left to shed. For + a few moments he was a child again, for a few moments he was bereft of his + senses; he stood like a man who should find his own house on fire, and + through a window see the cradle ablaze and hear the hiss of the flames on + his children’s curls. He rose to his full height—il se dressa en + pied, as Amyot would have said; he seemed to grow taller; he raised his + withered hands and wrung them despairingly and wildly. + </p> + <p> + “If only your father may die and never know this, young man! To be a + forger is enough; a parricide you must not be. Fly, you say? No. They + would condemn you for contempt of court! Oh, wretched boy! Why did you not + forge <i>my</i> signature? <i>I</i> would have paid; I should not have + taken the bill to the public prosecutor.—Now I can do nothing. You + have brought me to a stand in the lowest pit in hell!—Du Croisier! + What will come of it? What is to be done?—If you had killed a man, + there might be some help for it. But forgery—<i>forgery</i>! And + time—the time is flying,” he went on, shaking his fist towards the + old clock. “You will want a sham passport now. One crime leads to another. + First,” he added, after a pause, “first of all we must save the house of + d’Esgrignon.” + </p> + <p> + “But the money is still in Mme. de Maufrigneuse’s keeping,” exclaimed + Victurnien. + </p> + <p> + “Ah!” exclaimed Chesnel. “Well, there is some hope left—a faint + hope. Could we soften du Croisier, I wonder, or buy him over? He shall + have all the lands if he likes. I will go to him; I will wake him and + offer him all we have.—Besides, it was not you who forged that bill; + it was I. I will go to jail; I am too old for the hulks, they can only put + me in prison.” + </p> + <p> + “But the body of the bill is in my handwriting,” objected Victurnien, + without a sign of surprise at this reckless devotion. + </p> + <p> + “Idiot!... that is, pardon, M. le Comte. Josephin should have been made to + write it,” the old notary cried wrathfully. “He is a good creature; he + would have taken it all on his shoulders. But there is an end of it; the + world is falling to pieces,” the old man continued, sinking exhausted into + a chair. “Du Croisier is a tiger; we must be careful not to rouse him. + What time is it? Where is the draft? If it is at Paris, it might be bought + back from the Kellers; they might accommodate us. Ah! but there are + dangers on all sides; a single false step means ruin. Money is wanted in + any case. But there! nobody knows you are here, you must live buried away + in the cellar if needs must. I will go at once to Paris as fast as I can; + I can hear the mail coach from Brest.” + </p> + <p> + In a moment the old man recovered the faculties of his youth—his + agility and vigor. He packed up clothes for the journey, took money, + brought a six-pound loaf to the little room beyond the office, and turned + the key on his child by adoption. + </p> + <p> + “Not a sound in here,” he said, “no light at night; and stop here till I + come back, or you will go to the hulks. Do you understand, M. le Comte? + Yes, <i>to the hulks</i>! if anybody in a town like this knows that you + are here.” + </p> + <p> + With that Chesnel went out, first telling his housekeeper to give out that + he was ill, to allow no one to come into the house, to send everybody + away, and to postpone business of every kind for three days. He wheedled + the manager of the coach-office, made up a tale for his benefit—he + had the makings of an ingenious novelist in him—and obtained a + promise that if there should be a place, he should have it, passport or no + passport, as well as a further promise to keep the hurried departure a + secret. Luckily, the coach was empty when it arrived. + </p> + <p> + In the middle of the following night Chesnel was set down in Paris. At + nine o’clock in the morning he waited on the Kellers, and learned that the + fatal draft had returned to du Croisier three days since; but while + obtaining this information, he in no way committed himself. Before he went + away he inquired whether the draft could be recovered if the amount were + refunded. Francois Keller’s answer was to the effect that the document was + du Croisier’s property, and that it was entirely in his power to keep or + return it. Then, in desperation, the old man went to the Duchess. + </p> + <p> + Mme. de Maufrigneuse was not at home to any visitor at that hour. Chesnel, + feeling that every moment was precious, sat down in the hall, wrote a few + lines, and succeeded in sending them to the lady by dint of wheedling, + fascinating, bribing, and commanding the most insolent and inaccessible + servants in the world. The Duchess was still in bed; but, to the great + astonishment of her household, the old man in black knee-breeches, ribbed + stockings, and shoes with buckles to them, was shown into her room. + </p> + <p> + “What is it, monsieur?” she asked, posing in her disorder. “What does he + want of me, ungrateful that he is?” + </p> + <p> + “It is this, Mme. la Duchesse,” the good man exclaimed, “you have a + hundred thousand crowns belonging to us.” + </p> + <p> + “Yes,” began she. “What does it signify——?” + </p> + <p> + “The money was gained by a forgery, for which we are going to the hulks, a + forgery which we committed for love of you,” Chesnel said quickly. “How is + it that you did not guess it, so clever as you are? Instead of scolding + the boy, you ought to have had the truth out of him, and stopped him while + there was time, and saved him.” + </p> + <p> + At the first words the Duchess understood; she felt ashamed of her + behavior to so impassioned a lover, and afraid besides that she might be + suspected of complicity. In her wish to prove that she had not touched the + money left in her keeping, she lost all regard for appearances; and + besides, it did not occur to her that the notary was a man. She flung off + the eider-down quilt, sprang to her desk (flitting past the lawyer like an + angel out of one of the vignettes which illustrate Lamartine’s books), + held out the notes, and went back in confusion to bed. + </p> + <p> + “You are an angel, madame.” (She was to be an angel for all the world, it + seemed.) “But this will not be the end of it. I count upon your influence + to save us.” + </p> + <p> + “To save you! I will do it or die! Love that will not shrink from a crime + must be love indeed. Is there a woman in the world for whom such a thing + has been done? Poor boy! Come, do not lose time, dear M. Chesnel; and + count upon me as upon yourself.” + </p> + <p> + “Mme. la Duchesse! Mme. la Duchesse!” It was all that he could say, so + overcome was he. He cried, he could have danced; but he was afraid of + losing his senses, and refrained. + </p> + <p> + “Between us, we will save him,” she said, as he left the room. + </p> + <p> + Chesnel went straight to Josephin. Josephin unlocked the young Count’s + desk and writing-table. Very luckily, the notary found letters which might + be useful, letters from du Croisier and the Kellers. Then he took a place + in a diligence which was just about to start; and by dint of fees to the + postilions, the lumbering vehicle went as quickly as the coach. His two + fellow-passengers on the journey happened to be in as great a hurry as + himself, and readily agreed to take their meals in the carriage. Thus + swept over the road, the notary reached the Rue du Bercail, after three + days of absence, an hour before midnight. And yet he was too late. He saw + the gendarmes at the gate, crossed the threshold, and met the young Count + in the courtyard. Victurnien had been arrested. If Chesnel had had the + power, he would beyond a doubt have killed the officers and men; as it + was, he could only fall on Victurnien’s neck. + </p> + <p> + “If I cannot hush this matter up, you must kill yourself before the + indictment is made out,” he whispered. But Victurnien had sunk into such + stupor, that he stared back uncomprehendingly. + </p> + <p> + “Kill myself?” he repeated. + </p> + <p> + “Yes. If your courage should fail, my boy, count upon me,” said Chesnel, + squeezing Victurnien’s hand. + </p> + <p> + In spite of the anguish of mind and tottering limbs, he stood firmly + planted, to watch the son of his heart, the Comte d’Esgrignon, go out of + the courtyard between two gendarmes, with the commissary, the justice of + the peace, and the clerk of the court; and not until the figures had + disappeared, and the sound of footsteps had died away into silence, did he + recover his firmness and presence of mind. + </p> + <p> + “You will catch cold, sir,” Brigitte remonstrated. + </p> + <p> + “The devil take you!” cried her exasperated master. + </p> + <p> + Never in the nine-and-twenty years that Brigitte had been in his service + had she heard such words from him! Her candle fell out of her hands, but + Chesnel neither heeded his housekeeper’s alarm nor heard her exclaim. He + hurried off towards the Val-Noble. + </p> + <p> + “He is out of his mind,” said she; “after all, it is no wonder. But where + is he off to? I cannot possibly go after him. What will become of him? + Suppose that he should drown himself?” + </p> + <p> + And Brigitte went to waken the head-clerk and send him to look along the + river bank; the river had a gloomy reputation just then, for there had + lately been two cases of suicide—one a young man full of promise, + and the other a girl, a victim of seduction. Chesnel went straight to the + Hotel du Croisier. There lay his only hope. The law requires that a charge + of forgery must be brought by a private individual. It was still possible + to withdraw if du Croisier chose to admit that there had been a + misapprehension; and Chesnel had hopes, even then, of buying the man over. + </p> + <p> + M. and Mme. du Croisier had much more company than usual that evening. + Only a few persons were in the secret. M. du Ronceret, president of the + Tribunal; M. Sauvager, deputy Public Prosecutor; and M. du Coudrai, a + registrar of mortgages, who had lost his post by voting on the wrong side, + were the only persons who were supposed to know about it; but Mesdames du + Ronceret and du Coudrai had told the news, in strict confidence, to one or + two intimate friends, so that it had spread half over the semi-noble, + semi-bourgeois assembly at M. du Croisier’s. Everybody felt the gravity of + the situation, but no one ventured to speak of it openly; and, moreover, + Mme. du Croisier’s attachment to the upper sphere was so well known, that + people scarcely dared to mention the disaster which had befallen the + d’Esgrignons or to ask for particulars. The persons most interested were + waiting till good Mme. du Croisier retired, for that lady always retreated + to her room at the same hour to perform her religious exercises as far as + possible out of her husband’s sight. + </p> + <p> + Du Croisier’s adherents, knowing the secret and the plans of the great + commercial power, looked round when the lady of the house disappeared; but + there were still several persons present whose opinions or interests + marked them out as untrustworthy, so they continued to play. About half + past eleven all had gone save intimates: M. Sauvager, M. Camusot, the + examining magistrate, and his wife, M. and Mme. du Ronceret and their son + Fabien, M. and Mme. du Coudrai, and Joseph Blondet, the eldest of an old + judge; ten persons in all. + </p> + <p> + It is told of Talleyrand that one fatal day, three hours after midnight, + he suddenly interrupted a game of cards in the Duchesse de Luynes’ house + by laying down his watch on the table and asking the players whether the + Prince de Conde had any child but the Duc d’Enghien. + </p> + <p> + “Why do you ask?” returned Mme. de Luynes, “when you know so well that he + has not.” + </p> + <p> + “Because if the Prince has no other son, the House of Conde is now at an + end.” + </p> + <p> + There was a moment’s pause, and they finished the game.—President du + Ronceret now did something very similar. Perhaps he had heard the + anecdote; perhaps, in political life, little minds and great minds are apt + to hit upon the same expression. He looked at his watch, and interrupted + the game of boston with: + </p> + <p> + “At this moment M. le Comte d’Esgrignon is arrested, and that house which + has held its head so high is dishonored forever.” + </p> + <p> + “Then, have you got hold of the boy?” du Coudrai cried gleefully. + </p> + <p> + Every one in the room, with the exception of the President, the deputy, + and du Croisier, looked startled. + </p> + <p> + “He has just been arrested in Chesnel’s house, where he was hiding,” said + the deputy public prosecutor, with the air of a capable but unappreciated + public servant, who ought by rights to be Minister of Police. M. Sauvager, + the deputy, was a thin, tall young man of five-and-twenty, with a lengthy + olive-hued countenance, black frizzled hair, and deep-set eyes; the wide, + dark rings beneath them were completed by the wrinkled purple eyelids + above. With a nose like the beak of some bird of prey, a pinched mouth, + and cheeks worn lean with study and hollowed by ambition, he was the very + type of a second-rate personage on the lookout for something to turn up, + and ready to do anything if so he might get on in the world, while keeping + within the limitations of the possible and the forms of law. His pompous + expression was an admirable indication of the time-serving eloquence to be + expected of him. Chesnel’s successor had discovered the young Count’s + hiding place to him, and he took great credit to himself for his + penetration. + </p> + <p> + The news seemed to come as a shock to the examining magistrate, M. + Camusot, who had granted the warrant of arrest on Sauvager’s application, + with no idea that it was to be executed so promptly. Camusot was short, + fair, and fat already, though he was only thirty years old or thereabouts; + he had the flabby, livid look peculiar to officials who live shut up in + their private study or in a court of justice; and his little, pale, yellow + eyes were full of the suspicion which is often mistaken for shrewdness. + </p> + <p> + Mme. Camusot looked at her spouse, as who should say, “Was I not right?” + </p> + <p> + “Then the case will come on,” was Camusot’s comment. + </p> + <p> + “Could you doubt it?” asked du Coudrai. “Now they have got the Count, all + is over.” + </p> + <p> + “There is the jury,” said Camusot. “In this case M. le Prefet is sure to + take care that after the challenges from the prosecution and the defence, + the jury to a man will be for an acquittal.—My advice would be to + come to a compromise,” he added, turning to du Croisier. + </p> + <p> + “Compromise!” echoed the President; “why, he is in the hands of justice.” + </p> + <p> + “Acquitted or convicted, the Comte d’Esgrignon will be dishonored all the + same,” put in Sauvager. + </p> + <p> + “I am bringing an action,”[*] said du Croisier. “I shall have Dupin + senior. We shall see how the d’Esgrignon family will escape out of his + clutches.” + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + [*] A trial for an offence of this kind in France is an + action brought by a private person (partie civile) to + recover damages, and at the same time a criminal prosecution + conducted on behalf of the Government.—Tr. +</pre> + <p> + “The d’Esgrignons will defend the case and have counsel from Paris; they + will have Berryer,” said Mme. Camusot. “You will have a Roland for your + Oliver.” + </p> + <p> + Du Croisier, M. Sauvager, and the President du Ronceret looked at Camusot, + and one thought troubled their minds. The lady’s tone, the way in which + she flung her proverb in the faces of the eight conspirators against the + house of d’Esgrignon, caused them inward perturbation, which they + dissembled as provincials can dissemble, by dint of lifelong practice in + the shifts of a monastic existence. Little Mme. Camusot saw their change + of countenance and subsequent composure when they scented opposition on + the part of the examining magistrate. When her husband unveiled the + thoughts in the back of his own mind, she had tried to plumb the depths of + hate in du Croisier’s adherents. She wanted to find out how du Croisier + had gained over this deputy public prosecutor, who had acted so promptly + and so directly in opposition to the views of the central power. + </p> + <p> + “In any case,” continued she, “if celebrated counsel come down from Paris, + there is a prospect of a very interesting session in the Court of Assize; + but the matter will be snuffed out between the Tribunal and the Court of + Appeal. It is only to be expected that the Government should do all that + can be done, below the surface, to save a young man who comes of a great + family, and has the Duchesse de Maufrigneuse for a friend. So I think that + we shall have a ‘sensation at Landernau.’” + </p> + <p> + “How you go on, madame!” the President said sternly. “Can you suppose that + the Court of First Instance will be influenced by considerations which + have nothing to do with justice?” + </p> + <p> + “The event proves the contrary,” she said meaningly, looking full at + Sauvager and the President, who glanced coldly at her. + </p> + <p> + “Explain yourself, madame,” said Sauvager, “you speak as if we had not + done our duty.” + </p> + <p> + “Mme. Camusot meant nothing,” interposed her husband. + </p> + <p> + “But has not M. le President just said something prejudicing a case which + depends on the examination of the prisoner?” said she. “And the evidence + is still to be taken, and the Court had not given its decision?” + </p> + <p> + “We are not at the law-courts,” the deputy public prosecutor replied + tartly; “and besides, we know all that.” + </p> + <p> + “But the public prosecutor knows nothing at all about it yet,” returned + she, with an ironical glance. “He will come back from the Chamber of + Deputies in all haste. You have cut out his work for him, and he, no + doubt, will speak for himself.” + </p> + <p> + The deputy prosecutor knitted his thick bushy brows. Those interested read + tardy scruples in his countenance. A great silence followed, broken by no + sound but the dealing of the cards. M. and Mme. Camusot, sensible of a + decided chill in the atmosphere, took their departure to leave the + conspirators to talk at their ease. + </p> + <p> + “Camusot,” the lady began in the street, “you went too far. Why lead those + people to suspect that you will have no part in their schemes? They will + play you some ugly trick.” + </p> + <p> + “What can they do? I am the only examining magistrate.” + </p> + <p> + “Cannot they slander you in whispers, and procure your dismissal?” + </p> + <p> + At that very moment Chesnel ran up against the couple. The old notary + recognized the examining magistrate; and with the lucidity which comes of + an experience of business, he saw that the fate of the d’Esgrignons lay in + the hands of the young man before him. + </p> + <p> + “Ah, sir!” he exclaimed, “we shall soon need you badly. Just a word with + you.—Your pardon, madame,” he added, as he drew Camusot aside. + </p> + <p> + Mme. Camusot, as a good conspirator, looked towards du Croisier’s house, + ready to break up the conversation if anybody appeared; but she thought, + and thought rightly, that their enemies were busy discussing this + unexpected turn which she had given to the affair. Chesnel meanwhile drew + the magistrate into a dark corner under the wall, and lowered his voice + for his companion’s ear. + </p> + <p> + “If you are for the house of d’Esgrignon,” he said, “Mme. la Duchesse de + Maufrigneuse, the Prince of Cadignan, the Ducs de Navarreins and de + Lenoncourt, the Keeper of the Seals, the Chancellor, the King himself, + will interest themselves in you. I have just come from Paris; I knew all + about this; I went post-haste to explain everything at Court. We are + counting on you, and I will keep your secret. If you are hostile, I shall + go back to Paris to-morrow and lodge a complaint with the Keeper of the + Seals that there is a suspicion of corruption. Several functionaries were + at du Croisier’s house to-night, and no doubt, ate and drank there, + contrary to law; and besides, they are friends of his.” + </p> + <p> + Chesnel would have brought the Almighty to intervene if he had had the + power. He did not wait for an answer; he left Camusot and fled like a deer + towards du Croisier’s house. Camusot, meanwhile, bidden to reveal the + notary’s confidences, was at once assailed with, “Was I not right, dear?”—a + wifely formula used on all occasions, but rather more vehemently when the + fair speaker is in the wrong. By the time they reached home, Camusot had + admitted the superiority of his partner in life, and appreciated his good + fortune in belonging to her; which confession, doubtless, was the prelude + of a blissful night. + </p> + <p> + Chesnel met his foes in a body as they left du Croisier’s house, and began + to fear that du Croisier had gone to bed. In his position he was compelled + to act quickly, and any delay was a misfortune. + </p> + <p> + “In the King’s name!” he cried, as the man-servant was closing the hall + door. He had just brought the King on the scene for the benefit of an + ambitious little official, and the word was still on his lips. He fretted + and chafed while the door was unbarred; then, swift as a thunderbolt, + dashed into the ante-chamber, and spoke to the servant. + </p> + <p> + “A hundred crowns to you, young man, if you can wake Mme. du Croisier and + send her to me this instant. Tell her anything you like.” + </p> + <p> + Chesnel grew cool and composed as he opened the door of the brightly + lighted drawing-room, where du Croisier was striding up and down. For a + moment the two men scanned each other, with hatred and enmity, twenty + years’ deep, in their eyes. One of the two had his foot on the heart of + the house of d’Esgrignon; the other, with a lion’s strength, came forward + to pluck it away. + </p> + <p> + “Your humble servant, sir,” said Chesnel. “Have you made the charge?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, sir.” + </p> + <p> + “When was it made?” + </p> + <p> + “Yesterday.” + </p> + <p> + “Have any steps been taken since the warrant of arrest was issued?” + </p> + <p> + “I believe so.” + </p> + <p> + “I have come to treat with you.” + </p> + <p> + “Justice must take its course, nothing can stop it, the arrest has been + made.” + </p> + <p> + “Never mind that, I am at your orders, at your feet.” The old man knelt + before du Croisier, and stretched out his hands entreatingly. + </p> + <p> + “What do you want? Our lands, our castle? Take all; withdraw the charge; + leave us nothing but life and honor. And over and besides all this, I will + be your servant; command and I will obey.” + </p> + <p> + Du Croisier sat down in an easy-chair and left the old man to kneel. + </p> + <p> + “You are not vindictive,” pleaded Chesnel; “you are good-hearted, you do + not bear us such a grudge that you will not listen to terms. Before + daylight the young man ought to be at liberty.” + </p> + <p> + “The whole town knows that he has been arrested,” returned du Croisier, + enjoying his revenge. + </p> + <p> + “It is a great misfortune, but as there will be neither proofs nor trial, + we can easily manage that.” + </p> + <p> + Du Croisier reflected. He seemed to be struggling with self-interest; + Chesnel thought that he had gained a hold on his enemy through the great + motive of human action. At that supreme moment Mme. du Croisier appeared. + </p> + <p> + “Come here and help me to soften your dear husband, madame?” said Chesnel, + still on his knees. Mme. du Croisier made him rise with every sign of + profound astonishment. Chesnel explained his errand; and when she knew it, + the generous daughter of the intendants of the Ducs de Alencon turned to + du Croisier with tears in her eyes. + </p> + <p> + “Ah! monsieur, can you hesitate? The d’Esgrignons, the honor of the + province!” she said. + </p> + <p> + “There is more in it than that,” exclaimed du Croisier, rising to begin + his restless walk again. + </p> + <p> + “More? What more?” asked Chesnel in amazement. + </p> + <p> + “France is involved, M. Chesnel! It is a question of the country, of the + people, of giving my lords your nobles a lesson, and teaching them that + there is such a thing as justice, and law, and a bourgeoisie—a + lesser nobility as good as they, and a match for them! There shall be no + more trampling down half a score of wheat fields for a single hare; no + bringing shame on families by seducing unprotected girls; they shall not + look down on others as good as they are, and mock at them for ten whole + years, without finding out at last that these things swell into + avalanches, and those avalanches will fall and crush and bury my lords the + nobles. You want to go back to the old order of things. You want to tear + up the social compact, the Charter in which our rights are set forth—-” + </p> + <p> + “And so?” + </p> + <p> + “Is it not a sacred mission to open the people’s eyes?” cried du Croisier. + “Their eyes will be opened to the morality of your party when they see + nobles going to be tried at the Assize Court like Pierre and Jacques. They + will say, then, that small folk who keep their self-respect are as good as + great folk that bring shame on themselves. The Assize Court is a light for + all the world. Here, I am the champion of the people, the friend of law. + You yourselves twice flung me on the side of the people—once when + you refused an alliance, twice when you put me under the ban of your + society. You are reaping as you have sown.” + </p> + <p> + If Chesnel was startled by this outburst, so no less was Mme. du Croisier. + To her this was a terrible revelation of her husband’s character, a new + light not merely on the past but on the future as well. Any capitulation + on the part of the colossus was apparently out of the question; but + Chesnel in no wise retreated before the impossible. + </p> + <p> + “What, monsieur?” said Mme. du Croisier. “Would you not forgive? Then you + are not a Christian.” + </p> + <p> + “I forgive as God forgives, madame, on certain conditions.” + </p> + <p> + “And what are they?” asked Chesnel, thinking that he saw a ray of hope. + </p> + <p> + “The elections are coming on; I want the votes at your disposal.” + </p> + <p> + “You shall have them.” + </p> + <p> + “I wish that we, my wife and I, should be received familiarly every + evening, with an appearance of friendliness at any rate, by M. le Marquis + d’Esgrignon and his circle,” continued du Croisier. + </p> + <p> + “I do not know how we are going to compass it, but you shall be received.” + </p> + <p> + “I wish to have the family bound over by a surety of four hundred thousand + francs, and by a written document stating the nature of the compromise, so + as to keep a loaded cannon pointed at its heart.” + </p> + <p> + “We agree,” said Chesnel, without admitting that the three hundred + thousand francs was in his possession; “but the amount must be deposited + with a third party and returned to the family after your election and + repayment.” + </p> + <p> + “No; after the marriage of my grand-niece, Mlle. Duval. She will very + likely have four million francs some day; the reversion of our property + (mine and my wife’s) shall be settled upon her by her marriage-contract, + and you shall arrange a match between her and the young Count.” + </p> + <p> + “Never!” + </p> + <p> + “<i>Never</i>!” repeated du Croisier, quite intoxicated with triumph. + “Good-night!” + </p> + <p> + “Idiot that I am,” thought Chesnel, “why did I shrink from a lie to such a + man?” + </p> + <p> + Du Croisier took himself off; he was pleased with himself; he had enjoyed + Chesnel’s humiliation; he had held the destinies of a proud house, the + representatives of the aristocracy of the province, suspended in his hand; + he had set the print of his heel on the very heart of the d’Esgrignons; + and, finally, he had broken off the whole negotiation on the score of his + wounded pride. He went up to his room, leaving his wife alone with + Chesnel. In his intoxication, he saw his victory clear before him. He + firmly believed that the three hundred thousand francs had been + squandered; the d’Esgrignons must sell or mortgage all that they had to + raise the money; the Assize Court was inevitable to his mind. + </p> + <p> + An affair of forgery can always be settled out of court in France if the + missing amount is returned. The losers by the crime are usually + well-to-do, and have no wish to blight an imprudent man’s character. But + du Croisier had no mind to slacken his hold until he knew what he was + about. He meditated until he fell asleep on the magnificent manner in + which his hopes would be fulfilled by the way of the Assize Court or by + marriage. The murmur of voices below, the lamentations of Chesnel and Mme. + du Croisier, sounded sweet in his ears. + </p> + <p> + Mme. du Croisier shared Chesnel’s views of the d’Esgrignons. She was a + deeply religious woman, a Royalist attached to the noblesse; the interview + had been in every way a cruel shock to her feelings. She, a staunch + Royalist, had heard the roaring of that Liberalism, which, in her + director’s opinion, wished to crush the Church. The Left benches for her + meant the popular upheaval and the scaffolds of 1793. + </p> + <p> + “What would your uncle, that sainted man who hears us, say to this?” + exclaimed Chesnel. Mme. du Croisier made no reply, but the great tears + rolled down her checks. + </p> + <p> + “You have already been the cause of one poor boy’s death; his mother will + go mourning all her days,” continued Chesnel; he saw how his words told, + but he would have struck harder and even broken this woman’s heart to save + Victurnien. “Do you want to kill Mlle. Armande, for she would not survive + the dishonor of the house for a week? Do you wish to be the death of poor + Chesnel, your old notary? For I shall kill the Count in prison before they + shall bring the charge against him, and take my own life afterwards, + before they shall try me for murder in an Assize Court.” + </p> + <p> + “That is enough! that is enough, my friend! I would do anything to put a + stop to such an affair; but I never knew M. du Croisier’s real character + until a few minutes ago. To you I can make the admission: there is nothing + to be done.” + </p> + <p> + “But what if there is?” + </p> + <p> + “I would give half the blood in my veins that it were so,” said she, + finishing her sentence by a wistful shake of the head. + </p> + <p> + As the First Consul, beaten on the field of Marengo till five o’clock in + the evening, by six o’clock saw the tide of battle turned by Desaix’s + desperate attack and Kellermann’s terrific charge, so Chesnel in the midst + of defeat saw the beginnings of victory. No one but a Chesnel, an old + notary, an ex-steward of the manor, old Maitre Sorbier’s junior clerk, in + the sudden flash of lucidity which comes with despair, could rise thus, + high as a Napoleon, nay, higher. This was not Marengo, it was Waterloo, + and the Prussians had come up; Chesnel saw this, and was determined to + beat them off the field. + </p> + <p> + “Madame,” he said, “remember that I have been your man of business for + twenty years; remember that if the d’Esgrignons mean the honor of the + province, you represent the honor of the bourgeoisie; it rests with you, + and you alone, to save the ancient house. Now, answer me; are you going to + allow dishonor to fall on the shade of your dead uncle, on the + d’Esgrignons, on poor Chesnel? Do you want to kill Mlle. Armande weeping + yonder? Or do you wish to expiate wrongs done to others by a deed which + will rejoice your ancestors, the intendants of the dukes of Alencon, and + bring comfort to the soul of our dear Abbe? If he could rise from his + grave, he would command you to do this thing that I beg of you upon my + knees.” + </p> + <p> + “What is it?” asked Mme. du Croisier. + </p> + <p> + “Well. Here are the hundred thousand crowns,” said Chesnel, drawing the + bundles of notes from his pocket. “Take them, and there will be an end of + it.” + </p> + <p> + “If that is all,” she began, “and if no harm can come of it to my husband——” + </p> + <p> + “Nothing but good,” Chesnel replied. “You are saving him from eternal + punishment in hell, at the cost of a slight disappointment here below.” + </p> + <p> + “He will not be compromised, will he?” she asked, looking into Chesnel’s + face. + </p> + <p> + Then Chesnel read the depths of the poor wife’s mind. Mme. du Croisier was + hesitating between her two creeds; between wifely obedience to her husband + as laid down by the Church, and obedience to the altar and the throne. Her + husband, in her eyes, was acting wrongly, but she dared not blame him; she + would fain save the d’Esgrignons, but she was loyal to her husband’s + interests. + </p> + <p> + “Not in the least,” Chesnel answered; “your old notary swears it by the + Holy Gospels——” + </p> + <p> + He had nothing left to lose for the d’Esgrignons but his soul; he risked + it now by this horrible perjury, but Mme. du Croisier must be deceived, + there was no other choice but death. Without losing a moment, he dictated + a form of receipt by which Mme. du Croisier acknowledged payment of a + hundred thousand crowns five days before the fatal letter of exchange + appeared; for he recollected that du Croisier was away from home, + superintending improvements on his wife’s property at the time. + </p> + <p> + “Now swear to me that you will declare before the examining magistrate + that you received the money on that date,” he said, when Mme. du Croisier + had taken the notes and he held the receipt in his hand. + </p> + <p> + “It will be a lie, will it not?” + </p> + <p> + “Venial sin,” said Chesnel. + </p> + <p> + “I could not do it without consulting my director, M. l’Abbe Couturier.” + </p> + <p> + “Very well,” said Chesnel, “will you be guided entirely by his advice in + this affair?” + </p> + <p> + “I promise that.” + </p> + <p> + “And you must not give the money to M. du Croisier until you have been + before the magistrate.” + </p> + <p> + “No. Ah! God give me strength to appear in a Court of Justice and maintain + a lie before men!” + </p> + <p> + Chesnel kissed Mme. du Croisier’s hand, then stood upright, and majestic + as one of the prophets that Raphael painted in the Vatican. + </p> + <p> + “You uncle’s soul is thrilled with joy,” he said; “you have wiped out for + ever the wrong that you did by marrying an enemy of altar and throne”—words + that made a lively impression on Mme. du Croisier’s timorous mind. + </p> + <p> + Then Chesnel all at once bethought himself that he must make sure of the + lady’s director, the Abbe Couturier. He knew how obstinately devout souls + can work for the triumph of their views when once they come forward for + their side, and wished to secure the concurrence of the Church as early as + possible. So he went to the Hotel d’Esgrignon, roused up Mlle. Armande, + gave her an account of that night’s work, and sped her to fetch the Bishop + himself into the forefront of the battle. + </p> + <p> + “Ah, God in heaven! Thou must save the house of d’Esgrignon!” he + exclaimed, as he went slowly home again. “The affair is developing now + into a fight in a Court of Law. We are face to face with men that have + passions and interests of their own; we can get anything out of them. This + du Croisier has taken advantage of the public prosecutor’s absence; the + public prosecutor is devoted to us, but since the opening of the Chambers + he has gone to Paris. Now, what can they have done to get round his + deputy? They have induced him to take up the charge without consulting his + chief. This mystery must be looked into, and the ground surveyed + to-morrow; and then, perhaps, when I have unraveled this web of theirs, I + will go back to Paris to set great powers at work through Mme. de + Maufrigneuse.” + </p> + <p> + So he reasoned, poor, aged, clear-sighted wrestler, before he lay down + half dead with bearing the weight of so much emotion and fatigue. And yet, + before he fell asleep he ran a searching eye over the list of magistrates, + taking all their secret ambitions into account, casting about for ways of + influencing them, calculating his chances in the coming struggle. + Chesnel’s prolonged scrutiny of consciences, given in a condensed form, + will perhaps serve as a picture of the judicial world in a country town. + </p> + <p> + Magistrates and officials generally are obliged to begin their career in + the provinces; judicial ambition there ferments. At the outset every man + looks towards Paris; they all aspire to shine in the vast theatre where + great political causes come before the courts, and the higher branches of + the legal profession are closely connected with the palpitating interests + of society. But few are called to that paradise of the man of law, and + nine-tenths of the profession are bound sooner or later to regard + themselves as shelved for good in the provinces. Wherefore, every Tribunal + of First Instance and every Court-Royal is sharply divided in two. The + first section has given up hope, and is either torpid or content; content + with the excessive respect paid to office in a country town, or torpid + with tranquillity. The second section is made up of the younger sort, in + whom the desire of success is untempered as yet by disappointment, and of + the really clever men urged on continually by ambition as with a goad; and + these two are possessed with a sort of fanatical belief in their order. + </p> + <p> + At this time the younger men were full of Royalist zeal against the + enemies of the Bourbons. The most insignificant deputy official was + dreaming of conducting a prosecution, and praying with all his might for + one of those political cases which bring a man’s zeal into prominence, + draw the attention of the higher powers, and mean advancement for King’s + men. Was there a member of an official staff of prosecuting counsel who + could hear of a Bonapartist conspiracy breaking out somewhere else without + a feeling of envy? Where was the man that did not burn to discover a + Caron, or a Berton, or a revolt of some sort? With reasons of State, and + the necessity of diffusing the monarchical spirit throughout France as + their basis, and a fierce ambition stirred up whenever party spirit ran + high, these ardent politicians on their promotion were lucid, + clear-sighted, and perspicacious. They kept up a vigorous detective system + throughout the kingdom; they did the work of spies, and urged the nation + along a path of obedience, from which it had no business to swerve. + </p> + <p> + Justice, thus informed with monarchical enthusiasm, atoned for the errors + of the ancient parliaments, and walked, perhaps, too ostentatiously hand + in hand with religion. There was more zeal than discretion shown; but + justice sinned not so much in the direction of machiavelism as by giving + the candid expression to its views, when those views appeared to be + opposed to the general interests of a country which must be put safely out + of reach of revolutions. But taken as a whole, there was still too much of + the bourgeois element in the administration; it was too readily moved by + petty liberal agitation; and as a result, it was inevitable that it should + incline sooner or later to the Constitutional party, and join ranks with + the bourgeoisie in the day of battle. In the great body of legal + functionaries, as in other departments of the administration, there was + not wanting a certain hypocrisy, or rather that spirit of imitation which + always leads France to model herself on the Court, and, quite + unintentionally, to deceive the powers that be. + </p> + <p> + Officials of both complexions were to be found in the court in which young + d’Esgrignon’s fate depended. M. le President du Ronceret and an elderly + judge, Blondet by name, represented the section of functionaries shelved + for good, and resigned to stay where they were; while the young and + ambitious party comprised the examining magistrate M. Camusot, and his + deputy M. Michu, appointed through the interests of the Cinq-Cygnes, and + certain of promotion to the Court of Appeal of Paris at the first + opportunity. + </p> + <p> + President du Ronceret held a permanent post; it was impossible to turn him + out. The aristocratic party declined to give him what he considered to be + his due, socially speaking; so he declared for the bourgeoisie, glossed + over his disappointment with the name of independence, and failed to + realize that his opinions condemned him to remain a president of a court + of the first instance for the rest of his life. Once started in this track + the sequence of events led du Ronceret to place his hopes of advancement + on the triumph of du Croisier and the Left. He was in no better odor at + the Prefecture than at the Court-Royal. He was compelled to keep on good + terms with the authorities; the Liberals distrusted him, consequently he + belonged to neither party. He was obliged to resign his chances of + election to du Croisier, he exercised no influence, and played a secondary + part. The false position reacted on his character; he was soured and + discontented; he was tired of political ambiguity, and privately had made + up his mind to come forward openly as leader of the Liberal party, and so + to strike ahead of du Croisier. His behavior in the d’Esgrignon affair was + the first step in this direction. To begin with, he was an admirable + representative of that section of the middle classes which allows its + petty passions to obscure the wider interests of the country; a class of + crotchety politicians, upholding the government one day and opposing it + the next, compromising every cause and helping none; helpless after they + have done the mischief till they set about brewing more; unwilling to face + their own incompetence, thwarting authority while professing to serve it. + With a compound of arrogance and humility they demand of the people more + submission than kings expect, and fret their souls because those above + them are not brought down to their level, as if greatness could be little, + as if power existed without force. + </p> + <p> + President du Ronceret was a tall, spare man with a receding forehead and + scanty, auburn hair. He was wall-eyed, his complexion was blotched, his + lips thin and hard, his scarcely audible voice came out like the husky + wheezings of asthma. He had for a wife a great, solemn, clumsy creature, + tricked out in the most ridiculous fashion, and outrageously overdressed. + Mme. la Presidente gave herself the airs of a queen; she wore vivid + colors, and always appeared at balls adorned with the turban, dear to the + British female, and lovingly cultivated in out-of-the-way districts in + France. Each of the pair had an income of four or five thousand francs, + which with the President’s salary, reached a total of some twelve + thousand. In spite of a decided tendency to parsimony, vanity required + that they should receive one evening in the week. Du Croisier might import + modern luxury into the town, M. and Mme. de Ronceret were faithful to the + old traditions. They had always lived in the old-fashioned house belonging + to Mme. du Ronceret, and had made no changes in it since their marriage. + The house stood between a garden and a courtyard. The gray old gable end, + with one window in each story, gave upon the road. High walls enclosed the + garden and the yard, but the space taken up beneath them in the garden by + a walk shaded with chestnut trees was filled in the yard by a row of + outbuildings. An old rust-devoured iron gate in the garden wall balanced + the yard gateway, a huge, double-leaved carriage entrance with a buttress + on either side, and a mighty shell on the top. The same shell was repeated + over the house-door. + </p> + <p> + The whole place was gloomy, close, and airless. The row of iron-gated + openings in the opposite wall, as you entered, reminded you of prison + windows. Every passer-by could look in through the railings to see how the + garden grew; the flowers in the little square borders never seemed to + thrive there. + </p> + <p> + The drawing-room on the ground floor was lighted by a single window on the + side of the street, and a French window above a flight of steps, which + gave upon the garden. The dining-room on the other side of the great + ante-chamber, with its windows also looking out into the garden, was + exactly the same size as the drawing-room, and all three apartments were + in harmony with the general air of gloom. It wearied your eyes to look at + the ceilings all divided up by huge painted crossbeams and adorned with a + feeble lozenge pattern or a rosette in the middle. The paint was old, + startling in tint, and begrimed with smoke. The sun had faded the heavy + silk curtains in the drawing-room; the old-fashioned Beauvais tapestry + which covered the white-painted furniture had lost all its color with + wear. A Louis Quinze clock on the chimney-piece stood between two + extravagant, branched sconces filled with yellow wax candles, which the + Presidente only lighted on occasions when the old-fashioned rock-crystal + chandelier emerged from its green wrapper. Three card-tables, covered with + threadbare baize, and a backgammon box, sufficed for the recreations of + the company; and Mme. du Ronceret treated them to such refreshments as + cider, chestnuts, pastry puffs, glasses of eau sucree, and home-made + orgeat. For some time past she had made a practice of giving a party once + a fortnight, when tea and some pitiable attempts at pastry appeared to + grace the occasion. + </p> + <p> + Once a quarter the du Roncerets gave a grand three-course dinner, which + made a great sensation in the town, a dinner served up in execrable ware, + but prepared with the science for which the provincial cook is remarkable. + It was a Gargantuan repast, which lasted for six whole hours, and by + abundance the President tried to vie with du Croisier’s elegance. + </p> + <p> + And so du Ronceret’s life and its accessories were just what might have + been expected from his character and his false position. He felt + dissatisfied at home without precisely knowing what was the matter; but he + dared not go to any expense to change existing conditions, and was only + too glad to put by seven or eight thousand francs every year, so as to + leave his son Fabien a handsome private fortune. Fabien du Ronceret had no + mind for the magistracy, the bar, or the civil service, and his pronounced + turn for doing nothing drove his parent to despair. + </p> + <p> + On this head there was rivalry between the President and the + Vice-President, old M. Blondet. M. Blondet, for a long time past, had been + sedulously cultivating an acquaintance between his son and the Blandureau + family. The Blandureaus were well-to-do linen manufacturers, with an only + daughter, and it was on this daughter that the President had fixed his + choice of a wife for Fabien. Now, Joseph Blondet’s marriage with Mlle. + Blandureau depended on his nomination to the post which his father, old + Blondet, hoped to obtain for him when he himself should retire. But + President du Ronceret, in underhand ways, was thwarting the old man’s + plans, and working indirectly upon the Blandureaus. Indeed, if it had not + been for this affair of young d’Esgrignon’s, the astute President might + have cut them out, father and son, for their rivals were very much richer. + </p> + <p> + M. Blondet, the victim of the machiavelian President’s intrigues, was one + of the curious figures which lie buried away in the provinces like old + coins in a crypt. He was at that time a man of sixty-seven or thereabouts, + but he carried his years well; he was very tall, and in build reminded you + of the canons of the good old times. The smallpox had riddled his face + with numberless dints, and spoilt the shape of his nose by imparting to it + a gimlet-like twist; it was a countenance by no means lacking in + character, very evenly tinted with a diffused red, lighted up by a pair of + bright little eyes, with a sardonic look in them, while a certain + sarcastic twitch of the purpled lips gave expression to that feature. + </p> + <p> + Before the Revolution broke out, Blondet senior had been a barrister; + afterwards he became the public accuser, and one of the mildest of those + formidable functionaries. Goodman Blondet, as they used to call him, + deadened the force of the new doctrines by acquiescing in them all, and + putting none of them in practice. He had been obliged to send one or two + nobles to prison; but his further proceedings were marked with such + deliberation, that he brought them through to the 9th Thermidor with a + dexterity which won respect for him on all sides. As a matter of fact, + Goodman Blondet ought to have been President of the Tribunal, but when the + courts of law were reorganized he had been set aside; Napoleon’s aversion + for Republicans was apt to reappear in the smallest appointments under his + government. The qualification of ex-public accuser, written in the margin + of the list against Blondet’s name, set the Emperor inquiring of + Cambaceres whether there might not be some scion of an ancient + parliamentary stock to appoint instead. The consequence was that du + Ronceret, whose father had been a councillor of parliament, was nominated + to the presidency; but, the Emperor’s repugnance notwithstanding, + Cambaceres allowed Blondet to remain on the bench, saying that the old + barrister was one of the best jurisconsults in France. + </p> + <p> + Blondet’s talents, his knowledge of the old law of the land and subsequent + legislation, should by rights have brought him far in his profession; but + he had this much in common with some few great spirits: he entertained a + prodigious contempt for his own special knowledge, and reserved all his + pretentions, leisure, and capacity for a second pursuit unconnected with + the law. To this pursuit he gave his almost exclusive attention. The good + man was passionately fond of gardening. He was in correspondence with some + of the most celebrated amateurs; it was his ambition to create new + species; he took an interest in botanical discoveries, and lived, in + short, in the world of flowers. Like all florists, he had a predilection + for one particular plant; the pelargonium was his especial favorite. The + court, the cases that came before it, and his outward life were as nothing + to him compared with the inward life of fancies and abundant emotions + which the old man led. He fell more and more in love with his + flower-seraglio; and the pains which he bestowed on his garden, the sweet + round of the labors of the months, held Goodman Blondet fast in his + greenhouse. But for that hobby he would have been a deputy under the + Empire, and shone conspicuous beyond a doubt in the Corps Legislatif. + </p> + <p> + His marriage was the second cause of his obscurity. As a man of forty, he + was rash enough to marry a girl of eighteen, by whom he had a son named + Joseph in the first year of their marriage. Three years afterwards Mme. + Blondet, then the prettiest woman in the town, inspired in the prefect of + the department a passion which ended only with her death. The prefect was + the father of her second son Emile; the whole town knew this, old Blondet + himself knew it. The wife who might have roused her husband’s ambition, + who might have won him away from his flowers, positively encouraged the + judge in his botanical tastes. She no more cared to leave the place than + the prefect cared to leave his prefecture so long as his mistress lived. + </p> + <p> + Blondet felt himself unequal at his age to a contest with a young wife. He + sought consolation in his greenhouse, and engaged a very pretty + servant-maid to assist him to tend his ever-changing bevy of beauties. So + while the judge potted, pricked out, watered, layered, slipped, blended, + and induced his flowers to break, Mme. Blondet spent his substance on the + dress and finery in which she shone at the prefecture. One interest alone + had power to draw her away from the tender care of a romantic affection + which the town came to admire in the end; and this interest was Emile’s + education. The child of love was a bright and pretty boy, while Joseph was + no less heavy and plain-featured. The old judge, blinded by paternal + affection loved Joseph as his wife loved Emile. + </p> + <p> + For a dozen years M. Blondet bore his lot with perfect resignation. He + shut his eyes to his wife’s intrigue with a dignified, well-bred + composure, quite in the style of an eighteenth century grand seigneur; + but, like all men with a taste for a quiet life, he could cherish a + profound dislike, and he hated his younger son. When his wife died, + therefore, in 1818, he turned the intruder out of the house, and packed + him off to Paris to study law on an allowance of twelve hundred francs for + all resource, nor could any cry of distress extract another penny from his + purse. Emile Blondet would have gone under if it had not been for his real + father. + </p> + <p> + M. Blondet’s house was one of the prettiest in the town. It stood almost + opposite the prefecture, with a neat little court in front. A row of + old-fashioned iron railings between two brick-work piers enclosed it from + the street; and a low wall, also of brick, with a second row of railings + along the top, connected the piers with the neighboring house. The little + court, a space about ten fathoms in width by twenty in length, was cut in + two by a brick pathway which ran from the gate to the house door between a + border on either side. Those borders were always renewed; at every season + of the year they exhibited a successful show of blossom, to the admiration + of the public. All along the back of the gardenbeds a quantity of climbing + plants grew up and covered the walls of the neighboring houses with a + magnificent mantle; the brick-work piers were hidden in clusters of + honeysuckle; and, to crown all, in a couple of terra-cotta vases at the + summit, a pair of acclimatized cactuses displayed to the astonished eyes + of the ignorant those thick leaves bristling with spiny defences which + seem to be due to some plant disease. + </p> + <p> + It was a plain-looking house, built of brick, with brick-work arches above + the windows, and bright green Venetian shutters to make it gay. Through + the glass door you could look straight across the house to the opposite + glass door, at the end of a long passage, and down the central alley in + the garden beyond; while through the windows of the dining-room and + drawing-room, which extended, like the passage from back to front of the + house, you could often catch further glimpses of the flower-beds in a + garden of about two acres in extent. Seen from the road, the brick-work + harmonized with the fresh flowers and shrubs, for two centuries had + overlaid it with mosses and green and russet tints. No one could pass + through the town without falling in love with a house with such charming + surroundings, so covered with flowers and mosses to the roof-ridge, where + two pigeons of glazed crockery ware were perched by way of ornament. + </p> + <p> + M. Blondet possessed an income of about four thousand livres derived from + land, besides the old house in the town. He meant to avenge his wrongs + legitimately enough. He would leave his house, his lands, his seat on the + bench to his son Joseph, and the whole town knew what he meant to do. He + had made a will in that son’s favor; he had gone as far as the Code will + permit a man to go in the way of disinheriting one child to benefit + another; and what was more, he had been putting by money for the past + fifteen years to enable his lout of a son to buy back from Emile that + portion of his father’s estate which could not legally be taken away from + him. + </p> + <p> + Emile Blondet thus turned adrift had contrived to gain distinction in + Paris, but so far it was rather a name than a practical result. Emile’s + indolence, recklessness, and happy-go-lucky ways drove his real father to + despair; and when that father died, a half-ruined man, turned out of + office by one of the political reactions so frequent under the + Restoration, it was with a mind uneasy as to the future of a man endowed + with the most brilliant qualities. + </p> + <p> + Emile Blondet found support in a friendship with a Mlle. de Troisville, + whom he had known before her marriage with the Comte de Montcornet. His + mother was living when the Troisvilles came back after the emigration; she + was related to the family, distantly it is true, but the connection was + close enough to allow her to introduce Emile to the house. She, poor + woman, foresaw the future. She knew that when she died her son would lose + both mother and father, a thought which made death doubly bitter, so she + tried to interest others in him. She encouraged the liking that sprang up + between Emile and the eldest daughter of the house of Troisville; but + while the liking was exceedingly strong on the young lady’s part, a + marriage was out of the question. It was a romance on the pattern of Paul + et Virginie. Mme. Blondet did what she could to teach her son to look to + the Troisvilles, to found a lasting attachment on a children’s game of + “make-believe” love, which was bound to end as boy-and-girl romances + usually do. When Mlle. de Troisville’s marriage with General Montcornet + was announced, Mme. Blondet, a dying woman, went to the bride and solemnly + implored her never to abandon Emile, and to use her influence for him in + society in Paris, whither the General’s fortune summoned her to shine. + </p> + <p> + Luckily for Emile, he was able to make his own way. He made his + appearance, at the age of twenty, as one of the masters of modern + literature; and met with no less success in the society into which he was + launched by the father who at first could afford to bear the expense of + the young man’s extravagance. Perhaps Emile’s precocious celebrity and the + good figure that he made strengthened the bonds of his friendship with the + Countess. Perhaps Mme. de Montcornet, with the Russian blood in her veins + (her mother was the daughter of the Princess Scherbelloff), might have + cast off the friend of her childhood if he had been a poor man struggling + with all his might among the difficulties which beset a man of letters in + Paris; but by the time that the real strain of Emile’s adventurous life + began, their attachment was unalterable on either side. He was looked upon + as one of the leading lights of journalism when young d’Esgrignon met him + at his first supper party in Paris; his acknowledged position in the world + of letters was very high, and he towered above his reputation. Goodman + Blondet had not the faintest conception of the power which the + Constitutional Government had given to the press; nobody ventured to talk + in his presence of the son of whom he refused to hear. And so it came to + pass that he knew nothing of Emile whom he had cursed and Emile’s + greatness. + </p> + <p> + Old Blondet’s integrity was as deeply rooted in him as his passion for + flowers; he knew nothing but law and botany. He would have interviews with + litigants, listen to them, chat with them, and show them his flowers; he + would accept rare seeds from them; but once on the bench, no judge on + earth was more impartial. Indeed, his manner of proceeding was so well + known, that litigants never went near him except to hand over some + document which might enlighten him in the performance of his duty, and + nobody tried to throw dust in his eyes. With his learning, his lights, and + his way of holding his real talents cheap, he was so indispensable to + President du Ronceret, that, matrimonial schemes apart, that functionary + would have done all that he could, in an underhand way, to prevent the + vice-president from retiring in favor of his son. If the learned old man + left the bench, the President would be utterly unable to do without him. + </p> + <p> + Goodman Blondet did not know that it was in Emile’s power to fulfil all + his wishes in a few hours. The simplicity of his life was worthy of one of + Plutarch’s men. In the evening he looked over his cases; next morning he + worked among his flowers; and all day long he gave decisions on the bench. + The pretty maid-servant, now of ripe age, and wrinkled like an Easter + pippin, looked after the house, and they lived according to the + established customs of the strictest parsimony. Mlle. Cadot always carried + the keys of her cupboards and fruit-loft about with her. She was + indefatigable. She went to market herself, she cooked and dusted and + swept, and never missed mass of a morning. To give some idea of the + domestic life of the household, it will be enough to remark that the + father and son never ate fruit till it was beginning to spoil, because + Mlle. Cadot always brought out anything that would not keep. No one in the + house ever tasted the luxury of new bread, and all the fast days in the + calendar were punctually observed. The gardener was put on rations like a + soldier; the elderly Valideh always kept an eye upon him. And she, for her + part, was so deferentially treated, that she took her meals with the + family, and in consequence was continually trotting to and fro between the + kitchen and the parlor at breakfast and dinner time. + </p> + <p> + Mlle. Blandureau’s parents had consented to her marriage with Joseph + Blondet upon one condition—the penniless and briefless barrister + must be an assistant judge. So, with the desire of fitting his son to fill + the position, old M. Blondet racked his brains to hammer the law into his + son’s head by dint of lessons, so as to make a cut-and-dried lawyer of + him. As for Blondet junior, he spent almost every evening at the + Blandureaus’ house, to which also young Fabien du Ronceret had been + admitted since his return, without raising the slightest suspicion in the + minds of father or son. + </p> + <p> + Everything in this life of theirs was measured with an accuracy worthy of + Gerard Dow’s Money Changer; not a grain of salt too much, not a single + profit foregone; but the economical principles by which it was regulated + were relaxed in favor of the greenhouse and garden. “The garden was the + master’s craze,” Mlle. Cadot used to say. The master’s blind fondness for + Joseph was not a craze in her eyes; she shared the father’s predilection; + she pampered Joseph; she darned his stockings; and would have been better + pleased if the money spent on the garden had been put by for Joseph’s + benefit. + </p> + <p> + That garden was kept in marvelous order by a single man; the paths, + covered with river-sand, continually turned over with the rake, meandered + among the borders full of the rarest flowers. Here were all kinds of color + and scent, here were lizards on the walls, legions of little flower-pots + standing out in the sun, regiments of forks and hoes, and a host of + innocent things, a combination of pleasant results to justify the + gardener’s charming hobby. + </p> + <p> + At the end of the greenhouse the judge had set up a grandstand, an + amphitheatre of benches to hold some five or six thousand pelargoniums in + pots—a splendid and famous show. People came to see his geraniums in + flower, not only from the neighborhood, but even from the departments + round about. The Empress Marie Louise, passing through the town, had + honored the curiously kept greenhouse with a visit; so much was she + impressed with the sight, that she spoke of it to Napoleon, and the old + judge received the Cross of the Legion of Honor. But as the learned + gardener never mingled in society at all, and went nowhere except to the + Blandureaus, he had no suspicion of the President’s underhand manoeuvres; + and others who could see the President’s intentions were far too much + afraid of him to interfere or to warn the inoffensive Blondets. + </p> + <p> + As for Michu, that young man with his powerful connections gave much more + thought to making himself agreeable to the women in the upper social + circles to which he was introduced by the Cinq-Cygnes, than to the + extremely simple business of a provincial Tribunal. With his independent + means (he had an income of twelve thousand livres), he was courted by + mothers of daughters, and led a frivolous life. He did just enough at the + Tribunal to satisfy his conscience, much as a schoolboy does his + exercises, saying ditto on all occasions, with a “Yes, dear President.” + But underneath the appearance of indifference lurked the unusual powers of + the Paris law student who had distinguished himself as one of the staff of + prosecuting counsel before he came to the provinces. He was accustomed to + taking broad views of things; he could do rapidly what the President and + Blondet could only do after much thinking, and very often solved knotty + points for them. In delicate conjunctures the President and Vice-President + took counsel with their junior, confided thorny questions to him, and + never failed to wonder at the readiness with which he brought back a task + in which old Blondet found nothing to criticise. Michu was sure of the + influence of the most crabbed aristocrats, and he was young and rich; he + lived, therefore, above the level of departmental intrigues and + pettinesses. He was an indispensable man at picnics, he frisked with young + ladies and paid court to their mothers, he danced at balls, he gambled + like a capitalist. In short, he played his part of young lawyer of fashion + to admiration; without, at the same time, compromising his dignity, which + he knew how to assert at the right moment like a man of spirit. He won + golden opinions by the manner in which he threw himself into provincial + ways, without criticising them; and for these reasons, every one + endeavored to make his time of exile endurable. + </p> + <p> + The public prosecutor was a lawyer of the highest ability; he had taken + the plunge into political life, and was one of the most distinguished + speakers on the ministerialist benches. The President stood in awe of him; + if he had not been away in Paris at the time, no steps would have been + taken against Victurnien; his dexterity, his experience of business, would + have prevented the whole affair. At that moment, however, he was in the + Chamber of Deputies, and the President and du Croisier had taken advantage + of his absence to weave their plot, calculating, with a certain ingenuity, + that if once the law stepped in, and the matter was noised abroad, things + would have gone too far to be remedied. + </p> + <p> + As a matter of fact, no staff of prosecuting counsel in any Tribunal, at + that particular time, would have taken up a charge of forgery against the + eldest son of one of the noblest houses in France without going into the + case at great length, and a special reference, in all probability, to the + Attorney-General. In such a case as this, the authorities and the + Government would have tried endless ways of compromising and hushing up an + affair which might send an imprudent young man to the hulks. They would + very likely have done the same for a Liberal family in a prominent + position, so long as the Liberals were not too openly hostile to the + throne and the altar. So du Croisier’s charge and the young Count’s arrest + had not been very easy to manage. The President and du Croisier had + compassed their ends in the following manner. + </p> + <p> + M. Sauvager, a young Royalist barrister, had reached the position of + deputy public prosecutor by dint of subservience to the Ministry. In the + absence of his chief he was head of the staff of counsel for prosecution, + and, consequently, it fell to him to take up the charge made by du + Croisier. Sauvager was a self-made man; he had nothing but his stipend; + and for that reason the authorities reckoned upon some one who had + everything to gain by devotion. The President now exploited the position. + No sooner was the document with the alleged forgery in du Croisier’s + hands, than Mme. la Presidente du Ronceret, prompted by her spouse, had a + long conversation with M. Sauvager. In the course of it she pointed out + the uncertainties of a career in the magistrature debout compared with the + magistrature assise, and the advantages of the bench over the bar; she + showed how a freak on the part of some official, or a single false step, + might ruin a man’s career. + </p> + <p> + “If you are conscientious and give your conclusions against the powers + that be, you are lost,” continued she. “Now, at this moment, you might + turn your position to account to make a fine match that would put you + above unlucky chances for the rest of your life; you may marry a wife with + fortune sufficient to land you on the bench, in the magistrature assise. + There is a fine chance for you. M. du Croisier will never have any + children; everybody knows why. His money, and his wife’s as well, will go + to his niece, Mlle. Duval. M. Duval is an ironmaster, his purse is + tolerably filled, to begin with, and his father is still alive, and has a + little property besides. The father and son have a million of francs + between them; they will double it with du Croisier’s help, for du Croisier + has business connections among great capitalists and manufacturers in + Paris. M. and Mme. Duval the younger would be certain to give their + daughter to a suitor brought forward by du Croisier, for he is sure to + leave two fortunes to his niece; and, in all probability, he will settle + the reversion of his wife’s property upon Mlle. Duval in the marriage + contract, for Mme. du Croisier has no kin. You know how du Croisier hates + the d’Esgrignons. Do him a service, be his man, take up this charge of + forgery which he is going to make against young d’Esgrignon, and follow up + the proceedings at once without consulting the public prosecutor at Paris. + And, then, pray Heaven that the Ministry dismisses you for doing your + office impartially, in spite of the powers that be; for if they do, your + fortune is made! You will have a charming wife and thirty thousand francs + a year with her, to say nothing of four millions expectations in ten + years’ time.” + </p> + <p> + In two evenings Sauvager was talked over. Both he and the President kept + the affair a secret from old Blondet, from Michu, and from the second + member of the staff of prosecuting counsel. Feeling sure of Blondet’s + impartiality on a question of fact, the President made certain of a + majority without counting Camusot. And now Camusot’s unexpected defection + had thrown everything out. What the President wanted was a committal for + trial before the public prosecutor got warning. How if Camusot or the + second counsel for the prosecution should send word to Paris? + </p> + <p> + And here some portion of Camusot’s private history may perhaps explain how + it came to pass that Chesnel took it for granted that the examining + magistrate would be on the d’Esgrignons’ side, and how he had the boldness + to tamper in the open street with that representative of justice. + </p> + <p> + Camusot’s father, a well-known silk mercer in the Rue des Bourdonnais, was + ambitious for the only son of his first marriage, and brought him up to + the law. When Camusot junior took a wife, he gained with her the influence + of an usher of the Royal cabinet, backstairs influence, it is true, but + still sufficient, since it had brought him his first appointment as + justice of the peace, and the second as examining magistrate. At the time + of his marriage, his father only settled an income of six thousand francs + upon him (the amount of his mother’s fortune, which he could legally + claim), and as Mlle. Thirion brought him no more than twenty thousand + francs as her portion, the young couple knew the hardships of hidden + poverty. The salary of a provincial justice of the peace does not exceed + fifteen hundred francs, while an examining magistrate’s stipend is + augmented by something like a thousand francs, because his position + entails expenses and extra work. The post, therefore, is much coveted, + though it is not permanent, and the work is heavy, and that was why Mme. + Camusot had just scolded her husband for allowing the President to read + his thoughts. + </p> + <p> + Marie Cecile Amelie Thirion, after three years of marriage, perceived the + blessing of Heaven upon it in the regularity of two auspicious events—the + births of a girl and a boy; but she prayed to be less blessed in the + future. A few more of such blessings would turn straitened means into + distress. M. Camusot’s father’s money was not likely to come to them for a + long time; and, rich as he was, he would scarcely leave more than eight or + ten thousand francs a year to each of his children, four in number, for he + had been married twice. And besides, by the time that all “expectations,” + as matchmakers call them, were realized, would not the magistrate have + children of his own to settle in life? Any one can imagine the situation + for a little woman with plenty of sense and determination, and Mme. + Camusot was such a woman. She did not refrain from meddling in matters + judicial. She had far too strong a sense of the gravity of a false step in + her husband’s career. + </p> + <p> + She was the only child of an old servant of Louis XVIII., a valet who had + followed his master in his wanderings in Italy, Courland, and England, + till after the Restoration the King awarded him with the one place that he + could fill at Court, and made him usher by rotation to the royal cabinet. + So in Amelie’s home there had been, as it were, a sort of reflection of + the Court. Thirion used to tell her about the lords, and ministers, and + great men whom he announced and introduced and saw passing to and fro. The + girl, brought up at the gates of the Tuileries, had caught some tincture + of the maxims practised there, and adopted the dogma of passive obedience + to authority. She had sagely judged that her husband, by ranging himself + on the side of the d’Esgrignons, would find favor with Mme. la Duchesse de + Maufrigneuse, and with two powerful families on whose influence with the + King the Sieur Thirion could depend at an opportune moment. Camusot might + get an appointment at the first opportunity within the jurisdiction of + Paris, and afterwards at Paris itself. That promotion, dreamed of and + longed for at every moment, was certain to have a salary of six thousand + francs attached to it, as well as the alleviation of living in her own + father’s house, or under the Camusots’ roof, and all the advantages of a + father’s fortune on either side. If the adage, “Out of sight is out of + mind,” holds good of most women, it is particularly true where family + feeling or royal or ministerial patronage is concerned. The personal + attendants of kings prosper at all times; you take an interest in a man, + be it only a man in livery, if you see him every day. + </p> + <p> + Mme. Camusot, regarding herself as a bird of passage, had taken a little + house in the Rue du Cygne. Furnished lodgings there were none; the town + was not enough of a thoroughfare, and the Camusots could not afford to + live at an inn like M. Michu. So the fair Parisian had no choice for it + but to take such furniture as she could find; and as she paid a very + moderate rent, the house was remarkably ugly, albeit a certain quaintness + of detail was not wanting. It was built against a neighboring house in + such a fashion that the side with only one window in each story, gave upon + the street, and the front looked out upon a yard where rose-bushes and + buckhorn were growing along the wall on either side. On the farther side, + opposite the house, stood a shed, a roof over two brick arches. A little + wicket-gate gave entrance into the gloomy place (made gloomier still by + the great walnut-tree which grew in the yard), but a double flight of + steps, with an elaborately-wrought but rust-eaten handrail, led to the + house door. Inside the house there were two rooms on each floor. The + dining-room occupied that part of the ground floor nearest the street, and + the kitchen lay on the other side of a narrow passage almost wholly taken + up by the wooden staircase. Of the two first-floor rooms, one did duty as + the magistrate’s study, the other as a bedroom, while the nursery and the + servants’ bedroom stood above in the attics. There were no ceilings in the + house; the cross-beams were simply white-washed and the spaces plastered + over. Both rooms on the first floor and the dining-room below were + wainscoted and adorned with the labyrinthine designs which taxed the + patience of the eighteenth century joiner; but the carving had been + painted a dingy gray most depressing to behold. + </p> + <p> + The magistrate’s study looked as though it belonged to a provincial + lawyer; it contained a big bureau, a mahogany armchair, a law student’s + books, and shabby belongings transported from Paris. Mme. Camusot’s room + was more of a native product; it boasted a blue-and-white scheme of + decoration, a carpet, and that anomalous kind of furniture which appears + to be in the fashion, while it is simply some style that has failed in + Paris. As to the dining-room, it was nothing but an ordinary provincial + dining-room, bare and chilly, with a damp, faded paper on the walls. + </p> + <p> + In this shabby room, with nothing to see but the walnut-tree, the dark + leaves growing against the walls, and the almost deserted road beyond + them, a somewhat lively and frivolous woman, accustomed to the amusements + and stir of Paris, used to sit all day long, day after day, and for the + most part of the time alone, though she received tiresome and inane visits + which led her to think her loneliness preferable to empty tittle-tattle. + If she permitted herself the slightest gleam of intelligence, it gave rise + to interminable comment and embittered her condition. She occupied herself + a great deal with her children, not so much from taste as for the sake of + an interest in her almost solitary life, and exercised her mind on the + only subjects which she could find—to wit, the intrigues which went + on around her, the ways of provincials, and the ambitions shut in by their + narrow horizons. So she very soon fathomed mysteries of which her husband + had no idea. As she sat at her window with a piece of intermittent + embroidery work in her fingers, she did not see her woodshed full of + faggots nor the servant busy at the wash tub; she was looking out upon + Paris, Paris where everything is pleasure, everything is full of life. She + dreamed of Paris gaieties, and shed tears because she must abide in this + dull prison of a country town. She was disconsolate because she lived in a + peaceful district, where no conspiracy, no great affair would ever occur. + She saw herself doomed to sit under the shadow of the walnut-tree for some + time to come. + </p> + <p> + Mme. Camusot was a little, plump, fresh, fair-haired woman, with a very + prominent forehead, a mouth which receded, and a turned-up chin, a type of + countenance which is passable in youth, but looks old before the time. Her + bright, quick eyes expressed her innocent desire to get on in the world, + and the envy born of her present inferior position, with rather too much + candor; but still they lighted up her commonplace face and set it off with + a certain energy of feeling, which success was certain to extinguish in + later life. At that time she used to give a good deal of time and thought + to her dresses, inventing trimmings and embroidering them; she planned out + her costumes with the maid whom she had brought with her from Paris, and + so maintained the reputation of Parisiennes in the provinces. Her caustic + tongue was dreaded; she was not loved. In that keen, investigating spirit + peculiar to unoccupied women who are driven to find some occupation for + empty days, she had pondered the President’s private opinions, until at + length she discovered what he meant to do, and for some time past she had + advised Camusot to declare war. The young Count’s affair was an excellent + opportunity. Was it not obviously Camusot’s part to make a stepping-stone + of this criminal case by favoring the d’Esgrignons, a family with power of + a very different kind from the power of the du Croisier party? + </p> + <p> + “Sauvager will never marry Mlle. Duval. They are dangling her before him, + but he will be the dupe of those Machiavels in the Val-Noble to whom he is + going to sacrifice his position. Camusot, this affair, so unfortunate as + it is for the d’Esgrignons, so insidiously brought on by the President for + du Croisier’s benefit, will turn out well for nobody but <i>you</i>,” she + had said, as they went in. + </p> + <p> + The shrewd Parisienne had likewise guessed the President’s underhand + manoeuvres with the Blandureaus, and his object in baffling old Blondet’s + efforts, but she saw nothing to be gained by opening the eyes of father or + son to the perils of the situation; she was enjoying the beginning of the + comedy; she knew about the proposals made by Chesnel’s successor on behalf + of Fabien du Ronceret, but she did not suspect how important that secret + might be to her. If she or her husband were threatened by the President, + Mme. Camusot could threaten too, in her turn, to call the amateur + gardener’s attention to a scheme for carrying off the flower which he + meant to transplant into his house. + </p> + <p> + Chesnel had not penetrated, like Mme. Camusot, into the means by which + Sauvager had been won over; but by dint of looking into the various lives + and interests of the men grouped about the Lilies of the Tribunal, he knew + that he could count upon the public prosecutor, upon Camusot, and M. + Michu. Two judges for the d’Esgrignons would paralyze the rest. And, + finally, Chesnel knew old Blondet well enough to feel sure that if he ever + swerved from impartiality, it would be for the sake of the work of his + whole lifetime,—to secure his son’s appointment. So Chesnel slept, + full of confidence, on the resolve to go to M. Blondet and offer to + realize his so long cherished hopes, while he opened his eyes to President + du Ronceret’s treachery. Blondet won over, he would take a peremptory tone + with the examining magistrate, to whom he hoped to prove that if + Victurnien was not blameless, he had been merely imprudent; the whole + thing should be shown in the light of a boy’s thoughtless escapade. + </p> + <p> + But Chesnel slept neither soundly nor for long. Before dawn he was + awakened by his housekeeper. The most bewitching person in this history, + the most adorable youth on the face of the globe, Mme. la Duchesse de + Maufrigneuse herself, in man’s attire, had driven alone from Paris in a + caleche, and was waiting to see him. + </p> + <p> + “I have come to save him or to die with him,” said she, addressing the + notary, who thought that he was dreaming. “I have brought a hundred + thousand francs, given me by His Majesty out of his private purse, to buy + Victurnien’s innocence, if his adversary can be bribed. If we fail + utterly, I have brought poison to snatch him away before anything takes + place, before even the indictment is drawn up. But we shall not fail. I + have sent word to the public prosecutor; he is on the road behind me; he + could not travel in my caleche, because he wished to take the instructions + of the Keeper of the Seals.” + </p> + <p> + Chesnel rose to the occasion and played up to the Duchess; he wrapped + himself in his dressing-gown, fell at her feet, and kissed them, not + without asking her pardon for forgetting himself in his joy. + </p> + <p> + “We are saved!” cried he; and gave orders to Brigitte to see that Mme. la + Duchesse had all that she needed after traveling post all night. He + appealed to the fair Diane’s spirit, by making her see that it was + absolutely necessary that she should visit the examining magistrate before + daylight, lest any one should discover the secret, or so much as imagine + that the Duchesse de Maufrigneuse had come. + </p> + <p> + “And have I not a passport in due form?” quoth she, displaying a sheet of + paper, wherein she was described as M. le Vicomte Felix de Vandeness, + Master of Requests, and His Majesty’s private secretary. “And do I not + play my man’s part well?” she added, running her fingers through her wig a + la Titus, and twirling her riding switch. + </p> + <p> + “O! Mme. la Duchesse, you are an angel!” cried Chesnel, with tears in his + eyes. (She was destined always to be an angel, even in man’s attire.) + “Button up your greatcoat, muffle yourself up to the eyes in your + traveling cloak, take my arm, and let us go as quickly as possible to + Camusot’s house before anybody can meet us.” + </p> + <p> + “Then am I going to see a man called Camusot?” she asked. + </p> + <p> + “With a nose to match his name,”[*] assented Chesnel. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + [*] Camus, flat-nosed +</pre> + <p> + The old notary felt his heart dead within him, but he thought it none the + less necessary to humor the Duchess, to laugh when she laughed, and shed + tears when she wept; groaning in spirit, all the same, over the feminine + frivolity which could find matter for a jest while setting about a matter + so serious. What would he not have done to save the Count? While Chesnel + dressed; Mme. de Maufrigneuse sipped the cup of coffee and cream which + Brigitte brought her, and agreed with herself that provincial women cooks + are superior to Parisian chefs, who despise the little details which make + all the difference to an epicure. Thanks to Chesnel’s taste for delicate + fare, Brigitte was found prepared to set an excellent meal before the + Duchess. + </p> + <p> + Chesnel and his charming companion set out for M. and Mme. Camusot’s + house. + </p> + <p> + “Ah! so there is a Mme. Camusot?” said the Duchess. “Then the affair may + be managed.” + </p> + <p> + “And so much the more readily, because the lady is visibly tired enough of + living among us provincials; she comes from Paris,” said Chesnel. + </p> + <p> + “Then we must have no secrets from her?” + </p> + <p> + “You will judge how much to tell or to conceal,” Chesnel replied humbly. + “I am sure that she will be greatly flattered to be the Duchesse de + Maufrigneuse’s hostess; you will be obliged to stay in her house until + nightfall, I expect, unless you find it inconvenient to remain.” + </p> + <p> + “Is this Mme. Camusot a good-looking woman?” asked the Duchess, with a + coxcomb’s air. + </p> + <p> + “She is a bit of a queen in her own house.” + </p> + <p> + “Then she is sure to meddle in court-house affairs,” returned the Duchess. + “Nowhere but in France, my dear M. Chesnel, do you see women so much + wedded to their husbands that they are wedded to their husband’s + professions, work, or business as well. In Italy, England, and Germany, + women make it a point of honor to leave men to fight their own battles; + they shut their eyes to their husbands’ work as perseveringly as our + French citizens’ wives do all that in them lies to understand the position + of their joint-stock partnership; is not that what you call it in your + legal language? Frenchwomen are so incredibly jealous in the conduct of + their married life, that they insist on knowing everything; and that is + how, in the least difficulty, you feel the wife’s hand in the business; + the Frenchwoman advises, guides, and warns her husband. And, truth to + tell, the man is none the worse off. In England, if a married man is put + in prison for debt for twenty-four hours, his wife will be jealous and + make a scene when he comes back.” + </p> + <p> + “Here we are, without meeting a soul on the way,” said Chesnel. “You are + the more sure of complete ascendency here, Mme. la Duchesse, since Mme. + Camusot’s father is one Thirion, usher of the royal cabinet.” + </p> + <p> + “And the King never thought of that!” exclaimed the Duchess. “He thinks of + nothing! Thirion introduced us, the Prince de Cadignan, M. de Vandeness, + and me! We shall have it all our own way in this house. Settle everything + with M. Camusot while I talk to his wife.” + </p> + <p> + The maid, who was washing and dressing the children, showed the visitors + into the little fireless dining-room. + </p> + <p> + “Take that card to your mistress,” said the Duchess, lowering her voice + for the woman’s ear; “nobody else is to see it. If you are discreet, + child, you shall not lose by it.” + </p> + <p> + At the sound of a woman’s voice, and the sight of the handsome young man’s + face, the maid looked thunderstruck. + </p> + <p> + “Wake M. Camusot,” said Chesnel, “and tell him, that I am waiting to see + him on important business,” and she departed upstairs forthwith. + </p> + <p> + A few minutes later Mme. Camusot, in her dressing-gown, sprang downstairs + and brought the handsome stranger into her room. She had pushed Camusot + out of bed and into his study with all his clothes, bidding him dress + himself at once and wait there. The transformation scene had been brought + about by a bit of pasteboard with the words MADAME LA DUCHESSE DE + MAUFRIGNEUSE engraved upon it. A daughter of the usher of the royal + cabinet took in the whole situation at once. + </p> + <p> + “Well!” exclaimed the maid-servant, left with Chesnel in the dining-room, + “Would not any one think that a thunderbolt had dropped in among us? The + master is dressing in his study; you can go upstairs.” + </p> + <p> + “Not a word of all this, mind,” said Chesnel. + </p> + <p> + Now that he was conscious of the support of a great lady who had the + King’s consent (by word of mouth) to the measures about to be taken for + rescuing the Comte d’Esgrignon, he spoke with an air of authority, which + served his cause much better with Camusot than the humility with which he + would otherwise have approached him. + </p> + <p> + “Sir,” said he, “the words let fall last evening may have surprised you, + but they are serious. The house of d’Esgrignon counts upon you for the + proper conduct of investigations from which it must issue without a spot.” + </p> + <p> + “I shall pass over anything in your remarks, sir, which must be offensive + to me personally, and obnoxious to justice; for your position with regard + to the d’Esgrignons excuses you up to a certain point, but——” + </p> + <p> + “Pardon me, sir, if I interrupt you,” said Chesnel. “I have just spoken + aloud the things which your superiors are thinking and dare not avow; + though what those things are any intelligent man can guess, and you are an + intelligent man.—Grant that the young man had acted imprudently, can + you suppose that the sight of a d’Esgrignon dragged into an Assize Court + can be gratifying to the King, the Court, or the Ministry? Is it to the + interest of the kingdom, or of the country, that historic houses should + fall? Is not the existence of a great aristocracy, consecrated by time, a + guarantee of that Equality which is the catchword of the Opposition at + this moment? Well and good; now not only has there not been the slightest + imprudence, but we are innocent victims caught in a trap.” + </p> + <p> + “I am curious to know how,” said the examining magistrate. + </p> + <p> + “For the last two years, the Sieur du Croisier has regularly allowed M. le + Comte d’Esgrignon to draw upon him for very large sums,” said Chesnel. “We + are going to produce drafts for more than a hundred thousand crowns, which + he continually met; the amounts being remitted by me—bear that well + in mind—either before or after the bills fell due. M. le Comte + d’Esgrignon is in a position to produce a receipt for the sum paid by him, + before this bill, this alleged forgery was drawn. Can you fail to see in + that case that this charge is a piece of spite and party feeling? And a + charge brought against the heir of a great house by one of the most + dangerous enemies of the Throne and Altar, what is it but an odious + slander? There has been no more forgery in this affair than there has been + in my office. Summon Mme. du Croisier, who knows nothing as yet of the + charge of forgery; she will declare to you that I brought the money and + paid it over to her, so that in her husband’s absence she might remit the + amount for which he has not asked her. Examine du Croisier on the point; + he will tell you that he knows nothing of my payment to Mme. du Croisier. + </p> + <p> + “You may make such assertions as these, sir, in M. d’Esgrignon’s salon, or + in any other house where people know nothing of business, and they may be + believed; but no examining magistrate, unless he is a driveling idiot, can + imagine that a woman like Mme. du Croisier, so submissive as she is to her + husband, has a hundred thousand crowns lying in her desk at this moment, + without saying a word to him; nor yet that an old notary would not have + advised M. du Croisier of the deposit on his return to town.” + </p> + <p> + “The old notary, sir, had gone to Paris to put a stop to the young man’s + extravagance.” + </p> + <p> + “I have not yet examined the Comte d’Esgrignon,” Camusot began; “his + answers will point out my duty.” + </p> + <p> + “Is he in close custody?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes.” + </p> + <p> + “Sir,” said Chesnel, seeing danger ahead, “the examination can be made in + our interests or against them. But there are two courses open to you: you + can establish the fact on Mme. du Croisier’s deposition that the amount + was deposited with her before the bill was drawn; or you can examine the + unfortunate young man implicated in this affair, and he in his confusion + may remember nothing and commit himself. You will decide which is the more + credible—a slip of memory on the part of a woman in her ignorance of + business, or a forgery committed by a d’Esgrignon.” + </p> + <p> + “All this is beside the point,” began Camusot; “the question is, whether + M. le Comte d’Esgrignon has or has not used the lower half of a letter + addressed to him by du Croisier as a bill of exchange.” + </p> + <p> + “Eh! and so he might,” a voice cried suddenly, as Mme. Camusot broke in, + followed by the handsome stranger, “so he might when M. Chesnel had + advanced the money to meet the bill——” + </p> + <p> + She leant over her husband. + </p> + <p> + “You will have the first vacant appointment as assistant judge at Paris, + you are serving the King himself in this affair; I have proof of it; you + will not be forgotten,” she said, lowering her voice in his ear. “This + young man that you see here is the Duchesse de Maufrigneuse; you must + never have seen her, and do all that you can for the young Count boldly.” + </p> + <p> + “Gentlemen,” said Camusot, “even if the preliminary examination is + conducted to prove the young Count’s innocence, can I answer for the view + the court may take? M. Chesnel, and you also, my sweet, know what M. le + President wants.” + </p> + <p> + “Tut, tut, tut!” said Mme. Camusot, “go yourself to M. Michu this morning, + and tell him that the Count has been arrested; you will be two against two + in that case, I will be bound. <i>Michu</i> comes from Paris, and you know + he is devoted to the noblesse. Good blood cannot lie.” + </p> + <p> + At that very moment Mlle. Cadot’s voice was heard in the doorway. She had + brought a note, and was waiting for an answer. Camusot went out, and came + back again to read the note aloud: + </p> + <p> + “M. le Vice-President begs M. Camusot to sit in audience to-day and for + the next few days, so that there may be a quorum during M. le President’s + absence.” + </p> + <p> + “Then there is an end of the preliminary examination!” cried Mme. Camusot. + “Did I not tell you, dear, that they would play you some ugly trick? The + President has gone off to slander you to the public prosecutor and the + President of the Court-Royal. You will be changed before you can make the + examination. Is that clear?” + </p> + <p> + “You will stay, monsieur,” said the Duchess. “The public prosecutor is + coming, I hope, in time.” + </p> + <p> + “When the public prosecutor arrives,” little Mme. Camusot said, with some + heat, “he must find all over.—Yes, my dear, yes,” she added, looking + full at her amazed husband.—“Ah! old hypocrite of a President, you + are setting your wits against us; you shall remember it! You have a mind + to help us to a dish of your own making, you shall have two served up to + you by your humble servant Cecile Amelie Thirion!—Poor old Blondet! + It is lucky for him that the President has taken this journey to turn us + out, for now that great oaf of a Joseph Blondet will marry Mlle. + Blandureau. I will let Father Blondet have some seeds in return.—As + for you, Camusot, go to M. Michu’s, while Mme. la Duchesse and I will go + to find old Blondet. You must expect to hear it said all over the town + to-morrow that I took a walk with a lover this morning.” + </p> + <p> + Mme. Camusot took the Duchess’ arm, and they went through the town by + deserted streets to avoid any unpleasant adventure on the way to the old + Vice-President’s house. Chesnel meanwhile conferred with the young Count + in prison; Camusot had arranged a stolen interview. Cook-maids, servants, + and the other early risers of a country town, seeing Mme. Camusot and the + Duchess taking their way through the back streets, took the young + gentleman for an adorer from Paris. That evening, as Cecile Amelie had + said, the news of her behavior was circulated about the town, and more + than one scandalous rumor was occasioned thereby. Mme. Camusot and her + supposed lover found old Blondet in his greenhouse. He greeted his + colleague’s wife and her companion, and gave the charming young man a + keen, uneasy glance. + </p> + <p> + “I have the honor to introduce one of my husband’s cousins,” said Mme. + Camusot, bringing forward the Duchess; “he is one of the most + distinguished horticulturists in Paris; and as he cannot spend more than + one day with us, on his way back from Brittany, and has heard of your + flowers and plants, I have taken the liberty of coming early.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, the gentleman is a horticulturist, is he?” said the old Blondet. + </p> + <p> + The Duchess bowed. + </p> + <p> + “This is my coffee-plant,” said Blondet, “and here is a tea-plant.” + </p> + <p> + “What can have taken M. le President away from home?” put in Mme. Camusot. + “I will wager that his absence concerns M. Camusot.” + </p> + <p> + “Exactly.—This, monsieur, is the queerest of all cactuses,” he + continued, producing a flower-pot which appeared to contain a piece of + mildewed rattan; “it comes from Australia. You are very young, sir, to be + a horticulturist.” + </p> + <p> + “Dear M. Blondet, never mind your flowers,” said Mme. Camusot. “<i>You</i> + are concerned, you and your hopes, and your son’s marriage with Mlle. + Blandureau. You are duped by the President.” + </p> + <p> + “Bah!” said old Blondet, with an incredulous air. + </p> + <p> + “Yes,” retorted she. “If you cultivated people a little more and your + flowers a little less, you would know that the dowry and the hopes you + have sown, and watered, and tilled, and weeded are on the point of being + gathered now by cunning hands.” + </p> + <p> + “Madame!——” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, nobody in the town will have the courage to fly in the President’s + face and warn you. I, however, do not belong to the town, and, thanks to + this obliging young man, I shall soon be going back to Paris; so I can + inform you that Chesnel’s successor has made formal proposals for Mlle. + Claire Blandureau’s hand on behalf of young du Ronceret, who is to have + fifty thousand crowns from his parents. As for Fabien, he has made up his + mind to receive a call to the bar, so as to gain an appointment as judge.” + </p> + <p> + Old Blondet dropped the flower-pot which he had brought out for the + Duchess to see. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, my cactus! Oh, my son! and Mlle. Blandureau!... Look here! the cactus + flower is broken to pieces.” + </p> + <p> + “No,” Mme. Camusot answered, laughing; “everything can be put right. If + you have a mind to see your son a judge in another month, we will tell you + how you must set to work——” + </p> + <p> + “Step this way, sir, and you will see my pelargoniums, an enchanting sight + while they are in flower——” Then he added to Mme. Camusot, + “Why did you speak of these matters while your cousin was present.” + </p> + <p> + “All depends upon him,” riposted Mme. Camusot. “Your son’s appointment is + lost for ever if you let fall a word about this young man.” + </p> + <p> + “Bah!” + </p> + <p> + “The young man is a flower——” + </p> + <p> + “Ah!” + </p> + <p> + “He is the Duchesse de Maufrigneuse, sent here by His Majesty to save + young d’Esgrignon, whom they arrested yesterday on a charge of forgery + brought against him by du Croisier. Mme. la Duchesse has authority from + the Keeper of the Seals; he will ratify any promises that she makes to us——” + </p> + <p> + “My cactus is all right!” exclaimed Blondet, peering at his precious + plant.—“Go on, I am listening.” + </p> + <p> + “Take counsel with Camusot and Michu to hush up the affair as soon as + possible, and your son will get the appointment. It will come in time + enough to baffle du Ronceret’s underhand dealings with the Blandureaus. + Your son will be something better than assistant judge; he will have M. + Camusot’s post within the year. The public prosecutor will be here to-day. + M. Sauvager will be obliged to resign, I expect, after his conduct in this + affair. At the court my husband will show you documents which completely + exonerate the Count and prove that the forgery was a trap of du Croisier’s + own setting.” + </p> + <p> + Old Blondet went into the Olympic circus where his six thousand + pelargoniums stood, and made his bow to the Duchess. + </p> + <p> + “Monsieur,” said he, “if your wishes do not exceed the law, this thing may + be done.” + </p> + <p> + “Monsieur,” returned the Duchess, “send in your resignation to M. Chesnel + to-morrow, and I will promise you that your son shall be appointed within + the week; but you must not resign until you have had confirmation of my + promise from the public prosecutor. You men of law will come to a better + understanding among yourselves. Only let him know that the Duchesse de + Maufrigneuse had pledged her word to you. And not a word as to my journey + hither,” she added. + </p> + <p> + The old judge kissed her hand and began recklessly to gather his best + flowers for her. + </p> + <p> + “Can you think of it? Give them to madame,” said the Duchess. “A young man + should not have flowers about him when he has a pretty woman on his arm.” + </p> + <p> + “Before you go down to the court,” added Mme. Camusot, “ask Chesnel’s + successor about those proposals that he made in the name of M. and Mme. du + Ronceret.” + </p> + <p> + Old Blondet, quite overcome by this revelation of the President’s + duplicity, stood planted on his feet by the wicket gate, looking after the + two women as they hurried away through by-streets home again. The edifice + raised so painfully during ten years for his beloved son was crumbling + visibly before his eyes. Was it possible? He suspected some trick, and + hurried away to Chesnel’s successor. + </p> + <p> + At half-past nine, before the court was sitting, Vice-President Blondet, + Camusot, and Michu met with remarkable punctuality in the council chamber. + Blondet locked the door with some precautions when Camusot and Michu came + in together. + </p> + <p> + “Well, Mr. Vice-President,” began Michu, “M. Sauvager, without consulting + the public prosecutor, has issued a warrant for the apprehension of one + Comte d’Esgrignon, in order to serve a grudge borne against him by one du + Croisier, an enemy of the King’s government. It is a regular topsy-turvy + affair. The President, for his part, goes away, and thereby puts a stop to + the preliminary examination! And we know nothing of the matter. Do they, + by any chance, mean to force our hand?” + </p> + <p> + “This is the first word I have heard of it,” said the Vice-President. He + was furious with the President for stealing a march on him with the + Blandureaus. Chesnel’s successor, the du Roncerets’ man, had just fallen + into a snare set by the old judge; the truth was out, he knew the secret. + </p> + <p> + “It is lucky that we spoke to you about the matter, my dear master,” said + Camusot, “or you might have given up all hope of seating your son on the + bench or of marrying him to Mlle. Blandureau.” + </p> + <p> + “But it is no question of my son, nor of his marriage,” said the + Vice-President; “we are talking of young Comte d’Esgrignon. Is he or is he + not guilty?” + </p> + <p> + “It seems that Chesnel deposited the amount to meet the bill with Mme. du + Croisier,” said Michu, “and a crime has been made of a mere irregularity. + According to the charge, the Count made use of the lower half of a letter + bearing du Croisier’s signature as a draft which he cashed at the + Kellers’.” + </p> + <p> + “An imprudent thing to do,” was Camusot’s comment. + </p> + <p> + “But why is du Croisier proceeding against him if the amount was paid in + beforehand?” asked Vice-President Blondet. + </p> + <p> + “He does not know that the money was deposited with his wife; or he + pretends that he does not know,” said Camusot. + </p> + <p> + “It is a piece of provincial spite,” said Michu. + </p> + <p> + “Still it looks like a forgery to me,” said old Blondet. No passion could + obscure judicial clear-sightedness in him. + </p> + <p> + “Do you think so?” returned Camusot. “But, at the outset, supposing that + the Count had no business to draw upon du Croisier, there would still be + no forgery of the signature; and the Count believed that he had a right to + draw on Croisier when Chesnel advised him that the money had been placed + to his credit.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, then, where is the forgery?” asked Blondet. “It is the intent to + defraud which constitutes forgery in a civil action.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, it is clear, if you take du Croisier’s version for truth, that the + signature was diverted from its purpose to obtain a sum of money in spite + of du Croisier’s contrary injunction to his bankers,” Camusot answered. + </p> + <p> + “Gentlemen,” said Blondet, “this seems to me to be a mere trifle, a + quibble.—Suppose you had the money, I ought perhaps to have waited + until I had your authorization; but I, Comte d’Esgrignon, was pressed for + money, so I—— Come, come, your prosecution is a piece of + revengeful spite. Forgery is defined by the law as an attempt to obtain + any advantage which rightfully belongs to another. There is no forgery + here, according to the letter of the Roman law, nor according to the + spirit of modern jurisprudence (always from the point of a civil action, + for we are not here concerned with the falsification of public or + authentic documents). Between private individuals the essence of a forgery + is the intent to defraud; where is it in this case? In what times are we + living, gentlemen? Here is the President going away to balk a preliminary + examination which ought to be over by this time! Until to-day I did not + know M. le President, but he shall have the benefit of arrears; from this + time forth he shall draft his decisions himself. You must set about this + affair with all possible speed, M. Camusot.” + </p> + <p> + “Yes,” said Michu. “In my opinion, instead of letting the young man out on + bail, we ought to pull him out of this mess at once. Everything turns on + the examination of du Croisier and his wife. You might summons them to + appear while the court is sitting, M. Camusot; take down their depositions + before four o’clock, send in your report to-night, and we will give our + decision in the morning before the court sits.” + </p> + <p> + “We will settle what course to pursue while the barristers are pleading,” + said Vice-President Blondet, addressing Camusot. + </p> + <p> + And with that the three judges put on their robes and went into court. + </p> + <p> + At noon Mlle. Armande and the Bishop reached the Hotel d’Esgrignon; + Chesnel and M. Couturier were there to meet them. There was a sufficiently + short conference between the prelate and Mme. du Croisier’s director, and + the latter set out at once to visit his charge. + </p> + <p> + At eleven o’clock that morning du Croisier received a summons to appear in + the examining magistrate’s office between one and two in the afternoon. + Thither he betook himself, consumed by well-founded suspicions. It was + impossible that the President should have foreseen the arrival of the + Duchesse de Maufrigneuse upon the scene, the return of the public + prosecutor, and the hasty confabulation of his learned brethren; so he had + omitted to trace out a plan for du Croisier’s guidance in the event of the + preliminary examination taking place. Neither of the pair imagined that + the proceedings would be hurried on in this way. Du Croisier obeyed the + summons at once; he wanted to know how M. Camusot was disposed to act. So + he was compelled to answer the questions put to him. Camusot addressed him + in summary fashion with the six following inquiries:— + </p> + <p> + “Was the signature on the bill alleged to be a forgery in your + handwriting?—Had you previously done business with M. le Comte + d’Esgrignon?—Was not M. le Comte d’Esgrignon in the habit of drawing + upon you, with or without advice?—Did you not write a letter + authorizing M. d’Esgrignon to rely upon you at any time?—Had not + Chesnel squared the account not once, but many times already?—Were + you not away from home when this took place?” + </p> + <p> + All these questions the banker answered in the affirmative. In spite of + wordy explanations, the magistrate always brought him back to a “Yes” or + “No.” When the questions and answers alike had been resumed in the + proces-verbal, the examining magistrate brought out a final thunderbolt. + </p> + <p> + “Was du Croisier aware that the money destined to meet the bill had been + deposited with him, du Croisier, according to Chesnel’s declaration, and a + letter of advice sent by the said Chesnel to the Comte d’Esgrignon, five + days before the date of the bill?” + </p> + <p> + That last question frightened du Croisier. He asked what was meant by it, + and whether he was supposed to be the defendant and M. le Comte + d’Esgrignon the plaintiff? He called the magistrate’s attention to the + fact that if the money had been deposited with him, there was no ground + for the action. + </p> + <p> + “Justice is seeking information,” said the magistrate, as he dismissed the + witness, but not before he had taken down du Croisier’s last observation. + </p> + <p> + “But the money, sir——” + </p> + <p> + “The money is at your house.” + </p> + <p> + Chesnel, likewise summoned, came forward to explain the matter. The truth + of his assertions was borne out by Mme. du Croisier’s deposition. The + Count had already been examined. Prompted by Chesnel, he produced du + Croisier’s first letter, in which he begged the Count to draw upon him + without the insulting formality of depositing the amount beforehand. The + Comte d’Esgrignon next brought out a letter in Chesnel’s handwriting, by + which the notary advised him of the deposit of a hundred thousand crowns + with M. du Croisier. With such primary facts as these to bring forward as + evidence, the young Count’s innocence was bound to emerge triumphantly + from a court of law. + </p> + <p> + Du Croisier went home from the court, his face white with rage, and the + foam of repressed fury on his lips. His wife was sitting by the fireside + in the drawing-room at work upon a pair of slippers for him. She trembled + when she looked into his face, but her mind was made up. + </p> + <p> + “Madame,” he stammered out, “what deposition is this that you made before + the magistrate? You have dishonored, ruined, and betrayed me!” + </p> + <p> + “I have saved you, monsieur,” answered she. “If some day you will have the + honor of connecting yourself with the d’Esgrignons by marrying your niece + to the Count, it will be entirely owing to my conduct to-day.” + </p> + <p> + “A miracle!” cried he. “Balaam’s ass has spoken. Nothing will astonish me + after this. And where are the hundred thousand crowns which (so M. Camusot + tells me) are here in my house?” + </p> + <p> + “Here they are,” said she, pulling out a bundle of banknotes from beneath + the cushions of her settee. “I have not committed mortal sin by declaring + that M. Chesnel gave them into my keeping.” + </p> + <p> + “While I was away?” + </p> + <p> + “You were not here.” + </p> + <p> + “Will you swear that to me on your salvation?” + </p> + <p> + “I swear it,” she said composedly. + </p> + <p> + “Then why did you say nothing to me about it?” demanded he. + </p> + <p> + “I was wrong there,” said his wife, “but my mistake was all for your good. + Your niece will be Marquise d’Esgrignon some of these days, and you will + perhaps be a deputy, if you behave well in this deplorable business. You + have gone too far; you must find out how to get back again.” + </p> + <p> + Du Croisier, under stress of painful agitation, strode up and down his + drawing-room; while his wife, in no less agitation, awaited the result of + this exercise. Du Croisier at length rang the bell. + </p> + <p> + “I am not at home to any one to-night,” he said, when the man appeared; + “shut the gates; and if any one calls, tell them that your mistress and I + have gone into the country. We shall start directly after dinner, and + dinner must be half an hour earlier than usual.” + </p> + <p> + The great news was discussed that evening in every drawing-room; little + shopkeepers, working folk, beggars, the noblesse, the merchant class—the + whole town, in short, was talking of the Comte d’Esgrignon’s arrest on a + charge of forgery. The Comte d’Esgrignon would be tried in the Assize + Court; he would be condemned and branded. Most of those who cared for the + honor of the family denied the fact. At nightfall Chesnel went to Mme. + Camusot and escorted the stranger to the Hotel d’Esgrignon. Poor Mlle. + Armande was expecting him; she led the fair Duchess to her own room, which + she had given up to her, for his lordship the Bishop occupied Victurnien’s + chamber; and, left alone with her guest, the noble woman glanced at the + Duchess with most piteous eyes. + </p> + <p> + “You owed help, indeed, madame, to the poor boy who ruined himself for + your sake,” she said, “the boy to whom we are all of us sacrificing + ourselves.” + </p> + <p> + The Duchess had already made a woman’s survey of Mlle. d’Esgrignon’s room; + the cold, bare, comfortless chamber, that might have been a nun’s cell, + was like a picture of the life of the heroic woman before her. The Duchess + saw it all—past, present, and future—with rising emotion, felt + the incongruity of her presence, and could not keep back the falling tears + that made answer for her. + </p> + <p> + But in Mlle. Armande the Christian overcame Victurnien’s aunt. “Ah, I was + wrong; forgive me, Mme. la Duchesse; you did not know how poor we were, + and my nephew was incapable of the admission. And besides, now that I see + you, I can understand all—even the crime!” + </p> + <p> + And Mlle. Armande, withered and thin and white, but beautiful as those + tall austere slender figures which German art alone can paint, had tears + too in her eyes. + </p> + <p> + “Do not fear, dear angel,” the Duchess said at last; “he is safe.” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, but honor?—and his career? Chesnel told me; the King knows the + truth.” + </p> + <p> + “We will think of a way of repairing the evil,” said the Duchess. + </p> + <p> + Mlle. Armande went downstairs to the salon, and found the Collection of + Antiquities complete to a man. Every one of them had come, partly to do + honor to the Bishop, partly to rally round the Marquis; but Chesnel, + posted in the antechamber, warned each new arrival to say no word of the + affair, that the aged Marquis might never know that such a thing had been. + The loyal Frank was quite capable of killing his son or du Croisier; for + either the one or the other must have been guilty of death in his eyes. It + chanced, strangely enough, that he talked more of Victurnien than usual; + he was glad that his son had gone back to Paris. The King would give + Victurnien a place before very long; the King was interesting himself at + last in the d’Esgrignons. And his friends, their hearts dead within them, + praised Victurnien’s conduct to the skies. Mlle. Armande prepared the way + for her nephew’s sudden appearance among them by remarking to her brother + that Victurnien would be sure to come to see them, and that he must be + even then on his way. + </p> + <p> + “Bah!” said the Marquis, standing with his back to the hearth, “if he is + doing well where he is, he ought to stay there, and not be thinking of the + joy it would give his old father to see him again. The King’s service has + the first claim.” + </p> + <p> + Scarcely one of those present heard the words without a shudder. Justice + might give over a d’Esgrignon to the executioner’s branding iron. There + was a dreadful pause. The old Marquise de Casteran could not keep back a + tear that stole down over her rouge, and turned her head away to hide it. + </p> + <p> + Next day at noon, in the sunny weather, a whole excited population was + dispersed in groups along the high street, which ran through the heart of + the town, and nothing was talked of but the great affair. Was the Count in + prison or was he not?—All at once the Comte d’Esgrignon’s well-known + tilbury was seen driving down the Rue Saint-Blaise; it had evidently come + from the Prefecture, the Count himself was on the box seat, and by his + side sat a charming young man, whom nobody recognized. The pair were + laughing and talking and in great spirits. They wore Bengal roses in their + button-holes. Altogether, it was a theatrical surprise which words fail to + describe. + </p> + <p> + At ten o’clock the court had decided to dismiss the charge, stating their + very sufficient reasons for setting the Count at liberty, in a document + which contained a thunderbolt for du Croisier, in the shape of an <i>inasmuch</i> + that gave the Count the right to institute proceedings for libel. Old + Chesnel was walking up the Grand Rue, as if by accident, telling all who + cared to hear him that du Croisier had set the most shameful of snares for + the d’Esgrignons’ honor, and that it was entirely owing to the forbearance + and magnanimity of the family that he was not prosecuted for slander. + </p> + <p> + On the evening of that famous day, after the Marquis d’Esgrignon had gone + to bed, the Count, Mlle. Armande, and the Chevalier were left with the + handsome young page, now about to return to Paris. The charming cavalier’s + sex could not be hidden from the Chevalier, and he alone, besides the + three officials and Mme. Camusot, knew that the Duchess had been among + them. + </p> + <p> + “The house is saved,” began Chesnel, “but after this shock it will take a + hundred years to rise again. The debts must be paid now; you must marry an + heiress, M. le Comte, there is nothing left for you to do.” + </p> + <p> + “And take her where you may find her,” said the Duchess. + </p> + <p> + “A second mesalliance!” exclaimed Mlle. Armande. + </p> + <p> + The Duchess began to laugh. + </p> + <p> + “It is better to marry than to die,” she said. As she spoke she drew from + her waistcoat pocket a tiny crystal phial that came from the court + apothecary. + </p> + <p> + Mlle. Armande shrank away in horror. Old Chesnel took the fair + Maufrigneuse’s hand, and kissed it without permission. + </p> + <p> + “Are you all out of your minds here?” continued the Duchess. “Do you + really expect to live in the fifteenth century when the rest of the world + has reached the nineteenth? My dear children, there is no noblesse + nowadays; there is no aristocracy left! Napoleon’s Code Civil made an end + of the parchments, exactly as cannon made an end of feudal castles. When + you have some money, you will be very much more of nobles than you are + now. Marry anybody you please, Victurnien, you will raise your wife to + your rank; that is the most substantial privilege left to the French + noblesse. Did not M. de Talleyrand marry Mme. Grandt without compromising + his position? Remember that Louis XIV. took the Widow Scarron for his + wife.” + </p> + <p> + “He did not marry her for her money,” interposed Mlle. Armande. + </p> + <p> + “If the Comtesse d’Esgrignon were one du Croisier’s niece, for instance, + would you receive her?” asked Chesnel. + </p> + <p> + “Perhaps,” replied the Duchess; “but the King, beyond all doubt, would be + very glad to see her.—So you do not know what is going on in the + world?” continued she, seeing the amazement in their faces. “Victurnien + has been in Paris; he knows how things go there. We had more influence + under Napoleon. Marry Mlle. Duval, Victurnien; she will be just as much + Marquise d’Esgrignon as I am Duchesse de Maufrigneuse.” + </p> + <p> + “All is lost—even honor!” said the Chevalier, with a wave of the + hand. + </p> + <p> + “Good-bye, Victurnien,” said the Duchess, kissing her lover on the + forehead; “we shall not see each other again. Live on your lands; that is + the best thing for you to do; the air of Paris is not at all good for + you.” + </p> + <p> + “Diane!” the young Count cried despairingly. + </p> + <p> + “Monsieur, you forget yourself strangely,” the Duchess retorted coolly, as + she laid aside her role of man and mistress, and became not merely an + angel again, but a duchess, and not only a duchess, but Moliere’s + Celimene. + </p> + <p> + The Duchesse de Maufrigneuse made a stately bow to these four personages, + and drew from the Chevalier his last tear of admiration at the service of + le beau sexe. + </p> + <p> + “How like she is to the Princess Goritza!” he exclaimed in a low voice. + </p> + <p> + Diane had disappeared. The crack of the postilion’s whip told Victurnien + that the fair romance of his first love was over. While peril lasted, + Diane could still see her lover in the young Count; but out of danger, she + despised him for the weakling that he was. + </p> + <p> + Six months afterwards, Camusot received the appointment of assistant judge + at Paris, and later he became an examining magistrate. Goodman Blondet was + made a councillor to the Royal-Court; he held the post just long enough to + secure a retiring pension, and then went back to live in his pretty little + house. Joseph Blondet sat in his father’s seat at the court till the end + of his days; there was not the faintest chance of promotion for him, but + he became Mlle. Blandereau’s husband; and she, no doubt, is leading + to-day, in the little flower-covered brick house, as dull a life as any + carp in a marble basin. Michu and Camusot also received the Cross of the + Legion of Honor, while Blondet became an Officer. As for M. Sauvager, + deputy public prosecutor, he was sent to Corsica, to du Croisier’s great + relief; he had decidedly no mind to bestow his niece upon that + functionary. + </p> + <p> + Du Croisier himself, urged by President du Ronceret, appealed from the + finding of the Tribunal to the Court-Royal, and lost his cause. The + Liberals throughout the department held that little d’Esgrignon was + guilty; while the Royalists, on the other hand, told frightful stories of + plots woven by “that abominable du Croisier” to compass his revenge. A + duel was fought indeed; the hazard of arms favored du Croisier, the young + Count was dangerously wounded, and his antagonist maintained his words. + This affair embittered the strife between the two parties; the Liberals + brought it forward on all occasions. Meanwhile du Croisier never could + carry his election, and saw no hope of marrying his niece to the Count, + especially after the duel. + </p> + <p> + A month after the decision of the Tribunal was confirmed in the + Court-Royal, Chesnel died, exhausted by the dreadful strain, which had + weakened and shaken him mentally and physically. He died in the hour of + victory, like some old faithful hound that has brought the boar to bay, + and gets his death on the tusks. He died as happily as might be, seeing + that he left the great House all but ruined, and the heir in penury, bored + to death by an idle life, and without a hope of establishing himself. That + bitter thought and his own exhaustion, no doubt, hastened the old man’s + end. One great comfort came to him as he lay amid the wreck of so many + hopes, sinking under the burden of so many cares—the old Marquis, at + his sister’s entreaty, gave him back all the old friendship. The great + lord came to the little house in the Rue du Bercail, and sat by his old + servant’s bedside, all unaware how much that servant had done and + sacrificed for him. Chesnel sat upright, and repeated Simeon’s cry.—The + Marquis allowed them to bury Chesnel in the castle chapel; they laid him + crosswise at the foot of the tomb which was waiting for the Marquis + himself, the last, in a sense, of the d’Esgrignons. + </p> + <p> + And so died one of the last representatives of that great and beautiful + thing, Service; giving to that often discredited word its original + meaning, the relation between feudal lord and servitor. That relation, + only to be found in some out-of-the-way province, or among a few old + servants of the King, did honor alike to a noblesse that could call forth + such affection, and to a bourgeoisie that could conceive it. Such noble + and magnificent devotion is no longer possible among us. Noble houses have + no servitors left; even as France has no longer a King, nor an hereditary + peerage, nor lands that are bound irrevocably to an historic house, that + the glorious names of the nation may be perpetuated. Chesnel was not + merely one of the obscure great men of private life; he was something more—he + was a great fact. In his sustained self-devotion is there not something + indefinably solemn and sublime, something that rises above the one + beneficent deed, or the heroic height which is reached by a moment’s + supreme effort? Chesnel’s virtues belong essentially to the classes which + stand between the poverty of the people on the one hand, and the greatness + of the aristocracy on the other; for these can combine homely burgher + virtues with the heroic ideals of the noble, enlightening both by a solid + education. + </p> + <p> + Victurnien was not well looked upon at Court; there was no more chance of + a great match for him, nor a place. His Majesty steadily refused to raise + the d’Esgrignons to the peerage, the one royal favor which could rescue + Victurnien from his wretched position. It was impossible that he should + marry a bourgeoise heiress in his father’s lifetime, so he was bound to + live on shabbily under the paternal roof with memories of his two years of + splendor in Paris, and the lost love of a great lady to bear him company. + He grew moody and depressed, vegetating at home with a careworn aunt and a + half heart-broken father, who attributed his son’s condition to a wasting + malady. Chesnel was no longer there. + </p> + <p> + The Marquis died in 1830. The great d’Esgrignon, with a following of all + the less infirm noblesse from the Collection of Antiquities, went to wait + upon Charles X. at Nonancourt; he paid his respects to his sovereign, and + swelled the meagre train of the fallen king. It was an act of courage + which seems simple enough to-day, but, in that time of enthusiastic + revolt, it was heroism. + </p> + <p> + “The Gaul has conquered!” These were the Marquis’ last words. + </p> + <p> + By that time du Croisier’s victory was complete. The new Marquis + d’Esgrignon accepted Mlle. Duval as his wife a week after his old father’s + death. His bride brought him three millions of francs for du Croisier and + his wife settled the reversion of their fortunes upon her in the + marriage-contract. Du Croisier took occasion to say during the ceremony + that the d’Esgrignon family was the most honorable of all the ancient + houses in France. + </p> + <p> + Some day the present Marquis d’Esgrignon will have an income of more than + a hundred thousand crowns. You may see him in Paris, for he comes to town + every winter and leads a jolly bachelor life, while he treats his wife + with something more than the indifference of the grand seigneur of olden + times; he takes no thought whatever for her. + </p> + <p> + “As for Mlle. d’Esgrignon,” said Emile Blondet, to whom all the detail of + the story is due, “if she is no longer like the divinely fair woman whom I + saw by glimpses in my childhood, she is decidedly, at the age of + sixty-seven, the most pathetic and interesting figure in the Collection of + Antiquities. She queens it among them still. I saw her when I made my last + journey to my native place in search of the necessary papers for my + marriage. When my father knew who it was that I had married, he was struck + dumb with amazement; he had not a word to say until I told him that I was + a prefect. + </p> + <p> + “‘You were born to it,’ he said, with a smile. + </p> + <p> + “As I took a walk around the town, I met Mlle. Armande. She looked taller + than ever. I looked at her, and thought of Marius among the ruins of + Carthage. Had she not outlived her creed, and the beliefs that had been + destroyed? She is a sad and silent woman, with nothing of her old beauty + left except the eyes, that shine with an unearthly light. I watched her on + her way to mass, with her book in her hand, and could not help thinking + that she prayed to God to take her out of the world.” + </p> + <p> + LES JARDIES, July 1837. + </p> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> <a name="link2H_4_0003" id="link2H_4_0003"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <h2> + ADDENDUM + </h2> + <h3> + The following personages appear in other stories of the Human Comedy. + </h3> + <p> + Note: The Old Maid is a companion piece to The Collection of Antiquities. + In other Addendum appearances they are combined under the title of The + Jealousies of a Country Town. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Blondet (Judge) + Beatrix + + Blondet, Emile + A Distinguished Provincial at Paris + Scenes from a Courtesan’s Life + Modeste Mignon + Another Study of Woman + The Secrets of a Princess + A Daughter of Eve + The Firm of Nucingen + The Peasantry + + Blondet, Virginie + The Secrets of a Princess + The Peasantry + A Distinguished Provincial at Paris + Another Study of Woman + The Member for Arcis + A Daughter of Eve + + Bousquier, Du (or Du Croisier or Du Bourguier) + The Old Maid + The Middle Classes + + Bousquier, Madame du (or du Croisier) + The Old Maid + + Camusot de Marville + Cousin Pons + The Commission in Lunacy + Scenes from a Cuortesan’s Life + + Camusot de Marville, Madame + The Vendetta + Cesar Birotteau + Scenes from a Courtesan’s Life + Cousin Pons + + Cardot (Parisian notary) + The Muse of the Department + A Man of Business + Pierre Grassou + The Middle Classes + Cousin Pons + + Casteran, De + The Chouans + The Seamy Side of History + The Old Maid + Beatrix + The Peasantry + + Chesnel (or Choisnel) + The Seamy Side of History + The Old Maid + + Coudrai, Du + The Old Maid + + Esgrignon, Charles-Marie-Victor-Ange-Carol, Marquis d’ (or Des Grignons) + The Chouans + The Old Maid + + Esgrignon, Victurnien, Comte (then Marquis d’) + Letters of Two Brides + A Man of Business + The Secrets of a Princess + Cousin Betty + + Esgrignon, Marie-Armande-Claire d’ + The Old Maid + + Herouville, Duc d’ + The Hated Son + Modeste Mignon + Cousin Betty + + Lenoncourt, Duc de + The Lily of the Valley + Cesar Birotteau + The Old Maid + The Gondreville Mystery + Beatrix + + Leroi, Pierre + The Chouans + The Seamy Side of History + + Marsay, Henri de + The Thirteen + The Unconscious Humorists + Another Study of Woman + The Lily of the Valley + Father Goriot + Ursule Mirouet + A Marriage Settlement + Lost Illusions + A Distinguished Provincial at Paris + Letters of Two Brides + The Ball at Sceaux + Modest Mignon + The Secrets of a Princess + The Gondreville Mystery + A Daughter of Eve + + Maufrigneuse, Duchesse de + The Secrets of a Princess + Modeste Mignon + The Muse of the Department + Scenes from a Courtesan’s Life + Letters of Two Brides + Another Study of Woman + The Gondreville Mystery + The Member for Arcis + + Michu, Francois + The Gondreville Mystery + The Member for Arcis + + Pamiers, Vidame de + The Thirteen + + Ronceret, Du + The Old Maid + Beatrix + + Ronceret, Madame du + The Old Maid + + Ronceret, Fabien-Felicien du (or Duronceret) + Beatrix + Gaudissart II + + Scherbelloff, Princesse (or Scherbellof or Sherbelloff) + The Peasantry + + Thirion + The Vendetta + Cesar Birotteau + + Troisville, Guibelin, Vicomte de + The Seamy Side of History + The Chouans + The Old Maid + The Peasantry + + Valois, Chevalier de + The Chouans + The Old Maid + + Verneuil, Duc de + The Chouans + The Old Maid +</pre> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <div>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 1405 ***</div> +</body> +</html> |